While hanging around Linn-Benton Community College, has the question, "Why the RoadRunner?" run through your mind?
Being that a big, blue, giant bird is LBCC's spirit animal, who's caricature is on just about every item associated with the college; you might think that the RoadRunner's back story would be readily accessible. But digging up its history can prove to be elusive.
Gregg Burgess, a Student Ambassador in Student Life and Leadership gave his account.
Burgess said that in the early 1970's, when he was a teen, his father was a brick layer who had a hand in constructing the walls of LBBC's main campus in Albany- especially the circular ones.
Burgess recollected that the rumor amongst his peers at the time, was that the name "RoadRunner" was a nick name given to students, due to the amount of traveling one did to attend classes before the main campus walls went up.
You see, during the late '60s when the college was first founded; LBCC was not contained under one roof. It was comprised of many different buildings, housed on different sites. Students were zip-zapping, going hither and yon, piecing together their education.
Is this how the RoadRunner was born?
According to Greg Hamann, president of LBCC, it is. In an email he wrote:
"Because classes were scattered among these various buildings, students had to "run the roads" between classes. Thus, the original "road runners" were NOT birds but instead students rushing to get from class to class."
Hamann volunteered to wear the RoadRunner mascot costume during his first Spring In-Service here at LBCC, about a year ago. How did Hamann describe his experience? "HOT!"
Joe Sherlock, manager of Publications and Web here at LBCC, attended that very same in-service where President Hamann initially "strutted his stuff." Sherlock related his surprise and amusement when Hamann finally revealed his true identity, having no clue Hamann was the man behind the beak during the meeting.
Sherlock has a personal connection with the image of the Roadrunner. He is a editorial cartoonist by trade, and has created for LBCC many of the known renditions of its image. During a meeting with Sherlock, he presented a printed booklet dated 1971 with an early RoadRunner image on the front; a simple black silhouette.
The RoadRunner icon has evolved through many characterizations over the past four decades, including: A mere shadow, a friendly looking goof, and the moxie filled character drawn by Sherlock within the last year. (You know- the one with the "I dare you." smirk and cool hair/plumage?)
Different departments and publications use different renditions of the icon, for different purposes. Take for example, an image of RoadRunner palling it up with Benny Beaver in a brochure about the Degree Partnership Program with Oregon State University.
Those who have shaped its face are of course; Sherlock himself, students, and LBCC's Graphic Design Department.
The mascot's costume has also seen its fair share of redesigning. It was just this year, that the all- blue, affable costume was retired. Its replacement has white feathers on its abdomen in the shape of a tank-top, and wonderfully bared teeth.
Where does this bird roost when not posing for pictures, or whooping it up with fans on the court? Why in Student Life and Leadership of course! Yep, not only is this his nesting ground- Student Ambassadors bring the RoadRunner to life.
What is the significance of a college mascot? It may hold different meanings to various people. For Sherlock it is this:
"I think seeing a costumed mascot invokes a sense of fun."
And in college, a little bit of fun, is often just what we need.
