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Posted on Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 3:19 p.m.

The social media version of the Dexter Bear comes out of hiding

By Lisa Allmendinger

This summer may go down in local history as the Year of the (Dexter) Bear and Dexter business owner Amber Sears had a large social media paw in it.

Sears said she began The Dexter Bear Facebook page after reading about the wild animal's existence on June 17 on AnnArbor.com.

ambear.jpg

Amber Sears, The Dexter Bear Facebook page creator

Courtesy photo | For AnnArbor.com

When she checked and there wasn’t one representing the bear already, the Dexter Bear page was launched. By the next day, it had 25 fans.

The admitted Facebook addict said, “That Monday, Channel 4 ran something about the Dexter Bear page and after that, I just kept refreshing the page and the numbers kept growing.”

And growing: To 1,847 fans.

Sears, a graduate of Chelsea Schools, said she researched black bear habits and foods and began incorporating events in her day while writing as her alter ego from the bear’s point of view.

“I had a lot of fun with it,” she said. “I’m a frustrated comedian,” and this was a terrific creative outlet for her humor.

While the stories about the Dexter bear continued, Sears said she tried to post 2-3 times a day, researched bear habits and incorporated her humor, but after July 4, the news stories stopped and “It wasn’t cool anymore.”

So, as the drought of bear stories continued, she looked for the right time to send him off naturally, reveal herself, and “send him on his ‘beary’ way.”

She began a ‘Find the Dexter Bear contest’ during last weekend’s Dexter Daze and 16 people found the stuffed replica on her store counter - but no one guessed she was behind the bear’s social media popularity.

“I’m pretty shy in real life,” she said.

The Dexter Bear Facebook page is not Sears’ first brush with animal-based social media. Her pug, Penelope, has her own page with friends from around the world, she said.

Monday night, the local resident revealed her identity as the owner of Modern Vintage, a downtown Dexter shop.

“I had so much fun being the bear and making him a Dexter cheerleader! I am sorry to see him go, but he (or she!) stopped giving me material to work with. GRR!,” she wrote on the page.

“I hope the real bears are happy in the wild someplace. I would like to thank all of you who liked this page and posted comments, photos and links. It was truly a fun community and I will miss it, but it's time to hibernate. ;-) One last GRRR! for the road!”

“I want people to know how much I enjoyed doing it,” Sears said. “That feeling of community, I wish I could duplicate that in some other way.”

Sears said she’d love it fans of the Dexter Bear page would stop by and introduce themselves.

“It would be nice to meet the people who were his biggest fans,” Sears said.

Lisa Allmendinger is a regional reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. For more Dexter stories, visit our Dexter page.

Comments

Bob Martel

Fri, Aug 19, 2011 : 12:36 a.m.

The Dexter Bear FB posts were plain old-fashioned good fun. Thanks, Amber!

jeepinkev

Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 10:47 p.m.

I am mostly a fan of the "Dexter Bear" because on how it got to the Hudson Mills Park area without being seen until then...and how it hasn't been seen much since it left the "Dexter" area. It's illusiveness intrigues me. This must be one crafty fella. Maybe he grabbed all the pick-a-nic baskets and moved on.

julieswhimsies

Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 9:04 p.m.

Thanks for the Twitter follow...uh...Amber!

Patty Bradley

Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 7:44 p.m.

Wonderful job, Amber. I loved the Dexter Bear updates, and I just knew someone fun was behind it all. Thanks!

RuralMom

Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 7:39 p.m.

This is awesome, yes I am a fan, she did a very good job of keeping us all amused!