By Stowell P. Watters

Staff Writer

Planning a trip? The Scarborough Community Services Department encourages globetrotters to make room for a bear in their travels.

The ScarBEARos program provides five plush bears, Madison, Hartley, Gully, Hunney and Bessey to Scarborough residents embarking on trips. Each bear comes with its own journal and carrying case, and Community Services asks travelers to record their trips while taking pictures of the ScarBEARos along the way.

“The story of the trip is really the goal of the program. We want Scarborough residents to share the fun of their travels with the community. The bears help us do that,” Community Services Receptionist Nicole Cardamone says. She says the department asks traveling residents to check in so their trip can be tracked at the office.

On the wall at the Community Services’ office is the Travel Tracker board, where stickers mark the distant locales Scarborough residents and the bears have visited. The board is dotted with pictures of the bears at National Parks, foreign coastlines and in the backseat of cars. There is a picture of Hunney straddling a juniper tree at the Grand Canyon asking ‘Where’s the honey?’ Cardamone says travelers often take pictures of the bears in precarious situations.

The journals tell of ScarBEARo trips to places such as Hawaii, the West Indies, Florida, Arizona and the Bermuda Islands. Travelers do not write their names, only their experiences.

“We are flying over a very mountainous area with lots of tropical plants and trees. The water is a beautiful color – with greens and blues and aquamarine,” reads one entry, the author describing a flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico to St. Thomas, West Indies.

The bears are free to rent and Community Services asks that travelers be respectful of them when packing and unpacking them at various destinations. If a traveler wishes to smoke tobacco, Community Services allows them to take a certain bear – sparing the rest of the ScarBEARos for those residents who might have allergies.

“Hartley was named after Bob Hartley, a former maintenance worker here who smoked a lot. Bob was a good friend to all of us,” Community Services Facilities Scheduler Steve Kramer says.

Cardamone says the bears are an additional service the department offers to connect Scarborough residents to one another. Community Services serves as the community’s recreation department, offering programs ranging from youth soccer to adult education classes. The office, and the home of the ScarBEARos is at the Scarborough Municipal Building, 730-4150.

To contact Stowell P. Watters call 282-4337, ext. 219 or email news@scarboroughleader.com.