ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — The sasquatch may be a thing of legend, but if you ask anyone in St. Johns County’s Beacon Lake community the legend of the sasquatch is very much real, alive, and well.
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“Yeah, we’ve heard some things about that. So, you know, I mean, I’m pretty sure I hope I don’t see the real Sasquatch,” said Craig Pivnick.
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However, in Beacon Lake, the legend is a little bit more two dimensional: there has been a cardboard cutout of the mythical creature in the woods of the development for over four years. Now, not without extensive criticism online, it’ll be the official mascot of Lakeside Academy, a K-8 school set to open in fall of 2024.
“I think it’s cool,” Pivnick told Action News Jax with a smile. “When we first found out about it, everybody kinda always picks a traditional animal or, you know, you never really hear about the Sasquatch.”
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While some may think it’s a questionable name for a school mascot, Pivnick says: why the fuss?
Now, Pivnick’s embracing the beast ahead of his daughter attending lakeside academy later this fall.
“My daughter was the one who first noticed the cut out of the sasquatch in the woods. And, and then we all saw it and thought it was pretty cool,” Pivnick explained. “And then when we found out about, you know, the mascot, we thought it you know, it was a perfect fit.”
Long live the Lakeside Sasquatch.
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