Monte gets new duds
9/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | General
It was hot during the first two Montana Grizzly home games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, but imagine being enclosed in a full-body bear suit the entire game.
That may sound pretty rough, but Monte's not sweating it, thanks in large part to his new suit, specially designed for him.
"What you don't see, what's covered by the shorts and the jersey, is mesh," Monte said. "So it breathes really well. It's not like I'm wearing a full-body carcass."
This year, Monte has two suits with one head that works for both. The mesh suit consists of two pieces, which he uses for regular games because it allows his body to breathe. The other is one piece with all fur and no mesh, like his previous suit. This suit is used for various skits, like one in which he wore a bikini, and for anything else that can't have the mesh showing.
"The full-body one is hotter but more functional for skits," Monte said.
Monte said he might use the full-body suit if he had already used the mesh one in a game during the day and needed to perform at another game that same night. And, though the mesh suit is comparably cool, it gets too sweaty to wear twice in one day.
Monte's new suits were made by Alinco Costumes in Utah, a company that makes mascot outfits for professional teams including the NBA's Utah Jazz, the NFL's Denver Broncos and others. The suits have been touched up by local taxidermist Dale Manning of Custom Birdworks. Manning's improvements to the suit were extra ventilation holes, making the eyes bigger, reshaping the mouth and various other things to make the suit more comfortable.
"(Dale) has been my man for the last two years," Monte said. "On the new suit, he completely tore off the fur, made some changes and put it back on and made it a lot better for me."
The head is made up of the same "top-secret mascot fur" as the rest of the body, with a latex nose and eyes made out of screen.
"They are basically the equivalent of a screen-door screen," Monte said. "There's two layers of (screen) with the middle layer being nylon."
The details of the eyes are painted on with a fine airbrush gun, Monte said. The suit's head - which was molded to fit his own head - is equipped with a hockey helmet on the inside, making it heavier but safer.
People can't see into his eyes, but he can see out, similar to wearing sunglasses. Monte said this an improvement from looking out through the nose, as was the case with the last suit.
Greg Sundberg, director of marketing for the UM athletic department, said Monte first wore his suit in public at the shooting for Capital One Mascot of the Year commercials in New York and introduced it to Grizzly fans on Sept. 6 at the North Dakota State game.
Sundberg said the suits were paid for by the Monte Fund and a donation from a western Montana booster. While neither he nor Monte would reveal the exact price of the suits, both agreed they were very expensive.
The Monte Fund collects money earned from Monte's appearances. He performs for various corporations and businesses around Missoula, including occasional parties and for athletic teams such as the Billings Outlaws and Great Falls White Sox. The fund covers repairs and improvements to the new suit as well as travel expenses.
"Some of these teams, like minor league baseball teams, won't bat an eye to pay $500 an hour for Monte to perform," Monte said.
"Every single dime from his performances goes to the Monte Fund," Sundberg added.
The Monte Foundation, started last year, is strictly for charity, getting its money from selling Monte merchandise, contest winnings and any self-generated money. Money from the foundation goes to charities such as Big Brothers and Sisters and the Ronald McDonald House.
With so much importance placed on these suits, who takes care of them?
"They're always in his (Monte's) possession," Sundberg said. "He takes care of them himself."
Monte is responsible for cleaning the suits, but he needs only two words to describe how he keeps them clean.
"Green Hanger," Monte said, referring to a local laundromat.
The head, however, is another story.
"You can't wash the head," Monte said. "There's a lot of spraying and rubbing that's done. There's also a lot of secret things you can use to keep down the odor. Professional mascots use a mixture of one-part vodka and five-parts water. Put it in a spray bottle and it kills odor really well."
The suits come with additional padding, which many fans think he might need when he does some of his stunts, but Monte says it is all for looks and he rarely wears it. The padding simply makes his shoulders look bigger or gives him some extra cushion in the butt.
"I guess I just don't have enough junk in the trunk," Monte said.
That may sound pretty rough, but Monte's not sweating it, thanks in large part to his new suit, specially designed for him.
"What you don't see, what's covered by the shorts and the jersey, is mesh," Monte said. "So it breathes really well. It's not like I'm wearing a full-body carcass."
This year, Monte has two suits with one head that works for both. The mesh suit consists of two pieces, which he uses for regular games because it allows his body to breathe. The other is one piece with all fur and no mesh, like his previous suit. This suit is used for various skits, like one in which he wore a bikini, and for anything else that can't have the mesh showing.
"The full-body one is hotter but more functional for skits," Monte said.
Monte said he might use the full-body suit if he had already used the mesh one in a game during the day and needed to perform at another game that same night. And, though the mesh suit is comparably cool, it gets too sweaty to wear twice in one day.
Monte's new suits were made by Alinco Costumes in Utah, a company that makes mascot outfits for professional teams including the NBA's Utah Jazz, the NFL's Denver Broncos and others. The suits have been touched up by local taxidermist Dale Manning of Custom Birdworks. Manning's improvements to the suit were extra ventilation holes, making the eyes bigger, reshaping the mouth and various other things to make the suit more comfortable.
"(Dale) has been my man for the last two years," Monte said. "On the new suit, he completely tore off the fur, made some changes and put it back on and made it a lot better for me."
The head is made up of the same "top-secret mascot fur" as the rest of the body, with a latex nose and eyes made out of screen.
"They are basically the equivalent of a screen-door screen," Monte said. "There's two layers of (screen) with the middle layer being nylon."
The details of the eyes are painted on with a fine airbrush gun, Monte said. The suit's head - which was molded to fit his own head - is equipped with a hockey helmet on the inside, making it heavier but safer.
People can't see into his eyes, but he can see out, similar to wearing sunglasses. Monte said this an improvement from looking out through the nose, as was the case with the last suit.
Greg Sundberg, director of marketing for the UM athletic department, said Monte first wore his suit in public at the shooting for Capital One Mascot of the Year commercials in New York and introduced it to Grizzly fans on Sept. 6 at the North Dakota State game.
Sundberg said the suits were paid for by the Monte Fund and a donation from a western Montana booster. While neither he nor Monte would reveal the exact price of the suits, both agreed they were very expensive.
The Monte Fund collects money earned from Monte's appearances. He performs for various corporations and businesses around Missoula, including occasional parties and for athletic teams such as the Billings Outlaws and Great Falls White Sox. The fund covers repairs and improvements to the new suit as well as travel expenses.
"Some of these teams, like minor league baseball teams, won't bat an eye to pay $500 an hour for Monte to perform," Monte said.
"Every single dime from his performances goes to the Monte Fund," Sundberg added.
The Monte Foundation, started last year, is strictly for charity, getting its money from selling Monte merchandise, contest winnings and any self-generated money. Money from the foundation goes to charities such as Big Brothers and Sisters and the Ronald McDonald House.
With so much importance placed on these suits, who takes care of them?
"They're always in his (Monte's) possession," Sundberg said. "He takes care of them himself."
Monte is responsible for cleaning the suits, but he needs only two words to describe how he keeps them clean.
"Green Hanger," Monte said, referring to a local laundromat.
The head, however, is another story.
"You can't wash the head," Monte said. "There's a lot of spraying and rubbing that's done. There's also a lot of secret things you can use to keep down the odor. Professional mascots use a mixture of one-part vodka and five-parts water. Put it in a spray bottle and it kills odor really well."
The suits come with additional padding, which many fans think he might need when he does some of his stunts, but Monte says it is all for looks and he rarely wears it. The padding simply makes his shoulders look bigger or gives him some extra cushion in the butt.
"I guess I just don't have enough junk in the trunk," Monte said.
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