Help Us Brighten The Day of Vern, The Mayor of Gaines Street

If you drive up Gaines Street in Davenport, you've seen Vern Carpenter.

He sits on his porch at the top of the hill between 14th and 15th Street, along Gaines, where he waves and shouts to the traffic that goes by up and down the hill.

Those who see him every day know him as the Mayor of Gaines Street.

The waving and greeting started nearly 30 years ago.

"My sister and her children came to live here and I was always in the front yard playing with them," he told the Quad City Times. "People saw the kids and us out there and I'd wave and they'd laugh and wave back. Then I started sitting out on the front more and just greeting people with a friendly wave and smile. I started to really like it."

Now, his chair sits empty on the porch.

According to his son, Rick, Vern had a stroke a few weeks ago and has been in a nursing and rehab facility. He hopes to come home soon, but he has a long road ahead.

Here he is, talking about the waving, in a special Pay It Forward segment from WQAD:

Rick said that if anybody wanted to, they can send Vern a get well card.

So why not? Please, take 5 minutes of your day, and write Vern a card to brighten up his day.

Make the card out to:

Harmony Rehab C/O Vern Carpenter

815 E Locust St. Room 149

Davenport, IA 52803