Chance and Me Find the End of the Rainbow and the Pot o' Gold

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, 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!

Know what? St. Patrick's Day was this week. St. Patrick was a missionary. I know what a missionary does. He tells everyone the story about the newborn baby Jesus and then he scares away the snakes. That's why there are no snakes in Ireland. St. Patrick came to our house too, and there aren't any snakes under our bed!

One of the things we do when St. Patrick comes is to follow the green cubcake trail. Cubakes grow on the cubcake tree at the end of Mill Street, right next to the Detroit River. James says if we follow the cubcake trail all the way to the end we'll find the Pot o' Gold at the end of the rainbow. I l-o-v-e cubcakes. They're pretty to look at and yummy to eat, too! I know what a cubcake is. It's an eensy, weensy, teeny, tiny little baby cake that's just the right size for a bear cub to eat. That's why they're called cubcakes.

This cubcake trail is pretty long. It goes all the way up Mill Street to Sandwich Street. Following the cubcake trail is a really big job! Chance is supposed to help. His job is to be on the lookout for the end of the rainbow. He's supposed to point and make squeaky noises when he sees it. Chance makes squeaky noises 'cuz he can't talk, yet. That's because he's just a newborn cubby.

We walked and walked and walked and then we walked some more. Today we came to the end of the cubcake trail. We found the end of the rainbow and the Pot o' Gold, too! Look! There's shiny shamrocks and cubcakes and lots and lots of money! Oh, my! We did it!

 Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? 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 James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Follow the cubcake trail. Then you will come to the end of the rainbow and the Pot o' Gold. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can wear green hats and follow the cubcake trail together! Okay! Over and out!"

St. Patrick Day Fun @ the Windsor Public Library

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

 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 climbs way high on things and can't get down. I have to help him.

Know what? Today is St. Patrick's Day. St. Patrick is Irish. St. Patrick is everywhere today. Everyone is Irish today. It's a rule. That's why we're wearing green. It's St. Patrick's favourite colour, you know. I'm wearing a green tie and green wobbly-bonkers. They wiggle. Chance is wearing green sunglasses. He gets to drink green owls' milk in his bottle, too!

Guess where we are? We're at the Windsor Public Library. We came here on the Crosstown bus. That's the Number Two bus. It has two names, just like Chance. Sometimes we call him "Cubby."  This is our buddy Miss Mae. She works at the library. She's lucky to work here. I think I want to be a librarian when I grow up! I would be a very good librarian, you know. Oh! Know what? I think Miss Mae might be a princess!

Miss Mae surprised Chance and me. She gave us presents. I didn't know about St. Patrick presents. That was very nice of her. She gave us Smarties and a BIG bag of gummy worms. I l-o-v-e Smarties. I l-o-v-e gummy worms, too! They're two of my favouritests foods. Oh. On St. Patrick's Day we eat the green Smarties last.

James came with us to the library. He talked to the nice people. I forget what he talked about. I know! I'll put on my thinking cap. Now I remember! James told stories. He told everyone about the lost helicopter in the Arctic. It was a good story.


Oh! Know what else? We ate lunch at the library, too. The food is good. That's because Miss Donna is the boss of the food. I'm pretty sure she's a princess, too. She is a very good cook. Miss Donna makes tuna wraps with tomatoes inside. Tuna wraps are taste-o-licious. I l-o-v-e tomatoes. We had soup with our wrap. Potato soup. Know what? Soup is yummy and that yummy one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. We got our picture taken with Miss Donna. We will put it in our special scrapbook and on our blog, too.

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? 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 James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens on St. Patrick's Day. Wear something green. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can wear green stuff and eat Smarties together! Okay! Over and out!"

St. Patrick is Coming To Our House!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, 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. Chance doesn't have any teeth, yet. He only drinks condensed owls' milk out of his bottle. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what I'm doing? I'm balancing a cubcake on my nose! I'm five. I can do things. Chance can't balance a cubcake on his nose 'cuz he's too little. He just licks the icing and gets all sticky.

I know where cubcakes come from. They come from cubcake trees. Cubcake trees grow along the Detroit River, just by our house. James says they only bloom in March. The cubcakes are ripe when they turn green.

