Athletics has been a part of my life since my childhood growing up in Washington. It has taken me to competitions all across the United States and in many different arenas. Still, I have never found a team that has a mascot with a better name than the Pam Pack!

There are schools, colleges and professional teams with names such as Lions, Bears, Pirates and even Patriots, but none have the uniqueness to their area that the Pam Pack has to ours. I have been in staff meetings where coaches have begged for me to tell them what a Pam Pack is. Even at conventions, coaches have asked the same question, and I have given them the same answer each time. It was the one I heard more frequently growing up.

No one that I know really knows how we got our mascot. The storied I have heard constantly over my 70 years is the one I have stuck with. I have heard from multiple sources as a child that we got our name from a bunch of kids that lived on the banks of the Pamlico River, and they hung together like a pack, and they all attended Washington High School. Thus the name Pam Pack, short for Pamlico Pack. That, for me, is a believable story and the one that I have grown up with and shared with others when asked.

Even though our high school has moved several times and is now located on Slatestone Road, our mascot has endured. Coaches have changed, players have come and gone, but there is one constant that always has remained: the Pam Pack. Even to this day it is still the Pam Pack and never just The Pack!

As a small boy, I can remember sneaking out of my bedroom and getting on my bike to ride to Kugler Field to see the Pam Pack play. For me then, it was a team dressed in blue and white with blue helmets that seemed to win every Friday night. They always had the prettiest cheerleaders and the best band and a waxed program with my heroes’ names in it. It was proof enough for me that the Pam Pack existed. At my age then, I never really cared, and all I wanted to do was grow up to play for the Pam Pack. Like many my age when I hear, “Oh, We’re the Pam Pack,” being played, it sends cold chills down my spine. Next to the National Anthem, it is a song I will always stand up for when played.

With spring sports in high gear now, we all need to remember those who supported us and give our support to the young men and women who are representing our school and community. My hat is tipped to Fred and Linda Watkins for their support through the years, and now others have stepped up because of their example. We need to support these youngsters because someone supported us, and it is now our turn and we do not need to let them down. Coaches work too hard, and nothing is more pleasing than to see a large crowd supporting their efforts in all sports. We all are a brotherhood, and deep down inside we are all Blue and White! Go Pam Pack!

They were the best of times with the best of friends and in the best of places, Washington, NC!

— Harold Jr.

Harold Robinson Jr. is a native of Washington.