Deerfield author celebrates life in a bubble
By MYRNA PETLICKI Contributor February 2, 2012 8:02PM
Adelaide Jerva of Avoca School blows a good-size bubble during a visit from Ruth Spiro, the Deerfield author who established Bubble Gum Day. | Tamara Bell~Sun Times Media
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Updated: March 1, 2012 12:40PM
Have you made plans yet for Bubble Gum Day? Ruth Spiro has. She’ll be at a school in Arlington Heights expounding on that sticky subject.
The Deerfield author and lecturer started the holiday in 2006, and it is now used as a fundraising event at schools, libraries and other organizations across the country. On Bubble Gum Day, the first Friday in February, participating schools allow kids to chew gum in class if they make a donation of 50 cents or more to a charity the school chooses. Although that’s the “official” Bubble Gum Day, the fundraiser can be held whenever it’s convenient.
Spiro dreamed up the event following the success of her award-winning children’s book, Lester Fizz, Bubble-Gum Artist.
Spiro came to the attention of French filmmaker Vassili Silovic, who was working on a documentary about gum, when he visited her Bubble Gum Day website. Spiro admitted that she was initially skeptical when Silovic contacted her. “I thought it was spam,” she said. But Silovic convinced her that he wanted to come to Chicago to interview her and film her interacting with students as she would on Bubble Gum Day.
French connection
That’s how Spiro found herself at Avoca West School in Glenview one December morning leading a Bubble Gum Day session while Silovic’s team filmed.
“I thought it was important to know who ‘invented’ Bubble Gum Day and to see her ‘in action,’ especially as I knew that she wrote a book in which bubble gum is the main character,” Silovic explained via e-mail from France. “Ruth Immediately understood what I was trying to do. She had not the kind of negative reaction people often have because of the ‘cheapness’ of my subject. She has been very generous because she trusted this unknown guy that wrote her from Europe.”
Prior to the crew’s arrival in America, Silovic and Spiro communicated via Skype. She learned that gum is not as popular in France as it is in this country. “In France, people don’t blow bubbles. It’s not considered polite and children don’t chew gum as much as they chew it here,” she related. “So they were fascinated that there was this holiday where children would be able to chew gum in school. Once they saw that it was a fundraising holiday and that I had curriculum-related activities to go along with it, they thought it sounded interesting.”
Spiro reported that everyone at Avoca West School was excited about the filming. “They had decorated the library and done some art projects related to bubble gum and my book,” she said. “Three third-grade classrooms participated.”
Gummed up
The filmmakers “wanted to be unobtrusive and just have me interacting with the kids,” Spiro said. She read her book to the children, then talked to them and answered their questions about chewing gum. Spiro passed out gum and the kids attempted to blow large bubbles.
“I taught them how to blow a bubble inside a bubble — which is a secret talent that I have,” Spiro said. “A couple of the teachers were playing along and participating. One of the teachers ended up with gum all over his face. It was all in good fun.”
Spiro was amused when the filmmakers decided to check to see if there was gum under any of the desks. “Fortunately, there was none,” she said.
The working title of Silovic’s documentary is “Stuck on Chew.” It will initially run on Arte, a cultural channel in France, probably in the fall. It will also be broadcast in Germany, Belgium and possibly Canada. The filmmaker hopes they will locate an outlet in this country.
Silovic promised to send Spiro a copy when the documentary is completed. She hopes to schedule a small screening. “I won’t serve popcorn,” Spiro said. “I’ll serve bubble gum.”
For updates on the film and celebrating Bubble Gum Day, visit www.ruthspiro.com or www.bubblegumday.com.
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