Parky, we hardly knew ye: Forty-two years...

Parky, we hardly knew ye: Forty-two years ago, Lloyd Hutchinson won a citywide contest to come up with a cleanup symbol for the Recreation and Parks Department. Hutchinson’s hard-working kangaroo, Parky, soon began popping up on trash cans, billboards and signs.

“My only compensation was three days for two at Mammoth Lakes--no transportation provided,” he recalls.

What galls him is that a Parky song contest followed and the winner of that competition received a two-week vacation for two in Europe.

“I just decided to write (to Recreation and Parks) now, but this thing’s been simmering inside me for years,” said Hutchinson, now a Corona resident. “I don’t think I was adequately compensated.”

He points out that other cities and states subsequently adopted Parky. “My sister saw him on a billboard in Kansas,” he said. “I’ve heard reports of him in New York on golf courses. He was in San Diego too.”

Al Goldfarb, a Recreation and Parks spokesman, said the city is exploring ways to thank Hutchinson. But he added that Parky, who was retired as a symbol here more than two decades ago, is no longer politically correct. “I don’t think the animal rights people would appreciate him having trash in his pouch,” Goldfarb explained.

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Anyone see a trend here?Pepperdine University’s Jeff Bliss points out that three local law schools--Southwestern, Loyola and UCLA--are hosting workshops Friday on the same subject:

Bankruptcy.

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Ah, that lightning-quick machinery at City Hall: The City Council on Tuesday approved a bill to suspend some noise ordinances and allow around-the-clock work on the Santa Monica Freeway to facilitate “the completion of earthquake recovery repairs.”

And not a moment too soon, inasmuch as the damaged portion of the freeway is scheduled to reopen Tuesday.

The bill was supposed to have been drawn up two months ago. Fortunately, the work crews, who have been laboring 24 hours a day since soon after the Jan. 17 earthquake, didn’t wait.

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The city’s youngest wheeler-dealer: We mentioned the other day that a financial institution sent a letter to Dave Cagle’s 1-year-old son, Brian, offering to lend him $3,000 “in just two working days.”

Now the lucky Westchester kid has received a letter from Merrill Lynch, offering him a “Visa and checking account that provides you with easy, unlimited access to your assets,” among other benefits.

“I might have to hit Brian up for a loan,” said his dad, who is justifiably proud.

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How is she going to explain it to the caterer?Darlene Holt of the county Department of Animal Care and Control received a call on Wednesday from a woman who asked: “Is this the bureau for cat marriage licenses?”

Holt told her there was no such agency.

“Well, I have a male and a female cat and I was hoping to get them married before they breed,” the woman lamented.

miscelLAny:

The director of the Parks and Recreation Department of the city of Rosemead is Michael Burbank. What would Parky say?