Erik Sietsema— For the first few years I was here, when I would tell the kids they could go to children’s church, I would say: ‘If you are a small child, or just very immature, you can go downstairs.’ It was just a joke I’d add in. Sometimes I’d mention someone by name, just to tease them. Well, one year April Fools Day fell on Easter Sunday. It was a pretty full house that day, which is kinda normal for Easter. When I said: ‘If you’re a small child or just very immature, you can go downstairs,’ everyone got up and filed out of the room until I was the only one left. It was a lot of people, so it took several minutes. It was really funny. One of my favorite moments in Big Sandy so far.”
Marlys Myers— “Back in the day when you went to the gas station, the guy would pump your gas for you, and come out and do all the fluid checks and stuff. I told my sister that it was her turn to get the blinker fluid checked in the car. And I said “You know I heard they have a different color now. Maybe get, like a different color. I didn’t tell her it was April Fools, but she believed me… She wouldn’t give me the satisfaction of telling me, but I know she did it!”
Sandra Larson— In Fort Benton, the newspaper, the River Press, actually photoshopped Shep (the big Shep statue in front of the Grand Union) out. They made it look like someone stole Shep. Their Facebook page blew up. Finally, they had to say ‘We’re kidding. It’s an April Fool’s joke. Nobody did it.’ It kinda backfired on them. It was crazy. Lindsey, their graphic designer, is amazing. It looked real. I had to drive by and make sure it was actually still there. People got really upset.”
Anonymous— “My husband used to repair appliances for TV Land. One April Fools, this gentleman called, and he had like 8 washers and some dryers that needed repair for his clients. He wanted them done right away. I said ‘I don’t know if he has time.’ The man said ‘Well I need them done right away.’ So when my husband came home I asked him and he said ‘If I could just get them right away I’ll just do them.’ So, I relayed that message to him. I went over to the grade school the next day. The janitor was Robin Pearson. I just knew it was ‘Robin’ that called me about the washers and dryers. And the washers and dryers never showed up. Robin didn’t have any idea what I was talking about, because he was not the one who called me. It was little Mister Innocent, Shane Cline. And he has been laughing about it for years since.”
Cassie Bahnmiller— “My dad lives for April Fools Day. He was at work and his friend had just gotten a new pickup. So he broke into his friend’s locker at work, got the keys, and pulled a fuse from the fusebox. He just left it there. Closed the fuse box, locked the truck, and put the keys back. That friend gets off of his shift, gets in his pickup, makes it about three blocks, and the pickup dies. So my dad sees him the next day at work, and asks ‘What’s going on? How’s your day?” He answered: ‘Oh that darn pickup I bought broke down, but it’s not a big deal. I have full coverage. The dealership pays for the towing. It’s at the dealership now. They’re looking into it. My dad goes ‘Oh, uh, really. Wow. That must be pretty nice. Sounds good.’ The dealership calls and explains that the problem is the fuse that was pulled. ‘You can come get your pickup. Nothing else was wrong with it. However, you are going to have to pay for the tow, and the service fee.’ So my dad fessed up ‘I was just playing a joke!’ He ended up paying the fees. Kind of an April Fools joke that backfired.”
