CICERO — If you happen to wake up to a bunch of flamingos in your yard next month, don’t fret: you’ve just been flocked.
Throughout June, the Cicero Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary is holding a “Flamingo Flocking” fundraiser. Donors can pay to prank their friends with a 48-hour invasion of plastic flamingos. “Flockees” can pay to have the kitschy birds removed — and even relocated to another unsuspecting homeowner’s lawn.
Organizer Cathy Barling said the idea hatched when she participated in a similar fundraiser for the Gillette Road Middle School Parent-Teacher Group several years ago.
“We probably had maybe 25, 30 people that we flocked,” she recalled. “I just went on the internet and looked for fundraisers for schools.”
A squad of volunteers planted the flamingos at dusk, and most of the “flockees” were good sports about it. Onlookers got a kick out of it as well, Barling said.
“Usually nobody was home [when we did it] but neighbors saw us and said, ‘Oh, that’s a great idea — can I donate?’” she said.
Barling floated the flamingo concept to the Cicero VFD Auxiliary, and they agreed it was a fun idea.
You can arrange for a flocking of a house in the Cicero-North Syracuse area (no businesses or apartment complexes) for $10. If you have been flocked, you can pay $10 for a “trained technician” to remove the flock early or relocate it elsewhere. Flamingo flocking insurance to safeguard your home from future flamingo invasions is available for $10.
The flocking calendar is filling up quickly, so the auxiliary encourages interested donors to contact Barling as soon as possible at 315-699-3160 or