James says there's a  cubcake forest in Newfoundland and another one in Ireland, too. I don't know where Ireland is. I think it must be past Toronto. That's pretty far. See! Chance and me are picking cubcakes right off the tree! They're yummy and sticky and sweet. That's three of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide.

James says if we follow the cubcake trail we will find the end of the rainbow and that's where they keep the the pot o' gold.  He says it's in Ireland. I want to find it! This cubcake trail is pretty long if it goes all the way to Ireland. It might take days to find the end of it. Good thing we won't get hungry, we'll just eat the cubcakes on the trail.

Oh! I forgot to tell you who's coming to our house! St. Patrick is coming to our house! I know who St. Patrick is. He's a missionary. I know what a missionary does, too.

St. Patrick wears green clothes. He tells everyone stories about the newborn baby Jesus and then he scares away all the snakes. That's a very important job. At the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre Miss Jackie teaches us all about St. Patrick and Ireland.

They got Lucky Charms in Ireland. It's a cereal, kind of like porridge. I like them. They should put gummy worms in Lucky Charms, you know. Sometimes we eat Irish stew.

We're dressed up like St. Patrick. We're wearin' the green. If we don't wear green we'll get pinched. If you don't wear green we can chase you and pinch you! Hurry! Find something green to wear, quick!

 Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? 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 James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Get ready for St. Patrick. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and eat Lucky Charms with us! We can follow the cubcake trail and find the end of the rainbow and the pot o' gold together! Okay! Over and out!"

Hoppy Birthday, Juanita!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, 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!

Know what? We're having a Hoppy Birthday party for our buddy, Juanita. It's a surprise. Juanita lives in Newfoundland and Labrador. I know where that is. It's the first province on the right. Miss Jackie, my teacher at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre, she taught me that. Newfoundland and Labrador are in O Canada our Home and Native Land. Queen Elizabeth is the big boss. We live next door to the Knighted States but they have a different boss.

 We put up a Hoppy Birthday sign with Scottish tape. We blew up some great big balloons, too! We got a present for Juanita. Guess what we got her? Can you guess? We saved up all our Canadian Tire Money and we got two boxes of Smarties for her. Smarties are yummy and and sweet and sticky and that's three of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. I didn't let Chance open the boxes. He licks the Smarties and then he's all covered with colours and chocolate. He's a real handful, you know. We're gonna put the Smarties in the shiny gold boxes. Juanita doesn't need Smarties that Chance licked. That's not polite, you know.

Oh! Wait! There's more! James helped us cook cubcakes for Juanita. We cook them in the oven. I l-o-v-e cubcakes. Know what cubcakes are? They're eensy, weensy, teeny, little, tiny baby bear cakes just the right size for one bear cub to eat. That's why they're called cubcakes, you know. We put green icing on them and little tiny sugar shamrocks on the tops. Chance got green icing on his nose. He looks funny but he tastes good. James says, "My son! Bless your little cotton heart, you're 'wearin' the green.' "I don't know what that means but James says he'll tell us the story on March 17th.

Then James lighted up the candles so we could sing our song. Chance is a newborn cubby. He doesn't really sing but he makes squeaky noises 'cuz he's a happy little cubby. He's cute. Here's our song.

Hoppy Birthday, to you!

Hoppy Birthday, to you!

Hoppy Birthday, Juanita!

Hoppy Birthday, to you!

Bonne fete, a toi!

Bonne fete, a toi!

Bonne fete, chere Juanita!

Bonne fete, a toi!

Then when we finished singing I read my Hoppy Birthday Poem. I'm an Internet Poem Star, you know.
Here's my poem for Juanita. Ready?

Cocoa is sweet
But Smarties are sweeter,
Big birthday hugs,
We love you, Juanitar!
THE END.

I always say 'THE END' so you know the poem is finished. Know what? I hope this is Juanita's bestest birthday ever! Now we have to blow out the candles and make a wish and eat the cubcakes!

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? 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 James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Do nice things for friends and buddies on their birthdays. Give them surprise Hoppy Birthday parties!  Then you can eat cubcakes and Smarties and drink root beer. You can give presents and sing songs and everything! Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can have a Hoppy Birthday Party together! Okay! Over and out!"

