PAST VACATION BIBLE SCHOOLS

2012 - Sky. Anything that flies. A 7 x 8 foot styrofoam biplane hanging from the ceiling. Clouds, hot air balloons, kites, etc.

2011 - Pandamonium. China theme. Great Wall of China and tower made from a couple hundred boxes, bamboo, pandas, koi windsocks, silk banners, paper lanterns.

2010 - High Seas Expedition. Sailing ship theme. 20 foot tall mast with sails, ship's wheel, gunwales, cannons, foam seagulls, block & tackle and lots of rope.

2009 - Crocodile Dock. A swamp theme with a structural 4x12 foot deck made of rough timbers and planks. Also included a 15 foot tree draped with Spanish moss, a boat and raft, a fishing shack, lots of green plants, and several birds and animals made of foam, plastic or concrete.

2008 - Power Lab. Had a great time with lights, liquids, and videos. Made several looping DVDs of digital gauges, radar screens, ICU heartrate monitors, etc that played on screens all over the stage. Filled large vases with colored water and used aquarium bubblers, filled blank areas with black plastic, corregated aluminum, chalkboards, and silver mylar sheets.

2007 - Avalanche Ranch. The centerpiece for the stage was a 16 foot train made around a 750 gallon (300 pound) steel tank with a fog machine in the smokestack. We added a windmill, a styrofoam eagle soaring above, a painted red rock backdrop, and a few artificial Christmas trees. Hidden in the balcony at the rear of the sanctuary was an 8 foot long cougar and a covered wagon served as the entry into the sanctuary.

2006 - Fiesta! Entire santuary covered with paper flowers, "papel picado" (punched paper) banners, and serapes. Stage backdrop was an Alamo style adobe building made of brown Kraft paper, blue paper sky above with scattered clouds. Styrofoam props included an 8 foot saguaro cactus covered with hundreds of toothpicks, an animated billygoat, and several prickly pear cacti. I also made a fullsized man taking a siesta under the cactus but someone complained he was offensive so he was deported.

2005 - Serengeti Trek. The year I discovered styrofoam. VBS was held 2 weeks before my daughters wedding, so I made several styrofoam props in advance and someone else did the actual decorating. Props included 2 gazelles, an feathered ostrich with his head in the sand, a flying hornbill, crowned cranes, and a 13 foot tall giraffe. Stage background was a giant acacia tree painted against a sunset. Entryway into the sanctuary was a thatched hut and two 8 foot elephant tusks.

2004 - Lava Lava Island. A huge volcano took up a third of the stage, inside the volcano was a fog machine, a giant smoke-ring generator, red floodlights and red rope lights. Each night, the volcano stirred a little more, starting with a little flicker and rumble on Monday night and progressing to a full eruption on Friday night. 2 blue tulle waterfalls tumbled into a pond that housed flamingos and a crocodile

2003 - SCUBA. The year of the pool noodle. Pool noodles were used to make coral, a large anchor, and an animated moray eel. From the ceiling were hung lots of inflatable fish including a very large killer whale pool toy. Half of an old boat and a manneken in a wetsuit also decorated the stage. Entryway into the sanctuary was a submarine made from black plastic sheeting and lawn arches

2002 - Bug Safari. - I was not involved that year.

2001 - Polar Expedition My first year of minor involvement with VBS decorating. I made a full-sized igloo out of 50 large produce boxes painted white and blue to resemble giant ice blocks. This was the year I invented the airblow giant snowglobe that you now see on sale everywhere. Unfortunately, I didn't think to patent it! I took clear vinyl and cut out panels based on a "geodome", then taped the panels together using clear package tape. I mounted the dome on a sheet of plywood with a fan underneath, put some plastic penguins inside and threw in a bucketful of styrofoam beanbag beads for snow.

Posted 7/04/07