Reward for missing gear

A $1000 reward has been offered for information leading to the recovery of Te Puke Country Music Club’s equipment, or information leading to the discovery of who took it.

Between $15,000 and $20,000 worth of equipment including a PA system, drum kit, guitars, amplifiers and speakers was taken from a shed on a No 1 Rd property overnight on Tuesday last week.

Club spokesman Geoff Mutton says the equipment was in a locked trailer that was in a locked shed. “They’ve smashed the lock on the shed and then smashed the trailer,” he says. The trailer was not taken. “It’s got to be someone who knew it was there.”

One amplifier was found close to a tree about 400m from the shed.

“We thought they might come back and get it the next night, so we set up a camera in the orchard, but they didn’t come back.”

Geoff says one of the positives to come out of the theft has been the outpouring of offers of support from all over the country. The club’s 36th birthday celebration went ahead last weekend with borrowed gear. “We’ve just been amazed with the offers of support,” says Geoff.

Borrowed gear will also be used at a fundraising concert at Te Puke Citizens RSA on September 29.

“It was going to be a fundraiser for our [annual] awards, but I think it will be a fundraiser for new equipment now.”

Geoff says the loss of equipment is a “huge blow” for the club, but there is hope that it might be recovered.

“They might lay low for a while and hopefully it will turn up in time.”

He says the theft is especially disappointing given the number of fundraising events the club has been involved in to help the community.