The Olde Sandwich Towne Farmers' and Flea Market

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.

 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 hollers,"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 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!

Today is Family Day

Chance  (left) and Frankie (centre) and me (Charles) love to play Snakes and Ladders.

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!

Know what? Today is a holiday. It's Family Day. I know what a family is. It's us! Our family is me and Chance and Frankie and Grandpa James. We all live together in a nice house on Sparkle Road. That's in Olde Sandwich Towne. Olde Sandwich Towne is in Windsor. I know where Windsor is. Windsor is in O Canada.

We got aunties and uncles and nanas and gramps, too!

I don't have to go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre today. We get to stay home and play! We play Snakes & Ladders. Frankie rolled a five. He's gonna move his marker five spaces. I help him count to five. That's easy! One! Two! Three! Four! Five! I have to help Chance count and move his marker for him. Chance is so newborn he tries to lick his yellow marker. I have to say, "My son! Take that out of your mouth! You can't eat yellow markers, my son! Yellow markers aren't in Canada's Food Guide."

Know what's in Canada's Food Guide? Gingerbread persons. We're gonna bake some gingerbread persons today.  I love to bake them. I love to eat them, too! I'm a very good cook. Grandpa James says I'm the Minister of Stirring. Chance is too newborn to help but he thinks he's helping. Grandpa James says Chance is the Deputy Mini-Stir of Stirring. Frankie is a good helper. Frankie is the Bearon of Baking, you know.

 Chance has red mittens. He wears them his red mittens all day long. He wears his red mittens at night when he sleeps, too. Chance is so newborn he thinks if he wears red mittens it will snow. I have red mittens, you know. I only wear my  mittens when I go outside to play in the snow. Frankie has red mittens, too.

Sometimes Chance gets his games mixed up. Look at Chance. Chance climbed into the Snakes and Ladders box. Chance wants to play Hide & Seek. Chance thinks we can't see him when he closes his eyes. Grandpa James says all newborn cubs think they're invisible when they close their eyes. I have to say, "My son! Come out of the Snakes & Ladders box this instance!" Chance can't get out. He makes little squawky noises. I have to help him. Chance is a handful.

We bake gingerbread persons on Family Day. We love to make gingerbread persons but it's more fun to eat them all up! Gingerbread persons are yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide.

 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! Oh, wait! Grandpa James is hollering for Frankie, too! "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. Do fun stuff with your family today. Then you can bake gingerbread persons and have a tea party and eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can play Snakes & Ladders! We can have a tea party, too! Okay! Over and out!"

Saving the Olde Sandwich Towne Post Office

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!

We have an important job to do. We have to save our Post Office. Canada Post wants to close it. That's not nice. We can't get to the other Post Office to buy stamps. It's too far away but Canada Post doesn't care.  

Grandpa James helped us make signs. My sign says, "Canada Post Needs to Sit on the Time Out Chair." Know what? I think Canada Post is hard of listening. 

Canada Post needs a time out. The Time Out Chair is where you have to sit if you do something bad, you know. You have to sit on the Time Out Chair and think about what you did. I'm pretty sure Canada Post would not like the Time Out Chair.

Chance has a sign, too. He's so newborn he really doesn't know how to make signs. We help him. His sign says, "Don't Hurt my Neighbourhood." The Post Office is important. We can send letters and packages from there to your house. We buy stamps. We put stamps on the letters. Stamps are what makes letters go!

We helped our Post Office before. We walked the picket line with our buddies from CUPW.

Frankie has a sign. His sign says, "You Can Close Windows but you Can't Close our Post Office." A nice lady gave us buttons to wear. She gave me a whistle. When the people talked we clapped and blew our whistles. Blowing whistles is fun. I could be a whistle blower when I grow up. 

 

There were lots of people. It's called a rally. Our Member of Parliament came to talk to everyone. So did Mr. Jones our City Counsellor. We got to see lots of our friends and buddies and neighbours who live in Olde Sandwich Towne.

Our Post Office is more than a hunnert years old. I can count to a hunnert but it takes a long time.  I learned to count at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. Our Post Office is almost as old as Grandpa James, 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! That's Frankie, too! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! 

Maybe it should say, "From nowhere to no one."

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. Save your Post Office. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can save our Post Office together! Okay! Over and out!"

Eating Dinner at the Man Yuen Restaurant

Chance and me love to eat Szechwan food. My favouritest food is General Tao's chicken. I hope I meet him one day and thank him for his chicken. It's yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide.

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!

Guess where we are? We're at Man Yuen Restaurant. They make Chinese food. It's so yummy! Man Yuen is on Sandwich Street in Olde Sandwich Towne. That's in Windsor. I know where Windsor is. It's in O Canada. We can walk to Man Yuen from our house. I l-o-v-e to eat at Man Yuen. I like everything.

