The 'C' is clean again

A fresh coat of white latex can cover the effects left on C Hill by a small group of vandals wielding orange and black paint.

It can also build camaraderie and determination in volunteers who have trodden up the hill overlooking Eagle Valley many times before to paint and remove weeds. The most recent time came only about two weeks before the prank that left a discolored "C."

"It's community pride," said Adam Houghton, 19, who cleaned up the "C" for his senior project at Carson High School. He came back again on Sunday with a group of about 15 volunteers. "It's something that's been with Carson, and me, for a long time. Being a hometown boy, this is what I wanted to do."

The prank is nothing new, said Roy Houghton, his father. The 1971 CHS graduate has made many trips to maintain the "C."

On Sunday, the group brought 30 gallons of white paint to spray over the 92-by-76-foot "C."

"What surprised us is that they painted it," Houghton said. "What they usually do is move the rocks into the middle, and they will put 'Douglas High School' or 'L' for loser. This time, they spent quit a lot of time and effort to paint the 'C.'"

Those in the valley first noticed the new colors on the "C" the week of Sept. 12, before the Carson High football team played - and lost - to Douglas County. The vandals used some of the rocks to make a "L" in the center of the "C." They also left the school's acronym behind on the side of the American flag, which was built by the C Hill Flag Foundation.

"This is vandalism," said Roy Houghton's wife, Pamela Houghton. "A prank is moving rocks, vandalism costs money."

Roy Houghton Construction and Sherwin-Williams in Carson City donated the $350 needed for the project.

For the first time, 10-year-old Tristin Knapp, of Carson City, used a weed whacker, which was bigger than him, to trim back growth in the center of the "C."

He's wanted to come up C Hill for some time, and had the opportunity when his family learned about the cleanup following the vandalism.

The "C" was put up during the early 1920s by CHS students "as a way to show community pride," said Guy Rocha, Nevada state archivist.

• Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.