10 year Anniversary GALA

    Over 100 guests and Baby Bear Hugs staff enjoyed an afternoon filled with fun and laughter at the 10th Anniversary Baby Bear Hugs Celebration on Saturday, February 12th.

Baby Bear Hugs is an organization that, for the last 10 years, has been striving to meet the needs of new parents, as well as strengthen families, in nine counties across Northeastern Colorado.  The gala was held at the Yuma Community Center, which was decorated in a festive Valentine theme.

Guests were treated to a delightful dinner, which was catered by Dorothy Eastin of Yuma. Steve Brethauer, charter board member, and Tom Westfall, visionary, gave the history of how and why Baby Bear hugs began. Both Brethauer and Westfall are long-time supporters of the program.

Board of Directors Chairperson, Barb Wacker, was the mistress of ceremonies. She gave recognition to the many volunteers, advisory council members, supportive members, current and past staff members, spouses, current and past board members and county commissioners. Board members in attendance were Jack Westfall, Lincoln County; Barb Wacker, Morgan County; Carolyn Davis, Phillips County; Trent Christensen, Sedgwick County; Marta Wells, Washington County; LuAnne Hoch, Yuma County; and Rob Harding, At-Large member. Greg Brophy, State Representative; Dave Thomas, Yuma County Commissioner; and Steve Burgess, Lincoln County Commissioner, were present as well.

Ruth Seedorf, executive director, joined Barb in recognizing many other guests including the Gala organizers, the foundation, those who help fund Baby Bear Hugs, Bright Beginnings personnel, and Marlene Brunner, one of the first volunteer visitors.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was keynote guest speaker Craig Zablocki. He is a nationally known speaker and consultant. Zablocki has spoken to over 600,000 people internationally and in all 50 states. It was appropriate that laughter filled the room as he spoke about how we can learn from 4-year-olds and the importance of laughter. He gave a surprising statistic: a 4-year-old laughs, on average, 400 times per day, while an adult may laugh only 1 to 4 times per day. He explained the health benefits a person can gain from daily doses of laughter.
After his keynote address, Zablocki held a workshop called “Lighten Up or Burn Out.” He gave many examples on how stress affects our lives and how to cope with it.

Celebrating successes, and honoring all of the wonderful volunteers, was the main theme of the day. At the annual staff meeting in October of 2004, each County Coordinator was asked to nominate someone from their county who they thought was deserving of special recognition because of their dedication to the program. Nine outstanding volunteers were nominated for the Bearer Award. Each nominee was recognized at the gala, and Barb Wacker of Morgan County was named the Bearer Award winner.

There were several terrific door prizes given throughout the day. A silent auction was set up with Baby Bear Hug collector pins and many other beautiful items generously donated by various counties. A beautiful handmade quilt and a pair of Rockies tickets were raffled-off.
Look for more articles about the Gala in coming weeks, including names of the nine Bearer Award nominees and the winners of the raffles!