If you have been reading RiverCliff Cottage for a while, you have read about Mendota’s Barnrock Road project. As the new road has evolved, an old house has been torn down, driveways changed, a barn was torn down, valuable crop land was used, and so forth.
However, there is one apparently sacred thing that the road crew will not tamper with…Helene Holbrook’s mailbox.
We are all wondering how she has garnered this special treatment? Maybe she is serving the road crew happy brownies? (She did move here from California.) Maybe there’s romance involved with one of the heavy equipment operators? Maybe she’s prettier than Steve McCroskey who lost some cropland?
We may never know the answer to these questions. Our only certainty lies in the fact that Helene’s mail may be safely delivered to her mailbox which remains tall and strong in a road of uncertainty.
You know I respected your site, enjoyed your photos, stories and such, that is until now and this will be my past visit. As a worker, and speaking for at least some of my coworkers, I’m highly offended by your remarks and will say we have not given anyone “special treatment”. As you will find, ALL mailboxes are the same and not damged or estroyed. This is a requirement by law. Last I checked, unauthorized tampering, damaging, etc of mailboxes is a pretty major offense. We cannot damage anything of such, no matter the owners. I’m sorry you’ve lost your lands, barns, and so forth, but we can’t go back and rebuild these things and in most cases people have allowed us to do. We only do what are we are supposed to or told by the state to do. I’m saddened to this as there’s always seems to be someone having an issue with something, but I guess that’s the unfortunate nature of our job. Your community seemed a bit different, in a good way, than most we have been to. Hope to be able to still say that vin the end.
Ah…did not mean to imply the Elk Knob guys were not doing a great job. Sorry! The tongue-in-cheek humor is that none of us, including Helene, could believe that mailbox has stood through this. It is an ICON!! We’ve expected it to have to come down, even if temporarily, since last January!! It is an AWESOME thing that you protected it so well! Sorry that I offended you. The Elk Knob guys are good people — you’ve done all of our major roadwork in Mendota for years.
Sorry we took it the wrong way. You didn’t come across as someone who would mean it. We know a lot of people probably are tired of seeing us understandably, but it is getting close to being completed. Hopefully most everyone continues to be patient and understanding. I came across your site in looking for some pictures of the road. Many of us have fallen in love with aspects of the area (i.e. hunting, fishing, scenery). Again the people are a lot more friendly and welcoming than most other places we’ll go to. We appreciate the good-hearted nature and what your community has to offer. Hopefully the road holds up to good expectations and serves you all well.
Nothing to be sorry for! Most of the people that read my blog, at least I think, are from Mendota, so they “get it” when others may not. Elk Knob has always done a good job here in Mendota. Early on, when the old house came down, I walked up to take a final picture and there was a somber feeling even among the workers. While we all knew the house had to come down to fix the bad curve, everyone was respectful that someone had built and lived in and loved that old house at some time. I liked that. Another thing…sometimes–especially during the early days when so much earth was being moved around–my husband and I would forget to watch the flagman to see if the sign had sent from STOP to SLOW because we were so impressed and engaged with the agility of how the heavy equipment operators move those giant vehicles around in confined spaces. Believe it or not, I even have a nickname for one of your guys. There is a man who drives the hauler most of the time. I call him “Peanut.” I thought Peanut was going to be a little, tiny guy. It was a surprise to see an average size man with Peanut’s face walking around one day. It was the first time I’d seen him out of the hauler. When Peanut’s in the hauler, it’s so big that it makes him look small. Away from the hauler, well…he would not have gotten that nickname. I’m so glad you’ve liked the area. We love it here and think it’s a special place. Thank you for reading my blog. It means a lot. Eva
And before it is brought up, that driveway was concrete before we had to tear it up, so we have put that back in place. We’ve tried to restore all driveways in the same manner the best we can, there’s only so much we can do in some situations. We hope to d o a little more once the road bears completion.
The driveway looks great! We’re so glad it was concrete and redone so we could put Helene’s daughter’s initials in it and the year 2014 — she’s getting married at the farm in June!