PHOTO BY FIRSTNAME LAST CREDIT TK 34 OregonStater.org BENNY WAS THE brainchild of Bill Sundstrom, ’54. Sundstrom grew up in the San Francisco BayArea watching California’s mascot Oski the Bear. So when his Delta Tau Delta brother Ken Austin, ’53, wasn’t selected for the Rally Squad, Sundstrom shared his plan for an alternative position — creating a beaver mascot for Oregon State College. Austin (who with his wife, Joan, later founded dental equipment manufacturer A-dec) liked the idea. Sundstrom’s description of Oski made Austin think of the rodeo clowns he’d seen at the St. Paul Rodeo near his hometown of Newberg. “So that was my mode of operation — to have some funny things to say or do, and I kind of patterned what I was going to do like that,”Austin said in a 2012 interview. “So I really created my own theme, which was, in those days, a little bit rude.” Stunts included climbing a goalpost while the game was in progress, weaving his way through an opponent’s marching band and brandishing a 38-caliber revolver on the sideline to target officials’ flags after Beaver penalties. Constantly in one of that original Benny’s hands? A toilet plunger. “It was just fun stuff. The sky was the limit,” Austin said. “To think it started a tradition is something else.” The Rebirth of Benny Benny was a regular sight at games until sometime around the early 1970s, when the tradition briefly went dormant. Rick Coutin, ’76, was left off the Rally Squad in 1972-73, but wanted to stay involved. He’d seen photos of Benny in old copies of the Daily Barometer and in the Beaver Yearbook. He asked Assistant Athletic Director Denny Hedges if there was a beaver outfit somewhere in Gill Coliseum. Hedges took him to the basement, dug out the old costume, and Benny was back for the 1972-73 men’s basketball season. “I remember going out there — this was my inaugural — and I had to hold the head togetherwith the body,” Coutin said.“So I started running around. I could hardly see through it, and that was my debut as Benny Beaver … I think a lot of people were laughing because it looked horrible.” After a season running around in the suit and firing up fans, Coutin got a spot on the Rally Squad for 1973-74. And if his name sounds familiar, yes, he’s the cheerleader who was tripped by Oregon head coach Dick Harter while carrying the Chancellor’s Trophy past the Duck bench in the closing seconds of the season finale at Gill. But that’s a whole ’nother story. ↑ 1952: Benny debuted with the Rally Squad. “The true identity of the animal was not disclosed until the end of basketball season,” the Beaver Yearbook said. “Then the mask was lifted and Ken Austin was exposed as the masquerader.” 1952: Austin with the original shagcarpet costume. 1952 1952 1953 BEAVER YEARBOOK
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