Cue the theme music, the Olympics are almost here. This year’s peregrine falcon naming contest is going faster, higher and stronger — honoring Olympic medalists with Wisconsin ties.
The names with the most votes will be given to the falcon chicks that hatch at We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) power plants this spring. So far, there are 11 eggs ready to hatch.
To kick off this year’s contest, We Energies invited some of the honorees to a special event at the Pettit National Ice Center. The Pettit is an Official Training Site for US Speedskating and like a second home to gold medal-winning speedskaters Bonnie Blair and Casey FitzRandolph, who were in attendance, alongside bronze medal trap shooter Madelynn Bernau, Paralympic gold medalist Jake Williams and Special Olympics Wisconsin athletes Tyler Derringer and Kyle Von Drasek.
“We’re excited to be at the world-renowned Pettit National Ice Center to make an Olympic-sized announcement about our peregrine falcon program,” said Mike Hooper, president — We Energies and WPS. “It may not be quite the same as winning an Olympic medal, but having one of the world’s fastest animals named after you is pretty cool too.”
“You said they’re the fastest, and I like fast things, so I think that works out great,” said five-time gold medalist Blair. “So, we hope that all of you will vote often and maybe we can get our names up on those birds, and we’ll see where they go!”
Falcon fans can vote to name one of the chicks “Birdie Blair” in her honor, or “Trapper” in honor of Bernau, who was excited to learn more about We Energies’ and WPS’ 30-year history of restoring the falcon population.
“Living in Wisconsin for the past 26 years, I actually never knew about this, and I am super excited to learn, because I am currently going for my vet med degree at UW-Madison,” said Bernau. “This is near and dear to my heart, and I’m very happy to support such a great organization.”
Other options include “Fitz” in honor of FitzRandolph, “Hero” in honor of Wisconsin Special Olympics athletes and “Warrior” in honor of Wisconsin’s Paralympic athletes.
“You add the speed element, like Bonnie said, to the conservation, to the Pettit Center, and tying it all in with this summer’s Olympics, it was an absolute no-brainer for me,” said FitzRandolph. “I, too, am just really excited to be a part of this.”
“On behalf of Special Olympics Wisconsin and our 9,000-plus athletes, it’s a great honor, and it’s great to be here in a place where Olympic athletes train,” agreed Derringer.
But not everyone wants to get out the vote for their own falcon name.
“Go and vote for any one of the other athletes, because you know I’ll be insufferable if I get a falcon named after me,” joked Williams.
You can vote as many times as you want between now and Thursday, May 9, to make sure your favorite names make the cut. Squawk the vote by sharing this link.