Linda Falkenstein
The 2011-2020 version of mascot Maynard Mallard, considered by some to be "too mean," will soon be replaced at a logo unveiling on May 1.
“Cautiously optimistic” is a phrase we’re likely to hear frequently in the upcoming weeks as entertainment venues announce their plans for summer. And that sums up Madison Mallards president Vern Stenman’s feelings about the city’s Northwoods League team returning to play at the Duck Pond at Warner Park on May 31.
“As restrictive as Dane County has been, our hope is that because of that, if they say it’s okay to do an activity, people will believe them,” says Stenman, who notes Dane County has done a great job vaccinating people.
Current orders from Public Health Madison and Dane County allow for outdoor events as long as persons not in the same household maintain six feet of social distancing, which will limit attendance at the Duck Pond to under its full capacity.
The team is currently figuring out how to accommodate groups and season ticket holders that have 2020 bookings that need to be honored. By mid-May, the team hopes to open up single-game ticket sales with a better idea of how many seats it will be possible to use. Stenman hopes that by July, something closer to full attendance can be possible.
Because the Forward Madison soccer team played last year during COVID-19 in Wauwatosa, which had different restrictions from Dane County, Stenman says “we know how to do this. We’re confident we can have a safe atmosphere.”
The Mallards did not participate in the 2020 Northwoods League season, although 22 teams in the league did play last summer. The downtime at the Duck Pond was put to good use, however. A rebranding campaign was launched, so the team could come out of the shutdown with a new look.
“There was nothing really ‘Madison’ in the Mallards branding,” Stenman says, comparing it to the local themes in the logos for Madison’s Forward FC soccer team (owned by the same company that owns the Mallards). “Mallards are not unique to Madison,” Stenman says, although the team is, well, stuck with the duck. (Just kidding, Maynard, we love you.)
Indeed, mascot Maynard Mallard has already gone through two iterations since the team’s inception in 2001 and it was time for a new look. Some people thought the current Maynard looked “too mean,” says Stenman (although at the unveiling of that Maynard in 2011, less whimsy and more guts was exactly the point). The new Maynard look and associated Mallards typography will have a somewhat retro baseball feel, Stenman says. All will be unveiled at an event at the Duck Pond on May 1 at 6 p.m. RSVP for free tickets to the event, which will feature the new Maynard flying in on his usual zipline as well as a screening of the film The Sandlot at 7:10 p.m. on the big screen.
There will be plenty of Mallards merchandise featuring the new Maynard, with variations rolled out over the summer.
The team has been working to integrate its presence on the north side with its merchandise and branding and to help promote north-side businesses. It’s also been working with local artists and crafters, several of them north-siders, to come up with a new lineup of Mallards/Madison-related gifts. These will include custom soaps made by Madison’s The Soap Opera, custom candles from Fandlemonium of Stoughton and works by collage artist and muralist Dan Gardiner, wood artist Tom Bartlett of Sylva Spoon, and woodworker Matt Uftring (who is also an athletic trainer for the Mallards).
Gardiner, the collage artist, got involved because he had previously done a poster for Forward Madison. His collage of Mallards’ memorabilia will showcase the new logo “with lots of clippings, ephemera, old baseball tickets and photos.” He welcomed the work. While the pandemic didn’t change his art practice much, because he mostly does his collaging in his basement, he did miss out on several art fairs and mural commissions last year. “But as long as there’s art to do, it’s okay,” Gardiner says.
Bartlett is making his spoons from wood pulled from vintage seats from Wrigley Field that used to be part of the Duck Pond; Uftring is using the Wrigley wood to make custom six-pack holders. The art will be unveiled at the May 1 event, says Stenman.
