GUELPH -- “I didn’t think a chiropractor could improve my posture…but I stand corrected.”
This is just one of many Dad jokes Mark Hallman of Guelph has been displaying to his Guelph neighbourhood as part of a new initiative.
While out on a walk with his family, he first noticed homes in the Royal City were sharing daily jokes in the window at the start of the pandemic.
These became highlights of their walks, but when they stopped last summer, Hallman decided to create his own Dad joke series as part of the Daily Summit Smile series.
I thought it’d be fun if we resurrected the Dad joke in the neighbourhood,” he said. “So we decided on Jan. 1 to start doing the sign.
“It was also to give me hope, because there’s been a lot of dark periods for all of us, myself included, and just to give ourselves a sense of purpose each day, even if it’s a small smile.”
A joke a day is written on a sign in Hallman’s yard in hopes of making people who are strolling down Summit Crescent laugh.
“I like to get out for a walk every day and that’s part of my routine,” said neighbor Anna Street. “I come by and have a smile.”
One of Hallman’s favourite jokes goes “if you are feeling cold you should go stand in a corner…it’s 90 degrees in there.”
“I mean, some of them are a little cheesy, but I think that’s the point,” said neighbor David Adams. “Just to let everybody have a little chuckle.”
Hallman says he tries his best to frame his jokes around current events too and has a special Easter-themed one coming up.
He’ll preview his jokes to his family before writing them to get their honest opinion, like from his daughter Faye who says not all of them land, but some do.
“Other than his jokes, he is pretty funny,” said son Desmond.
Hallman says he will continue to share the punny one-liners as long as the pandemic lasts.
“I’m proud of Mark for thinking of continuing this,” said wife Julie. “It’s just something that occupies his mind in a positive way.”
