The city of Ames will celebrate World’s Largest Cereal Treat Day on Friday with a resounding “snap, crackle, pop.”

A proclamation was made by Mayor Ted Tedesco at the Jan. 28 City Council meeting. It commemorates the Guinness Book of World Records honor for the largest Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treat, which weighed in at 2,480 pounds. The treat was created during the 2001 Veishea celebration.

Clare Bills, public relations officer with the city, said there are no events planned, only the proclamation.

The mammoth Rice Krispies Treat was created in observance of the 2001 all-university theme “Strengthening Families to Become the Best.”

Alyssa Armbrecht, a 2002 Iowa State graduate in food science and chemical engineering, was responsible for the record-breaking project. “My favorite part was seeing it on the scale and realizing it had broken the record,” Armbrecht said. “It was a really fun experience to help Iowa State become a world-record holder, and hopefully we’ll see it in the next Guinness publication.”

Armbrecht returned to Iowa State on Jan. 24 to present President Gregory Geoffroy with the official certificate from the Guinness Book of World Records.

The treat was created to honor ISU alum Mildred Day, who was involved with the creation of the very first Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treat, Armbrecht said.

The previous world record was held by Michigan State University, which baked a 2,260-pound Rice Krispies Treat.

“We knew what we had to do to beat Michigan State,” said Murray Blackwelder, co-chairman for the 2001 theme committee and former ISU vice president for External Affairs.

“I still have part of the Rice Krispie on a plaque on my wall,” said Blackwelder, who is the senior vice president for Advancement at Purdue University.

Armbrecht said Hy-Vee provided 1,466 pounds of marshmallows at cost, Land O’Lakes donated 218 pounds of butter and Kellogg’s donated 818 pounds of Rice Krispies for the project. The Government of the Student Body also gave $700 for the Plexiglas container where the mixture was placed, Armbrecht said. The rest of the project was funded by the university theme committee, she said.

Carole Custer, director of university marketing, said more than 100 people including students, faculty, ISU staff, local alumni, the Iowa Department of Transportation and media relations all volunteered their time to help reach their goal.

Students from the ISU College of Engineering helped construct the Plexiglas container which held the Rice Krispies Treat, she said.

“It really crossed a number of university units, and many people were able to help with it,” Custer said.

The record-breaking Rice Krispies Treat was mixed on April 19, 2001. Teams worked in two-hour shifts to produce the treat, she said.

The crew mixed 55 batches of Rice Krispies, each weighing 45 pounds. They mixed the Rice Krispies in kettles at Friley Hall and carried them down to the Plexiglas form.

Many unusual criteria took place in order to make the Guinness Book of World Records. The entire process of creating the Rice Krispies Treat was videotaped for proof of authenticity, Custer said. The treat committee also had to get certification from the city to guarantee the treat was edible.

The Rice Krispies Treat appeared in the Veishea parade and afterwards was cut up and handed out in exchange for donations, Armbrecht said. The donations, which totaled $1,500, went to Youth and Shelter Services.

“People were taking away a treat that could feed 40 people,” Armbrecht said. “They could take it home and have it for dessert for the next three days.”

Armbrecht now works in baking product research at General Mills in Minneapolis.

“I have not eaten a Rice Krispies Treat since the whole project took place,” she said.