Greetings to all of you!

It’s with pleasure that for the next few months, I will be able to tell you stories regarding the great world of mascots.

Thanks to François Coulombe and HockeyZone, every two weeks I will tell you real stories from my 15-year career as a hockey and baseball pro mascot. I will have special guests such as the Philly Fanatic (Philadelphia Phillies), Sharkie (San Jose Sharks) and many others. Also, I will include exclusive photos and stories.

But before going any further, here’s more about me. My name is Pierre Deschesnes and I was born in Shawinigan-Sud, Québec, on November 9, 19??. In my youth, I was the little shy boy who still liked being the center of attention. That’s probably why I developed a good sense of humor.

Being a class clown and entertaining the other students gave me so-so results at school, but I was liked very much by everybody. I made people laugh to the point of often ending up at the principal’s office.

The turning point of my life was while I was a referee during a hockey tournament in 1985. During a game, the mascot was injured – the tournament had to go on and they needed a new mascot. They asked me if I was interested and, without realizing that I’d do that in front of 4000 people, I accepted. The result was very impressive, and I was actually better than the previous mascot.

Two weeks later I was invited to be part of a celebration at the Olympic Stadium for the birthday of Youppi, the Montréal Expos mascot. I went and impressed enough people so that 2 months later I was hired as a mascot for Créations Jean-Claude Tremblay.

Since then, I’m in the fascinating world of mascots, and I will have lots of stuff to tell you during the next few months. I have worked for major companies such as Coke, les Caisses Populaires, Pepsi, Bell Canada, etc. I have also worked professionnaly for the Montréal Expos as Youppi. For the past 4 years, I’ve been in the USA as the mascot Jumping Jack where I perform for approximately 200 hockey and baseball games per year.

This profession gave me the opportunity to travel in many countries throughout the world and meet many people including celebrities (Céline Dion, Garth Brooks), political figures (Clinton, Chrétien) and athletes.

I’ve been involved in television and also in commercials and movies on top of participating in major sport events in my career. There are also more dramatic moments like hospital visits to see sick kids.

The most important part is that for the past 15 years, I’ve been in love with my job. I’m totally dedicated to it, and I try to get people to have a better idea about life under the costume.

Seeing people smile and forget their stressful life for a few moments is great. There’s nothing nicer than to be able to get smiles from kids and make people happy around you.

In the next few weeks, I’ll tell you real stories (some funny, some more dramatic) about my career as a mascot and, most of all, I will try to show you how this job is great and fulfilling for me.

If you have questions and suggestions or if you want some information, you can send me email or visit my website at www.promascot.com.

Until the next column, here are some pictures of me as Amijo, one of the mascots I’ve been in my career.

See you soon!