More than the towers of Burruss, the Drillfield, or even the angular VT logo, the Hokie Bird is the single-most recognizable symbol of Virginia Tech. Curtis Dvorak (communications studies '96) certainly thinks so. "Anyone in the country who knows anything about sports recognizes the Hokie Bird and thinks of Tech," Dvorak says. "There's nothing else like it."

Indeed, the Hokie Bird is an icon of the university and its sports teams. Since the nickname "Hokies" is unique among colleges and Tech stands alone as the only Division 1 program with a turkey as a mascot, the Hokie Bird will not be confused as representing anyplace else. Although, as Dvorak says, "It really doesn't look that much like a turkey." How many birds are maroon and orange?

Dvorak knows what the Hokie Bird looks like--inside and out. He donned the costume for two years, from 1994 to 1996, and won the first of two National Cheerleader Association championship titles in '96. His fellow mascot and friend, Todd Maroldo (marketing management '97), followed with another national title in '97. They were more than people wearing a costume. Their vibrant personalities shone through their orange and maroon feathers; they were the Hokie Bird.

Eric Jacobson (marketing '00), one of the current Hokie Birds, frequently hears his friends telling others, "He's the Hokie Bird." But Jacobson is well aware that when he wears that hot, stuffy, heavy suit, his antics build on the tradition of Maroldo, Dvorak, and the other students who have entertained tens of thousands as the Hokie Bird over the years. The fame, indeed, belongs to the character of the Hokie Bird, not the individual inside. In fact, few Tech fans realize there are two people each year who serve as the Hokie Bird, and they each only work one half of a home football game. Along with Jacobson, Amy Wells (sociology '99) sported the feathery fleece this past year, her third as one of the mascots.

There may be two people each year--dozens have served in the role--but there is only one Hokie Bird. "You're basically becoming a cartoon character," Jacobson says. "I become the Hokie Bird; I become the character." As if to emphasize the lack of distinction between them, Jacobson wonders, "I don't know how many hundreds of photo albums I'm in." How many? Well, the Hokie Bird is in thousands of photo albums, it's fair to say. But Jacobson so identifies with the character of the bird that he sees himself in all those pictures.

And why not? He's paid his dues. For although the Hokie Bird always carries the same smugly-amused expression, being the Hokie Bird is not always a walk in a cheering crowd. It's hot, for starters. The costume is made of the same fleece material as a winter coat, which might be comfortable for the first ten minutes of a late fall football game, but in fact causes the wearer to sweat even in November. Adding to the wearer's discomfort are the "cracks" in the suit--open spaces between the suit's parts that sometimes allow in that crisp Blacksburg wind as a reminder of how cold it really is.

Then there are the hot days, the September games, the basketball games inside Cassell Coliseum, combined with constant activity, gyrations, entertainment--the wearer of the bird suit loses a lot of fluids. "I start drinking water two days before a game and drink a lot that day. I'll lose six, sometimes eight pounds during a game," Jacobson says.

"I become the Hokie Bird; I become the character." As if to emphasize the lack of distinction between them, Jacobson wonders, "I don't know how many hundreds of photo albums I'm in."

The Hokie Bird often has a certain fragrance that suggests it's a sweaty job. To combat this, Jacobson rubs drier sheets on the suit. "I learned that from the Wisconsin Badger," he says. "Kids will say all the time 'Hokie Bird, you stink.' The drier sheets help. If I smell like laundry, that's why."The restricted view from inside the head of the Hokie Bird makes it tough to see, especially kids standing below beak level. "Little kids will be right next to me and I can't see them," Jacobson says. "You have no peripheral vision, either. I'll walk past people and they'll put up their hands for a high five and I'll just keep walking. I didn't see them put up their hand."

Walking and running in the big orange bird feet is a learned art. On the basketball court, the Hokie Bird wears size 18 sneakers, which the wearer's own shoes usually fit into neatly. It wasn't the feet that tripped Wells, however, when she ran onto the field at the Music City Bowl. "It was the last football game of my career and I got tangled up with a cheerleader and that was that. I went flying across the Astroturf. Thank God it was not on TV."

Not all occupational hazards come courtesy of the physical limitations imposed by the costume.

While kidnapping a mascot is out of vogue on campuses now, time was the Tech Fightin' Gobbler (the mascot that pre-dates the Hokie Bird) was a marked bird. In 1969, Pam Gunsten (health and physical education '70) was in the long-necked suit at Victory Stadium in Roanoke for the annual Thanksgiving Day rivalry game with VMI. At the end of the field before the game, she suddenly found herself surrounded by the Tech football team. Although she could not see the VMI cadets through the view-restricting turkey head, they had come on a mission to capture the Gobbler. The team kept her in their ranks until it was time to run onto the field. "The guys in the VMI corps knew they had to go through the team to get me, and they weren't going to do that. I ended up going out on the field with the team," she says.

