Edie Christine Smith
Public Relations and Photography Pro
Legend of 'Willie the Wildcat' revealed to Chico State fans for the first time
Click Willie the Wildcat to view the PDF of this story. It is on page 22.
Although these stories are not in the form that they are published in. I have provided links that can take you to view the story as it is published.
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We all know who Willie the Wildcat is, but we don’t know much about our beloved mascot’s background. The time has finally come that we learn who Willie was before he became our Wildcat.
As far back as 1924 Chico State’s mascot has been a Wildcat. The student body adopted the Wildcat, and according to recollections of those who were around during that time, said it was because it represented the kind of sassy, spitfire vigor and the vitality that the students wanted to project. The legendary coach, Art Acker supported the student’s choice and the Wildcat family was brought to Chico.
Willie’s great-grandfather was the first mascot for the University. He was found in the woods around Burney Falls, and his hisses and yowls spurred the team onto victory. After he passed away, his son took his place in 1925 as a lean crouching feline with a curl to its lips.
A few years later Willie’s father SOCS stepped into the position. SOCS was a prank-playing, mischievously sly Wildcat that held the position for many years. SOCS’ name was spelled this way because the students wanted it to stand for the Spirit of Chico State.
In comes the Willie we know and love. Willie was born in the foothills of Mount Lassen after his father SOCS retired. SOCS told Willie all about his days at Chico State, and from that day forth Willie wanted to be a mascot at Chico State. Once he was old enough to head out on his own, Willie headed to California where he went to school at Chico State and where he obtained a Bachelors degree in Mascotology.
When Willie finished his schooling he stepped into his father’s shoes and replaced Slash, a distant cousin as the mascot for Chico State. Today Willie is an exuberant, high-energy mascot that loves to interact with his fans. You can always find him cheering on the Wildcat teams, doing some wicked dance moves, and in general, having a great time!
I took photos of the team during games and for fan giveaways. I worked at all of the sport camps the Gold Sox put together and took pictures of the individual teams that every camper worked with as well as the players who coached.
I was also the social media person uploading pictures to the Gold Sox Facebook and Twitter feeds, and posting on behalf of the team.
There were a number of things that I learned from the experience, and the biggest one was how fast a life in sports actually is. I was going nonstop all summer and I loved it, but it was an eye-opener.
I applied all of the photo skills that I gained from photography classes at Chico State, and I also used a lot of my PR class skills when it came to talking to fans and pitching ideas to my bosses.
A summer with the Gold Sox provided me with a secondary family that I’ll have for life. I would highly recommend checking out a game or applying for a position. Tell Tom or Karyn I sent you!
There is a collegiate baseball team in nearby Marysville that gathers players from all over.
I was lucky enough one day to stumble upon a Marysville Gold Sox flier placed outside of Common Grounds coffee shop on campus. I had been trying to find a summer internship for three months, and this seemed like the perfect one to get my foot in the door of sports PR and marketing.
After contacting the manager, I had one interview that was mainly informational and I was told they had a spot for me. A week later I met with team owner Tom Lininger and was given the position for the summer. The internship was unpaid, but I got paid in experience, friendship and love.
I did a number of tasks for the team, but mostly conducted the on-field activities and found the children to participate in games between innings of the baseball game. I made sure the person who threw the first pitch was ready with a ball and that the players rolled out the red carpet for him or her.
I had the microphone ready for the national anthem singer right after the first pitch. I was also given a walkie-talkie because I was working closely with the press box to make sure they had the correct names and knew what was going on.
Student pitches PR skills to Marysville Gold Sox
http://www.csuchico.edu/jour/jtimes/fall12/student_smith.html