Adventures of Charles the Bear Cub Olde Sandwich Towne, Windsor, ON

April Fools on Us!

2016-04-06T17:26:00.000-04:00

This is me. I love surprises, you know. I like parties, too!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with Grandpa James. That's right next to Sandwich Street. Grandpa James is really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. I help him remember. This morning he forgot to put on shoes before we went outside!

Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's four. Frankie Facebooks with Her Majesty. Frankie is a very good speller and he can make his ears wiggle. That makes us laugh and laugh and laugh.

Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful! Oh. Wait! Chance has an identical twin brother. His name is Second Chance!

Our pharmacy is at 3211 Sandwich Street. That's in Windsor. Windsor is on O Canada, you know.

Know what? We go to the drugstore on Sandwich Street. That is another word for a pharmacy. Our drugstore is an important place. It iswhere we get our meds when we're sick. One time we got Austrian measles. We had big green spots all over us for eleven days. We got a prescription for medicinal Smarties and Canada Dry with bendy straws at the drugstore and we got well.

Smarties are full of chocolate-y goodness and that makes bear cubs healthy and happy.

Miss Donna and Miss Hiam and Miss Ivana had a beautiful gift basket to give away. I wrote down our names on a paper and Miss Hiam put it in the box. Then on April Fool's Day, Miss Donna said, "Charles, you won the basket!" Were we ever surprised!

Miss Donna is holding me, Grandpa James is holding our prize. Miss Haim has Chance in her hands and Miss Ivana is holding Second Chance. I will tell you a secret. I think the ladies are princesses.

There are lots of fun things in the basket. Everything is Atoma. It's the name. We have hand sanitizer. Bear cubs don't have hands. We have paws. Know what? Hand sanitizer works on paws! We got floss. I love floss! Floss is for my teeth but it's fun to play with, too. We get newborn baby Kleenexes and goat soap. The soap smells nice. Chance and Second Chance already tried to eat it. You can't eat soap. It's not one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. We can bath with Epsom salt and a scrubby. We got lots and lots of other things that help us keep clean andI take care of ourselves.

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Frankie, too! and Chance and Second Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Pick up trash and garbage. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can all take a bath together and splash in the tub! Okay! Over and out!"

Windsor Orchid Society Show

2014-11-03T10:39:00.002-05:00

Here I am with Mr. and Mrs. Lee. They are very special people. They have a special job. They grow orchids. I'm holding a lady slipper. That's a very pretty orchid. I hope it tastes as good as it smells!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I'm five. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful! Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's four. We all go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre.

Know what? We got invited to the orchid show. Orchids are flowers. They are very pretty and they smell good, too. Our buddy, Gwen, took all the pix. She's a very good camera lady.

There are lots and lots of different kinds of orchids. They grow almost everywhere in the world, you know. I could grow orchids when I grow up. I could be an orchid farmer! That would be the bestest job in the whole world!

Some orchids grow in picnic baskets. They look very yummy. We asked Grandpa James to buy us an orchid. We wanted to eat it. Grandpa James said, "My sons! You can't eat orchids! They're not in Canada's Food Guide!" We were a little sad.

This is Grandpa Foeke's orchid. It name oncidium. We just call him Onnie. Grandpa Foeke won two prizes for this beautiful flower. We can smell it but we're not allowed to eat it, you know.

Our buddy Mary had an orchid at the show. It was at the front door to welcome everyone.

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! Grandpa James is hollering. "Where's Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador?" We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Stop and smell the orchids. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can hunt for orchids in the back yard! Okay! Over and out!"

Eating at The Squirrel Cage

2014-09-21T20:59:00.003-04:00

Hi! This is Uncle Xiaobin, Grandpa James and me! We're hungry as bears and we're gonna get stuffed at The Squirrel Cage. We even get to eat outside.

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I'm five. I live on Sparkle Road with Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too! He's four. He goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre with me.

Uncle Scott and Uncle Xiaobin came to our house for a visit. We get to play together. We play Hide & Seek. They bring us Smarties, sometimes. I always share my Smarties with them.

We get to eat outside at The Squirrel Cage. Food tastes even yummier when we eat out of doors, you know.

Today we're gonna have brunch at the Squirrel Cage. It's a restaurant. I didn't see any squirrels. I think they work in the kitchen. The food is yummy. I'm eating quiche. Quiche is a kind of pie with eggs. I l-o-v-e quiche. I could have eggs Benedict. I like that, too. I could eat everything on the menu 'cuz it's all so yummy. I use my best manners when I eat. I don't want Grandpa James to say, "Charles! Don't eat like a pig." I'm not a pig. I'm a bear cub, you know.

I can make this Asiago and ham quiche disappear!

Jackson Park is a good place to play Hide & Seek.

We gotta find Uncle Scott and Uncle Xiaobin to we can all go to Jackson Park and play Hide & Seek.
This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can have fun together! Okay! Over and out!"

We Walk the Mayor's Riverwalk for BANA

2014-05-27T11:46:00.001-04:00

This is His Worship, Mayor Eddie. He's the boss of Windsor, you know.

Every year, Mayor Eddie invites Frankie, Chance and me to join His Worship on the Queen's Birthday. We walk with the Crosstown Players for five kilometres through the park. We raise money for BANA. That's the Bulimia and Anorexia Association, you know. It's an important group. The people there help boys and girls to eat right and have good body images. That's a very important job.

