The 2020 edition of The Calgary Hitmen Teddy Bear Toss may look a little different, but the event is a go. 

Last year, Cochrane saw 462 stuffies come from the ice of the Saddledome to the arms of many deserving kids in our area. This year, The Cochrane and Area Events Society (CAES) is hoping for over 600 stuffies to make their way to town from the Calgary Hitmen’s Teddy Bear Lane event. A modified version of the traditional Teddy Bear Toss will take place over three days in Calgary and will have people throwing bears from their cars into an inflatable rink. 

The Cochrane and Area Events Society’s acting president, Marina Chabbert explains where the stuffies will end up after arriving in Cochrane. "They are going to the Cochrane Activettes for 'The Share Your Christmas' hamper program, so we've reserved most of them to go there. I am going to reach out to the Cochrane Pregnancy Care Centre as well to see if they need some teddies."

"The bears are not just for the kids here in town, they go to the surrounding area as well. It's good to reach out and disperse that joy, you know, because there's a lot of people having a hard time with layoffs, due to COVID. So, it's just going to be an increase."

After the bears are disinfected, CAES will team up with Mountain Toys to bring the stuffies back to town in time for the Stuff A Bus toy drive on December 12, 2020.

Teddy Bear Lane will take place in Calgary on the Fifth Street Southeast traffic-loop entrance of the Scotiabank Saddledome. The event will be running for three days starting December 4, 2020.