Spiderman Squeegeeing Out The Smiles World-Wide

Sydney Rooth cleaning windows in Poppleton Road, York, dressed as Spiderman.

York window cleaner Sydney Rooth dresses up as Spiderman to fight grime: A web-slinging York window cleaner is winning new customers after deciding to do his rounds dressed up as comic book superhero Spiderman. Sydney Rooth, of Poppleton, hit upon the idea after noticing he shared a birthday with Spiderman’s young alter ego, Peter Parker. After finding a his red-and-blue costume on internet auction site eBay, 30-year-old Sydney said it was proving popular and was bringing in plenty of customers for his new business, SAS Style windowcleaners. 

Sydney Rooth fights grime.

He said: “I work up ladders and at heights and I just thought it made perfect sense. I’m getting lots of work in since I went for out in the costume for the first time on Sunday. “Kids love it. They don’t actually think I’m Spiderman, but they do shout up at me and want to know why I’m wearing the costume. It’s got me lots of work.” Sydney, who recently moved to York from Newquay, said friends were initially sceptical about donning the costume and taking on the role of friendly neighbourhood Spiderman. “Everybody who thought it was a silly idea now knows it’s taking off. One person said I wouldn’t get any work at all.”

Superhero window washers surprise sick children: From Tampa to Pittsburgh, Chicago to Memphis, comic superheroes are being spotted all over the country -- and they are fighting grime. On windows, that is. In their off-hours, Spider-Man, Captain America, and Batman, to name a few, are washing windows at children's hospitals. Their mission? To bring happiness to the youngest of patients. "We donned the Spider-Man costumes and we rappelled down the side of the buildings," said Harold Connolly, president of Highrise Window Cleaning of Clearwater, Fla. "We knocked on the glass, waved hello – there were a lot of big smiles."

They are squeegeeing out the smiles at hospitals nationwide. Sao Doan, 5, right, watches as her mom, Tiffany Ringer of Kenneth City, snaps a photo of Merrill Hunt dressed as Spiderman as he washes her window at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Connolly organized two superhero window-washing sessions at hospitals in Florida so far this year, and he isn't alone. Images of wide-eyed children in awe of their favorite superheroes washing windows have gone viral online, prompting hospitals and window washing companies nationwide to hop on board. "Some of these poor kids, they don't get a lot of opportunities for anything fun there," Connolly says. "It cheered them up at least for the moment anyway."

Window washers from Allegheny Window Cleaning dressed as superheroes pose together before scaling the side of Children's Hospital in Lawrenceville on Wednesday April 17, 2013. The crew is from left, Ed Hetrick as Superman, Mark Errico as Captain America, Jim Zaremba as Batman and Rick Bollinger as Spiderman. Click to enlarge.

Superhero window washers return to Children’s Hospital:  Like a high-flying sequel to a big-screen blockbuster, window washers doubling as superheroes made a dramatic return on Wednesday to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. This time, they had company. Trailed by news crews, photographers and hospital media gurus, the foursome from Allegheny Window Cleaning Inc. of Springdale brought newfound celebrity to their rounds at Penn Avenue and 45th Street in Lawrenceville. More than a half-dozen other children's hospitals across the country have adopted the idea since Allegheny Window workers suited up last fall as Batman, Captain America, Spider-Man and Superman. “I duck the spotlight. I say as little as I can. But this has been overwhelming with what's happened on the Internet,” company President Edward Matuizek said. “We probably were in 20 newspapers worldwide. It continues to fuel itself.”

Mark Erico as Captain America a window washer from Allegheny WIndow Cleaning cleans the windows on the third floor as Dorian Haigh, 5 of Churchill (left) and Martiese Davis, 11 of Wilkinsburg look on at Children's Hospital in Lawrenceville.

For Naomi Kurzweg, 10, of Squirrel Hill, the surprise appearances lightened an appointment for blood work. “I think my favorite was Spider-Man,” she said, grinning at the superheroes' choice of footwear: sneakers. Matuizek's wife and company office manager Michelle Matuizek saw a similar appearance at a British hospital and suggested the costumes. With a blessing from Children's Hospital, workers Rick Bollinger, 46, and Mark Errico, 26, both from Natrona Heights, Ed Hetrick, 36, of Springdale and Jim Zaremba, 45, of New Kensington morphed into comic-book alter egos to wash windows for two hours on Oct. 22.

They expected to do it again this fall but bumped up the appearance because of a request from the 296-bed UPMC facility. Their four-hour session was better coordinated this time, reaching more banks of windows and more young patients. Organizers plan to make the visit a twice-yearly event. “If the windows have to be washed, it might as well be done by superheroes,” said Naomi's mother, Anne Kurzweg, 42. Tribune-Review photos from October drew a following of thousands through social media. Michelle Matuizek said the company received around 200 thank-you email messages from around the world.

