Barnaby Bee History
Page 2
I have been honoured in a number of ways by a variety of people. I think
that one of my favourite ways is the Barnaby float that Diabetes Youth
Christchurch and Diabetes Christchurch create every year for the McDonald’s Santa Parade ~ after
all it’s not every bee who gets to parade through the streets of
Christchurch. The best part, though, is when excited children call out “Look,
there’s Barnaby!” This of course makes me feel as though I am doing my
job by becoming well-known and creating awareness about diabetes. Another honour occurred when I was taken on a world trip with Mr and Mrs
David Caygill to Beijing, China to attend the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Conference in September, 1996. I had my own diplomatic passport and even
climbed the Great Wall of China. What a marvellous adventure it was,
meeting so many new friends and passing on the message to Bee-Aware of
Diabetes. I visited many places including China, Hong Kong, Singapore and
Australia, leaving many soft toy Barnaby Bee helpers at each city or town that
I went to remind people what they had learnt.
 It’s not every bee that has a rather large model made of itself, either.
I had that honour, and the ‘extra large’ Barnaby has attracted a lot
of attention wherever he has been. He was made for Diabetes Youth
Christchurch to go on the Santa Parade float with me, my brothers, and BJ. He has visited the Christchurch Casino on a number of occasions where many people
have admired him and interest has been high.
(I was wise enough not to give him any spending money)
Would you believe that humans dress up and pretend to be me? They’re not
too bad at it and they do have the advantage of being able to speak and
sing using their own voices. They go collecting on Barnaby Day and other
days in other centres, ride on floats (with me and my brothers), visit
schools and hospitals, and give prizes at award ceremonies, and do lots of
things in the community. I or my brothers usually get to share in the fun
so it really does become a combined effort.
 Diabetes
Christchurch thought that I and my brothers could do with some help, so Barnaby
Junior (we call him BJ) was ‘born’ on 30th April 1998. BJ has similar white
tie, gloves and wings ~ and yes, he also wears the emblem on one of his wings.
The three main differences are that he has white boots (mine are yellow), he
squeaks if you push his nose in, and he has a fatter bottom so that he can sit
comfortably on a shelf or a computer. As BJ is really only about half my size he
only costs half as much as I do.
 If I may ‘drop’ some names, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, the
Hon. Helen Clark, Minister of Health, MP Annette King and many other
Ministers of State and Members of Parliament have a brother Barnaby
or BJ in
their homes. You can also find us residing with Miss U.S.A. 1999 (Nicole
Armstrong), Past President of the International Diabetes
Federation, Ms Maria de Alvez, Peter Stretton, President of Diabetes South
Australia, and many internationally respected diabetes physicians, health
and sports professionals.
 I did a
"sky dive" with Mrs Margaret Jamieson, (Life Member of Diabetes New
Zealand. I really wasn’t too scared ~ but I was pleased that I was
strapped onto Margaret. We wanted to let the then Minister of Health,
Honourable
Wyatt Creech know how concerned we were about the escalating diabetes
epidemic, and how he should be as concerned. Now for some exciting news. Diabetes Christchurch commissioned
musician, Brian
Ringrose to compose a musical message for me. The Barnaby Jingle (in which
I tell you about staying healthy) was released on Barnaby Day ~
Friday, May 4th, 2001 in the Cathedral Square at Christchurch. 
It’s a catchy tune
with simple words and with actions to get you up and moving. Ten minutes ‘Beeing
Active’ to the Barnaby Jingle ~ in your lunch hour, after work, in the
evening or whenever ~ and that’s
one third of a day’s exercise requirements all done. It's just so much
easier and much more fun when you exercise to music. That’s pretty good, isn’t
it?
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