Rare Bear: USO, Robert Service, and more!

By Rev. C.J. Barry Kentner

THE TRIVIA BIN: Honoring Our Veterans

How many are aware that Robert Service, a poet, and Balladeer, was an ambulance driver in France during World War One. The man who penned the Ballad of Sam McGee, and Dangerous Dan
McGrew was a World War One Medic. There was a troop of Jesters during the days of World War One.” They were called “The Dumbells” and they entertained all over Europe, cheering the troops with such spoofs as “The Sergeant Said ‘Dig'”.

In World War Two, entertainment was more important…with Hollywood Stars and Singers and Stage Shows at posts around the globe. Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and many others performed in person on the battlefield and on the Movie Screens at home. And in England, Gracie Fields, George Formby, and Vera Lynn among others were also active volunteers in the war effort
Trivia Troubles away!

In chapter 29 of Deuteronomy, Moses is commanded by God to renew the covenant with the children of Israel. A covenant that he made first in Horeb, and now in the land of Moab. Choose Life!
Moses said this was “not too mysterious, nor far off. It was not in Heaven that you should say who will ascend into heaven for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it. Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say who will go over the sea for us and bring it back to us, that we may hear it and do it. But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.”

Then he said “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil…” and then after a further discourse, he said…very simply…choose life. CHOOSE LIFE is not just an anti-abortion slogan; it is, to put it bluntly, a matter of life or death. Real life or death. If you believe – and I hope you do: the life you lead will result in victory and life everlasting. REAL LIFE.

THE BALLAD OF CAPREOL RED

During the depression of the 1930’s, thousands of men roamed the U.S. and Canada in and under railroad freight cars. And there were men in every railway yard who had the authority to pull men off the trains and jail them. These men were called “Bulls” and one of the most famous in Canada was a man called Capreol Red.

He was six foot plus, and heavy
And topped with bright red hair
A railway cop of the thirties,
With that “I’m gonna get you” air.
He worked out of Capreol
During the great depression
And East and West of Ontario,
He had a reputation.
In boxcars, filled with hungry men
You’d hear a lot of tales.
There was a lot of time to spare
When you rode the “rods and rails”
But even the talk in the lumber camps
Could fill your heart with dread
Invariably, the conversation turned
To mean old “Capreol Red.”
Now you may ask “What of it…
Surely the man is dead”
Well, so little has been written down
When all is done and said;
Here’s a Canadian Legend,
Who lived, and worked and died…
A rough and tumble rounder
With a heart of gold, inside.
See, “Red” would take you off the train
And cart you down to jail…
But I’ve been told “next morning
He’d come round and pay yer bail.”

Rev. Barry Kentner from The Thirties Man

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Barry was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1935 and schooled to Grade 10, but continued educational pursuits until age 65 when he graduated from Open Word Bible College. He started working for Spitzer and Mills advertising in 1952, then moved to the Broadcast arena where for 62 years he was News Director and Talk Show Host at several Canadian Radio Stations. He was one of 5 consultants who managed to lobby for Christian Radio in Canada, and in the last five years before retirement, he was News Director of Canadian Altar.Net News, a network of 25 Christian Radio Stations across Canada from Charlottetown PEI to Campbell River BC.
Barry Kentner is a semi-retired pastor.