|
|
The buzz started here
Chester "Chet" Shelden
 What the initial Herky the Hornet mascot may have lacked in flash he made up for in substance, according to Chet Shelden (Elementary Education, ’57). And Shelden should know. In 1955, he became the first to sport a green and gold hornet costume for Sac State.
His attire was made of crinoline, a stiff mesh material nothing like the elaborate plush of today’s costumes.
“My costume may not have been as fancy and nice as they have now, but it was fun,” Shelden says of his uniform, which was made by friends. “Basically it was made up of a big head, leotards, tights and a long stinger. We painted my black eyes on and I wore the crinoline costume and a little pair of wings. And it got cold out there in November, I’ll tell ya.”
Shelden recalls leaping around the field and getting the crowd going with the school’s cheerleaders. “I didn’t have any famous moves,” he says. “But I had a lot of school spirit. You can’t be a mascot and be inhibited. You have to be a little crazy.”
The student council and the athletics department chose a hornet—over the elk—as the school mascot on Dec. 5, 1947. (Though no record exists, the name Herky is believed to be short for “Hercules.”) It wasn’t until 1953 that the new university fielded its first football team. And it wasn’t until 1955, when Shelden volunteered during one fateful rally committee meeting, that the team had somebody to embody its school spirit.
Shelden’s newfound role was rare at the time. Only a few California teams had mascots, including Humboldt State’s lumberjack. Shelden played his role in Sac State history through 1957.
After graduating, he taught in Costa Mesa for 18 years before moving to Siskiyou County where he taught in a one-room school. Shelden retired in 1989, but then taught as a substitute for the San Juan Uni- fied School District. For the past 13 years he has been a music specialist at Greer Elementary School.
Shelden says he looks back fondly on his years as mascot. And he especially misses the close-knit school spirit.
“(As a mascot), I think you have to be dedicated to the idea that you are there not only to support the team, but the school as well,” he says.
Shelden and his wife Eudora, “Dora,” (Elementary Education, ’57), have four children and eight grandchildren.
|
