Artistic and void of the type of graffiti associated with gangs,
a 20-foot-wide makeshift memorial next to the Cienega/Union
Artistic and void of the type of graffiti associated with gangs, a 20-foot-wide makeshift memorial next to the Cienega/Union Road Bridge south of Hollister brought tears to a mother’s eyes – and a bit of a dilemma to San Benito County officials.
In a matter of days following the death of former Hollister resident Jon Paul Foshee in a Feb. 25 motorcycle accident in Chico, a group of his friends found a way to memorialize him in stone.
The monument represents what he loved the most – racing. Checkered flags and a race course cover the old bridge piling.
Foshee, 23, loved to race cars and motorcycles. He participated in an import car racing circuit and traveled from Texas to Sacramento to drive in races.
“He had a lot of first-place trophies,” said his mother, Rosemary Foshee of Hollister.
She said the family was amazed to learn how much of an effect their son had on people.
“There are no words to express how we feel about this,” she said. “My husband had noticed it (the memorial) on his way to Salinas.”
Rosemary Foshee said she heard a group of her son’s friends came down from Chico, where Foshee had moved last summer, to work on the monument. The job took a couple of nights to complete, she said.
“We don’t know who did it, but I don’t think it was anybody from around here,” she said.
Despite what prompted it, the monument is still considered graffiti by county officials and may be removed.
Assistant Public Works Director Arman Nazemi said the old abatement still belongs to the county, but any work that is conducted in the river channel must have clearance with the U.S. Department of Fish and Game, including graffiti removal.
“Any equipment that we take in the channel could jeopardize any habitat in the channel and we can’t be casual about it,” he said. “If we do anything in the channel we need a permit.”
Nazemi said the county will eventually have to clean up the tribute to Foshee.
“No matter how you look at it, it’s still graffiti and no one had any permission to do this,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s a sore issue, but some people might make comments about it. But we’re going to play it by ear. At this point, we’re not planning to do anything with it.”
Foshee had lived most of his life in Hollister before moving to Chico, where he worked as a salesman while going to school.
“It (the memorial) was quite a tribute to him,” his mother said. “My son was in a motorcycle riding club and because of his involvement with racing, we had about 300 e-mails from his friends.”
If the memorial does have to be erased, Foshee’s family will at least have memories of it. They took pictures.
“Lots of people in town have commented about it,” Foshee’s mother said. “We heard they were going to do another one in Chico on the motorcycle business wall.”
