Superheroes unite to benefit the Columbia Public Schools Foundation

COLUMBIA — A team of five Superman characters, all under four feet tall, raced around in their red capes across Hickman High School’s football field.

Superheroes and supervillains alike banded together Saturday to raise money for the Columbia Public Schools Foundation by trying to beat the current world record of 1,580 people dressed as recognizable superheroes set by Will Ferrell on Oct. 2.

And even though the world record wasn’t broken, the 762 people who did participate seemed to have a "super fun time," said emcee Paul Love.

Event coordinator Sean Spence said sponsors of the event brought in more than $3,000 for the foundation. Donations from the caped crusaders have yet to be totaled.

Though there was quite the assortment of costumes, the most commonly featured were Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and their female counterparts. Some costumes, such as Quail Man, Zorro and Harry Potter, stood out among the crowd of common characters.

Most of the Bellman family arrived in matching Captain Underpants costumes. The character comes from a book series of the same name.  

“Supporting a school book as part of the superhero theme was really a stroke of genius on this one’s part,” Michael Bellman said, gesturing toward his wife.

“We wanted to do something that we could use the clothes again,” Kirstin Bellman said. “We wanted to go as a family. We wanted to be something different.”

The Bellmans wore long thermal underwear with white briefs worn on the outside and red capes made from fabric store remnants.

Katie Glover, a teacher at Rock Bridge High School, came dressed as comic book and movie character Lara Croft, Tomb Raider.

“I figured Catwoman would be too common, so I went on the Internet and looked for superheroes on Wikipedia,” Glover said. “I had brown shorts, so it was easy.”

Axie Hindman, dressed as Batwoman, came with her husband, former Mayor Darwin Hindman, who was dressed as Superman. The couple has two grandchildren who attend Columbia Public Schools.

Hindman said she decided to be Batwoman because she thought it would be recognizable and the costume would be easily put together.

“It’s kind of surprising,” Axie Hindman said. “It took a while to find all of the things. I didn’t want to just rent one. My husband’s cape is an old kite. I’m wearing a curtain for my cape.”

When asked who her favorite superhero was, Axie Hindman motioned toward her husband.

"He's over here," she said. "Superman."

Scott Robbins won a prize for his Transformer costume, and songs from superhero shows and movies played throughout the event.

Attendee David Lawrence, dressed as Batman, said, “It’s good to recognize that there are superheroes in the Columbia Public Schools.”

He and his wife, Anna Lawrence, who was dressed as She-ra, He-man’s twin sister, said they did not recognize some of the costumes because they do not yet have children. 

“We don’t have family in the schools yet, but we are real supporters,” she said. “I believe a good school system is good for the community.”