BY JESSIE BURCHETTE
SALISBURY POST

CHINA GROVE — For a brief but shining moment, the Board of Aldermen almost had an official mascot.

Alderman Harry Rogers broached the subject at the end of the board meeting Tuesday night.

“Does the board have a mascot?” asked Rogers.

Several aldermen quickly suggested that Alderman Butch Bivens is an unofficial mascot.

Bivens dressed up in a squirrel costume for the Christmas parade and re-enacted the “Great China Grove Squirrel Hunt” during the parade.

Then Rogers explained he had been out Christmas shopping and had found the perfect mascot. He went ahead and bought it, he said, and was ready to donate it to the town.

He hoisted up a large paper bag and pulled out a silver-plated squirrel nearly a foot tall.

As town officials and spectators laughed, Rogers demonstrated the squirrel nutcracker.

“It can crack nuts,” he said.

“I’ll relinquish my title,” said Bivens.

Talk quickly turned to building a shelf to properly display the new mascot.

And then the whole idea got shot down.

Former alderman Rachel Masagee blasted the plan.

“Is this a slur at me?” asked an irate Masagee, who has complained to the board about squirrels’ damaging her home.

“It’s no slur at you,” said Rogers.

Over the past year, Masagee’s repeated complaints resulted in the Police Department’s agreeing to permit wildlife officers to shoot squirrels in a lot adjacent to her home.

In recent months the town has scampered off with the title of “Squirrel Capital of Rowan.” Residents have traded war stories about squirrel damage and ideas on how to get rid of them.

As Masagee continued to attack the idea of a squirrel mascot, Rogers tried to make it clear he didn’t intend to offend her.

“If you take it wrong, then I’ll take my squirrel back home,” said Rogers, sticking he gleaming object back in the bag.

As Rogers left the meeting room, Masagee headed him off to continue the discussion, pointing out that squirrels have inflicted thousands of dollars in damage to her home.