SEQUIM — Stolen camping equipment isn’t going to keep Boy Scouts with Sequim Troop 90 from doing good turns.
In November, Scoutmaster Rene Nadon discovered that the troop’s travel trailer was broken into and several items were stolen outside the Scouts’ meeting spot at Trinity United Methodist Church.
Nadon said when he discovered the theft Nov. 9, everything inside the trailer was thrown about — which he assumed was due to lack of cleaning up by a Scout. However, he noticed the side passenger door wasn’t fully closed and saw pry marks and the lock missing.
A thief or thieves took more than $900 in camping equipment, including a Husky equipment container, Coleman propane camping stoves and propane bottles, Ridgeway cast iron Dutch ovens, tarps, a bow saw and other miscellaneous items.
Troop guide Beau Halverson, 15, said the Scouts haven’t replaced anything yet among the stolen items — gear traditionally donated from community members, parents of former scouts and/or from current scouts’ parents.
Halverson said missing equipment shouldn’t impact Scouts until they go to two events in February, including the Klondike Derby at Hurricane Ridge’s Heart o’ the Hills Campground.
Nadon is optimistic about replacing the equipment.
“We’re going to visit some places and see if we can at least get the stoves replaced,” he said.
Sequim Police Sgt. Mike Hill said police don’t have any leads or suspects in the case and that nearby cameras didn’t capture anything.
Hill said a shed in Carrie Blake Community Park was burglarized as well, with some tools stolen on or before Nov. 20.
“We do recognize that the two cases are possibly related due to the location, type of crime [burglary and theft] and close proximity in time, however we do not have suspect information to compare between the two cases,” Hill said.
Sequim Police Officer Maris Larsen’s report on the trailer theft said it likely occurred sometime between Oct. 20 and Nov. 9.
Nadon said it would have been hard for anyone to see a break-in because the trailer was parked next to a shed.
The trailer now sits in an enclosed area, he said.
It was last brought to Grocery Outlet last Saturday as Scouts collected blankets and throws for Toys for Sequim Kids.
Troop 90, which celebrates 94 years in Sequim in April 2019, hosts 20 boys each Monday at 7 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 S. Blake Ave.
For more information or to help the troop, contact Nadon at rmnadon@gmail.com.
Those with information about the thefts are asked to call the Sequim Police Department at 360-683-7227.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
