Wisconsin's Weekend Morning News
A National Icon Turns 80
I don't know if you remember, only you can prevent forest fires, but there's only one guy who said it, and that was Smokey Bear. Well, he's got quite a connection to Wisconsin, and he's celebrating his birthday this week. Joining us is Veronica Hinkie. She is the public affairs officer for Chihuatamagan-Nicolei National Forest. I always massacre that. Veronica, and I apologize in advance, but let's talk about Smokey, because he was such a huge part of my childhood. Well, mine too, Libby. Thank you so much for this opportunity to talk with you about Smokey Bear. Now, a lot of people refer to him as Smokey the Bear, but it really is Smokey Bear. It really is Smokey Bear, and I'm glad you brought that up, because it's something that we try to share with people that it really is Smokey Bear. Somewhere in there in the last 80 years, the Vug got in the middle there, and we're trying to make sure people know about that. There's a song out there, Smokey the Bear, that's really popular, and that might be part of the confusion that people experience that it's Smokey Bear. All right. Well, let's talk about celebrating his birthday, because it was 80 years ago that we started hearing about Smokey. What's his connection to Wisconsin? Well, of course, Wisconsin is home to the Chihuatamagan-Nicolei National Forest, and in the forest, we always try to spread as much fire safety information as possible. So that's why he has a really strong presence here in Wisconsin, and there have been many celebrations throughout the state this whole summer, because Smokey Bear is turning 80 years old. On Friday, August 9th, and the celebrations continue, and we'll talk more about that, but I wanted to tell you a little bit about the origins of Smokey Bear and how he came about. On August 9th, 1944, the USDA Forest Service established the Smokey Bear Public Fire Safety Campaign for the reason of helping to raise awareness of the dangers of wildfires, and the steps you can take to prevent wildfires. Six years later, there was actually a real Smokey Bear on May 4th, 1950, a bear cub was rescued from a wildfire in the Capitan Mountains in the Lincoln National Forest, which is in New Mexico, and Ranger Harlow Yeager saw some movement after the fire just about finished its way through, and in the charred remains, he got close up enough to see a tiny bear cub hugging a burned-out pine trunk, and the badly burned cub was cared for by veterinarians in Santa Fe, and game-warden Ray Bell and his young family helped to care for the little cub and helped get him strong enough to be transported to Washington, D.C., where he took up residence was living at the National Zoo, so he really became very well known through that story, and people started writing letters to him, and he received so much U.S. mail that the U.S. Postal Service actually gave Smokey Bear his own zip code in 1962, and it's still in effect now, Libby. You can still send a letter to Smokey Bear. It's a neat story about a community coming together and really being a part of something special. This week, you can actually help Smokey Bear celebrate his 80th birthday at the State Fair. Yes, isn't that exciting? The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is going to be hosting a celebration of Smokey Bear's 80th birthday at the Wisconsin State Fair. Smokey Bear will be making periodic visits from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, August 5th, and on Friday, August 9th, on his actual birthday, so that is really neat. People can come and post for photos and their gifts and cards. We have a birthday card for Smokey Bear on our Facebook page that you can download and color if you want to take it to the State Fair for Smokey Bear. He's been getting a lot of mail, so he's going to be located in the Exploratory Park, which is located next to the Expo Center on the fairground. And that's going to be on Monday and then again on Friday. In addition to that, next Saturday, the day after his actual birthday, he is going to be in Watosa. Yes, Libby, he's going to be at the Forest Exploration Center in Watosa. And that's, I guess, they're going to be doing some stories and they're going to talk about fire safety. They even have some free gifts from Smokey Bear, and I think a lot of people are going to want to enjoy and wish him a happy 80th birthday. And you know, the interesting thing, Veronica, is he doesn't look anywhere near his real age. I've been hearing that a lot, Libby, this summer as we go from place to place with Smokey Bear, and yes, he's getting great comments about how well he's aged. I love it. Veronica Hinkies, thank you so much for joining us today, and we all wish Smokey Bear a very happy birthday. Okay, thank you, Libby.