Students are working to make Iowa State’s annual spring celebration a record-breaking – and tasty – event by building the world’s biggest Rice Krispie Treat.

Alyssa Armbrecht, Rice Krispie Treat committee chairwoman, is confident the 2,500-pound treat will make the Guinness Book of World Records.

“I was a little nervous about the feasibility of the project at first, but everything is going great now,” said Armbrecht, senior in food science. “Everyone at the university is helping out so much. The challenge was getting everyone to work together for a common goal, but it is going well.”

The treat was invented by an ISU alumna, Mildred Day, a 1928 graduate of College of Home Economics. She made it as a fund-raiser for Camp Fire Girls in the 1930s while employed at Kellogg, Armbrecht said. The treat was introduced to the public in the 1940s.

Armbrecht said mixing of the ingredients will start at 8:15 a.m. Friday in the Friley Food Service area. They will begin building the treat at 10 a.m. and she expects it to be finished by 6 p.m.

Marshmallows, some donated and some sold at cost, will be supplied by Hy-Vee. Land O’Lakes donated the butter, and Kellogg donated the cereal.

The treat will be made from about 820 pounds of Rice Krispies, 1,460 pounds of marshmallows and 220 pounds of butter, Armbrecht said. The treat will weigh 2,500 pounds, beating the current record of 2,260 pounds set by Michigan State in October 1997. The treat will be weighed at the Physical Plant once it is made.

People are welcome to watch the progress, and the event will be taped.

“A Guinness stipulation is to have cameras marking the progress, with the date and time marked clearly, so we will have cameras showing the treat being made,” Armbrecht said.

Rebecca Bunker, Michigan State senior in English, worked at the bakery where the treat was made when she was a freshman and helped create the record-setting treat.

“I think it’s cool Iowa State is attempting to break our record,” she said. “I think we might to try reclaim our record in the spirit of competition. It would be a fun activity to do again.”

Murray Blackwelder, adviser in the university theme committee, said he thinks the committee will break the Rice Krispie Treat record.

“Everything is moving right along,” he said. “I have complete faith in the committee.”

The treat will be accompanied in the parade by Snap, Crackle and Pop, the Rice Krispie mascots, Armbrecht said.

“Kellogg’s brought it to my attention we can use the costumes,” she said. “Kellogg is really excited about the treat [and] has been supportive the whole time of our efforts.”

Following the parade, the treat will be sold on central campus starting around 2 p.m. Saturday. The proceeds will be given to Youth & Shelter Services in Ames, Veishea’s main charity, she said.

“I love[d] the idea when I heard it because it fits well with the university’s year-long theme,” said Blackwelder, vice president for external affairs. “An alumni developed the treat, and it’s a fun thing to wrap up our year with and be highlighted during Veishea.”