El Reno Residents Hunt For Traffic Cones Decorated As SpongeBob Characters

The El Reno community is having a blast searching for Bikini Bottom residents this summer. 

“Everywhere we go the kids are asking, is that a cone? Where are we going to find a cone?” said Casey Trejo, El Reno resident.  

It all started when one of Bailey Johnson’s children came home with a traffic cone. 

“One of them had dragged a cone home from somewhere one day, and she wanted to paint it up to be a SpongeBob character to put in her bedroom,” said Bailey Johnson who started the cone game.  

The family decided to paint up some traffic cones and hide them around town. They asked the community to take pictures with the cones, post them on Facebook and then hide the cone somewhere else. 

“Over the last week or so, I know that it’s been harder and harder for people to find, they’re hiding them a little better,” said Johnson.  

The Johnson family started the challenge about three weeks ago, but within the last week, the family had to create their own Facebook page “The Cone Squad of El Reno” to accommodate the response.  

“Something that brings the community together. It’s really fun because it brings together different businesses and just different people together,” said Kayla Trejo, El Reno resident.  

Even the police department is playing along.  

“I took SpongeBob in, I sat him down at the bar, got him a cold drink and things kind of took off from there,” said Troy George with the El Reno Police Department.  

And right now, people aren’t so concerned with crime.  

“I was approached yesterday, by a woman walking down the street pushing a stroller and that was their first question, was hey have you seen any of the cones,” said George.  

The family has even been caught putting the cones out by the police.  

“He turned his lights on, came up to the car, asked what we were doing, I said it’s not as bad as I looks, we just put SpongeBob out right there,” said Melissa Johnson. 

People of all ages are enjoying the game, but children especially love it. 

“It was just a really great experience for the town, and it just brings families closer,” said Nathan Trejo. 

Their Facebook page, The Cone Squad of El Reno, is growing by the day. Next, the family will ramp up the game with prizes. 

“We’re eventually going to put it (prizes) underneath the cone somewhere, that way it ends being kind of a surprise,” said Johnson.  

They had no idea this would catch on like it has but they are really pleased with what is happening in their town.  

“It’s something free, it’s something fun and gets families involved in town,” said Johnson.  

What started out as an activity to bring one family together has brought an entire town together looking for cones.  

You can see all the pictures on their Facebook page, The Cone Squad of El Reno.