Last Saturday my 10 year old son convinced me to drive 2.5 hours one way to the Chico Yoyo Club for a 2 hour session. He just got done with his semester and worked pretty hard to get all his homework done. We love Chico, and decided to go.
The first thing we noticed when we went to Bird in Hand was a kid working there named Gentry Stein. Anyone heard of him? hehehe My son was stunned. It was like one of us older folks seeing Jimmy Page working at our local guitar shop. I introduced my son to Gentry, and they started working on the first trick card.
My son has been yoyo’ing for about 3 months, and completed the first trick card and got a free T-Shirt. Gentry is an awesome kid, with great patience. There was another Bird in Hand employee there, and although I forgot his name, he was was also great. Both had great patience, and of course, amazing skills.
All the kids there were great. Speaking as a parent, they were all nice kids who were polite, didn’t cuss, and helped the other kids with tricks. I saw Gentry do some amazing tricks, and saw him do simple tricks like Elevator with complete perfection and great instruction. Perhaps the highlight of the day was a 6 year old who spent all day trying to do Rock the Baby. Gentry was very patient while instructing him, and the kid finally did it! He was so thrilled.
We finally left at about 4pm. My son and I got about 2 hours of instruction from one of yoyo’s greats. We both had a great time. And to make it even better, we bought a used CYYC Del Toro and a used YYF Yuksta for $43.00 for both.
If any of you live within 2-3 hours of Chico, a trip to the club is worth it. BTW, I don’t think the club meets when it rains, so its best to call Bird in Hand before you make the trip.
Speaking of people being great, it sounds like your son has a pretty great parent as well. Not many parents would make the trip. I have 2 kids and I can see me doing the same thing. I attended my first competition over the summer here in Kansas. There were lots of kids from many hours away. It was kinda cool to see the parents just hanging around while their kids acted like kids. Props to you!
Sounds like a great trip. I’d do the same for my kids, but to take a trip that long like that, well, it just doesn’t work out too well for me.
(old back injuries make it difficult to drive long distance or fly a lot, so I try to minimize it when I can and do it only when necessary).
Right now, I kind of have to see where my kids are with yoyo. They are starting out, just like me, bit with their young ages, they are progressing at their own pace.
I think the real issue of this wonderful story is that yoyo clubs and meets are fun places to meet other people who love the yoyo and to learn new stuff as well as just have an overall good time.
The odd part is my family is planning a trip to Disneyland in a couple of weeks. That’s 8 hours in the car there, and 8 hours back. Agony for me! Oh well, like with live sound, I’ll take the pain for the enjoyment. We all enjoy it, so I just grin and bear it.
If my kids have some real interest in the yoyo, you can bet I’ll gladly take the pain of the trip for the lessons they’ll learn and the good time they’ll have. They aren’t going to be the only ones having fun! They are already eyeing my “good stuff” and my “secret stash” that of course isn’t so secret: my CLYW yoyos! I mean, how secret can it be if they are all out in the open, right?
Chico is only 2 hours from my location. Maybe a trip in March…
In the meantime, I need to find a yoyo club/store in Anaheim or that general area so I can expand the collection a bit. Maybe take the kids along and let them try some yoyos.
That is why I like to go to a yoyo meet or gatherings. It really charge my yoyo love battery to the max from only talk to other yoyoer and share some tricks.
Back injuries suck. :-\ I understand that 2 hours is long time to be in pain. But if you are feeling ok on Saturday, I highly recommend it.
I’m a family law attorney. Unfortunately I see some horrible parents. I’ve learned that there is one thing I can do to guarantee that I’m a great parent (yep, GREAT parent) … spend time with my son. It’s really that easy. We yoyo together, we read together, and we backpack together. And we watch TV together. It’s what kids crave (until they become teenagers, lol)
So note to parents… spend time with your kids. The rest will fall into place.