Our friends and buddies pledge money for our walk. We give the money to BANA. We made lots of money for BANA this year. We're glad to help 'cuz it makes Windsor a better place. We're good citiziens because we do our part. Oh, wait! Good citizens get to eat Smarties and drink root beer. I love Smarties. I love root beer, too!

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario!

Grandpa James is hollering, "Where's Frankie? Where's my handsome Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and Lord of Labrador?

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Walk for BANA Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and walk with us! We can make Windsor a better place together! Okay! Over and out!"

Playdate with Pandoro

2014-04-28T12:16:00.000-04:00

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's my baby brother but boy, he is a handful!

Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's our cousin. Frankie is four. He goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre with me.

Pandoro came to our house for a playdate. Pandoro is a Panda bear. Panda bears come from Tranna, you know. Pandoro is the Prince of Tranna.

Uncle Mark and Auntie Carolina and Auntie Connie came, too. The grownups visited and we buddies got to play. We played Hide & Seek. That's a fun game. I close my eyes and count to a hunnert while everyone disappears. Then I look for them. Chance is a terrible hider. He's so newborn he thinks that when he closes his eyes, he's invisible. He's not, you know. I can see him. Pandoro and Frankie hid in the laundry basket. They were easy to find because they giggled a lot. Laundry baskets don't laugh. They're silly cubs.

Then we bounced on the bed. We're all good bouncers. Bouncing made us hungry.

We make faces for our sandwiches. I love pickles. They're one of the Four Food Groups in Canada's Food Guide.

Then we built a tent so we could eat peanut butter and pickle sandwiches for lunch. We ate Smarties and drank root beer, too. It was the bestest picnic, ever!

Chance doesn't have any teeth, so he just drinks chocolate owls' milk. We get it at Mac's.

After lunch, we hunted for lions in the back yard. We have space ray guns. We holler, "Goin' on a lion hunt, one, two, three! Goin' on a lion hunt, can't catch me!" We pretend squirrels and cats are lions. Lion hunting is fun.

Then, Pandoro had to go home. It's a long way to Tranna. That's where Panodoro and Uncle Mark and Auntie Carolina and Auntie Connie live. We said, 'good-bye' but we will see each other again and play some more.

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario!

Grandpa James is hollering, "Where's Frankie? Where's my handsome bear cub? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador?" That's Frankie. He's a handsome bear cub. He's the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador.

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Do good deeds. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and have a playdate with us! We can play Hide & Seek together! Okay! Over and out!"

A New Buddy

2014-03-19T21:13:00.004-04:00

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I'm five, you know. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too! He's our cousin. Frankie is four. We go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre on Sandwich Street. That's in Windsor. Windsor is in O Canada.

We went to see the doctor. We met a new buddy. Celena is very nice. Celena makes us laugh. I will tell you a secret. I think Celena is a princess. Buddies have two feet and friends have four feet, you know.

We got to share Smarties and drink root beer with Celena. That's fun. Maybe she can come to Windsor and ride bicycles with us and climb the sugar maple in the back yard and have a picnic.

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! Grandpa James is hollering, "Where's Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador?" That's Frankie. He's the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador.

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be nice to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can have fun together Okay! Over and out!"

Good-bye Merry Christmas!

2014-01-06T15:39:00.002-05:00

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

Chance got a chocolate toonie for Christmas. We're not supposed to eat money but it's okay if it's chocolate, you know.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too! He's four and he goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre with me.

At Christmastime we got lots of presents. Frankie and me got new hockey sticks. We can play Stanley Cup all winter! We shoot! We score!

Frankie and me got Space Ray Guns. That's good! We will need them next summer when we go on lion hunts in the back yard.

We got Smarties. We got lots and lots of Smarties. Auntie Kerri gave us a Smarties Train! All aboard!" I holler. "Next stop is Chocolate Land!" Chocolate is our friend, Grandpa James says.

We got Kinder Eggs in our stockings! We love Kinder Eggs! They're yummy, sweet and sticky. That's three of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide, you know.

I got Caillou and a pop-up Christmas book and Jelly Belly, too. We got chocolate toonies. They are giant sized! The toonie is almost as big as Frankie and Chance.

Know what? Christmas is over. Merry Christmas is gone but she'll be back next year.

Christmas all the Time is our favouritest Christmas album.

This is how we say 'good-bye- to Merry Christmas. First we put on Nana Ruth's album and sing along. I will tell you a secret. I think Nana Ruthie is a princess. Frankie thinks she is an angel. Maybe Nana Ruthie is an angel princess!

Now our Christmas tree is bear naked, just like us!

Then we take all the decorations off our little tree and put them in the red box. Then we put away our Christmas tree. It's a rota Picea canadensis. I know what that is. It's a Canadian Tire Spruce tree.

The tree sleeps in the cedar chest. It will be there when it's time for Merry Christmas next time!

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario!

Grandpa James is hollering, "Where's Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador?" That's Frankie! He's our Knight of Knewfoundland and our Lord of Labrador!

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! Bring your hockey stick and we can play Stanley Cup! Okay! Over and out!"

Merry Christmas is Here! Merry Christmas!

2014-01-01T16:15:00.000-05:00

Christmas dinner is special at our house. All the foods are yummy and sweet and sticky. We don't have to eat nasty foods like broccolis and sauerkrauts on Christmas.

