Thanksgiving doesn’t deter graffiti removal guy
By Denise M. Baran-Unland Correspondent December 9, 2012 6:48PM
Jan Nahorski, graffiti abatement officer for thecity of Joliet, spent part of his Thanksgiving Day removing graffiti from a resident's property, so she could enjoy her holiday company without embarrassment. | submitted photo
Updated: January 11, 2013 6:12AM
The turkey was roasting in the oven and Jan Nahorski, graffiti abatement officer for the city of Joliet, was driving to New Lenox to drop off some tables for a holiday party when he received the frantic phone call.
A woman preparing for a large family gathering at her home woke up to find her house, fence and car plastered with graffiti, some of it gang-related and some of it extremely sexually explicit.
Even worse, her parents were dining with there that day. She had small children in the house. Could Nahorski come right over and remove it? Please?
So Nahorski donned work clothes, picked up his gear and spent several hours restoring her property to its former condition.
Nahorski said he didn’t receive holiday or overtime pay but that wasn’t the reason he delayed his own Thanksgiving celebration.
“I just did it because I believe in the mission entrusted to me,” Nahorski said, “and that is to make Joliet a better place to live by making it as graffiti-free as I can.”
