Written and Photographed by: Silver Jade

Whether rain or shine, or a mist that was slightly in-between, thousands of kids braved the threatening weather to have a blast at Arthur Ashe Kids' Day 2002. The kids' day is an annual event presented by Aetna to serve as a formal initiation into the US Open. This year it was held on August 24th, featuring various musical acts including LMNT on the outside stage, and Vanessa Carlton, Mario, and BBMak on the inside stage. Let me be the first to say that the inclement weather stood as absolutely no hindrance to the day's festivities.

The gates opened promptly at nine o'clock, allowing hundreds of kids and their families who had already been waiting outside for over an hour, to come pouring in. Unfortunately, due to the weather situation, the outside musical groups performed about an hour early, and the start of the stadium show was moved from noon to half past 11.

On the outside stage, LMNT performed some of their slightly recognizable songs, and the dance group "Off the Curb" flashed some of their moves to a mix of '80s songs including Madonna and Michael Jackson. I am not quite sure whether there was a lack of enthusiasm in their part due to the gloomy weather, or there was just a lack of polish in both the groups. I found both the acts to some extent dry, and amateurish. But then again, compared to exhilaration of the main stadium show, anything would seem that way.

I had the superb privilege of meeting all the musical acts, as well as some famed tennis stars and my personal hero: Olympian swimmer Summer Sanders. Summer has been the host of the main stage show for the past two years, and appears to be an extremely personable celebrity. In fact, that's precisely what she is. Standing about my height and approximately my weight, it was invigorating to finally meet the legendary Olympian, and to have a nice long discussion with her about my own swimming career.

After Summer, I walked over to 15-year old R&B artist Mario, who was encompassed by hoards of teeny-bopper fans. He smiled for a picture with me, signed an autograph, and then quickly moved on to make a few statements for a magazine. As a boy who has just recently fallen into fame with his hit "Just a Friend 2002" he was as I expected, moderately overwhelmed.

As a considerably large fan on the group BBMak (known for the songs "Back Here" and "Still on your side",) I quickly ran over to Mark Barry, one of the three members. He and his security guard commented on my beautiful and original name, and Mark signed an autograph saying that he'll never forget it. He too, like Summer was very personable, and extraordinarily down-to-earth. Standing next to Mark, were band mates Christian Burns and Ste McNally. A fellow media member was pulling Christian at that moment in the opposite direction, so I didn't get the opportunity to talk with him. Ste on the other hand, as I discovered, was just as friendly as Mark, and he more than willingly signed an autograph for me. For me, BBMak proved themselves to be not only good performers on the stage, but good at heart as well. They were the real highlight of the afternoon!

In looking around the packed stadium, in became quite apparent that there had been a bigger turn out than the previous year in which O-Town had performed. This year, Vanessa Carlton played the piano while singing some of her top40 hits including "Ordinary Day." Alas for her, this was not her most complimentary crowd, and many of the children that I saw, left at that time to go get something to eat. Mario sung only one song in what I considered to be just a decent performance, and BBMak as expected blew the crowd away.

In all, it was a very successful afternoon for the thousands of children that ventured out to Flushing, NY with their families. This was the second year that I attended the Kids' Day, and I'll be sure to go back for a third year. Was the day a triumph for the USTA? Most definitely! And do I recommend that you be sure to attend it next year? I think you'd be crazy not to!