Skipping in Central Park

Here’s a recap of a skip through New York’s Central Park that happened in September 0f 2001..

Lauren, Jay, Elaine, Gary, Heidi, and Bob [Heidi's fun-loving dog] had a wonderful skip Saturday September 8th, 2001 in Central Park! We met at Columbus Circle and did some hula-hooping and jump-hooping. Then, skipping on, we took an awesome ride on the Carousel, which Jay had been dying to do, and saw lots of little kiddies with balloons running and skipping about in their playful fashion.

We continued skipping to the top of the mall (with Gary singing a lot of the way), where we saw the International Harvest Festival. There was Celtic music, meditation-type chanting, and Gospel too! (Lauren did a Harmonious Skip through the audience looking for other skippers, but ours remained a small – albeit dedicated – crowd.) So we did a pretty difficult Down-the-Stairs Skip [which Bob liked] toward the lake, where we encountered a huge chess tournament, and a gigantic chessboard with a group of kids hopping and jumping around on it. It was a great sight.

We shouted out to lots of people as we skipped through, of course, including a bewildered-looking guy who was watching us as he tried to read “Crime and Punishment”. (I assume it was hard to do both at once!) Before we called it a day, Jay, Gary, and Lauren did a Sprinkler Skip — right through the yard — and were NOT at all harassed by authorities for doing so. Yay! Then Heidi, Elaine, and Gary headed south-west to find a bookstore [maybe they skipped all the way there!] and Jay and Lauren went back to the Harvest Festival. The sun shone, the music played, the people smiled, and the skippers skipped. A truly fun-filled day!

New Yorkers Skip Across the Brooklyn Bridge

On October 7th, 2000, the New York City skippers leapt across the Brooklyn Bridge…Here are a couple of recaps from what ended up being two groups of skippers!!!!!! The great images were taken by Andrzej Bialuski. (Notice the twin towers that were still standing at that time.)

“MANY RIVERS TO SKIP” By NYC skipper Gavin Heck

So we gathered 15 strong in the early afternoon after a late night of making placards with slogans from Walt Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” and Elizabeth Bishop’s “Invitation to Miss Marianne Moore”. Some new faces, some vintage skippers, all eager… put on their signs and began the grueling but joyful skip across the bridge.

“What are you protesting?” a passerby chimed “Gravity” I said without thinking much, and smiled.

A few passersby joined in for moments, a few smiled and took pictures.

We stopped to sweat and pant and enjoy the beautiful mid-day sky. We skipped on stone and wood and felt the old bridge yield a little with each buoyant step.

People tried to read our signs

“how curious you are to me!”
“from Brooklyn, over the Brooklyn Bridge, on this fine morning, please come flying”
“we love you – there is perfection in you also”
“please come flying”

They were bobbing their heads with our motion.

Before we knew it we were at the base of the Brooklyn side  of the bridge, where one of the later stanzas is in the metalwork…

” Flow on, river! flow with the flood-tide, and ebb with the ebb-tide! Frolic on, created and scallop-edg’d waves! Gorgeous clouds of the sunset! Drench with your splendor me, or the men and women generations after me! Cross from shore to shore, countless crowds of passengers! Stand up, tall masts of Manhattan! stand up, beautiful hills of Brooklyn! Throb, baffled and curious brain! throw out questions and answers!”

It was time for catching our breath, pictures and goodbye for some, off to lunch and drinks (and more skipping) for others. Sincere thanks to all who participated, especially Andrezj for the wonderful pictures

Skipping the Brooklyn Bridge by Laurie Sheppard

Thanks for the Brooklyn Bridge Skip. I have never gone across it and I am a native New Yorker. My daughter Lala fell asleep right at 2pm, and at that time there were 6 1/2 of us. I was on a pretty tight time schedule, so asked if anyone wanted to skip with me even though the head skipper hadn’t arrived yet.

This great couple, from San Francisco, now New Yorkers were also psyched to go, so we took off spreading the word. The other 3 decided to wait. So Bob, Aya and I were off and skipping excited about crossing the Bridge. This couple were like Honeymooners laughing and skipping the whole way making people go under like the London Bridge game.  We met photographers along the way who read about the Skip in Time Out and thought there would be more of us, but we assured them more would come.

We met two skippers coming the other way who must have started earlier. People got a kick out it, and two kids imitated the happy couple while the
mom remarked that it’s contagious and I convinced the mom and her friend to try it and they did and started laughing.

On my way back, the couple skipped ahead onto their next adventure and I met up with Gavin and about 15 others with signs and happy faces.

Thanks for getting me out of my neighborhood and the exercise of a mile each way. I didn’t know it only took 15 minutes to cross.

Skipping in Oklahoma…is OK!

“The SOONER you skip, the SOONER you’ll smile.” -Dave May

Dave May is an inspiring skipper in the Sooner State. A big part of his life work is inspiring young people to be true to themselves and get fit in the process. Dave (left) is pictured here with his daughter Emily and Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry.

In the summer of 2004, Dave traveled the state and shared his message of fitness and fun with schools and libraries. He has even enlisted the support of Oklahoma State Senator David Myers who will officially proclaimed Dave the “Skipping Ambassador of Oklahoma!”

