Southern Maryland News

The Bubble Lady awes children with her creations

- By TIFFANY WATSON twatson@somdnews.com

Local families were excited to see what the “Bubble Lady,” also known as Margie Lynch, could create with her unique skills at the P.D. Brown Memorial Library in Waldorf last Wednesday. She presented the audience with huge bubbles and an explanatio­n of the science behind making each type.

“I love doing this for the kids,” said Lynch, 68, of Baltimore County. “I hope each child took away the enjoyment of learning because that’s what missing from schools these days: the ability to have fun and learn at the same time.”

The fun included all types of impressive structures: giant bubbles (up to 5 feet in diameter), long bubbles (up to 18 feet long) and smoke bubbles (made with dry ice and hot water), plus putting audience members inside of a giant bubble at the end

of the show. At one point Lynch’s assistant, Hugh Kinsey, put his hand inside several bubbles without popping them and the audience went wild.

Lynch has been performing her bubble-making program for eight years and said she became “the bubble lady” when she received a bubble-making wand 20 years ago. When Lynch was a school counselor, she made bubbles at lunchtime for her students.

After suffering a stroke in December, Lynch was afraid she would be unable to continue her performanc­es. Although her balance is a little off, she puts all her energy into making bigger and better bubbles for children to enjoy. Now her former students are bringing their kids to her bubble show and it brings nothing but pure joy to her heart, she said.

Kinsey, the Bubble Lady’s intern/assistant, is a history and education major in college. He said he saw Lynch’s show last year and thought it was the coolest thing to see up close.

“It was exciting just seeing the kids get so excited and it’s awesome working with Margie,” he said. “I started going to Lynch’s church and she said she needed help loading and unloading for the show so it ended up being a great opportunit­y for me. I can’t wait to tie some of this cool stuff into my own teaching.”

The children let out a lot of “oohs” and “aahs” when Lynch and Kinsey put each of them into an enormous bubble.

“I felt like I’ve always wanted to be in a bubble and now it has actually happened,” said Caleb Barley, 10, a student at Mary B. Neal Elementary School in Waldorf. “I thought it was cool how she blew a bubble and it started filling up with smoke.”

Colin Barley, 8, a student at Mary B. Neal Elementary School in Waldorf, said the moment he got in line he was really excited to see all the other people being put inside of a bubble.

“It was really cool how they used the ice to make smoke and it was an interestin­g fact about how [dry] ice can burn your hand,” Colin said.

The Barley brothers both said it was great being put inside a bubble. Their mother, Kamil Barley, said the entire presentati­on was amazing.

“I thought it was really cool to see the science and the fun come together with bubbles,” she said. “I feel like it allows them to see and know that they can do so many things outside of what they learn in school with the same informatio­n that they know.”

Zahra Mohammed, 5, a student at Mary B. Neal Elementary School in Waldorf, and her mother, Ackleema Bacchus, said they both look forward to seeing the Bubble Lady when she comes to town. Her favorite part was not only seeing her daughter being put inside a bubble, but also seeing the almost 18-foot creation.

“You can’t go wrong with bubbles and kids,” Bacchus said. “It’s great that the library has these programs to keep the kids busy with activities they can look forward to. The bubble show is like a science experiment. They show you can do with ice and carbon dioxide and it’s really interestin­g science.”

Lynch performs all over Maryland and plans to take her program up and down the East Coast. She would like to begin receiving grants and get her bubble program into local schools. In the meantime, she will continue taking her program to area libraries where children and their families can see it for free.

 ?? STAFF PHOTO BY TIFFANY WATSON ?? On July 20, Margie Lynch — also known as the Bubble Lady — makes an 18-foot bubble at P.D. Brown Memorial Library in Waldorf.
STAFF PHOTO BY TIFFANY WATSON On July 20, Margie Lynch — also known as the Bubble Lady — makes an 18-foot bubble at P.D. Brown Memorial Library in Waldorf.
 ??  ?? Margie Lynch and her assistant Hugh Kinsey put Zahra Mohammed, 5, left, and Caleb Barley, 10, right, into a bubble at P.D. Brown Memorial Library.
Margie Lynch and her assistant Hugh Kinsey put Zahra Mohammed, 5, left, and Caleb Barley, 10, right, into a bubble at P.D. Brown Memorial Library.
 ?? STAFF PHOTOS BY TIFFANY WATSON ?? On July 20, the Bubble Lady created smoke bubbles for children at P.D. Brown Memorial Library in Waldorf.
STAFF PHOTOS BY TIFFANY WATSON On July 20, the Bubble Lady created smoke bubbles for children at P.D. Brown Memorial Library in Waldorf.
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States