(August 21, 2011) We reported a few weeks ago on an effort to create the biggest parade of Cadillacs in the world. And the tiny town of Barton, Vt., got the job done on Aug. 17.

A minimum of 103 cars driving single file from the high school to the county fairgrounds was needed for the record. The official count was 298 Cadillac vehicles giving them the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest Cadillac parade.

Barton's tie to the Cadillac brand stretches all the way back to the turn of the 20th Century. Henry Leland, founder of Cadillac, was born in Barton — now with a population of 2,800 — and lived there until he was about 13. He might have lived there longer, but his dad lost the family farm in a bad deal and moved the family to Massachusetts.

The following is an account of the parade as found on Hemmings Blog:

By David Traver Adolphus for Hemmings Daily Blog

They started arriving at dawn Wednesday in Barton, Vermont, a flyspeck of a town near the Canadian border, albeit a lovely one. They came in de Villes and Sevilles, Broughams d’Elegance, Series 62s, DTSs, STSs, XLRs, Eldorados, CTSs, Cateras and Escalades.

They came not only from Vermont, New Hampshire and Quebec, but Detroit, South Carolina, Texas and Alaska. They brought sedans, sedanettes, coupes, roadsters, convertibles, touring cars, flower cars, hearses and ambulances. They came to the birthplace of Cadillac’s founder to reclaim a record from the Netherlands, which with 102 cars held the record for the longest parade of Cadillacs.

These were mostly not six-figure Eldorados. There were more winter beaters than concours cars, and more 15-year-old de Villes than just about anything else. But whether clunker or classic, they were there in their hundreds, and all wore their love on their sleeves.

By 11 a.m., they overflowed the lots of the Lake Region Union High School and parked on the grass, while a line of cars ran down the hill, out onto the road and back toward town. When it cleared enough that I could maneuver away, I headed into Barton, the road lined ever-thicker with, well, essentially everyone.

I found a location in the center of town, and next to me a 14-year-old boy dropped his bike, opened his backpack and took out three model Cadillacs. His grandfather’s, left to him when the grandfather died. Grandad had been a Second Lieutenant in the Pacific theater, flying Thunderbolts, and “all he knew about were cars and planes.” The grandson came, in his memory, and explained all this to an 80-something retired fifth-grade teacher from Arizona, and a local brother and sister.

Rumors swelled as we all gathered at the town green to wait for the parade. Barton’s the sort of town where there are few strangers, and there was plenty of banter among the locals. “500 cars! We got 500 cars!” shouted one enthusiastic onlooker.

Then, as the start was delayed thanks to the number of entrants, cheers for passing cars started – for the beat-up Grand Caravan, for the Tiburon, for the Kenworth log truck, for the Mercedes ML350. “Mercedes?” cried someone. “You know that’s not from around here!” Hot dogs were eaten.

At 12:42, they came. The organizers put some Fifties classics in front, specifically a pink 1959 Series 62 convertible from New Brunswick, with Leland’s descendant Doug Leland in costume; then followed by HCCA Chairman Don Rising and his wife Marcia in their 1905 Model F, and Dana McNair in her 1909 Model 30. And they came some more, honking their tugboat horns, sometimes throwing candy, some on dubs pumping out the jams.

For more than half an hour they passed, until we were sore with clapping and hoarse from the cheers. We heard the official count: 298 cars. I’m not sure there weren’t another 10 or 15 in there. The Guinness World Record people were on hand, though, and that’s the number their official clicker recorded.

Reportedly, the gang then gathered at the Orleans (County) Fair; with entry traffic backed up for miles. I started the 185-mile trip back to Bennington, along with a raft of Cadillacs also dispersing for their Green Mountain homes, and beyond.

There’s talk of doing it again, maybe even on a weekend. There’s talk that Syracuse, New York, might try to break the record. Barton’s parade was a genuine grassroots effort, organized by Lorie Seadale, a local. I talked to many people who’d only heard about it a day or two before – if Barton needs to take their record back again someday, I have a feeling they will.