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Show The Salt Lake Tribune UTAH Sunday, April 27,1997 Billboard Blight Mars Utah Roads ELOUISE BELL TOM BARBERI Here’s the 10-foottall face of a kid with wide open mouth and bulging eyeballs, playing on his computer. Not one driver in a hundred even knows whatthis sign is advertising. (Nope, not 15 was being debated. Ourbraindead lawmakers not only accommodated the billboard com- panies by allowing them to relocate their signs, but they pledged taxpayers’ money to accomplish it. computers. Not career training. Not plastic surgery.) At least three billboards show “loving couples” in ecstasy over one consumerproduct or another. The “couple,” clearly strangers to Utah — pretty, grating state, I spent long hours this week driving the main highways of northern Virginia. The experi- ence felt amazingly different fromdriving in Utah. Traffic was just as heavy; drivers were not no- ticeably morecivilized; they even had construction chaos. So what made the driving so much more pleasant? Back once moreon our ownbattered Interstate 15, it took about 20 miles to get to “Eureka!” Billboard blight! That wasthe difference. During most of the miles I trayeled in Virginia, I saw nobillboards. On long stretches of highway, they are outlawed. But between the Salt Lake City International Airport and home, I saw little except huge ugly signs. Again and again, the relentless commercials grate on the conscious. Utah is far more than a “pretty” state: I find it the most spectacularly beautiful state in the Union. But billboard blight mars ourstate fromone end to the other. I wouldn't forgive the billboards even if their messages were clever or sensible. But the Wasatch Affrontdrive subjects us to something akin to a deranged nightmare — images and words that makelittle sense evenas they tout the tacky. each otherand bad actors to boot, look uncomfortable and unconvinced.It’s like having an embarrassing clip from a TV commercial frozen, blown up, and in your face every time you set forth on the freeway. But why write about it? Why evenbring it up? It is not likely that a legislator will introduce a bill to ban the billboards. Bill- board barons twirl the big stick of money. Those who want the boards gone have not so much as an EPAreport declaring them visual pollution. Whatif they are ugly and detract from ourstate's splendors? We have much more to worry about, like the state’s infrastruc- RESPONSE Where’s Lady Bird Johnson when youneed her? Wasn'tit the formerfirst lady’s project to eliminate roadside pol- ElouiseBell is professor emeritus at Brigham Young University. room stall doors. Talk about a captive audience. I just wonder how longit will be before they developa sound chip that will be in- stalled in our kitchen appliances It reached an absurd peak during the 1992 Summer Olympic Games when the first “Dream Team” took the floor during the with the wanted posters being tacked up to telegraph poles in medal ceremony and Magic and the Old West, or tobacco ads painted on the roof of barns. on their warm-ups with the Amer- Michael hadto cover up the logos ican flag so as not to offend their that siarts a pitch for some food product wheneverit is turned on? Ciao Tom Barberi is a talk-show host on KALL-AM. LOOK WHO’S 93 Emma F. Hall Turns 93 on May2. Friends andrelatives maycall. ally see that there was a town. Meadowcraft What we see when entering WROUGHT IRON PATIO FURNITURE downtown Salt Lake City on the 600 South offrampis a blizzard of ful? Why?Becausethe practical gap is minimal between the hoodlum whoillegally sprays vulgargraffiti on buildings, and the corporate exec who legally erects vulgar graffiti on the landscape. But at least the hoodlum knows he is committing an offense. The last straw is the billboard These cities are a joy to travel through because you could actuWhat a novel idea: roads with scenery. deliberate ugliness, or a Front- “Tide” car beat the “Pennzoil” car? personal sponsors. advertising that has been plastered on the inside of public rest- thanfull grown goldenretrievers. homeless, the spring runoff, the Cougars’ basketball destiny — these are immediate, pressing needs? Why worry abouta little 1 don’t know where this tradition originated. Maybe it began Whatever, it clearly has gotten out of hand. It’s amusing to see just howcreative we have become in trying to lure people to a particular