We Walk the Mayor's Riverwalk for BANA

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 four. he goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre with me.

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!"

We Help BANA to Help Windsor

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. 

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!

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!"

Walking for BANA on Victoria Day with His Worship Mayor Eddie

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.

 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!

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!"

Walk for BANA on Victoria Day

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 doing? Chance and me are walking for BANA. It's part of the River Walk. That's our buddy Patrick with us. He has an important job. Patrick helps boys and girls and grownups to learn how to eat good food. BANA stands for Bulimia and Anorexia Association. It's a pretty big word, you know. I can read. I learned how to read at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre.

We walked three kilometres for BANA. People gave us money for walking and we give it to BANA. It's a good thing to do. It's nice to help others. That makes us good citizens.

 It was a nice day to walk next to the Detroit River with His Worship, Mayor Eddie and his family, too. He pulled the kids in their red wagon. There were lots and lots of walkers, maybe a thousand!

Mayor Eddie told everyone that Windsor is 120 years old and this is Windsor's birthday, too. That's really old! I bet James is older than that.

Oh. Wait! It was Victoria Day, too. That's the Queen's birthday. Queen Elizabeth has her very own song. We sang God Save the Queen for her. James says Queen Elizabeth has been sitting on the throne for 60 years. I hope the throne isn't the Time Out Chair. That's a long time to sit and think about what you did.

 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 others. 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!"