The Elder Panther is a symbolic sign of what the high school is really all about.  It represents the current Elder students and the Alumni who walked the halls many years ago.

The Panther represents strength, courage, unselfishness, and many more qualities of the Elder man. These traits are what was built into the mascot suit that one lucky student would have the privilege to wear and flaunt during multiple school events.

Coming soon there will be a new face of Elder.  With the new branding initiative around Elder and all the “new look” t-shirts, the faculty decided it was also time to produce a new Panther suit.

I caught up with current Panther, Nick Maurer, on if the upgrade was needed or not.

“It is very much needed,” said Maurer. “The wire mesh inside the head always pokes and cuts my chin when I move around and the worst part is trying to see.”

“You think that they would have a suit where we could see all the kids trying to give you high fives, but you ignore them all because you didn’t notice they wanted one in the first place.”

This current Panther suit has been worn down over the 14 year period we have had it and it has been through many great sporting events throughout its years in service.

One of the biggest events I remembered that glorified Panther was in 2009 when Elder played Colerain on ESPN.  One of the biggest games Elder has ever played in the Pit.

Walking in as a nine-year old and getting a high five from the Panther was a moment the kid in me will never forget.  Elder handled Colerain that day 20-7, on national television due to their great defense and the great addition of Elder’s greatest kicker, Tony Miliano.

The Panther that day got national attention and everyone was shown the pride that is brought to life with the Panther suit.

The legacy of the Panther will never be forgotten, but as we try to focus the brand of Elder more effectively, it was time to begin the process of creating a new Panther.

I sat down with one of the minds behind this operation, Mr. Bill for insight on the new look and what differs from this one to ones in the past.

“We are going for a more intimidating Panther yet representative of what Elder is about,” said Mr. Bill. “We took into consideration our new logo and we are using Mr. Buetsche and his artistic abilities to help design it.”

Mr. Bill also added that the Panther will have multiple attire for different occasions.  The plan is to not just have the Panther at sporting events, but also at many school events including open house, incoming freshman meetings, and many more.

It was no doubt we needed an upgrade to the run down suit.  The suit looked different on whoever wore it.  If you were scrawny then the suit would look thin and feel heavy and if you were buff and built you would look muscular.

Mr. Reiring thought this was a big problem and wanted to fix it.

“The main point I wanted to emphasize was having the suit built so that it looked the same on everyone and didn’t form to them,” said Mr. Reiring.

He added that the suit will look muscular and built for whoever wears it.

Now you may picturing what it could look like in your head and I am as well, but Mr. Bill wanted to keep the overall pictures secret until it is shipped in.

So be patient with just this preview of the head and just know the big reveal will be coming in the near future.