My Trip to the Ottawa Regional Heritage Fair

Hi, I’m Margaret. This year I took my heritage fair project to the Ottawa Regional Heritage Fair. My project for the Heritage Fair was about Teddy Rogers. Teddy Rogers is a teddy bear that a child gave to her father when he went to fight in WWI. A teacher at our school was the person who got First Avenue School involved. She was amazing and probably for a week before the Heritage Fair we practically lived in her class. I had such a great experience at the Canadian History Museum. It was held in the Grand Hall. The participating students ranged from grades 4 to 10. There were a variety of topics, but they had to be about Canadian history.

The Ottawa Regional Heritage Fair is an event where kids create, and present big projects typically done on a tri-fold display board about a Canadian topic. The topics vary from historical people and events, like Lucy Maud Montgomery or the Halifax Explosion, to people's families, or even a Canadian food like poutine. Immigration of different cultures is also a popular topic. Kids across Canada participate in heritage fairs.

At the fair, you get judged by two different judges. Both of my judges were very nice, they asked good questions, and it was more like just having a conversation about my project rather than presenting. One of them works at the Canadian War Museum and has held Teddy Rogers. Judges who were not judging me also came to my station. One of the people who came to my station is the director of the War Museum and the Museum of History. I had no idea when I gave her my presentation. But I found out later when they were giving out awards. After judging, we did our workshop which was looking around the museum. It was amazing. I walked around the museum with the teacher who organized the heritage fair at our school and some other students in my school. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot. Then we came back and there was an Indigenous drumming demonstration. Following that, they started the award ceremony. I wasn’t expecting to win anything because I’m only in grade six. But I did win something. I won the Canadian Museum of History award which means I got the highest overall mark. My sister and another team from my school both won awards. The Heritage Fair was such a fun experience, and you can see more details about it on the Ottawa Regional Heritage Fair site.

All About Teddy Rogers

My Heritage Fair project was on Teddy Rogers. Teddy was a teddy bear that Aileen Rogers gave to her dad when he went to fight in World War I where her dad Lawrence Browning Rogers sadly died at the Battle of Passchendaele. A soldier found Teddy in his pocket when he was getting Lawrence’s body. Teddy was then sent back to Canada. Many years later Teddy helped Aileen, who was now a nurse, greet kids coming over from England to escape the bombs during World War II. Teddy is now located at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario. In my project, I dove deeper into Teddy’s history with a paragraph just about Aileen, one just about her dad, the battle of Passchendaele and Teddy in World War II.  I also gave information about Teddy nowadays. I shortened this version from my original project, so these are just the important facts.

Ten-year-old Aileen Rogers lived in east Farnham, Quebec and gave her father, Lawrence Browning Rogers, her favorite stuffed animal when he went to fight in World War l. Teddy is 12 centimeters tall, he is missing his eyes and has no legs. Teddy serves as a reminder of the cost of war. Lawrence Browning Rogers was born in Montreal on December 17, 1877. He was a frontline medic officer and stretcher carrier at the Battle of Passchendaele. Passchendaele was during World War I. Ethel Aileen Rogers was born in Montreal in 1905. When Aileen was 35, she was a nurse helping deliver children from England to escape WWII. On August 23, 1994, when Aileen was 93, she sadly died. A letter that Aileen’s brother Howard wrote to his father on September 8, 1917, sadly never got to his father. It was found in an old family suitcase by Roberta Innes. The letter that was not read was donated alongside Teddy to the Canadian War Museum.

In conclusion, Teddy is a two-time war veteran and shows how much Aileen loved her dad and how war can tear families apart. Whether it is someone dying, or people being sent away, there is no upside to war. If you would like to see Teddy in person, go to the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario. There are two books written about Teddy: A Bear in War and A Bear On The Homefront. These books were written by Lawrence Rogers Browning’s great-granddaughter, Stephanie Innes.