From assemblies to football games, the Eagle mascot has always been a part of our school spirit. Without it, there was something was missing from school spirit – because it actually went missing.

When Braden McMakin had was in need of the costume on the first day of school, he realized it was still missing in action. It was a disappointment to the Eagle himself.

“I was frantic because I first realized it was missing the first day back in school and I was going to be the mascot for the assembly. I was more panicked at that point because I didn’t know it was missing at first. I just thought it was misplaced,” McMakin said. “So once we gave up looking for it, I was let down and upset. I came to realized that Mrs. Wilke and Mr. Eldredge were doing everything they could to find it. It was just gone.”

Mr. Eldredge, the athletics director, was just as frantic as McMakin. He known he had just seen it last spring at a signing.

“I’m actually frustrated about the missing mascot because I know I had it when we did a signing in the spring, and after the last time we used it it was put away, however, some time elapsed and we couldn’t exactly recall where we put it away,” Mr. Eldredge said. “We had a couple different places we would store it. We sent Mr. Wheeler, Mrs. Wilke, Mr. Ebert and myself opened every door in this building and just couldn’t find it – looked inside and out.”

McMakin started being the mascot his freshman year and it always brings out extra spirit at Liberty.

He hopes to keep the tradition going and without the mascot they can’t.

“I’m only going to be here another two years and whoever wants to be the next mascot I want them to be able to have one and for the time I have left here I would like to continue to try to do that,” McMakin said.

Luckily, the mascot was replaced but it wasn’t cheap.

“It was expensive but it is exactly the same,” Mr. Eldredge said.

McMakin is very grateful that they were able to replace the mascot because being an ‘Eagle’ means a lot especially being the mascot.

“For me, being the mascot is just a fun thing for me to do. It can be boiled down to just that. I have always kind of had this interest in being a mascot,” McMakin said. “It’s kind of cool because you can do the exact same thing without the costume, but being in the costume people actually acknowledge it – because you’re standing out wearing a giant bird suit, you get noticed. That’s what I’m striving to get out of wearing it. I can’t put it into words. It’s just unique.”

Also, very lucky to be able to keep the tradition going.

“It’s a fresh costume and to me it sort of comes to show how we won’t let a loss of a costume stop us from continuing tradition.” McMakin said.

Although the mystery of the mascot is not solved nor will it ever, there is a new Eagle to spread the school spirit.