product. Auto racing has become a question of can the lution during the LBJ ini tion? AsI recall, she actually did some good and many places became aware of this ever-increasing menacecalled billboards. Numerous towns and cities adopted ordinances governing outdoor advertising. Some of the truer believers actually mandated strict anti-billboard laws to the extent that even the local McDonald’s could only have tiny Golden Arches on their lawns no taller ture becoming a massof varicose veins. Crime, child abuse, the cident. The ultimate insuit was perpetrated by this past legislative session whenthe reconstruction ofI- SEARS — correction notice — advertisements, the point of many amystery. Theyare notonly ugly, they area traffic hazard. Between trying to guess just whenthatcar in front will change lanes becauseits blinker has been A “Trainload Savings” @ @ @ @ @ onforeight miles, you are drawn to these inanimate drive-in movie screens to see what they aretrying to pitch. GLIDERS SWINGS SPRING CHAIRS CHAISES TEA CARTS women’s scoop neck @ DINING SETS dress is incorrectly priced at $9.99. The hy AND MORE - their perimeters so people wouldn't be temptedto look at the correctprice is $49.99. Free Delivery No Joke: Husband-Wife Team T We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause our customers. screens and possibly cause an ac- King, Queen of ‘Clowndom’ Day mailer, sale dates April 27 to May 10. The @ OTTOMANS _| @ OCCA. TABLES Remember, if you remember the good old days of drive-ins. They would put hugetrees along There is an error on page 6 of the Sears Mother's QUALITY CRAFTED IN YOUR CHOICE OF COLORS Introductory Offer uniden’ Baee eee SELECTION OF QUALITY MEADOWCRAFT WROUGHT IRON ~<Sine Pager' Only aoeneue |S5300 2 mo.airtime ; “Your Patio Shop Soe fe Leisuxé Living THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WEST VALLEY CITY — In the world of floppy shoes and rainbow wigs, Carol and Myron Jackson 2174 S$ 1100 E scent Adjacentto Granite Furniture are a clown dynasty. ‘'yronis the newly elected presidentof the 4,000member World Clown Association and Carol won the association's Clown of the Year Award — thefirst time a husbandandwife have held thepositions concurrently. It is welcomerecognition for a couple whoselives have been consumed by squirting flowers andbal- ‘SHOP Mon.-Sat. 10am-6pm ® Messagee Ti imestamping ° 30 Message Memory © Built-In Alarm © Both Tone and Vibration Alerts 487-3289 MATT’S PAGING Eeaeela loon animals for the past 12 years, whose walls and shelves at home are overflowing with clownpaint- ings, dolls and figurines. “As a matter of fact I tell everyone there's five people that live in this house [counting their clown characters]. . . and they all have their share of the bedroom, too. There’s wigs and shoes and makeup “Call if~ need cash for home improvements, (0 pay off bills, or any purpose!” and costumes,” Carolsaid. Thatisn’t all. The Jacksons havea big, red rubber nose onthe front of their car and have turned one room of their West Valley City home into sort of way station for clowns passing throughthestate. Carol, who is 62, and Myron, 65, have made clowning a family affair that spans three generations. Hereis'an example of a 8.65% loan and payments |Loan Amount | 360mos. **APR 9.46 | 180 mos. APR 9.90 |120 mos. APR 10:36 Their daughter, Debra Maple, 42, — known as “OE” | —and granddaughters Shanda, 19, and Kristy, 17 — known as “Oops” and “Uh-oh’’ — haveall donned - Charles Philips, the baggy pants andface paint. “We love doing it,” Carol said. “We love doingit as a family and our youngest granddaughter says that’s how weall bond.” “Our family will always be in clowning.If they're lowning, they'll be supporting the other ‘s,” said Maple, who is the association's southwestern United States regional director. “Theyreally dovetail each other, which is what a partnership is all about,” said Pat Wertenberger, administrator of the World Clown Association. “They're really respected forall their endeavors.” arol has created two award-winning clown characte! ‘Hiceup,” who wears a rainbow wig and is unable to shake a severecaseof the hiccups, and a down-on-his-luck hobo called ‘Twitch,’’ who munches ongraham crackersdisguised as dogtreats. “Nobody knew meuntil I opened my big mouth," she said. “My voice gives me away. Nobody would guess I'm a womandressedlike this.” Myron’s character, “Softy,” is “developed from his personality,” Carol says, “He's just an old softy.” Myron says he tries to “live for the moment," whenhe's in character, “You just build off of and play off of an everydaysituation.” The couple refuses to be paid to clown. Instead, they've contributed hundreds of hours raising mon- ey for charitable causes suchas Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and muscular dystrophy. “We doit for the enjoyment andto get people to laugh,” Carolsaid. It’s reflection of the “clowning for laughter's sake” attitudethatfirst attracted Carol to clowning. She and Myron, who wasa chief master sergeantin the Air Force, were stationed in Hawaii in 1970 after Chief Executive Officer | “It's something that comes from the inside. Put- ting on makeup doesn't make a clown, or putting a haveto wantto do,” she said. “Clowning can be very hard work . . but anything I've ever given to my clowning,I've received back manytimes over.” They say their most rewarding moment came while they wereat a grocery store selling red noses and buttons to raise money for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. “This lady came up and she bought one of each andthen she just burst into tears,” Myron said. “We wentover andvisited her for a minute and shesaid she had had twins and oneof the twins had just died recently.” They said theincident madethemrealize the im- portance of the charity work they do. In the coming year, Myron will be responsiblefor running an organization that has members in every Sandy’s Premier Assisted Living Community Wye Spacious Apartments Available With Grand Opening Prices. 4, The Atrium at Crosslands “Assisted Living Community 625 East 11000 South Sandy, UT 84070 pals,firefighters and nunsin their professionallives, Carol was the association's president in 1995 and balanced the organization's budget, which had been running a deficit for years, Myron knows he'll have to work hard to follow in her 3-foot-long footprints He says the burden of presidential paperwork has already cut into the time the couple can spend in Myron, who had retired from the Air Force and though he remained activein clown activities. er,” she said, As long as we can make people smile For example, Carol said, he would drive clowns to various functions. They would pull up with Myron andlaughand forget their problems, that's how long works for Steiner Corp., to don the makeup, al | $ 811.13 **APR subject to change based on pre-paid finance charges costume on doesn’t make a clown. It’s something you costume Even thoughthey got a late start in clowning, they don't plan to give upthe rainbowwigs and squirting flowers anytimesoon. “Clowning has no age. When someone's all made clown education" by receiving diplomas from Clown Camp at the University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse And it took nearly four more years to convince | § 400.16 $ 645.81 “Actually, I was coerced into it byall the instrue- been horribly wounded Nearly 17 years passed, though, before the Jack- eee $397.42 tors,” Myronsaid. “I neverreally had a desire to put it on. I just didn’t feel like I'd be qualified to make peoplelaughin that way, and then when putit on, it just felt natural.” Carol says natural clowns makethe best clowns. state and 25 foreign countries, including Japan, sons enrolled in “clownology” courses at the University of Utah andthen, as they putit, “furthered our $506.72 behind the wheellooking little out of place as a carload of clowns in full costumepiled out. Finally, he caved in one dayat a clown convention. South Africa, France, Singapore, Greece, England and Norway — clowns who are professors, princi- “A troupeof clowns came in one night and entertained," she said. “It just thrilled me to see that these clowns could get these Gls to laugh and joke and cut up, and I decided that someday I'd be a clown.” 5 *For qualified applicants - first mortgagerates as of 3/14/97 andare subject to change AABCO Mortgage Loans & Investments, Inc. Serving since 1976...Now with 40 offices Douglas C. Pizac/The Associated Press Myron and Carol Jackson, West Valley, volunteer their clowning servicesto charitable causes. Myron’s first tour of duty in Vietnam, Carol was working with a medevacunit caring for GIs who had et ee |$40,000 | $311.83 up, you can't tell if they're young or old or whatev weplan on doingit," We Comply With The Fair Housing Act Atri Camemenin, |