Vandalism at Wrightwood Historical Museum
The thread of "What I do remember," is interesting...wish old timers that read this would respond, just to let the newer folks realize how town was back then. The lake was the get-together spot, even after membership was needed to get inside. The west portion of Jackson was usually the spot to give your horse a good swim, specially after some excellent riding through the trails at Big Pines.
Kids were a little more respectful, if not...well, the parents heard about it soon enough, and "spareth not the rod" of punishment was pretty much the rule of the day. Believe it or not, many of us kids found plenty of things to do, and ways to keep out of trouble. We knew that most of the time we couldn't pull the wool over our parent's eyes, mainly because they wouldn't let us. They knew everything...and it wasn't until we reached our own adulthood, that we suddenly realized why they knew everything.
Another person (many times there were more than one) was the local resident deputy (remember those guys?) who kept us in line...funny thing was, even though they sometimes snitched on us to mom and dad, there was a deep respect for them by us who sometimes stepped across the line in one fashion or another. There was a time that everything click...the community hummed, folks helped out each other...and yeah, the kids were also busy helping, tossing real serious mischief to the side for most of the time.
Much have changed over the years, sort of changing the atmosphere of Wrightwood that most of us old timers knew for so long. After 11pm, juveniles roam the town...and finally around 1am or so, go back to wherever it was that they came from. Sometimes in their wake they leave evidence of vandalism, breaking and entering, and other activilty that has cast a gloom over our mountain living. "They're just having fun, letting off some steam...heck, there is noting for them to do up here...what do you expect would happen?" I heard it all. Somewhere down the line, us grown ups stopped taking a stand and demand that it stop.
It was on Thursday, sometime between 11pm and 7am Friday morning that the vandalism rose to a new level when person (s) unknown spray painted Wrightwood Historical Museum, portions of Apple Court and the total east exterior wall of the John Steinman Building on Park. As the photos above showed...in gold spray paint, the persons (at least two) applied the grafitti on the murals of the museum...murals of the La France firetrucks that once served the community so many decades ago. They were painstackingly hand painted by a local artist. Nearby, a spray painted track dumpster had the same "emsk" on top of a skateboard. Gee, whose kid skateboards around town after curfew? Nearby, on the sidewalk leading into Apple Court are the letters "EVA;" are they letters or an actual name?
A crime report was filed by the museum; we thank Deputy Dell for his response. The investigation is a work in progress that needs the community's help. The vandalism to the rear of the Steinmann Building is extensive. Thanks to Timmy and Rebecca at the Mt. Pizza, the possible hundreds of dollars in damaged was painted over, but not before photos were taken of the damage. It took several minutes to inflict the damage....hopefully, someone can step forward with some eye witness accounts. Even so, at least two possible suspects are being looked at...one lives on Robin Street.
As for the old times...do you miss what Wrightwood used to be? Well, it can become that way again...if the folks who live here take a stand and demand that incidents like this stop...and the guilty walk away with their tail between their legs.
The love for where a person lives become evident when they all take a stand to maintain its beauty and peace.
