OGDEN — Under cover of darkness, four stealthy figures hurried to complete their covert mission and to flee the yard of their victim.
About 25 bright-pink yard flamingos — the plastic kind with "wings" that twirl in the breeze — were inserted into the turf outside Carol VandenAkker's South Ogden home. She'd been "flocked," and the avian agents disappeared into the night.
Inside her home, VandenAkker suspected something was up.
"I have been the instigator of a few flockings myself," she confessed.
VandenAkker is Weber State's Child and Family Studies Department secretary, and recent flocking activities are a fundraiser for the Child and Family Studies Student Association.
For a $10 donation to the cause, students will flock a yard or the outside of a WSU office. For another $10, the receiver can send them on to a new victim, either anonymously or taking full credit.
Flocking insurance, in the amount of $10, is available for those who want to support the cause but not play host to tacky lawn ornaments (outdoors) or just one three-dimensional model, plus multiple laminated flamingo pictures on the door and walls (office).
Pink-vested retrieval crews collect the yard birds a couple of days later.
"We've had about three offices decorated here at Weber State, in this building," VandenAkker said. "Everyone has enjoyed it. You look down the hall to see if anyone's been flocked. It brightens our day."
Chloe D. Merrill, associate dean of the College of Education, was one of the first at Weber State to discover her office had been flocked.
"I came back and did a flocky dance outside my door," she said. "It was so much fun to see all the pink flamingos and to know someone cared enough to flock me. So next, I flocked the dean of the college. Oh, wait, I'm not sure he knew it was me."
Merrill said almost every building on campus has had an office flocked. Some of her neighbors in the community have been, too.
"One of them caught the kids as they were finishing up, and it was a great opportunity to be able to discuss family, relationships and different issues with the students," she said. "It was a great opportunity for our students to let people know what we do here. This fundraiser has been a great way to get our students into the community, and it's been great publicity."
Todd Spencer, president of the Child and Family Studies Student Association, said flocking people sounded like more fun than the group's other fundraising options.
"We wanted to do something that was different from selling cookie dough," said Spencer, 24, of Marriott-Slaterville. "Our adviser grew up in North Dakota, and this was something her Baptist church used to do. It was tailor-made to meet our needs."
The student association will use the funds to help defray the costs of sending members to a Phoenix conference in their field. The student group also brings professionals to campus to share expertise, answer students' questions and advise on career matters. It also does community service projects.
Spencer said the fundraiser has been making about $200 per week, and has cleared the initial $400 investment in 150 lawn flamingos, which are stored in an office in the education building. A donation of $50 or more could get all 150 plastic birds placed in a single nonflamingo-insured yard.
"It's just really entertaining to put the flamingos out, because they are the symbol of cheesy lawn ornaments," he said. "They represent good weather and good times. It's really humorous to see them all focused in a small area. "
Spencer said some people enjoyed being pranked less than others, so his group has made a nice chunk of money on insurance sales.
One order came with strict instructions to double check the address, because the homeowner's next-door neighbors would see no humor in an accidental flocking.
The fundraiser continues through Oct. 28. No decision has been made yet on whether it will be repeated next semester or next fall. For information or to order a flocking, call 801-626-7517 or send an email to CFSSA@weber.edu. The group flocks homes within 10 miles of Weber State, and considers jobs further out on an individual basis.
As for VandenAkker, she said Tuesday morning that she was enjoying her temporary landscape decor.
"It was dark when the students came, so I waited until morning to see the full effect. It was a flock of flamingos, lots of little ones and two big ones. One of my neighbors walked around the block to take a picture. We enjoyed laughing together."
VandenAkker's normal yard decorations include flowers, rocks and trees, she said.
"I don't have figures. My yard is really quite ordinary," she said.
And she has no intention of redecorating.
"Pink flamingos aren't really my style," she said. "I have a couple ceramic bear cubs in my backyard, but they're not pink. And they're in the backyard."
pchallis 19 Sep, 2012
-
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/standard/frontpage/~3/sPgmEXSgpoc/pink-feathered-fundraisers-flock-together-weber-state-university
--
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Pink-feathered fundraisers flock together at Weber State University
Dengan url
https://yourantiqueauto.blogspot.com/2012/09/pink-feathered-fundraisers-flock.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Pink-feathered fundraisers flock together at Weber State University
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Pink-feathered fundraisers flock together at Weber State University
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar