Listen here:
If you’ve been through Joshua Tree in the last couple weeks, you may have seen a bit of commotion in the island between Highway 62 and the Farmer’s Market parking lot:
Paul Hoffman: “This is the perfect spot, especially with that Joshua Tree sign in the background…”
That’s Paul Hoffman – he’s the President of the Joshua Tree Rotary Club – and he and a small group of volunteers have been busy cleaning 5 layers of paint off Myrtle the turtle.
Hoffman: “All the way down to the cement… took us 12 days”
Twelve days is a blink of an eye for an over 50 year-old cement turtle… or more accurately a tortoise – but that misnomer has been around since Myrtle was rebuilt by Howard Pierce and his wife, who set Myrtle free to slowly make her way to her current Instagram-famous position.
Hoffman: “It’s been in Joshua Tree since ‘71 … in fact it was in the parade for many years up until 1976 and then it’s made its way to 5 locations with its final location being right here.”
And right here is a newly cleaned and repainted Myrtle, with some additions…
Paul Hoffman: “It does have a face and two eyes, and we put a lip on her. That was David’s idea to put a lip on her so she could stick her tongue out to people who try and walk on her.”
Grateful David Esqueda and his son Charlie are the artists who gave Myrtle her more realistic palette along with shell details that David says came from a young visitor calling the statue “Goldie”. While that nickname may not stick, it did give David the idea for a last minute glow up for Myrtle’s shell:
David Esqueda: “It inspired me, I remember i had some gold leaf paint leftover from a job and I’m gonna come out and give it a little sparkle.”
Myrtle is a popular attraction in town for people who want a good snap for Instagram – she’s searchable on Google Maps – and David and Paul say they are going to give myrtle a clearcoat to protect her new looks. They both know it will be difficult to keep people off the statue – which is admittedly at the perfect height for climbing onto, but they hope a planned sign asking visitors to stay off the tortoise will keep myrtle looking as fresh as she does today.
The Rotary wants to thank the Joshua Tree fire department for coming out and helping with their high-pressure hoses to clean the soap off Myrtle when she was being prepped for her current paint job.
Volunteers you helped made Myrtle beautiful:
Grateful David Esqueda
Charlie Esqueda
Paul Hoffman
Amanda Bowersock (Not Pictured)
Cheryl Hoffman (Not pictured)
Laurel Arismendi
