Most kids like to hang a Christmas Stocking on the fireplace each year in the hope that Santa will fill it with treats and toys. However, one Missouri city has gone one better than that by creating a 177-foot tall stocking in the hope of winning a Guinness World Record. The stocking was unveiled Tuesday in the arena at the Mathewson Exhibition Center, but they haven’t got a building tall enough to hang the darn thing from.

177 feet in height and hand-stitched

Sedalia’s Christmas stocking was measured officially Tuesday as being 177 feet in height, which will hopefully beat the current Guinness World Record nabbed by the city of Carrara, Italy in 2014 with their 168-foot stocking.

With Sedalia’s Christmas stocking being just under 10 feet longer than Carrara’s, they must just make it. However according to the Sedalia Democrat, if their stocking had any more inches in height, they would not have been able to unfurl it in the arena. The stocking is 72 feet in width and weighs an amazing 802 pounds. Mayor Stephen Galliher said it is so tall, their town has no building high enough to hang the Christmas stocking from.

As reported by the New York Post, it was Charlie Thomas, a host with the Sedalia radio station KDRO, who came up with the plan in July this year as a method to promote a local charity.

Community Santa is a local radio program that gives gifts to around 1,200 children over the holidays. Thomas reckons it will take around 12 weeks to get verification of their possible new world record. However, the news report below reckons Sedalia has already won the record.

It was a local church sewing group that created the massive stocking, starting in early October this year.

Christmas music blasted out on Tuesday as around two dozen children unrolled the Christmas stocking in the arena, to the applause of around 200 locals.

Sewing ladies are glad the Christmas stocking is complete

JoDee Buso, one of the ladies involved in the creation of the massive stocking, said it was a relief to finish the work on Monday night.

They had done all the work by hand and machine, except for the words “Sedalia, MO USA” which was added to the white cuff by Specialty Sportswear. According to Buso, they had an average of around 10 to 20 volunteers working on the project at a time, with only a couple of sewing machines available. At least it was finished in time for the Christmas holidays.

Missouri U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill was impressed with the town’s feat, calling it a “Christmas miracle.” She said in a written statement that the abundance of Christmas spirit in Sedalia, combined with the closeness of the town’s community, has made the state proud of their massive achievement.

As for Thomas, he said he was “ecstatic” with the ladies' remarkable work, saying the town had really stepped up to help Community Santa this year, adding that they do so every year.
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