Moosey Club
My 6th Grade Moose Obsession Unleashed
In short, Moosey was a stuffed animal that made up the entirity of my fourth through sixth grade years. Quite a significant time. Normally I would just say “yeah, I made a club based on him and a merch line and some books” but I’ve got a whole website now! While I’m a bit older, and can’t remember everything that was going on in my head at that time, I know that Moosey Club was only possible due to an unexplainable absence of social anxiety. How else could a middle schooler roam the halls asking random people to hang out after school to make moose out of cardboard?
First, Moosey
“Moosey” is the name of a stuffed animal I have had since before first grade. I later discovered he (at some point) was a Kohls checkout stuffed animal (if you know you know). So he’s not all that unique as a stuffed animal. But he is. He is unique.
In first grade we had some sort of barter day, and I got Moosey a hat. Right there we cut holes in it and stuck the hat over his antlers, and it has seldom been removed.
Then in another event in elementary school, there was a prize for something that was a twin to him. So of course I won it (I was very determined) and suddenly had multiple “Moosey”s. But they of course weren’t the same. The second one got a cape and a mask thanks to my oldest sister’s sewing skills.
Eventually I got a third, and it later became “the tiny terror” completing the main cast for the books that were to come.
Becoming that
Moosey quickly became my creative muse after I first drew his character in fourth grade. It was probably sparked by a class assignment in English, but it turned into so much more.
The Club
Moosey Club. I checked and the website is still up. Wow. The memories.
http://mooseyclubplainfield.weebly.com/ and yeah I remember the website by heart. I wrote the link on well over a hundred bookmarks.
I’m sitting here wondering how I can even begin to put into words how much this all meant to me. Scrolling through the six-year old website brought back so many memories. Just thinking about Moosey’s history always does.
There was never a dwindling ending to Moosey’s story, and that must be why it seems so disjointed in my memory. The club just stopped, since its leader and mascot moved three hours north. It was an unhappy conclusion to what could have ended as so much more.
It's strange to say I've been teaching art workshops since I was in 6th grade, but it's partially true.
The following are some old pictures from meetings of Club. Who knows what could've become of Moosey Club if I hadn’t moved. But little did I know I'd soon be leading art workshops at my highschool and public library, and now during college!
To give the guys credit for showing up to a nerdy club like this, thanks to the 6th grade versions of Brady, Matthew, Gage, Lucas, Myself, and Vinny (in order of appearance left to right). I couldn't have been as audacious of a middle schooler without your support.
Infinite Inspiration
If there has ever been a catalyst that sent me down the path of a creative, this is it. The creation of my character “Moosey” gave me all the inspiration I needed to write books, make merchandise, start a club, and try and sell the merchandise and market the club. Perhaps all of the things I love most stem from this stuffed animal:
Writing (The Moosey Books)
Business (Entrepreneurship and Marketing from “Moose Shops” and the club marketing)
Leadership (Leading and growing the club)
Organization (Maintaining a level of cleanliness while producing everything for the club and shop)
and of course…
Art (The illustrations and projects completed by the club and myself)
I guess the moral of the story is: anything can be a spark for life-changing creativity.
Even a Kohl’s Stuffed Animal.