The mountain communities participated in a hunt for teddy bears on Saturday, March 28 – a hunt that took the nation by storm.

“It was so cute!” was the reaction of Running Springs resident Jaime Stiansen. “My kids had lots of fun.” And family friend Parker Strebel counted 62 bears on their trip around town.

Stiansen said they had a caravan of cars following one another around town.

The kids, Stiansen noted, got a kick out of some of the nontraditional decorations that were up: an alien peering out of a garage window and a door decorated like a space ship.

The bear hunt was such a huge success, added Denise Brotherton, “that we’ve decided to go ahead with another hunt.”

From April 3 through April 5, they are asking residents to put up hearts in their windows.

“The more hearts there are hanging up, the more fun the kids can have,” Brotherton said.