Graffiti busters: How a ‘regular guy’ made goodness out of something bad

PALMER — Last Friday evening was more than moist. It was raining and it was the kind of night you want to stay in and snuggle with the dogs and watch a dumb movie. But oh no. The Lucas Kiwanis City Park parking lot on Fern Avenue was full; cars were parked up and down the road and in the Moose Lodge parking lot.

Here is how this wet party accidentally happened:

Earlier in the week graffiti enthusiasts decided to make their disgusting mark in Palmer. Everywhere. It wasn’t modern art. It wasn’t street art. It was just sloppy and ugly. The vandals placed it on buildings, signs, storage containers and tagged vehicles. They also let loose in the AMooseMent playground.

So last Monday, Ryan Butcher— a normal nice guy—decided to take his two children to the Palmer AMooseMent playground. They arrived and were surprised to see the wooden moose had been marked and the tug boat had been tagged. Crude language adorned the posts, railings, fences, and slide. It was like the wonderful playground, built by the community, had been desecrated. The graffiti was fresh and rude; it bothered Ryan a lot.

He went home and instead of complaining to the city, Ryan just called up a few friends. And he bought some paint. His friends called a few more friends. It went out on social media as a clean-up party event. Valley Recycling Solutions gave him some extra paint and the city gave him some graffiti remover. Ryan didn’t wait around for an engineered rehabilitation plan or a bureaucracy to discuss and permit a complex fix.

So on Friday night, there was a crowd. Not a little crowd. A big crowd. Sabrena Combs was there. No surprise. She’s always everywhere, smiling and helping and making you just feel just so good about Palmer. She bought paint at Home Depot, which largely discounted the paint, because of the volunteer project

Sabrena went to school with Ryan. She pointed him out—he was the one wearing the brown Carhartt overalls and stocking cap. “He’s just a good guy,” she said. “And he loves our little town.”

So do a lot of other folks. Despite falling rain, many folks turned out to help Ryan. Parents, kids, non-parents, boy scouts, and Tae Kwon Do students. Councilman Richard Best was there, with his arm in a sling, but helping out.

Little kids armed with small rollers and paint attacked the low scribbles. Adults handled the graffiti cleaner and repainted the tall structures. Everything received bright opaque colors to cover up the violent and weird messages.

Food arrived. The Pioneer Motel sent over a stack of burgers. Others brought chips. Drinks arrived. It became a pretty nice barbecue under the pavilion. Later in the evening, three of Palmer’s finest night patrol police joined up and gave out police stickers to the children.

Ryan was surprised by the turnout. And happy. He was pretty wet from the rain but under that stocking cap, Carhartt overalls and thick beard is a big community heart that loves Palmer.

Some say that graffiti is a precursor to gang activity, in which territory is thereby defined and established. Some say it was just juveniles running amok. Either way the Palmer Police force is definitely tuned in. The key to stopping this thing is vigilance and open eyes. And like Ryan, Palmer peeps are watching and doing something about it.

Barbara Hunt lives in Palmer.