It was certainly an honour to be nominated for an award in the Ted World Wide–contest.
To belong to the best of the world with my mini-bears
(at least those that I had entered for the contest)
is quite an achievement. It was great fun to travel with my husband to Wiesbaden
and take part in the fair with a stall.

Our American friends had also come to Wiesbaden and our reunion was heart-warming.
The big award evening was held in a top class hotel
where they served a delicious buffet.
It is always exciting when it is the turn of your own category and the names are called.

But just as my bear was to be called,
the video presentation went bust and
I only got a short glimpse of my little Hanne, larger than life, on the big screen.

                       

Herr Neumann quickly announcedAnd the winner is; Marian Haarink with Hanne!

I was very happy and quickly went forward to receive my award and a rose.
The award is lovely; it is a crystal sphere on which a teddy bear is engraved
together with my name and my bear’s name.

It is a really personal award.

           

It was fun to receive all the congratulations from
the other contestants and our American friends.

The raffle held for “Äktion Sorgenkind” was fun;
they put up a huge teddy bear as the prize.
We wanted to win it for our grandson Berend and
to everyone’s joy we actually did win the raffle.

That Sunday evening we returned home
with an award and a big bear in the passenger seat.

We had a lovely and rewarding weekend in Wiesbaden.