And now the BAWK story: I mean back story as to why I BAWKED, I mean biked around Sunnyvale and rubber chickened the Department of Public Safety peeps. It actually started in 2001 and I have NOT done it in a long time. After 911, I was asked by the local Muscular Dystrophy Association to deliver cookies to local fire stations as a thanks for their service. Both fire and police service people have helped with MDA for years. This includes at summer camp, where I was a volunteer entertainment director (ended up doing it for over 20 years). The rubber chicken came into all this as a staple of entertainment. At summer camp I used to put the fire and police volunteers against each other in fun competitions (water balloon slingshots, rubber chicken sling shots, costume contests, karaoke, etc.) to keep kids of all ages entertained. Was a blast!
Another way the fire peeps help MDA is with the "Fill the boot" fund raiser they hold annually. A decade or so ago, on my birthday I saw them at an intersection in Sunnyvale, and gave them rubber chickens to say thanks (The same little rubber chicken key chains for volunteers, service peeps, and kids of all ages across many events to say "Thanks!" and encourage more). Thendid it another year, but did not make it a regular thing.
This year, I "got a wild hair" ... OK really a "wild rubber chicken feather" ...and decided to bike around town to every fire station to do a full rubber chickening and say "THANKS!" Appreciation for years of service and shared fun! The bonus this year is that the "Sunnyvale Art and Wine Festival" was also going on, so I got to rubber chicken the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety as a whole! WHOO HOO! Makes perfect sense when you realize how Sunnyvale has integrated its safety services.
At each station... the characteristic look of 'Why is this cyclist standing here in front of the station with rubber chicken?" And then I explained what was going on, and we talked about many things, MDA, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition: Bike Sunnyvale, Sunnyvale CERT program, the Foo Dogs, and more. Kinda a smorgasbord of topics, with the rubber chicken as a catalyst. Wish I told this story sooner and took more notes, because, well, so many good stories and things for all us peeps to learn and get involved in.
So that is the BAWK, I mean back story...
Stay tuned for more BAWK stories
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