{"id":5642,"date":"2020-09-04T21:28:13","date_gmt":"2020-09-05T01:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5642"},"modified":"2020-09-04T21:32:26","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T01:32:26","slug":"episode-109-big-time-robbery-and-repercussions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5642","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 109 BIG TIME ROBBERY: AND REPERCUSSIONS"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE109    BIG TIME  ROBBERY AND REPERCUSSIONS<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Sept. 2020<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cRING\u2026RING”<\/div>\n
\u201cALAN, did you know the front door of the farm is  wide  open?\u201d <\/div>\n
(Said Tim Rock, a neighbour)<\/div>\n
\u201cNo, thanks, we\u2019ll get right up there.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
It was mid March.  Slushy farm roads, lots of fog and  moonless night.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
“We have  been  robbed big time,  Marjorie.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
   I had  hoped the door was just<\/div>\n
ajar.  That would be  my fault but I had at the same time  sinking feeling that my <\/div>\n
troubles could  be a lot worse than that.  Break and enter robbery.  Our family farm house had<\/div>\n
been stripped by robbers who just took their time from about <\/div>\n
mid-night until the  small hours of that dark March evening..   How do I know they took their time?<\/div>\n
Because  the dishes and crockery were sorted carefully on the farmhouse floor.  Those rejected were<\/div>\n
in piles..   The good stuff was gone.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
They, I assume more than 1 person, were so  confident that  they even stole<\/div>\n
my trailer to load the big things.  Just backed the trailer up to the front door <\/div>\n
after filling their truck with the smaller things  like the dishes.  Imagine that<\/div>\n
\u2026they used  my trailer.  That meant they must have known the trailer was<\/div>\n
parked  under the big maples.   Our farm had been  \u2018cased\u2019\u2026someone had<\/div>\n
noted the farm house was vulnerable.  That\u2019s what professional thieves  do\u2026<\/div>\n
they carefully case  a target then strike when least likely to be noticed.  If anyone<\/div>\n
did notice they might even say \u201cAlan\u2019s working late tonight\u2026has his trailer <\/div>\n
backed up to the front door.\u201d  A good thief exudes confidence.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Eric and I spent much  of our lives on the Freeman farm.  The farm marked  us  indelibly.  Eric on the right.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Our grandparents,  Ed and Louisa Freeman, had died years<\/div>\n
earlier around 1958.  Mom and dad  had recently passed  on.<\/div>\n
 We tried to keep the house  as they had left it\u2026like<\/div>\n
Miss Havisham’s house described by Charles Dickens in Great Expectations.<\/div>\n
But a happy place not miserable.  It would take a lot of money to fix up the house<\/div>\n
which had  been built in the 1870\u2019s and showed its age.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The main room was the kitchen<\/div>\n
where the wood stove made  winters livable.  The  thieves managed<\/div>\n
to get the huge flatback kitchen  cupboard  out the front door into<\/div>\n
my trailer.  No easy task.  It was six to seven  feet high with shelves<\/div>\n
and  doors and even a built in mirror.   This was where Grandma kept<\/div>\n
the things she prized most.  Gone. We  had never emptied it ourselves<\/div>\n
so could  hardly make an  insurance claim.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The really big pieces of furniture  were in the living room.  A room rarely used.<\/div>\n
Those large  family reunions were gone before mom had kids.  The room<\/div>\n
was well finished all the same. What I missed<\/div>\n
immediately was the  dark  varnished long  cupboard that always<\/div>\n
smelled of cookies because  grandma kept them there for Eric and  I to gorge<\/div>\n
upon on our week  end visits from the city.  Gone.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I suppose the most valuable piece they  got was the huge heavy pedestal table…<\/div>\n
with inserts should a grand party be organized.  That table was filled with home<\/div>\n
cooking on the day in 1937 mom and dad were married in that room.  Lots of fine<\/div>\n
memories of that victorian jewel.   Mom told us that Dad\u2019s brothers were busy<\/div>\n
in the cellar  while the wedding feast was underway…laid out on the big table..  Uncles Norman,  Archie,<\/div>\n
Art and maybe even John from Saskatchewan\u2026and  Uncle Ernest who was really a cousin\u2026<\/div>\n
all of them were busy dumping<\/div>\n
out Mom\u2019s wedding  clothes and filling her suitcase with carrots,squash and zucchini in<\/div>\n
the belief that mom would not really need clothes  on her honeymoon.  I  say <\/div>\n
this to show how the furniture in the farmhouse connected with events in our<\/div>\n
