Staunton Already Has a Superhero. Let's Make It Official.
SWallCrawler has spent four years volunteering across the city without asking for recognition. A Change.org petition is asking for it on his behalf.
If you have spent any time downtown in the last four years, you have probably seen him: a figure in red and blue on a rooftop on Greenville Avenue, or working a street festival, always ready with a high-five or a selfie. Now a petition is asking the City of Staunton to make what residents already know official, by naming SWallCrawler the city’s honorary superhero.
The petition, started on Change.org on June 25 by local resident Nancy Kalanta, has collected 301 signatures toward a goal of 500.
Who Is Staunton’s Spider-Man?
He first appeared downtown in January 2023. By November of that year, the Staunton Downtown Development Association had named him Grand Marshal of the Christmas Parade, citing his volunteer work directing visitors, promoting local businesses, and posing for photos with anyone who asked.
“I’ve always been against accepting money, or for that matter thanks, as I’m doing what I love in being able to volunteer, take pictures and be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man,” he told a local outlet after receiving the honor.
He has kept his identity hidden the whole time, not for dramatic effect, but because he said he has no interest in fame or money.
Where It Started
In a recent interview with Kalanta, SWallCrawler talked about where the idea came from. It starts with a hard childhood.
“It comes from a place of guilt and a little bit of pain, and I don’t say that for pity,” he said. “I had a great home life. I have great folk. Outside of home, struggled a lot with isolation, bullying, you know, all the fun stuff that comes with being a kid. In the moments I needed help, or for someone to stick up for me, nobody was there.”
He found direction in Spider-Man comics he picked up in high school.
“Here was someone just like me who had struggled with a lot of isolation and being just a weird kid,” he said. “He got bit by the spider, and instead of using his powers for himself, he learned that he needed to use his power or responsibility to the people.”
SWallCrawler does not have superpowers. He has two working legs, he said, and a decision he made a long time ago. “I decided that I wanted to help people because nobody had helped me. I want to give all of myself, because what better way is there to live?”
What He Does
Last winter he cleared walks, driveways and iced-in cars after the ice storm. He has organized food and toy drives with local businesses and provided food and warm clothing to Staunton’s unhoused residents. He is trained in de-escalation and crisis intervention, works as an EMT and volunteers as a firefighter.
This summer the work has shifted with the heat wave. He is bringing water to unhoused residents and directing them to cooling shelters, including the Staunton Cooling Shelter at Faith Lutheran Church, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
He said the community response has been mostly positive, though not entirely. “I do get that to a small degree, but I also want people to know that I’m out here just to help. I stay anonymous because I don’t want fame, and I certainly don’t want wealth, and I do have a lot of experience and training to do this. I only want to help people. That’s all there is to this.”
Why Staunton
Staunton is his home, he said, and he does not see a better use of that fact. “What better way can you give to your community by giving all of yourself to it? You want to see your neighbors and the strangers you don’t know on the street do well. I heard in a song once that ‘strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet,’ and I think that’s very true.”
Before the interview ended, he left a message for anyone with time to spare. “We all have a great power to help one another, and I do think it’s a responsibility we have to do that. If you have two or three hours to go volunteer, or just check up on your neighbor, make sure you do that. When you help someone, you help everyone. The only way things are going to get better out there is if we take care of one another.”
The Petition
Kalanta’s petition asks the city to formally recognize SWallCrawler as Staunton’s official superhero. The recognition would be largely symbolic, but Kalanta wrote that it would “honor Spiderman” and “symbolize the spirit of unity and selflessness that he brings to our town.”
SWallCrawler did not wait for the outcome to be settled before his next shift. When the interview wrapped, he and Kalanta confirmed plans to see each other Thursday at the River City Bread Basket.