On the Sidelines with Dan Sousa: Woodgrove Junior Dane Mullins Brings Walter the Wolverine to Life and Gives New School Spirit

Part 2 of the Interview

View a full photo gallery of Walter the Woverine!
On the Sidelines with Dan Sousa

(Jan. 3, 2011) - In 2010 I had the pleasure of meeting hundreds of students from across Loudoun's 12 high schools, many of them with great stories to be told, but the most intriguing young man I met in 2010 was an industrious junior at Woodgrove High School, Dane Mullins, who through ingenuity, skill, hard work and love for his new school brought the mascot Walter the Woverine to life and thus gave life to a new community.

Mullins, an experienced welder, who has owned his own excavation and landscaping business since he was 15, took it upon himself to make a motorized mascot for the new school in Purcellville and with the help of his family and friends, Mullins took a sand rail and built a fiberglass body onto it and created one of the most awesome mascots a school could hope for.


Prior to the final home football game of this first season at Woodgrove, I interviewed Dane and his family about Walter the Wolverine. The story of how Dane built the motorized mascot, is best left to him.

This is Dane's story:


The making of the Woodgrove HS mascot began as a very brief passing comment during a conversation with the athletic director, Mr. Lowery, while he gave me a tour of some of the green construction methods that were being used in the building of Woodgrove High School this past winter.

As a sophomore at Loudoun Valley I had a choice to transfer to Woodgrove High School. It was a decision that I didn’t take lightly. I had played on the freshman football team for Loudoun Valley and many of my long time friends were going to continue at Valley. I was not excited about changing to another school after two years at Blue Ridge, two years at Harmony and one year at Valley.

The first transition team meeting changed my opinion. At that meeting I met Mr.Gauriloff, Mrs. Fiore, and Mr. Lowery and I realized that my place was at Woodgrove. Not only did they make me feel welcome but they also truly cared about the students. They encouraged our input, respected our opinions and allowed us to participate in establishing Woodgrove. I never felt that way my previous two years of school.


I was going to be a member of the first senior class to graduate from Woodgrove. I was the first class to go through Round Hill Elem. beginning in kindergarten. My sister would also be following me at Woodgrove. I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to help put Woodgrove on the map.

Woodgrove inside needed to match the magnificent view found from the outside.

I have always enjoyed building, construction and problem solving. I was born in western Loudoun and have been working with tractors and equipment my entire life. In fact my parents had to take me on tractor rides when I was an infant just to go to sleep.

I began mowing and helping out on our land at the age of 5. I then started to help neighbors with projects around age 9. At age 15 to pay for college I started my landscaping and excavation company, Dane’s Hometown Services.

My parents encourage me to acquire a trade, to follow my passion and be an expert in it through experience and education. I chose welding and enrolled in C.S. Monroe Technical Center my sophomore year.

I acquired my American Welding Society FCAW/Semi-Automatic Unlimited and SMAW/Manual Unlimited certifications. I chose this year to enroll in Northern Virginia Community College to complete my Welding Certification.

After graduation from Woodgrove, I plan to go to college and get my degree in Welding Engineer.
Last fall I purchased a sand rail and over the winter I finished its renovation and installed a new engine with dual carburetors, a transmission and made a new exhaust system with the help of my friend, D.J. Hughes.

At the beginning of summer I decided to try to create a mascot even though I had never done anything like this before. I had looked in some wildlife books for photographs of wolverines.

One night I began welding a frame work of a wolverine on top of my sand rail. I began with the face and then formed the body making sure it was engineered to withstand both vertical and horizontal stress loads.

I had a good understanding of what forces the structure would encounter from my years of traveling on the gravel roads. The initial frame was then removed from the sand rail and placed on saw horses. This enabled me to weld from inside the structure.

It took several days and hundreds of welding points to complete the skeleton. I then removed the skeleton from the saw horses and placed it on my hay wagon. This allowed me to move the structure inside.

Next I had to place wire mesh over the entire skeleton. I first used chicken wire but the openings were too large. I then added a small wire fabric. The wire fabric created a smoother surface. This process was very time consuming as each area had to be attached to the existing welded skeleton with zip ties. I can’t tell you how many zip ties it took but it was in the thousands.

It was now time to decide what material to use to cover the framework. I contacted people in the automotive restoration industry and several local artists to consult with them about materials to use.

Some suggested foam others recommended fiberglass. I had never worked with either material but due to heat from the engine I decided to use fiberglass. I have to say it was the worst process ever.

Not only were the fumes horrible (they made me sick to my stomach) but the working time was very limited. Sheets of fiberglass had to be cut then dipped into the resin, wrung out, then placed over the wire frame similar to paper mache.

The problem is you have to be in a full chemical resistant suit, with a respirator, goggles and chemically resistant gloves. The outfit alone was hard to be in. It was very hot and hard to move in so once I was suited up I really couldn’t stop to take a break. The other problem was it was extremely hot outside.

This summer’s extremely high temperatures caused the resin to set way too fast so I had to continue to work at night from 8 pm to 2 am. The structure required 2 complete coats of fiberglass.

During this process structure had to be flipped over to work on the underside which was no easy task because it now weighed over 300 lbs. I was again very happy for the help from D.J. and glad when this part was finally over.

After the fiberglass was completed and thoroughly dried. Painting was next.

Wolverines are usually either black and white or black with brown and tan. I decided to go with the black, brown and tan. Unfortunately I did not have the equipment, the location nor any experience in automotive painting.

I again made many phone calls to talk to professionals. While making the many phone calls Stingray’s Auto Body offered to assist with the tune up the engine, checking brakes and install a new clutch assembly I had purchased for the sand rail.

Upon the many recommendations I used an outdoor paint and primer. The structure was now solid black. The initial painting was easy.

My family got tired of calling the structure The Beast or The Wolverine and my mom researched male names that began with W. After reviewing the list Walter was chosen.

Walter is of German decent and many settlers to Western Loudoun were from Germany. Walter means powerful warrior, rule army. It didn’t seem like a strong enough name at first but the it seems to fit.

It was now late August and the first home game was about a week away. I had been so busy with this project I had not discussed it with the athletic director since the brief comment over the winter.

I contacted Mr. Lowery and he arranged for himself, Mr. Trenary and Mr. Gauriloff to come see the project. I was nervous as they had no idea what to expect. They were happily surprised and liked the name Walter.

It was now down to the wire and the wolverine was only black. Phone calls were again made and I consulted with Jane Mitchell of Mitchell Designs. She assisted me with giving Walter his expression and coloring.

I then worked on carving his teeth. They were modeled by a photograph of a wolverine my sister had found. Walter now had a ferocious smile. His eyes also needed to pop so glowing red lights was chosen.

Walter was ready for his debut.

The first home game was very exciting and nerve racking. It is my hope that Walter has brought spirit, pride and recognition for Woodgrove High School. I have really enjoyed the experience of creating the mascot and I am energized when I meet Walter’s fans. I am so appreciative of the great assistance from Stingray’s Auto Body, Jane Mitchell of Mitchell Designs, D.J. Hughes and especially my family for all of their help with Walter. I would like to thank Mr. Gauriloff and Mr. Lowery for allowing me to provide Walter the Wolverine for Woodgrove High School.

View Walter the Mascot in action on Facebook