Hosted in the Overman Student Center Ballrooms on Feb. 4 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. was the Teddy and a Crush event hosted by the Gorilla Activities Board. When asked about the event, organizer and junior elementary education unified K-6 major Shelby Stein said, “Teddy and a Crush is a Valentine’s event. We’re having Crush soda and you’re gonna stuff a teddy bear,” later saying, “Last year we had Boba and Bears, so you got boba and you stuffed a teddy bear. It was a really big hit, so this year we decided to do the same type of thing, just a little bit different.”
Students had a choice between Orange, Grape, or Strawberry Crush as their drink along with a whole host of animals including cats, dogs, rhinos, gorillas and even aliens made by Teddy Mountain. Teddy Mountain is a wholesale supply company that provides stuffed animals along with stuffing machines like those found at Build-a-Bear Workshops across the country.
When asked why he came to the event, sophomore graphic design major Sid Ruckman said, “I heard about it. I love bears, I assumed that it was Valentine’s Day related, and I also like Valentine’s Day, so I thought about either getting a plushy for myself or for my partner. I thought it would be a fun thing to do with friends as well.”
Then when asked what stuffed animal he got, Ruckman said, “I got an alien because he’s ugly and cute at the same time, and there’s just something about him that spoke to me,” later adding, “He was tied a little bit with the capybara, but I had to go with the alien.”
Some students had different reasons, however. Freshman communications major with an emphasis in theater Dylan Schnedler said, “Well I love stuffed animals, and I thought it was a really cute event, and me and my best friend got matching stuffed animals, so that’s really fun,” later saying, “I got the gorilla. PSU pride, and also it looked a little lonely. There wasn’t much over there, so I decided to get the gorilla. I thought the monkey was also really cute.”
It would seem many students agree, as the line to get a plushy was extremely long.
Others came because they were curious. When asked about why he came to the event, junior media communication major Wes Reed said, “I just saw the ad listing for it and didn’t know what it was,” adding, “It just looked interesting, and I had time after class, so I just decided to come.” Later when asked what stuffed animal he wanted, Wes said, “I don’t really know the choices, but a lot of them look pretty good. I saw some gorillas and a lizard thing, and a bird. They all look really cool.”
Another student, freshman construction management major Jotham Meyer, added something similar. When asked why he came to the event, he said, “I don’t know, something to do,” adding, “I got a panda, it looked the coolest.”