A Different Kind of Mask

After graduating from Pickerington High School North in 2016, Jake Elston really found his wings at Bowling Green State University. This past year, he was chosen to be Freddy the Falcon, the BGSU mascot.

Every year at BGSU, two students are selected in a competitive process for the role of each mascot, Freddy and Frieda Falcon. The duo attends every sporting event, tons of fundraisers, and even walks around campus on game days to hype everyone up.

“Being in suit, you really see how many people care about BGSU,” he says. “It warmed my heart that so many people would get the brightest smiles when they saw us or high-fived us.”

Elston says one of the most rewarding experiences as Freddy was participating in the annual Holidays with the Falcons, a winter break event for BGSU athletes to give presents and spend time with kids from a nearby community in need. Freddy and Frieda are big hits with the kids.

“It was great going to the event and seeing how the kids were surprised and excited to see us,” he says. “Their days were made because we showed up.”

Part of being a school mascot is keeping the identity a secret.

“The secrecy allows people to see the mascots as just the mascots,” he says. “It’s just Freddy and Frieda.”

Elston managed to hide his identity from friends and even his roommate, though that was the hardest part. It was tough to keep it under wraps, especially when dance moves or mannerisms came close to giving it away.

Despite keeping it a secret from his friends, Elston had a whole community of Freddy and Frieda alumni to back him up, as well as the other three students wearing the suits alongside him. He now considers them some of his closest friends.

“It was more than being the mascot,” he says. “It was like a whole family to me.”

Elston also found a sense of family when he attended PHSN. While there, he participated in volleyball which gave him skills he used as a mascot. His thenteammates and coach encouraged his goofiness and it became tradition for Elston to perform a pregame dance to hype up his team before games.

Even now, Elston and his teammates keep in touch. He says they were some of his biggest cheerleaders after revealing his identity as Freddy.

“It never would have happened if it wasn’t for those people in high school that provided the support for me to be myself,” he says. “BG is a second home to me, but Pickerington will always be my first.”

Wearing a face mask may be scary for some kids. Here’s some advice from Violet the Cow, the Pickerington Public Library ambassador, on how to wear your mask.

Violet says that masks are good to keep us all safe. To make wearing a mask more fun, pick out a fun fabric or make your own design, something that you’d love to wear.

You can also make masks into a game. When you put them on, make faces and have family guess your expressions just from seeing your eyes. Plus, all superheroes wear masks, including our doctors and nurses who protect and take care of us. You can pretend to be your favorite superhero when you put on a mask, too!

For a Q&A with Elston, visit www. pickeringtonmagazine.com.

Sarah Robinson is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at feedback@ cityscenemediagroup.com.

Sara Parish is the owner of Sara’s Sewing Shed. Parish, her son and a friend have been busy making masks for the community. They create several styles: classic cotton pleated trifold for $6, contour face for $8, and Pickerington high school’s spirit masks for $10.

Follow her instructions below to make your own pleated face mask at home:

• Sewing machine • Iron • Cotton fabric • Elastic

• Cut two pieces of fabric into rectangles, nine-by-seven inches • Place the pieces on top of another with the patterned side of the fabric facing in • Sew a quarter-inch seam almost all the way around, leaving a hole to turn the fabric inside-out so the patterned fabric faces the outside • Sew around the mask with a one-eighth-inch seam, and press with the iron • Fold three pleats in the mask and iron them to lay flat • Sew the pleats closed at the ends of the mask • Cut elastic to seven inches for an adult mask, or five inches for a child • Attach the elastic to the sides of the mask, securing it with extra stitches

To order a mask from Sara’s Sewing Shed, visit www.sarassewingshed.com or call 614-579-1958.