Steve Carlson, event coordinator, and Andrew Carlson, casino owner, worked together as a father-son duo to set the high goal, a number that was meant to best the former Guinness World Record of 29,638 wings served at the casino in 1982. Having beaten the former record by more than 10,000 wings, the two made no effort to hide their enthusiasm.

“The public support has been incredible,” Steve Carlson said. “We’ve had compliment after compliment.”

When the event began Saturday night at 8 p.m., Steve Carlson said they had more than 800 people waiting in line to buy wings. The rush to make history and fill up on fresh wings lasted until 3 a.m. and then resumed at 9 a.m. Sunday. For some staff members, the night never ended.

Dan Colburn, head of security, stayed up all night to make sure the equipment and tents remained safe. Other employees stayed up late into the night and early morning to clean up.

People enjoy the record-breaking event hosted by the Village Casino in which staff served a total of 40,520 chicken wings, breaking the original record set in 1982 and surpassing their goal of 40,000 wings served. Proceeds will be donated to the Bemus Point Ferry, Bemus Point Library, Bemus Point Volunteer Fire Department and the American Red Cross. P-J photo by Eric Zavinski

“We’ve had some big events over the years,” Colburn said, “but this one probably takes the cake.”

Colburn echoed the Carlsons in saying that Bemus Point’s tightly-knit community made the event possible and successful. Visitors at Bemus Park turned out in droves, especially starting at 2 p.m. Sunday, with six hours left to break the record. About 23,000 wings had been served at that time, making the last several hours crucial and busier than ever.

Steve Carlson said many people approached him and said the event gave them the best day they had ever spent in Bemus Point. After five weeks of planning, he was glad to hear so many were enjoying the event.

“I want to thank my staff,” Andrew Carlson said. “The amount of people who showed up to help our community is amazing.”

Steve Carlson said they had 158 staff members helping out throughout the weekend.

P-J photo by Eric Zavinski

“There’s a lot of great people in this community,” Steve Carlson said.