Scary squirrel

Hello all - I'm the reporter for neighborhoods in the West and North parts of Jacksonville, but I happened to be covering an Arbor Day event last week at Justina Road Elementary School. Just wanted to share a funny story that I didn't include in my article, which will be in print and on this site Wednesday, Jan. 23.

Anyway, the occasion was an Arbor Day program hosted by the city. The mayor and others talked to some kindergartners about trees before going out to finish planting an oak tree on the school's grounds. They had this guy dressed in a huge squirrel costume who came out and was supposed to get the kids excited. One of them got very excited. He started screaming and crying, "No! NO! Get it away from me! Get it out!" Poor kid had to be taken out of the program and missed everything. It was hilarious (not to the kid, I'm sure), but it was funny to see the whole photo-op shaken up. The mayor took it in stride, saying, "My son had the same reaction to Santa."

You gotta love kids. They can be so unpredictable.