Children, cheerleaders, and students from participating schools hold the record-breaking strand of red and white beads around the track at Pierce Memorial Field Friday night. The beads were sold to raise money for the schools.

The Providence Journal / Ruben W. Perez

EAST PROVIDENCE — Michael Jackson’s famous “Beat It” song was playing appropriately in the background when the announcement came Friday night that the city had smashed the Guinness world record for the longest strand of beads.

The strand, displayed at the annual Townie Pride Parade, measured 1,349.9 feet of red and white beads. It circled a little more than once around the track at Pierce Memorial Field.

The previous record was 108.21 meters, or 355 feet, by children of the Porlock Youth Club in Porlock, United Kingdom, on Feb. 21. (The old record was listed incorrectly in a caption in Friday’s Journal.)

“We are very happy,” said Patti Streit, the organizer of the effort — named Bead It — and board member of the East Providence Education Foundation.

Streit, who calls herself “the crazy bead lady,” said prior to the official measurement by a city surveyor, “We want to smash the current record.”

And she said it’s about time that East Providence — a community plagued with budget problems, teacher disputes and police and fire layoffs — had “a fun positive [moment] in the midst of all the negativity.”

Guinness World Records gave the education foundation — formed in 2007 to raise money and benefit programs in city schools that are traditionally not covered within the school budget — permission to attempt the world record in July. Streit says the group immediately began selling 10 beads for a dollar at the city’s senior center, during school lunches and at all high school games and events.

apina@projo.com