Remembrance Day

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! 

Chance doesn't have a tail, yet. He doesn't have any teeth. He doesn't eat Smarties or porridge. He's a wee little thing. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk out of his bottle.

Know what? Today is Remembrance Day. I know what that means. At eleven o'clock on the eleventh day of the eleventh month we stand very still for two minutes and we remember. Know what we remember? We remember all the men and women who went to war to protect us.










Lots of our soldiers went to war but they never came home. James says they gave their lives for King and Empire. Some of them gave their lives for Queen and country. That means they died. Those soldiers are all buried in Flanders Fields. That's a cemetery.

Lots of people will be at the Cenotaph to watch the wreath be laid in honour of our soldiers. The Cenotaph has the names of  all the people from Windsor who died to protect us. Almost every town has a Cenotaph. That's good, 'cuz we won't forget that war is bad. Grandpa James says that 28 million people were killed in The Great War. That's a lot!

Most Canadian soldiers are peacekeepers. They keep people from fighting with each other. Some of them fight in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is pretty far away. We can't get there on VIA Rail. Grandpa James says we need camels to go there.

I could be a soldier you know. I know what soldiers do. The soldiers' job is to stand on guard for thee. They are in charge of protecting O Canada, our home and native land so we can play outside and not get blown up or killed by Mr. Talliban and his friends. Miss Jackie taught us something at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. It goes like this-


“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I think wrong, and free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.”

 Canada is a pretty nice place, you know. Canadians are lucky. Canadians get to eat Smarties and drink root beer. We get to play hockey and build snow forts and hunt for lions, too. We can say thank you to the brave soldiers and sailors and airmen.

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. Say 'thank you' and salute our soldiers. Be glad you live in Canada. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can be thankful together.  Okay! Over and out!"

Play Time with Cassidy and Angus

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. Chance had a birthday on Hallowe'en. He's a year old, now. He's a handful!

Sometimes we go to play with Cassidy and Angus at their house. They are our friends. They live with Jay and Shaun. Cassidy has his own room with lettuce and carrot wallpaper.

We go to Cassidy and Angus' house on the 1C Transway bus.  I like to ride the bus. I say 'hello' to everyone. James says riding the bus makes our carbon footprints smaller. I don't know what that means but I'm a five-year old bear cub and my feet keep growing bigger!

Know what? Miss Jackie, my teacher at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre taught us a song about the bus. Ready? It goes like this--

The wheels on the bus go round and round,
round and round,
round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round, 
In Olde Sandwich Towne.

We get off the bus at the corner of Janette and University. Cassidy is a bunny rabbit. Angus is a kitty cat. Cassidy only eats carrots and bananas and hay. He doesn't eat meat at all. He's a vegetabletarian. Angus doesn't like carrots. He likes to eat mice and birds. Angus eats lots of things. He's an meatatarian. Chance and me are bear cubs. We eat wallermelons and Smarties. Well, I do. Chance doesn't have any teeth, yet. He's too little. he just drinks condensed owls' milk out of his bottle.

 Cassidy and Angus are fun to play with. We know lots of games. We play hide-and-seek . We play 1-2-3 British Bulldog , too. On rainy days and snowy days we play indoors. We like to build a tent or a fort in the living room with blankets. We crawl inside with our flashlights and play Snakes and Ladders. It's an exciting game to play, you know. We have to watch Chance when we play. He doesn't really know how. He takes the little markers off the board and tries to eat them. He's too little to know you can't eat the markers!


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 good deeds and play nicely. 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!"

Bobby Orr Knees

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? I'm trying on a Calgary Flames jersey. It's too big for Chance to wear. He'd just get lost inside it. The jersey has sequins on it. That's 'cuz it's going to in a play, Bobby Orr Knees .

James wrote the play. He's a playwright. That's a person who writes plays. I know what a play is. It's a story acted out by actors. I could be an actor, you know.  Our buddy Jay made the jersey. It sparkles.

Bobby Orr Knees will be at Mackenzie Hall in November and December. It's a play about hockey. It's funny and we laugh.

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. So kind deeds for neighbours and friends. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house ! We can be good citizens together! Okay! Over and out!"