Freeze! Alamogordo takes on Mannequin Challenge for world record

ALAMOGORDO — Hundreds of residents participated in a massive Mannequin Challenge early Sunday morning in Alamogordo’s Historic Downtown spanning over three blocks planned by the Downtown Merchants Association.

The community is now waiting to see if they set a Guinness World Record for the title of “Most Community in a Mannequin Challenge (frozen pose).”

The Mannequin Challenge is a viral internet video trend where people remain frozen in action like mannequins captured on camera.

Mannequin Challenge Coordinator Rhonda Napoleon said the idea was inspired by all the hardships that occurred in 2016.

She said she wanted to start 2017 with optimism.

“A lot of bad things happened in 2016, we lost some people we loved like officer Corvinus and we didn’t want to start the new year off like that,” Napoleon said. “I wanted 2017 to start off with a close community for people to see that we have tons of talent and a wonderful heart.”

Napoleon said about 267 residents showed up including people from El Paso and Las Cruces.

“I live in Cloudcroft but I have a lot of friends in Alamogordo and I do my shopping there. I also have a lot of friends from El Paso and Las Cruces so I wanted to do something big and then some,” Napoleon said. “My mom came from Las Cruces and her group from El Paso, Las Cruces and Alamogordo were square dancing up until the pose, it was so much fun.”

She said her favorite experience from the event was watching all the people dressed up in their costumes and seeing the whole community work together.

“We had belly dancers, one group was camping and there was a girl wearing a cactus costume playing guitar, I don’t know who she was but I just loved that,” Napoleon said. “There was an entire group of Star Wars characters and they even had an R2D2 that moved around. I think my favorite, because it was so out of the blue last minute, was Chaparral Sanitation. They parked their truck and they had an outhouse with someone sitting in there with the door open, it was just hilarious.”

Characters like Deadpool and the Joker also joined in the fun along with Mayor Richard Boss and County Commissioner of District 3 Lori Bies.

“The event was amazing, the community came out to do something very unique. It was incredible to witness and to be involved in. The best part of it was when the siren went off and everyone froze, it was instantaneous and surreal,” Bies said. “I am hoping this event will serve as a reminder to all who would like to come here that this it is a fun and interesting place to live or visit. Things like this make me very proud to be an elected official in this area, the people, the events, the sheer fun and great weather means you can enjoy community events like this year round. I look forward to seeing our town in the Guinness Book of World Records, they deserve it.”

Downtown Merchants Association Vice-President Claudia Loya who owns Elite Memories, 918 N. New York Ave., thought the event also went great and was glad to be a part of it.

“Seeing the community get together and seeing different groups that you usually don’t see working together was one of my favorite things to witness. Being a part of Downtown Merchants and Alamogordo MainStreet has enriched my life,” Loya said. “I love seeing how people work together making something so simple so huge to put us on the map.”

Loya said her store theme was wedding disasters which was a huge hit with everyone.

“My theme was all the clichés that you might have heard form weddings. I had live mannequins in my window and some models posing with beautiful gowns with some help from local pageant crown winners,” she said. “We had a wedding scene with Elvis marrying a couple and the groom was excited but the bride was actually running away while pregnant. Her lover was going to take off with her on a motorcycle, it was so funny. I hope that this Mannequin Challenge people will know more about us and that we’re not just a passing town and they stay and shop here and learn about us.”

Community plans massive Mannequin Challenge

Alamogordo Mannequin Challenge Video Director and KVIA ABC-7 El Paso Producer Robert Towne said the Mannequin Challenge was definitely a challenge but worthwhile.

“It was fun but also a challenge as it all had to be done in one take. Needless to say I was a bit nervous toward the end hoping nothing would go wrong, when everyone had been holding still for eight minutes, but I was also much more in my zone by that time as well,” Towne said. “There was one moment very early on that almost derailed the whole thing, when a passerby started walking into the scene probably unaware of what was going on, and I had to point the camera away from him while volunteers got him out. We had a great turnout with all sorts of groups and volunteers.”

Napoleon said she is so thankful for everyone that participated and that it turned out to be a success.

“The video is going to be great since Robert Towne put it together, I know it will go viral. We’re thankful for the way everything turned out,” she said. “The city came together so well. The mayor and commissioners stayed, County Commissioner Lori Bies was on a motorcycle. She was great, Mayor Richard Boss even bought cookies from the Girl Scouts. The police department also participated and the Otero County Sheriff’s Office. One policeman turned on the siren to let everyone know it was starting, they were just awesome. Again, I’m just so thankful for everyone and the Downtown Merchants our sponsors for spreading the word, it worked out great.”

The Alamogordo Mannequin Challenge will be available soon to watch and can be viewed at our website, http://alamogordonews.com/ and Facebook page, https://facebook.com/Alamogordo-Daily-News-124307640925620/