Kathryn Tison had a ‘blooper’ moment last week, but it was a good thing.
Tison, a retired, veteran special education teacher at Pierce County High School, traveled to Truist Park in Atlanta last week. Tison settled in for a relaxing night at the ballpark with her husband, Perry, second district board of education member and retired middle school principal.
“(W)hat a night!,” Mrs. Tison says, remembering the moment.
Tison has a love of sports mascots and as fate would have it, she would have the opportunity to meet the Braves’ mascot, Blooper.
“When I was 13, my brother Ben, went off to Auburn University. That fall, we attended one of the Auburn football games and there my love of sports mascots began as soon as I laid eyes on Auburn’s mascot, “Aubie” the Tiger. Watching his grand entrance into the stadium, his pregame antics, hyping up the crowd, riding a scooter around the sidelines and interacting with fans was just great to me,” Tison said.
She said one of her top bucket list dreams is to be a famous sports mascot.
“But since that won’t happen, meeting one in person, is second best,” she said.
A couple, their two sons and two friends were seated in front of the Tisons at the ballgame.
The wife heard Tison’s story. “She listened to me get very animated as Blooper came to our corner of the infield. I took pictures of him, called to him and giggled like a child,” said Tison.
Turns out the woman knew people in the Braves main office and made a few calls.
Later in the baseball game, Tison remembers being nudged and looked up to see a special guest had come to visit her in person.
“I... look up and to my complete surprise there stood……the one and only Blooper! And he was there to see me! Y’all may think it’s very silly, but I actually screamed and cried.”
Blooper took Tison by the hands and squeezed them as his “Mascot Security” filled her in.
“They told me they heard I was one of his biggest fans and so, he’d come to see me! We posed for pictures and my night was made. I can’t thank her enough for doing that for me.”
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