Vandalism damages Chase the Ace sign
As the excitement for Chase the Ace returns for another year, the community’s excitement in Westville has been somewhat marred by disappointment at an unsightly act of vandalism that took place this past weekend.
Sometime last Saturday night, a promotional sign for this year’s Chase the Ace in Westville located on Spring Garden Road — a collaborative effort of the Westville Royal Canadian Legion and the Westville Rink Commission to promote the upcoming event — was defaced with silver spray paint.
Don Calder, a member of the Chase the Ace Committee with the Westville Legion, expressed his disappointment in seeing such a senseless act, adding that “the biggest issue is that we’re two non-profit organizations, trying to raise money for our committees — something like this sets us back.”
The Legion and rink are expecting replacing the sign to cost as much as $500 – an expense that will confound their fundraising efforts before they even have a chance to begin.
“With all the time and effort that went into having that sign designed, it’s tough to drive by it every day and see it,” said Calder. “It was fine on Saturday afternoon, but we found it damaged on Sunday morning.”
The cleanup of the markings on the sign is complicated, Calder noted, because just using paint remover on the plastic surface of the sign could damage its visibility.
“We tried scraping it off, and we don’t want to use paint remover, because it could turn the (plastic) grey or white,” he said.
Calder said the Westville Police have been notified, and are investigating the matter — and that Chase the Ace will still be taking place this year in Westville.