Unusual gift given to college grad

There are graduation gifts, and there’s what Tom Lindsey gave his son Joseph Lindsey, who recently graduated magna cum laude with a degree in marketing from Kennesaw State University.

When Joseph Lindsey arrived at their home in Powder Springs on Saturday, he found his father putting the finishing touches on a 24-foot-by-24-foot Kennesaw State logo that he was painting onto their front lawn.

“It’s pretty stinking perfect,” said Joseph Lindsey, who is actually the artist in the family. “It looks awesome.”

Joseph Lindsey said he had no idea that his father had planned the grassy gift.

“I was blown away,” he said.

Tom Lindsey said he doesn’t know where the inspiration came from. But he is an airline pilot, so perhaps the sight of always looking down from the sky at things on the ground gave him the idea. Because he is used to doing calculations as part of his job, he figured out how to paint the logo by taking a 2-inch-by-2-inch car decal and multiplying the dimensions to reach the final scale. He said it took about four hours to paint. If he didn’t like the final product, he reasoned he could just cut the lawn.

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“I’m just super proud of him,” Tom Lindsey said. “I’m going to do this because I want to recognize him.”

Joseph Lindsey shared it on Instagram (joslindsey) and the university’s athletics department shared it through their social media channels.

People who live in the neighborhood have come by to see, and more will come by for Joseph Lindsey’s graduation party on Friday.

The Lindseys have yet to year from their neighborhood homeowner’s association, which recently awarded them yard of the month.

“I’m not sure if they still want me to have that,” Tom Lindsey joked.

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