Keys Conch Honkers Go For The Record

KEY LARGO (CBSMiami) - About 144 conch shell blowers gathered in Key Largo for a world record attempt for the most people simultaneously blowing conch shells.

When sanctioned by the World Records Academy, the event at Sundowners Restaurant is to break a 2009 record of 127 simultaneous conch honkers.

The Friday evening event was part of Key Largo's Conch Republic Days celebration set to end Sunday that celebrates the birth of the Conch Republic 30 years ago.

The formation of the Conch Republic occurred after an April 23, 1982, "secession" motivated by a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint set up unexpectedly at the top of the Florida Keys Overseas Highway, the road to mainland Florida. Federal agents were ostensibly searching cars for drugs and illegal immigrants. The roadblock created a massive traffic jam of cars exiting the Keys, angering residents and visitors alike.

Figuring the Keys were being treated as a foreign country, local officials protested by staging the secession and raising the royal blue flag of the Conch Republic.

The border patrol roadblock eventually faded away, never to resurface.

The Florida Keys News Bureau contributed to this report