Hamilton, Ohio – Wow! One little joke sure inspired a big reaction.
For anyone still in doubt – yes – the announcement made Saturday that the Fitton Center planned to convert the Carruthers Signature Ballroom into a skating rink was an April Fool’s Day prank.
As of 1:30 p.m. Monday, more than 52,000 people (and still counting) saw the Saturday morning Facebook post, due in large part to some 300 shares. To say nothing of the Instagram viewers.
Almost 2,600 clicked through to see the full story on our website.
Thank you all for playing along.
Many of you got it right away. Noting the date of the post seemed to do the trick for most.
“It IS April 1st,” one early comment pointed out.
“Having been on the design team for the ballroom had my blood boiling for a minute,” said another. “Then I changed the page on my sprocket-a-day desk calendar.”
Some of you caught the projected timeline. “Gotta be an April’s Fool joke,” said one alert reader. “Completion date is March 32, 2024.”
Some of you wanted to believe. “It’s a legit good idea,” one comment said. “I didn’t even consider it to be a joke because I loved it so much.”
At some point the comments shifted from good joke to don’t mess with us like that.
“I get it, April Fools,” one read. “But like… why make me sad?”
Not cool,” said another. “I got excited.”
Some replied with genuine anger.
“This not even something to fool about,” one poster wrote. “This is stupid if its fake post Why would you even jk about this. Do realize how many kids and adults love to skate. And we already got to go a hour out of our way if not more. This would be a great comeback. So if this is a jk for April fools, it’s not funny.”
It seems eternal damnation could be a consequence of our silliness.
“If this is an April fools prank, you will never reach the kingdom of god,” one post declared.
Even if not everyone liked it, we stand by the joke.
Executive director Ian MacKenzie-Thurley had the original premise for the gag and marketing manager Mark D. Motz leaned heavily on the notorious 1985 Sports Illustrated hoax “The Curious Case of Sidd Finch” to flesh it out.
“Any good satire has to have a kernel of truth, has to be a little bit believable” MacKenzie-Thurley said. “The fact that so many people responded so passionately all weekend tells me people are invested in this community in a big way. That’s a great thing.”
The Fitton Center for Creative Arts is located at 101 S. Monument Avenue on the Riverfront in downtown Hamilton, Ohio.
Building Community Excellence through the Arts and Culture
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