Aggie the Bear greets a child at the 2024 Teddy Bear Picnic. (Provided photo)

This year’s Teddy Bear Picnic will feature a stuffie hospital where children can repair stuffies in need of a little sewing or glue.

In addition to the toy first aid station there will be a Critters Hot Spot where children can build their own animal.

The Picnic is hosted by the Interact Club of the Lake Placid Central School District and St Agnes Elementary School. The stuffie hospital is sponsored by Lake Placid Animal Hospital.

This year’s event will take place at St. Agnes on Sunday, Sept. 28 from 2 to 4 p.m. Bluey will be in attendance this year and he is eager to take photos with fans! Caricature artist Joe Ferris will draw children’s portraits with their favorite stuffie. There will be food, crafts, face painting, a library section and games, all free to children and their grownups.

The Teddy Bear Picnic has been going since 1993 when Kiwanis first organized it at the Hillcrest Village Park, now known as Kiwanis Teddy Bear Park. The picnic was conceived as a free community service event with a kids’ parade through the park, costume/float prizes, and a “Bear Store,” where children could choose a donated stuffed animal, toy or book. The Kiwanis Club disbanded on Sept. 30, 2017, shortly after that year’s picnic. In 2018, the Lake Placid Rotary Club kept the tradition going. After a pandemic break, the Lake Placid Middle-High School Interact Club revived the event in 2023, hosting it at St. Agnes to allow for indoor backup space.

Keela Grimmette paints the face of an attendee at the 2025 Teddy Bear Picnic. (Provided photo)

Interact is Rotary International’s service club for young people ages 12 to 18, sponsored by local Rotary clubs to foster leadership, promote community and international service, and build friendship across cultures.

Interact clubs are self-governing, complete at least two service projects annually, and help members develop life skills, personal integrity, and a sense of global citizenship. Lake Placid’s club volunteers with a food drive, blood drive and other activities.

Lake Placid’s Interact Club was founded in 2023 to fill the need left by Kiwanis’ closing. The high school’s Kiwanis Key Club morphed into Interact. Adviser Nicole Trainor has led the club since its founding. She is a graduate of the high school and is now special education teacher. The club has received steady support from Keith Clark while he was Community Schools director and is now benefiting from Brendan Gotham’s backing as the new Community Schools director.

Nicole Trainor knows St. Agnes is the perfect partner for this beloved children’s activity. She says, “we are connecting our youngest students in the district with some of most community driven students at the middle/high school level.”

St. Agnes Elementary School Principal Katie Turner loves hosting the Teddy Bear Picnic. She said, “I was very eager to join the Lake Placid Middle high School Interact Club to revisit old traditions of the Teddy Bear picnic as it’s an amazing opportunity for young friends new and old to gather together as a community. St. Agnes School is thrilled to be part of this annual fall event and hopes to continue to see it grow in the coming years.”

LPCSD superintendent Tim Seymour said, “We are so fortunate to be able to celebrate and make memories for the children in our community. There is real power in different organizations coming together with a singular purpose and our kids feel that connection.”

Rotary Club of Lake Placid president Stephanie Pianka is proud of the Interact Club for taking

over leadership of the picnic. Stephanie said, “This event is for the children of our community

and I commend the youth members of Interact for stepping up to continue this fun, fall

tradition.”

All stuffies, toys and books that are not chosen by children at the Teddy Bear Picnic will be donated to the North Elba Christmas Fund. Come join us on Sept. 28 at St Agnes.

(Martha Pritchard Spear is a member of the Rotary Club of Lake Placid.)