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Go, he-coons
By MELANIE AVE © St. Petersburg Times, published November 26, 2000 TAMPA PALMS -- It's official. The new elementary school opening next fall in Tampa Palms is going to be named after former U.S. Sen. and Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles. It'll be the first Tampa school named after the folksy Democrat since he died almost two years ago. That got us to thinking. What is the obvious mascot for a school named after Chiles, an old-time Cracker politician who celebrated his narrow 1994 win over Jeb Bush by wearing a coon-skin cap? The Lawton Chiles He-Coons! Go, fight, win! Wahoo! To fully appreciate the term, you have to go back a few years to that 1994 election. Chiles was behind in the waning days of his re-election campaign against the younger Bush. But in the only televised debate, Chiles pulled out an old Florida expression: "The old he-coon walks just before the light of day." Chiles was the he-coon, the tough male raccoon, the older, the wiser, the leader, the survivor. The remark became the theme of the campaign, and eventually, the inauguration of Lawton "He-Coon" Chiles. Now, back to the present. Two weeks ago, the Hillsborough County School Board picked the name Lawton Chiles for the new school over 46 others, including Bill Clinton, Colin Powell and Alligator Creek. As for the mascot, the school's yet-to-be-named principal, along with future students and their parents are expected to decide on one next year. We decided to speed the discussion by posing the mascot idea to several New Tampa residents and parents, and even a few pals, appointees and relatives of the late governor, including his widow, Rhea. We must admit, there didn't seem to be a groundswell of support for placing the nocturnal carnivore on letterhead, signs and T-shirts. A few, like parent Adena Dyer, had never heard of it. Many laughed. "I think Lawton would have loved it," said Tarpon Springs artist Christopher Still, who painted Chiles' portrait with a raccoon in the background. "The he-coon would be a great mascot in the great tradition of Lawton Chiles," said Ben Wacksman, whom Chiles appointed to the Hillsborough County Commission as one of his last acts. "The he-coon has a great significance for the governor and everyone who respected him and saw him as a statesman," he said. Mrs. Chiles said her late husband would be very honored to know the school was named after him, given his interest in children. "That's delightful," she said. As for the Lawton Chiles He-Coons? "I don't know," Mrs. Chiles mused. "I'm not real well versed on school mascots. I haven't had much experience ... Whatever sounds good when you're rooting for a team, that's what you want to pick." Hooray He-Coons! "I think maybe it should be raccoon instead of he-coon," said City Council member Shawn Harrison, who lives in Tampa Palms and has two preschool-age children who could attend the school. He-coon "is a term a lot of people don't understand. It's kind of strange." Strange but true, said Tampa attorney Joseph Garcia, who attended law school with Chiles. Garcia said the he-coon mascot could be used to teach children about their school's namesake. "The he-coon is really a part of the political tradition and history in the state," he said. "When I think of Lawton and Lawton's contribution, his contribution to children and youth surpasses almost everything he's done." If the school opts for the he-coon, it could be the first of at least six Lawton Chiles schools to do so. You've got the Lawton Chiles High School Timberwolves in Tallahassee, the Lawton Chiles Middle Academy Knights in Lakeland, the Lawton Chiles Middle School Eagles in Miami, the Lawton Chiles Elementary Cheetahs in Gainesville, the Lawton Chiles Middle School Panthers in Oviedo. Only one chose a mascot reminiscent of the governor; in Orlando, Lawton Chiles Elementary students are the Walkin' Lawtons. Their emblem is a shoe. Chiles became known as "Walkin' Lawton" after he jumped into the 1970 U.S. Senate race and won election after spending 91 days walking 1,000 miles from the Panhandle to the Keys. He went on to spend 18 years as a U.S. senator and almost eight as a governor. Three weeks before he was to leave office after losing a second race against Bush, Chiles died suddenly of a heart attack on Dec. 12, 1998, while exercising at the governor's mansion. Only time will tell if the new Lawton Chiles Elementary School becomes "Home of the He-Coons." If it does, it would stand out among other New Tampa schools, where the mascots are all feline, except the Eagles of Tampa Palms Elementary. There are the Wharton High Wildcats. Benito Middle Jaguars. Clark Elementary Cougars. Hunter's Green Elementary Panthers. Pride Elementary Lions. "Truthfully, we're out of cats," said Cathy Valdes, area director of Hillsborough County schools, pondering the idea. But with a new middle school and high school opening nearby the year after Lawton Chiles opens, "Who knows. We will be needing a new kind of mascot up there." He-Coons perhaps? Hmm. - Melanie Ave can be reached at (813) 226-3473 or melanie@sptimes.com.
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