There will be no typical FeFe or Ferrous sighting at the Lehigh Valley IronPigs game on Saturday. Instead, the two mascots will have some company from a mythical Pennsylvania creature.<\/p>\n
The squonk, known for its insecurities and disintegrating into a puddle of its own tears when spotted, will be on site at the IronPigs game as part of a team alternate identity.<\/p>\n
What is a squonk?<\/p>\n
The squonk is a cryptid \u2014 an animal claimed to exist but largely disputed by science. With physical features resembling a pig, the squonk has saggy, boily skin and webbed toes. It was first mentioned in a 1910 book by William T. Cox, who wrote of folk creatures present in the Great Lakes during the height of the logging industry.<\/p>\n
But more notably, the squonk has been referred to as the saddest cryptid, as Cox discovered: \u201cBecause of its misfitting skin, which is covered with warts and moles, it is always unhappy,\u201d he wrote in his book \u201cFearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis one and only defense mechanism is to cry so much, he dissolves into a puddle of tears,\u201d explained Lisa Russell, co-organizer of the annual Squonkapalooza festival, which is held every summer in Johnstown.<\/p>\n
Russell, who in 2022 wrote the children\u2019s book \u201cWhy So Sad, Squonk?,\u201d said seeing the sad squonk can teach people confidence and self-esteem. At Squonkapalooza, she watches hundreds of guests celebrate the cryptid, highlighted by a compliment contest where guests try to cheer up the squonk.<\/p>\n
\u201cA woman sang him a song that was like five minutes long,\u201d Russell recalled of one of the contest participants.<\/p>\n
The IronPigs hope to bring some squonk love to Coca-Cola Park, hundreds of miles east of western Pennsylvania, where squonks are assumed to live in the hemlock forests. Players on the field will don Lehigh Valley Squonk apparel during the game against the Rochester Red Wings, which starts at 6:35 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want all squonks to know they\u2019re welcome here,\u201d said Sam Jellinek, broadcaster and media relations manager for the IronPigs. \u201cThey don\u2019t need to hide.\u201d<\/p>\n
There may be plenty in attendance \u2014 some merchandise sold out quickly after the event was announced in late April, Jellinek said.<\/p>\n
The team rebranding has been in the works for over a year. A squonk mascot will throw out the first pitch and distract opposing players on the jumbotron, yet much of the mythical creature\u2019s plans Saturday are unknown.<\/p>\n
A squonk\u2019s mark across the Keystone State<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because western Pennsylvania resident Jason Oswalt, a cryptid enthusiast who will dress up as the squonk in the Squonky Tonk Man costume, is new to Lehigh Valley minor league baseball.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to yell, because the squonk really doesn\u2019t talk,\u201d Oswalt said, but he is open to \u201cstupid gestures, anything to get them looking at me.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Oswalt learned of the squonk from his wife and friend, he felt he could relate to the creature.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love nerdy things, I love video games, I love reading sci-fi novels, I love that stuff,\u201d Oswalt said. \u201cWhen I was going to school, that wasn\u2019t cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oswalt eventually collaborated with the other Squonkapalooza co-organizer, Joe Fogle; the pair agreed that if Fogle made a squonk costume, Oswalt \u2014 who co-owns 3D printing and design company Geek Foundry \u2014 would design a T-shirt for the festival.<\/p>\n
Oswalt said that while in costume, he has never received any judgment from guests at Squonkapalooza.<\/p>\n
Victoria Ritter, a youth services technician at Bethlehem Area Public Library who hosts a recurring Cryptid Club series with local youth, featured the squonk at an April club meeting. Children got to design their own squonks with dry clay.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were pulling their own personality into the craft,\u201d Ritter said. \u201cSo they\u2019re like, \u2018Something that makes me happy might make the squonk happy.\u2019 \u201d Among the creations included a dry clay pepperoni pizza, a perfect fit for the squonk because it was one of the kids\u2019 favorite foods.<\/p>\n
Ritter said multiple children at the event made clay animals for the squonk, \u201cso it had a pet, so it wasn\u2019t alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily Doyle, head of reference and adult services at Bethlehem Area Public Library, hosted her own adult-themed Cryptid Club squonk event; there, guests got to learn about the squonk and its connection to the logging industry. But when the attendees got to envision their own squonk in a craft, Doyle said the adults got to steer away from perfectionism and be creative, as many acknowledge a squonk is not perfect.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the squonk has brought people joy, and it\u2019s nice that something that is considered so ugly \u2014 that he cries all the time \u2014 is out there bringing people joy in this weird way,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n
Oswalt said that the squonk can teach people to \u201cjust treat people how you want to be treated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really is bringing your own child to the forefront for the first time,\u201d Jellinek said of the IronPigs\u2019 alternate identity. \u201cAnd you hope it\u2019s well perceived, and it kind of mirrors the story of squonk coming to the public. Seeing that people love it, it\u2019s been really, really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andreas Pelekis is a freelance writer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There will be no typical FeFe or Ferrous sighting at the Lehigh Valley IronPigs game on Saturday. Instead,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,182,139,432],"class_list":["post-212729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-top-stories-tmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}