For those of us who were fortunate to attend Pampa High School between 2002 and 2006 can no doubt remember The Green Monster.
Beloved by his hometown and loathed by surrounding school rivals, Evan Grice showed his Pampa Harvester pride in an authentic and unbeatable way that was undeniably contagious and uplifting.
Having an immense love for the game at an early age, recalling his first football game in 1994 when he was six years old, Evan would enter high school with the Harvester spirit engrained deep within him.
“I was a young freshman and a manager of the basketball team. I was really just trying to find my way as most freshmen usually are,” he said.
“I was laying in bed one night and I just had this vision and it was the weirdest thing. It was just this epiphany that happened like you know what? I’m just going to paint my face green, spray my hair green. I literally went to Walmart and bought a white t-shirt and some green paint. People always said your blood must run green because you love the Harvesters so much. So that’s what I put on the front of my shirt: My Blood Runs Green.”
On August 29, 2002 at a football game in Perryton, The Green Monster made his debut appearance: but not without a slight hiccup along the way during his face painting process.
Stopping at a McDonald’s bathroom, Evan decided that instead of just using green paint, he would paint half of his face yellow to match the Harvester colors.
In an attempt to perfect the look, Evan spent a little too much time painting the first half of his face that by the time he stepped out to call out to his dad for the yellow paint, a massive line had formed with customers needing to use the facilities: a story that Evan fondly and amusingly recounts.
Throughout the years, The Green Monster’s look would evolve and his legacy would grow, capturing the attention of all those who cast their eyes upon him, at home and afar.
Beginning with green body paint, green hair, black pants and blue Converse during his freshman days, Evan would add more to the persona with each passing school year.
During his sophomore year, he would incorporate gold paint and by his junior year, The Green Monster would be decked out with a cape, bandanas, wrist bands and his dad’s old green Navy jacket for a sentimental touch.
“It was totally unexpected because I wasn’t doing it to get noticed or popular,” Evan laughed. “But that’s what ended up happening. I was just out there supporting my home town and it turned into something astronomical.”
Although he’s unsure of who coined him the nickname The Green Monster, he does remember when a classmate came up to him during their first home game and took one look at his painted face and outfit and screamed.
“That’s when I was like, okay, I’ve made it,” he chuckled.
Evan had a massive amount of support by his parents, fellow students and staff, notably the late Coach Cavalier and his wife, Kathy, who adored what Evan was not only doing for the school, but for the entire community of Pampa.
“Evan as The Green Monster was one of the most unique things that Pampa High School ever had. It was definitely his own creation and he was embraced by the whole community with that character. It was just very special,” said Kathy Cavalier.
The Green Monster was even featured in the school newspaper with multiple articles written by Chelsea Mills (Anderson) who played a large role in helping to further his legacy.
At one point during his junior year, Evan had suffered a torn ACL and was on an immobilizer for a period of time, and although he wasn’t going to allow that to stop him from showing his school spirit, he was told by an administrator that they didn’t want him out there on the track because he wasn’t an “official mascot”, despite Evan’s beloved reputation among the school.
More than 200 students and teachers gathered together and signed a petition to allow him back on the track: a demand that was accepted and the rest is history.
Dustin Elliot was “Harvey”, the Pampa Harvesters mascot during the time of The Green Monster era, and the dynamic duo knew how to put on a show, even making the local news.
“I was the unofficial sidekick of Harvey and we had a lot of fun. I remember my senior year, there’s a piece of footage from when we played Caprock at home and we beat them really bad and on the wrap-up on News Channel 10, they opened the highlight package on myself and Dustin Elliot. It ends with me jumping into his arms and he runs down the track carrying me,” Evan said with a smile in his voice.
With that much school and hometown spirit, The Green Monster would makes some enemies along the way, nearly starting a riot when a few angry students from a rival school would push the Monster a little too far.
“I remember my junior year, I went to Plainview and I nearly started a riot, no pun intended, with the Plainview student section. There was an incident where they had tried to make fun of the Harvesters with something they called the harvest stick, which was basically a handmade bamboo pole with an ear of corn attached to the end. A student ran over and shoved this thing into my face and without thinking about repercussions, I literally stood up at the rails and broke this thing over my knee and threw it in the trash can. We had to be escorted to our car by Plainview Police because they were afraid there was going to be a riot in the gym with the students because they were that upset I had done that. I was trying to defend my school! I loved my school so much and I wanted to defend it by any means necessary, even if that meant ticking off 50 some odd students from the other school.”
Evan Grice has since retired The Green Monster, but the impact that he made in Pampa still echoes in the minds and hearts of all of us who are blessed to know him, with or without the face paint.
“Over the years, there have been few people you could argue bleed their team’s pride. Evan was one of those guys. Head to toe, he’d wear that Harvester gear-from the overalls, his RIOT shirt, the Jason hockey mask, to the face paint-he reveled in the spirit. He always exhibited passion for his interests,” said childhood friend, Dusty Joiner.
“I feel that he amped up the energy for being a Harvester in general. He encouraged us to be proud of our teams even through the tough seasons,” said long-time friend, Megan Bowley.
“Evan and I started high school together. His freshman year was my first year teaching. I went through some very challenging times with Evan and in the end, we all came out better than before. God knew the way things would end up and it couldn’t have been better for either Evan or myself. It’s hard for me to even call him Evan. I call him Mean Green because I have never seen anyone so invested in Pampa Harvester sports that he bleeds green to this day. His passion is unmatched. Mean Green is someone that will have me in his corner forever. I’m thankful our paths crossed,” former Pampa High School coach and teacher Dustin Miller said.
The empowerment and confidence that Evan gained during his high school years as The Green Monster allowed him to enter into adulthood with the perspective that life is too short to not be who you truly are and to enjoy it.
He is currently working on a book titled Facepaint, Failure and Finding Happiness about his days as The Green Monster: what led up to it, what’s happened since and everything in between.
“I can honestly say that if I had not taken that first step and did what I did in high school being The Green Monster, I do not think that I would be at least half the person that I am today. I was extremely shy and that face paint allowed me to kind of come into my own skin and allowed me to become more personable.”
“It is okay to take a risk sometimes and it is okay to put yourself out there and be who you are and that was the biggest thing for me.”
