Twenty-four money-making purple plastic flamingos have been nabbed. That, or they’re on the lam.
All that Brenda Baker does know is that they’re gone.
“They flew the coop,” Baker said.
Baker is a member at-large of the Heritage High School Band Boosters, and one of the group’s newer and more popular fundraisers has been disrupted due to the birds’ flight.
In December, the group purchased 24 plastic flamingos and painted them purple to show their Timberwolves pride. Throughout the spring, band members have taken donations to “flock” a person of a donor’s choice. The “victim” then wakes up to find purple plastic flamingos sprinkled throughout their yard with a sign that reads, “You’ve been flocked!”
That homeowner can then contribute to the cause and flock someone else, or let the band advertise for a short while until the next home is flocked, Baker said.
“It’s like a joke, like a prank,” Baker said. “It was really popular. The kids loved it, which is one of the main reasons we chose to do it. We wanted to do a team-building kind of thing where it crossed all the grades.”
Though the group normally keeps the flocking to Vancouver, Baker got a call about placing the flamingos at a Camas residence. A woman wanted the flock for her son’s 11th birthday, so Baker caved.
Baker, who works in Camas occasionally, did the flocking herself. When she returned, she found money from someone who wanted to flock another Camas residence. She again planted the birds, but she said that when she returned to take them back, they were gone.
The homeowner, Baker said, told her that some high school guys picked up the flamingos.
“She figured they were with us, but they weren’t with us,” Baker said. “It could have been competitiveness, like they wanted to mess with our high school. It could be kids being kids. The part that bugs me is that our kids don’t have flamingos.”
The flamingos have not yet returned home, and the group is out the $200 that they invested in the fundraising campaign.
Baker said she doesn’t have any hope for getting the flamingos back, but is asking that those wishing to donate to the band attend a fundraiser Friday.
The event Jazz & Pie … Just Desserts is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Heritage High School, 7825 N.E. 130th Ave. Admission is $5, which includes the dessert bar.
