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!"

Boat Ride on the MV Senator

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 remember.

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 on a boat ride. The ship has a name. It's  The Senator.  The boat goes up and down the Detroit River. The river is right by our house on Sparkle Road. It's a pretty big boat, you know. The Senator can carry 200 good citizens on a trip.

There is good food to eat on the boat.  There is a big barbecue. I l-o-v-e barbecue, don't you? They can give you root beer and Smarties, if you ask ahead of time. We ride up and down the river. There's lots to see. We pass by salties and lakers. Those are really BIG ships. They're full of cargo.

James knows a poem about ships. It goes like this-

Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir, 
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.

Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,
With a cargo of diamonds,
Emeralds, amythysts,
Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.

Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack,
Butting through the Channel in the mad March days,
With a cargo of Tyne coal,
Road-rails, pig-lead,
Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays. 


THE END.

I always say, "The End" so you know the poem is finished. That's a good idea, you know.

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. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house! We can ride on The Senator together! Okay! Over and out!"

Picnic on the Detroit River

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. He says he remembers the invention of sunshine. He must be 20! That's really old! 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 sitting here on the back step with my blue bike. It has a Canada flag on it. I'm waiting for James and Chance. Chance needed his diaper changed. I want them to hurry  'cuz when they come outside we're gonna ride our bikes on Russell Street down by the Detroit River.  James says Detroit is in the Knighted States. It's not part of O Canada. When we go to the Knighted States we take the Ambassador Bridge or the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.

When we're hungry we'll stop, spread out our blanket next to the river and have a picnic! I l-o-v-e picnics, don't you? I know what's in the picnic basket. There's peanut butter and Smarties sandwiches and root beer and for dessert we get to eat wallermelon. We got so much food we could feed all the starving children in Belgium. We can watch the ducks and geese. I brought Smarties for them. I sure hope they like Smarties! I like to watch the boats and ships. James says some of them are 'salties' and some of them are 'lakers.'

Oh, good! Here comes Chance. He's all changed. Now he isn't stinky.

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Who's ready for a picnic? 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. Then you can go on picnics by the Detroit River and eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and you can come on the picnic with us! Okay! Over and out!"

Our Picnic

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. He remembers the first tree. He must be really old! At least 20!  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 going to have a picnic. I know what a picnic is. We put all our food into the green bag. We got peanut butter and licorice sandwiches. We got wallermelon. I l-o-v-e wallermelon. We got Smarties, too. Oh, wait! We got mango juice. They're all yummy and that's one of the four food groups in the Canada Food Guide. We're gonna ride our bikes to the park and eat next to the Detroit River. Maybe we'll feed the ducks. They're always hungry, like those starving children in Belgium. I'm sure they like Smarties. Oh. Look! Chance climbed in the green bag. We're not going to eat him! Come out of there this instant, my son! He really is a handful.

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. Obey the rules. Good citizens get to go on picnics. I know! Come over to our house and have a picnic with us!  Okay! Over and out!"

Another Boat Ride!

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

Look at me! I'm on the Senator. That's a boat that goes up and down the Detroit River. I know Captain Bill. I got to eat a hamburger 'cuz they don't have Smarties or licorice. We saw big lake freighters and "salties," too. The Senator goes all the way from Lake St. Clair to the Ambassador Bridge and back. Everybody was real nice. I had lots of fun.

I know! Next time you can come with us, okay? Check it out at www.windsorcruise.com. Oh! Wait! James is hollering, "Who's a handsome bear cub? Who's a Son of Windsor? Who's a Prince of Ontario?" That's me! Charles! I gotta go get my ears tickled and my nose kissed. Okay. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Ahoy, matie! All aboard! See you soon. Over and out."

Peanut Butter

Hi. I'm Charles the Handsome 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 was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark. He's older than peanut butter. That must be really old.

Know what? I'm at Westside Foods. I'm gonna put all this peanut butter in this buggy and take it home. I know things about peanut butter.

1. Peanut butter comes from little bear cubbies. It is squeezed right out of them. See the sign? It says, "Squeeze."
2. Peanut butter is sticky. Sticky is one of the four food groups in the Canada Food Guide.
3. Peanut butter makes good paw paint and we can eat it, too.
4. I always make peanut butter happy faces on my pancakes.
5. NEVER fall asleep in bed with an open jar of peanut butter.
6. I know how to make peanut butter and orange juice sandwiches.

That's what I know about peanut butter. Now I'm gonna go find my buddy James and see if we can go down to the Detroit River and watch the ducks. Maybe we can feed them peanut butter! Yeah! Okay! I gotta go! This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Take peanut butter to the ducks when you go to the river. Bye for now! Over and out!"