The Mascot Hall of Fame in Whiting hosted its “Cue the Confetti” event Friday night. Fans arrived in their sparkly best to party like it's 2022 with excitement and anticipation to hear the two newest inductees into the Hall of Fame.
Blue, the Indianapolis Colts mascot, hosted the event alongside Michele Gustin, Director of Business Development and Consumer Engagement, and Al Spajer, Executive Director.
Run by the city of Whiting, this nonprofit 501(c) museum features steam-infused exhibits, hosts field trips for local schools, develops after school programs, and also coordinates their own education professional development series. Giving back to children in the community is their number one goal.
The Hall of Fame’s three part educator professional development series allows Indiana teachers to receive points for their teachers license. One very lucky lady, Principal Jessica Peters from Carrie Gosch Early Learning Center in East Chicago, was gifted a field trip for 100 soon-to-be ecstatic pre-K through second grade students.
Spajer spoke about the success of the museum following its initial opening. “During the first 15 months that we were open, we walked in over 45,000 visitors. We hosted 130 family friendly programs, endless number of birthday parties, baby showers, bar mitzvahs, business meetings, bridal showers, weddings, and families. We welcomed 61 schools and almost 4,000 kids came,” Spajer said.
Due to COVID-19, however, the museum sadly closed their doors temporarily. The time was used wisely as the team made policy changes and worked on developing social media campaigns and renovations to the building.
One of the fabulous sponsors of the museum, Centier Bank, also helped the museum develop and launch a “Reading with Reggie Summer Reading Program” during this time.
“Cue the Confetti” was a celebration, dance party, live concert, award show, and amazing silent auction all in one. With auction items such as an autographed football by Bears linebacker Robert Quinn and a Colts helmet signed by quarterback Carson Wentz, the bidding was sure to be competitive.
Slider and the Dogs kicked off the bash with their hyped up energy and awesome pop rock talent. Playing hit songs from Bruno Mars, Black Eyed Peas, Kool and the Gang, and more, they really got the party started.
Spajer was awarded the Number One Fan Award and honored with video messages of appreciation from his admirers like the one and only Chicago Blackhawks mascot, Tommy Hawk.
Finally, the main event of the night came. As the attendees all held their breaths in suspense, the next two mascot inductees were announced one at a time. First came none other than the Chicago White Sox’s very own Southpaw.
Straight from the White Sox website, Southpaw is quoted to have said upon hearing the news, “Thank you to all of my fans who voted for me on the Mascot Hall of Fame ballot. I’m thrilled to announce that I have been inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame Class of 2022! I could not have done this without your support!”
As if the crowd could be any more thrilled than to have one of Chicago’s mascots right before their very eyes dancing and greeting his fans, the next arrival really rocked their world! The Harlem GlobeTrotters’ very own Globie came rockin’ into the crowd, busting out his break dancing moves, and then surprising everyone with some of his b-ball tricks.
The public as well as members of the Executive Committee and the Mascot Hall of Fame all took part in determining who the 2022 inductees would be. “There were over 130,000 votes cast in 82 countries and 3,082 cities,” said Gustin. The official induction ceremony is set for June 11th of next year and is sure to be just as fun and festive as “Cue the Confetti”.