SIMPLE SIGN UPHOLDS CHRIST FOR CHRISTMAS
Jeff Wright The Register-Guard. The Register - Guard. Eugene, Or.: Dec 10, 2004. pg. A.1
A retired man and his friends bring attention to Jesus' birth and see their idea snowball.
They are signs of the times - which is exactly the point Al Jagger was trying to make.
Jagger, 86, admits he was in something of a funk last Christmas, distressed by how commercialization had overtaken the holiday's religious roots. His mood didn't get any better on New Year's Day - the first day on the Judeo-Christian calendar.
"People celebrate the New Year all around the world, and they don't have a clue what they're celebrating," he said. "The New Year celebrates the life of Jesus."
After a few fitful nights, Jagger shared his frustrations with several friends, including longtime buddy Willie Houmes. They brainstormed ideas but were stumped - until they noticed a political lawn sign in somebody's yard.
"That's when we thought, let's put Jesus' birthday on a sign," Houmes said.
That's exactly what Jagger, Houmes and a ragtag of fellow retirees decided to do. The result: hundreds of beige-colored lawn signs with the simplest of messages: "Christmas, Jesus, Celebrate His Birth."
The signs have sprouted in lawns across town, from Santa Clara to Coburg Road to the Hawkins Heights subdivision in Eugene's southwest hills. Also to Springfield and Pleasant Hill and Florence.
And Astoria and Beaverton and Corvallis.
And San Jose, Calif., Nampa, Idaho, and Colorado Springs, Colo.
Jagger had an inkling he'd hit on something big when he ordered an initial 500 signs in August - and more than half were claimed by members at his own church, First Church of the Nazarene.
That prompted him to order a total of 5,000, hopeful he might be able to find homes for them all in the Eugene-Springfield area. The number has since grown to 9,400 - and Jagger and friends can't meet the demand.
"Everywhere we go it's, 'Where did you get those signs?' ' he said. "We just can't control it. We can't keep up."
Jagger, a retired life insurance salesman, now finds himself working 8- to 10-hour days trying to get a sign to everyone who wants one. He spent last Saturday delivering several hundred to churches in Philomath, Albany and Lebanon. This Sunday he's supposed to take some more up to his son's church in Beaverton.
What's more, Jagger finds himself carting around 4-foot-by-4- foot variations of the sign, responding to those who've asked for something bigger than the typical lawn sign display.
But Jagger and his pals are too tickled to complain. "I think what's happening," Houmes said, "is that the general public as a whole believes in Jesus and believes in his birth, and this is an opportunity to express themselves."
Houmes got his own taste of the signs' popularity when he took three to his barber, "who sold them all before I got out of the shop. So I took him back 10 more."
Jagger said a nephew is responsible for delivering some of the signs to Idaho and Colorado. An unknown motorist who spied the signs while driving through Florence, meanwhile, is responsible for the 300 that now adorn homes in San Jose and Sun City, Ariz.
Jagger still has more than 1,000 of the corrugated plastic signs in his garage - "but they're all spoken for," he said. They haven't been distributed yet because he's awaiting a new shipment of metal stands to which the signs are attached.
Jagger first distributed the signs through churches, asking that they reimburse him only for the production cost of $3 each. He now has them at several Christian store outlets, where they typically sell for $5 or $6 each.
Aside from an initial outlay of his own money, Jagger said he hasn't taken a financial hit - thanks in part to two $5,000 donations from local businessmen. He's registered his group under the name Messengers of Truth, and said he's thinking about hiring a phone answering service to handle calls.
He's also distributing small fliers urging people to take down their signs on Jan. 1, then put them back up next Nov. 26 - the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
In the Songbrook subdivision in west Eugene where Jagger lives, no fewer than 29 homes have the signs - including one in Barbara Long's yard, right next to a plastic snowman.
"We practically chased Al down to get one," Long said. "I said, 'I need one, and I want one,' because Jesus is the reason for the season."
Jagger said he went to Songbrook's managers to make sure they were OK with the signs - and was told they wanted to put one up in front of the office.
"We've had people who don't live here, just here to check us out, and they've asked about the signs," manager Cheryl Brost said. "I've sent four people to Al's door. And my mom has one in Pleasant Hill."
Jagger said he has no idea when and where it will all end. But he does know one thing for sure: He's feeling a lot better about Christmas this year.
JESUS LAWN SIGNS
Where to buy: Testimonies Christian Bookstore & Espresso, 125 B Silver Lane, Eugene; The Good News Shop, 1055 Charnelton St., Eugene; Willamette Christian Resources, 415 South A St., Springfield
How to donate: Messengers of Truth, P.O. Box 2382, Eugene, OR 97402
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. (Copyright 2004 The Register-Guard. All rights reserved.)
