Clearwater Christian Gators
Elizabeth Calez
Issue date: 4/19/04 Section: On Campus
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Over the years, there have been some interesting stories about the alligator that lives on the CCC campus. It seems as if everyone has a story--where they saw the gator for the first time, or how they innocently tossed him a mint chocolate ice cream cone like I did as a freshman.
Most recently, Mr. Brian Johnson, graduate and long time staff member at Clearwater, had a run in with the resident gator. It was a rainy Saturday afternoon, and he and a couple of students had just come back from a precinct walk for Daniel Webster's campaign. Mr. Johnson had noticed that a gator had plopped himself in a parking space and was not budging.
He parked the school's van and got into his car when his conscience caught up with him. What if the gator was hurt? It definitely was not moving. Being the concerned person that he is, he drove his car at the gator in an attempt to see if the gator was injured. It soon became obvious that the reptile was not dead, but even after the vehicle had approached him, he remained content to lie in his parking space.
Mr. Johnson wanted to make sure he was okay, so gallantly he charged the gator with his car. The alligator moved slightly, but then it stopped. Obviously, Mr. Johnson was no threat. Mr. Johnson wanted the modern dinosaur to know that he meant business, so Knights-of-the-Round-Table-style he charged the gator again. This time the gator got the hint, jumped back into Jog-a-lot, and was not seen for some time.
For a while, feeding the gator was a big ordeal. Dr. Youstra, president emeritus, would belabor the fact that it was illegal to feed the gators. One time, after he made special note of it in Chapel, two students were inspired. The boys found a blow up gator, the kind used in pools, and decided to invest some of their hard earned money in one of the most unique pranks played on campus.