Echoing the words that Abraham Lincoln spoke a sesquicentennial ago, about 46 citizens of Champaign and Urbana — along with thousands throughout the nation – participated in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record of most simultaneous readings from the same document.

On the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s impromptu speech now known as his “Farewell Address,” these citizens gathered at 11 a.m. Feb. 11 at the Urbana City Building to recite those very words for five minutes straight. Mayor Laurel Prussing led the group, and a live feed of those participating in Springfield, Ill., was shown on TV.

“I was very impressed with the turnout,” said Rebecca Bird, city planner and event coordinator.

Because two witnesses from Guinness at every venue must send in a statement, which takes time to tally, it will take several weeks to know if the attempt is a new record.

The previous record was 223,363 participants, which occurred Dec. 13, 2006, in an event organized by Walden Media at 909 different venues.

About 52 people were present, though only 46 actually read during the event.

“I would say it was a very good experience,” said Andrew Stelzer, 11-year-old Urbana resident. “It was fun; it wasn’t really difficult.”

Lincoln, who was an attorney in the 8th circuit, spent portions of time in Champaign and especially Urbana. In order to mark 10 of these Lincoln-era-related sites in Urbana, Bird said audio/visual podcasts will be posted on the Urbana site. These podcasts can be used as a downtown walking tour and will be ready in the next few weeks. They will be playable on smartphones or downloadable in MP3 format. A preview of a podcast was played for those present at the event.

“They’re telling Urbana’s stories about Lincoln,” Bird said. “We’re really excited about the podcast. They will be available this spring.”

Once the podcasts are ready, there will be some kind of celebration, she said.

In commemoration of the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth, a traveling exhibit of photographs by Ron Schramm and comments on Lincoln statues in Illinois will come to the Champaign County Courthouse on March 7. It will remain on display until May 27. The exhibit was commissioned by the Abraham Lincoln Association and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. It will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day the courthouse is open.

“Lincoln’s sentiments on that occasion (while he delivered his Farewell Address) had to have been very bittersweet,” said Barbara Wysocki, chair of the Lincoln Legacy committee, a Lincoln appreciation group, and the exhibit committee. “(Reciting Lincoln’s Farewell Address on its anniversary) is as close as we can ever come to experiencing what that experience must be like.”

Even for college students, Lincoln has relevance, Wysocki said.

“I realize that college kids don’t always get out in the community, and there’s maybe a tendency to look upon this area as nothing but cornfields sometimes. But if you dig deeper, dig into the culture of the area and the history of the area, there’s a lot more here than maybe meets the eye,” Wysocki said.