The newsmakers of yesterday can be forgotten over time. A new sign at Bonita High School in La Verne tries to rectify that in one case.

Reader Margaret Bohlka explains:

“Since you seem interested in local signs depicting history, I thought I’d share this story with you. The football stadium at Bonita High School in La Verne is dedicated to Glenn Davis. If you had to ask yourself ‘Who is Glenn Davis?’, you are not alone. After years of his name being painted on boards that were attached to the roof of the stadium restroom, a new professional sign has been installed.

“As you can see, the new sign notes the year he graduated from Bonita High School (though he graduated from the campus that is now Damien High School — minor point) and the year he won the Heisman Trophy.

“The 80-plus-year-old alumni of Bonita High who are still around to see the sign, and can actually see it, are very pleased and the younger generations no longer have to wonder, ‘Who is Glenn Davis?'”

For more on Glenn Davis, here’s his Wikipedia entry. In part:

“He and his twin brother Ralph played high school football at Bonita High School in La Verne, California. In 1942, Davis led the Bearcats to an 11-0 record and the school’s first-ever football championship, earning the Southern Section Player of the Year award. In 1989, Bonita’s stadium was dedicated in his name. The brothers were close and had originally planned to attend USC, but when their Congressman agreed to sponsor both him and his brother with appointments to West Point they decided to play football there.”

For the U.S. Military Academy’s team, Army, Davis was half of a rushing combination with Doc Blanchard, who was nicknamed Mr. Inside to Davis’ Mr. Outside. Blanchard won the Heisman in 1945, Davis in 1946. The duo made the cover of Time magazine. Davis went on to a pro career with the L.A. Rams but it was cut short by injury in 1952.

Davis’ Heisman was donated to Bonita and is displayed in the office.

All that would be a lot to put on a sign, but maybe they can paint a link to this blog post. (Kidding!)

* Update: Reader John Clifford kindly obliges with a QR code to this very blog post! Bonita can add it to the corner of the stadium sign…