Carpenters Build New Welcome Sign for Collier

The old Flag Day sign that welcomed motorists to Collier Township had been tied together with nothing more than white duct tape.

Vandals trashed the sign some time ago while it was displayed in a resident’s yard off Noblestown Road. When the township tried to remove the sign recently, it practically fell apart as the duct tape repair crumbled.

So township Commissioner George Macino approached the Greater Pennsylvania Carpenters Training Center off the Parkway West in Collier and asked if they would be able to help. Less than three months later, they delivered a beautiful–and more importantly sturdy–red, white and blue sign to the township.

The township commissioners beamed as they posed with the sign when it was delivered to the municipal offices Tuesday afternoon. The new sign is slightly larger and much more stable than the previous one.

Macino said he was impressed by how the carpenters took on the job and made the sign look nearly identical to the original. The township supplied a photo, but the carpenters did the rest.

“They took it upon themselves and did their homework on it,” Macino said.

The carpenters made the 120-pound sign for free and used it as a training experience for their students. Rick Okraszewski, the facility’s training coordinator, said the work parallels much of their training.

“We’re part of the community and want to be able to give back like a good neighbor would do,” Okraszewski said.

Wayne Babjack, who works as a carpentry instructor, said the letters and flag are interlocked into the white backdrop. He said the cost for material is minimal, but the skills it teaches are invaluable.

“There’s a lot of labor involved, probably more than the material,” Babjack said. “Any time we get a request, we try to parallel it with our training. Just to incorporate it in our (computer- aided design) program is a big help.”

Now the decision remains where the township will put the sign. Township officials and the planning commission are discussing where to place it, although an early suggestion is at Hilltop and Walkers Mill roads.

“We want it to be very visible and this is the township complex,” Commissioner Kay Downey-Clarke said. “But there might be some other areas where the visibility might be greater.”