Hi Folks! This is our (drum roll…) seventh year of hugging Victorians and everyone else who wanders by and wants one! We still remember how terrified we were on our first hugging adventure, and how enervated we are now when the opportunity presents itself. We didn’t have as many opportunities last year as we would have liked, but in 2014 we hugged people from 41 countries (that we know about). We wanted to get a jump on things this year, and since we’ve been having such lovely weather lately, we went out on our earliest ever Hugging session on April 2. Well, we hugged people from Victoria and other places on the island, people from mainland BC, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. We hugged neighbours from Washington and Montana, and neighbours from as far away as South Carolina. And we hugged people from Brazil, Chile, China, India, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Romania, Thailand and Vietnam. Thirteen countries so far, and that’s only our first outing!
Tag Archives: Ship Point
International Free Hugs Day, 2015
Hi Folks: As you likely know, last Saturday (July 4) was a pretty special day. Not only is it our son’s birthday, but it was International Free Hugs Day! (the first Saturday in July every year). As we’ve done for the past six years, we took our Free Hugs posters downtown to the Homecoming Statue at Ship Point and shared hugs with an amazing group of people.
Basic Hugging Attire – Poster, Sun Hat, Winning Smile…!
2014: The Year of Hugging Exuberantly
Hi Folks:
Well, this is our fifth year of hugging Victorians (and others); mid-July and we’ve already had six free hugs sessions this year!
Basic Hugging Attire – Poster, Sun Hat, Winning Smile…!
International Free Hugs Day, 2013
Hi Folks:
As you’re surely all well aware, Saturday, July 6 (the first Saturday in July) was International Free Hugs Day!! Marcia and I dutifully marched down to our spot at the Homecoming Statue at Ship’s Point and unrolled our ‘Free Hugs’ posters, then eagerly awaited the onslaught. We didn’t have long to wait. We both commented on how terrified we were the first time we did this down at the inner harbour, and how much we look forward to these outings now! We meet some amazing people from around the world (and around the corner), shared some great stories and some great hugs!
Thanks to everyone who came by for sharing your hugs, smiles, waves, air hugs (from across the street), and best of all, yourselves. We appreciate every one!
International Free Hugs Day, 2013
So go out and hug someone today, and be sure to check out our other ‘Free Hugs‘ posts!
M&M
P.S. We recently came across a FB page for a woman named Rita who is also a hugger. You can check her out here: 10,000 Hugs in 100 Cities. Rita is also based in Victoria; we may not have all of the world’s best huggers, but we’re certainly on the map… ;-) We haven’t (yet) met Rita in person, but the hugging will be epic!
International Free Hugs Day!!
Hi Folks:
Today, July 7 (the first Saturday in July every year) is International Free Hugs Day!! So hug someone you love today. Or a stranger. Or, preferably, both!! This is our third year of hugging Victoria, so if you’re in Victoria today, drop by the Homecoming Statue (near the Tourism Victoria building, downtown by Ship’s Point) and we’ll be happy to share a hug with you!! Continue Reading →
International Free Hugs Day!
Hi Folks:
It’s not (yet!) commonly known, but the first Saturday in July every year has been designated ‘International Free Hugs Day‘; that meant it fell on July 2 this year. Not that we ever need an excuse to hug people, but in order to celebrate we took our ‘Free Hugs’ posters down from the shelf and headed downtown. We also brought along a stack of ‘Hug Certificates‘, of course!
For our last ‘Free Hug’ session we were down on the walkway of the inner harbour, but we chose a different location this time: In order to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Canadian Navy last year, a bronze sculpture called ‘The Homecoming‘ was erected at Ship’s Point. The sculpture shows a young girl running into the waiting arms of her father, returned from sea. It was a perfect location for us!
We held our signs aloft and waited, but not for long. Very soon we had a reasonably steady stream of people coming by to hug, be hugged and, in some cases, to have their pictures taken. Several people asked why we were doing this, and we simply told them that it was International Free Hugs Day!! A couple of people wondered if it was a tourism promotion put on by the city; that may be a good idea (‘Hug Me, I’m from Victoria‘ T-shirts? Hmmm…) but no, it’s just something we enjoy doing. We hugged young people and old people and everyone in between. We hugged both locals and visitors to our city, all with gay abandon. We were instructed on how to say ‘a hug’ in Portugese (um abraca, I think), and basically we had a wonderful time! Hugging is good for you (and the person who’s hugging you), doesn’t take a lot of time, is non-fattening, doesn’t cause cavities and contributes to world peace!! Continue Reading →