Jon Schlegel, like many Wailua Houselots residents, likes seeing his Wailua Houselots Park clean. But, rather than wait for county workers to do the job, Schlegel takes some jobs upon himself. Take his recent vacation, for example: while his wife
Jon Schlegel, like many Wailua Houselots residents, likes seeing his Wailua Houselots Park clean.
But, rather than wait for county workers to do the job, Schlegel takes some jobs upon himself.
Take his recent vacation, for example: while his wife was out of the country in early April, Jon Schlegel armed himself with gallons of “county-beige” paint, and spent most of his morning vacation hours with his 3-year-old son, Jonah, painting the houselots park pavilion area.
Why would a man give up his sleep to pitch in?
“It just needed it,” said Schlegel. “It’s amazing what a coat of paint will do.”
Schlegel, a member of the county’s graffiti-busters crew, was just going to paint over the area marked up with writing.
But, he said, he figured he had the time, so he took care of the whole pavilion, and a couple of pillars and a baseball dugout wall as well.
In all, he spent 25 hours enjoying his vacation by pitching in.
But according to Tim Bynum, the county’s graffiti-busters coordinator, Schlegel helping to take care of his local park is nothing new.
Schlegel has been doing recycling in the park for around a year now. Every two weeks, he said, he empties out 55-gallon drums of recyclable materials, and brings them to the Puhi Metals Recycling site.
But the understated Schlegel says, it’s on his way to work, and it’s no big deal.
“Every little bit not going to the landfill helps,” he said, adding he’s proud of some of the Lydgate Park picnic tables, made of recycled plastic.
“You want something to be a little nicer than when you got there,” he added.
Staff Writer Tom Finnegan may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or tfinnegan@pulitzer.net.
