A good story about Erin Blank’s growing mascot camp.

Mascots in training
To add sizzle to their half-time skits and fun to their on-field antics, some mascots attend a workshop taught by Erin Blank, 36, owner of Keystone Mascots in Lancaster, Pa. (pop. 56,348).

Last summer, Blank coached about a dozen mascots—including an overstuffed Toucan, a Robin, Cedar Tree, Baron and Pirate—in practical matters, such as how to stay cool in their costumes, sign autographs in paws and claws, and use props to pep up their acts.

“A car shade can be a surfboard,” Blank says, stepping on a piece of cardboard and teetering with outstretched arms. “I want you to use ordinary objects in ways that they were never intended to be used.”

With music booming, the mascots get cracking with creativity in a room with a mirrored wall so they can see their silliness. Soon, the Toucan is sitting on a red ball as if it’s an egg and checking to see if it hatched, the Baron is using a baton for a Q-tip and the Cedar Tree is wearing a head scarf as a blindfold.

Come football and basketball season, these spirited school ambassadors will parade into stadiums and gymnasiums—some dressed in decades of town history and team tradition—to cavort, cheer and create as much hoopla as possible to support the home team. (complete story)

Erin has been on the mascot scene for more than a dozen years and is now operating a costume company along with these yearly camps.

I interviewed Erin back in September of 2000, you can read that interview here.

-Cudo