<snip>
Utter disbelief. That is the general consensus among the employees at Kojis & Sons Signs in Bunkie after seeing televised images showing a 112-foot-tall guitar sign they recently install at the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi, Miss., still standing amidst the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.
Kojis Shop Foreman Todd Ducote said Tuesday that he is unable to get any information about the condition of the sign from the Mississippi Gulf Coast area because of the widespread destruction.
"Right now, we know very, very little," Ducote said. "We've been trying to get information, but the last thing we heard was that part of the guitar was starting to go under water. Despite that, it is still standing. You can't imagine what a relief that was."
What appears to be a testament to the engineering and craftsmanship of those at Kojis, the Peavey guitar sign, engineered to withstand 180-mph winds, took a wicked beating from Katrina and still managed to stay upright.
"We can't understand it. They recorded 100-mph winds in Biloxi for seven hours. That guitar took the full brunt of that wind. How it was spared, we don't know."
As the storm pounded the Biloxi and Gulfport area, Ducote said that he and other Kojis employees "expected to see it on the ground," but those images of the aftermath showing the guitar sign still standing were encouraging to the company, which has been working hard to break into the casino-sign business.
http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005508310308