The Return of Purdue's Buddy the Elf

Last year, Purdue Head Basketball Coach Matt Painter and player Caleb Furst did a hilarious series of Elf parodies to promote an annual food drive for Lafayette and West Lafayette. (Go here to see a compilation of last year's videos.) 

Those proved so popular that the two have reprised their roles for another go-round of Buddy the Elf and his Dad. They're short and worth the watch even if you aren't a Purdue fan.

1) Really? This Again, Caleb?

https://twitter.com/BoilerBall/status/1729891137240879303?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Note: Mike Bobinski is Purdue's Athletic Director and was featured in a clip last year.

2) How'd You Get This Number?

The second one is even funnier in my opinion. This is a Facebook link and you may not be able to see it if you don't have a Facebook account. There's another link to all three videos at the end of this blog entry that should be accessible to everyone.

https://www.facebook.com/BoilerBall/posts/769089015026943

Note: The Boilermaker Special is a small train that is one of Purdue's mascots. Used at athletic and other events, it can often be seen tootling around campus and town. Rides are free and yep, I've ridden in it.

The public can also rent it and have it drop by for parties if it is not already in use on campus. Since we have coaches and athletic staff residing in our neighborhood, it is not unusual to hear the Boilermaker Special's whistle and have it go chugging past our home filled with waving neighbors.

3) You're an Angry Elf

https://www.instagram.com/p/C0ZyN71JH2g/?hl=en

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=25036572152596716

Craig and I are enjoying the Purdue Elf series so much that last night we sat down after dinner and watched the movie. We were both impressed to see how well Caleb Furst imitates Buddy the Elf. Coach Painter's not too bad, either!

Can't see the videos? Go to Purdue basketball's Instagram link and scroll down to find them. I was able to find and watch all three without being a follower of that account.

December 7 Advent Calendar Reveal

A sweet foal that is attempting to stand up.

 

And it is painted as a roan - I can only imagine how tedious that was to produce!

It's a charming addition to the winter scene that's slowly being created.

Don't forget the Give Away! Enter by commenting on any blog entry posted Tuesday, December 5 through Friday, December 8. Entries close at 11:59 PM Friday night.

Elf, Purdue Basketball, Coach Painter, & Me

Purdue University's promos for their annual food drive night were Elf themed this year and there was a series of hilarious videos using basketball player Caleb Furst, Head Basketball Coach Matt Painter, and Athletic Director Mike Bobinski.

Locals were charmed and so was CBS who picked up the series and shared them all on Twitter. Check this compilation video out - it's really funny.

The food drive was a huge success and 14,091 pounds of foods (10,839 meals) was collected for Food Finders of Lafayette. 

Purdue is in my hometown so I grew up cheering for the Boilermakers. My grandfather was a professor here, my parents are Purdue grads, and I did undergrad and graduate work at Purdue. But my Bachelors and my Masters degrees are both from the University of Illinois. I do root for Purdue but not when they play my alma mater.

My classroom here in Boilermaker land was decorated in Fighting Illini orange and blue, but the high school my students would be going to had the same colors so most people did not think anything of it. The only thing that gave my allegiance away were small things like my Illinois trash can (a gift from some of my Illinois students one year) that now resides in my sewing room.

And, since the kids called me "Mrs. I.," I just said the trash can was really for ME because it had a big ol' letter I on it. The kids were (mostly) good with that but a few of the savvier ones would look at me and go, "Uh huh... sure, Mrs. I."

Things were good until one year August rolled around and when I got my new class list of students, the name, "---- Painter" was on it. One of Coach Painter's kids was going to be in my classroom. Oh, my! What would he think of all that orange and blue? He would not be so easily fooled! 

Coach Painter was a very good parent, and he made time to come to school assemblies, concerts, plays, and parent teacher conferences despite his busy schedule. I will never forget the first time he stepped through my classroom door for parent/teacher conferences. He paused, put his hands on his hips and surveyed the room, then grinned at me and sat down.

The source of that grin? He shared that his grandfather had been a professor at the University of Illinois and as a kid, he'd spent a lot of time visiting them and had developed a fondness for the school himself. Inwardly I breathed a sigh of relief and we settled into his child's conference.

