Teens use prank as a creative way to raise funds for trip to New York

To those who have already fallen prey to the group of theatrical teenagers who, working under cover of darkness, leave their distinctive calling cards, this will come as no surprise: “flockings” are on the rise.

But, what in the world is a flocking?

Most would call it a prank. The exercise is akin to “forking,” that college campus shenanigan where students take all the disposable forks from the dining hall and use them tine-down to fill a lawn with a legion of little fork soldiers, or more commonly to spell out a message.

Corvallis’ band of merry pranksters have embraced this pointless joke and taken it one step further: flamingoes for forks, showing up in the night and staking a batch in an unsuspecting person’s yard.

The next morning the homeowner wakes up to find an impromptu flock of kitschy plastic waterfowl outside their door.

The absurdity of it all is pretty disarming, and probably helps keep away some of the expected negative feelings come from finding you’re the victim of a prank.

And for those who are going to be grumpy in the morning no matter what, well, at least it’s for a good cause.

The pranksters are members of the International Thespian Society No. 1191, a group of theater-minded students with members at both Corvallis High School and Crescent Valley High School. However, the club, which is advised by Laura Braibish, is not directly affiliated with the school district.

The students have been using the prank as a kind of guerrilla fundraising effort to raise money for a trip during next spring break to New York City, where they plan to attend Broadway shows and a theater workshop.

So far, they’ve mostly been flocking known theater supporters, from whom they ask for a suggested donation of $25 to remove the flock. Homeowners can also send the flock on to a friend’s house or buy “flock insurance” to make sure that their lawn doesn’t become a nesting area again.

In addition, businesses or individuals can sponsor individual flamingoes, and even affix logos to the birds for a bit of traveling advertising.

Regardless of how you characterize it, you have to give credit to the group of students for doing their best to find a fresh way to to raise money in these extremely challenging economic times.

So far, the fundraiser has been underway for about two weeks and there are four flocks of roving flamingoes.

The teens say it’s much more fun than raising money by selling chocolate bars or magazines.

The teens recently got the added bonus of flocking the yard of one of their teachers, Corvallis High School choir director Bret Godfrey, after his wife, Benton County Sheriff Diana Simpson, offered him up to be one of the early victims.

Anyone else interested in participating in the fundraiser can e-mail thespiansocietykids@gmail.com.