As the coronavirus pandemic continues, the North Scranton Rotary Club wants children and their families to go on a bear hunt.
Throughout the country, people have placed teddy bears in front windows of homes to encourage families to search for the stuffed animals — a play on the popular book and preschool song “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.”
While the coronavirus has led to temporary closures of many parks and playgrounds, families can still walk around their neighborhoods while maintaining a safe distance from others.
The Rotary Club is now encouraging Lackawanna County children to submit a photo of a bear in a window for the chance to win one of five copies of the book.
“We’re hoping it will get families out together and give the kids something to do,” said Pat Mazzei, the group’s immediate past president. “There’s happiness and excitement with going around and looking for something.”
Mazzei’s son and his fiancée donated the five books, and the Rotary will randomly select the winners from all photos emailed to northscrantonrotary@gmail.com by May 30.
Mazzei, who has five bears in the windows of her Scranton home, also encouraged families to use the activity as a math lesson by counting the bears, or an opportunity to talk about different kinds of bears.
She also hopes to see more people place teddy bears in their windows.
Clare Kull, the group’s president, also has bears in the windows of her home in Clarks Summit.
“We hope it brings some families together for some family time,” Kull said. “It will bring some excitement to kids, not just to go for a walk, but to also spot them.”
Sarah balances life as a reporter for The Times-Tribune and as the mom of two little girls. A graduate of Ithaca College, Sarah started covering education in 2006. She has received awards for her reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists, Pennsylvania Newsmedia Association, Inland Press Association and Pennsylvania Women’s Press Association. She lives in Clarks Summit with her husband, their daughters and their sweet pug, Sadie. Reach her at shofius@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9133 or @HofiusHallTT.