I know how to use chopsticks. Chopsticks are fun. I use them instead of a fork. We learned how to use chopsticks at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. Miss Sephorah is our teacher. She knows everything! I will tell you a secret. I think Miss Sephorah might be a princess.

Chance is so newborn he doesn't have any teeth. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk from his bottle.

Miss Flora is our server. Servers have very important jobs. They bring us food to eat. Miss Flora brings us egg foo yong.

We eat and eat and eat. That's 'cuz we're hungry as bears. Grandpa James says, "Slow down, Charles! My dear! Mind your manners, my son! Don't wolf your food down." Grandpa James says silly things sometimes. I'm not a wolf. I'm a bear cub!

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. 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 go to Man Yuen and say "Hi!" to Flora and Dave, too! Okay! Over and out!"

When we eat at Man Yuen we always say "Hi!" to Dave. I think he's a boss.

Sunday

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? Chance and me are sitting in the summer sun. That's a good thing to do on a Sunday. The flowers smell nice. Chance is trying to eat them. We don't eat flowers. They're not even in the Canada Food Guide! He'll know better when he's five, like me.

Olde Sandwich Towne has brand new bicycle hitching posts. We watched the workmen put them up on Sandwich Street. I can lock up my blue bike on one and it will be there when I come back.

Some people steal bicycles. They aren't good citizens, you know. Good citizens don't take things that don't belong to them. Know what else? Chance and me can climb up on top of a hitching post. We can see really far when we're way up high. That's a fun thing to do.

Today we're gonna go on a lion hunt in the back yard. We got space ray guns from the Mill Dollar Store. Hunting for lions is fun. We say,

Goin' on a lion hunt,
One, two three.
Goin' on a lion hunt,
Can't catch me!

Then we sneak up quietly on any lions that are in the back yard and catch them. Chance gets excited when we hunt for lions. Chance makes little squeaky noises 'cuz he's happy. The lions can hear him and they run away.

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.  Lock up your bicycle so bad people won't steal them. Remember to hunt for lions and eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! If you don't have any lions in your back yard, come over to our house and play with us!  Okay! Over and out!"

Driving on Sandwich Street

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? Maggie and Dave visited Olde Sandwich Towne. They're nice people and they're the bosses of the Santa Claus Parade in November and the Olde Sandwich Towne Festival in September, too.  I like parades. I like festivals, too. Thousands of people come to have fun on our street, then. There's music and food a bouncy castle and face painting and lots of fun things to do.

Maggie and Dave are visiting Bill and Aggie at The MiLL . It's a good place to eat, you know. I l-o-v-e Greek food. Oh! Wait! The French fries are yummy, too. Growing bear cubs need French fries with ketchup. We need porridge with gummy worms too, but that's for breakfast.

Maggie and Dave have a Club Car to ride in. It goes really fast. I can drive, you know. I'm five. I don't need a driver's permit if I stay on the sidewalk. I hang onto the steering wheel and push the gas pedal. I drive on the sidewalk. I honk the horn and holler, "Look out, citizens! Gang way! Charles and Chance a-comin' through!" People get out of the way so they don't get hurt.

Chance thinks he's driving but he's not. He's too little to drive. He's so little he doesn't even have a tail, yet. He can only drink condensed owls' milk out of a bottle 'cuz he doesn't have any teeth.

Driving the Club Car is almost as much fun as riding my blue bike up and down Sandwich Street. I have to be careful. I don't want to hurt anyone when I'm behind the wheel. Good citizens are polite drivers.

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. Drive carefully. Good citizens get to eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can ride up and down Sandwich Street together! Okay! Over and out!"

The Fountain

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy,  James. I look after him cuz he's forgetful and really old. He must be 20 'cuz he says he was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark.

Look up here! I climbed up  on the fountain. The fountain is in front of the Post Office in Olde Sandwich Towne. I l-o-v-e to climb. There's no water in the fountain this summer. That's too bad 'cuz I like to watch the water.

Know what? I can see everything from here. I can see the Canada flag.   If bear cubs had pockets I'd keep things in there. I would watch everybody and eat all the Smarties in my pocket. I would eat the red ones last. It's a rule.  Bear cubs don't have pockets. Maybe I will grow some when I'm older. I'm five, you know. My birthday is on  Canada Day. When I'm older I am sure I can climb even higher.

When I was a little cubby I couldn't climb very high.  James says I used to crawl on the floor and look for trouble. I don't know who trouble is. Okay. I gotta go. I gotta get me some gummy worms at Mac's Milk. Wait. I know. If you come with me, you can get some, too! This is Charles the Bear Cub saying, Be good citizens.  Bye for now!"