Sue Liscinsky sent this photo of her grandkids, William and Michaela Randall, posing with a Minion fire hydrant with family friend Julia Frouge.
Finkle, a retired Seymour school teacher and lifelong resident, lives on Jay Lane with her husband of 44 years, Wayne, who was also born and raised in Seymour.
Wayne’s a big fan of the Minions, the cute — albeit slightly criminally insane — little yellow guys from “Despicable Me,” its sequel and now “Minions,” which opens Friday (July 10).
Here’s a clip from one of their movies (and it explains this story’s headline, for anyone unfamiliar):
Wayne had seen a photo online of a yellow fire hydrant done up to look like a Minion and thought, why not do it on the hydrant outside the house? The hydrant was already yellow, so they had a head start.
After running the idea by the town’s assistant fire marshal and getting permission from the water company, Wayne prepped the hydrant so that Pamela could go to work.
Note: Seymour Fire Chief John Cronin pointed out on Facebook that not getting permission for something like this could be considered vandalism.
“We wanted to do something for our neighborhood,” she said. “My husband just adores the Minions, and so do my grandchildren.”
Sue Liscinsky sent this upclose photo of the Minion hydrant on Jay Lane in Seymour.
Jay Lane is off Colony Street.
“As people are walking up and down Colony Street, everybody’s stopping to take a look,” Pamela said.
In addition, the fire marshal’s office gave the Finkles a junior fire marshal sticker to place stop the Minion hydrant.
Citizens Engine Co. No. 2, where Wayne volunteered for many years, is also providing the Minion hydrant with Citizens Engine stickers.
“We want it to be a kind of ‘thank you’ to the fire companies in town,” Pamela said.
“They are awesome neighbors,” Liscinsky said of the Finkles.
Pamela Finkle taught for 38 years in the Seymour public school system. Most of her time there was spent teaching eighth grade at Seymour Middle School.
“For the last six years I’ve been substitute teaching at Seymour High School, so I have 44 years in the classroom,” she said.
What does she like about living in Seymour?
“I get asked that question a lot having done my whole career here,” she said. “From a teacher’s point of view, I liked having kids in the classroom and then, years later, having their kids in the classroom. Seymour is a classic small town. A tight-knit community where people have the same values and carry on the same traditions.”
Wayne and Pamela Finkle, in a photo posted to Facebook.