by Garth Meyer
This is a story about Dan Fouts, Jet-Bo Jackson and Bob Dillon.
The latter stopped by the Easy Reader office last week with a story tip.
Fouts, a waterfront facilities worker in King Harbor, and two others were replacing a cone-cap on a dock piling Aug. 27 when they found a note inside from 30 years ago.
“To the adventurers of the future,” it read, pulled out of a Ziploc bag by Sal Prado, who discovered it while on a ladder near Naja’s on the International Boardwalk.
“He’s our Indiana Jones,” Fouts said.
The note went on to wish that the lives of those who found it were rich and that they “travel in peace.” It was signed “Jet-bo Jackson.”
Fouts – who shares the same name as the Hall of Fame San Diego Chargers quarterback – Prado and Dylan Albro work for Concord Property Management, which takes care of the docks, runs the boat hoist and other duties south of Seaside Lagoon.
They were changing piling brackets and cones on docks built in the 1970s, when they happened upon the note.
“Sal came down the ladder, we were all gathered around,” Fouts said. “It was pretty awesome.”
They took the note to the Concord office next to R10 restaurant and bar.
“It was fun to reminisce; where everyone was in 1995, July,” Fouts said.
At the time, he worked on the former Sportfishing Pier at the Redondo Sport Fishing office.
The old note in the Ziploc has been stashed under the cash tray in the boat hoist booth since Aug. 27. The writing gave no further indication of who Jet-Bo Jackson was or how to contact him in the future.
Piling caps get replaced in the harbor on an individual basis, as needed and materials allow. Fouts’ crew has replaced about 10 this year. ER
