A Smokey Sunday

It's hard for me to take a good blip shot...if you don't get outside.

After church, lunch, a trip to the grocery store, and a nice l-o-n-g nap...the day was gone. So, I had to settle for an indoor blip.

A little Smokey, the Bear history for you.

In August of 1942, the United States Forest Service was looking for a mascot. Interestingly enough, the movie Bambi, by Disney studios, was big at the movie houses. Plus, if you've seen it, it has a GIANT forest fire scene. So, Bambi and his friends became the mascots for the Forest Service. But, Mr. Disney only let them use Bambi for one year.

So, in August of 1944, Smokey the bear made his debut on a poster.

In 1950, Smokey became a real bear. In a New Mexico forest fire, a bear cub was rescued from a tree trunk. He was originally named Hotfoot Teddy, but quickly became Smokey the Bear. He was moved to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., where he lived until his death in 1976. His ashes were shipped back to New Mexico, where you can still visit his grave.

In 1984, Smokey was honored on a U.S. postage stamp.

There you go...EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SMOKEY, THE BEAR.

I bought the small one in some national park, and made the bigger one for my buddy Mike. After he died a few years back, I reclaimed it from his house.

Smokey's constant advice? ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT FOREST FIRES!