McIntire Park

HI BILLY MAYS HERE FOR THE DOGWOOD FESTIVAL!

"I think what we're saying is... it's going to be compromised," – said Mala Cunningham at just that same moment. Little did she know...

...that was exactly what was happening.

McIntire Park is a park in Charlottesville which became a favorite hangout of Christian Weston Chandler during 2009. It features a chalkboard wall where visitors can leave whatever messages (or drawings of your favorite hedgehog hero!) as they see fit. Every April, the annual Dogwood Festival is held at the Park, featuring a fireworks display.

The Park was at the center of a local controversy, due to plans to reallocate part of the area to a new YMCA facility and a parkway. Chris joined the effort to save the Park in the summer of 2009.

Chris on NBC

On 22 July 2009, local NBC affiliate WVIR ran a story on the six o'clock news about the controversy surrounding the park. During an interview with a representative of the McIntire Preservation Committee, Chris marches through the background of the shot while holding up his Sonichu medallion.

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Chris shows up at 1:08 if you want to skip to it.

Chris in a Council Meeting

At some point prior to 14 August 2009, Chris created a two-foot-wide sign featuring Sonichu, Rosechu, and their children with giant wads of babbling text, intended to express support for the park. The youngsters are holding extremely tiny signs that read "SAVE MCINTIRE PARK," which would be impossible to read from more than six feet away, rendering the sign largely useless.

The sign would be seen in a video where Chris used his artwork to refute the claims of CChanSonichuCWC. On 17 August Chris brought the sign with him to a Charlottesville city council meeting, and was recognized for his effort. Chris began to ramble out of turn until the city council told him to pipe down, earning the envy of millions.

Alas, even the power of Electric Hedgehog Pokemon wasn't enough to save the park; court challenges to the YMCA and parkway construction failed, and the construction on Chris's precious park began in 2013.

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Transcript

Sonichu and family expressing their support for the park

[transcription starts at 0:30, speaker is Bob Fenwick]

Fenwick: I would also like to call special attention to a young man, Christian Chandler, who's in the audience, who spent a great deal of time making his own save McIntire sign.

[applause, Chris starts shouting in the audience]

Chris: [holding up the sign] Indeed! Hmm. It's less expensive for McIntire Park. Membership is required for the YMCA and plus the wading pool should be bigger and deeper.

Chairman: [cuts Chris off] Eh, heheh, one speaker at a time. Thank you.

[Audience laughs]

Fenwick: Now, I think you all...

Independence Day Sighting

Artist's conception of Chris using the attraction rock of fail.

What the note probably said.

The "zoom lens" as aforementioned. Apparently it acts as a sort of optic enhancement by adding an optical zoom

On 4 July 2010, a troll reported that they had spotted Chris at the Independence Day celebrations held at McIntire Park on 4 July. Chris allegedly wore relatively normal clothing, indicating that perhaps he had realized how retarded he looked on his previous outing.

The troll reported that Chris had what appeared to be a large camera lens attached to the front of his DSi, and was presumably using it to survey the area for boyfriend-free girls.

Interestingly, the troll also reported that Chris scribbled a note onto something, wrapped it around a rock, and chucked it at a woman in what would appear to be a more aggressive and direct twist to the Red String of Fate tactic. Another possible explanation is that this is Chris's way of messaging people he doesn't know on Facebook or various dating profiles, applied to the real world. Whatever his logic was, the contents of the note remain a mystery.

The troll's account in full:

I have followed the Chris trolling for a while, because who could resist reading about some guy who lived in the same city as you? Though I never would have expected to run into the elusive manchild, that is, until July 4th. Every year, McIntire Park shoots off fireworks for the July 4th. Many families come out to watch, despite the decline in quality each year due to money problems. So imagine my surprise when I see the internet sensation himself. I had to do a double take to make sure. No, he wasn't wearing anything outrageous like in Friday's After 5 footage. No Sonichu medallion. I guess he really has given up on Sonichu. I didn't stalk him the entire time he was there, but kept tabs every once in a while. He spent a lot of time near the baseball field. At one point I noticed he pulled out his DSi, with something odd attached to the front of it. It looked like a zoom lense. But do they make zoom lenses for the DSi? I thought the camera quality was already shit. He seemed to use his DSi and what I think is the zoom lense looking at the people around here, presumably women, considering the creepy person he is. A little while later I noticed he had gotten up and started to walk, to where, I don't know. Then he stopped. Now, I don't know how to make of this...I saw him scribble on something, wrap it around what I think he picked up was a rock, and threw it at this woman. I don't think it hit her, but she seemed startled. She picked up whatever he threw, opened up the paper he had written on, looked at him, and shook her head. She then turned and went on her way. At that point, I decided to leave it at that and go back to hanging out with my friends. I didn't see him after that point. I assume he decided to change where he was sitting or people were just blocking my view, because as it got darker it got incredibly more busy.

See also:

For Truth and Honesty, see the archived CWCipedia page on McIntire Park

• Charlottesville, VA
• CWCville Park/CWC-Central Park