Maybe it was the high gas prices that led some unknown person(s) to try to break the locks on the gas tanks of the Blodgett Country Store late on the night of Friday the 13th. Fortunately for store owner Mark Scacco, the burglar’s attempt to pry open the doors of the store also was unsuccessful. Mark already had an alarm system in place because this was not the first time someone has tried to break into the store. He plans to add a surveillance camera to thwart future intruders.

Down the road at the Burnt Woods Store, owner Randy Quetsche was not as lucky. The following night, Saturday, June 14, thieves made a successful raid. At 2 a.m., as the delivery person was dropping off the daily newspapers, she noticed that the front door was slightly ajar and a window was broken. She called the police, who found that a small amount of cash, a few packs of cigarettes and some beer were missing from the store.

Rather than a big haul, these thieves apparently were content with a mere nightcap after an evening of carousing.

Unlike the Blodgett Country Store, this was the Burnt Woods Store’s first break-in in the 24 years Randy that and his wife, Jackie, have been its proprietors. Randy views this event as a “wake-up call,” and he intends to take advantage of the latest technology to protect the building from now on.

As if this weren’t enough, just a few days after the stores were hit, some of the community buildings down the road were vandalized. Residents awoke Friday morning to find that the Summit Community Center, the Summit Grange Hall and the old Nashville Store (now the Coast Range Food Bank) all had broken windows. Two rocks were found in the Grange and three in the Nashville Store.

The thoughtless miscreants who caused the damage obviously failed to realize that replacement of windows is costly, especially in rural areas. But these probably are the same people who throw their beer cans and candy wrappers, dirty disposable diapers and old cassette tapes, fast food detritus and ashtray contents, left-over dogs and pregnant cats along our country roads.

These are the same people who topple the gravestones in our pioneer cemeteries, spray paint obscenities on communal buildings and dump their garbage down the ravines.

While some creative retribution has been suggested, from public humiliation (neon paint and feathering), to physical/psychological abuse (Summit Center step-stomping or confinement in the Grange outhouse), it has been deemed either illegal or impractical. Furthermore, it is improbable that the perps ever will be apprehended. Everyone is advised to keep an eye out, however.

Although the Blodgett Country Store eluded the burglary attempts last week, the shed behind the Blodgett Country Café several miles away, also owned by Mark and Debbie Scacco, fell victim to a fire three weeks ago. The shed contained all of the implements that Mark uses to maintain the store and café as well as their home.

At 1 a.m. on June 3, Mark and Debbie woke up to a fire raging in their shed. Not only were tools, lawn mowers, 4-wheelers and tractor stored in there, but also gas cans, propane tanks, paint cans and a case of propane lanterns. Needless to say, the fire was huge, and everything was destroyed. A neighbor from 2 miles down Clem Road came up to investigate because he could see the light from the flames that far away.

Apparently the heat lamp in the attached chicken coop may have started the blaze.

The good news is that no one was hurt, and the metal roofs on the Scaccos’ and neighbors’ homes saved them from damage. Also good news is that one little chick survived the fire. The bad news is that the Scaccos’ insurance covered only a percentage of their loss.

Mark is now contemplating what to do about his shed. One thing is for sure: He is going to salvage the melted metal. If the “tweakers” can do it, so can he!

Nashville resident Kathi Downing can be contacted at ramdown@peak.org or 456-4252.