Condors Teddy Bear Toss brings in 7,614 stuffed animals, most in Condors history
December 1, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Bakersfield Condors News Release
Bakersfield, Calif. - A standing-room-only crowd of nearly 9,000 fans held their breath, teddy bears in hand, with their throwing arm cocked as Dale Reinhardt skated ahead of the pack towards the Idaho goalie. The red light came on and instantly thousands of bears rained down onto the ice at the annual Teddy Bear Toss at Rabobank Arena on Saturday. Reinhardt and the rest of the Condors immediately had to take cover as a record 7,614 stuffed animals were thrown onto the ice.
The 10th annual Teddy Bear Toss, sponsored by KBAK - 29 The Eyewitness News Station, KERN 1410 AM and Wells Fargo, boosted a crowd of 8,929, the second-largest in team history. With this year's 7,600-plus teddy bears, the Condors ten-year total now equals 52,469 stuffed animals! The bears were collected by volunteers from the United Way of Kern County and members of the Ice Sports Center in-house youth hockey program in just under 10 minutes.
Numerous organizations throughout Kern County will receive the stuffed animals donated by Condors fans at the event. These organizations will distribute the bears to less-fortunate children. Such recipients include the Kern County Firefighters, who for example, may give a bear to comfort children after they lose all their toys in a fire.
"The Teddy Bear Toss has grown into our signature game, and with the support of our fans we broke our previous Teddy Bear Toss record," said Condors President Matthew Riley. "But more importantly the community has provided more than 7,000 less-fortunate kids with a stuffed animal and a reason to smile this holiday season."
"The Teddy Bear Toss has developed into one of Kern County's favorite charitable events and we at United Way are delighted to be a part of it," said United Way's President Della Hodson. "On behalf of the nonprofit agencies and thousands of children who benefit from the event, we thank the Condors and all the fans who once again made it a huge success."
Prior to Saturday night's game, the Teddy Bear Toss record was 7,149 bears collected during the 2004-05 season. Last year's 7,026 bears ranked second all-time. Condors Legend Paul Rosebush is the only player in team history to net two Teddy Bear Toss goals (in 2002-03 and 2003-04). Finally, four of the six most attended games in Condors history have been Teddy Bear Toss games with an average attendance of 8,717 over the last five Teddy Bear Tosses.
Notes from The Nest:
The Condors will be hitting the road for a five-game road trip with stops in Alaska, Victoria and Fresno before returning to the Mercy & Memorial Hospitals Home Ice at Rabobank Arena on Dec. 13 for Scooby-Doo and Sing for Santa, presented by Bright House Networks, 101.5 KGFM and Bakersfield Marriott.
Individual game tickets are now on sale and may be purchased through the Rabobank Arena Box Office, which is open from 10am - 6pm Monday through Friday and 10am - 4pm on Saturday with extended hours on game days. Tickets may also be purchased by phone through at 322-2525, online at www.bakersfieldcondors.com, or at any Ticketmaster location
Season tickets, mini-plans and group outings are available at the Condors office located at 1001 Truxtun Avenue or by calling at 324-PUCK (7825).
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