Riddle Of The Day board sparks neighborhood joy in West Davis

PHOTO: Since April 2, the vibrantly colored Riddle Of The Day board features the answer to the previous day’s riddle along with a riddle for the current day, encouraging walkers to come by the next day to discover the answer.

By Emily Chapman,

BlueDevilHUB.com Editor–

RIDDLE: What did one pig say to the other pig? Answer posted at the end of the article!

Tucked behind the University Retirement Community (URC) in West Davis is a welcoming walking trail leading to a white board dangling off a fence belonging to 79-year-old URC resident Darell Schregardus.

Remembering the famous John F. Kennedy quote, “Ask not what your country can do for you– ask what you can do for your country,” Schregardus mused over what uplifting thing he could do for his community during the shelter in place. The result was the Riddle Of The Day white board.

To start his new project, Schregardus turned to Amazon to buy a medley of pens and a white board to hang on his back fence. Equipped with the essential supplies, he was now ready to share humor with all who pass.

With a new joke every day since April 2, the riddle board has created a sense of community between passer-byers and Schregardus.

“Now it’s become kind of a neighborhood gathering place,” Schregardus said. “It’s like, if you give you receive, and it’s not like that was the intention, but I have received so much joy and entertainment from people that I have met on the path.”

Many people, including West Davis resident Whitney Bowman and a woman Schregardus recalls talking to, have experienced a bit of joy in their day from the board’s existence.

“The riddle is such a fun ray of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy situation,” Bowman said.

The woman Schregardus spoke with shared that the riddle board inspires her children to take walks with her.

“It is really hard to get my sons to walk but if I tell them we are coming to see the riddles they are eager,” she said.

Along with posting riddles on the trail, Schregardus sends daily emails and texts to his friends with the riddles he finds.

“I text it to a person in Stockton and another friend in Michigan […] they’re basically friends that I feel would enjoy them,” he said.

Aside from Schregardus messaging his friends, three riddle readers have shared how far pictures of the riddles have travelled.

“I learned that some are going to Israel and another person told me they’re going to Spain,” Schregardus said. “One [email with the daily riddle] goes to Michigan to my friend there and he’s sending them to Poland.”

Out of many endearing conversations with walkers, Schregardus has to say one of his favorite interactions is with a patient mom and her four kids, who he calls the “dream team.”

“The mother is so gracious and so patient with her kids and they ask ‘what is it mom, what is it?’ and she says, ‘well we’ll have to think about that’ and so I’ve come out and greeted them and gotten to know them,” Schregardus said. “I got a new kitten since I’ve started this and they wanted to see my kitten so one of these days I’ll bring it out and show it to them.”

Although the benevolent Davis resident didn’t intend to receive anything for his kindness, the interactive and kind community has given him, along with those who pass by, joy and mirth.

“It has just provided a lot of satisfaction and a lot more interaction, which gives me a lot of pleasure,” Schregardus said.

ANSWER: Let’s be pen pals! 

Schregardus found this riddle to be one of his favorites because “I just thought that was really cute,” he said.