Happy birthday to the Mansfield Green Hornet!

 

Bill Breen (right) researched the 75th anniversary of the Hornet. Yeah, that's me to the left.

Sometimes these newbies that populate my town make a big fuss over things that are just a little bit on the high side of mundane. But this week, they got it right with a proclamation making today Green Hornet Day in Mansfield.

The Mansfield Hornet.

The Mansfield Historical Society was the driving force behind the move to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the selection of the feisty insect with the nasty sting as the official mascot of Mansfield High School's athletic teams. Research done by Andrew Todesco and Kevin McNatt of the Historical Society and 1978 Mansfield High grad Bill Breen came to light this week and got good exposure in the local media. And when you consider the fact that so many schools are having to ditch longstanding nicknames for reasons of political correctness or outdated imagery, it's nice to know that Mansfield Hornets will still be buzzing proudly for some time to come (unless the Insect-American lobby raises its concerns about appropriating its culture unsympathetically).

Todesco and McNatt aren't among the aforementioned newbies, and they've done a great job of preserving Mansfield's past. If you want to know anything about Mansfield's transformation from a colonial-era farming village as part of Norton, to a growing industrial center upon the development of the Boston-Providence railroad line, to the current-day mini-metropolis of 25,000 souls at the intersection of two major Interstate highways, they've got it all in the Jennie Copeland House on Rumford Avenue, so named for Mansfield's official historian of the early 20th century.

But I was also glad to see Bill Breen (pictured above, microphone in hand, announcing a football game at Memorial Park in the late 1970s -- and yes, that's me to the left, covering it for the local daily while embarrassing myself for wearing a high school letter jacket into adulthood) participating in the effort. Bill was a bright young talent that became part of my stable of part-time correspondents at The Sun Chronicle before he graduated and went on to Vanderbilt University, later entering the teaching profession. He taught at Middleboro High for many years and even invited me to speak to one of his journalism classes. I hope those kids weren't scarred for life.

Back to the Hornet, though. In the days when my father went to Mansfield High, the teams were known by their colors. His graduating class of 1937 proudly carried the green and white into battle, but any nicknames they had -- including "Chocolate Towners," from the Lowney Chocolate factory on Oakland Street that often blanketed the town with the magnificent scent of chocolate -- were unofficial.

But in August 1945, with the town about to emerge from the weariness and tragedy of World War II, it was determined the time was ripe for Mansfield High to adopt a nickname. As an aside, it was about at this time when Attleboro and North Attleboro adopted Bombardiers and Rocketeers respectively, and you're right if you think they had a militaristic tone to them. After all, the country had been waging a costly war against tyranny since Dec. 7, 1941, and our soldiers, sailors and airmen were rightfully regarded as heroes.

A contest was held, and when the returns came in, "Green Devils" and "Green Marauders" finished tied. Neither really set well with the organizers, so they tried again. And this time, pop culture may have played a big role in the outcome.

At the time, one of the most popular radio serials was "The Green Hornet," which aired on the NBC networks and then ABC Radio from 1939 to 1950. It was the story of crusading newspaper publisher Britt Reid, who traded his business suit after dark for a deep green hat, mask and overcoat and became a mysterious crimefighter, with his trusty Asian sidekick Kato, skilled in the martial arts, at his side.

Yes, you probably recall the campy ABC television series in the 1960s that introduced Bruce Lee to the world. And let's all forget the really bad 2011 movie starring Seth Rogan.

Anyway, it's believed that "The Green Hornet" was the actual inspiration for the second quest to give Mansfield High's teams a colorful and unique nickname. The Mansfield News proclaimed that all other nicknames were no longer recognized in a front-page story, and the Class of 1946 (25 years before my own graduation) was the first to embrace the Green Hornet as its own. One way or another, the nickname has stood the test of time well. And it's why old-timers like me want to call Mansfield teams "Green Hornets" instead of just "Hornets," although the latter is just fine for second reference.

1975's "Bucky Hornet." Ugh.

Visually, there have been many representations of the Hornet over the years. Not all of them were the sort that evoked fear in the hearts of opponents; many were bad attempts at anthropomorphic representations, adding scowling faces or muscled arms to scrawny insect bodies. I wish I had a dollar for every time someone from another Hockomock League town implored their teams to "squash the Hornets."

The worst of those came in 1975, when then-athletic director Vincent Messina sketched his own representation of the Hornet, which suddenly became "Bucky Hornet" and appeared to be overdosing on steroids. Fortunately, poor Bucky met his demise on the windshield of public disdain.

The original Hulk in the MHS gym.

Briefly, it appeared that the Hornet's days were numbered when, in 1978, student Tom Palanza painted a ceiling-to-floor mural of Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk on one of the walls of the James Albertini Gymnasium. The Hulk, depicted as crashing through the walls of the gymnasium below an identifying ribbon that said "MHS Green Machine," was an immediate hit and spawned scores of copycat murals of mascots across the Hockomock. 

Palanza's original stood proudly until 2014, when repairs to the wall required replacement of cinder blocks and repainting. MHS student Harrison Bateman accepted the challenge of recreating Palanza's original version on the opposite wall, and the Hulk was preserved.

But, fortunately, the "Green Machine" suggestion never gained traction. By 2005, the athletic department selected the current caricature -- which is actually the logo of Georgia Tech's Yellow Jackets, but available for use by high school programs across the land. Just change the color to green, and the Mansfield Hornet has new life with a fresh (and easy to reproduce) representation that should last for several more years.

Georgia Tech's logo.

Lately, there has been a flurry of nickname changes in Massachusetts, many of them spurred by protest by Native American groups over what they believe to be offensive uses of their culture and history. In some cases, I would agree. In others, I'm not so sure. I think it's a truly rare occasion when a nickname such as "Redskins" can meet universal agreement for its need to be replaced. 

I've also heard that there has been some talk about eliminating "Bombardiers" at Attleboro High because some folks believe it's outdated, or too militaristic, or just too hard to spell. But I really hope they don't. "Bombardiers" is part of local lore. Maybe if there was still a healthy jewelry industry in Attleboro, I might think a return to "Jewelers" would be worthwhile, but Balfour and Josten's are long gone. I don't even like it when they shorten it to "Bombers" for expedience.

But Hornets? We're still flying proudly. And the town can take great pride in the fact that most of its athletic teams are flying at new heights and have been since the turn of the century.

Fly on, Hornet. And happy birthday to you.