The year is 2011. Crowds cheer boisterously as Woodgrove High School and Loudoun Valley High School battle it out for the very first time. Everyone in The Wild has been wondering; Where is our mascot? The roar of an engine sounds as a mechanical wolverine speeds past The Wild, sending everyone into a state of shock. This is Woodgrove’s first version of Walter, the fully automated, flame producing mascot. But where did it start, and where did it end?
Purcellville, Roundhill, and Lovettsville used to be very small farm towns. With the urbanization of the area, the need for a new school arose as more and more people moved into their respective towns. Enter Dane Mullins, a rising Junior in high school and in the engineering field. After the Wolverine had been selected by the soon to be student body, Mullins approached the new principal and offered to build the very first Woodgrove mascot. After Mullins got the greenlight, he was ecstatic, but there was much work to be done. In order for Mullins to accomplish what he wanted to, there would be a lot of hoops to jump through, and a lot of people to speak to.
Being a hands-on farmboy, Mullins was already quite familiar with the equipment he would need to use in order to bring Walter to his full potential. Mullens explained, “I grew up maintaining farms, so maintaining and building farm equipment was kind of my thing. Back when Menrou Technology was a school down in Leeseburg, I took some of the welding classes, so that kind of transferred over.” Taking on a project this big would bear challenges for an engineer of any level, especially when building a machine in a barn with no air conditioning. Mullins worked at local farms as a farmhand by day, then at night when it was cool enough to weld he could build Walter. Some modifications were made to Walter in the early stages that were legally dubious, and required lots of hoop jumping to gain permission. For example, Walter shot flames out of the exhaust pipes at the back, something the fire department had to be contacted for. Mullins recounted, “There was a lot of behind the scenes that happened. We had to get permission from the fire marshall, and from the police.”
When Walter was finally complete, Mullins was very excited to show him off at the very first football game. There was just one problem; Mullins couldn’t see the crowd’s reaction. Mullins explained, “I don’t see any of, [The Wild] and that was the hard part for me. A lot of people said that they liked [Walter], but I didn’t ever see it. I was driving it, and I was looking at a camera screen in front of me making sure I didn’t hit cheerleaders.”
When it came to the other side of the track, Valley had some things to say as well. Richard Rovang, a history teacher at the time of the school’s opening, recounted what Mullins could not see. He described Valley’s reaction from the other side of the field. Rovang joyfully recounted, “Sheer jealousy. So here’s the thing. Valley had always been the country school with all the country kids. They didn’t take too kindly to being out countried by the new school.” He also explained the purpose of Walter’s existence. “Walter wasn’t a Nascar Racer, it was not very far,” Rovang explained. “Maybe 50 feet. Because that wasn’t the point of Walter. It wasn’t about how fast Walter could go, it was about how loud the engine could be.”
In the end, Walter was around for about four years before he met his time. Mullins himself retired Walter for a number of reasons. Mullens explained, “Walter was retired by me after I graduated. My sister drove it, she got permission to do it. I felt like I had more than stayed my welcome, and it was time for the next generation of kids to do their own personal touch on the school. Walter is also a maintenance nightmare. From the three or four years we were doing Walter, we went through four or five engines, I mean it’s a lot on the engine to do that. Administration definitely changed, which changed the school. But it had to change, and I understand that. I also wanted the kids to have the opportunity to do their own thing.” Walter now resides in the Mullins family barn, patiently waiting for its master to return. The sleeping beast will likely never see the Woodgrove campus again, but that doesn’t mean hope is lost. Mullins challenges the current student body of Woodgrove to step up and make their own mark. Mullins proclaims, “Following a path of service can lead to chasing crazy ideas. Seeing those projects through to completion can impact your life and others in ways you could never imagine.”