daily life.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Anyone who has been  robbed knows the feeling.  Akin to rape.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We had  no electronics \u2026 no bottles  of fine whisky  \u2026 no electric <\/div>\n
kitchen gadgets.  No problem for the thieves.  After loading up at<\/div>\n
our farm house they drove across the road and stripped the neighbours<\/div>\n
house of the TV set, radio, LP player, etc.etc.   Maybe  they hit that<\/div>\n
place first. The family were away that evening.  The thieves  must<\/div>\n
have really done some fine planning.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Mom and Marjorie on the farm.  Daisy on the left, what a good dog but not her best profile.  Our pet ducks, Ping and Pong in the pond.  Those ducks<\/div>\n
thought we were their mom and dad  so they came at our bidding.  The farm was a key part of our lives.  Robbery was a shock.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I was really glad that mom and dad had passed on when the robbery <\/div>\n
happened.  Mom would have been really hurt as it was her home.  Dad<\/div>\n
would have been furious and might have laid blame on innocent drifters.<\/div>\n
He did not trust everyone, especially new  people on the Fifth line.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I was still doing CBC radio shows at the time  so I created a script for<\/div>\n
the five minute time slot on Friday\u2019s Radio Noon.  I addressed the <\/div>\n
thieves\u2026first person.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
i.e. \u201cYou stole things that are alive.  Please treat them well. The big<\/div>\n
dining  room table, for instance.  Take a close look at it.  Along one<\/div>\n
edge you will see some indentations.  Small.  That was the place<\/div>\n
where our little son Andrew\u2019s teeth hit the table when  he threw a<\/div>\n
temper tantrum.  Why?  Marjorie had  wrapped  up  nickels and  dimes<\/div>\n
and quarters in the cake for Andrew\u2019s fifth or sixth birthday.  All his <\/div>\n
friends got a coin or two.  Andrew got nothing.  He got the piece<\/div>\n
of cake with no dime wrapped  in wax paper.  He was devastated<\/div>\n
and bit the table for a reason I cannot fathom.  So, Mr. thief, when<\/div>\n
you sell this table put a few dollar extra on your price.  Andrew\u2019s<\/div>\n
teeth marks are worth something extra.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The broadcast had lots of these twists and  turns.  All addressed <\/div>\n
to the thieves who were unlikely to be listening.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The thieves missed these picture frames\u2026hand carved by granddad in winter times<\/div>\n
honouring the worker on the Eywood Estate  they left in 1908.  This was the estate cook<\/div>\n
who was Mom\u2019s godparent.  Thankfully the thieves  considered these of  no value.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
One  of granddad\u2019s largest carvings framed this picture of Mom\u2026Elsie Freeman.   Hand coloured<\/div>\n
picture taken I think by a pinhole camera granddad  made himself.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cAnd,  Mr Thief, let me ask  you a question.   Why did you not also steal <\/div>\n
the pump organ that grandma and grandpa kept in the<\/div>\n
front room kitchen.  Thanks for leaving it behind.  I suppose<\/div>\n
it has no value or then again might be too easy to identify.  No matter.<\/div>\n
I appreciate you left it behind.  Did you know that the organ was<\/div>\n
the only piece fo  furniture grandma and grandpa were able to <\/div>\n
save when their log cabin caught fire in the pioneer village of Krugerdorf,<\/div>\n
near Englehart.  They lugged it out of the conflagration then They lugged the organ south to the Fifth line.  I was<\/div>\n
so glad you did not steal it.  Grandma would  play the organ  on winter<\/div>\n
nights while granddad played his prized violin.  Their dog Laddie<\/div>\n
always joined  in and howled  throughout.   My favourite piece was<\/div>\n
their rendition of The Devil\u2019s Dream.  That piece you probably know by<\/div>\n
heart as the anthem most popular among thieves .  Thanks for <\/div>\n
being so thoughtful.  Or was the organ just to hard to get onto my<\/div>\n
trailer load.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
As it turned out the thief was listening.  Or some cruel  practical joker<\/div>\n
saw a chance to put the fear of the lord  into me.  shortly after <\/div>\n
the broadcast I got a note from a person claiming to be the thief.<\/div>\n
It was not nice.  \u201cShut the fuck up or we\u2019ll drop by and torch the place.\u201d<\/div>\n
Now that really sacred me.  No sense of humour.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We had been talking to the OPP about the thefts. Not much they could do except drop<\/div>\n
by now and then.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat happens to our furniture?\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201c  probably driven immediately down to Quebec<\/div>\n
and sold as antiques.   trailer and all.  Removed licence plates of course.<\/div>\n
 In other words sold where things could<\/div>\n
