Frank Sereno, who lives in Kansas City has been trying to get a pothole in his neighborhood repaired by the public works department. The pothole runs about two feet wide and three inches deep and he began reporting it in March.
The place to fix it appears to have fallen on deaf ears or slipped through the cracks. Sereno didn’t become bitter about the situation but decided to throw the pothole a birthday celebration instead.
Complaining didn’t seem to work so Sereno felt this was a creative way to draw attention to the problem and lift the spirits of the people in the neighborhood. He went all out, placing a birthday cake with the number 3 and a little candle inside the pothole to celebrate its three-month birthday.
He even thought about singing happy birthday to it but decided the cake was enough as it was a bit warm outside.
His neighbors who had been feeling fed up about the condition of the roads in the neighborhood were amused by his gimmick. Sereno says he has seen more and more potholes developing in the roads over the years.
They come in all shapes and sizes and driving on a damaged road means weaving in and out to try and avoid them. Sereno’s pothole is far from the worse he has ever seen. He is a motorcyclist and says he has experienced some gaping pits in the asphalt that posed a danger of him flying off his bike if he hit them.
A particularly harsh winter took its toll on roads and the public works department of Kansas has been battling to cope with filling in all the potholes. The process has been delayed by bouts of spring rains and many cases reported in 2019 still remain open.
Maggie Green, a spokesperson for public works, says there are still many potholes on the list that they’re working through.
Sereno took a photograph of the cake in the pothole to post on Facebook and it wasn’t long before support for his situation poured in. The attention on social media did what he hoped for – it drew the attention of the city.
It was only days later that construction crews patched and filled the pothole. The workers told local reporters that poor weather conditions had prevented repair crews from patching it up sooner.
After the pothole was finally filled, Sereno threw another hilarious graduation party for the pothole. He invited all his Waldo neighbors to a graduation ceremony with cake and light refreshments. He titled the invitation “A Waldo Pothole Celebration: Have your cake and eat it too”.
Sereno’s celebrations were in good fun but he is glad that it also resolved this particular issue. He says it obviously pays to get creative in order to get something fixed. He wanted to make sure that his voice and those of his neighbors were heard. This time his message was heard loud and clear!