I've bumped into Coach Painter a time or two around town and have been surprised that he remembers me.  We catch up a bit and it's good to hear how his child is doing.

Well done, Purdue, on collecting so much food for Food Finders. Between that food drive and LUM's Jubilee Christmas, Christmas will be merrier for a lot of people this holiday season.

Boiler up!

No Christmas Card of the Day - I didn't get any yesterday! Hopefully I'll get some at Church today. Stay 'tooned!

50th Anniversary: Mrs. I Goes to School

In 1995, it was time for me to go after a long held dream - getting my teaching credentials. By then my kids were all in school and I had an open block of time from 8-3 every day. We were financially stable and so I quit my early morning vending box route and enrolled in school. (We did keep the kids' afternoon paper routes.)

I graduated from the University of Illinois in 1998 and was hired to teach at Yankee Ridge Elementary School in Urbana.  

I'll never forget walking into my classroom for the first time and opening a desk drawer.

Inside was an amber blown glass horse that the previous teacher had left behind. I kept that little horse in my desk throughout my teaching career and it's in my desk here at home now.

I had some interesting horsey connections while teaching. Remember Royal Kaliber and his rider Chris Kappler? Chris's cousin was in my 2003 - 2004 class, and she and her mom kept me up to date on Chris and Royal Kaliber's appearance in the 2004 Olympics.

They took team silver and the bronze individual in show jumping. Sadly, Royal Kaliber injured his leg and then died of colic shortly after his medal winning appearances. (Photo by Getty Images.)

Breyer honored Royal Kaliber by making a model of him in 2004. Only 750 were released but I was able to get one. (Photo from Google Images; mine is boxed away.)

In 2006 we moved back home to Indiana where Craig finished out his career at Purdue. I had been teaching as well as working on my Masters degree at the University of Illinois but was able to wrap it up and graduate a few short weeks before we packed up and returned to Indiana.

Despite being in Boilermaker country, I decorated my new classroom in the orange and blues of the University of Illinois. (They are also the colors of the high school my students would graduate from so the kids didn't mind.) 

Imagine my trepidation, though, several years later when I looked at my new roster of students and saw a very familiar last name on it. The father of one of my new students was Matt Painter, the head coach of Purdue's men's basketball team. And my classroom was decorated to celebrate one of Purdue's main rivals!

Good dad that he is, Matt came to parent/teacher conferences despite his very busy coaching schedule. I'll never forget him coming through my classroom door that first time. He stopped in the doorway and surveyed all that orange and blue a moment before coming all the way in. Flustered, I  greeted him and apologized, mumbling something about having graduated from the UI and that I really did root for Purdue, too.

Matt burst out laughing and told me not to worry - his grandfather had been a professor at the UI and he'd spent his summers there as a kid. He told me that he was quite fond of the University of Illinois and we had a good laugh together.

I taught a lot of really nice kids during my career. And sometimes they would bring me horsey gifts.

Take a look at this orange balloon horse  - a student made that for me!  His hobby was making balloon animals, probably the most unusual hobby any of my students had.

The color in the photo is off, but this is an orange and blue horse plus a blue I for Illinois/Mrs. I, the name I went by at school.

After reading the classic, Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, another student gave me a Black Beauty ornament one Christmas. I still get it out every year and hang it on my tree.

The passion for orange and blue spilled into my hobby life, and I switched Windsong's colors from blue and yellow to orange.

And open my tack trunk and you find a lot of orange and blue, too.

Why am I so attached to the University of Illinois? After all, I am from West Lafayette and did three years of study here at Purdue before becoming an Illini. My grandfather came to Purdue in 1927 to be a professor in the Horticulture Department, my parents and siblings all went to Purdue, and so has Local Son Curt. There is a long Boilermaker tradition in my family. So, why?

I interrupted my own education when I married Craig in 1976, and I vowed at the time that I would finish. All that orange and blue represent the hard work it took to go back to school at age 38 with six kids still all at home. They remind me of the culmination of that dream of finishing my education and then going into the classroom and working hard to make a difference in the lives of my students.

It took me 22 years, but I did it. 

Look for another blog post later today announcing the winner of the fourth giveaway!