Friends flocking friends for fun
By Caitlyn Kelleher
Mitiz Hebb stared out

the window recently

trying to Mfigure out just where the flock of birds sitting on her lawn had come from.

One minute she had looked out the window of her Main Street house and her yard overlooking the Spaulding Memorial playground appeared normal. Then she looked out and more than 20 pink flamingos were sitting there with a note from the Townsend Congregational Church.

"I couldn't believe what I saw," Hebb said.

The surprised and slightly overwhelmed resident decided she needed to figure out who'd "flocked" her and went into to call her daughter.

"I have no idea," she said as she tried to think of a culprit.

Sharlene Gugarty, a member of the flocking committee, will not reveal who was responsible for Hebb's flocking but said anyone could be next.

The congregational church is "flocking" yards as a part of a fun-raiser that is also a fund-raiser. A flock will mysteriously land at the location of your choice and stay for one day.

"Gosh don't we all just have enough to complain about," Gugarty said. "This is just a little injection of fun for the season.

Two flocks of 20 pink flamingos are traveling around to homes where they have been hired to go.

"The birds don't like to stay anywhere for more than a day," Gugarty said.

Hebb is a member of the congregational church as is her daughter, but flockers and flockees don't have to be.

The birds will continue to travel until Friday, Sept. 15 and for $25 they can be sent to any home within 15 miles of Townsend.

The birds will fly farther for only $50, Gugarty said. The greeting of your choice will be left for the "flockee," she said.

"They have large wingspans and don't tire easily," she said. "There is always room to flock some more."

As the church does not want to upset people the birds will be removed immediately if the flockee requests it. Or a person can become proactive and buy Flock Insurance from the committee for $25 or a person can limit his or her exposure with Flocking Flu Shot for a donation of $10.

The money raised through this will be used to pay utilities and building upkeep. This will allow the church to continue to open its doors to organizations, such the Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts and the American Red Cross, for free.

"We have to keep the lights going," Gugarty said. "We are hoping to raise awareness of the church."

So far the flocking committee has only been caught in the act once. As Gugarty and one of the other five members of the committee were placing the birds into the yard, a little pair of eyes peeked over the windowsill before quickly disappearing. The eyes and the little girl attached to them went upstairs said, "Mommy there is a flock of flamingos in the front year."

Before the little girl's mother believed her, she had to get her older sister's support, Gugarty laughing recalled the story.

"We are wearing our officials crew Tshirts, so people know what we are up to, as if they birds don't give it away," she said.

This is the first year the church has sponsored the birds, which were designed in Leominster by Donald Featherstone in 1957. So, Gugarty thinks it is appropriate that the birds have returned to the region.

She thinks the flock is a good way to help people celebrate their good news by sending a flock to a friend who has a new baby, a friend celebrating a wedding or sending a child off to college.

"There is no excuse not to smile when you see a pink flamingo or 20 of them," Gugarty said.