Healing hands applied to youngsters’ teddy bears
For six-year-old Henry Petrychanko, it was the news he wanted to hear.
All of his stuffed animals were going to be OK.
Henry, who gave a big hug to his mended giraffe named Spotty, was one of the dozens of kids who brought their stuffed animals to the nurses station at the second annual Teddy Bear Picnic at Morningstar Mill.
Registered nurse Christine Philbrick applied bandages and gave oxygen to Henry’s stuffed dog while the boy held onto the paw of Wolfie.
“This is phenomenal, he loves his bears, so this was his dream,” said the boy’s grandmother, Gina Ravenek.
“He would have brought 50 if he could have, but he brought four.
“How can you not love the look of that, they are his friends, his true friends and he takes the giraffe to school every day.”
Philbrick who is a school nurse at Niagara College, said she saw a vast assortment of stuffed animals and items, including a giraffe, a wolf, a strawberry, lots of teddy bears and some dogs.
Equipped with a stethoscope, bandages and medicines, Philbrick said most stuffed animal injuries were from falling off of shelves, hitting their wrist, or paw or head on the floor.
“It’s very rewarding to help a furry creature and their owner feel better,” she said as she watched the reactions on children’s faces.
The idea started with Friends of Morningstar’s Josie Wojciechowska, who said the 10th of July is called Teddy Bear Picnic Day in England, with maypole dancing, crafts and a picnic.
“We’ve got games associated with the era, beans being tossed into a basket, potato sack racing, bringing it back to the era of the ’30s,” Wojciechowska said.
“We cater mostly to adults at Morningstar, but we wanted to share a little slice of history at the mill, with kids. Last year we had a few people; this year it’s more attended.”