Christmas breakfast is special. We get to eat in our Christmas jammies. We get to eat special pancakes. The pancakes look like this. We put peanut butter and maple syrup on our pancakes, too. When I was a wee little cub I couldn't say 'syrup'. I used to say 'syrple'. I still say 'syrple' for fun sometimes and we all laugh out loud.

When we're finished eating we say, "May we be excused?" We help clean off the table. We rinse our dishes and stack them in the dishwasher.

Our presents.

Now, we get to open our presents! They're under the Christmas tree. Grandpa James says our Christmas tree is a rota Picea canadensis. That's Latin for Canadian Tire Spruce.

We got lots of presents. Frankie and me got space ray guns! Now we can play Lion Hunt in the back yard next summer!

We got Smarties and candy canes and chicken bones from Ganong Brothers' and books. I got one of my favouritest books, Jelly Belly. I can read, you know. I make Frankie and Chance laugh when I read to them.

We have special food for Christmas, you know.

Unwrapping all those presents make me hungry. I'm as hungry as a bear! We have special food for Christmas lunch. We eat tourtiere . Tourtiere is yummy and that's one of the Four Food Groups in Canada's Food Guide. We get to eat guacamole and chips, too. Know what we got for dessert? I'll tell you. We got cheesecake with bakeapple topping. I love cheesecake. I love bakeapples, too. Bakeapples come from Newfoundland and Labrador. Some people call them cloudberries. Everything is yummy and we're stuffed!

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

Grandpa James is hollering, "Where's Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador? That's Frankie! He's our Knight of Knewfoundland and our Lord of Labrador!

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat tourtiere and cheesecake and bakeapples with us. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can share Christmas together! Okay! Over and out!"

Getting Ready for Merry Christmas

2013-12-17T11:13:00.000-05:00

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I'm five. live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's our cousin. Frankie is four. He goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre with me.

We have an important job to do. We have to get ready for Merry Christmas. She will be here in seven days. We have to decorate our tree and bake cookies. First we have to have Christmas music. We have special Christmas music to listen to. Nana Ruth sings the songs. She put them on an album so everyone can sing them. Nana Ruth knows lots of songs about Christmas.

You can get Nana Ruth's Christmas album right here, you know.

Nana Ruth lives in St. Andrews by-the Sea. That's pretty far from our house.We can go there on the train or in Uncle Rob's truck. It takes three days. Know what? Because we have her album it's like she's right here in the living room with us. We sing along 'cuz we know all the songs by heart.

1. Feels Like Christmas
2. O Come O Come Emanuel/God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman
3. Christmas All the Time
4. Precious Promise
5. King of Kings
6. What Child Is This
7. Christmas In the Trenches
8. It Wasn’t His Child
9. Away In a Manger
10.Childish Eyes
11.God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/ I Saw Thee Ships (Instrumental)

12.Christmas Morn

So we have the music. Next we have to make hot cocoa with newborn baby marshmallows on top. Frankie and me get to drink out of mugs. Chance is newborn. He drinks his cocoa from his bottle.

Grandpa James brings out the tree. He says it's a rota picea canadensis Grandpa James makes up stories. It's a Canadian Tire Spruce tree. Grandpa James says that it came from the forest but I know where Christmas trees come from. They come from Canadian Tire. I'm five. Grandpa James can't fool me!

Now, we have to untangle the silver garland. It's a big job!


Frankie and Chance are putting on the silver garland. Chance licks it. He can't eat the garland! It's not one of the four food groups!

When we hang something on the tree, we say something we're thankful for. It's a special thing to do. Our tree is almost all decorated. Uncle Kit and Auntie Kim surprise us. They bring us something special to hang on our tree. They brought little boxes of Smarties.

Next we put the presents under the tree. We get to open one on Christmas Eve and the others on Christmas morning, after breakfast.

There are only seven more days until Merry Christmas gets here. I will tell you the Christmas story soon.

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! Grandpa James hollers, "Where's Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador?" That's Frankie! He's our Knight of Knewfoundland and our Lord of Labrador.

We gotta go find Granpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Do good deeds. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can decorate the tree together! Okay! Over and out!"

Surgery!

2013-12-10T20:29:00.000-05:00

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I'm five. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful! Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's four. He goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre with me.

I got really sick and I had to go to hospital. Dr. Quoc said I had to have surgery so I could get well. There are lots of things to do before surgery. I couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight. At hospital I got a wristband with my name and birthday on it. I know my birthday. It's July 1st. That's Canada's birthday, too! Then I had to put on a hospital gown. Mine had bears on it. Then I had to wear a special hat.

This is the operating theatre.

The doctors and nurses asked me questions before the operation. Dr. Quoc is a surgeon. He opens you up and fixes what's wrong inside. That's a very important job.

This is the IV bottle. The tube goes in my arm.

We walked down the hall to the operating theatre. I laid down on the table and the nurse held my paw. She put an IV in me. One of the nice doctors put me to sleep. When I woke up, I was in the recovery room. Then a nice orderly pushed my bed upstairs to my own room. Grandpa James, Frankie and Chance were waiting for me. I had to stay there for two days. Every morning Dr. Quoc came to see me.

