Making an important play date: ‘Teeter Toddlers’ celebrates 20 years

Clark County

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• More information on the play group can be found at teetertoddlers.org

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July 23, 2012

Making an important play date: ‘Teeter Toddlers’ celebrates 20 years

By SARAH GRIFFIN newsroom@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Mon Jul 23, 2012, 08:49 PM EDT

CLARKSVILLE — Teeter Toddlers, a local play group based in New Albany, celebrated its 20 year anniversary in Lapping Park in Clarksville with a party last weekend.

The group meets twice weekly, consists solely of volunteers and functions as a support network for parents and children.

“Our mission statement is that Teeter Toddlers Play Group is a growing organization of parents and babies and young children who meet regularly to find friends and playmates for our children, and share common experiences and the day-to-day challenges of our most important mission — parenthood,” said Beth LaRock, current president of the play group.

The group was started in April 1992 by Beverly Davis, who said she experienced loneliness when she stopped working to care for her children.

“I grew up in Louisville and my husband and I worked together, and when we got married I moved over to Indiana,” Davis said. “I was working at the time and never had an opportunity to meet my neighbors, which was OK — I was working and had a life. Until we had children, and then when I started staying home I was lonesome and realized, ‘gosh I don’t know anybody.’”

Davis temporarily attended a play group in Louisville, but realized she wouldn’t be able to meet neighbors or other community members through it and that a more local group was needed.

“I ran [an advertisement] in the local Banner Gazette and I think the New Albany Tribune and right off that bat I had phone calls,” Davis said.

The original group consisted of about seven women and 14 children, and soon relocated from homes to the First Southern Baptist Church in Floyds Knobs. Teeter Toddler’s then expanded through the efforts of its members.

“Some of these women were used to working like me, and they had talents but nothing to do with them,” Davis said. “So somebody said ‘I’d like to do a newsletter,’ so that’s how that got started. Someone else was good at event planning, so they’d set up our field trips and different things. And it just grew.”

One hundred twenty invitations were sent to current and former members for Sunday’s event, according to LaRock. The group has expanded from being a support network for its members to participating in the wider community.

“We’re a nonprofit organization and we do things for the community — community outreach,” LaRock said. “Today we’re doing a donation for school supplies for the Floyd County Head Start. We just try to find something local, like the Center for Women and Families, the local pet shelters, if they need items donated.”

Primarily, the group has functioned as a support network for those caring for children, particularly for transplants to the area. Former member Gwynn Stewart called the group “a mental lifesaver” and credited it for her giving her lasting connections in the community.

“Because we’re all in the same [area] — even if you’re not in the same school district, there’s sporting events, and you do run into the same people and have a connection even after all these years,” Stewart said. “More so for the parents to be honest.”

Davis agreed the play group has had a long-term impact on her connections within the community.

“Before play group came, I really didn’t know anybody. And by the time my children got into school, I seldom ever went out anywhere that I didn’t find someone that I knew,” Davis said. “And some of the women that I met through play group — their kids were friends through high school, and some of them are probably still in college together. At this point, I’m wondering how close we are to having Teeter Toddler children — having the grandchildren be part of the group; someone that participated in it as a child and will come back as a parent.”

The play group has also consisted of notable members of the community, including Stephanie Decker, remembered for her heroic actions earlier this year when tornadoes hit the area.

Even after 20 years, Teeter Toddler’s shows no signs of slowing down.

“I just never thought, when I started it, that it would still be going 20 years later, especially on a volunteer basis,” Davis said. “Considering that it’s all done by volunteers and that there are people who step up to keep it moving, it’s just a great story.”