‘Somebody in Stoney Creek has to know something ’
Fundraising trailer stolen from Kinsmen Club
The Kinsmen Club of Stoney Creek hopes security footage can help tell them when or who took a 10-metre pink trailer storing virtually all of its fundraising equipment from a locked compound.
Club director Gary De Roche estimates it was taken any time in the last two months. Club officials noticed it was gone last Saturday as they were preparing for Victoria Day weekend fireworks sales, and reported it to police.
The trailer, a Winona Peach Festival staple, contained three or four candy floss machines, plush toys for the club’s birthday carnival game, snow cone machines, fire extinguishers, tables, potable water hoses and a fire-retardant tent used to sell grilled peaches at the festival.
The trailer, used for fundraising activities three weekends of the year, is normally stored at a gated facility at 370 Millen Rd. in Stoney Creek.
The custom-made trailer was built using insulated garage door sections and has served the club for more than 20 years. De Roche estimated replacing the trailer and its contents would cost between $35,000 and $40,000.
The trailer has no lights, brakes or licence plate. De Roche noted it may have been repainted, and aluminum posts used for the fire-retardant tent may end up at a scrap yard. He’s urging the public to keep an eye out for the trailer and its contents.
“Somebody in Stoney Creek has to know something,” said De Roche.
Despite the loss, the Kinsmen Club will once again partner with the Kinette Club of Grimsby to sell fireworks from Thursday through Monday at the Grimsby Food Basics plaza at the corner of Christie Street and Livingston Avenue in Grimsby. Last year, the two service clubs split the proceeds of Victoria Day fireworks sales, amounting to about $11,000.
De Roche noted the Kinsmen Club of Stoney Creek typically donates about $25,000 to local nonprofits each year, but the trailer loss will hurt its fundraising capabilities. The $5,500 the club estimates it could earn through weekend firework sales will need to go toward new equipment, for example.
“Instead of putting it back into the community, we’re going to have to spend it on the trailer,” said De Roche.
He noted the Kinsmen Club will maintain a presence at this year’s Winona Peach Festival, even if the trailer isn’t recovered.
“We’re going to do as much as we can, but I’m hoping we can do all of what we did last year,” said De Roche.
Winona Peach Festival director Linda Shuker said the trailer loss will hurt other organizations who benefit from Kinsmen fundraising.
“They rely on that trailer for all their fundraising and it’s a huge loss for them. It’s very disappointing,” said Shuker.
Anyone with information on the missing trailer is asked to contact Hamilton police.