A wolf among wolves

By CAITLIN SULLIVAN/Staff

Eb Kimbrell was by his son’s side when the bare wolves came to town last fall. And he was with his son, former Advance Abingdon President Gary Kimbrell, when the painted wolves were mounted on the street for display. But Eb Kimbrell died less than a month before the wolves were auctioned off to raise money for Abingdon’s main street organization, so Gary and his brother decided to buy one in honor of their father.
“I loved that wolf all along,” Kimbrell said of the $2,100 wolf statue painted by Sarah Easterling. “There was something about it that was different and the fact that a high school kid painted it, that made it special to me.”
Easterling, now a Virginia Highlands Community College student, will get to see her wolf every day at school, or at least whenever she goes into the school’s library.
At Abingdon High School, Easterling spent two weeks sanding her wolf before painting it white. Then she began a design, inspired by the elements, that portrayed fire crawling up one leg and down one side, countered by water on the opposing side. The project took her a month and a half to finish.
She said she was excited when she found out her wolf was bought by Kimbrell and donated to the college.
“I was jumping up and down when I found out it was dedicated to Virginia Highlands,” Easterling said. “It’s amazing to know that the years I’m here I will be able to see it in the library.”
College President David Matlock said he went to the auction to buy a wolf but the bids were too high.
“This is a great place to showcase the wolf and honor the community,” Matlock said. “A lot of the time people invest dollars in education, and although we love that, regional art is important … and it connects our college with Abingdon.”
The wolf at Virginia Highlands Community College is special for another reason, too. Until recently, the college, with no sports teams to need one, never had a mascot. This year that all changed. The college got a sports team and a mascot. For the first time ever, VHCC fields an intramural basketball team and after a college-wide mascot search, the Wolves won out over the Ravens and the Hellbenders for the team’s mascot.
The Wolves’ record, with two games left in the season, is a 0-6.
“We’re the Wolves!” Matlock said.
The name and the team, Matlock said, help grades. The more engaged a student population is in extra-curricular activities, the better the chance each student has to graduate, he said.
“It gives students a sense of ownership and a connection to the college,” said Matlock. “We are the community’s college.”
For his part, Kimbrell said he likes that the wolf at the college is in memory of his father.
“I think he would be thrilled,” Kimbrell said. “To know it’s in a place of honor at the college and in the library would make him beam from heaven.”
At the college, the mascot contest continues, this time for a logo. The VHCC Wolves logo contest has been extended to March 5. Guidelines are available at www.vhcc.edu/mascot.