Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

The Easthampton Bear Fest 2009 has begun. On Thursday night Easthampton celebrated with a Welcome the Bears Party! a Mardi Gras themed party held at Eastworks and catered by Apollo Grill. Party goers had the opportunity to view the over 130 proposals and vote for their favorite. The judges are going to have their hands full. There are only 30 life sized fiberglass bear sculptures and every one of the proposals I saw was amazing! On Friday, a Free Family Welcome the Bears Party took place at Eastworks. It was an opportunity for kids as well as adults to see the unpainted bears, view the proposals and vote for their favorite Local artists were on hand to help the kids make their own bear masks. CREATE Children's Art Studio hosted a "decorate your own bear" day. Kira created cute "bear statutes" to give little artists the opportunity to paint or otherwise decorate their own bear. A special bear will be marching with the Easthampton City Arts contingent in the Holyoke St. Patrick's Day Parade (want to be involved? -- contact Easthampton Bear Fest or the Easthampton City Arts for information) and on June 13th there will be Bear unveiling during Art Walk! The Bears will be on display around the down town area for four months and the event will culminate October 11 -18 with a week long celebration of the arts, a gala ball and the auction of the Bears! The proceeds will benefit Eathampton public schools art programs, Riverside Industries Art Program, provide commmissions to the artists who decorate the Bears and to help sustain Easthampton City Arts.At Laurel Mountain Basket Company, we love bears! Our Bear-y-Special Gift Basket is one of the gift baskets we are featuring for Mother's Day this year and bears of all sizes in our large assortment of baby gift baskets.