The nurse let me listen to my heart with her stethoscope. My heart says "lub-a-dub-lub-a-dub." The third morning Dr. Quoc said I could go home. Know what? I was glad to go home. I was glad to sleep in my own bed.

This is a picture of our house on Sparkle Road. I drew the picture all by myself.

Know what? Grandpa James says, "There's no place like home." That is really true, you know.

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! Where's Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador? That's Frankie! He's the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador!

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. If you get sick, go see Doctor Quoc. He can make you well. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play doctor together! Okay! Over and out!"

Charles, Chance and Frankie visit the IDA Pharmacy on Sandwich Street

2013-10-24T19:02:00.001-04:00

Frankie, Chance and me with our buddies Miss Hiam and Miss Annette at the drugstore.

Our favouritest IDA drug store is on Sandwich Street in Olde Sandwich Towne.

We walk right past the drug store every day. The drug store is where people get drugs. That is why it is called a drug store. Some people say pharmacy, so it is am important store because it has two names.

We get lots of other things at the drug store, too. The nice man from Canada Post puts the flyer in our mail box every week. It's a little newspaper that tells us what's on sale. We can buy baked beans and toilet tissue. We can buy apple juice and soup.

We can go to the walk-in clinic inside the store. Grandpa James can get his flu shot there and get his blood pressure checked, too. Grandpa James says we're lucky to have a pharmacy in our neighbourhood. It's a very important store.

We walk to the drug store for lots of things.

Miss Hiam and Miss Annette have very important jobs. The sick people bring little papers from their doctors and nurse practitioners and Miss Hiam and Miss Annette takes care of them.They count out the pills and put them in little bottles or in a Qube. They give meds to sick people so they can stay well.

Every week we go to the IDA with Grandpa James to get his meds. They come in a folder called a Qube. The Qube tells Grandpa James what drugs to take and when. The Qube keeps Grandpa James from getting mixed up. He could get sick if he took the wrong pills at the wrong time, you know.

I could be a pharmacist technician one day like Miss Hiam and Miss Annette. I will tell you a secret. I think Mis Hiam and Miss Annette are princesses.

If I want to be a pharmacist technician I have to go to St. Clair College after I graduate from the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. A pharmacist technician is not the same as a drug dealer. Drug dealers don't go to school. They go to prison.

I would smile at all the clients and say, "Hello, good citizen. How may I help you, today?" I would take their little papers and count out the pills for them. I can count to a hunnert, in French, too. I'm a good counter. Then Mr. Samir would check them. He's the pharmacist. Mr. Samir is the boss. He has an important job, you know.

Know what? When we went to the IDA today Miss Hiam and Miss Annette gave us two Qubes. One of them is for Grandpa James but the other one is Frankie, Chance and me! Guess what's in our Qube! Smarties! These are not everyday Smarties that come in the box, you know.

Everyday Smarties come in a blue box. Smarties are yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide.

These are very special Smarties. They're medicinal Smarties. We take one four times a day to stay healthy. Growing bear cubs need medicinal Smarties. We take the red ones just before bedtime 'cuz the Smarties song tells us to eat the red ones last.

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario!

Grandpa James is hollering, "Where's Frankie? Where's my handsome Knight of Knewfoundland and Lord of Labrador?" That's Frankie! He's our handsome bear cub. He's the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador. Queen Elizabeth knighted him on Facebook. We Facebook with Her Majesty, you know.

I think IDA means I'm Doin' Alright.

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Do good deeds. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can go to the IDA Pharmacy on Sandwich Street and get medicinal Smarties together! Okay! Over and out!"

Covered Bridge Potato Chips! Old Dutch Potato Chips!

2013-10-14T18:17:00.000-04:00

Covered Bridge Potato Chips are made in Hartland, New Brunswick. Frankie, Chance and me love potato chips, don't you?

My favouritest flavours are lobster and I like Grandma's apple pie potato chips, too. Frankie likes the chocolate explosion potato chips and the poutine chips, too. Chance doesn't have any teeth. He just licks them all.

Today we're taking a tour of the Covered Bridge Potato Chip factory. Potato chips are yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. There are lots of potatoes in New Brunswick. Lucky potatoes get to be potato chips when they grow up. All the potato chips from Covered Bridge are russets.

Grandpa James says the Hartland Covered Bridge is 391 metres (1,283-feet) long. That's pretty long but Grandpa James says winter is longer.

I know why it's called Covered Bridge Potato Chip Company, Limited. That 'cuz the world's longest covered bridge is in Hartland.

The Hartland Bridge is on the $1,000 bill!

There's another potato chip factory in Hartland, too. It's called Old Dutch. They make yummy potato chips, too. Potato chips are good for growing bear cubs, you know.

Potato chips are tasty, you know. I could eat a lot of them!

Not all potatoes get to be potato chips when they grow up. Some of them get to be French fries. French fries come from New Brunswick, too. They come from McCain's in Florenceville. That's just down the river road from Hartland.

I will tell you a secret. Not all potatoes come from New Brunswick. Some of them are from Prince Edward Island. They're called spuds.

We have the storybook Bud the Spud. Grandpa James reads it to us. I could be a transport driver when I grow up. I could drive the big red Ford through the bright red mud. I would take the spuds to T.O. I know how to get from Charlottetown to Toronto. I just turn right on the big road, the the Trans-Canada!

