There was no need to go into the woods to stumble across the Teddy Bear Picnic. Community organizations came together at Murray Arena in the Okotoks Recreation Centre on July 12 armed with information for parents and games and activities for their little ones. It was more than first-time picnic-goer Chelsea Moriarity was expecting. “We thought it was going to be just an open field to bring your own picnic and have fun, so this is unbelievable,” she said as her three-year-old tore through an obstacle course located outside the arena doors. Her son and his friend had visited the “animal clinic” to have their teddy bears fixed up, and even took their stuffed friends to the dentist for a check-up inside the arena. Moriarity said it won’t be the last time they’ll attend the picnic. “We’re really impressed,” she said. “We’ll definitely be back next year.” Janley Holeha stopped in with her three girls, who are a little older than the mostly-preschool-aged crowd at the picnic, but they were enjoying the crafts and activities just the same. It wasn’t their first rodeo. “We’ve come for quite a few years,” said Holeha. “But I haven’t been since the girls were really small, and there are always things that appeal to different age groups.” She said it’s great for parents too, who get to see what’s out there in the Foothills region for them to access for help or information. “It’s something for everybody to come out to in the beginning of July, which is nice,” said Holeha. “I like the organizations all coming together and just kind of reminding you what’s in the community.” That’s exactly the reason the Town of Okotoks hosts its Teddy Bear Picnic every year, said Cortney Vines, specialist with the Okotoks Family Resource Centre. This was the 15th year the picnic ran, she said. It was designed to help young families see which resources are available in the community. “We have a wealth of resources people don’t realize until they come to an event like this and see how much we really have at our fingertips,” said Vines. “Everyone assumes all the resources are in Calgary, but we have 30 amazing agencies right here.” Many of those agencies were represented by booths at the Teddy Bear Picnic, from the Okotoks Public Library to Alberta Health Services, dentists, and non-profit groups aimed at helping children and families. Among those was McMan Youth Family and Community Services Association, where family support worker Liz Jones was busy helping little ones decorate cookies with icing and small candies. “We’re always trying to get involved in the community and raise awareness,” said Jones. She said McMan puts up a booth at the picnic to connect with community members and let parents know what they can offer to their families while having fun with the children. The organization provides in-home service in Okotoks to offer parenting support from strategies at home to working with a family and a child’s school to resolve issues there, she said. “We connect them with resources at home, or if there are school struggles we might go in and work one-on-one with families to build different strategies and skills up so families can be successful,” said Jones. Wild Rose Community Connections offers similar services for families, in addition to its popular Dads Central program, which provides fathers time with their children and with other dads. “We use positive parenting skills, so it’s all about praising and teaching them basically what they’re doing that is good rather than noticing the negative parts,” said Vanessa Taylor, family support worker for Wild Rose. Taylor was working at a station where children could explore non-Newtonian liquids or play with magnetic plastic fish in a small pool. The sensory activities provided children a way to play and parents a chance to engage with them as they splashed in the water or played with the slime. Being part of the Teddy Bear Picnic is a chance to get to know the community a little better, and be recognized by the people in it, she said. “We want people to know about our program, and this is a lot of our target age group,” said Taylor. “Development is what we deal mostly with for families, so zero to six are the ages we work with.”
