A Bobwhite is a bird, and it's also a man's name. Bellows Free Academy went with the man's name as its motivation for adopting the mascot name.
Photo courtesy of the State of Missouri
Some mascot names are fascinating because they have stories behind them. Others are fascinating because we are left to our imaginations when it comes to figuring out why a certain school chose a certain name.
The
Bellows Free Academy (St. Albans, Vt.) Bobwhites are one of those names we love, and what adds to the intrigue is that there are two almost equally possible explanations.
The big question is whether the school chose its mascot name because of the Northern Bobwhite, a quail found in America, or for a man named Bob White. The exact answer has proven somewhat elusive, but the information available definitely supports the Bob White theory.
The Northern Bobwhite is found from Pennsylvania west to Nebraska, and all the way down from those states to Mexico,
according to Bird Web. It's a big swath of America, but Vermont is not a part of that. You're not going to find a Northern Bobwhite anywhere near Bellows Free Academy.
As for men named Bob White who have played a role at the school, an entry on Wikipedia states that a man named Bob White was a longtime coach and athletic director at the school. However, there is no link associated with that info to verify it. The Vermont Principals' Association, however, honored a man named Robert White posthumously with a 2010 Hall of Fame award. He is listed in the coaches and activity advisors category.
So while the school may not have a page online that tells the exact reason for the mascot name, there is enough circumstantial evidence out there to believe that a man named Bob White indeed played a huge role at BFA.
It's quite the unique situation, naming a school mascot after a human, especially using first and last names. We don't know of any schools that are the Johnsmiths or the Maryjohnsons.
The girls teams at the school are not Bobwhites. Instead, they are the Comets. And once again, the reason why they have that name has two possible explanations.
Obviously they could be Comets like some others schools, dealing with the large ice bodies jetting through outer space. But once again Wikipedia has a name-drop, and it's Dario "Doc" Comi. No citation is provided.
And one more final elusive thing about Bellows Free Academy: A logo. We don't know what a Bobwhite/Comet looks like because there isn't a mascot logo anywhere to be found.
