08/31/2026
The inspiration of “Jon Qsak (Say Something)”. 🤖
It all started with a pen sketch from Pittston’s Mayor Michael Lombardo and his love for the 80’s movie, Say Anything with John Cusack and the iconic boombox scene. Awhile back Mayor Lombardo showed me his idea of a robot holding a massive boombox over his head and having a digital screen built into the boombox to display messages, events, etc. and have it standing in the middle of downtown. I was intimidated by the size of the project and the size of the robot itself once I started sketching up the design on my shop floor. I knew it was going to be big! I started gathering scrapyard materials and Harley parts to use as details throughout its design and started the process of replacing the chalk lines on my floor with actual pieces of steel. It was on! I was constantly dreaming of different things to add to make him different and unique and give him a very special personality. He definitely has a unique personality.
Early into the build I knew he was going to be too massive for me to handle on my own so I called my metal friend Chris Daniels from Metal Fuzions,
(we built the Lace Village sign together) I knew his fabrication expertise was going to be needed to build this 16’ tall robot structurally sound and able to hold a huge digital sign inside a huge heavy boombox. With his skills, machinery and knowledge it gave me the confidence that this big boy wouldn’t be going anywhere. Underneath all the whimsically fun details are some major beams, supports and brackets holding it all together! After I built the chest and head, I brought them to Chris’s shop where we designed the legs, arms and boombox to all work with what I had done. It was also so nice to have his ideas and input to throw into the designing/building process! Because of the height of it, we were never able to put all of the sections together in the shop, so when we installed it, it was the first time seeing the whole robot all together. My jaw dropped when we stood back and saw it! It is enormous in person! What an experience!
It was stored for awhile until the time came to install it. The installation process was an experience of its own. It all went amazingly with lots of helping hands from Mayor Lombardo and his team! Mayor Lombardo is a working machine! I’ve known this from the 9 years of spending time and working with him on other projects, but I must say, this install was a lot of work and he did most of it! It was inspirational to watch. We were able to get him all wrapped up and unveiled and the opening ceremony of the annual Pittston Tomato Festival. It was definitely a proud and surreal moment seeing him standing there finally alive and ready to bring his messages to the city! There is so much more I could say about all of this experience but this is long enough! A million thanks to the amazing Mayor Lombardo, his team, Chris and the city of Pittston for having “Jon Qsak” towering over your city! We are so proud and so honored! 🤖
