“To infinity and beyond!” ... or more like to San Marcos and Wisconsin. The journey of a child’s lost toy played out just like the beloved “Toy Story” movie plot, with the Tello family bringing along their one-year-old daughter’s best friend Woody for a trip across the country.
After enjoying time in San Marcos the family made their long trek back to their home in Wisconsin, thinking that Woody was packed away in their luggage. After unpacking, panic arose as Woody was no where to be found. Shaunna Tello went into mom mode, retracing her steps and deter- mining Woody must be somewhere in San Marcos. She reached out to local Facebook group pages where the unexpected happened. The search for Woody exploded with support. Dozens of comments flooded the feed, offering help. Little did the Tello’s know that Woody’s journey back home was just beginning.
“I was overwhelmed at the amount of kindness that people showed, that’s what kind of blew me away about this whole story,” Shaunna Tello said. “They were there, messaging me on Facebook, offering to send me their old Woody dolls, Venmoing me money to get a new one, people were really kind about it, and that’s what was the eye opener at the whole situation.”
During the initial search Tello had called the San Marcos Discovery Center but staff at the time could not locate Woody. After a flood of support through Facebook she received a call from city staff informing her that Woody had been found and was continuing his San Marcos adventure.
“A Discovery Center team member first found Woody and brought him inside. They let Parks and Recreation know that they found him so he could be reunited with the family looking for him. Once the Visit San Marcos team heard there was a beloved toy left behind, our team decided to show him around so the family could see that he was having a great time and to not worry, he’d be home soon,” Marketing Specialist for Destination Services Sarah Smith said.
Before returning home Woody took a final jaunt around the River City. He explored the Tourist Information Center, which led him to stroll the San Marcos River, check out the mermaid statues and see downtown.
“While there are so many wonderful things to do in San Marcos, we knew Woody was excited to get back home to his family, so we showed him just a few of the iconic stops before he went home,” Smith said.
Woody was packed safely by city staff and sent on his final adventure back home to Wisconsin.
“The unveiling of Woody was so special because of them, they had a brown box with San Marcos stickers all over it. I opened the box and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, it’s just Woody.’ No, they had a card written in there that was talking about how Woody went on adventures, but he was ready to be home with Giovanna, and he brought some souvenirs back with them,” Tello said.
The Visit SMTX team hooked up the Tello family with San Marcosthemed gear as well as some “Toy Story” stickers. Tello was grateful but the real reunion was with Woody and her daughter Gia.
“That’s the day she said Woody the first time with a ‘W’ and she held him to the sky like she had conquered Earth. She ran over to her Minnie Mouse chair and just hugged him. The pure joy that came from that moment made everything and that was bad not even exist in that world for me,” Tello said. “San Marcos made that happen.”
The joy Gia felt was shared as Shaunna shared the news on Facebook. City staff also shared in the joy, appreciative for their part in the journey.
“This was a multi-department project and I think I speak for all of us when I say we had so much fun being a part of this story. A child losing a beloved toy is a universal experience that we can all rally behind,” Smith said. “We wanted to make sure that we gave Woody a story to quell his family’s fears of him exploring on his own, and then bring about a wonderful reunification. To see how much traction this story has garnered has been really heartwarming.”
Just as Woody was lost in the “Toy Story” movie, he found his way home through the help of friends and neighbors.
“I never in my life thought we would be living our own “Toy Story” adventure,” Tello said. “I just couldn’t be more thankful to the city of San Marcos and the community of San Marcos all the citizens; I will be forever, and they’re debt for how they they impacted our family.”
