The M Landmark Shines Again

The famous "M" Landmark is shinning again for the Christmas holiday season. The community-based "M Landmark Improvement Project Team" has Illuminated the "M" for the second year in a row. Parks and Recreation Commissioner James C. Baker II, who led last year's clean+up, repainting and lighting effort, gathered the team together again, this time to coincide with the city's 30th anniversary. The lighting began at exactly 5 p.m. on Dec. 3 at the conclusion of the city's anniversary ceremony. While a heavy cloud and rain mist covered the Box Springs hilltop leading up to the lighting, the sky luckily cleared moments before the scheduled event. The Riverside Police Dept Support Aerial Helicopter Unit, Air 1, took an aerial photo a few days later. According to Baker, the "M" will be illuminated nightly until Jan. 3, 2015 from 5 p.m. until midnight every day. On New Year's Eve the lights will shine an extra hour, until 1 a.m. The Noon Rotary Club was the main sponsor of the project. "The "M" can be seen for over 20 miles away in some areas," said Baker.