The University of Wisconsin-Madison hosted a 85th birthday party for Bucky Badger hosted at the Memorial Union Terrace on Saturday. The celebration began with Bucky at the Overture Center for a kids pep rally before parading with the marching band, cheer squad and dance team from State Street to the Terrace.
Parade members, including many families, wore Bucky merchandise and took photos with Bucky throughout the celebration. Babcock Dairy also debuted a new limited edition ice cream flavor — Bucky’s Birthday Brownie Bash.
Many party-goers heard about the bash through an Instagram post from the official Bucky the Badger account.
“We're very excited to be here to celebrate Bucky and everything he does. So we have the cheerleaders, the dancers and the band here to bring joy to everyone,” UW Spirit Squad Director Josette Housen said.
Other staff told The Daily Cardinal they were happy to be part of the celebration, as this is the first time in UW-Madison history Bucky’s had such an extravagant birthday.
Before Bucky, the university used a live badger as a mascot, but had to retire him to Henry Vilas Zoo because maintaining a badger proved difficult. In 1940, the original design of Bucky was created by professional illustrator, Art Evans.
Some families love Bucky so much they are members of the Bucky Buddies Kid’s Club — an organization giving families exclusive access to Bucky merchandise, birthday messages from Bucky and game day tickets.
Scott and Kristin Williams are both UW-Madison alumni and had Bucky in attendance at their wedding.
“He's just been a big part of the whole college experience. And every time, no matter how many times you see him, you just get really excited that he's always animated and doing something funny,” Kristen said.
Bucky is celebrating through a Bucky appearance raffle for Wisconsin schools, a screening of the new PBS Wisconsin “Bucky!” documentary at Union South and another celebration during the volleyball game against Illinois on Bucky’s actual birthday, which is Oct. 2.
