TILTON — When a flock of pink plastic flamingos landed this month on Tilton Island Park in the middle of the Winnipesaukee River, there was immediate speculation that they might have arrived to help raise money for the restoration of the town’s unique pedestrian bridge.
The bridge, which is listed on the New Hampshire Preservation Society’s list of “Seven To Save,” has been closed since last spring, and the town is looking into how it might repair or replace the bridge.
The pink flamingos have been a familiar sight in Tilton and the other towns of the Lakes Region since 1996, after the state created an artificial wetland area adjacent to the Exit 19 off-ramp of Interstate 93. The football field-sized wetland was required as a replacement for the loss of wetlands in the southern part of the state.
One day, a pair of plastic flamingos show up in the new wetland, along with a bright neon-pink sign stating, “Artificial Wetlands Deserve Fake Wildlife.”
The late Gordon King, who was a reporter for The Laconia Citizen at the time, and Tilton Attorney Charlie Chandler were later identified as being behind the birds’ appearance. With King acting as the official artificial wildlife reporter, a series of newspaper articles focused attention on the birds, which at different times sported scarves and other apparel, and began multiplying in number.
At one point, one of the flamingos disappeared, and local police received a ransom note with cutout letters from newspapers and magazines and a bright pink feather taped to one corner: “Flamingos kidnapping. Culprits have taken the birds.” The note demanded $600,000, to be provided to Hall Memorial Library for its renovation project.
Word of the kidnapping quickly spread, with letters of support arriving from as far away as Palos Verdes Estates, California. The Rotary Club there sent a letter to then-Northfield Police Chief Scott Hilliard (“soon to be ex-chief if he can’t find those birds”).
“During a recent trip to Kauai, I was surprised to read the article about the mysterious disappearance of the Pink Flamingos from the Northfield Wetlands. I am sure your entire community must be devastated at the loss of its prize bird celebrities,” the letter stated. “Rest assured, I think I have the answer as to where these missing Pinkies are — they were not birdnapped at all — actually they ran away to California. And can you blame them? Personally I would not like to winter in New Hampshire with only a few pink feathers to keep me warm. No Way!”
The newly formed Society for the Preservation of Artificial Wildlife (SPAW) helped to raise the ransom amount by selling $600 worth of plastic flamingos, donating the money to the library fund. The fundraising letter stated, “The Society for the Protection of Artificial Wildlife (S.P.A.W.) and Joanne Jenks of Tower Gallery Spirited Gifts invite you to join us in raising funds for the Hall Memorial Library. S.P.A.W. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of artificial wildlife located in Northfield.”
By December 1996, the Northfield Board of Selectmen passed a resolution:
BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
A parcel of land in the Town of Northfield, Merrimack County, State of New Hampshire, bounded and described as follows:
On the WEST by Interstate 93; on the SOUTH by Exit Ramp #19; on the NORTH and EAST by Route 132, formerly known as Route 3B and otherwise known as the road to Peter’s house
shall, from the date of enactment of this Ordinance forward be known as the Northfield Artificial Wildlife Preserve.
It is further resolved that, within the above-described Preserve, it shall be unlawful to:
- Remove artificial wildlife from said preserve unless authorized, in writing, by the Society for the Preservation of Artificial Wildlife. This restriction applies to any natural person including but not limited to employees of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. The aforementioned Society shall have full and complete authority to manage, in any manner, unnatural habitat of and for artificial wildlife present in said Preserve.
- Entrance into the Preserve shall be by special permit secured from duly authorized Society members.
- No person may trespass or otherwise attempt to capture artificial wildlife within the preserve without first obtaining the aforementioned entry permit and an artificial trapping/capture permit which may be secured, if at all, from James Watt.
- In the event of Exit 19 becoming a full interchange, the preserve shall be immediately relocated. DATED at Northfield, New Hampshire this 30th Day of December, 1996.
After the experience in Northfield, pink flamingos started migrating to Tilton and other towns in Central New Hampshire and the Plymouth area. A Great North Woods chapter of SPAW formed in Dalton in 1998. Many of those appearances coincided with fundraising efforts: Residents could pay a ransom to get rid of the flocks appearing on their lawns in what came to be known as “flocking” or “pinking.”
Gordon King himself became a victim of pinking when a flock appeared on his front lawn, a situation resolved only with a donation to the Laconia Historical and Museum Society.
It was no wonder, then, that residents suspected the appearance of pink flamingos at Tilton Island Park might involve fundraising for the island bridge.
A check with Tilton Town Administrator Jeanie Forrester did not resolve the question. “We are aware of the pink flamingos on the Island,” she responded, “but to my knowledge, no fundraiser for the park.”
This story originally appeared in the Laconia Daily Sun.