Community
14 August, 2024
Mascot comes out of retirement for Mount Isa Street Parade
Chloe Staples was a professional costume-wearer before turning to teaching.
“I think she’ll be keen to talk to you just so she can take that costume head off.”
Whoever was underneath the tiger costume had appeared pretty exuberant in front of the crowds lining Isa Street, but as the ute completes its journey and pulls into a disused parking space, the person inside the suit seems suddenly exhausted.
North West Weekly approaches the Sunset State School float at the Isa Street Parade and starts trying to grab the attention of the downcast tiger.
Unbeknownst to us, the 23-year-old teacher inside the award-winning costume is trying to view us through a hole in the costume about the size of a cricket ball.
Her fellow float people assist her over the mountain of balloons and down from the ute tray – the tiger head is hastily and unceremoniously ripped from the rest of the costume.
Chloe Staples – or Miss Staples to her grade four class at Sunset – looks up wearing a satisfied grin, revealing how much she enjoyed the experience.
“I used to do this as a job, so when they needed someone to wear the costume, I put up my hand,” she explains.
It turns out Miss Staples is a mascot performer in retirement – returning to familiar territory for the Isa Street parade.
She paid her way through university in Brisbane with a side hustle as a professional children’s entertainer.
Managed by Gold-Coast based talent agency TS Talent, Miss Staples travelled across Queensland for a bevvy of shopping centre openings, city festivals and Christmas events.
She has entertained crowds as a butterfly on roller skates, a gingerbread man, frosty the snowman and Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.
She was once flown to New Zealand to play Marshall from Paw Patrol at the opening of a Bunnings store.
Arriving in Mount Isa for the 2023 school year, she featured as the Sunset school tiger at last year’s street parade.
“I love to see the faces on the kids when they see the tiger – although these costumes can have pretty limited vision,” she laughs.
“I am very much a city girl, but it’s really cool seeing people arrive from all over Australia for the rodeo and I love to take part in the celebrations in some way.”
Winners at the Isa Street Parade included St Kieran’s Catholic School for best school entry; Eileen Fisher Community Kindy won the best community group entry; the best themed entry went to Ergon Mount Isa and best costume went to Sunset State School.