Winnie-the-Pooh is 100 years old. Meet the small Northern Ontario town where the story began

The bear would become a beloved companion to Canadian soldiers overseas before finding a permanent home at London Zoo. There, she caught the attention of a young boy named Christopher Robin Milne — and helped inspire one of the most enduring characters in children’s literature.

English author A.A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh” was published on Oct. 14, 1926, becoming the first of two books of Pooh stories written by Milne. A century later, the character remains a cultural phenomenon with Canadian origins.

For Lindsay Mattick, that story is also family history.

The Toronto-based children’s book author, who wrote “Finding Winnie” and “Winnie’s Great War,” is Colebourn’s great-granddaughter. She has shared the story at classroom show-and-tells and cocktail parties, but its significance extends well beyond her family’s connection to the famous bear.

“Winnie kind of became, from what we know, a beloved mascot of Harry’s regiment,” she said. Black-and-white photos of Colebourn’s time in the Royal Canadian Veterinary Corps show him hand-feeding Winnie, as well as the bear sitting in a group shot among fellow soldiers.

”(Harry) realized at some point when he had to go to the front lines in France, that it’s not safe, and the bear needs a new home,” Mattick continued.

The rest is well-known Pooh lore.

Colebourn entrusted Winnie to London Zoo in England. She had a calm, gentle nature and enjoyed the company of visitors.

When Winnie was around 11 years old, Milne visited her with his son, Christopher Robin, who named his own teddy bear after her. Thus the inspiration for “Winnie-the-Pooh” was born.

Winnie’s Canadian connection has since been commemorated on Canada Post stamps, in an exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum and with a statue of Winnie and Colebourn at Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Zoo.

“In the most famous story about a bear in children’s literature, there’s a real bear story behind it that’s equally dramatic, loving and amazing,” Mattick said. “It’s been a huge part of my childhood and into my adult life.”

A bear brings a town together

For one small Northern Ontario community, the story is more than a family legacy or a literary footnote. It’s become part of the town’s identity, drawing visitors from across Canada and beyond.

White River, a community of fewer than 600 people, has embraced its connection to Winnie with a giant Winnie-the-Pooh statue in a park near the town’s entrance, as well as Pooh-themed street signs and flags.

To commemorate the anniversary of Colebourn’s visit, the town welcomes thousands of visitors on the third weekend of August for its annual “Winnie’s Hometown Festival,” featuring luncheons, vendors, a dance, a pancake breakfast, performers, a pajama parade and more. Beside the railway tracks, local students dress up and re-enact Winnie’s adoption.

“It’s all very family oriented, much like White River itself,” Mayor Tara Hart said.

Hart’s family has lived in the town for generations, dating back to the 19th century. The town’s connection to Pooh was uncovered in the late 1980s and early 1990s, thanks to research by a local historical society.

That connection has drawn Pooh enthusiasts from far beyond White River, including Deb Hoffmann, a 61-year-old web designer from Waukesha, Wis., who has made the town a second home.

She has held the Guinness World Record for the “Largest Pooh and Friends Memorabilia” collection since 2008, with more than 28,000 Pooh items, valued at more than $1 million. She has emceed the White River festival with her husband for the last 20 years.

“Winnie-the-Pooh brings people of different personalities together,” Hoffmann said, adding that she stays in touch with about 30 friends from the town. “I love collecting the items, but also the human interactions that go along with it.”

Why Pooh still matters

The fictional bear’s message is part of the reason Canadian Studies professor Siobhan O’Flynn taught “Winnie-the-Pooh” in her children’s literature classes for nearly two decades at the University of Toronto Mississauga.

“There’s something about Winnie-the-Pooh, which is so entrancing because of the world Milne creates, about care, affirmation and inclusiveness of all characters,” O’Flynn said.

The classic Pooh characters — many of whom were inspired by the real Christopher Robin’s stuffed animals — are far from perfect. Owl is portrayed as pompous, Rabbit has his fussier moments, Eeyore is often gloomy and Piglet can get overwhelmed with worry.

“Characters in their worst moments … can experience injury, like Eeyore losing his tail, but everyone is actually restored,” O’Flynn continued. “Winnie-the-Pooh does this over and over again, really beautifully, to make space for anxieties and fear.

“He always provides this affirmation that there is love, you are loved, and being silly is part of growing up.”

Today, Mattick, a mother of two herself, recognizes that not every child will have read Milne’s 1926 stories. But perhaps, she reasons, they are familiar with other adaptations, such as the Disney films.

She hopes her great-grandfather’s story will one day become a stage musical.

“The silliness and simplicity of Winnie’s adventures still holds up,” she said. “In some ways, we need that more than ever.”