An observer from Crybaby Media, a New York reality-TV firm, mingled with local journalists to watch the characters rappel from a 12th-floor roof. “It's about the kids and giving the kids an environment where their health and welfare is the focus, but not just from a medical perspective,” Children's facilities director Liz Munsch said. “It gives them something else to enjoy and make it feel less like a hospital.”  Katrina Koenig, 9, of Apollo darted among the windows, taking photos with an iPod as Batman dangled outside with a squeegee. “It's really fun,” she said. “Too bad we couldn't get his autograph on our doctor's excuse,” said her mother, Shawne Koenig, 41.

A team of superheroes turned up at Randall Children’s Hospital on Tuesday. They were suited up and ready to fight grime instead of crime. They conquered 10 stories of glass, showing young patients a super hero can do wonders with a bucket of suds.

The team of window washers-turn-Avengers descended over the edge of the hospital, almost as if they were summoned by each of the smiling souls who waited beyond the glass for help to arrive.

MBS has cleaned Legacy Health hospital windows for 22 years, and workers say there is just something about watching all of the sick kids inside as they climb the building that strikes a chord in them all.

So, they decided this time around to make the process a moment the kids will never forget.

Hospital window washers dress as superheroes for sick kids (PORTLAND, OR) - They may scale great heights almost every day, but a group of local window washers took their superhero-like qualities to a whole new extreme Tuesday. Millennium Building Service workers scaled all nine stories of Randall Children's Hospital dressed as superheroes as way to surprise the kids inside.

MBS has cleaned Legacy Health hospital windows for 22 years, and workers say there is just something about watching all of the sick kids inside as they climb the building that strikes a chord in them all. So, they decided this time around to make the process a moment the kids will never forget. "The kids, they go through a lot, and we figured we would give them something fun to see while they're stuck in the hospital," said MBS employee Jason Kark. "I couldn't even begin to imagine how hard and how difficult it would be in their shoes, my heart goes out to them for the things they are going through," said MBS employee Cean Gibbs.

The team of window washers-turn-Avengers descended over the edge of the hospital, almost as if they were summoned by each of the smiling souls who waited beyond the glass for help to arrive. For many kids, it's a chance to break free from the four walls that surround their hospital bed and to forget the problems that brought them there. After the workers got done washing the windows, some of the kids got a chance to meet the superheroes before they took off. This was the first time MBS has done something like this at the hospital, and organizers say judging by how much the kids loved their costumes, it certainly won't be the last.

Spider-Man window washers scale building near downtown Houston: Spider-Man was washing windows near downtown Houston Friday. SkyEye HD caught it Friday afternoon. A window washing company had its workers dress up as the famous web slinger. They were cleaning the 25-story high rise, the Memorial by Windsor senior tower. The stunt helped bring smiles to the faces of seniors living at the facility.

Superheroes Surprise at Children’s Hospital: AKRON– The kids at Akron Children’s Hospital got a “super” surprise when their favorite comic book character came to life right outside their window.  It had the kids inside grinning from ear to ear. At first glance, some may have said, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Spider-Man? “It was Superman hanging from our walls Friday as well as Spider-Man,” said Lisa Aurilio Vice President of Patient Services and Chief Nursing Officer at Akron Children’s Hospital.  “It took him a minute to get his web untangled, but once he started he was on his way down.”

Spider-Man didn’t come to Akron Children’s Hospital alone. “We have Spider-Man, Wolverine, Batman and Robin; we got Iron-Man and the Hulk,” said Daryl Oehlstrom of American National Skyline Cleaning. The Superheroes were actually window cleaners from American National Skyline Cleaning in Cleveland. “It’s kind of like a dream come true. This is something that we’ve been wanting to do since we started doing the job,” Oehlstrom said. “It makes your day to see their faces light up. It makes your day. To help these kids out and help them through whatever they are going through; it’s a great feeling.”

Spider-Man didn’t come to Akron Children’s Hospital alone.

I guess you can say it was a “super” day for a kid in the hospital, it gave them a chance to be a kid again. “These are the kind of events that really let us heal the spirit of the kids,” Aurilio said. “This is my first time being here and it’s actually kind of cool. I really liked it,” said patient Andrew Sandmann of Akron. Brandon Barnes, who turns 10 on Sunday, got quite a birthday surprise when his favorite Superhero walked into his room and knelt by his bedside. “The Hulk because he is big and he smashes things. That was awesome,” Barnes said. This put more than a smile on these kids faces. It was a moment they won’t soon forget. “It made me feel happy,” added Sandmann. This is the first time the window washers have dressed up like Superheroes to clean the windows at Akron Children’s Hospital.  They hope to do it again in the near future.

Not to be outdone...100 Spidermen climb high rise in China One hundred window cleaners dressed like Spiderman broke the world record from most amount of Spiderman cleaning a high rise at the same time. NBCNews.com's Todd Kenreck reports.

See more super-heroes here, here here & here. More in the Middle-East here.