A couple dozen Cub Scouts in DeKalb County are facing a bleak camping season now that someone has stolen all their gear.
Cub Scout Pack 103 usually makes a trip into the wilderness each fall and spring. But the plans for the October outing have changed because of the disappearance of their gear-packed trailer.
Early this month, someone stole it -- and an empty Boy Scout trailer that was parked next to it -- from the parking lot of a church in Toco Hill.
The trailer was filled with tents, coolers, propane tanks and "industrial-sized" stoves that could feed 50, said pack administrator Emily Skuban.
The pastor of Clairmont Hills Baptist Church on Clairmont Road said a recycling trailer in the church's parking lot also was stolen. Pastor Fred Pitts speculated that all three trailers were taken from behind the church on the same night.
Police told Skuban that the bad guys probably wanted the heavy equipment so they could scrap it for money.
"The police guessed the thief didn't care about the camping equipment," Skuban said.
But her son Will, 7, and about two dozen other kids do. They were looking forward to a 2-day rugged adventure in a National or State park.
Now, their parents are planning to take them on a 1-day car-camping trip, instead.
"The trailer is a big loss," Skuban said, "but we can't camp without the camping equipment."
Skuban said the trailer and its contents were probably worth around $4,000. All the gear had been donated over the years, and she said she never considered asking parents to chip in money to buy new equipment, given the bad economy.
Despite that, people who've heard about the Cub Scouts' plight have been contacting them through their website offering help, she said. If only the bad guys would get the message, too, Skuban said.
"If they could just bring our coolers back, we would appreciate it."
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