Earlier this month, “06880” posted a story about a bench.
It mysteriously appeared on a reader’s lawn one night — cemented into the ground.
An inscription on the back read: “Have a great day at school today. Be nice to each other.”
Perhaps it was accidentally installed at the wrong house?
No one knew. (At least, no one responded in the Comments section.)
Now, the plot thickens.
Ellie Magnuson writes: “As a follow-up to your article about the mystery bus stop bench, I thought Westporters might get a kick out of knowing it’s a serial situation.
“I know of 2 that popped up in Old Hill. Word is there’s at least one more, somewhere on North Avenue.
The Old Hill bench. (Photo/Ellie Magnuson)
“All showed up out of the blue, wrapped and installed in concrete with a chain. All with the same positive inscription.
“What wasn’t mentioned regarding the first one is that there are initials (I’m assuming) on the back as well.
“My crack team of investigators (including my kids, ages 13 and 11) have deduced that it may have been a family project, given the 3 ‘initials’ letters, and the fact that our bench seat back was installed backwards and the concrete ended up being more for show.
Initials on the bench. (Photo/Ellie Magnuson)
“Whatever the case, particularly now that we know we can easily pull it up and move it if we need to, we’re thankful to the mystery bench giver for our new place to sit while we wait for the bus!”
This may be Westport’s best community mystery since the pandemic yarn bomber.
If anyone has information on the back story of the bench gifter, click “Comments” below.
Or, perhaps, don’t. Who doesn’t love a great unsolved mystery?
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