Photos by Isabell Macrina
Despite the heat, children run amok after the bubbles
By Isabell Macrina
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Keeping children entertained can be a challenge, especially on a hot summer day. There is a solution, and it brings fascination to their eyes and gets even the adults smiling. Bubbles.
“Kids love bubbles,” children’s librarian Chris P. said when asked why this event rolled through the Westwood Public Library. “Its always their favorite part of story time… and he’s a minor celebrity, been here for years. It always draws a crowd.”
This local celebrity is one Mr. Vinny the Bubble Guy, his official title. On Wednesday afternoon he came to Westwood Public Library, armed with his homemade bubble wand and soap and determined to make these kids smile.
And smile they certainly did. There was a speaker with music on in the background, but it was lost beneath children’s laughter. Vinny’s bubble sound effects, a loud “bwop” is the best it can be dictated, and his playful banter with the kids was a delight for them and adults alike.
The opportunity rose to ask Vinny why bubbles of all things? As a member of Toe Jam Puppet Band, he shared that they used bubbles in their shows. They had bubblers making so many small ones and the wands you could buy from a store, but it had Vinny thinking… How big could he make it?
Vinny also chose to structure his events a little more so all the kids could enjoy it more. “A lot of the smaller kids weren’t getting in on the action,” he says, because the older and bigger kids would get the bubbles first. “So doing a show where kids got a chance in age groups was something I wanted to try.”
Having the children come up by age was a great way for the younger ones to have a chance to pop some bubbles. The bigger kids got to run first, chase the bubbles and have their fun, but the little kids got to watch bubbles as big as they were rise in the air before descending. The toddlers were able to get the bubbles too, albeit some with parental help.
Even adults got in on the fun! Vinny encouraged everyone to chase the bubbles towards the end of the show. Adults with their kids, and some without, went racing after the iridescent bubbles.
“Kids can’t resist bubbles. Even the older kids, some get brought here, who think they’re too cool for it end up joining in.” Vinny said after the show. “And I forgot about adults in the beginning! It seems ridiculous to them at the start, but in the end they couldn’t resist.”
Between acting like he is scared of the four-year-olds as they chase him and the bubbles down, and encouraging them not to pop the small ones, “baby poppers,” Vinny brings the magic of larger-than-life bubbles to the kids and adults. It changes a hot summer day into a fun activity with just dish soap and water.
After all, what is more magical to a child than bubbles?
