ANDERSON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Stuffed animals in windows, doorways and on front porches in Lawrenceburg sent families on a 'Bear Hunt,' ultimately bringing a message of hope.
"I woke up Saturday morning, the kids and I found our own stuffed animals to stick outside and we made sure we participated. And then I asked my husband like, 'Do you want to go on the bear hunt?' You know, 'Are you interested?' I thought he would like laugh at me but he was like, ‘No, I want to go,'" explained Amanda Gritton.
The hunt started after Shea Harvey posted on her Facebook Page on Saturday inviting everyone in Lawrenceburg to participate.
"Carlie my oldest, she grabbed like her pad and pencil and she was tallying for every bear that we found," said Gritton who also stated her family tallied 132 bears.
That may seem like a lot of bears but one family told LEX 18 they spotted 706 bears just on Monday. Although it is a friendly competition, this Bear Hunt is about so much more than furry stuffed animals.
"We had the best time we laughed we giggled we I mean we saw Spiderman we saw Minnie Mouse we saw Toy Story characters, you know, it was just really, it was just a good time to be with the family and just the sun was out yesterday so it just put everybody in a really good mood," Gritton recounted.
The Coleman Family shared a video of their three and seven-year-old daughters on a their Bear Hunt while listening to a version of the childrens' story book "We're Going on a Bear Hunt."
Gritton became emotional when sharing that she felt like a little game that seemed to be for the kids became an outing for everyone.
"We may be from this area [and] you're from this area, you know, but it didn't matter," Gritton said. "Like we all--everyone participated everyone was out everyone was doing something positive and just sharing the light."
Amid the uncertainty, not only did this hunt give Gritton and dozens of other families a reason to leave the house, she said it also reminded themeveryone is going through the coronavirus changes together.
"If you take anything from this," said Gritton, "take this to your own wherever you live, take it and run with it, make it your own for your community just give something, some people, something to look forward to and just something to make everybody smile, I mean anything we can do to lift hearts and let lighten the mood I think is a positive right now."
The Bear Hunt is expected to continue for the rest of the week or maybe even longer.
