It’s been frustrating and challenging the last few months adapting to closures, shortages, delays, shelter in place orders, face masks, physical distancing, working remotely or not working at all. Let’s be honest – it sucks. As my 7-year-old nephew says, “I hate the coronavirus.” I completely agree.
I’ve been trying to find joy in little things – texts from my friends, happy hour on Facetime, local art, acts of kindness, our local community, outings with my nephew. Still, sometimes it just sucks.
But, my spirits have been lifted after spending the last few weeks on the hunt for a historic marker to James Edward Church, the Father of Snow Surveying, that’s been missing. In fact, it turns out that Uncle Ward (as his family calls him) has been missing for 10 years.
Historian Mark McLaughlin recently wrote a two-part series on Church (available at TheTahoeWeekly.com). Knowing that a historic marker to Church sat next to Fanny Bridge in Tahoe City, I thought I would include that information in the story. However, when I went to look for the monument to give an accurate description to its location, it was nowhere to be found.
Perplexed, I contacted Mark, who also swore it was next to Fanny Bridge and also made a trip to investigate. He couldn’t locate it either. The following week I returned once again determined to cover the entire area of town surrounding where the marker was supposed to be and find it. Both Mark and I have taken photos of the monument, so we knew we weren’t crazy. More than an hour of walking every corner of Fanny Bridge, the Lake Tahoe Dam, the Tahoe City bike trail and the William B. Layton park turned up nothing.
I returned to the office and began doing research. It was missing and I was now on a mission. Fortuitously, I soon a received a call from one of Uncle Ward’s relatives, Lisa Rajigah. They had read Mark’s story in the Tahoe Weekly and were also looking for the monument. It had been moved about 10 years ago for safekeeping during work near the bridge, but never returned, Lisa told me.
Fortunately, members of our tight-knit community gave me some leads and I contacted the Tahoe City Public Utility District. They weren’t aware of the monument, but within 24 hours of my email, they had scoured their storage and found Uncle Ward. They were as surprised as I was to discover him so quickly.
Uncle Ward is currently being cleaned, but the next question will be where and when can Uncle Ward be returned to his home.
His family is determined to see him returned to his home near Fanny Bridge and would like to have a rededication ceremony, and I agree.
During these challenging times, it’s easy to get caught up in our own problems. But, it’s just as important to remember those that came before us and their contributions to our community, our region and the world – Church’s method for snow surveying was adopted around the world.
It may seem like a small victory, but I’m ecstatic that Uncle Ward has been found. Now, let’s return him home.
