North Bend Mayor Ken Hearing laughed as he assessed the newest additions to his otherwise immaculate front yard: a baker’s dozen plastic pink flamingos and a sign announcing, “You’ve Been Flocked!” One sassy bird donned a feather boa and a neon-pink Mount Si choir T-shirt, providing some clue as to why these creatures had migrated to his lawn.

Members of VOICE, Mount Si High School choral department’s booster club, organized the flocking to help raise funds for the choir’s upcoming trip to New York City. On the evening of Thursday, Jan. 24, a team of singers and parents installed the Pepto Bismol-colored crew, along with a note explaining that for a donation, they would remove the flamingos and place them in a yard of the donor’s choosing.

“They are about the ugliest birds ever,” said Hearing. “When I came home at 9 p.m. last night and saw them, I was shocked and flocked at the same time.”

Hearing didn’t know who’d chosen him, but lauded the booster club’s efforts.

“I guess this is part of being mayor; I’m a target,” Hearing said. “It’s an ingenious fund-raising method.”

The first flockee was Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson, who awoke to the spectacle in his yard the morning of Monday, Jan. 21. He requested to have the birds sent to his next-door neighbors.

Since then, the flamingos have made their way to North Bend and Fall City. The birds spent the night of Wednesday, Jan. 23, at Laurie and Kevin Hauglie’s Fall City home.

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