New Bern Bears

New Bern was founded in 1710 by Swiss and Palatine German immigrants led by Baron Christoph DeGraffenried. The new colonists named the settlement after Bern, the capital of Switzerland and hometown of their leader. Many years before New Bern was settled, Bern, Switzerland was founded by a group of hunters who named the city after the first animal they came upon on their hunting expedition ... a bear. "Bern" is the old Germanic word for bear and the bear became the symbol of the city. The bear symbol was passed along to Bern's sister city, New Bern, and still serves as the city's mascot with bear flags and statues featured throughout the town.

New Bern celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2010 by hosting a variety of festivities. In honor of the anniversary, over 50 fiberglass and ceramic bears, sponsored and adopted by local businesses, were situated throughout the city. Once local businesses chose to sponsor and adopt a bear, a year-long process began which included selecting a local artist to design the bear's theme, and designating a display location for the bear. Since then more than 20 additional bears have been created and positioned at various locations throughout the city.

As Pete and I tracked down and photographed New Bern's bears, we found the Bear Town Bears brochure had a few errors. The correct information is noted in our Facebook Album.
  1. #NewBernStrong Bear
  2. Air Bear
  3. Barrister Bear II
  4. Bear D'Olde Towne
  5. Bear E. Essential
  6. Bear Historian
  7. Bearer of Rights (missing) third-party photo
  8. Bearista Bear
  9. Bear-ly Legal
  10. Bearon de Broker "aka Super Agent"
  11. Bearon de Colours (inside the clubhouse down a side hallway)
  12. Bearon de Graffenfried
  13. Bearon de Wilbur, Forestry Bear
  14. Beary Caring, MD
  15. Beary Healthy Bear
  16. Beary Tone Bear
  17. Bernie, the Fisherbear
  18. Brier Bear
  19. Bubble Garden Bear
  20. Captain Black Bear'd
  21. Champion Bear (in high school football stadium)
  22. Coca-Cola Care Bear
  23. Colonial Bearman (missing) third-party photo
  24. Diverse Flag Bearer
  25. Dr. Bender Bear
  26. Dr. Paw
  27. DOGI ("Dough Gee") The Bear
  28. Elinor Hawkins Telestory Time Bear
  29. Flag Bearer
  30. Freedom Bearer
  31. Future Bear
  32. Gentle Giant Bear
  33. Grady
  34. Greenzly
  35. Har-Bear Town Racquet Cub
  36. Harbie (back and front)
  37. Harvest Bear
  38. Home Town Bernie I
  39. Home Town Bernie II
  40. "Honey I'm Home" Bear
  41. I Believe
  42. In God We Trust
  43. Judge Bear
  44. Kare Bear
  45. Katy, the Sports Mama
  46. Link
  47. Mamma Bear
  48. Mr. Bar B. Q. (inside Moore's BBQ)
  49. Mr. McBear
  50. Mitchell Bear
  51. Money Bear (missing) third-party photo
  52. Neuseopoly
  53. No Burn Bear
  54. Officer T Bear (directing traffic)
  55. Owen G. Bear
  56. Pub Cub
  57. River Ben (reverse side)
  58. Sailor Bear (inside BB&T?) third-party photo
  59. Semper Fi (inside the airport terminal, behind the Information desk)
  60. Shriner Bear
  61. Sleepy Bear
  62. Spirit I (missing) third-party photo (incorrect name)
  63. Spirit II
  64. T. Woodsy Bear
  65. Taberna
  66. Technology Bear
  67. Tooth Beary
  68. Tottie (reverse side)
  69. Travelin' Bernie
  70. Wally Bear
  71. Walt "Mr." Safety Bear
  72. Walmart Bear
  73. We Care Bear
  74. Welcome Bear
  75. Wise Bear
  76. Yota Bear

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