A Preview of Saturday’s Teddy Bear Toss in Utica | Community [Video]

UTICA, N.Y. — This Saturday night, the Teddy Bear Toss makes its return to the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium as the Utica Pioneers take on SUNY Geneseo.

The ice will be filled with thousands of teddy bears after the Pioneers score their first goal. This is all a part of the New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss Game.  

“Everyone who comes to the game brings a teddy bear.” said Katie Reilly, New York Sash’s vice president of marketing.

“When Utica scores the first goal, they all throw them down on the ice, and it rains teddy bears! The New York Sash family and friends go down to collect them, and we give them all to needy kids in the area,” she said. 

Every year, around 4,000 teddy bears are donated, and to date, over 60,000 teddy bears have been donated since starting the event.

The bears …