Teddy bear parade keeps Railroad Festival on track

Children walked along cuddling their teddy bears and rode along in wagons with their favorite stuffed animals through afternoon drizzle in downtown Appomattox Sunday. The music, car show, and fireman’s competition at the 42nd annual Appomattox Railroad Festival were canceled because of inclement weather, but the teddy bear parade marched on.

“The teddy bear parade is rain or shine,” said Bryanna Moore, a troop leader for Appomattox Girl Scout Troop 1350, which has organized the small parade for the past five years. At least 100 people trickled into downtown Sunday to pick up snacks and visit craft vendors dispersed through blocked off town streets. The weekend-long festival commemorates Norfolk & Western Railroad’s donation of the Appomattox Depot to the town in 1973 and celebrates the town’s history. Girl Scout Troop 1350 picked up the teddy bear parade tradition five years ago, although it has gone on much longer.

The parade is an opportunity for a stuffed animal drive for Gleaning for the World’s Teddy Bear Brigade. The nonprofit provides stuffed animals for children, who have suffered abandonment, natural disaster, sickness disease and war, according to its website. The girl scouts sign in entrants, lead the parade and judge the competition.“It’s trying to teach them fairness, organization, all those things,’ said Debbie Baine, another troop leader. Cheyenne Moore said she looked for “effort” when judging the teddy bear entrants, some of which dress to match their stuffed animal. She and Ginny Baine said they particularly liked a wagon designed to represent Disney’s up. Cheyenne thought it was not just sitting in the wagon and actually built something. She said she also learned about difficulties in organizing an event when it rained it got hard to do the paperwork.

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