Q: Everyone wants to know—who hides under the mask of the Lynbrook owl?

A: Part of the owl is the secrecy of who is behind the mask; I don’t know if I’m fully at liberty to reveal my secret identity.

Q: What do you enjoy most about being the owl?

A: I probably like performing with the band the most. Every year at Homecoming and other games, the band will play songs during halftime, and I’m pretty much given instruction to run around wildly and jump and dance. It’s a lot of fun because I like doing goofy things.

Q: What is the most difficult part of being the owl?

A: When you’re in the owl suit, and it’s 75 degrees out, and you’re there for two hours, it gets really warm. I think I’ve gotten pretty good at shutting off the part of my brain that tells me I’m melting, but it’s still not pleasant. 

Q: How did you become the owl?

A: During the first week of my freshman year, over the announcements, Mr. Sarosy kept saying that we need a new Lynbrook owl. The announcement was made over and over, making me think nobody wanted to be the owl. So, I asked Mr. White if I could be the owl, and he said, “Absolutely, take this costume.” And that was pretty legit.

Q: What is your favorite event to attend?

A: I like doing the Memorial Day parade. It’s a half hour of walking, and you get to wave to families. It’s very tiring because walking a long distance dressed like that is not the most pleasant experience, but it’s a lot of fun to take part in it.

Q: Do you ever run into other mascots?

A: I have never run into another mascot during my entire career as the owl. I want to have a mascot battle, but I can never find anyone to duel with. 

Q: What was your funniest experience ever as the owl?

A: I went to play with the band at the Newsday Marching Band Festival during my freshman year. This was one of the first big things I did as the owl. There was a giant radio glued to the top of the owl head because the band was playing Radiohead. 

You can’t really see well in the costume, so when we were walking to the bleachers, my giant owl foot got stuck under a garbage can because I walked into a garbage can by accident. I took off my head to try to get it unstuck, but a giant gust of wind came and knocked the head out of my hands. The head hit another garbage can, and the radio on top of the owl head fell off. Mr. White wanted to get the radio head back on, but there was no glue to use, so he found a custodian at the school and got two large bungee cords and bungee corded the radio back on top of the head.