Mark Olsen scraped up about $100 and some plywood and went to work.
He wanted to give the City of Manassas, its residents, and downtown business owners a gift.
In doing so, Olsen literally spelled it out for them.
He used a saw to fashion tall, white letters off of the plywood — enough to spell out the word “hope.”
Today, he erected those letters next to the city’s LOVE sign, which sits atop at flat railcar parked at the Harris Pavilion.
Now, in the wake of the coronavirus that has killed 359 people in Virginia as of today, the city has a little more love and hope to go around
“I’ve had a lot of free time this past couple of weeks, and I was thinking about it…what we need now is hope, and that would be a nice addition,” said Olsen.
He made the city’s LOVE sign 10 years ago. First on display at the city museum and now at the pavilion, it was part of a larger then partnership with the state tourism corporation which likes to remind people “Virginia is for Lovers.”
Olsen told me he hopes this new addition inspires the community in these dark times. He got permission from the city to erect the new sign, and he paid for the materials out of his pocket.
He said the cost is worth it if the sign brings a smile to peoples’ faces.
“I think that’s priceless,” said Olsen.
