SAN ANTONIO – At the heart of every pep rally or the sideline of every special event, you’ll likely find a lively lucky charm known as a mascot. In San Antonio, we recognize one of the most iconic ones, the San Antonio Spurs Coyote.
“I’ve seen friends on Facebook with the coyote and I say, I wonder if they know I made that thing, but nobody knows who makes them,” Becky Wilburn, Mascot Maker at Starline Costumes, said.
Wilburn started as a clothes and costume washer at Starline Costumes 24 years ago, but on one slow day, everything changed.
“Actually I never sewed a day in my life,” she said. “One day I came down and I had nothing to do and they go well I’m doing a Churches Chicken, can you do the eyes? and it took off from there.”
Inside the storage warehouse at the popular West Side shop, you’ll find hundreds of mascots, all made by Wilburn. She knows her job title is rare, but the work is fueled by her pride, which illuminates while showing off photos of finished costumes, many of which are found at San Antonio schools, colleges, and sports teams.
“Mascots are mascots for me,” she said. “When they come in and they scream because they have seen the mascot that they want, there it is right there, that’s worth all the wages, a raise or anything, just watching people come in and have that smile, I say that’s why we do it.”
Wilburn credits her newest team members, Marshall and Chandler, for helping her carry on the next chapter of mascot-making at Starline Costumes.
“We’re shooting for the stars here,” she said. “With them, nothing is impossible.”