Bear Necessities for Healthy Kids

The Teddy Bear Fair is an annual event hosted by Health Services to inform members about health and safety information for families. As well as fun for the kids in balloon making and face painting, an inflatable bouncy house and a passport for families to check into various booths to be eligible for prize give aways. I was asked to help with set-up and I've never posted a tipi so I was intrigued on how to go about it. First we collect the poles looking for the ones that were the straightest. We spread out the canvas with inside facing out. A tri-pod was set-up with maybe 35 ft rope wrapped around the initial three poles which were raised. Instructions were given that four poles were to be place in the spaces of the intersecting poles spaced roughly 3 ft apart. With each pole added the 35 ft rope was to be wrapped around each one as they were added. After the frame was erected one pole was tied to the top of the canvas and raised as the main back structure of the tipi, the rest of the canvas was then wrapped around each of the poles. It was secured by horizontal stick threaded in and the stakes were twisted around the loop holes and then pegged. Two poles were put in the flaps at the top for an atheistically pleasing appearance.

As you entered the fair you signed up at registration, it was Pajamas day for the grade 1ers.

WestView Primary Care Network a non-profit had some swag available as well as plenty of pamphlets regarding health.

Like a paparazzi I'm explain this young lady why I'm taking an unsolicited photo of her, I mention it's for our blog. We had a nice conversation about her recipes which lead to our experiences with wild game. She had mentioned elk as an in between deer and cattle meat which set me down a path of how do I acquire it.

At each of these event a t-shirt is usually handed out to promote and identify the participants or in this case the vendors. It was a very beautiful bear decorated with traditional aboriginal art but the texture of shirt looked comfortable compare to rough cotton that are usually used (see previous picture with woman on the far right).

The tipi was used a traditional story telling by an elder to the children sitting on mats listening as an elder relayed from a picture book.

Our community nurses procured the best spot under a newly constructed Gazebo in the Daycare's playground.

Rennette and Shirley catering to our community with Pediatric screenings.

I was a fairly amusing occurrence between this gentlemen's balloon making and a young girl who couldn't decide what she wanted after requesting two different balloons and not being able to make up her mind which she wanted. In her indecisive she decided to cry about her situation.

I was sitting a Celeste's non bullying booth and had front row seat to all the fun at the bouncy house.

The teddy bears were of exquisite quality that I noticed didn't even have to be teddy bears, I saw Eagles and Buffaloes. They were composed very soft fur and the type of aboriginal pattern seen on give away blankets. A very nice touch to our culture and history. It was nice to see our future and the community raising them as well.