CALIFORNIA - News from June 26, 2009
Back in February, the world’s media converged on Whittier hoping to get a glimpse of octuplet mother Nadya Suleman and her 14 children.
The media moved on when Suleman took a home in nearby La Habra.
But the legacy of “Octomom” lives on at the Gold Mine VW Auto Parts building on Pickering Avenue in Whittier.
There, drivers can’t help but chuckle at a display that owners Ralph and Diva Chase have set up. Mounted on a wall is half a grabber-blue 1969 Volkswagen Beetle. Inside, a black-haired mannequin -- respectfully named Teri, not Nadya -- is sitting with her legs crossed, surrounded by doll babies. A box of diapers sits on the bug’s roof.
Ralph Chase said his 22-year-old niece, Jenna White, put the display together, meant as a tribute to Suleman and her mark on Whittier. “She’s Teri’s stylist,” he joked.
They sometimes change Teri’s clothes to freshen her look, and some people have come by to donate clothes for the mannequin.
Chase said that the display had slowed traffic and that a few customers had inquired about the installation.
He said he had not heard from Suleman.
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