More than 130 brown fold-up chairs were lined up at 4:30 p.m. Saturday underneath a large, white tent set up for East Lansing's 100th birthday.
With four seats filled, the Sea Cruisers - the band scheduled as the musical entertainment for the night - set up their equipment and tested the microphone.
Half an hour later, the music started, and the once-empty fold-up chairs were not enough for the crowd that came to enjoy the band.
Some people carried in their own chairs, spilling out of the sides and back of the tent.
Others, such as 4-year-old Conner Holguin, didn't mind not having a seat.
Sporting a purple butterfly on her right arm, compliments of a face painting station, she laughed as she danced around the stage, leaving the purple bike she had rode in on behind.
"My favorite was when me and my mommy danced," she said.
Her song of choice?
The band's rendition of Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl."
"She loves the song because she has brown eyes," said Conner's uncle, Manuel Holguin.
He said the band was a perfect musical accompaniment for the night.
"The band is great," Holguin said. "They're just jammin'. Everybody's having a great time."
Pinball palooza
Next to the music tent, five people lined up next to one another - from a small child using a chair as a step stool to an old, bearded man.
Click. Click.
Ping.
Barely blinking, the players' faces filled with concentration as a crowd gathered behind to watch the action.
Ping. Ping.
"Come on, Dad, I want to play," a boy yelled, jumping up and down behind his father.
The birthday party hadn't even started, but pinball playing was under way.
Pinball Pete's, 220 Albert Ave., placed 10 of its machines outside for the partygoers to enjoy games of free pinball.
But it wasn't pinball that kept the crowd busy. Jugglers, magicians and face painters were among the things that kept children and adults amused throughout the event..
An ice cream cart, set up by Melting Moments, 313 E. Grand River Ave., provided cool treats and free samples of East Lansing's official centennial ice cream: peanuts, chocolate-covered pretzels and caramel mixed into vanilla ice cream.
Cupcake craze
Across the lot, big, brown boxes stood stacked outside a white tent.
Inside the boxes, about 2,000 Meijer-donated chocolate and vanilla cupcakes - each topped with a mound of white frosting and colorful sprinkles - sat in unopened packages.
The cupcakes were part of an attempt to make the largest cupcake tower and go down in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Meghan Schwarb, one of the birthday bash coordinators and a communications senior, said the tower should be about 7 feet tall.
So the cupcake stacking began for Schwarb, Ami Van Antwerp, a city employee and party planning committee member, and Matt Mergener, an intern in the East Lansing communications department.
"They're going to make it so high," one child yelled to his mother as he watched them open packages of cupcakes and line them up on top of the yellow table cloth.
But after four layers of baked treats, an unanticipated predator crept up on cupcake crew - the sun.
The heat of the day started to melt the frosting, causing some of the cupcakes to cave in or fall over, Van Antwerp said.
"We had to put this up really quick," she said, pointing to a white sheet and Meijer banner, which shaded the sun.
Luckily, stilt-walker Tom Bartholomew was good for more than amusement.
Standing at about 10 feet tall, the entertainer came to the rescue when help was needed hanging the banner to block the sun.
Bartholomew is part of the High 5 Guys, the largest stilt-walking group in the Midwest.
He posed for pictures and juggled, and as wide-eyed children craned their necks to look up at him, he reached his hand up as high as it could go and asked them to give him a high five.
The confused children reached theirs up as well, unsuccessfully attempting to reach his.
Laughing, he bent down for a low five, and the children responded appropriately.
"I love to entertain," the Cadillac, Mich., native said. "It's a good way to make a living."
Music mania
Playing everything from Bob Seger to Elvis, the Sea Cruisers had the crowd hooked.
"I love that rock 'n' roll stuff," said Laingsburg resident Rose Stevens, swaying back and forth to the music.
The casual atmosphere and warm weather kept her happy, she said, but not without a little help from the free cupcakes - passed out after the tower was completed.
Standing almost 3 feet tall, the tower didn't reach Schwarb's expected height.
"We didn't meet the height expectation, but I think it still was what I hoped it would be," Schwarb said. "It was 2,288 cupcakes big - that was good enough for me."
But since there was no previous record before East Lansing's attempt, the finished tower will now hold the new record.
After topping off the tower with a single candle, Schwarb, East Lansing Mayor Sam Singh, city officials and the rest of the crowd sang happy birthday to the city.
The cupcakes were distributed soon after to residents who struggled to form a straight line.
"Creamy and delicious," Stevens said about the warm, slightly smashed, frosting-topped treats. "Cupcakes and good music - what more could you ask for?"
City celebration
As the night commemorating 100 years of East Lansing's past came to a close, Schwarb said she knew it was a success.
"The best part of the whole process is today," she said Saturday. "It's seeing everything come together and seeing everyone enjoy it - and just seeing it all turn out and have everyone like it."
The night was about building, celebrating and eating, Singh said.
"This is an opportunity to look back, and then see what we can do for the future," he said.
