Eau Claire (WQOW)- A local high school that was forced to change its mascot during the school year had the chance to see the new one in action Sunday. Menomonie high school changed from being the Indians to being the mustangs. For the first time ever, community members were able to gaze at their nickname.
“It is unique, it is trademarked. It’s ours, and we think it looks great,” said school Athletic Director Bart Boettcher.
Now more than just a logo, Sunday was the first chance for people in Menomonie to see the school’s new mascot.
“The kids are excited to have a mascot to rally behind. I think at our games coming up next school year its going to be very exciting to have a mascot running around and getting the crowd jacked up,” Boettcher said.
With many members of the community on hand for the summer daze parade, people of all ages got their first look at the new mustang mascot.
“I was quite impressed when it came out, I was like wow! Because they had one last year to sort of fill in until they made this process so the unveiling today, it actually looked like a mustang, kind of it looked tough. It was kind of neat to see how the kids reacted to it. They could all smile big, give high fives, and it actually looks like a pretty tough mustang,” said Menomonie resident Jeff Jaeger.
With only a week left until graduation, the new mascot will have to wait until the fall before getting out on the field.
“I think we’re gonna try to make an effort to try and get it, the mascot, at least in the first year here to all the sporting events,” said Boettcher.
Its been over two decades since a mascot entertained crowds in Menomonie.
“You could see when we unveiled the mascot, and the name, how excited the students were. You can tell for our district there’s a great sense of pride,” Boettcher said.
With more than just a drawing, fans now have a physical connection with the school.
“I have a small two and a half year old and he normally doesn’t like mustangs but we go to the football games and he talks about the mustangs. And so for him to see that today, he was high-fiving and really excited. It was pretty awesome to see just the smile on his face. To be able to connect now with an object that’s here now calling the mustangs I think he’s pretty proud and looks forward to being a mustang some day,” Jaeger said.
Event officials were happy with the turnout for the SummerDaze parade. Unfortunately the event had to be shut down a little earlier than expected due to rain.
Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/05/15/2117735/stay-and-play.html#storylink=cpy
