UPDATED Saturday, June 19, 2010 --- 9:35 a.m.
As we first reported on Thursday, a painting crew misspelled Stoughton on the city's water tower. Now, the story has gone "national." The following story was printed on the Associated Press National Wire. This means, most television and radio stations, along with every newspaper in the country, could access the story.
STOUGHTON, Wis. (AP) — A painter working on a Wisconsin water tower left behind one big typo.
The mistake had Stoughton residents scratching their heads. The new paint job had the town's name without the second T. It was spelled "S-T-O-U-G-H-O-N," rather than "S-T-O-U-G-H-T-O-N."
It turns out a painter from Neumann Co. in Romeoville, Ill., had the correct information but simply forgot the second T when painting the 6-foot letters.
And the name was spelled right on one side of the tower. It's just the side facing town that's wrong.
Painter Mike Sandmire says it was the first time he had made such an error. He added that it would be easily fixed with a new coat of paint.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
_________________________________________________________
UPDATE Posted Thursday, June 17, 2010 -- 4:22pm
By Zac Schultz
Stoughton: If you made a minor spelling error at your job who would notice? Maybe your boss or a client?
Unfortunately for one painter, his spelling error is making Stoughton residents scratch their heads and grab their cameras.
A painter for the Illinois-based Neumann Company Contractors forgot the second T in Stoughton on the city's new east side water tower.
A company spokesman says almost everybody in the profession makes a similar error at some point, but not all of them do it with a 6-foot tall letter on a 190 foot tower.
The spokesman says the painter had the correct spelling, but forgot the T when he blocked out the letters. He works right to left, so he starts at the end of the word and works backwards. After he painted in the N and the O he realized he was missing the T.
Neighbor Richard Budden says even little kids know how to spell Stoughton. "(He) told me that they spelled Stoughton wrong. I went out and looked. By God, you're right. He's only in third grade. If he can figure it out then the painter should be able to figure it out."
Neumann Company Contractors says they will have to let the paint dry and then repaint the last three letters. It will not cost the city any extra money.
The spokesman says the painter is actually from Wisconsin and the Illinois company man joked that's what he gets for hiring a cheesehead.
_________________________________________________________
UPDATED Thursday, June 17, 2010 --- 2:20 p.m.
From NBC15's News Partner, NewsTalk 1310 WIBA:
Quite the mistake for the City of Stoughton.
The utilities crew forgot one thing while repainting their water tower: that would be the second "t" in Stoughton.
The department was notified of the mistake this morning, but unfortunately, couldn't do anything about it immediately, until the water tower dried.
Enecia Sabroff tells 1310 WIBA, a supervisor was sent out to the scene, and the crew did know about their blunder, and plan to repaint it as soon as they can.
Sabroff says it certainly got their attention very quickly and if anything, they're happy it's making people laugh.
_________________________________________________________
Posted Thursday, June 17, 2010 --- 1:20 p.m.
City of Stoughton says a painting crew misspelled Stoughton on the city's water tower.
As you can see by the photo, the painting crew spelled it as Stoughon - minus the second t.
A city spokesperson says the painting crew now has to let the letters dry, before they re-paint it.
NOTE: photo courtesy of Andy.
Prev
