Go West Young Men…and Women

The theme for this year’s vacation Bible school at Mt. Zion Community Church is western. Each year there’s a theme to keep children excited to come back to hear the skits and the Word of God. Past theme we’ve had a jungle, mining, undersea, and construction themes. Each time we’ve had an event we try to decorate accordingly. I’m a part of the prop department. Often my daughter Anna Prinkey gets the ideas and since I have a large stash of cardboard, I’ve been the designer and creator of back drops and other odds and ends.

This year’s not been an exception. My basement’s become the center of sketching, painting, cutting, and assembling multiple pieces for the stage and classrooms. The hardest part is cutting the cardboard into necessary shapes, even with a sharp box cutter. I try to keep the outline smooth without a lot of intricate angles or curves. It makes things much easier. Stage props are to be seen from a distance off. They don’t have to be masterpieces like Rembrandt, just more realistic than the works of Picasso.

This year so far, I’ve created a butte or mesa. It sort of resembles a top hat with varying earth tones cand rivulets running down its side. I made two types of cacti, saguaro and pear. Because they are plain and green, I made them bloom with yellow or pink blossoms. They needed to catch each kid’s eye and keep the kid’s attention. I was made a brown longhorn steer. Its horns were limited by the width of my cardboard. Another scene often seen out West are waterfalls tumbling from a high mountain peak. That was the second backdrop I painted. The rushing water against the dark tree-lined mountainside looks almost real. I couldn’t quite get the spray at the bottom to shimmer, so people will have to use their own imagination.

Many times our Pastor asks the congregation to borrow other props to set the stage. He’s smart. When the church borrows something, he doesn’t have to store for them from one year to the next and the church family gets more closely involved in the event. This year, I’m sharing a coat rack, a broom, a small table, and a wooden keg to make the dais look more authentic. He’s been looking for a small desk to look like the old-time sheriff’s desk and hasn’t been able to find one, so I made a cardboard replica, in case he can’t find one. I’ve also been working on a surprise for my daughter. Shhhh.

The best thing for me, I’m running out of cardboard.