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iveai Indian started AHS famous danceDuckhirule#44(CBy RANDY RENDFELDAnderson Daily BulletinSchool mascots have evolved since the 1920s basketball sectional tournament where the Lapel HighSchool bulldog reportedly attacked Anderson High School’s duck, Rupert.Highland and Madison Heights high schools opened in 1955 and 1956, respectively. Soon after, two Scots and a Pirate joined an Indian to carry on the city’s school traditions and encourage their fans.ANDERSON INDIANThe staff of the Anderson High School 100th anniversary yearbook 11 years ago wrote:The 1923 Indians were called the Anderson Ducks. The Class of 1923 changed it to the Indians. There’s been an old rumor that the Lapel bulldog attacked Rupert the duck. In the 1920s, he was given away to whomever guessed the correct number of fouls scored in a sectional game.”There is some dispute of this report.Our school has always been known as the Indians,” said Wendell L. Hilligoss, Anderson High’s mascot sponsor. “It wasn’t the Anderson Ducks or anything like that.“We just happened to have a duck, like a fire department will have a dalmatian. As far as I canrecollect, they were the Indians.Back then a lot of schools had live mascots. Since t, animals were declared illegal by the Indiana i School Athletic Association.The Indian as a mascot goes back to the 1930s, said Hilligoss, a 26-year teacher at Anderson High.He said a retired teacher told him the first Indian dance was performed at an Anderson High basketball game by a real Indian.“He had never seen a basketball game. He got so excited, he got up and did a dance.”Hilligoss said a singing Indian maiden joined the tradition in the early 1940s.“At first, the maiden’s job was to sit on the bench with the team. Up until about 1948 or 1949, the Indian maiden sang ‘The Indian Love Call.’4444ftft44tt44The maiden did the dance with the Indian for a pep session. It went over so well it was incorporated with the Indian’s pregame ceremony.Hilligoss described the pregame ceremony and the passing of the peace pipe.The Indian, maiden, cheerleaders and opposing cheerleaders sit around the circle ... The chief makes a sign to the four winds and then the pipe is passed from person to person in a gesture of friendship.Is it a real Indian dance? “Yes and no,” Hilligoss said.“The steps are patterned on Indian dances. In ours, the boy takes off around the gym floor. The girl does her dance in the center circle. The only time they’re together is when they end.If time permits, we could actually learn an Indian dance,” he said, “but that would change the entire ceremony. In a real war dance, they don’t move around that much. They dance in a circle or a line. In some, they dance so hard in one spot for so long they dig a hole.”The Indian and maiden rarely talk or move, Hilligoss said.Our mascot is supposed to be regal. When on the floor, they stand at strict attention. It’s like he is surveying the area. He stands like a soldier at attention. That’s the type of thing we want to project.”The Anderson High mascots this year are Christy H overmale, homecoming queen and daughter of Larry and Brenda H overmale, 1050 Odell Drive, and Jay Atherton, son of Jim and Judy Atherton, 1601 Fox H ill Court.HIGHLAND SCOTHighland High School was built on a knoll in 1955, recalls Keith Davis, a counselor who’s been at Highland since it opened.The knoll was leveled, but the name “Highland” remained.Another veteran Highland teacher, Miriam E. Sumner, said the first class voted to determine what the mascot would be. She recalls hearing Highland sports teams referred to as “The Laddies,” but44AINUtKSUN DAILY BULLtTINTuesday, March 3, 1987 IDavis said the first name was “The Highlanders,” and that was changed to “The Scots” about 1968-69.This year’s mascots are Jenny England, daughter of Peggy Verier, Rt. 1, and Bill England, Anderson, and Allen Raver, son of Louis and Marion Raver, 1309 Ranike Drive.Highland’s official color is Ramsay plaid.“Scotland has many clans and they are distinguished by type of plaid worn,” Raver said, describing his and England’s uniforms, that are identical to band members’. The uniforms can cost between $500 and $750 each, according to Athletic Director DonSmith.A blanket-like material that hangs over the uniform is similar to materials originally used by Scotsmen as a cover at night. Raver said, and the horsehair object he carries was a purse in original Scots uniforms.“The dress is all imported wool, including the feather bonnet,” Raver said. At one time, the girls’ and boys’ hats were switched, with the girls wearing the taller hats.Raver describes his mascot job as “mainly to serve and protect the school and traditions and “to stand proud and tall.”“In the past, the crowd has wanted more than this, so I decided to join the cheerleading group and promote enthusiasm.Raver said often he'll talk to coaches before the game and try later during sporting events to reflect their attitudes.Personality makes each mascot unique. Raver said. “Nobody told me what to do. I just started doing it the best way I could. Tradition is the main thing.”Once during a sporting event when a Highland team was getting badly beaten. Raver wore a red wig and performed some comic antics. He’d used the wig earlier in the day for an air band sketch atschool.“A few patrons called and said they didn’t likethat But I wanted to keep the crowd there. So, it’sentertainment, too.”The first mascot at Highland was Otis Hinson during the 1958-59 school year, said Smith.The Highland mascot “is probably a little different than other schools,’” Smith said. “Ours is mainly torepresent all athletic teams and stand in pride Asfar as leading cheers, they don’t. One reason is the type of outfit. With kilts on you don’t do too many cartwheels.”English said the mascots are now chosen at Highland by committee after written and oral interviews.MADISON HEIGHTS PIRATEMadison Heights Pirate for the last three years has been Sean Casey, son of Mike and Joan Casey, 3519 Oak wood Drive.All five city school mascots are seniors, and all but Casey are performing as mascots for the first year.Athletic Director Paul Bradford said Casey is one of the more unique Pirates to ever don the eyepatch and sword.“He has done more things than probably any of them. He dances with visiting cheerleaders, rides a unicycle. He’s a good PR man for the school.”Bradford said Casey recently approached a perfect score on t he math portion of t he Scholastic Aptitude Test with 780 of a possible 800.The Pirate’s job is to be “a symbol as well as a leader,” Bradford said But Casey describes it as “getting the crowd wild and crazy.”“We’ve had different types of individuals chosen in different ways,” Bradford said of the mascot selection process. “Now they’re chosen by committee. We’ve had them write essays. We interview them to see what their idea of a Pirate is.”The original Pirate mascot was chosen by students of the first class of 1956-57, according to Bradford. He recalls a variety of uniforms were borrowed from a sporting goods store.The school colors are now black and scarlet.There was a blue and orange uniform and some others, Bradford said. “There were suggestions such as ‘The Panthers.’ I think one reason they chose the Pirates is, first of all, it was human.”
Newspaper Details
Anderson Daily Bulletin
Anderson, Indiana, US
Tue, Mar 03, 1987
Page 15
Full Page
Clipped by
Indiana H.
IN, USA 24 Aug 2019
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