The Group: Canyon Pointe Elementary PTO, Tomball, Texas
The Setting: The PTO's first carnival, held outside the school on what would become a very windy day in the Houston suburb.
The Idea: Host an afternoon of family fun with a circus theme. Activities included a moonwalk, mechanical bull, and carnival games like a ring toss, toilet paper toss, and musical chairs activities with books and cakes as prizes.
What Went Wrong: Strong gusts of wind delayed the event setup and dashed the PTO's decorating plans. The night before, volunteers had attached decorations to 25 tables. "When we went to put the tables outside on Saturday, the paper kept getting torn off by the wind, so we scrapped it and had to remove the paper from all the tables," recalls event cochair Robbin Swain.
What Happened Next: An "end of the rainbow" game and parts of other games blew away, and parents took off chasing after them. "We did have a contingency plan to move the carnival indoors in case of bad weather, but it was a beautiful day outside—other than the wind," says president Linda Pellegrino. "We managed to work around it quickly and came up with plan C—hold it all down!"
The Outcome: The PTO learned it could change course at a moment's notice. The carnival drew a great crowd and raised $15,000 for the group despite the windy weather.
Weather or Not: "Our joke became 'We prayed for no rain, but we forgot to add wind!' " says Pellegrino.
