It may not be as big as the
Christmas Day Parade or
Bayfest, but it’s a ritual
in Sarnia that everyone
looks forward to each year.
The 13th annual Teddy Bear
Toss will take place Dec.
3rd at the RBC Centre when
the Sarnia Sting hosts the
Niagara IceDogs in an
Ontario Hockey League game.
It’s simple. Fans are asked
to bring a stuffed bear, (or
any stuffed animal), to the
game. When the Sting scores
their first goal, fans can
toss the stuffed animal on
the ice. The bears are then
collected and donated to 13
different charities in the
community through the
Salvation Army.
Over the past 12 years over
33,000 bears have been
collected and handed out to
needy children in our
community.
Rob Ravensberg,
vice-president of Lambton
Ford, is one of the
organizers of the event. He
explains how it all got
started.
“Our dealership has been
involved with the Gift
Christmas for many years
along with CHOK Radio and
others. At that time Adele
Richards was organizing the
event. One day she talked to
me about how some teams in
the Ontario Hockey League
were doing this thing called
a Teddy Bear Toss.
“Right away I became
interested and took things
from there. We got the
Salvation Army on board and
with the help of the Sting,
put it all together. We got
others involved, including
the local media. The first
year we saw 1,600 bears
collected.
“I remember thinking we were
are kings of the world for
getting that many. Then I
heard the Salvation Army did
1,800 Christmas hampers that
year. I was humbled and
didn’t feel so great. I knew
there was still a great
need.”
Ravensberg added, “Since
that first year Sting fans
and the community has got on
board with their support.
We’ve been averaging between
2,500 and 3,000 every year.
It would be great to get to
3,000 this year.”
Ravensberg says it’s not
hard to get motivated each
year for this event.
“First of all it doesn’t
seem like 12 years. It’s
just flown bye. But it’s not
hard to get fired up and get
motivated because the need
is greater than ever and
result is so satisfying. We
help out 13 different
charities in the community
now and the support locally
is fantastic. The community,
along with the Sting, makes
it happen.”
He added, “it’s a lot of
work, but we’ve received a
ton of support and it makes
it that much easier. When it
all comes together each year
you are reminded why you do
it.”
Spokesperson Susan Platt of
the Salvation Army says this
event is special.
“You can feel the excitement
in the arena the night of
the Teddy Bear Toss. It’s a
great start to the Christmas
season. When those bears
come onto the ice is
something special. It’s a
good family night.”
But Platt says the real
winners are the recipients
of the bears.
“I can’t describe the
feeling we get when we see
the kids receive these
bears. The smiles on their
faces are indescribable.
It’s precious. No words had
can describe it. Many of the
bears are placed in
Christmas hampers so we
don’t actually see the kids
when they receive them. But
we hear stories from family
and friends about it and
they really touch your
heart.”
Platt added, “Every bear,
big or small, seems to take
on its own personality. When
I see the children clutching
these animals, the kids just
love holding them. It leaves
you with a warm feeling that
you can help out.”
Even the Sting players get
excited.
“Sure, we talk about a lot,”
said overager Sting forward
Kale Kerbashian. “We discuss
who might get the goal and
how they are going to score.
Last year Joe Rogalski
scored and nobody put their
money on him.”
He added, “The best part is
that it’s for a good cause.
Usually you don’t get to
score for a good cause, but
in this case it’s a win-win
situation.”
Kerbashian says it’s hard to
describe the feeling on the
ice when the bears come
flying out of the stands.
“Whatever feeling you had
for the game stops for a few
minutes. You watch the crowd
both throwing the bears and
getting hit with bears.
Players on the bench get hit
while there are bears stuck
in the netting at each end.
It’s a special feeling
knowing everyone is working
together on a good cause.”
Another overager, Tyler
Peters, who is from Sarnia,
also likes the event.
“First it’s for charity and
a good idea. I hope it will
bring out more people. The
players are motivated to
want to get that first goal.
Being from Sarnia I would
love to score that goal.
I’ll try my best.”
