All Black fans Carl and Christy Benton, with 6-month-old
Samara and the message of support on the roof of their
Calton Hill, Dunedin home. Photo by Jane Dawber.
It is a sign from above. The All Blacks are going to win
the 2011 Rugby World Cup, at least if Dunedin rugby fans Carl
and Christy Benton have any say in it.
The Calton Hill residents put a 4.8m by 1.2m illuminated sign
on their roof this week, its neon glow visible across the
suburb.
"We're both big rugby supporters. We've been watching all the
games and wanted to do something to show our support," Mr
Benton said.
"It was Christy's idea. I work at an LED importing company
and we got a new product in that's an LED neon light and
provides continuous light, so Christy started playing around
with it."
They couple spent a day making the sign, using 20m of the
light rope, costing about $20 a metre, or $400 for the whole
sign.
"We made the letters and cable-tied them to a couple of big
sheets of black plywood," Mrs Benton said. "Then used black
insulation tape to shape the letters."
A 24-volt lead was then fed up the chimney and on to the roof
to power the sign.
"The neighbours have been great about it. They all love it,"
Mr Benton said.
"We put a big green LED Christmas tree up on the roof last
year and we'll probably do the same again this Christmas."
The couple met at the University of Waikato and three years
ago moved to Dunedin, where Mr Benton is sales manager at
LEDstuff and Mrs Benton aquarist at the Portobello Aquarium.
Their 6-month-old daughter, Samara, may be following in her
parents' footsteps.
"She wore her All Blacks outfit for the opening ceremony on
Friday," Mrs Benton said.
"She didn't get to see the game, though. It was a wee bit too
late for her."
nigel.benson@odt.co.nz
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