People & Places

The Havlik family, John Havlik, his son Greg, and two grandsons, John and Rick, have hunted with me on the JA for about 10 years. During a tour of Headquarters I mentioned that Ninia and I wanted to repaint or replace the original Post Office sign which had become very faded and almost unreadable. Greg told me he knew the perfect guy for that task and he would like permission to replace or repaint the sign for the ranch as a gift from the Havlik family. “The Guy” is Greg’s cousin, a man named Mike Iverson, who is well known nationally in the Classic Car world for his fine detail painting.  

A few days later I removed the original sign and photographed it paying careful attention to the size and spacing of the lettering and the probable font style. I further determined the original sign was made using straight grain Fir.

I forwarded that information to Greg Havlik in Minnesota who provided the Fir and Mike Iverson painted the sign in the official Post Office colors. The Havliks brought the new sign with them to Turkey Camp on Mulberry Creek for this year’s big Hog Hunt.

I congratulate the Havliks and Mike Iverson for the great job and the honest recreation of the original sign. Today I enlisted the help of my good friend, Ron Pope who also came for this year’s Hog Hunt, and we drove to Headquarters to mount the new sign. The JA Ranch Post Office has an official new sign to match the original one in every detail.

Sam McAlexander