After three weeks, 16 credit unions, six polls, and 12,000-plus votes, the inaugural CUNA Mascot Madness champion is ...
Dru Blue!
Congrats to the playful, confident mascot of $3.9 billion asset GECU in El Paso, Texas, who earned 1,968 (56.7%) of the 3,470 championship votes.
Fairmont Federal Credit Union's Count Earn'est the SAVERtooth Tiger put up a heck of a fight. The pizza-loving mascot of the $503 million asset credit union in Fairmont, W.V., received 1,502 votes in the four-day championship. Dru Blue led much of the way, with Count Earn'est closing the gap to 13 votes Thursday afternoon before Dru Blue pulled away Friday morning to win by 466 votes.
What a run it was for Dru Blue, who picked up 4,746 votes across the three rounds, starting the 16-mascot tournament with a dominant performance in the South Region. The lover of peanut butter and banana sandwiches received 1,413 votes (57.2%) to win a region that also includedPelican State Credit Union's Petey the Pelican (21.93%), Truliant Federal Credit Union's Truceratops (11.25%), and Tinker Federal Credit Union's Save-A-Tron 5000 (9.63%).
Dru Blue carried that momentum into the semifinals, receiving 1,365 votes (60.5%) to beat out Idaho Central Credit Union'sShare Bear.
Count Earn'est also had a lopsided first-round showing, earning 63.3% of the votes to win the East Region. The tiger went on to pick up 66.2% of the 1,571 semifinal votes, topping Bay Area Credit Union’s Boomer Froggy.
That was a blast. Thank you for voting, following along, and rooting for your favorite mascot. Keep your eyes peeled for more on our champion, and send your mascot to bfritz@cuna.coop if you're interested in participating next year.
Credit Union Magazine’s Summer 2023 issue highlights the lending outlook for the rest of the year, how credit unions leverage fintech companies to boost digital lending, the power of lending partnerships, common Bank Secrecy Act violations, and the shift board members must make when becoming chair.
