Kingston Frontenacs GameDay November 13, 2015

www.reidsdairy.com • Belleville / Kingston
With a a mascot hiatus that
has lasted three seasons, the
Kingston Frontenacs are proud
to welcome Barrack The Bear to the fold.
We caught-up with Justin Chenier, Executive
Director of Buiness Operations
to get some insight on the newest member
of the Kingston Frontenacs.
GameDay: Who is Barrack The
Bear?
Justin Chenier: Officially, Barrack
is our Coordinator of Fun and Fan Excitement.
His role on game day is pretty
simple: give high-fives to the fans, deliver
the puck drop for the ceremonial
faceoffs, bring an element of fun to our
in-game promotions, be cute and cuddly,
and always be available for
hugs from the fans.
GD: Why a bear?
JC: Bears one of the first
animals kids find comfort in.
Teddy bears keep us safe at
night, they are our first best
buddies, and they are cute
and huggable. Besides, could
you imagine a turtle as a mascot?
GD: But there’s no geographical
or traditional connection to a bear in
Kingston.
JC: Barrack is from a pack of brown
bears who orginally settled around Frontenac
Provincial Park in 1673, around
the time Count Frontenac settled Fort
Frontenacs. He claims to be a distant
cousin of Carlton The Bear. That’s all
the graphical lineage and tradition to
hockey we need!
GD: In all seriousness, how did the
idea for a bear come about?
JC: Count Frontenac and Henry
The Cannonball each had good runs as
our mascots, and both played important
roles in helping us connect with
our youngest of fans, but both had their
challenges. Count Frontenac made kids
cry. He frightened kids with his overthe-top
grin. In Henry’s case, he was almost
always mistaken for a puck. When
both mascot costumes got the point of
needing replacing, we looked at many
options, and came up with Barrack The
Bear. We felt it was a new approach that
fit with the changes we’ve made over the
past few seasons.
GD: How did he go from concept to
reality?
JC: We had the idea for
a few seasons, but needed
the right partner to make
it work. That came with
Scott Douglas at BMW
Kingston. As a new partner
with the team, BMW
Kingston wanted to be involved
in new ways with our
fans, and the mascot was a
great fit.
We then worked with the
same design team that is responsible
for a number of major league mascots,
including Carlton The Bear for the Toronto
Maple Leafs, Ace for the Toronto
Blue Jays, and The Raptor for the Toronto
Raptors on the concept. We then
reached out to our friends with the
Toronto Maple Leafs, to help guide us
through the design process. They have
a ton of experience with Carlton and it
really helped us make sure we weren’t
missing or overlooking anything. The
end result is Barrack The Bear! KF
OFFICIAL GAMEDAY PROGRAM, VOLUME 43, 2015
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