{"id":776790,"date":"2026-07-03T03:09:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T03:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/776790\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T03:09:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T03:09:19","slug":"regina-man-falls-short-of-tree-planting-record-but-says-hes-proud-of-what-he-accomplished","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/776790\/","title":{"rendered":"Regina man falls short of tree-planting record, but says he’s proud of what he accomplished"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

Kenny Chaplin took on the biggest challenge of his life.<\/p>\n

The Regina man had the goal of planting 24,000 trees in 24 hours, to reclaim the Guinness World Record that previously belonged to him. Chaplin broke the record for most trees planted in a day in 2001 and held the title for 20 years.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, he tried to reclaim it in a field near the village of Buena Vista, Sask., about 40 kilometres northwest of Regina. He was able to plant 17,000 trees in 18 hours before his body gave out on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted a challenge more than anything, challenge myself. And this opportunity just kind of grew out of this desire to test myself,\u201d Chaplin said.<\/p>\n

\"KennyKenny Chaplin tried to reclaim the world record for most trees planted in 24 hours. He originally broke the record in 2001 and held it for 20 years. (Submitted by Kenny Chaplin)<\/p>\n

He said the attempt was only possible thanks to the help of the broader community. <\/p>\n

The planting effort started on Tuesday at 8:34 a.m. CST.<\/p>\n

He had 30,000 trees donated by forest seedling company PRT.<\/p>\n

The company also contacted David Tonken, an arborist and president of Let\u2019s Plant Trees, an Indigenous reforestation project. Tonken said he was immediately inspired by Chaplin.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou hear Kenny’s story and what he wants to achieve and the reasons for it, and you’re not going to say no. And nobody did,\u201d Tonken said.<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Tonken is the president of Let’s Plant Trees. He’s from North Saanich, B.C. (Hannah Scott\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Tonken was amazed by the community support.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe needed a generator, one showed up. We needed a back brace for Kenny, and they put it online and within 20 minutes somebody had it here.\u201d<\/p>\n

People from Buena Vista and surrounding areas were also arriving throughout the day \u2014 some to witness and some to offer their help.<\/p>\n

At one point, Chaplin\u2019s doctor went to the site to check on a cortisone shot he had applied to Chaplin’s hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was so engrossed in what was going on that he put himself in front of the box of trees and started to hand the trees to me,\u201d Chaplin said.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Almost 17,000 trees planted in world record attempt near Buena Vista, Sask.:\"\"<\/p>\n

Almost 17,000 trees planted in world record attempt near Buena Vista, Sask.<\/p>\n

Kenny Chaplin broke the Guiness record in 2001 by planting 15,170 trees near Prince Albert, Sask. The title is now held by another Canadian and Chaplin was trying to plant 24,000 in 24 hours to put his name back on top.<\/p>\n

Shannon Dekteroff, a massage therapist and Chaplin\u2019s friend, was there with him for the whole challenge. Every hour she would assist with back massage and give him a painkiller.<\/p>\n

She said that while seeing her friend not fulfill his original goal was emotional, his accomplishment was still impressive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not gonna feel disappointed, what he did was incredible. He beat his own record easily,\u201d Dekteroff said.<\/p>\n

\"OneKenny Chaplin, with the help of his twin brother Curt Chaplin, planted a total of 17,000 Jack pine seedlings in Buena Vista, Sask. (Hannah Scott\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Chaplin started the day with a pace of 800 trees per hour. He eventually reached up to 1,000 seedlings per hour.<\/p>\n

At 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday, after 18 hours of planting, Chaplin\u2019s body gave up.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy body, my mind and my spirit just said enough is enough. And I had to walk away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Chaplin is still physically recovering. He told CBC that despite the outcome, he feels really happy with the result.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can be proud of what we did out there. We did it right,\u201d Chaplin said, emphasizing the support he and his team received.<\/p>\n

Chaplin and his brother, another key part of the operation, will be planting the remaining seedlings in the coming days.<\/p>\n

\"SomePRT donated a total of 30,000 Jack pine seedlings to be planted in Buena Vista, Sask. (Hannah Scott\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Chaplin said the ultimate goal was always to create a forest that people can be a part of.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan’t wait to walk through it with my daughter, you know, she’s 14,\u201d he said. \u201cShe may be pushing me in a wheelchair through it, but I can’t wait to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":776791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-776790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=776790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/776791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=776790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=776790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}