SNAPS

Today's image is titled Double Hooping and was photographed by Alleen Hager.

Last Friday marked the second annual celebration of World Hoop Day, a non-profit charity devoted to providing free toy and dance hula hoops to underprivileged children around the world. This photo shows a trio of hula hoopers marking the holiday at the top of State Street outside the Madison Children’s Museum, which hosted a party for the iconic whirligig outside its front doors on the Carroll Street plaza, and is one of several in a collection of shots from the gathering.

World Hoop Day is not tied to any particular day; rather, it is being marked so far on the auspicious dates that litter the early years of a new century. The first celebration was on July 7, 2007 -- or 777 -- with this year’s celebration falling on August 8, or 888. The next four years are already planned for the corresponding dates that fall consecutively through the final four months of the calendar.

In addition to this party at the museum, World Hoop Day was also celebrated in town with Hula Hoopla at the Capitol early Friday morning and later in the afternoon on the UW Library Mall. The festivities are not new to Madison, having been marked last summer with a similar series of swivelings downtown.

This is the latest entry of Madison Snaps: photos of Madison-area events and locations. The Isthmus group photo pool is the primary source for Madison Snaps, which are published here with the permission of individual contributors. If you are interested in having your photo eligible for Madison Snaps, please respond to the posting on the Flickr group page, or send a message. There is no compensation for Madison Snaps photos, which are © to the respective photographers.