Know what? Potatoes from PEI are like Smarties, 'cuz they have their own song. Frankie and me learned the song at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. We sing it with our buddy Stompin' Tom. Push the button and you can sing it with us! It goes like this--

Bud the Spud

Tom Conners

Chorus:
Well it's Bud the Spud, from the bright red mud,
Rollin' down the highway smilin',
The spuds are big on the back of Bud's rig,
There from Prince Edward Island,
There from Prince Edward Island.

Now from Charlottetown, or from Summerside,
They load him down for the long long ride;
He jumps in the cab and he's off with the Pride Sebagoes.
He's gotta catch a boat to make Tormentine,
Then he hits up that old New Brunswick line,
Through Montreal he comes just a flyin'
With another big load of potatoes.

Chorus
Now the Ontario Provincial Police don't think much of Bud,
Well, the cops have been lookin' for the son of a gun
That's been rippin' the tar off the four-O-one;
They know the name on the truck shines up in the sun --
"Green Gables."
But he hits Toronto and at seven o'clock,
He backs her up again' the terminal dock,
And the boys gather `round just to hear him talk
About another big load of potatoes.

Now I know a lot of people from east to west
And they like the spuds from the island best,
`Cause they stand up to the hardest test --
Right at the table;
So when you see that old truck rolling by,
Kinda wave your hand or wink your eye,
`Cause that's Bud the Spud, from old P.E.I.
With another big load
He's got another big load
of the best potatoes that's ever been growed,
And they're from Prince Edward Island!

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

Grandpa James is hollering, "Where's my handsome Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador? That's Frankie! He's our Knight of Knewfoundland! He's our Lord of Labrador!

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Eat more potatoes. You can eat Smarties and drink root beer, too. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house! We can eat potato chips and French fries together! Okay! Over and out!"

Hallowe'en Fun at the Olde Sandwich Towne Farmers' Market

2013-10-13T13:27:00.000-04:00

We're at the Farmers' Market in Olde Sandwich Towne. The sign says "Hallowe'en for Kids! The tickets are a toonie each and you can win a basket of spices!

There's going to be a BIG Hallowe'en party at the Farmers' Market in Olde Sandwich Towne. It's around the corner from our house. It's right behind Billie's Place, Wally's Bait Shop and The Barrel House on Mill Street. We can Trick-or-Treat and be safe!

Miss Billie makes yummy food. When you come we can eat there!

Hallowe'en is fun. We get to dress up in costumes and scare our friends and neighbours so they can give us chocolates.

My favouritest Trick-orTreat is Scaries. Scaries are Smarties dressed up for Hallowe'en.

We'll have lots of fun, you know. You can buy some tickets and win the prize. The money helps boys and girls and bear cubs, too!


You buy tickets at Billie's Place at 3179 Sandwich Street. That's in Windsor. I know where Windsor is. It's in	O Canada.

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Buy tickets. Then you can dress up and eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and we can go to the Farmers' Market and Trick-or-Treat together! Okay! Over and out!"

We Visit a Winery in New Brunswick

2013-10-01T12:16:00.000-04:00

Frankie and Chance are sitting on the shelf at the Richibucto River Estate Winery. Bear cubs aren't wines! Frankie and Chance are acting silly.

We're watching the grapes grow.

Today we're visiting a winery. I know what a winery is. It's a farm for grapes. When the grapes grow up they become wine. There are all kinds of wines that comes from grapes. Grapes are yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide.

We can take a tour of the winery.

The Hudson family lives on a BIG farm in New Brunswick. I know where New Brunswick is. It's the fourth province on the right. We go there in the truck. New Brunswick is pretty far from our house but we don't get lost 'cuz we just follow the map.

These wines win prizes 'cuz they taste so good.

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! Grandpa James is hollering. Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador? That's Frankie! He's the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador!

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can go visit the Hudson family and pick grapes and drink grape juice together! Okay! Over and out!"

Birthday Banana Nana Muffins

2013-09-23T21:08:00.002-04:00

We're all having a birthday tea party for Nana Ruth!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. I'm five. I go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre on Sandwich Street.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful! Oh. Wait!

Oh! Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's four, you know. He goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre, too.

Know what? Today is Nana Ruth's birthday. We're having a birthday tea party. We have herbal tea and pretzels and hummus and Smarties. We're gonna have birthday banana nana muffins. Muffins are like cubcakes. I know what cubcakes are. They are little cakes a cub can eat in one bite! cubcakes have icing and muffins don't. We eat muffins bear naked. That is a pun, you know.

Look at Chance. He's upside down on the table! He doesn't have very good manners, you know. That's 'cuz he's newborn and doesn't know any better.

Here's how to make Birthday Banana Nana Muffins. It's Uncle Jesse's recipe. We make them on the table and then we put them in the oven.

First you gotta put on the oven to 200C.

Put the dial on 200C and let it get hot. But first, make sure Frankie and Chance aren't hiding in the oven. We don't want half-baked brothers!

We're good helpers. I'm the Minister of Stirring. Chance is so newborn he really isn't much help but he's the Deputy MINI-stir of Stirring. Frankie is a good helper. He's the Minister of Good Taste.

