SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - On Thursday nights at Regan Beach, avid hula hoopers gather to hoop it up and watch the sunset.
"I call it Hoopville out here," said Saundra Koeck of Tahoe Hula Hoops, who calls herself the Happy Hooper.
The group began meeting last year after Koeck and Andrea Creo decided to combine their circles. Creo owns Tahoe Fire Dancers, so her friends and co-workers like to practice similar styles of movement. Both Creo and Koeck are massage therapists, and they met belly dancing 10 years ago.
"It all happened on its own," Koeck said. "I put up a few posters and people came out and hooped."
The gathering is for all levels of hula hoopers, and for all ages. Koeck said the youngest hula hooper is about 3 years old.
But the adults enjoy hooping just as much as the young ones.
"It keeps you youthful. The first time I did it, I felt like I was 5 years old again - it's just like blowing bubbles," Gina Fox said.
Sue Jackson, 71, said she tries to get her friends to come hoop it up with her.
"I tell the other people my age and they say 'you must be kidding,'" Jackson said.
Many of the regulars love coming to hoop and visit.
"I love being together with a bunch of people, just letting our hair down and getting a workout," Fox said.
Koeck encourages the younger hoopers to try to whirl as many hoops at once as they can.
"It's all about putting a smile on people's faces," Koeck said.
Koeck went to buy a kids' hula hoop, and became frustrated when she couldn't use it. Now she makes professional-size hula hoops because stores around town don't sell hula hoops for adults. Most hoops are made for children who weigh less than 50 pounds.
The hoops Koeck makes are larger are weighted. The larger the hoop, the easier it is to hula with, she added.