Personally I would not want my organization to be the butt of an April fools post. However well intentioned or well crafted, there are always unforeseen and unintended consequences that causes unneeded headaches. As one who has had to deal with a lot of rumor control and history modification, the potential cleanup from these is something no organization needs, certainly not to give someone else their jollies.

Can they be restricted to one thread, open only on 4/1, and locked the rest of the year?

I think we should keep it but remove all foolish post after the first.

I agree. Maybe take it a step further, and have all "joke" posts open with "Dateline April 1, 20__". Anyone who then takes the post seriously, "Gotcha". Leave them up a couple of days so everyone has a chance to read them, then delete the entire thread. Perhaps a special temporary joke moderator could handle the chore.

OOOH!! OOOH!!!! PICKME!!!!! PICKME!!!!!!! OOOHHHH!!!!!

[runs like h--- from the ballast being thrown at him]