Boyertown’s new bear mascot named Bearianne after late mayor

Building a Better Boyertown‘s new bear mascot has been named Bearianne after the late Mayor Marianne Deery.

“The mascot of the Boyertown Area School District is a bear. Our town is also host to Bear Fever bear sculptures displayed around town. It seemed fitting for Building a Better Boyertown to have a bear mascot as well,” said Main Street Manager Ellen Martignetti. “Boyertown loves their bears!”

Building a Better Boyertown introduced its bear mascot as part of the Boyertown Coming Out Of Hibernation in April. The idea started with a conversation between Martignetti and volunteer Linda Stone.

“We were joking about having a bear come out of hibernation since that is the name of the event and bears naturally wake up in springtime. We both started brainstorming and that is how the idea came about,” said Martignetti.

A costume was ordered and the Wake Up the Bear Ceremony was added to the spring celebration. Boyertown Mayor Lori Carnes rallied children to yell, “Wake up bear!” to wake up the hibernating bear sleeping in a tent next to the Atherton Inn.

“We used a camping tent and turned it into a makeshift cave and the bear emerged with some help from a loud alarm clock, screaming children and the Mayor. It was a lot of fun to watch!” said Martignetti.

The bear mascot walked around Boyertown, posing for photos and high-fiving kids. At that time, BaBB’s bear mascot did not have a name.

“The costume literally arrived days before Coming Out of Hibernation so we didn’t have time to come up with a name,” explained Martignetti. “We discussed holding a naming contest later on, but then our event planner, Krista Gross, suggested ‘Bearianne’ referencing our former mayor, Marianne Deery, who passed away in January.”

Marianne was the founder of Building a Better Boyertown and Boyertown’s mayor for 20 years.

“It just seemed so fitting and Marianne would have loved it,” said Martignetti. “Of course, I asked her husband Frank if he was okay with us naming the bear after her and he was very touched.”

Since, then Bearianne has made appearances at Boyertown events, including Back to School Bear Fever Family Friday and Oktoberfest both held in September.

“Bearianne has been welcomed and loved by both children and adults,” said Martignetti. “We expect Bearianne to be part of all of our events as much as possible! Keep an eye out for her at Chillin’ on Main.”

For more information and updates on events, follow Building a Better Boyertown on Facebook and visit https://www.buildingabetterboyertown.org/.