Masterton’s Elaine Hurndell, whose bright and colourful signs bearing messages of positivity have made her well known around the town and beyond [late last year she featured on TVNZ’s 1 News Good Sorts segment, which focuses on people stepping up to make a difference in their communities], recently had to remove one of her banners and temporarily replace it after it was vandalised.
The sign displayed at the Ngaumutawa Rd roundabout had originally read, “The most precious gift of all is unconditional love”, the last word of which had been blotted out and replaced so the sign said instead, “The most precious gift of all is unconditional sex.”
Although Hurndell was miffed at the defacement, she did find some humour in the situation when making her own assessment about the motivation of the person responsible.
“The fact that they had to write that means they probably don’t get any,” she said.
“We have to put humour in this because I have to teach people that when a negative comes your way, you get louder, you get stronger, and you throw it back.”
Hurndell also noted that despite the vandal’s best efforts, all her signs get coated with anti-vandalism paint, so “all I have to do is take it home and wash It off with water”.
She also wanted to remind people why she wrote the signs and why they are important in the community.
“I want to spread positivity, and I am now doing work on anti-bullying,” she said.
“I’ve been to five schools now teaching anti-bullying, and they are helping me make the signs.”
