If you go down to the woods

Press, 12 January 1987, Page 6

If you go down to the woods

Jane Hutchinson, aged 16 months, with her mother, Mrs Debbie Hutchinson, of Tai Tapu, surrounded by furry creatures, an angora rabbit and a bear, at yesterday’s Teddy Bears* Picnic in Hagiey Park. Spurred on by hot weather, thousands of Christchurch teddies and about 5Mb people went down to the woods for the picnic, which was the second organised by the Canterbury Promotion Council for Summer Times.

Green bears, Rupert bears, pandas, Garfieids, designer bears and the timeless yellow teddy proved beyond doubt that while transformers may be all the rage, people still'love a teddy. Picnickers were enter-

tained by the What Now Dancers, Anti Gravity Theatre, Marilyn Staite and nisgic Shows. . Queues formed for face painting, hot dogs and horse rides, and the Wizard kept the crowd entertained with what seemed like -a new way of casting spells —■ hitting children lightly on the head with a large plastic mallet The St John volunteers reported no poorly bears, although many a tired teddy could be seen face down on rugs, or clutched tightly.