NEVADA CITY, Calif. August 20, 2017 – Purdon Crossing is a popular, some might even say too popular, river access. The South Yuba river is back to seasonal flows, beaches are once again accessible to all comers. Unfortunately, that includes person(s) who felt the need to “leave their mark” with graffiti on several large rocks right at the bridge. The language used in the graffiti is obscene, if you’d rather not see details avoid clicking on the photos at the end of the story.
Jesse Zaloudek and Susan Benson discovered the vandalism on Friday and alerted the Lake Vera/Round Mountain neighborhood group. While at the beach, they and other families started to pick up some of the smaller pebbles doused with paint. They are regulars at Purdon and often pick up trash on their walks, but graffiti was a first for them. “Who would do this and why?” Susan said.
Jesse and Susan went the extra mile and took some of the painted pebbles to Knight’s Paint in Grass Valley. They showed the damage to Jason who tried several solvents and paint thinners. He told them the paint is oil-based, very difficult to remove. Even a medium acrylic lacquer thinner only dissolved the garish pink into a smear. Wire brushes might yield better results, he said. He donated a gallon of thinner and a pair of substantial wire brushes to Jesse and Susan. Jesse stated he was blown away by Jason’s generosity and said Knight’s Paint was now his new favorite store, “They’re kind & helpful, & they have a soul.”
Several neighbors are ready to tackle the problem, not wanting to encourage additional defacing of the pristine granite boulders.
If you want to join a scrub party, email us at news@yubanet.com and we’ll put you in touch with other volunteers. Please do not use paint thinners near the river – elbow grease and wire brushes only. You can also contact SYRCL and sign up to volunteer for the 20th Yuba River cleanup on Sept. 16th.
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