Two copies of an iconic, world-famous sign warning speeders to “Slow Down See Our Dam” or face the wrath of “Our Dam Judge” will soon bookend a 40-mph speed zone on South Access Road at the base of Canyon Lake Dam.
The Dam Community Alliance (DCA), a community partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, paid $1,200 for signs painstakingly recreated by sign painter and board member Jeromy Yager, who restored the 1968 work of a Mexican immigrant who did not speak, read or write English.
Monterrey, Mexico native Eugene Meza nonetheless made his living painting signs for many local businesses, churches, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1968 and the late 1980s.
“So when painting a sign, he was simply drawing letter shapes with a paintbrush,” Yager said. “So it occurred to me that the tongue-in-cheek humor of the sign was more than likely completely lost on him. I’m sure it never even crossed his mind that this simple sign he was painting would be copied in vinyl twice over the years and then repainted 56 years later, or that the sign he was painting would become iconic and appear in newspaper, magazine and internet articles from publications all over the world, including the New York Times and the Washington Post.”
Yager said he repainted the signs as a tribute to Meza and a “simpler time” when tiny imperfections made something absolutely perfect.
“I am more proud of this project than probably any other project I’ve ever done,” he said. “To me, they couldn’t have turned out any more perfect. I hope when the folks of our community see these two new signs in the next few weeks, when they are finally out in their new locations, that they too will see the beauty in the imperfections and just for a moment be taken back to that simpler time.”
