In case you’ve heard reports of a tiger on the loose downtown, it’s just Digger, the official mascot of the Concord Main Street Project. He’s also the first tiger we’ve ever interviewed in print! Read on to get acquainted.
What kind of formal construction training did you have prior to coming to Concord?
The Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium are all great examples of projects I had no hand in. Personally, I’m more of a birdhouse and soapbox derby racer kind of tiger. I put up a big front, but really I just claim the work of those Severino Construction guys as my own to make myself look really good. It’s worked so far.
Describe a day in the life of Digger on the job in Concord. What are you doing/ what do you hope to get done?
When I’m not trying to find my next meal, I’m out on Main Street making sure everything is going according to plan and that we stick to the very important schedule. I also help keep it safe. Helping the elderly across the street, laying my jacket across puddles for women or helping the construction workers get the top off their Snapple Iced Teas are important jobs that can’t be overlooked.
If you were going to write The Digger Survival Guide to Main Street Construction, what would be three key tips you’d give people?
1. If you’re hungry, don’t let construction get in the way. Get to food at all costs.
2. Don’t be a hero. Use the crosswalks and listen to the flaggers. If you fall in a hole and get buried and you aren’t uncovered until 2065 at Concord’s 300th Anniversary when they dig up the time capsule, that’s on you.
3. Don’t be scared to come downtown. Everything is still open. However, do be a little bit scared that there is a 6-foot-tall tiger on the loose. Just kidding; don’t be scared of that either. But seriously, probably be a tiny bit scared of that.
Do they make hard hats big enough to fit over giant fuzzy tiger heads, or did you have to get one custom made?
Sadly, my head is far too big for a standard issue hard hat. But City Engineer Ed Roberge let me borrow one of his. It comes much closer to fitting than you’d probably imagine.
What’s your favorite part of the job, besides the sweet neon vest you get to wear?
That I can get a hot dog, yoyo and professionally-fit bra all on the same street.
I take full responsibility for neon vests emerging as a fashion trend after this summer, by the way.
Where can people usually find you if they want to come say hi?
Well they can always find me on Facebook, Digger The-Tiger. But if they want to find me in person they’ll have to keep their eyes and ears open for a downtown tiger sighting. You never know where or when I’ll show up. Unless we’ve announced where and when I’ll be showing up. In which case you’ll know.
Any introductory messages you want to send to the people of Concord?
Hi, I’m Digger. I love big trucks and safety. I enjoy meeting new people but dogs don’t seem to care for me very much. I like the Cincinnati Bengals and the Detroit Tigers. Don’t be afraid to come up and say “hi” if you see me on the street or to tell me what a good job Severino Trucking or I am doing!
Yes, it’s my real tail.
What kind of advantages does being a tiger give you in a construction setting?
Construction equipment is usually orange, so if by chance a lone gazelle is wandering Main Street I have plenty to blend in with while hunting it. I, of course, would only resort to these tactics on the off chance that Dos Amigos has run out of burritos.
Will you, in fact, be doing any digging yourself?
Does a one-legged duck swim in a circle? Of course!
I can’t say they’ll let me into an excavator, but I’m pretty good with a garden trowel.
What’s your hidden talent?
Public speaking.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Normally I’d say buying a pound of chocolate from Granite State Candy, melting it on some fresh asphalt in the middle of July, and then pouring said melted chocolate onto a 24-ounce mixture of cookies and cream and raspberry frozen yogurt from Dips . . . but I’m hardly ashamed of that.
