Teddy Bear Party (Apr 17, 2002)

Our Teddy bear celebration
by Grace Bergbom

Wow! It was a success. Forty-six residents came for a good time. There were as many "mature" children present with their Teddy bears as there were school-age children.

Everyone enjoyed the refreshments, which was no surprise. They all had a "bear" motif -- cookies with a Teddy bear imprint, napkins and noisemakers with a Teddy bear picture, and of course root-"bear" and root-"bear" floats.

Rose Wandel, our resident history buff, gave a talk about the origin of the Teddy bear. In case you didn’t know, the 100th anniversary of the Teddy bear is later this year but we are celebrating a little early.

Mementoes of the occasion, supplied by the Dialogue, were distributed to all who brought Teddy bears. Special mementoes were given as follows:

• Helen Seguine 95 year-old bear for the oldest Teddy bear.
• Aida Calvopina for the smallest Teddy bear. Without perfect sight, you need a magnifying glass to see it!
• Linda for the most unusual bear, It was funny and cute.
• Jackie Forshee for the largest collection of bears -- must have been 100 to 200 bears, there just wasn’t time to count them all.
• Elaine Santos for the largest bear.
• Aamir Merchant, Special Mention for twin tiny bears.

I have something very special to share with my readers. When the Social Committee has its next young peoples party, Aamir Merchant, Elaine Rojas and Maya Flores have volunteered to help. The Social Committee appreciates their offer very much and the Committee gives them a big thank you.

Jackee Forshee displays some of her hundreds of Teddy bears.

Elaine Santos with her prize winning "largest bear."

The younger set is mesmerized with the tale of the Teddy bear.

Helen Seguine with granddaughter Sara and her 95 year-old Teddy.

Historian Rose Wandel lectures on the history of the Teddy bear.

Littlest girl with the biggest Teddy, Elaine Santos with family -- flesh and stuffed.