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she had the right touch.

Managing the Uga’s and caring for them became a Seiler tradition. It continues today with Charles, the Seiler’s only son and his wife, Wendy, following in the footsteps of Sonny and Cecelia.

Through the years, there has been a changing of the guard when a new Uga was crowned between the hedges. Uga X, known as “Que,’ retired after the 2022 season as the winningest mascot of the Uga dynasty and the Georgia tradition. Damn Good Dawg!

Now that Que’s time has passed, we will see his remains interred in the Uga cemetery at Sanford Stadium’s west end like his forebears where the Seiler family will continue to place flowers in memoriam each home game Saturday before the varsity Bulldogs take the field.

Boom, his son and the 11th solid white English Bulldog to serve as Georgia’s mascot, will carry on in the UGA/Uga tradition. Boom officially became the Georgia mascot in ceremonies before the G-Day game last spring.

There is so much that athletic success can do for a community. Winning big in football lately has been resonating and other sports are seeking to join the parade—all of which is a reminder that visitors to these parts depart with impressions that cause them to become something of town criers when they return to their home bases.

Fans of other colleges who know Georgia from television and print media are fascinated about the hedges, but the thing that they are so impressed with is that the mascots are buried inside the Stadium.

When visitors come to campus and I host them on a tour, I always make sure to take them to the “Son of the Tree that Owns Itself”, the President’s home on Prince Avenue, the Chapel Bell, Herty Field, and the Uga Cemetery.

When they get to the cemetery, the photo-ops take a while. When they finish at this landmark, they go over to the hedges for more.

The Red Sox annually make big money on tours of Fenway Park, a million or more.

If Georgia were to host tours of Sanford Stadium, that might become an interesting profit center. If Boom were to be on hand for photo-ops and to host press conferences, I am sure it would be an over-the-top experience.

While that is not logistically possible, the point is that the Uga’s are the greatest of ambassadors by just being themselves. And when you have All-American caretakers giving them royal treatment, friends and admirers across the landscape are rewarded with millions of opportunities for selfies.