MARIETTA - It is not every day that the mayor, a city councilman, the city manager and 137 others dress in Civil War era clothing and dance the Virginia Reel in Glover Park. But that is exactly what happened Friday, as the city set a Guinness World Record for the largest Virginia Reel. The dance was in conjunction with Turner Classic Movies' 70th anniversary celebration of the film "Gone With the Wind," which will be screened at the Earl Smith Strand Theatre tonight at 7:45.

Mayor Bill Dunaway said he and his wife enjoyed participating in the dance, which was chosen for its famous scene in the 1939 film.

"My wife is a dancer, so she lead me through it. But it was fun, and it's been exciting," Dunaway said.

City Councilman Grif Chalfant said he decided to participate in the Virginia Reel when he found out more men were needed.

"I can't tell you how much fun it was," Chalfant said. "You don't get to do this often - or ever - so we thought we would."

Robert Osborne, host of Turner Classic Movies, said "Gone With the Wind" was the first film shown on TCM when it launched in 1994. Before the dance began, he introduced Ann Rutherford, who played Carreen O'Hara, Scarlett's sister, in the 1939 film. Rutherford also appeared in classic films such as "Pride and Prejudice" and as Polly Benedict in the famous Andy Hardy films.

"I'm so pleased that so many young people are hooked on 'Gone With the Wind,' and when they raise children, they will expose them to this magnificent motion picture. We're good for another 70 years," Rutherford said.

Rutherford reflected on her history with the film, saying, "It was a nothing part - it's still a nothing part - but that nothing part has turned my golden years into platinum. Long may she wave."

Couples then lined up in front of one another to begin the traditional dance. They changed partners, danced in circles and eventually found their way back to their original partners. Many of the men were dressed in Confederate uniforms, while others were dressed in period suits and attire. The ladies' hoop skirts flowed gracefully as they spun, with ringlets of hair bouncing from underneath ribbons and dainty caps.

After the dance, a large poster hanging from the Glover Park stage was dropped, confetti shot from each side of the stage and an 8-foot long, 6-foot tall cake made to look like Scarlett's home, Tara, was revealed.

The cake's creator, pastry chef Mark Brickman of Baker's Man, Inc., said that the cake took three people 40 hours to make, and that 250 pounds of the fondant icing was used to create the plantation home.

"This was certainly the biggest cake I've ever made, and it wasn't really a reality of how big it was going to be until we received the Styrofoam frame and knew it was going to take a lot of cake and a lot of icing," Brickman said.

Many local residents and "Gone With the Wind" fans from outside the county came out to witness the celebration. Hubert Brown and his sister, Jerlene Barnes, were born in Marietta in the 1930s and continue to reside in the city.

Brown said his father watched as the Strand Theatre was being built, and his brother, Dewey, ran the projector at the Strand when the film first premiered there in 1940.

Barnes said, "I saw 'Gone With the Wind' the first time it came to the Strand. I would come to the Strand most every Saturday, and then the admittance was 15 cents."

Regarding the dance, Brown said, "This was fantastic - the ladies in the beautiful dresses, and the men in those colorful uniforms."

Rutherford also said she enjoyed the dance and the afternoon's beautiful weather.

"I've been having the loveliest time," Rutherford said. "The combination of 'Gone With the Wind' and Marietta is natural. Every city needs a background, and this is a background. A beautiful one."

When asked what she enjoyed most about acting in the film, she said she was fascinated with meeting everyone in the large cast.

"It tickled me to death. Even rotten people that were just so good they were rotten and you loved hating them. And I loved watching the book come to life," Rutherford said.

"It's a universal story - there's something in it for everybody. At that time, we didn't dream of a film running more than a year. Who knew 70 years later the same thing would be going strong?"