Freshman and sophomore classes thereafter held an annual contest, the loser charged with clearing growth and freshening up the letters.Intermittently over the years - since about the 1970s when the high school discontinued the effort - several groups have worked to restore the letters, which sit on private property.The latest effort, spearheaded by the Centennial Committee, saw volunteers do the initial work, which included locating the original site amid the decades of thick brush and outlining it with bright construction cord - then Limoneira Co. assumed the labor on the steep mountainside as well as an essential, liability insurance. Also involved was Associates Insectary who provided the spray rigs to paint the giant letters. Involved from Associates Insectary were Brett Chandler, Bob Lino, Sean Stevens, James Larmon, Arnold Nava, Rafael Gonzales, Jose Perez, Juan Carlos Perez, Jose Sandoval, Rafael Ramirez, Rogelio Nunez.“We’re very happy; it will bring a lot of pride and sentiment to Santa Paula just in time for the Centennial,” said Limoneira Co. Vice President Ron Hendren.
South Mountain landmark SP sign shining white
April 12, 2002
Santa Paula News
It’s beginning to look a lot like Santa Paula with the city’s historic SP standing out proudly on the side of South Mountain after the last step in the restoration project, spraying the giant letters with a mixture of lime and paint.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesIt’s beginning to look a lot like Santa Paula with the city’s historic SP standing out proudly on the side of South Mountain after the last step in the restoration project, spraying the giant letters with a mixture of lime and paint.Now the letters are visible from all over town; the SP is high on the side of South Mountain almost directly above Santa Paula Airport, courtesy of the Limoneira Co., which picked up the tab to restore the 125-foot-long, 25-foot-wide letters in time for the city’s grand Centennial Celebration (April 19-21, with a special Centennial City Council reunion meeting on the actual anniversary of April 22.)In the Dec. 7, 1922 edition of the Santa Paula Chronicle, the headline read, “Carve Face of South Mountain,” with the subhead noting “High School Makes Trip to Height to Carve SP on Hillside.”
