Hugging effort falls short of Guinness Book record

WARREN — Cancer survivor Jeff Ondash of Canfield hoped to make the Guinness Book of World Records for most hugs in an hour.

He fell short, but the problem wasn’t time; it was turnout.

Ondash, wearing a crimson racing suit with his stage name Teddy McHuggin on the back, hugged 447 persons, well short of the Guinness record of 765 set last year. The site of his attempt was Mollenkopf Stadium, which hosted the kickoff ceremonies of Trumbull County Relay for Life Saturday.

Most of the ticket holders paid $5 for the privilege of hugging McHuggin with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society, sponsor of the Trumbull relay.

Ondash was not disheartened.

“I hugged 300 people in the first 10 minutes,” he said. “If more people had shown up, I could have shattered the record, but I’m going to try again and soon.”

Read more in Sunday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com