Dave Anderson says few things brighten a child's day like blowing bubbles, and he wants to harness that this Fourth of July.
Before the , the Havre de Grace man and Bel Air business owner hopes to see parade-goers break the world record for most people blowing bubbles simultaneously.
Anderson said the record attempt is a way of raising awareness for children suffering from cancer and troops fighting overseas.
"The Guinness Book of World Records is giving me the opportunity to break a world record and to honor our heroes," he said. "When you have military people who also have kids fighting cancer at the same time people don't realize how much of a burden that is."
For Anderson, the bubbles are also a way for getting kids to loosen up and stay positive.
Anderson has experience with that. In 2009, he helped create "The Dominator," a comic book superhero named and modeled after a child—and frequent customer of his in Bel Air—who battled brain cancer.
Anderson is working on another "Dominator" comic (to be sold on his website) and is working on other new motivational characters, including "Super Santa." He said he wants to encourage kids to talk about their problems, noting the rising deaths by suicide in the United States.
"Something that's really small to adults is really huge to a kid, so if I could find some way for kids to talk about their problems ... so many people would reach out to do something positive for that kid," he said.
According to Guinness World Records, the current bubble record was set in 1999 at a West Ham United soccer game at the Boleyn Ground in London. Before the game, 23,680 people blew glycerin bubbles into the air for a minute.
Anderson wanted to find similar large numbers of people on a big, patriotic day—and the Towson parade fit the bill.
"If somebody comes to me with an idea that sounds like fun, I'm always willing to listen," said Maryann Albaugh, the chair of the parade committee. She said the committee chipped in by buying 7,000 bottles of bubbles.
Anderson is aiming for upwards of 40,000 people, so he's going to need some help. For the rest, he's counting on people to bring their own bubbles.
"I know there's going to be people there saying, 'If I knew these people were there, I'd have brought bubbles,'" he said.
He said Guinness' record-checkers will be watching, and media coverage will help confirm the record.
Anderson said friends in New York and elsewhere plan to blow bubbles as a sign of solidarity.
The Towson record attempt will take place at 10 a.m. next Wednesday, just before the start of the parade.
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