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JUST CRUISIN’ ON THE RIVER WITH THE CINNAMON BEAR
by
Dennis Crow, © 2005(From Radio Recall, December 2005)
Chatting with Paddy O'Cinnamon while cruising the Willamette River moves Glan Heisch's lovely Cinnamon Bear serial to a whole new level. Paddy endures after sixty-eight years, with new listeners and new venues intent on keeping the magic alive.
“The Portland Spirit,” one of Oregon's inimitable cruise ships, is sponsoring December cruises as well as new broadcasts locally of the historic Cinnamon Bear program.
My wife Shirley and I snack on delicious hors
d'oeuvres as Queen Melissa spins her own magic on the upper deck, surrounded by
folks snapping
pictures of colorful Maybe-Land characters. Little children
are standing next to Paddy as a special photographer captures their first
encounter with the little bear with shoe-button eyes. The Grand Wonkey passes
around cinnamon cookies and Jimmy and Judy Barton sign autographs. I am wide
awake in the middle of my best childhood dream, on a real ship, in real
time.
Who said OTR is on its death bed? In Portland, Oregon, the young and
older keep rediscovering radio's golden age. Cruising with Paddy is one
great
way to do it!