One of our members has been robbed

[Papasequoia]

Hi all,
For those of you who have not heard, Curtis/WanderingBlues, one of our early members and a friend to many here was robbed, again. his time they took a lot of fishing gear including the very special net made by Greg of Sierra Nets and dedicated to his grandmother. If you would like to help him out in any way I will have more information later. However, for now let me say that another forum to which Curtis belongs, the Drake, is already collecting replacement gear and they have a much larger database of members than we do. However, we have Greg of Sierra Nets as a member.

So, after discussing this with a couple of other folks, what we would like to try and do is to take up a collection so that we can get a new net made. You should be able to find Curtis's post on here about just how special it is to him. Try searching for a thread with 'Miss Nona' in it. In any case, that is the plan and any leftover cash (if any) will be used either to purchase other gear or just to pass on so that he can replace items as needed.

If you are interested in helping out you can PM me and I will let you know how to get cash to me for this (Zelle is best, I haven't used PayPal in a long time, but should still have an account, or snail mail with a check). Here is the post about the robbery that Curtis made on the Drake (drakemag.com). There is also a thread there about the ongoing replacement efforts by them. Jon

Curtis's post:

"Just gotta vent. My garage and truck have been broken into 3 times now, not counting my wife’s car break in, as well as my son’s Jeep, all next to our place. When the truck got hit, I found doper transients kicking back on a blanket my wife had made for me, looking at stuff that was in my truck. I calmly put my Glock in the face of one of them and asked them “is my crap worth your life?” Sadly, I wouldn’t have blinked to pull the trigger in that moment if they had gotten squirrely.

The last garage break in, they took my mountain bike- a classic British made steel frame 29’r. I didn’t even bother to report it to my insurance for fear of getting dropped from too many claims. But....

Today I discovered that, in addition to the bike, they took my Fishpond backpack containing all my reels, 7-10 boxes of flies, line, tippet, etc, and most very sadly, Miss Nona- the net I had made honoring my grandma. I’ve never physically shaken from anger. Not in all my years in law enforcement, not even after OIS’s. But it happened today.

I could almost let it slide were it a pro job where I was stream side and a smash and grab happened. At least the gear might have seen further life on the water. But I’ve no doubt that they took the pack just to haul their transient crap around, not even understanding or appreciating the meaning of the net, or what the reels were. Probably just tossed them. It wasn’t pristine stuff; I’m hard on my gear. But, it was a collection that took years to put together. And the net, well, it’s beyond irreplaceable, like a piece of my soul was taken with it.

Our place is on the market because of the crime that’s plaguing Albuquerque. We are hitting the road tomorrow (preplanned) and I told the wife, “I don’t give a crap if it’s not sold by the time we get back- I’m not spending another night there lest I kill a person if I find them breaking in. That’s what it’s come to. I wasn’t that way as a po-po. I can’t stand being that way now.

$!@% addicts. $!@% Albuquerque PD. And $!@% this experiment that has been city living.

Whew. I feel marginally better. Thanks for listening.
Curtis"

[Bernard]

Oh man my heart breaks.

[Wingnut]

There is a small collection being done by a few that know Curtis, it might not be much but it's more to reinforce that there is still good in this messed up world.

Info:

Thanks James.

I'm coordinating all of this, so send it to me at:

Kelly Palmer
PO Box 59 (USPS address) or
509 E Grant Avenue (UPS or FedEx address)
Troy, MT 59935

Curtis may/may not have the same mailing address based on whether or not his condo in ABQ sells while he and his bride are away in the airstream. As such, I'm the short-term warehouse and organizer of the donation drive.

Thx,

KP

[Papasequoia]

Just to make it clear - the drive on the Drake forum is separate from this one. You can go there to donate gear as part of that group if you wish.

What we are trying to do here is just collect funds to get a new net built. Since I am organizing this you can donate to me using Zelle at the phone number many of you have, or using my spandoc email. Later today I will try and see if my PayPal account is still active. If you don't have my phone# or email just drop me a PM and let me know in which form you wish to donate. Most banks these days have Zelle, it's a quick, bank to bank transfer with no deductions. I also have been in touch with Curtis and can coordinate sending other items to him through this forum if you wish. Jon

[Wingnut]

Sorry Papa if it looks like I was trying to hijack this thread, I am not. Just trying to help.

jms

[rkfiske]

Count me in Jon, I'll try to figure out the zelle thing and send it on over.

[rkfiske]

Count me in Jon, I'll try to figure out the zelle thing and send it on over.

[lucfish]

Get me your address Jon.

[midger]

Now that really rips! I don’t blame them for leaving Albuquerque

[Wildman]

I still remember the picture of him perp walking the scumbag who was going through his car in their gated parking lot at gun point. Papa I have Zelle and have sent something right now.

[RichardCullip]

Count me in. PM sent for zelle instructions.

[John Harper]

Count me in. PM sent for zelle instructions.

+1. Really sorry to hear this, thieves are the worst.

John

[acorad]

I know the odds are astronomical that any of would ever bump into someone with the stolen net, but what is the grandma's name on the net? Miss Nona?

Andy

[Papasequoia]

I know the odds are astronomical that any of would ever bump into someone with the stolen net, but what is the grandma's name on the net? Miss Nona?

Andy

That is correct. This is what Curtis wrote about it and a picture of it:

"This was the net. Made from a black walnut tree that was on our family farm since the late 1860’s. A tree I played in as a kid. A tree that announced you were at grandma’s house, the same grandma that taught me to fish."

MissNona.jpg (102.77 KiB) Viewed 7660 times

[Papasequoia]

Thanks to all who have contributed so far. John Harper, Ryan, Tom, Richard and Jim - I have received your funds via Zelle. Luc, got your message that a check is in the mail; I'll let you know when I get it. Someone asked about PayPal but I can't remember who. I logged in after creating a new PW and it is active using my email address of spandoc@yahoo.com. As of right now we are a bit under halfway to covering the funds needed for a new build, but Greg has it scheduled.