Stompin' Tom Connors and Us

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

Chance and me are hanging out at the Heinz store in Leamington. I know where Leamington is. It's out in the county. Essex County is in Ontario and Ontario is in O Canada our home and native land.

We're having fun with our buddy Dennis. Dennis is in charge of the stories about ketchup. That's a pretty important job, you know.  I l-o-v-e ketchup, don't you? I love stories about ketchup. Dennis tells the bestest stories.

People make lots of ketchup in Leamington. They make Heinz ketchup. There are no other kinds once you've tasted Heinz. it's the biggest ketchup factory in the world. It's pretty big.

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! Chance likes ketchup, too. Chance doesn't have any teeth 'cuz he's so newborn. He just drinks condensed owl's milk out of his bottle. He tries to drink ketchup. He's a silly little cubby. He doesn't know any better.

Know what? Chance and me know a song about ketchup. Stompin' Tom wrote it. Miss Jackie taught us to sing The Ketchup Song at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. She has a beautiful voice. I think Miss Jackie might be a princess, you know.

Here's The Ketchup Song. When we sing it we pretend we're Stompin' Tom only we call ourselves Stompin' Charles and Stompin' Chance.

There was a guy from PEI they used to call potato,
He met this young Leamington, Ontario tomato, 
But he had eyes for other girls and she was a little mushy,
 So he said, "Lets get wed, there's no sense being fussy."

Big size french fries how they love tomatoes
So dress them up with Heinz ketchup
Ketchup loves potatoes, Ketchup loves potatoes.
Well he went down to Windsor town to buy a ring on Monday
Saturday they said okay we'll cut the cake on Sunday
But Sunday came and what a shame
they had no one to fetch it
Without a cake they just sat and ate potato chips and ketchup

Big size french fries how they love tomatoes
So dress them up with Heinz ketchup
Ketchup loves potatoes, Ketchup loves potatoes

And so this guy form PEI they used to call potato
He's got two boys and a little girl, two spuds and one tomato
They romp and run around Leamington and boy when they get hungry
The bottle drips all over the chips way down in Ketchup country

Big size french fries how they love tomatoes
So dress them up with Heinz ketchup
Ketchup loves potatoes, Ketchup loves potatoes

 Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? 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 James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. 

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Eat French fries with Heinz ketchup on top.  Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can have a party with ketchup and French fries! Okay! Over and out!"

Visiting the Heinz Store

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.

Look at us. We're wearing Heinz caps. We got Heinz mugs, too. A Heinz mug can hold cocoa and there's room for newborn baby marshmallows on top.

 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!

Know where we are? We're at the Heinz factory in Leamington. That's in the county. Chance and me got to ride in Auntie Gwen's car all the way here.








Know what they make at Heinz? They make ketchup. Lots and lots of ketchup. Making ketchup is  a very important job, you know. I could be a Master Ketchup Maker when I grow up. They make lots of other things but ketchup is my favouritest food. James says, "There are no other kinds once you've tasted Heinz." It rhymes, you know.

  I l-o-v-e ketchup. Ketchup is yummy and sticky and that's two of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide, you know. Chance is trying to drink ketchup. We don't drink ketchup. We put ketchup on French fries and Shepherd's Pie and hot dogs, too.

Oh! Look! Our buddy Dennis has a really BIG bottle of ketchup. He's going to pour ketchup all over us!




Dennis says ketchup will help us grow up big and strong. I'll eat ketchup every day! Only Heinz.



Dennis knows the Heinz story. The nice people in Leamington have been making ketchup and other good foods for more than 100 years. That's really old. I bet Heinz is almost as old as Grandpa James! Chance climbed up on top of the Heinz sign in the canteen. "My son! Come down from there this instant!" He's stuck, so I have to get him down. He really is a handful, you know.

This is our buddy Miss Diana. Diana gives us hugs and she kisses our noses, too. She works in the canteen. Miss Diana has a very important job. She feeds the workers so they can make more ketchup. You know what? This is the biggest ketchup factory in the world. It's really, really big!

Oh. Wait! 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.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Eat all your ketchup. Then you can come to Leamington with us and we can hang out with our buddies Miss Diana and Dennis. Okay! Over and out!"