UPDATE: We Now Know The Story Behind The Signs On S. Coulter
I fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker. Just like Kody Patterson would have wanted me to.
That's who is responsible for the signs on South Coulter. Kody's daughter, Kylie, contacted me to fill me in on the man behind the signs, and why they're there in the first place.
According to Kylie, Kody was an eccentric guy who loved being the life of the party. He was also wildly creative. Unfortunately, he was in a motorcycle accident in 2002 and suffered a head injury. It was shortly after that when the signs started.
The first batch of signs were how many meters to his house. He used a meter counter and drove down Coulter taking notes before making those signs.
Soon, he began adding words to his signs. When pieces would fall down or break, he would replace them with new ones. The ones currently hanging up were put there around 2015.
Kylie told me I was right about the song lyrics, and that he was a big classic rock fan. She also filled in some of the missing pieces for me on the signs missing some context.
The sign referencing "Dec 25" is about a tragic night in their family's history.
The sign that says "Has he taken any time to show you" was about dating. According to Kylie, Kody dated a lot and was always good to the woman he was with.
The song lyrics were all songs that Kody had a deep connection with. For instance, the lyrics from Tom Petty's "You Don't Know How It Feels" were a reflection of his feelings of being misunderstood for most of his life.
When it comes to the eyes, those signs had more meaning to them than the words surrounding them.
Kylie told me that Kody believed eyes were a portal to the soul.
Kylie did tell me that the most ironic sign is the one about speeding. According to her, Kody was somewhat notorious for speeding. So much so, that it one time helped her get out of a speeding ticket.
Also, not only was I right about this not being the work of Stan Marsh 3, but apparently he and Kody didn't get along very well. It had something to do with Kody hitting a cow of Stanley's that had gotten out, according to Kylie.
She also told me that the whole point of the signs was always just to get people to ask, what's the point.
Well, you got me Kody. Well played, sir.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to shake his hand and tell him of the little adventure his signs gave me one afternoon. Kody Patterson passed away in 2018.