The Bright School is celebrating the school’s Centennial Anniversary Friday and Saturday, Sept. 28-29, in a big way.  As in 16,368 MoonPies big.

Bright School and Chattanooga Bakery, maker of the MoonPie snack, have partnered together to attempt to break a Guinness record for the “World’s Largest Cookie Mosaic.”  The event will take place in the Bright School gymnasium.  Oreo holds the current mosaic record (mosaic = giant rectangular design made up of multi-colored cookies that all touch) at 344 square feet. The Bright/MoonPie attempt will more than triple the current record.  

An official adjudicator from Guinness will be on site to make the record official. Bright school kids will help assemble the mosaic and leftovers will be donated to The Chattanooga Food Bank and other area agencies.

"We are so excited to attempt what will be for most of us a once-in-a-lifetime feat,” said Kim Brown, Bright School’s director of Advancement.  “We wanted to do something memorable in honor of Bright School’s 100th birthday, and what better way to celebrate Bright School and Chattanooga than with 16,000+ MoonPies?  Besides, who doesn’t want to be able to claim that they were part of an official Guinness World Record?”

Tory Johnston, vice president of Marketing for Chattanooga Bakery, agrees. “While we’ve baked a single giant MoonPie before, we’ve never tried for a world record. It will be a site to behold for sure. Bright and MoonPie were launched just five years apart, so we’re honored to help another Chattanooga institution celebrate 100 years.”

The Guinness book is one of the most widely read books ever published. More than one hundred million copies have been sold in almost 40 languages. Guinness says it hears from tens of thousands of people each year who want to set a record. They reject about 80 percent of the applications. It requires that a record be "provable, quantifiable and breakable."

The public is invited to attend Bright School’s Bonanza and the Guinness World Record attempt on Saturday, Sept. 29, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.  Free parking will be available at Stuart Heights Baptist Church, and bus transportation to the school can be accessed there. 

Founded in 1913, Bright School is a coeducational, independent elementary school serving children in grades prekindergarten through five.  The school is located on Hixson Pike in North Chattanooga.  For more information, visit the school’s website at www.brightschool.com or the Centennial website at www.brightschool100.com.

Chattanooga Bakery, a fourth generation, family-owned business, was founded in 1902 as a subsidiary of the Mountain City Flour Mill. MoonPies are available in three sizes (Original, Double-Decker® and Mini) and six flavors (Chocolate, Vanilla, Banana, Lemon, Orange & Strawberry). Its newest line, MoonPie Crunch, is available in Peanut Butter and Mint. Brand distribution is national, with particular strength in the Southeast and Southwest. The brand can be found in Grocery (in the cookie aisle), Mass, Club, Drug, Convenience, Vending, Foodservice and a number of specialty retail outlets including Cracker Barrel and Bass Pro Shops. www.moonpie.com.