The Ithaca Journal (New York), July 13, 2006, Thursday

Copyright 2006 The Ithaca Journal (Ithaca, NY)
All Rights Reserved
The Ithaca Journal (New York)

July 13, 2006 Thursday 1 Edition

SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. 1B

HEADLINE: Signs for the times

BYLINE: Anne Ju

BODY:
Ithacan Rich shares his world views
Journal Staff
ITHACA - On the Fourth of July, in green hand-painted lettering, Robert Rich had a large sign bolted to the fence in front of his home, visible to passing traffic.
Scarcely 24 hours later, the sign was facedown on the grass, with a large hole punched through the middle - "Somebody probably kicked it," Rich said.
Undaunted, Rich leaned the sign back against the fence, so motorists passing his house at the corner of Warren and Hanshaw roads could again read: "DOES ISRAEL HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS IN GAZA AS WE DO IN IRAQ?"
Rich's even-keeled reaction to his sign's vandalism is indicative of the fact that it's happened - many, many times before. Rich has been posting messages, usually in the form of questions, on his fence for the past three years. And he has no intention of stopping.
"I think I'll just keep going," Rich said.
Rich, 58, is a smiling, soft-spoken School of Industrial and Labor Relations organizational change consultant at Cornell University. He also lives on one of the busiest intersections in Ithaca, at the corner of Warren and Hanshaw roads. His property is set back only a few feet from the road. A 32-by-48 inch hand-painted sign is hard to miss.
"It's been an interesting experience, because so few people know who I am," Rich said. "The fact that the messages have been much more well known than the origins of the messages, I think, is a little bit unique."
Besides taking advantage of his strategic location, Rich also feels compelled to articulate his sense of a "political regression" in this country during the past half-dozen or so years.
"The purpose of the questions is to ask people to consider a different point of view, and to be provocative," he said.
Rich has been posting homemade signs since before the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003. When news was circulating that the United States' preemptive strike on the country was imminent, Rich posted his first sign: NO WAR IN IRAQ.
A week later, he changed the sign to read, ONLY THROUGH THE U.N.
After the invasion the sign read, IT IS A DISGRACE.
That one didn't last long, Rich said. It disappeared by the hands of a vandal passer-by, so Rich simply repainted the plywood sign and reposted it.
With the momentum going since that time, Rich has changed the sign about once a week, save for during a few extended trips out of town.
While the signs are nothing new to motorists and pedestrians who frequent the intersection, Rich's recent foray into cyberspace is. A few weeks ago, Rich began posting the address to his blog, www.sineman.blogspot.com on the bottom of each sign. His son, local musician Eliot Rich, help him set up the blog back in January.
Rich's practice of putting up the signs has changed with time. Because of all the vandalism, he first took to bolting his plywood signs to the fence. About a year and a half ago, he switched to the cheaper, more easily handled foamboard. And finally, Rich now hosts a blog that he hopes people will check out.
Rich keeps a stack of close to 60 signs - there have been more, because he's painted over some of them - in his basement, leaning against a wall. They range in colors and themes. "CAN A SECRETIVE GOVERNMENT BE AN HONEST ONE?" a recent sign reads.
Once, Rich posted a blank sign with the message, "Share your thoughts," and a marker. It filled up in a couple of days, he said.
The vandalism is all part of the journey. One time, someone shot a sign full of holes, probably with a BB gun, he said. Various profanities have been spray-painted over his messages. Or sometimes, the signs simply disappear, a practice that has declined since Rich took to bolting the signs to his fence.
But as many times as the signs have been vandalized, Rich said, he estimated hundreds of strangers that have knocked on his door, thanking him for the signs and sometimes bringing gifts: money, flowers, candy, even a poinsettia plant at Christmas.