The Baker Lion

The Baker Lion...


	Here's the Baker Lion stealing the show at the Class of '73 Homecoming. That's Homecoming Queen TC and her escort Kip being upstaged by the Baker Lion.

That handsome beast is the Baker High Lion. When Baker High was founded the students were the Baker Blue Jackets. That didn't last long. The student body quickly adopted the Lion as our mascot. For many years it was a generic lion but in 1964 or 1965 our mascot became a very specific lion, the fellow you see in these pictures. The Baker High Lion is a legacy of the Class of '65. That class gave the school a life-sized fiberglass sculpture of a lion. The Baker Lion attended sporting events and presided at countless pep rallies, sports events, Homecomings and other functions. He became a part of the Spirit of Baker and a companion to our classmates for twenty-six years. The Baker Lion led a proud life from 1965 until 1991 when Baker High closed its doors. The Lion remained with the buildings, which reopened as Baker Middle School. Once again there were Baker Lions, but they were younger than we. The Baker Lion's fortunes flagged, and sometime in the summer of 1996 he disappeared entirely, only to reappear in new glory in 2000.

Read on to find out how Baker students became the Baker Lions, to become acquainted with lions past, and to learn the true saga of the Baker High Lion.

The Baker High Lion goes to a reunion...
The Lion stood guard over the Baker gym for more than a quarter century. From time to time he went off to preside over a reunion or some similar gathering, but he always came back. Until 1996, that is. The Lion held court under the pink neon marquee of the Bradley Theatre when the class of 1996 held their 30-year reunion. Then he disappeared. Some say the school was closed when the '66 Lions tried to return him.

Mysterious disappearance...
Under the deep blue sky of a summer evening in Columbus, the Baker Lion disappeared. Or at least we lost track of him. In July, 1998, Jean Ann Brown wrote, "Saturday, June 13, 1998 ... The Lion was transferred for a make-over. Along with several Baker pals we attempted to restore an eye, tooth, and a little paint to the old guy (or is it a female). Restoration was not completed due to the pool party...Updates later. "

No one worried very much about the missing Lion until the time for Baker's Ultimate Millennium Sock-hop approached. It was unthinkable to hold a grand reunion of all Baker's classes without the Lion.

Have badge, will travel...
Carolyn Hall Tidd of the Class of '70 is an investigator for the Chattahoochee Judicial District. She's also a Lion to the core. Carolyn set out to track the Baker High Lion. The trail was cold, but Carolyn didn't care. She'd cracked tougher cases than this.

Hunting Lions in West Georgia...
Carolyn made phone calls, knocked on doors, and drove countless miles on the red clay roads of west Georgia. The Baker Lion had been around. Several alumni had provided refuge since that hot summer day in Columbus.

Carolyn finally tracked the Baker High Lion to a barn in the north part of Harris County. He was a mess. His tongue was gone, teeth were missing, and his fiberglass coat was dented and dull. Carolyn brought the Baker High Lion back home to Columbus.

Transfiguration...
Bob Bugh '69 had promised to help restore the Baker High Lion and he was as good as his word. Kirby Smith, fiberglass expert and owner of Kirby's Speed Shop, and artist Terrie Wavra pitched in. Terrie's a graduate of Columbus High, but her heart was in the right place!

[More coming soon... at least as soon as the Muse moves us. But we'll skip ahead to the end of the story.]

The Baker High Lion gets a well-earned rest...
The Baker High Lion was a hero of BUMS 2000. Hundreds of alums got their pictures taken with the handsome beast. What a lot of excitement! After the reunion, the Baker Lion went to the brand new Baker Middle School, down Benning Drive and on the other side of the street from the old Baker High. It seems likely that his ferocious grin will delight many more generations of students. Once a Lion, always a Lion, and it seems likely that the Baker High Lion will never give up!