WATERTOWN, Mass. – Brandon Carlo isn’t quite a well-rounded, professional toy shopper just yet.
Sure, it wasn’t that long that he was roaming the aisles in search of the perfect toy of his own. But nowadays, his shopping focus is on his two-year-old daughter Wren – meaning his toy knowledge is currently set on a very specific age range.
“Just for one age group that’s anything around two just because I know what Wren likes right now, “said Carlo. “But other than that, I still struggle. It’s still fun to peruse around and look at all the stuff. It reminds me of being a kid. I spent a lot of time in these toy aisles when I was growing up because my mom took forever to shop.
“She would just send me over to the toy aisle with $20 every now and again and I would sit over there and try to budget and try to figure it out. Still trying to learn…most of the time I was trying to get my mom to splurge the extra five bucks to get a bigger toy…some sort of ball or a mini hockey net.”
Fortunately, Carlo had a list to work off at Target on Wednesday morning as he took part in the Bruins’ annual holiday toy shopping event, during which they pick out gifts for children spending the holidays at local hospitals. The event began when Ray Bourque was captain of the Black & Gold and has continued for over three decades.
“Always fun to bring a little bit of joy, a little bit of fun while they’re going through a tough time,” said Bruins captain Brad Marchand, who was following a Ninja Turtles theme in a nod to his favorite childhood cartoon. “It’s good to be able to help people put a smile on their face, especially being a parent. To see your kids going through something like that would be very tough, especially at Christmastime.
“Anytime we have the opportunity to put a smile on their face, if we can make a kid forget what they’re going through for a minute, it’s worth doing. We’re in a position to be able to do that and help give back. That’s part of what we enjoy doing.”