Now we put these things in a big bowl--
500 ml gluten-free flour
15 mls of xanthan gum
30 mls baking powder
30 mls baking soda
a pinch of salt

Then you get a second bowl and put stuff in here--
2 black bananas
125 ml extra virgin olive oil
175 ml maple syrup
175 ml unsweetened almond milk
30 mls pure vanilla extract

Mix up the dates and nuts with--
15 mls of flour
125 mls pitted and chopped dates
90 to 125 mls walnuts

Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the black bananas and stir them up real good.

Black bananas look like this.

Make sure the walnuts and dates don't land all on the bottom. Then we get to put the little muffin papers in the muffin pan and pour the batter into them. Then we put them in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until they're nice and toasty brown--just like us!

While we wait for the muffins to bake we sing songs with Nana Ruth. She taught us a new song and it goes like this--

Do you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Do you know the muffin man,
Who lives in Labrador?

Yes, we know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Yes, we know the muffin man,
Who lives in Labrador!

Did you hear the timer ring? The birthday banana nana muffins are done! We can take them out of the oven and eat them when they cool off. They're too hot to eat right now.

We know a secret. We know who the muffin man is. It's Uncle Jessie. He's the muffin man 'cuz he made the recipe.

We sang the Happy Birthday Song. It goes like this--
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday Dear Nana,
Happy Birthday to You.

Bonne fête à toi,
Bonne fête à toi!
Bonne fête, chere Nana
Bonne fête à toi!

Then Nana Ruth blows out the candles and makes a wish. Then we give her our presents.

We got Nana Ruth chocolates from Ganong Brothers.

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! Grandpa James hollers, "Where's Frankie? Where's no Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador? That's Frankie! We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind and thoughtful. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can play together! Okay! Over and out!"

The Olde Sandwich Towne Farmers' and Flea Market

2013-08-08T15:38:00.001-04:00

Frankie, Chance and me are helping Bill and Richard at the Olde Sandwich Towne Farmers' and Flea Market. It's right by our house, you know!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I'm five. I go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre on Sandwich Street. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too! He's four. He goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre, too. Frankie's my cousin.

Know where we are? We're at the Olde Sandwich Town Farmers' & Flea Market. It's on Mill Street, right around the corner from our house. We love the market. There are lots of fun things to buy there, you know. I love the fresh fruits and the fresh vegetables. Well, I don't like broccolis or sauerkrauts. I don't know why I have to hold my nose and take two bites but I do.


*Perry, Mike and Jesse have hot sauces at the market. They help us pick the hottest ones. You can see all their hot sauces at www.boldrands.ca*

There's lots of fun things we can buy, like cool used toys and stuff. Someone has homemade soap and candles, too. We like soap a lot. It makes pretty bubbles in the bathtub.

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can go to the Olde Sandwich Towne Market together! Okay! Over and out!"

See you soon!

Summer Barbecue Fun

2013-07-15T17:38:00.001-04:00

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too! He's our cousin. Frankie is four.

We're having a birthday barbecue at Auntie Deb and Uncle Rob's house. We love to barbecue. Barbecue is yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide, you know.

Uncle Shawn and Auntie Michelle are here, too. They have a new baby. His name is Junior. I know what Junior means. It's means a little one. Like Smarties Junior. They're Smarties in a little box.

Star is here. She's our friend. Star is a dog. We like to play with Star.

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario!

I gotta find Frankie. Grandpa James says, "Where's my handsome Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador?" That's Frankie! He's our Knight of Knewfoundland and our Lord of Labrador!

We gotta go find Granda James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can go to Auntie Deb and Uncle Rob's house and eat barbecue together! Okay! Over and out!"

Visiting Tech Gate Computers Store

2013-07-13T12:01:00.000-04:00

Frankie, Chance and me hang out with our buddy Cody at his store on Sandwich Street.

Frankie and me are playing Space Invaders. It's my favouritest computer game.

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario!

Grandpa James hollers, "Where's my handsome Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador? That's Frankie! He's a handsome bear cub. He's the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador!

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to everyone. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can visit Cody and play Space Invaders together! Okay! Over and out!"

My Interview with Meg on the CBC

2013-07-12T21:26:00.002-04:00

Meg is the summer host of The Early Shift on Radio One. She asks me questions. I speak right into the microphone. I'm wearing headphones. Frankie and Chance are sitting with Meg.

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

We can listen to Meg on the radio. So can you!

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. He's so newborn he doesn't have any teeth. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk. Sometimes he climbs way high on things and can't get down. He makes little squawky noises when he's afraid. I have to say, "My son! Come down from there this instant!" Then I have to help him. I look after Chance. He's a handful!

Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too! He's four, you know. Frankie and me go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre on Sandwich Street. That's in Windsor. We live in Windsor. Windsor is in O Canada.

Nous ecoutent Radio-Canada, aussi.

Know where we are? We're at the CBC. It's the radio station. Oh, it's the TV station, too. Grandpa James says CBC means Canadian Broadcasting Corporation but he makes up stories, you know. I think CBC means Charles the Bear Cub. I could be a cub reporter. I could ask questions. I could read the news, too. Oh! Wait! Frankie could help me!

Okay, here's my weather report: It will be very dark tonight and sunny tomorrow.

Meg has an important job. She has to ask questions. People listen and learn new things. I will tell you a secret. I think she might be a princess, you know.

.Jonathan helps her. He's the producer. That's another important job, you know. His job is to help find the stories so Meg can ask the questions. Oh! Wait! He pushes the buttons, too.

