Smokey bear celebrates 80 years (2024)

On Wednesday, the wildfire prevention advocate greeted children for an hour of photo ops and activities as part of the Smokey Bear Reading Challenge tour, a federal initiative designed to incentivize children who read books about wildfire prevention and environmental concerns.

Portage Public Library Director Kaytlin Sumner said the initiative is geared toward children ages 4-10 and will run through Nov. 28. Children can print a challenge paper log to have stamped at the library, a minimum of three times, to receive coloring page prizes. She said their parents can also submit a form on www.smokeybear.com to download the printable prizes.

Sumner said the children could “double up” and take advantage of reading books from Smokey’s reading list as part of the library’s “Adventure Begins at Your Library” challenge, which features adventure and reading challenge-themed bingo cards.

Children ages 8-12 who complete a series of five items on their card, or fill their entire card, will receive entries for a grand prize drawing that will be pulled Aug. 1, she said. The grand prizes include Lego sets and gift certificates, but every child who hands in their completed card receives a smaller prize from the library’s prize box, Sumner said.

Portage resident Sylvia Enedy takes a photograph of her grandchildren, Joshua Williams and Abigail Enedy, who met Smokey Bear on Thursday at the Portage Area Public Library.Mirror photo by Matt Churella

Elijah Maitland, 7, was one of the children who met Smokey Bear at the library. According to his mother, Ashley Maitland, Elijah loves to read the “Elephant and Piggie” series created by Mo Willems, but when he found out Smokey Bear was making a visit to his hometown, he wanted to “come see the bear and learn more about it.”

The fictional character was born in 1944 when the United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and Ad Council agreed a black bear named Smokey would be their symbol for forest fire prevention, which was later changed to wildfire prevention.

According to his website, at birth, Smokey weighed one and a half pounds. He currently weighs over 300 pounds and has relatives who weigh between 800 and 2,000 pounds, the equivalent of one ton, the website states. While his relatives hibernate, Smokey works year-round, telling children throughout the nation, “Only you can prevent wildfires.”

Mandy Burgoon, a fire forester and service forester for the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ District 6 region of Blair, Cambria, Indiana and Somerset counties, read a nonfiction children’s story of how a bear cub found itself caught in a burning forest caused by a “careless” person in the spring of 1950 in the Captain Mountains of New Mexico.

Burgoon said the bear climbed a tree to survive the fire but was badly burned. Firefighters who retrieved the bear were so moved by its bravery, they named it after Smokey Bear, who was created nearly six years prior, she said.

Only one-fourth of the children who attended the event said they knew who Smokey Bear was, a trend Burgoon said is becoming more common among today’s youth. “There’s very few who have heard of him,” she said, adding even fewer people realize Walt Disney’s “Bambi” character was used to promote wildfire prevention before Smokey Bear.

Burgoon said the children “keep me on my toes” by asking a lot of interesting questions about Smokey Bear, like why the bear doesn’t wear a shirt.

“I have not found an answer for that yet other than Winnie the Pooh took it when they were hanging out one night,” she said with a chuckle. “You never know where their questions are going to go.”

Wednesday’s fire danger was moderate since it hasn’t rained recently and the weather was “really hot,” Burgoon told the children. “I think people underestimate how fast a fire can move, especially on a windy day.”

After reading the story, Burgoon asked the children to help Smokey Bear by remembering his rules of wildfire prevention, which includes never playing with matches or lighters, always being careful around fire and making sure your campfire is completely out before leaving it.

When asking the children what they thought some of the rules were, Blake Cieslo, 4, shouted, “Don’t put a bush on fire.” Burgoon responded, saying, “Believe it or not, I’ve seen that happen.”

Cieslo attended the event with his aunt, Linda Squillario, who said her nephew loves reading “Paw Patrol” and “Peppa Pig” books. They also borrow games from the library, Squillario said.

Abigail Enedy, 5, said she wasn’t nervous meeting Smokey Bear.

“He prevents fires,” she said, adding she loves to read and used to attend story hour at the library every Wednesday prior to attending a pre-kindergarten program.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.