Rain showers this evening with mostly cloudy conditions overnight. Low 64F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Rain showers this evening with mostly cloudy conditions overnight. Low 64F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

Jill Mensen has shared positive and encouraging messages with the Dyersville community for the past year from a sign in her front yard.

Jill Mensen has shared positive and encouraging messages with the Dyersville community for the past year from a sign in her front yard.

For the past year, Jill Mensen has been writing positive messages on a dry-erase board at 4 a.m. and carrying it out to her Dyersville front yard. Driven by the desire to do something helpful during the pandemic, Mensen began surprising neighbors on their birthdays by putting a sign in their yards. It seemed like a good idea to encourage passersby to honk in celebration, but Mensen began to worry she might miss someone’s special day, so she stopped the birthday sign effort.

A story on the news about a woman who had cancer caught Mensen’s attention. The woman’s doctor prescribed exercise, but she couldn’t find the motivation. Eventually, the woman took a walk and encountered a hopeful sign in a neighboring yard. Anticipation of each day’s inspiration was all she needed to get moving regularly. The woman now lives cancer free. Mensen realized the potential impact she might have with a daily front yard message, so she started placing the sign in her own yard with encouraging quotes or jokes.

“My husband thought I was crazy, she said.”

No stranger to struggle and heartache, Mensen is the survivor of an extremely challenging childhood. She remembers many conflicts between her parents, financial instability, her mother’s three hospital visits to have her stomach pumped after aspirin overdoses and the day she eventually took her own life with a gun. Mensen was eight years old at the time. The family continued to face challenges and a solo move to Dyersville at the age of 18 was an attempt to create a better future.

“My life was so hard, I could write a book,” said Mensen recently from her front porch where she and husband Tom often eat dinner and receive compliments on her sign.

Upon her arrival in Dyersville, she rented an apartment and secured four jobs, getting little to no sleep, but being fueled by the need to never again experience the scarcity of her early years. She met Tom while bartending at Royal Lanes, and the two joined forces, working hard and building a life with the stability Mensen craved.

“You never know what is going on behind closed doors,” said Mensen, who is driven to lessen the suffering of others. She hopes the sign will help people realize we’re all on the same team and “life isn’t so bad.” Mensen wishes people would be nicer to each other.

People have grown attached to the sign and express disappointment when it’s not there, which only happens on rainy or snowy days. Mensen has seen young girls taking pictures of her sign and cars shining their headlights at night on the message. One day while grocery shopping, she was stopped by a woman who wanted to tell her how much she loved the sign. Mensen and her husband were on the front porch when a man shouted from the street, letting them know he changed his dog walking route to read the sign each day.

“You wouldn’t believe the phone calls I’ve gotten,” said Mensen, who feels the project has connected her to so many people. She sees the sign as a conversation starter. “It gives people a reason to socialize.”

A notebook has become the place Mensen stores the jokes, quotes and inspirational sayings she gathers as potential sign material. She hopes to continue indefinitely, yet suggests there are enough messages in her notebook for Tom to take over if something were to happen to her.

A person of faith, Mensen said “church is my go-to.” She feels her mother and God guiding her to help people through the project. “I try to be there for everyone and to make people feel better.”

Twice in July, Mensen’s sign held a message for the garbage men. “Why can’t you trust a garbage man who loves his job? Because he’s always talking trash,” and “What do garbage men eat? Junk food. Bucky and Terry, this is for you.”

The messages ended up on the Facebook page of Bi-County Disposal, Inc. with a message of affirmation for Mensen from the company’s secretary.

“A few signs that made us smile. Just takes a moment to brighten someone’s day.”

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