Mudley to celebrate his 35th birthday this weekend

Wolfville’s mascot, Mudley, has a birthday this summer. He is 35 years old.

When Nicolle Muir was 10 years old she won a contest at Wolfville Elementary School to create a mascot for Mud Creek days.

Nicolle Muir

The Grade 4 student entered the competition, she recalled, at the last minute. Her Mudley concept was based on her experience mud sliding and a whitish Al Capp cartoon character she was obsessed with at the time.

“Shmoo was cute and kind of rolly polly,” Muir recalled about her inspiration. She drew a unique chocolate colored image and came up with the name.

Her prize was cutting an official Mudley cake, a photo in the Advertiser and local fame, Muir chuckles. “It was awesome,” she recalled.

Born Nicolle Francis, she grew up on Orchard Avenue and can describe the not entirely pleasant sensation of thick, dark mud drying on her limbs. Muir grew up and spent many years away, in New York City and Scotland.

Three years ago, she and her husband Grant moved back to the Wolfville area to raise their daughter, Samantha, who is 13 now.

“My family is here and I wanted my daughter to live in a small town where everybody knows your name. Wolfville is a great town.”

Muir’s late father used his wood working kills to create little wooden carvings of Mudley. His talent adorns a town trophy or two.

Of the mascot she invented, Muir says, “I love that he’s still going strong.”

Wolfville seamstress Audrey Deal created the first Mudley costume. Retired town staff member Pat Stewart, who is the Fezziwig Society costume maker, got her start fabricating the second and third editions.

“I think we’re on the fourth now,” Stewart noted with a grin. “My kids all did it. They were not happy. (It was hot inside). There were even summer and winter versions.”

Generally the town’s summer staff has the honor of climbing into the mud creature’s costumes. A fund in Mudley’s name now collects monies toward recreational fees for those needing support.

Postscript: Nicolle Muir died on Sept. 10. She was living with advanced cancer when we spoke, but never complained about the hand fate dealt her.