PANACEA, Fla. (WTXL) — The Big Bend Maritime Center had wood they mill stolen in September. Over two years of work goes into the wood, that's worth over $12,000, the center uses for their children's programs, and now they are trying to replenish their stock.
- The Big Bend Maritime Center had over $12,000 worth of wood stolen in September.
- They are in the process of trying to replenish their resources for their children's programs.
- Watch the video above to learn more about this theft and how you can help
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
In September, the Big Bend Maritime Center had over $12,000 of wood they had milled themselves stolen.
"It was a huge gut punch," said Dena Keyserling, boatwright for BBMC. "It was definitely painful for the children in our community who were so much looking forward to these next camps."
This theft doesn't just hurt them financially, but also with time, as it takes years to properly prepare for their children's programs.
"We are delayed, but we are not giving up," said Keyserling. "We will have the camps, and we will continue to serve the children of the community."
The Big Bend Maritime Center is dedicated to teaching kids in our community about maritime heritage. They do this by teaching kids how to build boats using the reclaimed wood they mill themselves.
"All of our wood that we use is reclaimed, so we're looking we we lost sinker cypress and red aromatic cedar. We also lost all of the strips that we made for the upcoming camps," explained Keyserling.
All of the wood is worth over $12,000, and it's equivalent to about a year of the center's operating budget.
This loss also puts them two years behind in work, as drying the wood itself before milling takes 18 months. Then there's the process of milling it, that takes 6 months to a year of working every weekend.
"We take that wood, we run it through a planer until it hits a certain thickness. Then we run it through a table saw to make strips, and then we plane it again, and then we run it through a router to make it even code," explained Keyserling. "So we run it through a router twice, so we handle each piece of wood, you know, 50 times before it's ready to go."
According to the sheriff's office, the theft took place between September 13th and 19th. Capt Surace says this is a hard case to solve, as there's no specific day the wood is known to have gone missing.
"People aren't necessarily there at that location every single day. Not like a business that has normal storefront hours every single day," said Capt. Brett Surace, Wakulla County Sheriff's Office. "So during this time period, it could have happened anywhere during the 13th through the 19th. So again, it just makes it a lot harder not knowing the finite amount of time."
The center has since worked with the county, and security measures have been put in place to prevent future theft there.
The non-profit is seeking donations now more than ever, if you wish to help, you can visit their website below. The sheriff's office says if you know anything about this case to reach out to them at the number listed.
FACEBOOK: BigBendMaritimeCenter
WCSO: 850-745-7100
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