CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – YouTube personality Blippi made a wild appearance in Clarksville this summer to meet 3-year-old Layla Breil and film a video together. That video is now scheduled to be posted on Saturday.
Blippi is a popular YouTuber known for his orange and blue outfit as well as his bright, energetic personality, which he uses to teach kids about numbers, letters, colors and more. His channel has over 15 million subscribers.
Earlier this year, Layla’s mother, Lauren Breil, asked Clarksvillians to make her daughter’s dream come true and vote for Layla in the Blippi in My Hometown Contest. The family won and met Blippi on July 19 at Mochas & Minis Indoor Play & Café.
“We have been watching Blippi since my daughter was almost an infant,” Breil told Clarksville Now. “She is going to actually see herself doing all the things that she’s always watched Blippi do, and actually doing it with him there.”
The Breil family moved to Clarksville in March, just 3 months before the contest began. Briel was surprised by the enthusiastic support despite only recently making Clarksville their new hometown.
“I did not expect the community support. I mean, the way that everyone rallied around us to make my daughter’s dreams come true is absolutely amazing,” Briel said.
Other families also used the opportunity to meet their favorite YouTube personality. Blippi fans from other cities and states packed the roads in Clarksville trying to get to the Wilma Rudolph Event Center for his afternoon appearance. That traffic nearly caused Layla to miss her big moment.
“We almost didn’t make it to the event. We were late because we were stuck in the traffic trying to get to this thing,” Breil said.
By 4:30 p.m., the event was closed to further attendees.
Another surprise awaited the family at the Wilma Rudolph Event Center, where Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts honored Layla as Mayor of the Day.
“After the whole shoot, they made like a big community event,” Briel said. “And so he (Pitts) brought her onstage; he gave her a like mayor plaque with the coin, dabble, everything.”
Thanks to the Clarksville community, Layla got an experience most children her age never have.
“It was definitely fun and like big memory-building experience that we just had so much fun with,” Breil said, “We’re happy that Clarksville was our hometown.”
You can watch Blippi’s content, including the Clarksville video, starting Saturday on several streaming channels, plus his YouTube channel, Blippi – Educational Videos for Kids.