This is where the CBC is on the radio dial but we don't need a radio. We can listen on the laptop, too.

I'm the guest, today. I put on the headphones. Jonathan moves the microphone to the right spot.

Meg asks me about Smarties. I know all about Smarties. Meg says, " Charles, can you tell our listeners what colour of Smarties have to be eaten last?" I know the answer. I tell everyone, "We have to eat the red ones last 'cuz that's the rule. It's in the Smarties Song, too." I

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario!He's hollering, "Where is my handsome Frankie? Where is my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador?" That's Frankie! He's a handsome bear cub. He's the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador.

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer.

Oh! Wait! Grandpa James found a microphone in the attic. He says we can play with it. Come over to our house and play with us! We can build a radio station in the tree house! We can be the CBC together! Okay! Over and out!"

My Birthday and Canada's Birthday, Too!

2013-07-02T14:02:00.000-04:00

One of my birthday presents was a Fisher-Price kitchen. We can play restaurant!

On my birthday I get to eat Canada Day cupcakes. Cupcakes are yummy. Yummy is one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. Know what? I used to say cubcake 'cuz I didn't know my ears needed helpers. Now I have a hearing aid and I can hear everything!

I got another present, too. I got 101 Dalmatians. It's a story about newborn puppies. I love puppies. Puppies make good friends.

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario!

Grandpa James is hollering, "Where is my handsome Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador? Frankie is handsome. He's our Knight of Knewfoundland and our Lord of Labrador!

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours Then you can eat Canada Day cupcakes and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can celebrate together! Okay! Over and out!"

Chance Learns to Poo

2013-06-09T18:21:00.000-04:00

Frankie, Chance and me check out the Fisher Price potty chair. Chance will learn to poo.

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I'm five. I go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre on Sandwich Street. That's in Windsor. Windsor is in O Canada. After school I go home. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful! He takes off his diaper and climbs way high on things and can't get down. I have to say, "My son! Come down from there this instant!" Chance makes little squawky noises 'cuz he's afraid. I have to help him get down.

Bathroom tissue is a good friend!

Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too! Frankie is our cousin. He's four. We Facebook with Her Majesty. She knighted Frankie. He's the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador, you know.

Chance won't wear his diaper. He takes it off. Grandpa James says it's time for Chance to learn to poo the potty if he won't wear his diaper. I know how to use the potty. Frankie knows how to poo in the potty.

Oh, no! Chance! That's not how you sit on the potty chair! Chance is so newborn he doesn't know how to use it!

We all climbed up into the attic. We found my Fisher Price potty chair. I learned how to use it a long time ago when I was a wee little cub. Grandpa James says I didn't like to wear my diaper at all. He says I used to take it off all the time. I don't remember that. Sometimes Grandpa James makes up stories.

I show Chance how to sit on the potty chair.

Chance is being silly. He can't poo upside down!

We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can show Chance how to poo on the potty chair together! Okay! Over and out!"

We Help BANA to Help Windsor

2013-06-03T13:28:00.000-04:00

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I'm five. I

Lucy (left) and Mia (right) accept our cheque. Frankie and Chance and me walk for BANA every year.

live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful! Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's our cousin. He's very small but he is four. Frankie and me go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre on Sandwich Street. Chance is too newborn to go to daycare. He stays home with Grandpa James. Chance sleeps a lot and drinks a lot of chocolate owls' milk from his bottle.

Know what? We went to BANA this morning. That's the Bulimia Anorexia Nervosa Association. That's a lot of big words,but I know what BANA means. It means that people who have trouble with food can get help. BANA has been helping people for 30 years. That's a long time but I bet Grandpa James is older. He must be a hunnert!

Every year Frankie and Chance and me go to Mayor Eddie's Riverwalk on the Queen's Birthday. We walk five kilometres. It's lots of fun because we walk in the parks along the Detroit River. We walk with our friends and neighbours. We ask our friends and neighbours and buddies to sponsor us. We want to raise money for BANA. It costs money to help others, you know.

This year, good citizens gave Frankie, Chance and me $100 for walking. Chance tried to lick the $100 bill. He thinks it tastes like maple syrup. I had to say, "My son! Take that out of your mouth! You can't eat money! It's not one of the four food groups!" Honestly, Chance is a handful.

Wow! $100 is a lot of money, you know! I'm glad we could give the money to BANA.

BANA has an important job to do. BANA goes to schools to help boys and girls understand how to eat. BANA teaches everyone about body image. Body image means to be proud of yourself. BANA teaches everyone about self-esteem. That means being good to yourself. Everyone needs to know those things so they can be happy. When we're happy, we are good citizens!

I will tell you a secret. I think Miss Lucy and Miss Mia are princesses. Princesses work very hard to make Windsor a better place to live and play.

You can eat spaghetti for BANA at the Caboto Club, you know. Spaghetti is yummy and yummy is one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide.

I will tell you another secret. Please don't wait until the Queen's birthday next year to give money to BANA. Good citizens share their money all year long 'cuz Windsor needs helpers every day, not just on Victoria Day. You help BANA help Windsor everytime you donate money. That makes you good citizens and good citizens get to drink root beer and eat Smarties with Frankie and Chance and me in our tree house.

