Every year, just before school starts, the Sherburne Memorial Library hosts its annual stuffed animal sleepover. But this isn’t just any sleepover. In fact, it doesn’t even have any human people actually sleeping over! Instead, the local kids (and even a few grownups) drop their stuffed animals off at the library for a unique toys-come-to-life experience that littles and bigs alike will remember for quite some time.
I’ve watched this wonderful event from afar, laughing at how the stuffed animals always seem to escape the confines of the library and get themselves into lots of trouble. One year, they even managed to somehow get into the police cruiser and set off the sirens! The images of Chief Montgomery lecturing stuffed animals on respect for police vehicles is ingrained in my memory forever.
This year, I was asked if I would be willing to loan my canoe to someone beary special to me so that they could borrow it for a little adventure during the stuffy overnight. Of course, I was absolutely honored to be included in this exciting town event — only to be absolutely horrified to discover that only one animal wore a state certified life jacket while the rest had absolutely no personal flotation devices at all! And not only that, but my bear friend loaded the canoe with almost 45 of his friends — way over the five-person limit of my canoe! I was very upset to find out that my bear friend had completely neglected state laws, but I guess I should have known better. Bears of very little brain are always troublesome.
Of course, we grownups all know that stuffed animals don’t really move themselves (if you ever read my column to your kids skip the next few paragraphs). Instead, an entire team of wonderful volunteers were following around Killington Elementary School K\kindergarten teacher Melissa Knipes as she creates these wonderful tableaux for the children to see when they come pick up their animals the next day. In this case, library volunteers Judy Evans, Sue Holt and library board president Nancy Sherman all came with shopping bags full of stuffed animals — including their own!
We quickly wrapped the big bear in my lifejacket and set him up with a paddle. As the sun was beginning to set, we had to move fast! I quickly threw all the stuffies into the stern of the canoe, as the ladies passed them to me knee deep in the water. This was probably the most dangerous tableau to put together — you cannot get some little kid’s stuffed animal wet with even a drop of water! But we had to get them out in a canoe for a big adventure.
Some of the stuffies then sat on the Kayak King’s bench, looking out from half-moon cove while the sun set and we took pictures of the big bear sitting in the canoe. Others threw themselves up into the trees, like the von Trapp family children did, squealing with laughter and being allowed out into the woods. Please note that the big bear didn’t belong to any of the kids … I will let you guess which grownup brought him down to paddle.
What amazes me even more than the dedication of the volunteers to making this overnight adventure happen, is the willingness of the children to forgo their stuffed animal for the night. My dad gave me a Steiff stuffed bear when I was 6 months old and I have not been separated from that bear for a single night since — except for vacations. He went with me to KMS — although he did not come home from that experience unscathed. He attended Deerfield with me and then college. He stayed with us at the hospital while my dad was dying and currently has a place of honor right beside my bed. The BF knows when my world is crumbling down around me when he comes home to find my teddy wrapped in my arms.
How much trust must these youngsters have in our library and Mrs. Knipes that they are willing to let go of their favorite stuffies for even one night of their childhood! Yes, some of these were brand newish but there were also “Velveteen Rabbit” kind of stuffies in the collection and you picked these up with reverence and respect. These stuffed animals can be a child’s whole world and we were honored to be allowed to even touch them, never mind have them for the evening.
So thank you, to the children who honored us with their stuffed animals for the evening. Thank you Mrs. Knipes for loving our children so very much. Thank you to our library for being such a wonderful, trusted place for our community. And thank you, Big Bear, for taking the little stuffies on such a wonderful paddle on Kent Pond. I was so lucky to be a part of this.
Merisa Sherman is a long time Killington resident, town lister and member of the Development Review Board. She is a global real estate advisor and coaches for KMS as Coach PomPom. Share your Killington stories at Merisa.Sherman@SothebysRealty.com.
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