Squirrelletta? Vote for a New Name

While a rose might smell as sweet with another name, Squirrelletta is not something we should saddle upon the new mascot of the San Antonio Parks Foundation‘s Friends of the Parks.  Anne Alexander has enthusiastically volunteered to don the squirrel costume at park events – including Fest of Tails at McAllister Park on Saturday, March 27, when everybody’s dogs will be trying to chase her up a tree – but please, please help us find a new name for her. 

One vote per computer in this unsanctioned, nonbinding election.  If voting for “other,” please submit the name by comment as well.  After a sufficient, arbitrary amount of time, results will be forwarded to Marcie Ince, president of Friends of the Parks.

Marcie Ince, president of Friends of the Parks, introduces Squirrelletta outside of City Hall on March 18. Photo courtesy of Stuart Johnson of the San Antonio Conservation Society.

Squirrelletta, aka Anne Alexander, shows off her fluffy tail. Photo courtesy of Stuart Johnson of the San Antonio Conservation Society.

Note added on March 23:  Oh, no!  GoDaddy polls seems to be squirreling away creative moniker suggestions submitted by some of those voting “other.”  Among those whose nuggets are hidden from our view are AnnPW’s vote for Peanut.  If you have ideas for Marcie and her board to consider, please vote for other and submit the name on the blog comment form instead of the poll’s.  Thanks.

March 24:  We interrupt this blog now with BREAKING NEWS.  The poll has been removed; voting has been suspended in this nailbiter of an election.  With only a fraction of San Antonio’s eligible voters participating, here are the results:

• Dilla, Flora and Saltita:  3%
• Skippie:  5%
• Chica:  11%
• Nutty:  13%
• Lilita:  16%
• Other:  24% (including a write-in for Peanut)
• Toni:  24%

The good news is Friends of the Parks has pledged Squirrelletta will receive a new name.  As 24 percent of those participating selected “Other,” what that name should be is unknown.  So Friends of the Parks is turning to wiser counsel for suggestions:  kids.  Watch for more widely broadcast news about a Name the Squirrel contest soon. 

And, if you see Anne at the Fest of Tails, say “Hola, Otra.”

March 28 Update:  No need to worry brain cells about what name to enter in the contest.  The tale emerging from the Fest of Tails is that popular opinion dictated that “Other” votes logically must have been for “Parky.”  Otra had too many upcoming engagement to go around nameless; there was always the danger that Squirrelletta might have stuck the way Junior does to many who long for a grown-up name of their own.  So Parky it is.

October 19 Update:   The besmirching of poor Parky’s reputation….