Tower of Humanity: How the Aydlett twins turned a Guinness dream into a community movement on Guam

By Bryan Manabat

The Aydlett twins never expected a childhood fascination with building blocks to evolve into one of Guam’s signature community projects. In fact, as Landon Aydlett puts it, even as a professional forecaster, he never saw it coming.

“See, I’m a forecaster. I did not forecast this,” he said in an interview at Micronesia Mall, where the ninth Tower of Humanity broke ground on Aug. 29.

What began as a simple attempt to break a Guinness World Record has, over the years, transformed into a regional movement—one that blends engineering, charity, public outreach, and community resilience. Now in its ninth iteration, the Tower of Humanity has become a fixture of Guam’s civic landscape, drawing volunteers from across Micronesia and beyond.

The identical Aydlett twins, meteorologists at the National Weather Service— Brandon and Landon—had long imagined building the world’s tallest Link‑a‑Lock tower. In 2022, with enough logs finally collected, they attempted the record and succeeded, breaking two Guinness World Records with a tower modeled after Chicago’s Willis Tower.

“It was a lifelong dream of ours,” Landon said. “Something that we had fantasized doing for many years, breaking a Guinness World Record for the tallest link‑a‑lock structure.

But the moment that changed everything wasn’t the record itself — it was the community response.

The project revealed something deeper: the potential for community connection.

As Brandon recalled, “As we’re up on the tower, we’re seeing kids and families doing these sponsored blocks and just putting their names on the blocks, donating to Habitat.

 “It was just such a surreal moment seeing that community involvement, the way the media became a part of it, telling the story, but also really making it a Guam story.”

Landon and Brandon Aydlett are building their ninth twin tower project at Micronesia Mall. Photo by Bryan Manabat

After the 2022 record‑setting tower, the twins faced a practical question: what to do with thousands of logs? They considered selling them, auctioning them, or donating them to schools. But then Micronesia Mall asked them to build a Christmas tower—and the project found its new identity.

The twins decided that every future tower would spotlight a local charity. “We’re not a nonprofit,” Landon explained. “We’re just a catalyst to bring the community together around a cause.”

Their first partnership was with Habitat for Humanity. The symbolism was irresistible: if you can build a tower, why not help build homes? Families sponsored blocks, wrote their names on them, and donated to Habitat. The tower became a physical representation of community generosity.

Since then, the Tower of Humanity has partnered with multiple charities, each chosen for its direct impact and low overhead. “There’s so many charities in Guam that do so many good, great works,” Brandon said. “When everybody does a little bit, the community benefits greatly.”

This year marks the twins’ fourth partnership with Be Heartfelt, a Guam‑based charity that provides weekend meals to children in need. “This charity… collects food donations for school kids in need,” Brandon said. “It is Guam‑based… and the past few years they have branched out to include Saipan and Palau.”

Be Heartfelt has grown from serving a few dozen children to more than 350 across Guam, Saipan, and Palau. Their annual food drive—boosted by the Tower of Humanity—has become one of the region’s most successful community‑led hunger relief efforts.

The twins’ signature “Cans for Humanity” competition returns this October, where teams build their own structures from donated canned goods. Last year, the drive collected 27,000 cans. This year, the goal is 30,000.

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“It’s crazy that little kids, five, six, seven years old, don’t have food on the weekends,” Landon said. “That’s the crazy part.”

Tower of Humanity Project 9 is the largest yet—more than 115,000 logs, surpassing even their world‑record tower by 30,000 blocks. Volunteers from Guam, Japan, Korea, Canada, China, the mainland U.S., and the military have joined the effort.

This year’s tower is also deeply symbolic. The twins are building twin towers scaled to 25 feet, in observance of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. “We really want to pay homage to the people who sacrificed their lives in the service of others,” Landon said.

The north tower’s spire will bring the structure to its full height. Around the build site, 35 newspaper front pages from the days after 9/11 remind visitors of the unity and resilience that followed the tragedy.

“We want to focus on the aftermath, the unity, the resilience, the strength of Americans and people around the world coming together for a common good,” Landon said.

The tower is scheduled for completion on Sept. 9, with a lighting ceremony set for Sept. 10, featuring the Guam Territorial Band, the governor, and other speakers. The center court will glow red, white, and blue.

This year’s project also aligns with National Preparedness Month, established by FEMA in 2004. The twins will partner with Homeland Security and FEMA to host a major outreach fair at Micronesia Mall, bringing together dozens of public safety and emergency response agencies.

For the Aydletts—whose day jobs revolve around hazard forecasting—this partnership is a natural extension of their mission.

“National Preparedness Month… was started in response to the 9‑11 terror attacks,” Landon said. “We’re going to be partnering with Homeland Security and FEMA to host a big outreach fair.”

The twins see preparedness as another form of community care—one that complements the charitable work of the tower.

Eight days into construction, the twins reflected on how far the project has come. “This really took a life of its own,” Landon said. “We never anticipated this.”

But they’re not slowing down. Next year, they plan to break both of their Guinness World Records—and possibly set new ones.

“We always like a new challenge and a new reason to build,” Landon said. “Bigger and better.”

For Brandon, the legacy is simple: “The legacy of these projects is just a way of helping Guam, helping the community… providing a rallying point for the community to be part of the community.”

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