About Our Mascot
We thought it would be fun for CLC and COI to have a mascot.
So to
liven things up a bit, it was decided that the mascot would be selected through
a contest. Jan agreed to be the
judge (actually she wouldn’t LET anyone else be it). So, the article went in the newsletter and all staff, the people we serve and anyone who wanted to
were encouraged to submit entries. Anyone could submit as many entries as he/she
wanted. A prize of $25.00 would be given
for the winning entry . The
only catch was that all submissions had to explain why the mascot was
appropriate for CLC or COI.
Well, the entries poured in! When each was read, however, a funny thing happened. You see, there were three entries that involved either bees and a beehive, or just a bee or a bee and a flower. One entry in particular mentioned the bumblebee. Why specifically the bumblebee? Because the bumblebee is not supposed to fly! Engineers have declared that according to the laws of aerodynamics its wings are too small for its large body and therefore it should be impossible for it to fly. It’s just no one told the bee. The person making the nomination pointed out that the same could be said about the people we serve, therefore the bumblebee should be our mascot. Another entry said that the beehive was representative of the homes where the people we serve live and work together in cooperation and harmony.
When she read these, Jan said “Stop, there’s no need to consider this further. We have our mascot and our theme.” So, the hive was chosen as representative of the homes (CLC) where everyone lives in harmony (well, most of the time anyway) and the sunflower representative of where work is done (COI) with the bumblebee (the people we serve) bringing both organizations together.
By the way, Jan gave a prize of $15 to each of the 3 who submitted the entries involving bees. Wasn’t she generous?
Bud E. Was Born
During the next few months, bees (especially bumblebees) began to show up all over CLC and COI. They became the theme for the awards banquet; our newsletter became The Buzz, and everyone was having a great time just beeing. In August 2001 several CLC employees went to a national conference. There they attended a presentation by 3 providers who had developed an entire recognition program around the use of life-sized mascots. The primary purpose of the mascot was to recognize employees for outstanding accomplishments or work but sometimes the mascot was used to represent the organization during special events.
Driving back from the conference Jan had the captive audience she needed to turn the bumblebee into someone or something real. Luckily a costumer, Cowan Costumes, was located at our back door, i.e. in Cleburne. Jan began working with them to develop the costume, the committee began working on the criteria by which employees could be chosen for recognition, how and when our mascot would be used, as well as all the other things that would go into our employee recognition program. The committee, through a series of ballots chose the name Bud E. Bee as the mascot’s name. He would be responsible for presenting award winners with the signature “This Bud’s for You” flowers and Bud vase (something started several years ago for employees who had done something really special); a bag of candy (Bit-O-Honey of course); a specially designed lapel pin (a small bee); a $25 gift certificate to a restaurant of the winners choice; a bouquet of yellow and black balloons; 10 “You Make a Difference Coins”; a small stuffed bee (a baby Bud E.); an award certificate indicating why the employee was being honored; and a proclamation making the day the employee’s day. The event was to be photographed from all angles, a photo of the award winner hung in the office and other photos placed in a scrap book.
Additionally, the committee agreed Bud E. should make the presentations to the people we serve at our annual awards banquets and that he should make appearances in the community as a representative of CLC or COI whenever the opportunity arose.
Bud E. was complete by December 1, 2002 and made his first surprise appearance at the staff Christmas party. Since then he has made several appearances to recognize employees for outstanding work, presented achievement awards to the people we serve and our volunteers at our awards banquets, and delighted the Cleburne Chamber of Commerce when they visited COI for the ribbon cutting ceremony recognizing the opening of Xpresshirts. Bud E. is always proceeded by his signature song “Flight of the Bumblebee” so listen closely. If you hear that song, Bud E. is probably close by and you will certainly want to pay him a visit. He is guaranteed to bring a smile to your heart.
