Friday, April 20, 2018, was our first full day in Shelburne, Vermont. We are slowly working our way North to the Canadian Maritimes. Since the campgrounds in Canada don't open until May, we have a couple of weeks here to explore this area. Our first stop was the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory.
Eddie and George were excited to wake up and meet their giant cousin!
Vermont Teddy Bears started in 1981 when John Sortino opened a cart on Church Street in Burlington, Vermont and began selling Teddy Bears that he made in his garage. Thirty-five years later, Vermont Bears continue to be best friends, a part of the family and beloved heirlooms. We are looking forward to expanding our little bear family.
The first order of business, was to sign up for the factory tour. As we waited for the tour to start, the boys wandered around the nursery where new bears were "created." We have to admit, it was a little bit creepy walking past all the baskets of bear parts. However, the finished products were very creative. The majority of the bears created were all mixed breeds.
Eddie was very excited to learn about the Big Hero Program. For every Little Hero Bear you purchase, Vermont Teddy Bear donates a Little Hero Bear to a first responder unit so that kids can have a bear hug when they need it most. Here's our Eddie hanging with the heros!
In a sea of brown bears, George managed to find a pack of pandas to converse with.
The bears spent quite a few minutes with one of the ambassador bears discussing where to get the best Vermont honey.
At the start of the tour, the boys got to hang out with some of the oldest residents of the factory. Groucho Marx Bear, next to George, was one of the original bears from the 1980s.
The boys weren't the only bears on the tour. However, the rug rats outnumbered the bears 3 to 1. Our tour guide, Kathy, did her best to the keep the unruly crowd in check.
It was quite noisy in the factory. A giant press was cutting out fabric patterns and a giant vacuum was sucking up the cutting dust. The workers were busy sewing and stuffing. It takes 14 individual pieces of fur to make a bear and each bear is stuffed with 100% recycled plastic water bottles!
Once the bears are assembled, they head over to the costuming department. The boys thought about getting some wardrobe accessories, but decided against it.
All Vermont Teddy Bears are 100% guaranteed. If anything happens to your Vermont Teddy Bear (even if it's your fault), you can send it to the bear hospital for repairs. Dr. Nancy was out on call when we arrived. She has repaired dog bites, burns, and even an encounter with a lawn mower.
The Vermont Teddy Bear Company is one of the largest producers of teddy bears and the largest seller of teddy bears by mail order and Internet. The company produces almost 500,000 teddy bears each year. The busiest season is Valentines Day, followed closely by Christmas and Mother's Day.
The boys got one last hug at the end of the tour.
We thought about making our own bears, but decided to do it the old fashioned way - we adopted! We decided to rescue two bears that most reminded us of our grandpuppies.
Meet the newest members of our bear clan. The honey bear next to George is "Bubu Bear" after Matt, Weina and William's puppy, Bubu. Next to Bubu Bear is a black bear named "Ruthie Bear" after Katie's new puppy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg!
Home Sweet Home!
What a cute blog post! Very informative and fun to read. Good job.
ReplyDelete