not be identified as stollen.   Not much we can do.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cOne thing you might do.  Maybe when you are having lunch<\/div>\n
and  are near here.   Maybe you can park in our laneway.  That<\/div>\n
might just send  a message.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Like ripples on the pond, many other tings happened. One of<\/div>\n
the  weirdest was done by a student teacher of mine  She believed<\/div>\n
in ESP.  She could communicate with the thief by some  sort <\/div>\n
of near witchcraft.  \u201cWould you like me to try?\u201d  \u201cNoting to lose.\u201d<\/div>\n
She came to see me sometime later.  \u201cThe thief lives nearby\u2026a<\/div>\n
mile or so North west of the farm.  Knows your farm.\u201d  Now that <\/div>\n
bit of  information really startled me.  I would rather have heard<\/div>\n
the thief was living in Quebec or, even better, that he had a home<\/div>\n
on the moon.  I did not want to know he was close by.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Bottom line.  I decided to shut up. No more radio stories.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The next incident was a kind of dark humour.    Two months later on a May evening\u2026after dark\u2026our<\/div>\n
neighbour Ron Saunders noticed a car parked at the front door to our farm house.<\/div>\n
No lights.  Activity.   Ron alerted his son-in-law Tim and they drove over in two cars.<\/div>\n
Was  Ron armed  with his shotgun.  I think he said he was.  They blocked the front<\/div>\n
of our farm  by focusing their headlights on the door. They were not fooling around.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Then our oldest son Kevin  came out.  Alarmed. He had  finished his year at the University of<\/div>\n
Toronto and was putting things in storage at the farm.  Ron Saunders was first to<\/div>\n
laugh.  \u201cBy Jesus, we thought we had a thief,  Kevin.”<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
This robbery had legs.   There was<\/div>\n
insurance involved.  We had a policy with a local  insurance broker<\/div>\n
who asked me to list what was taken  and suggest a value.  Not<\/div>\n
easy to do since I had  forgotten some things and did not know exactly what was taken.<\/div>\n
I walked through the rooms and  looked at empty spots where the linoleum<\/div>\n
was lighter\u2026not worn.   My estimate was $6,000.  Best I could do<\/div>\n
I asked  that the insurance company to send a person over.  And we waited.<\/div>\n
No  one came.  So I phoned.   <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cNo person will be coming.  Your claim of<\/div>\n
$6,000 will be accepted.\u201d  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cBut what if  I am lying\u2026making things.up.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Unlikely you would do that.  Insurance scammers are spotted<\/div>\n
but rarely at the $6,000 level.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cWhen do you send an investigator then?\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201c$15,000 dollar claims and up. \u201c  Now that was a big  surprise.  If I was<\/div>\n
an insurance investigator and had a claim come in for $14,999 i would<\/div>\n
be  suspicious indeed.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
WHAT COULD BE DONE WITH $6,000?<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The insurance money must be put to good use.   We could not buy<\/div>\n
back what was lost.  But we could do something memorable.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cMarjorie,  why don\u2019t we put that money into a trip with Andrew and<\/div>\n
Kevin back to England\u2026back to Herefordshire where grandma and<\/div>\n
grandpa were  born.  Back to the Eywood  Estate where grandpa <\/div>\n
was the head  gardener.  I think grandma and grandpa wuld like that.<\/div>\n
Best thing we could do with the money.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
So we did.  If I ever met the thief I would shake his hand.  Without <\/div>\n
him our kids would  not really know their roots<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
ALAN SKEOCH<\/div>\n
SEPT. 2020<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
P.S,   The old pump organ is safely kept. Sadly no one knows<\/div>\n
how  to play it.  It is however a symbol that reminds  me often<\/div>\n
of that slushy, foggy, March evening when the moon was covered<\/div>\n
over and  thieves were busy pushing my trailer up to the front door<\/div>\n
of our farm house<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
NEXT EPISODE       THE ROBBERY    \u201cNEVER BE  HOSTAGE TO FORTUNE”<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE109    BIG TIME  ROBBERY AND REPERCUSSIONS alan skeoch Sept. 2020 \u201cRING\u2026RING” \u201cALAN, did you know the front door of the farm is  wide  open?\u201d  (Said Tim Rock, a neighbour) \u201cNo, thanks, we\u2019ll get right up there.\u201d It was mid March.  Slushy farm roads, lots of fog and  moonless night. “We have  been  robbed big […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5642\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}