The Hawk unveiled

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
 BANGOR, Maine — He has soared along the sidelines of Hodgdon boys and girls basketball games with a fierce tenacity and fiercer sense of humor.
He can be found wandering through the stands playing with the crowds; sneaking up behind referees for playful banter during timeouts; and has even been known to break out some pretty nifty dance moves underneath the baseline.    He is Brandon Pitts … the Hodgdon Hawks mascot.
Pitts, a junior at Hodgdon High School, donned the Hawk suit midway into the season upon the urging of a few of his friends.
“I noticed halfway through the season that our teams did not have a mascot,” he said. “All of my friends thought I would be good as the mascot because I have a pretty good sense of humor and I am not exactly shy.”
He made his first appearance during Hodgdon’s biggest game of the year — a game against Houlton in front of about 600 fans.
“The gym was packed that night and it felt like everyone was looking at me,” he recalled.
Fortunately, the Hawk suit fit Pitts to a “T” and thus began a new era of Hawk greatness. He is not the first person to ever don the Hawk costume, but Pitts may just be the funniest. Pitts was in Bangor this past week along with the Hawk cheerleaders for the semifinals and finals. Because of poor weather during Hodgdon’s quarterfinal game Feb. 15, the Hawk mascot did not take flight.
Inside the costume, it can tend to get a bit warm, Pitts said. The built-in fan no longer works, meaning he often has to take a breather.
“I expected the suit to be warm, but I didn’t think it would be this hot,” he said.
The reaction he gets from younger fans is both heartwarming and heart wrenching, depending on the age level.
“I get some kids who love seeing it (the Hawk) and some who are terrified,” he said. “I’m sad to say I have made a kid cry.”
So how does Pitts come up with his material for games?
“I try to dance to the beat of the music and do whatever comes to mind,” Pitts said. “Basically, I’m just winging it.”