Since we had gotten into town a little early, we stopped for breakfast at a local diner. There was even one little fellow there, just waiting for the doors to the Foundry to open!

We arrived before the crowds and were able to capture a lot of "bear attitude" in these photos, as you can see. Eighty-four vendors, thousands of teddy bears and tons of teddy bear makings had all come together to help the industry grow.

But there was so much more to see and do. Teddy jewelry, daily contests and many events in the Bear Big Top including: The Swan Bros. Flying Teddy Bear Circus, Bearbershop Quartet, World's Tallest Musical Bear and in their premiere engagement and the Bearverly's Singer's with rare, recently-discovered Bear Songs.

Walking around, I ran into Dorothy Darden from Paradise, California that helped organize the Teddy Bear Conventions and has been at every Convention since. She writes children books, has a manuscript in Hollywood about to go into production and has a letter of thanks from Queen Elizabeth for a doll that Dorothy made especially for her. She owns The Teddy Bear Farm in Paradise. She is one of the folks along the way, you can't forget. I wish everyone had her drive. She even created the song, "The Teddy Bear Twirl". One of her creations even has real human dentures!

There were so many vendors with great stories to tell. The quality of work was unbelievable and yet it was right in front of you to wonder how they had created the detail. Check out the personalities below and also on our "Photos of the Day"

Nevada City put on its Sunday best and became Teddy Town for a weekend.
From all of us that attended we would like to say "Thanks and a job well done!"

Be sure to visit the International Teddy Bear Convention Website
and this wonderful, historic town's Chamber of Commerce Website
and tell them all that Cruising America says HI!