By TRICIA NEAL, CJ Staff Writer
Commonwealth Journal
Somerset —
What can you do with more than 100 feet of aluminum gutter? Build a banana split. That’s what families at White Oak Baptist Church in Nancy did recently to kick off the church’s Wednesday night Awana Bible study program. Church member Eric Ste-phens of Affordable Seam-less Gutter used 106 feet of gutter to form the shape of a cross — 71 feet long and 35 feet wide — in the church’s gymnasium. The trough more than filled the length and width of the facility’s basketball court. The church used 50 gallons of ice cream, three cases of bananas, and countless containers of whipped cream, sprinkles, and chocolate, caramel and strawberry syrup to create the monstrosity, according to Pastor Reggie Tipton. After the task was complete, church members enjoyed their creation in individual bowls. This wasn’t the church’s first endeavor to create a giant banana split. Last year, Stephens built an approximately 65-foot long gutter channel for the same reason. Does an 106-foot long banana split break the world record? Tipton isn’t sure. “I’ve tried to look it up, and I can’t find anything about a record for a longest banana split,” he said. “Maybe it’s Kentucky’s longest,” he noted, adding that the event was really just meant to be fun for the church’s youth — not to attempt to break any records. White Oak Baptist Church is located on Ky. 196 in Nancy. The church, the oldest American Baptist Association-affilliated church in the country, will celebrate 210 years in 2011.