Chris Geebus Designs Rockford Ice Hogs Hat (Local Artist Hat Series Giveway)

(IceHogs.com) Chris Geebus is also a self-taught artist who grew up in Rockford surrounded by a very creative family, including his artistic parents and grandmother who herself was a self-taught artist. Chris grew into a professional artist over many years of trial and error, starting by creating pieces live at local fairs and festivals. He later began to curate his own music and art shows in Rockford and soon after self-published his own comic books and began traveling the country combining his love for comics, artwork, and music at various conventions. It all led to his eventual work with murals. Chris now has multiple published comic books, as well as murals that can be found in places like Target and Goodwill.

His hat design was inspired by an old folktale he heard about Rockford when he was young. As the tale went, before the bridge over the Rock River was built, they used to have to cross by using rope-pulled ferry boats. One year the winter weather came early so the farmers that needed to cross were rushing to get their livestock across before the river froze. During that process, a pig farmer’s ferry ride didn’t go as planned and his whole ferry of hogs tipped over. The hogs that didn’t make shore were found frozen. This was the event that led to the first bridge in Rockford being built.

“So, all I could picture in my head [after hearing that tale] were ice cube hogs”, said Chris. “I’m extremely proud to be a part of this series. It has been a bucket list objective of mine to leave something at home for my family to be proud of.”

The first 1,500 fans will receive Chris’s folktale-inspired hat on Friday, April 18, the final home game of the IceHogs 2024-25 regular season.