Garbage meets its match

Lolita Harper

It was a smorgasbord of junk.

Broken pieces of brick sat atop slabs of fencing, which laid on

top of plastic tarps that covered ditches of trash, which housed

broken pottery, Styrofoam and old medical supplies.

Overgrown trees on the Dover Drive property seemed to protect the

hordes of rubbish, garnering help from dense shrubbery and overrun

vines, which created a nearly impermeable barrier.

It was certainly a challenge and one that members of the

faith-based organization Go and Do Likewise accepted humbly as they

pulled up to Elmer Thomassen’s Newport Beach home Saturday morning.

“This is why we need the presence of the Lord so much,” group

president Bud Potter said about tackling larger-than-life obstacles.

More than a dozen volunteers arrived Saturday morning armed with a

large Dumpster, crates, dollies, wheelbarrows, chainsaws, boxes,

shovels and thick gloves. They set up a portable toilet and a table

with some water and a radio and readied themselves to “do likewise,”

based on the gospel chapter Luke in which the Lord calls for his

followers to give of themselves.

The legs of broken and rusted chairs were tossed in the Dumpster,

joining a shopping cart, a mattress frame and broken pieces of a

wooden fence. Volunteers took countless trips from Thomassen’s

makeshift landfill in the front yard to the trash, with armfuls of

plaster, branches and seat cushions -- to name only a fraction of the

debris.

Complaints about the Thomassen home at 1918 Dover Drive date back

to 1961, as do city efforts to try to alleviate the blight. The

corner property is an obvious eyesore in the Dover Shores community,

where the surrounding homes have neatly manicured lawns and fresh

paint.

An independent hearing officer in December declared the Thomassen

home at 1918 Dover Drive to be a public nuisance. The officer ordered

Thomassen to clean up the property. Thomassen requested an extension

because he was out of state seeking treatment for lymphoma, among

other ailments. His failing health has long been his excuse for his

failure to keep a tidy home.

After much back and forth, public hearings and resistance, Go and

Do Likewise has been able to do what others have not -- get the place

cleaned up. While the group made considerable strides Saturday, it

plans to return the next two Saturdays to finish the job.

Terry DeBay, a member of the organization Go and Do Likewise, said

his wife, former Newport Beach mayor Jan DeBay, suggested the group

get involved in the clean up effort. Months later, the group worked

with the often ornery Thomassen and convinced him to receive their

help.

“He is excited about it,” DeBay said of Thomassen.

Thomassen could not be reached for comment Saturday and was said

to have left the property earlier that morning to allow for the clean

up.

Neighbor Kathryn Fletcher was extremely grateful to Go and Do

Likewise but hoped Thomassen was not taking them advantage of them.

Fletcher, who has been battling to get that property cleaned up for

10 years, said she does not buy any of Thomassen’s excuses and

believes he enjoys collecting all his stuff.

“There is not a whole lot of sympathy for him around here,”

Fletcher said.

Fletcher said she is in a “wait and see” state of mind. She will

defer her ultimate opinion of the clean-up until later, when she is

sure the junk is gone for good. In the meantime, she is wishes the

volunteers well and sends them her best regards.

“As a neighborhood, we are really grateful,” she said. “I just

hope nobody down there gets hurt and I really hope it wont go back to

the way it was. I would hate to see them all get taken advantage of.”

Regardless of allegation of misaligned intentions, the volunteers

of Go and Do Likewise continued their work, knowing that even if

temporary, their efforts were benefiting the community.

Ty Jaglowski, 12, said he was on site with his grandfather Bud

Potter, who is the president Go and Do Likewise. Ty has taken part in

a few volunteer projects with his grandfather but none like the one

on Dover Drive. He had seen pictures of the Newport Beach home in the

papers was still unprepared for what it was going to look like when

he got there Saturday morning.

“I said, ‘It looks like we are going to need two or three more

Dumpsters,” Ty said.

Despite the taunting task ahead of him, he accepted the challenge

readily.

“I’ve done this a couple of times and figure I could do it again,”

Ty said.

Volunteer Kevin Clark, from Rancho Santa Margarita, echoed Ty’s

sentiments.

“With this many people working you can make a big difference in a

couple of work days,” Clark said.

* LOLITA HARPER is the community forum editor. She also writes

columns Wednesdays and Fridays. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275

or by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.