Otter Lake’s first little tyke of its 150th year got acquainted with her neighbours on Friday, receiving a gift basket from an Otter Laker born a half-century ago.
The lucky recipient of the basket was two-month-old Ivy Theresa Helmer, born on Feb. 13, 2026 at the Pembroke Hospital. Mom Kiesha Brisebois said her little girl is doing well at home despite the family spending a bit of time in the hospital.
“It was a little bit rough in the beginning, she struggled to gain her birth weight and everything so we were in the hospital for a little while, but we’re doing good now,” Brisebois said.
The basket was assembled by the Otter Lake 150 committee, which is organizing a series of events in honour of the municipality’s milestone birthday. Committee member Jennifer Quaile said the group wanted to organize the gift basket presentation as a hat-tip to similar celebrations done in the past.
“We knew it had been done for the hundredth anniversary of Otter Lake. That year they chose the first baby boy and the first baby girl, each were honoured. And so we thought, ‘Let’s do it for the first baby of 2026,’” Quaile said.
There to present the basket was Shelley Kluke, Otter Lake’s first baby from the municipality’s centennial year of 1976. “I figured, ‘Well, I’ll do it, because I had the same opportunity back for the hundredth,” Kluke said.
The basket featured plush toys, a bottle, a storybook called I Love You Like No Otter, a handmade quilt featuring a caricature of an otter, and other baby-related paraphernalia.
“It’s really nice that they’re doing this,” Brisebois said.
