Colfax man’s world record attempt for largest pencil collection awaits certification

Aaron Bartholmey, 36, of Colfax thinks he may have surpassed the Guinness World Record for largest pencil collection after two days of counting last week.

However, the final count and its validation with Guinness World Records are still to be determined. During the public event where the count took place, two people hand-counted all 490 boxes of Bartholmey’s advertising pencils. Their counts were tracked on paper and recorded. Some of the counts did not match.

They were not far off from each other. Still, Bartholmey told Newton News the final count got him past the 70,000 mark. But since the counters did not agree with each other, Bartholmey expects Guinness World Records will take the lowest of the two counts, which may put him “a hair under” 70,000.

Currently, the record for largest pencil collection is held by Emilio Arenas from Montevideo, Uruguay, at 24,026 pencils as of 2020.

Bartholmey’s next step is to put all of his evidence together — the video recordings, his database, the photographs, etc. — and submit it to Guinness World Records. From there, the organization will determine if the evidence he provided is enough to prove he had broken the record.

In addition to showing off his collection and the counting, Bartholmey’s July 1 event also gave him an opportunity to display his other pencil-related memorabilia inside the Colfax Historical Society Museum & Community Center. Overall, it was an “exhausting-but-amazing” day.

“It was so much fun seeing all the people come and go through the collection,” he said to Newton News a few days after the event took place. “(I enjoyed) the whole experience of getting the community together to see that and kind of share my quirky hobby with them.”

Families enjoyed seeing the pencils and other antiques in his collection, as well as participate in activities and games organized by Bartholmey’s wife, Allison.

Originally, the count was scheduled from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on July 1. Bartholmey said the counters stayed until about 9 p.m. that day, but they needed more time to finish counting the collection. They started up again at 7 a.m. July 2, ending a little after 1 p.m.

Even though the numbers are not certified, Bartholmey was relieved when he saw his collection surpass the current world record.

“There was a little bit of celebration at that point, and then again on Sunday when we actually did hit the 70,000 mark,” Bartholmey said. “I knew it was in my database, but it doesn’t mean that the counters are going to get to that point. So it was really exciting when they did.”

Bartholmey added it would take approximately 12 weeks to get a confirmation from Guinness World Records.

“It’s been an amazing experience,” he said. “The unexpected publicity from it was fun. I had all three of the Des Moines stations come out and film a news story. Hearing from all of these people in different points in my life reaching out and say, ‘Hey, I saw you on the news!’ has just been really cool.”