It’s been a frigid two weeks of below-freezing temperatures and snow/ice in Kentucky, where one unique mascot thrives.

A century ago, the Brooksville High School basketball team, which later became known as Bracken County, selected a mascot that has frozen in time — the Polar Bears.

It all started in 1926, and the back-to-back state qualifying Brooksville squad was playing its basketball games in an old tobacco warehouse.

The following article was written in the Kentucky Post on November 14, 1996, by John H. Henderson:

The team pictured is the 1925-1926 Brooksville High School Polar Bears (note the Polar Bear design on the warm-up jackets — the first “Polar Bears”).

After acquiring an interest in Bracken County history and memorabilia, it has been mentioned on several occasions that I should talk with Elizabeth Parker in Augusta. I followed their advice and enjoyed every opportunity given to me to speak with her. On one visit, however, during idle chat, Mrs. Parker made a statement that her father, Mr. Garrett Jett, was partially responsible for the basketball teams of Brooksville receiving the mascot name “Polar Bears”.

I found the bit of folklore to be very interesting as she explained her version of the story to me. The tale she shared remained with me for quite sometime until I wondered if I could find enough factual evidence to substantiate her story. It’s not that I didn’t believe Mrs. Parker, for I loved the story so much that I thought it should be shared with the community and most of all the students of Bracken County, who, quite possibly, attended school there for twelve years and really never knew why their team was called the “Polar Bears”.

The following is an account based solely on folklore (which wasn’t folklore at all), and facts provided by the 1920 through 1926 Brooksville High School yearbooks.

On September 16th, 1920, an athletic association was organized in Brooksville High School. From that institution, boys and girls basketball teams were formed. The boys team was coached by R.F. Grizzell, with the team consisting of Henry S. Poage, Jed King Jr., Paul Duncan, Frank McCracken, Tommie Grainger, Johnnie Downard and Joe Matthews as captain. Their fall schedule included teams from Germantown, Minerva, Sardis, Maysville, Mays Lick, Augusta and Dover. There was also a second team in Brooksville that year called the Regulars. This team consisted of Logan Staton, Tommie Power, Robert Poage, Edwin Poage, Harry Hause, Russell Power and Ursel Traugott. I am unsure as to the reason or function of the Regulars.

At the time the county went out of the tobacco warehouse business, Mr. Garrett Jett purchased three or four of the warehouses which were located in the area where the high school and gym are located today. One of the warehouses, which sits in the area where the industrial art building now stands, had two water tanks located on top which gravity fed to Mr. Jett’s house and business at the bottom of the hill. It was in this warehouse that Mr. Jett and Mr. Kern operated a raw fur business. A vault was built by Mr. Jett to retain the dressed furs. For a short period of time, movies were shown in the building also, having been moved from above the Downard-Norris drugstore where the Video N Tan now stands.

Meanwhile, outside of the warehouse, the Brooksville High School boys basketball teams were preparing for their upcoming season. September that year wasn’t that much of a problem but October proved to be too much for the team to continue practicing outside. At that point, Mr. Jett substituted his warehouse as a gymnasium, however some changes needed to be made. The new “gym” had an elevated floor in the middle with driveways on both sides allowing both players and balls to fall off the edge of the floor. A fence was constructed around the perimeter of the floor thus giving the feel of a “caged in” effect. Although the conditions weren’t the best, the players were grateful for what they had, for a while at least. The 1921-1922 annual was dedicated to Mr. Garrett Jett “for his loyal support and for the use of his building. For without him it is doubtful whether there would be a place to play.”

On October 21st, 1920 Brooksville High School beat Germantown on its home floor. The visiting teams were not use to such adverse conditions when cold weather set in, but the boys of Brooksville High School became somewhat immune to the elements, beating team after team. All the teams from 1920 thru 1926 had a winning record. Then on March 10, 1924, Brooksville High School won the district for the first time at Flemingsburg.

Again on March 6th, 1925, Brooksville High School traveled to Carlisle and brought home the trophy for the second time but with more reward. This win earned a berth in the state tournament. On March 13th, 1925 Brooksville High School was defeated by Winchester, ending dreams of being state champions. At that point the boys of Brooksville High School voiced their opinions saying, “We need something better than a polar bear cage to play in!”

As a result of a need for a better facility, a new gymnasium was under construction the year of the big defeat. December 3rd, 1925 marked the date for the first game in the new gym with Robertson County High School. Many other teams came that year grateful they didn’t have to play a bunch of polar bears in a cage in bitter cold surroundings. It was the 1922-23 season when the polar bear name was being tossed around, but it wasn’t until 1926 when the team entered the floor with a polar bear sewed to their warm-ups. Seventy years ago this season marks the actually anniversary for the real BEARS. With a new gymnasium being built in 1996, maybe a new cage should be considered also.

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The third and current gym, built in 1998, is referred to as “The Igloo” by most. That name, however, originated with the second gym of the Polar Bears, which was used from 1959 to 1997. When it first opened, the 1998 gym was referred to as the “Ice Palace”. The original gym was used from 1926 to 1958.

For decades, sportswriters across the Commonwealth have written headlines playing off the unique mascot.

A shoutout to the Polar Bears on Kentucky Sports Radio: