A story told by
Harold Dilling at the Alumni 2006 reunion banquet.
The great bird, cast
as a mascot of Connell High School, was the brain child of CHS
students in 1936 who became jealous of rival schools that adopted
their own mascots. "Several illustrious students, I don't recall
them all, but among them Alvin Mittlstaedt, John Campbell, Delmonte
Ulrich and myself, went down to the Post Office to wait for Adrian
Gehres, then postmaster, to return from lunch.
"The Post Office was in the old bank building.
In the old bank standing on the rim of the cashier's cage, had been
this bald eagle. We asked Adrian if we could have the eagle
for a school mascot." He said, "Sure, he's out in the garage
behind the Post Office." "The delegation went to the garage
and retrieved said eagle from the rafters. We dusted him off
and took turns carrying Mr. Bald Eagle to the school for the formal
ceremony of declaring him the mascot of the school."
"The supervisors present for the ceremony were Supt.
Fred Kramlich, Principal Howard Wagner and teachers Miss Bakenhus,
Miss Sheltraw and Don Byron."
"After the eagle was declared the official mascot by
the student body he was placed on the center of the top shelf of the
library on the stage in the assembly room."
To verify his account, Dilling, 1936 student body
president and now a resident of Usk, had his written version
attested by the following students present at the ceremony in 1936,
Harold Lamb, Blanche Adams King, Helen Vogler Figg, Sue Harris
Paslay, Alma Mittelstaedt Templeton, Alvin R. Mittelstaedt, senior
class president, John W. Campbell and Kazuo Yoshinaki. Mrs.
Edward Poe, alumnus secretary, said efforts to unearth the original
mascot in order to give him an honored spot at the banquet table had
proven in vain.
