Fadels...A Sign Of The Times

It was a normal drive to the next town south, but this time something was different, something had changed, something was gone.

The Fadels sign is no more.

The sign that's been in the same location for decades (I don't exactly how long...) has been taken down, though nature itself helped the crew assigned to dismantle the aging sign, a sign some called "an eyesore."

The billboard was literally a sign of the times, and it never fit in to its environment, nor did it make much sense. Before those in the Salt Lake Valley discovered what a great place Davis County was to live and raise a family, the Fadels sign stood alone in a field of weeds.

And it stayed that way for years. It wasn't until much later that I found out that Fadels was a furniture store in Salt Lake City. How or why they decided to put up a large sign, I don't know. What made things more confusing is the sign--at least to best of my recollection--never had anything but "Fadels" on it, no Fadels Furniture, no other details, just the singular word.

As time passed, the area was developed and homes began popping up around the sign. The city then put up a sound wall hiding the sign from the freeway effectively destroying the its usefulness. However, I believe the store closed years ago so it really didn't matter if anyone saw the sign or not.

In August, 2012, I stopped by and took pictures of the dilapidated sign, a sign in such disrepair that a tree--a big tree--was growing through the middle of it. I can only imagine those living in the neighborhood hated it and wanted it gone. To them it was just a big pile of rotting wood. To me, it was more.

As progress continues in my little town (not so little anymore...), it's another thing that's forever gone, another building, another landmark that my kids will not identify as being part of the town where they live. Us old-timers can no longer sit at the counter at the drug store on the corner of state and main, or in the seats at the Tom Boy Cafe or play on the big rocks at Farmington Elementary. Nor can we shop at the Farmington AG or buy pastries at the bakery across from the cemetery or go to Lagoon via the back gate or swim in the million-gallon pool with water fit to drink.

No, our kids live in a different world, and even though they play on streets paved and re-paved over and over again, they also ride their bikes over new roads to new homes for new families. And the kids growing up in those new homes will see us old-timers talk about the way the little town used to be and wonder what in the world is "a Fadels sign?"