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Flamingos, this time of year?
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| Since temperatures have begun to drop, most birds have been seen migrating south. Strangely enough, a warm front must have moved in to Gina and Hector Apodaca’s yard Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning a flock of pink flamingos stood in their yard. “We blame our son,” the couple said. After all, the infamous flamingo prank is known to be the handiwork of the Gillette Wild Hockey Club, with which their son is affiliated. The prank is part of a hockey club fundraiser. - News-Record photo by Alton Strupp |
By JEREMY GOLDMEIER, News-Record Writer jgoldmeier@gillettenewsrecord.net
On a cold and gray Wednesday morning, Gina Apodaca woke up, little suspecting that her yard soon would be under attack.She glanced outside of her blinds at 6:30 that morning ... and saw nothing out of the ordinary. But after a shower and a quick session on the computer, she looked outside again.
And there they were.
Forty bright pink flamingos. The unruly birds had quickly made themselves at home on her front lawn, some dipping their heads into the grass, others dangling from hanging planters.
Apodaca had Mass to attend that morning, and frankly had no time to attempt to unravel the mystery behind this bizarre invasion. Once she returned home, however, she discovered the notice on her front doorstep: “You’ve been flocked.”
As it turns out, the plastic flamingos were part of a fundraising effort by the Gillette Hockey Association. Members of the group install the yard ornaments at unsuspecting homes, and then request a small donation to pass the flamingo flock onto someone else. Either way, the birds are removed within 24 hours.
The hockey club also has taken the liberty of painting the camel outside of Campbell County High School’s South Campus an eye-numbing pink, with little flamingos standing guard around its base.
Rita Lubnau, one of the organizers behind the effort, says there are actually three flocks of 40 flamingos making the rounds throughout Gillette. The local hockey association borrowed the idea from Cheyenne’s hockey group, and so far the results of the flamingos’ “maiden voyage” have been impressive.
“We’ve heard some people were surprised at first, but later when they found the note on their door they were OK with it,” Lubnau said.
The unannounced “flockings” will continue until Nov. 6, when Gillette Hockey will host a “Meet The Flockers” party to thank donors for their contributions.
Apodaca was duly impressed with the effort, and decided to donate $20 to export the flamingos to someone else’s lawn. For the sake of not ruining the surprise, The News-Record has agreed to keep that upcoming victim’s identity anonymous.
Meanwhile, Apodaca says she’s not at all offended by the yard vandalism. Back when she was the youth minister at St. Matthew’s Church, kids would regularly decorate her yard with toilet paper. The flamingos will be much easier to clean up after, she says.
Of course, the kicker to this tale of vigilante fundraising came when Apodaca’s husband, Hector, finally woke up. He tends to sleep in mornings, and had not so much as stirred while his wife got to the bottom of the flamingo mystery.
But around 9:45 that morning ...
“The first thing I did was open the window, and then ...” Hector bursts out laughing, unable to finish his sentence.
So stay on your guard, Gillette. Your lawn could be next.
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| Two charged in Fox Park embezzlement |
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