Got a toilet in your yard? Clear Fork Cheer might be behind it

BELLVILLE — A hot pink toilet sitting along the side of the road might raise a few eyebrows. For Clear Fork cheerleaders, those brightly decorated porcelain thrones have become a source of laughter, competition and a new way to connect with the community.

Clear Fork Cheer launched its Traveling Spirit Toilet fundraiser, turning an unusual idea into a friendly competition between the junior varsity and varsity girls while raising money for the cheer program.

“This is crazy. How are we going to do this?” team captain Jyllian Langer, 16, a junior on varsity, said after hearing about the fundraiser.

Langer quickly learned just how much work went into moving the toilets from yard to yard, but she also found the effort brought the team closer together.

“It’s also like team bonding and it’s a lot of fun, actually,” Langer said. “It’s not boring or just like a generic fundraiser.”

A fundraiser takes on a life of its own

The toilets have traveled throughout the Valley, appeared in yards, sparked conversations and left families wondering where they will show up next.

The fundraiser works exactly as its name suggests. Community members donate to have a decorated “Spirit Toilet” delivered to someone’s yard, and once someone gets “FLUSHED,” they can donate to have the toilet removed and choose who gets it next.

Donations can be made by sending the Clear Fork Cheer Facebook or Instagram page a message with the name and address of the person you would like to “flush.”

(Story continues below. Clear Fork cheer team drop toilets off in different yards. Provided by Clear Fork Cheer.)

“We’ve had some people buy back the toilet and keep putting it in other people’s yards,” Langer said. “I just think they’re having a lot of fun with it.”

The JV and varsity girls turned the fundraiser into a friendly competition to see which group could move its toilet to the most homes and raise the most money for the cheer program.

Coach Traci Wharton, who is in her third year as a coach, said the team initially did not realize the toilets could have themes. After looking at ideas, the coaches decided to make the decorating process part of the fun.

“It has definitely helped them bond,” Wharton said. “Picking up the toilets, delivering the toilets, working together to get them where they need to go.”

For Langer, one of the most memorable moments came when the team went to pick up a toilet from a basketball coach’s house.

“He came out with his kids and started throwing water balloons at us,” Langer said. “And we were scattering everywhere.”

From toilets to team bonding

Coach Chandell Pfleiderer, who has spent about 15 years with the program, said the idea came from a conversation with Athletic Director Jessica Brokaw while the coaches worked on the program’s annual “Egg My Yard” event for Easter.

The cheer program needed new uniforms because its numbers had grown, and the athletic department’s regular replacement cycle did not cover the cost. The coaches also wanted to build funds for senior gifts, especially with seven juniors on this year’s team who will become seniors next year.

When Brokaw suggested the toilet fundraiser, Wharton said she needed to see examples before she could picture how a toilet could become a school-spirit fundraiser.

The cheerleaders took time during cheer camp to design their toilets, with JV creating one and varsity creating another. Pfleiderer and Wharton also decorated a toilet to look like Brokaw and named it the “Honorary Throne.”

They painted the toilet in Clear Fork colors to fit the school spirit theme and used a large picture of Brokaw, along with pom-poms, to decorate it.

Pfleiderer said the team moms found and donated toilets through connections, including from someone involved in a bathroom demolition and another reportedly found in the woods.

“The whole vibe this year has been amazing,” she added.

Bringing the Spirit of the Valley to life

The fundraiser has reached farther than the coaches expected. Pfleiderer said she works in another county and was at a meeting when a co-worker started talking about a hot pink toilet with a head sticking out of it.

“I was like, oh my gosh, do I admit that that’s like my team’s toilet?” Pfleiderer said.

Team captain Chesnie Flynn, 16, a junior on varsity, said the community’s generosity surprised the cheerleaders.

“They’re very giving,” Flynn said. “We weren’t expecting people to donate a whole lot, but people have actually been donating a lot.”

She said the experience has taught them more about their role in the community. 

“We just kind of have fun and just entertain people and bring moods up,” Flynn said. “And people are definitely having fun with it, just like we are.”

The coaches have challenged their athletes to become a bigger presence throughout the Valley and understand that cheerleading involves more than standing on the sidelines at football and basketball games.

“Spirit isn’t just how loud you can cheer under the Friday night lights,” Pfleiderer said. “It’s serving your community, creating traditions and memories, and sometimes, apparently, it’s putting a brightly decorated toilet or the honorary throne in someone’s front yard.”

For Langer, that means giving someone something to laugh about after a difficult day, whether they spot a toilet on the road or see the cheerleaders having fun at a Friday night game.

“I think Spirit of the Valley means honestly just bringing the people of the Valley together,” she said. “And just brightening their days.”

Flynn said “Spirit of the Valley” means being a role model, especially for younger children who look up to the cheerleaders.

“They definitely look up to us and can count on us to always be welcoming to them,” Flynn said.

What started with brightly decorated toilets in front yards has become something bigger for Clear Fork Cheer: a way to bring people together, make them laugh and remind the community that school spirit does not have to stay under the Friday night lights.