PULASKI, Tenn. (WTVF) — A man's become a celebrity in Pulaski for the simple way he makes everyone's day better.
Most people don't want to have someone just lay on the car horn at them. However, for this man, it just means what he's set out to do is working.
John Schumacher walked out to the edge of a road, holding up a sign to cars honking as they passed. The sign read Have A Great Day! Schumacher is better known as Sign Guy John.
"John, what are you doing?" I asked him.
"Just out here uplifting everybody!" he answered.
Ask around Pulaski. People know him.
"He's the guy who makes everybody happy whenever you're driving by," said Pulaski resident Joe Crockett. "I wave, and I point right back at him!"
After work and on many days off, Schumacher can be seen here and there in Pulaski, often near Walmart.
"You can find John any day of the week, any time of the year," added another resident, Bobby 'Bud' Hall.
"Do you have any idea why he does it?" I asked Crockett.
"No clue!"
Well, here's the story.
Schumacher started doing this about six years ago. It was COVID, and a lot of people were feeling low.
"Every time I seen someone, they were just like, I can't do this no more," Schumacher remembered.
Schumacher knew then he wanted to do something. Then came some inspiration that was unexpected. He was driving around Taco Bell, and the woman at the window gave him a 'Have A Great Day!'
"I said wait a minute!" Schumacher laughed. "It just kinda clicked! There it comes out of Taco Bell."
There's a bit more. Schumacher shared high school was hard because of bullying. One day heading to class, it did get scary.
"I feel this pain hit me," Schumacher remembered. "I went to the bathroom and pulled up my shirt. I was stabbed, cut, y'know,"
"He just wanted to spread his message so other people didn't feel the way he did," Hall said.
For whatever they've dealt with in the past or what they're dealing with right now, Schumacher just wants people to see a nice message.
"You don't see people just trying to put good out there like that," Crockett added.
That's why Schumacher just got recognized at a Pulaski City Council meeting.
"I've had people stop, ask for hugs," Schumacher said.
If you ever see Sign Guy John in Pulaski, tell him this;
"Thanks, man, for cheering everybody up!" Crockett said.
Then do this;
"Make sure you honk as loud as you can!" added Hall.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
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