Punk Rope instructor, Ash Vaidya, and hubby, Ken, helped Chicagoans work off a few extra calories at the Taste of Chicago Festival with several spirited Punk Rope demo classes in early July. While Sen Obama was not in attendance, we are told he would have approved. The little ones below sure did.

On June 21, Punk Rope made it’s 2nd annual appearance at Bronx River Park, which is a stone’s throw from the world-famous Bronx Zoo. It was a gorgeous day for hopping. The crowd was pumped. We were pumped. But thanks to a bunch of subway snafus, we were also late. As a result, we had to go on later than scheduled and followed none other than Maria from Sesame Street. C’mon gimme a break. You never want to go on AFTER Sesame Street. Especially because Maria is amazing and talented and fun. No matter. We got on stage and had more than 30 kids rocking out with us for a full half hour. We had them pretend to be lions, professional basketball players, surfers, and water skiers. We think they had a really good time.

The day started in amusing fashion. My buddy Joel leaves me a message as I’m getting ready to head out to Brooklyn to set up for the party. “Hey Tim, got your invite. I think I can make it. Um, is there any dress code?” Then it dawned on me that that Joel thought the Bushwick Country Club was a “real” country club, not a dive bar with the most ridiculous miniature golf course you’ve ever seen. I was tempted to tell him to wear a suit and tie but on a 90 degree day that would just be plain cruel. Anyway, Joel and about 60 other guests made the trek to the BCC where we ate, drank, played mini golf, and made merry from about 1:30pm to 8pm. The event was a resounding success and lots of folks commented on the great vibe. Punk Ropers really are nice people. Anyway, special thanks to Crumpler for donating 3 amazingly beautiful bags for door prizes. Can’t wait to do this again next year.