Accordians galore!

Love the accordion? Well how about 644 of them?
On July 7 three men and one woman from Osoyoos carved out their small part in accordion history.
During the Kimberley International Old-time Accordion Championships, Tony Zelko, Hugo and Ellen Zoellmer, and Luis Blut, became part of a Guinness World Record: 644 accordions played for 30 consecutive minutes in Kimberley to break the previous world record of 555 accordions playing for 25 minutes.
This year was the second attempt at surpassing the record; last year an attempt had been made during the festival but not enough people were able to attend.
Tony Zelko described the experience as exhilarating.
There was just so much excitement in the crowd; as we were counting the people and the number exceeded the 555 mark [and kept going] we all just got really excited. The foursome from Osoyoos was just happy to have been a part of such a monumental event.
We were proud to represent our beautiful town, Zelco said.
Tony Zelko not only took part in the world record event but he also brought home a few other titles from the Kimberly Festival. Zelko competed in both the Diatonic Accordion and Platinum division competitions at Kimberley. The Diatonic Division requires the player to use a Diatonic Accordion; the entrant must play three pieces, a waltz, polka and Scottish, of his choosing. The Platinum Division requires the entrants to be seventy-five years old and over to compete, and are required to play three pieces like the Diatonic division. Zelko finished with a first and second place finishing respectively.
I was very pleased with my performance. The [whole trip] was wonderful; it was such an exciting time for me, to be able to play for the Guinness world record and to place first and second in my divisions.
For the future, Zelko only has one wish, I hope that the [younger generations] will take up accordion, because music is one of the most beautiful things in the world.