In 1966, the Keydets managed to turkey-nap the mascot. And in the mid 1970s, a crowd of students at UVa tried the same thing, but after a brief fracas, no hostage was taken.

The Hokie Bird as he now exists came into being in 1987, an effort to depart from the turkey-like costumes of the past. While the Hokie Bird still hearkens back to the Gobbler with regard to feathers, tail, and the waddle--a favorite handle for little kids--it's's really not a turkey, says Peg Morse (communications '79), the athletic department's director of promotion. The Hokie Bird has a unique cross of tough-guy and benevolently-friendly attributes. A hoop inside allows the chest to stick out as a muscle-bound Charles Atlas fowl, yet the expression is not a snarling, menacing bad guy look some mascots have. That's on purpose, Morse says: "I thought we needed a personable character people could relate to. We don't want to scare little kids, they're our target audience."

Morse designed the costume based on caricatures drawn by local artist George Wills. A new costume is made each year by Scollon Enterprises of South Carolina. It costs between $2,300 and $3,000, and there are subtle variations each time. The eyebrows are the key, Morse says. They're black and blend into the maroon head, but they give him an expression. By arching the eyebrows, Morse says he has the friendly expression which works. Changing the angle could make his countenance seem to glare, losing some of the inviting, personable aspects of the character, she says: "We're happy with the response the Hokie Bird gets. I think 98 percent of the people love him to death."

Amy Wells (sociology '99) was the Hokie Bird for three years. She wore the feet at graduation as a way of saying goodbye to her alter ego.

Wells says the reactions of the people, especially the kids, make being the Hokie Bird a rewarding job: "As the Hokie Bird, you can make everyone happy. Doing it for three years, sometimes it did get frustrating but in the long run it was always worth it. The reaction of people when the Hokie Bird walks into a room makes it worth it."Jacobson agrees that the reactions of the kids make the job worthwhile, in addition to being an integral part of the biggest events at Tech.

Morse, like Dvorak, insists that the Hokie Bird is the most recognizable symbol of Tech. "We have chosen in recent years to use it more and more," she says. With national prominence coinciding for the football team, the unique orange and maroon bird is saying "Virginia Tech" to more people than ever.

Around the first of December, kids everywhere get fired up over a plump character named Santa Claus. But in the beginning of August, kids in Blacksburg and fans of Virginia Tech get excited about another chubby character.

He's called the Hokie Bird.

The lovable mascot works Tech sporting events to excite Hokie fans into a cheering frenzy. But the big bird reserves the special treatment for members of his exclusive club--a club established six years ago exclusively for kids.

Tech officials established the Hokie Kids' Club for children under 15 who love Virginia Tech athletics and want to get closer to the adorable Hokie Bird, twice judged the country's best mascot.

As it happens, the Hokies have enjoyed most of their success in the past six years: six straight bowl games, an NIT championship, and an NCAA Tournament appearance for the men's basketball team, and back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the women's basketball team, including an appearance in the Sweet 16 this past season.

That's led to increased fan support, including the support from kids. During the 1998-99 season, the Hokie Kids' Club had a whopping 551 members. In fact, the club has grown by nearly 100 members each year.

"Kids, like grown-ups, enjoy the excitement of a game and the thrill of winning. Maybe even more so than adults," says director of sports marketing Tim East, who oversees the Kids' Club. "So we wanted to provide something for the kids, a club just for them."

Members pay a $20 fee and receive a membership ID card, a t-shirt, a free ticket to a football game--this year it's the Tech vs. Alabama-Birmingham game Sept. 11and an invitation to the Hokie Bird's birthday party on the same day.

"The birthday party is always a big hit," East says. "It makes the kids feel important and they have a good time at it."

In addition, the kids get complimentary basketball tickets, team posters and schedule cards, newsletters five times a year and, most importantly, opportunities to attend special autograph sessions featuring Tech athletes and coaches.

You want All-American Corey Moore's autograph? Or Shyrone Stith's? Or hotshot quarterback Michael Vick's? A member of the Kids' Club will get the chance to get all three. The ordinary fan rarely gets the chance to get an autograph.

"Members of The Hokie Kids' Club get a chance to meet and talk with the special people they look to as role models," East says.

The Hokie Kids' Club was recognized in the NCAA's newsletter as one of the top kids' clubs in the nation for college athletics last fall. It is open to kids from any geographic location who want to be part of the Hokie fun.

"The achievements of Tech athletics the past five years have been exciting and uplifting," East said. "We've gotten a lot of national attention and everyone wants to be a part of it--including the kids."

Kids can register for the Hokie Kids' Club at the Jamerson Athletic Center, Blacksburg, VA 24061 or by calling (540) 231-3236.

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