Hula hoops and devil sticks

During one of my daily walks this week, I spotted this flier next to the east entrance of the Wallingford Playfield.  Not only was I drawn to the elaborate detail on the flier, but I was intrigued by the items listed as missing:  hula hoops, frisbees, and devil sticks.  I figured, someone took a lot of time to create such a flier, and so these items must have sentimental value for that person.

When I got home, I called the number on the flier and spoke to Megan, who promised me she’d share her story with us.  So, I’ll let Megan tell you about her lost items in her own words:

Looking for a missing fun bag may sound trivial to some people, something not worth of any search requiring investigation, and certainly not a calculated plan with hopes of retrieving items such as: frisbees, hula hoops, and devil sticks. Nevertheless, these items have brought me and my family joy and those we share them with, laughter and new skills.

So as the story goes… last Friday was a sunny day and my daughter’s classmates, their parents, and I decided to spend some time at Wallingford park. I brought our ‘fun bag’ & three hula hoops with us to the park.

Out of the three handmade hula hoops was one made by a women at the Oregon Country Fair 3 years ago and that is where my daughter, now 7, mastered the skills necessary to hula til sun goes down, hula around her neck, and hula to the music with a smile from ear to ear. Hula hoop two was my first attempt at making hoops and was made out of PVC conduit and wrapped in red and blue tape. Hula hoop three was a gift from a friend, a weighted hoop with water inside. Tempted you may be now to try one, and I would have let you if I saw you at the park that day. You see wherever we go with ‘toys’ we plan on sharing!

Other items missing 2 frisbees: one that went traveling through Mexico and was not only our toy but a cutting board, a seat, a bowl, a plate and sometimes shade from the harsh sunlight. Frisbees have now made my top ten list of things to travel with and they go with us everywhere. The soft frisbee missing item two, was my daughter’s and easier to play catch with for small hands.

There were two sets of devil sticks handmade with bike tubes and recycled materials we found at the barder fair, the fair after the fair at the Oregon Country Fair. The man selling them was more interested in teaching children how to play with them than he was selling. We were intrigued and inspired and I bought a pair for me and my daughter so we could one day master them and have our own act.  We haven’t mastered them yet!

Needless to say these were items that brought joy to us and our community. When I think about them, I know they are doing the same to the people who acquired them at the park last week. Though I wish they would have enjoyed them at the park instead of taking them home.

I have received a few calls since I posted signs about the missing loot around Wallingford: A guy with an English accent saying he may have seen them at Magnusen Park? Kids prank calling me and saying them have them but left no address and they tried to have a Chinese accent. Then there was Margaret at the Wally blog who mentioned I could post there.  Thanks Margaret.

If you’ve seen these items, people go ahead and use them, but contact us because we still would like them back! [email protected] Thank you 😉