John Oliver knows that keeping one’s eye on the ball leads to great rewards. In 2020, however, the attainable balls are scant, which is why it’s been delightful to see Oliver getting all worked up about his “dream” come true — and even mentioning it while wearing a hoodie at the Emmys. The afterglow of statuette gold didn’t completely measure up to his ultimate quest of having a sewage plant in Danbury, Connecticut named after him, and now it’s happening.
Yes, Oliver made good on Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton’s news that the Last Week Tonight host would show up in person to accept this honor. Yes, Oliver was thrilled to cut the ribbon after the Danbury city council voted almost unanimously to officially rename the facility as the John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant. Here’s the photographic proof, straight from Boughton, who called this a “great and glorious visit by Mr. John Oliver.”
Great and glorious visit by Mr. John Oliver. #Danbury https://t.co/fFonU56K4q pic.twitter.com/HsH3fWUVWg
— Ex-MayorMark (@ExMayorMark) October 19, 2020
Later, Oliver did throw on a suit to make things a little fancier.
The Danbury News-Times quotes Oliver’s joyful event reaction, which managed to be a profound statement:
“[T]hink about it, this place takes the worst that humanity can produce, and transforms it into something that we can live with. And now more than ever, there’s something inspirational in that, because at the end of this awful, awful year, what could be more important than evidence that, if we want to, we can come together, overcome our differences and sort our [expletive] out.”
It’s the end of a fantastic (mock) feud but the perfect tribute to the dumpster fire of 2020. Previously, Boughton called the host “full of crap.” That only prompted Oliver to want more, so he opened his wallet and made a $55,000 donation to the city. He then faux-raged in front of his HBO audience in August, “Listen, I didn’t know that I wanted my name on your sh*t factory… But now that you floated it as an option, it is all that I want.”
The local Fox 61 affiliate is reporting that, following Oliver’s $55,000 donation, other donors have piled on to the tune of $60,000 more and counting. Finally, some good news!
(Via Danbury’s News-Times & Fox 61)
