Hopping on Obama team rolls local pair into White House
Even on their most ambitious days as members of the Future Business Leaders of America club at Warren Township High School, Ali Sutton and Tony Rediger probably never dreamed of landing high-profile White House jobs this soon.
Their service to our nation even landed them a TV appearance on Monday's "Today" show with Al Roker - although it was difficult to identify them underneath the big, floppy ears and all that fur.
Mama Bunny and Junior Bunny, respectively, Sutton and Rediger entertained the masses at the White House Egg Roll.
"It started sort of like a joke between Tony and me that we would definitely get in our hometown paper if we were bunnies," says Sutton, 24, who grew up in Wadsworth. "It went from a joke to being a very serious thing very quickly."
Sutton's roommate, Bess Evans, of Evanston, works in the White House Visitor Office and mentioned she was looking for people willing to don the bunny costumes for a day.
"Ali and I thought it would be funny for the two of us to do that," says Rediger, who lobbied for the gigs. "We were proactive about it."
Having already cleared security in the days leading up to the Egg Roll, Sutton and Rediger showed up for duty at 5:30 a.m., when it was still dark. They were led into the White House.
"We were hanging out in the east wing reception room," Sutton says. "It was really this ornate room with bunny suits hanging everywhere. People have to help you get into them. Once you are in the suit you have to be escorted by somebody all day because you can't really see with the suit on."
Bunny suits are hot.
"We got some funny looks from Secret Service agents," Rediger admits. "It was weird to be walking around the White House in T-shirts and shorts. It was very, very warm. We lost three or four pounds probably."
Both of them got involved in national politics while students at the University of Iowa, and both were paid campaign workers for Barack Obama's history-making run to the presidency.
"I hopped (insert bunny joke here) on the campaign in March of '07," says Sutton, who graduated in 2006 and had been working for the not-for-profit Iowa State Association of Counties. "I worked there for a couple of months and realized I had to get on this. If this happens, I'd be crazy not to see it through."
Rediger, who is from Gurnee, joined the campaign right after his graduation in May. He worked in Iowa and throughout the nation, spending Election Day in North Carolina. Sutton put "my whole life" into her Nissan Maxima and went from Iowa to Utah to Ohio to Mississippi to Pennsylvania to North Carolina before ending up in Washington.
Both worked on the inauguration. Rediger landed a job as scheduler for the Secretary of Energy and Sutton works for New Partners, an international consulting firm. Their day at the White House probably won't open doors.
"Being a bunny; I don't think that qualifies you for anything else," Sutton laughs. "It was just a really fun day, that's all it was meant to be - I don't think they'll let me be Santa, unfortunately. It was a once-in-a lifetime opportunity."
While Papa Bunny, played by the father of a White House staffer, hung around with the first family, Sutton and Rediger posed for photos with thousands of kids on the lawn. Bunnies aren't allowed to talk, crawl on the grass and stain the white suits, or pick up kids or hold babies.
"You can't see and you have mittens on," Sutton says, realizing the liability concerns.
They both described it as a "cool" experience they will remember all their lives. It wasn't the easiest job, however. Even though new bunnies spelled them every hour, endless squatting for photos in a hot suit as kids tugged on ears and legs was challenging.
"I remember going to Great America as a kid, and I have a newfound appreciation for what they do," Rediger says of costumed characters. "I can't imagine doing that at Six Flags in July."