Here are Dave May’s thoughts on skipping, “It’s almost impossible to skip and frown at the same time. Skipping raises your heart rate, burns calories, builds muscle, improves physical coordination, forces you to overcome fear of what other people might think, reconnects you with the joy of childhood, makes you and most people who see you smile, and it’s absolutely free! Skipping makes you healthier and happier at the same time, that’s why I want my fellow Oklahomans to discover the joy of skipping.”

Grandmothers Skip

I have six grandchildren (one more arriving next week and one more due in March for a total of eight) and we love to skip together. I have loved skipping since I was a little girl and I have never been able to restrain myself when an open stretch of sidewalk or path beckons me. It is a true delight to have my grandchildren skip with me. I celebrate you and will think of you whenever I skip. –Marelu Marson, Center for Spiritual Living, Seattle,WA

The Spirit of Skipping

I love the spirit skipping represents: inner joy, community, and gentle rebellion. May the skipping movement continue!!” –E. Gerber, Ph.D., New York, NY

Skipping in Charlotte

This skip report came from a skipper named Kim in Charlotte, NC who was iskip’s first head skipper!

Charlotte finally had a group skip….about 14 people joined the fun…. It was a spur of the moment skip. I noticed that people were walking along my street with numbers on…I went outside to find out why and they said it was for MS and that they would be walking for 3 days over 35 miles…. They told me that they would go from my home about one more mile for the day and that the water station was right up the street. I was so impressed that most had the disease that I started to give them inspiration when they were in front of my house. (Which is on a very busy street). I walked with a few and then decided that I would skip the rest of the way… once I began a few more joined in and more and more and more and then saw some friends of mine who also joined in and the other walkers were so impressed and relieved they were near the end that they started to skip as well. Some of the skippers themselves were even crippled with MS and started to gain all of this energy by the skipping going on around them. It was a blast.

The Lima Bean Festival – Lima, Ohio

When Helen Fink in Lima, Ohio heard that I was going to be in Indiana for the summer, she invited me to come skip with her!

Shortly after I arrived, she called to say the annual Lima Bean Festival was happening in just two weeks and she wanted to set up some skipping appearances for me while I was there.

Helen did an amazing job. She registered me to skip in 5K walk/run event, convinced the YMCA to sponsor a JUMP START YOUR JOY workshop, and scheduled several media interviews. She also bought a bunch of smiley face buttons, keychains, and bottle of bubbles to help us spread as much positive energy around Lima as possible. That’s exactly what we did!

The Lima News took a picture of us skipping with a bunch of kids at the Lima Bean Festival and they ran it on the front page of their Sunday paper! We also got coverage on both the Fox and NBC TV stations…And did an in-studio radio interview too!

The highlight of my trip was getting to meet and skip with Beanie the Lima Bean…Lima’s big green mascot. As you can see from the pictures, Beanie is quite enthusiastic about skipping!

Talk about Midwestern hospitality! They really rolled out the red carpet and made me feel incredibly welcomed. The thing that I have realized the most from my summer in the Midwest is that this really is the heart of America!! There is something to be said for a more simple way of life.

I am extremely grateful to Helen Fink for being such a wonderful hostess…I know that after our time together we will be life long friends!! Skip on, Helen! Skip on, Lima!!

Tax Day Skip in Seattle

In April 2000, the head skipper in Seattle got some nice press coverage for a Tax Day Skip she organized in Seattle, WA. This article ran in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer covered the event. Congrats, Emily!! Here is her report on how the skip went:

Less people than I had expected ended up coming, but what we lacked in numbers, we made up in fun. Alki seemed a bit quiet for a beautiful Saturday. Maybe the stock market thing has got people down. Wish they knew how much they need to skip. Our small parade of four skipped for over an hour. We had a couple of joiners mid-skip. Channel 13 was there shooting film. We made the ten o’clock news!!! The attendees were very enthusiastic and full of great ideas on how to promote ourselves and our happy movement mission. The weather was fantastic. The first group skip was like a dream come true for me. I know that sounds silly, but… I just thought it was a real hoot. A cute boy told me he thought skipping was “Brilliant!” Little kids looked at us in wonder. So did old people. Ok, everybody thought we were a little crazy. Hooray! I called out to people to join in. I would never do that alone. I skipped farther than I would have alone. When we finished, my body ached. Thank you to Tatia, Melinda and Sherry for coming out. It was great fun.

We later heard from Emily that while she was hanging out flyers at a happy hour the night before her skip, one of the guys she told about the skip ended coming to the skip. And, are you ready for this? They are now married!

Emily skipped before the ceremony to get rid of the jitters and to celebrate her good fortune. Some wedding guests were also spotted skipping. Here’s to a lifetime of skipping happily ever after! 

Time Magazine

Here’s what Time Magazine‘s short feature about skipping in April 2000 had to say…

DON QUIXOTE OF THE WEEK: Can there be any physical activity not yet annexed by the gym and footwear folk and marketed as the latest fitness craze? At least one–skipping down the street. Since founding iskip a year ago in San Francisco, Kim Corbin has uncovered a hidden swath of skippers, mostly adult. So far, 14 cities have clubs run by head skippers, and group skips are coordinated through a website, iskip.com. Upcoming events include a tax-day skip in Seattle on April 15 and a skip in New York City’s Central Park in May. Corbin hopes to skip across the country to (where else?) Mamou, LA.

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