Flamingo Fred Kidnapped

Fred had been a familiar face over the past 4 years to the campers at Vogel State Park in Blairsville Georgia.  For at least two times a year, he would stand proudly at the mouth of the campsite with his fellow camp mates, a plastic skunk named Stinky and a lit up palm tree, no name given.  Just like his friend the palm, Fred was a light up flamingo whose wings would flap and his head bow as he lit up the dark nights of June thru October.  All the campers, young and old, that would pass Fred greeted him warmly and with a smile.  Everyone loved Fred.

Then tragedy struck.  Early in the morning of June 24th, 2009, one of Fred's proud owners awoke around 3:40 am, to answer the call of nature, and was shocked to find Fred was missing.  The beautiful pink glow was missing in the dark night and the place where Fred had been perched was empty.  Fred had been kidnapped.   Anger, sadness and rage filled the owner, but he knew there was nothing more that could have been done until first light.

For the rest of the morning, the owner tossed and turned worrying about his devoted friend and hoping that in the morning Fred would be found.   As others in the camper awoke, that darn call of nature, he had to proclaim the bad news---Fred had been kidnapped.  Sadness filled the camper--all pledging that at first light, Fred would be found.

As morning broke, word of Fred's kidnapping had spread.   Fellow campers that walked by the campsite would question "Where is Fred"?  As they were given the news, their faces reflected feelings of shock, anger and sadness.

I took it upon myself to begin a search and rescue mission for Fred.   I put on my flip flops, placed on my hat, and filled up my coffee mug ready to seek out my missing friend and prosecute his captors.  I decided my appearance was low key enough, but added a touch of seriousness by putting on my martial arts T-shirt.  You mess with my flamingo, you mess with me.

As I walked thru the campground, I spread the news of Fred's kidnapping and asked all to remain on high alert.  When I checked back at base camp, Fred was still nowhere to be found.  I started out on my second mission--target---teenagers.  There are approximately 100 of them camping here---perfect suspects for kidnapping and practical jokes--but we were not laughing.  This was Fred!

As I scouted their area it became clear.  If they had committed this offense, Fred was no longer in their possession.  He has been dumped.  I returned to camp to proclaim my conclusion.  As I got closer, the Park Ranger passed me in a pickup truck...hummm I wondered.  As I walked into our site, I saw another Ranger and was called over by my father.  He exclaimed "FRED HAS BEEN FOUND".  He had been saved from the jaws of the garbage truck.

Apparently Fred had first been located by the Ranger in the volleyball pit.  Then a fellow camper saw Fred had been picked up and placed in the garbage truck and notified us immediately.  Again the park Ranger was called and Fred was rescued.   He was quickly returned to us, and there was much rejoicing--YEA!   

As we were joyously reunited with Fred, we could see that he was not quite himself.  After further examination, it was discovered that many of Fred's lights were no longer shinning; he had been broken.  We are determined to help Fred recover from this tragedy and are truly grateful to our camping neighbor who kept hope alive and discovered Fred, and to the park superintendent David Foot, who replied to our thanks with stating "we just try to protect our wildlife".  

Photo Credit © Salvador Burciaga | Dreamstime.com