Pumpkins, Electoral Signs and Christmas Trees

Pumpkins, Electoral Signs and Christmas Trees
(from treasures to trash in one night)

After Halloween pumpkins look ridiculous hanging around the front yard. Their once broad grin and bright triangular eyes melt into themselves which give the appearance of a sixties movie star in need of a facelift.
And the same is said of our now past electoral signs of our hopeful candidates and our soon to be Happy New Year Christmas Trees. After the event has past the very next day they become trash. Get them out of the house, get them out of the yard, the wife doesn't want to see them anymore!
A lot of time and trouble was spent picking the right pumpkin, candidate and tree. And all were held in high esteem until Halloween was over, the candidate you chose failed and a new year begun.
To rid yourself of a pumpkin you just drop it into the new handy-dandy two wheeled green bin and TA -DAH it's gone. The dead tree that was once held in high esteem and was sung about is back on the car roof two weeks later. It's off to the firemen who kill it some more by chopping and or burning it. But the election sign is not so easily trashed, nor should it be. It can be used for many projects that concern or interest you. Or they can be shaped and formed to make a statement in the community.
My Dad for example, back in the day when election signs were plywood, would support the candidate with party colours closest to our house colour. He didn't care what the party stood for he just wanted the plywood to build a crappy shed and fence that unfortunately both matched in colour and vertical stability.
Today's election signs are made from cardboard and plastic that have no shed or fence building qualities. Why a big gust of hot air would send them flying! Makes you wonder how they made it through the campaigning.
So one has to get creative to recycle and reuse this free windfall. Such as,...turning the sign around in your front yard and painting 'FOR SALE' on it. Very popular choice in Richmond. Or you could collect them and trade them with your friends. "I'll trade you four Bill McNulty's for a Brodie, two Dang's and a Steves."
You could also cut and glue two dimensional artificial trees from them and replace the real trees they cut down in Minoru Park. It would better match the artificial turf on the fields than the real trees they plan on planting. And if they get sick you just repaint them instead of destroying them.
Why not have the school kids make snow geese from them and flood their school fields with them so the real grass eating, pooh fouling field fowls can't.
Use the back of the sign to write your appraisal of city hall completely in your native tongue (it's legal for now) with a rating from 1-10 at the bottom. Place the sign on the lawn at city hall and let them figure out if it's good or bad or the price of a dozen hot wings downtown.
Be sure to save a least one election sign of the person you elected as mayor. Then after a period of time (sometimes short, sometimes a little longer) when they screw up an issue you hold dear, paint over all the sign except for their smiling face. Then again completely in your own tongue write 'I put this guy in city hall and all I got was this crumby sign!'

Bob Niles