An old, weathered fence on Lehigh Avenue in Pueblo’s South Side has a simple message for Puebloans: “Don’t Lose Hope.”

The message is painted across nearly 50 wooden fence planks in white letters with a red and blue butterfly before it and a heart after it.

People walking along sidewalks and some driving on Lehigh between Castle Royal Drive and Glenroyal Drive see it.

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, signs like this are sprouting up around town.

Some are written in children’s handwriting on poster board. Others have been created by adults.

“I think that it means that there’s always hope for tomorrow and if everybody just sticks together and does what they’re supposed to, we can fight it and beat this so life can get back to normal,”said Crystal Valles, who saw the fence on Lehigh.

Micki McBride, a retired nurse at Parkview Medical Center, posted a sign at her South Side home that reads: “Save A Nurse Stay Home.”

“I still have a lot of contact with people that work in the ER at Parkview. I have a friend up the street who is actually working on a COVID (-19) unit,” McBride said.

McBride said she also has several family members who are in the medical field and on the front line in this battle against the pandemic.

“We are all in this together, and I think more importantly, it is imperative that we protect each other and nurses who are on the front line,” McBride said.

“This is just a message to send out to the passersby to please take care of the people around you and the people in the community who take care of you.”

amestas@chieftain.com

Twitter: @mestas3517