Wednesday,  Aug. 01, 2012 • Vol. 13--No. 018 • 66 of 77 •  Other Editions

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• "I was ecstatic. I mean, I just shook," she said of the first record.
• Since then, the collection has grown as people from all 50 states and 20 countries send her teddy bears, and she's appeared in the Guinness World Record book three times.
• Miley partnered with Victor Alexander, who owns the hotel, to move the collection to a quaint house across the street that was built in 1895. There are so many bears that only about 4,000 can be displayed at Teddy Bear Town, Alexander said. The rest are stored in a nearby building, but he hopes to build on to the home soon so that as many as 20,000 bears can be easily displayed.
• As curator of Teddy Bear Town, Miley greets visitors and happily shares her story of becoming the "bear lady." She points out the various locations of the bears in the store, which have been named after places in the Black Hills. The biker bears

are on Beargis Rally Road, a nod to the famous motorcycle rally held in nearby Sturgis every August, while the sleeping bears are tired from walking the Mickelbear Trail. (The Mickelson Trail is a 109-mile trail from Edgemont to Deadwood.)
• Miley is appreciative of every person who takes the time to send her a stuffed animal -- even if it's not a bear, like what happened recently with Norman from Norway. The outside of the package said it was a teddy bear, and a letter inside said the sender hoped Miley didn't already have a similar bear.
• "When I pulled it out, it was a moose," Miley said.
• Miley's most meaningful bear is from one of the elementary schools she attended in Minnesota. The bear, which had a photo of Miley from the second grade pinned to the chest, was a surprise gift from a visiting couple.
• "I was raised in foster homes and I don't have a lot of childhood memorabilia, and that is the only picture I have of myself at the age of 7," she said.
• In the future, Miley and Alexander hope to open a Build-A-Bear workshop or something similar. Until then, they are focusing on expanding the collection and getting as many people to take part in the record as possible. Every person who sends a bear gets an official certificate.
• "The idea is if you don't have a world record at home, you can become a part of that world record simply by donating to the collection," Alexander said.

Sanford breaks ground on $541M Fargo hospital

• FARGO, N.D. (AP) -- Sanford Health is beginning work on a $541 million medical center in Fargo, which is scheduled to open in 2016 and serve more than 4,200 patients daily.

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