I call it my sort of, 'Christmas Gift to the City of Pomona'.
It was a rainy Monday this week while I ran around town running errands with my daughter. I stopped in Downtown Claremont for my usual banking/post office routine. Then drove off to Downtown Pomona for some city business, finished by a drive to Montclair for more personal business. As we drove back to Pomona down Holt Ave, we turned right onto Indian Hill. As we approached Lincoln Ave, I noticed the usual street name was missing. All I saw was this:
As I drove past it, I noticed the sign on the sidewalk just laying there. I quickly drove around the block and stopped by the sign. My daughter looked at me with a 'you're gonna take it?' look. I got off, opened the back door and loaded the wobbly sign in. I could not believe the size of this thing. Up there it looks so much smaller, it was about 6 feet long! I picked up whatever debris was left and loaded it in.
My daughter had a sort of shocked/amazed look. I told her, I'm going to return this back so they can fix it. If I were to leave it there, some vandals would probably take it and destroy or tag all over it. She looked relieved once I said that.
I thought, what a good daddy I am, on top of that, what a good citizen.
We get home and one of my sons was there and said, 'holy crap, where did you get that, its cool'. Gave him the story and he went back to his business. I took the sign to the back room and laid it on the ground:
Now, being from Southern California, I thought this would look cool in my garage (at least for a second). I also was aware that this was a crime and knew better. Now if I was moving and wanted some 'memorabilia' well, uh... j/k
I picked up the phone and tried to call Daryl Grigsby of Pomona Public Works. I've met Daryl a few times at various events in Pomona in the past, a very nice guy. He wasn't in on Monday, so I spoke to someone there who was amazed and grateful I did this. I told her I know how expensive these signs are. She then told me I can return it back to the city engineering department or yard at my earliest convenience. I took it over to city hall directly the next day. People were looking at me and my daughter like we were crazy walking through the civic center in the rain with this sign.
All in all, a little sort of 'Christmas Tale' for the City of Pomona from myself.
I'm a sucker for a good story and this is a great one. Good job!
ReplyDeleteIn today's climate is so easy to become cynical... yes even on the city and community level. But if you stop... look around... you can see that there are good people everywhere.
ReplyDeleteIt's the little thing that can make big changes.
Good job Scrip. There ARE some ethical folks in our fair city.
ReplyDeleteBig props :)
ReplyDeleteExcellent! You are proof that Pomona is full of community leaders. Leaders by example.
ReplyDeleteWell, thank all of you, that is very kind. I know there are many who would do the same, and if this can inspire more, then so be it!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, I just saw your post though it has been many years since this has happened. This is my street, well where I lived before I went off across the country on my own. It makes me happy to stumble across things like this especially when I am homesick. Thanks!
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