Meet Norm the Forester

Norm the Forester is our trusty mascot at Huntington University. With his suspender pants, tall boots and full beard, he truly is a Forester.

FUN FACTS ABOUT NORM:
Nickname: Norm
Birth Date: 1/11/1929
Hometown: Huntington, Ind.
Height: Somewhere between 5-7 and 6-0
Weight: 15 - 200 lbs.
Favorite Sport: All of them
Favorite Team: Huntington University Foresters
Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Song: Woodchopper's Ball
Favorite Movie: Finding Forester
Favorite TV Show: Ax Men
Hobbies: Chopping wood, playing the air guitar, hanging with my bestie NP and attending the annual Paul Bunyan Show

HISTORY OF NORM:
The name Foresters originated in 1928 and was a term coined by local sports writer “Cash” Keller. The January 11, 1929 issue of the Huntingtonian says that Keller “received the inspiration for the name 'Foresters' by watching the HC (basketball) squad dash on the floor in Lincoln green and scarlet. This reminded him of the famed 'Robin Hood' and his green clad 'Foresters.' Sports writers were attracted by the originality of this new name.”

The first time a team was called the Foresters was by Huntington's yearbook, the Mnemosyne, in 1931.

Keller, who was employed by the Huntington Herald at the time, left shortly afterward for another newspaper job in Washington, Indiana. He returned to Huntington to coach the Huntington College basketball team from 1934-35.

The mascot was created in 1966 as a result of a contest by then dean of students, Richard Hassan. He was originally just the Huntington College Forester and looked quite different from his present appearance.

In the fall of 1993, another contest was created to name the mascot and as a result he was christened Norm by Doris King Goble.