HIGHLAND, Ill. (AP) - A freshly painted mural of Highland High School’s bulldog mascot “Fat Al” will greet fans at the football stadium this fall for the first time in nearly half-a-century.
Maintenance crews wielding a power-washer and an artistic custodian saw to that.
The Belleville News-Democrat reports that a summer cleaning crew’s high-pressure spray on a wall near the stadium entrance revealed the faint outline of a bulldog’s head and the legend “Home of the Bulldogs.” They turned to custodian Dave Bourgeois to recreate it. Bourgeois works as an artist outside of his day job.
Bourgeois found a photo of the original wall in a 1972 Highland High School yearbook. He spent four days redrawing the images and bringing them to life with fresh paint.
He added a “Fat Al” name tag.
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