DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
• A US woman has been inscribed into the Guinness Book of World Records for owning the largest teddy bear collection – made up of some 8,026 bears. South Dakota’s Jackie Miley, 68, started her collection with a bear named ‘Grandma Jackie’ which she won on a holiday in 2000 and then began visiting stores and thrift shops around her state to add to the collection. Jackie says she never had a teddy bear as a child – it wasn’t until she saw one at the Minnesota State Fair at the age of eight that she knew what one even was. Her bears range from just under two centimetres high to almost 2.5 metres tall and are available for all to see at Teddy Bear Town, a tourist attraction in Hill City, South Dakota.
• As excuses go, it’s not a bad one. Welsh rugby player Scott Baldwin reportedly had to miss a game in South Africa recently after, ignoring advice not to, he put his hand through a fence during a trip to a game park in order to pat a lion and – shock! – had his hand bitten. Baldwin needed eight stitches in his hand after the bite but, thankfully, says it’s now on the mend.
• A US couple who were born on the same day in the same Massachusetts hospital have now married. The Taunton Gazette reports that Jessica Gomes and Aaron Bairos, who share a birthdate of 28th April, 1990, were married on 9th September. They grew up only a few miles apart before meeting in high school. It was, apparently, love at first sight.
