Cheaven Roberts spun. She danced. She twirled her tri-colored hula hoop that her friend from Austin, Texas made for her. She had named it Primary.

The Family Farm, a local jam band, played at the Ampitheatre in Thornden Park. Incense burned as people swung hula hoops in a fluid movement from hips, to arms, to neck, all to the beat of improvised drummers.

The group calls themselves the Cleanheart Hoop Troop.

‘For me, it’s almost a spiritual thing,’ said Jessica Critz, a kindergarten teacher at Stockbridge Valley Central School District. ‘It’s good for the heart, the body, the spirit, everything that you’d need to take care of.’

The Hoop Troop gathered in Thornden Park Tuesday from 2 to 8 p.m. to celebrate World Hoop Day. Started in 2006, World Hoop Day is a not-for-profit group that raises funds to bring hula hoops to underprivileged children around the world, according to the World Hoop Day Web site.

The group’s motto is that the simple hoop will ‘bring joy to an otherwise devastating situation.’ Their regular meetings are Mondays and Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m. in Thornden Park.

Roberts, a senior international relations and policy studies major at Syracuse University, has been hooping for about a month. Though she is not part of the Hoop Troop, she said the members persuaded her to come to the bi-weekly meetings. She has been involved since.

‘Two girls from the (Hoop) Troop came up to me when I was hooping on my lawn,’ Roberts said. ‘I went to a meeting and loved it. It’s just plain fun with a lot of unique, caring, eclectic people. I love hanging out with them.’

Herby One, publisher of local music guide Upstate Live and a member of the Hoop Troop, said that the event is not only for a good cause but also promotes personal well-being.

‘It’s called ‘Cleanheart.’ It’s free, clean fun. Hooping promotes fitness and family. It brings together people from different cultures, different ethnicities, different walks of life,’ he said.

Aside from Upstate Live, the event was also sponsored by Phoebe’s Restaurant and Coffee Lounge, Critz Farms and other local businesses. The event also hosted homemade hula hoop vendors and artists that raised money for World Hoop Day.

One, whose daughter, Haley, introduced him to the group, said he wanted to bring bands so more people would come.

‘I thought this kind of thing needs music. Music brings people together and the bands could get a little bit of promotion from it. It’s a win-win situation here,’ One said.

Ashley Drum, a senior environmental science major at The State University of New York College of Environmental Science, said that she is happy with the turnout of Syracuse’s first official World Hoop Day celebration.

‘We’ve been getting a lot of support and followers, which is great,’ said Drum, also an organizer of the event. ‘It started from a small group of friends and now we’re raising money for a good cause.’

smtracey@syr.edu

Published on September 9, 2009 at 12:00 pm