Chance and me help Patrick to hold up the BANA banner.

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Help BANA help Windsor. Give them money. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house! We can help BANA together! Okay! Over and out!"

2013-05-30T09:35:00.000-04:00

Frankie, Chance and me love to shop at Windsor Thrift. The store is at 3212 Sandwich Street. Tony and Tracey are very nice.

Tony and Tracey show me how the cash register works. Frankie and Chance aren't paying attention. They're playing 'Stare Me Down and Make Me Laugh.'

Know what? We're at Windsor Thrift. It's a store right by our house. It's full of all kinds of clothes and toys and furniture. Tony says that some things are new and some things are 'gently loved.' I know what gently loved means. It means someone loved the toys and shirts and games before me.

People donate things to Windsor Thrift. That's what good citizens do. They share things. Sharing is good, you know. Good citizens get to eat Smarties and drink root beer.

When I grow up, I could work at Windsor Thrift. When someone came into the store, I would say, "Hello. How are you today? How may I help you? Would you like to buy a glass dolphin or maybe a book about dinosaurs?" I love books and there's lots of them at Windsor Thrift.

We can volunteer at Windsor Thrift. Volunteers are good citizens, you know.

Look at all the clothes! Frankie, Chance and me are helpers. We're good helpers. We can hang clothes on the racks. We can put dishes and cups and toys on the shelves.

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Give gently loved things to Windsor Thrift. Buy things at Windsor Thrift. Be a volunteer. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can go see Tracy and Tony and buy things together! Okay! Over and out!"

Come on down to Windsor Thrift!

Walking for BANA on Victoria Day with His Worship Mayor Eddie

2013-05-16T10:11:00.000-04:00

We help Patrick hold up the BANA sign.

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I'm five. I go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre on Sandwich Street. That's in Windsor. Windsor is in O Canada. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful! Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too! He's our cousin. Frankie's four, you know.

Her Majesty is our gracious Queen. That means she's the boss of O Canada.

Monday is Victoria Day. It's Queen Elizabeth's birthday. She's old but not as old as Grandpa James. He must be a hunnert!

We always walk the Mayor's Riverwalk. We walk for BANA. They're very nice people who help boys and girls and grownups good ways to eat healthy food. Healthy foods are the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. I know the four food groups. There's yummy, sweet, sticky and nasty. I like them all except nasty. Nasty foods are broccolis and sauerkrauts. I have to take two bites but I hold my nose, you know.

This year we are gonna get lots of people to sponsor our walk. We want to help BANA. They have a very important job. BANA needs money so they can help people. So far Frankie and Chance and me got $90 but we're gonna get some more. You can help us. You can pledge money to BANA and tell them Charles the Bear Cub asked you to help. That's what good citizens do, you know. Thank you for helping.

His Worship, Mayor Eddie, is the boss of Windsor, you know.

Mayor Eddie talks to us. Then we start the walk. 10:00am 10:30am at Ambassador/Assumption Park (Windsor Riverfront) just below the corner of Sunset and Riverside Drive West.

I love cubcakes, don't you?

After the walk we can go to Windsor’s 121st Birthday! Windsor is really old! I know what Windsor wants for a birthday present. Grandpa James says the best presents we can give to Windsor is our time, our talent and our treasure. He says that makes us good citizens and it makes Windsor a nicer place to live. Know what? Windsor is the centre of the known universe and the nicest part of Detroit!! I learned that at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre.

When we all help BANA, we're helping Windsor.

Help Frankie, Chance and me to be good citizens. Give money to BANA and tell them we asked you to help.

Grandpa James hollers, "Where's Frankie? Where is my Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador?" We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Give money to BANA. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can walk for BANA together! Okay! Over and out!"

Christmas Music

2013-04-26T12:12:00.002-04:00

Last Christmas Chance tried to climb up on top of our Canadian Tire spruce tree. I had to help him get down when he got stuck up there. "My son! You are a handful," I tell him." Santa has to sit on top the tree so he can see who's naughty and nice." Chance is too newborn to know better.

Know what we're doing? We have on our headphones. We're listening to Christmas music. That's 'cuz it's only 243 days 'till Merry Christmas comes to our house. She comes every year. She brings Santa and the angels. She brings the elves and Elvis. The little drummer boy comes and so do the shepherds and the sheep. Sheep smell funny, you know. Oh. Wait! The three wise guys come but they follow the OnStar.

Auntie Ruth plays the zither. She sings, too. I bet she knows a hundred songs!

This Christmas album is special. It was made by our Auntie Ruth. She knows lots and lots of Christmas songs. The CD is called Christmas All the Time and she sent it by Canada Post all the way from New Brunswick. It was a surprise present. Grandpa James helped us write a thank-you letter to Auntie Ruth.

If Christmas came every day I'd get to eat a lot more Smarties!

Some of the songs Auntie Ruth sings are old and some of them are new ones 'cuz Auntie Ruth wrote them all by herself. She's very smart, you know. My favouritist song is Christmas All the Time. I like that. I want Christmas to be every day! Then I wouldn't have to wait all year. I tell Frankie everything about Christmas. He hasn't had Christmas with us before.

Christmas All The Time has lots and lots of songs!

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! Grandpa James hollers, "Where's my Frankie? Where's my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador?

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can listen to Auntie Ruth's Christmas album together! Okay! Over and out!"