Families walk in a parade at the annual Teddy Bear Picnic in Lake Placid. (Enterprise photo — Chris Knight)

LAKE PLACID — The Rotary Club of Lake Placid invites people to donate teddy bears for the Teddy Bear Picnic, an annual children’s event will take place Saturday, Sept. 21 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Kiwanis Teddy Bear Park on Elm Street.

In July, the Rotary Club began collecting gently loved and freshly washed stuffed animals, along with other small toy items, at the local Adirondack Bank and NBT Bank branches. The donated items are used to stock the Teddy Bear General Store at the children’s event.

“The toys we collect go quickly. When the kids register and receive their Teddy Bear Bucks, they go straight to the Teddy Bear General Store and begin ‘purchasing’ items,” Teddy Bear Picnic Committee Member Cindy DeMars said in a press release. “We will keep collecting stuffed animals and toys up until the day before the event.”

This event is entirely free to the public, thanks to generous support from Rotarians and others.

Children and the young at heart are invited to choose a favorite teddy bear friend or two and come to the picnic donned in costume. There will be prizes for the best costume and most creative teddy-bear-themed “float.” This year, a prize will also be awarded to the best pet in costume.

There will also be hot dogs, ice cream, face painting, music and shopping in the Teddy Bear General Store.

One lucky picnicker will be chosen to lead the Teddy Bear Picnic Parade, escorted by the Lake Placid police and fire departments.

Registration begins at 11 a.m., and the parade begins at noon. There is no rain date.

This year marks the 28th year that children and their families have been enjoying the Teddy Bear Picnic. The event, which has always been free of charge, was originally organized by the Kiwanis Club of Lake Placid. The Lake Placid Rotary Club took over the event last year after the Kiwanis Club disbanded.

“The Rotary Club is helping to continue some of Kiwanis’s wonderful community traditions, like this picnic,” Teddy Bear Picnic Chair Martha Pritchard Spear said in the release.