[ad_1]
ST. BERNARD, Ohio (WKRC)- A thief made off with thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment from a small business.
Stacey Vosters and Greg Moeller are preparing to celebrate two years offering fresh popped kettle corn to the Tri-State through their business Kettle of Corn.
“It’s an old style. Like I said, the kettle is from the 1800s. German immigrants would have done this and brought this over to America when they came. It’s popcorn with a little sugar and a little salt and it’s just a very tasty treat,” Vosters said.
To make that tasty treat, they need a giant copper kettle.
They kept their equipment in a locked trailer, in a storage facility with a barbed wire fence and cameras. It also had one entrance that was controlled.
But when Moeller went to pick up the trailer over the weekend, he found someone had broken in.
“First thing that I noticed was the copper kettle was gone. I then looked a little more thoroughly and found the sink was gone, along with a 40-pound propane tank, which are hard to come by,” Moeller said.
Moeller called the police and Stacey.
“[Greg] says, ‘Hey, I don’t think we’re going to be making popcorn this weekend. All our equipment is gone,'” Vosters said.
Police determined the thieves had parked along the Norwood Lateral and broke into the back of the property.
The kettle was the showpiece of the operation. The thieves may get a few hundred dollars for it, but Vosters said it will take anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 to replace everything.
The couple are urging all business owners to make sure they’re doing everything they can to protect their businesses and make sure they are protected with insurance in case the worst happens.
With the help of family, friends and the community, Vosters and Moeller are up and running again.
“Our friends and family have really come through in a lot of ways and [Facebook] followers have reached out and helped us find a replacement sink. So, we were able to reach out to that small business and the gentleman there is rushing us a new sink, so we can meet all the health department codes for this weekend. And luckily, we had a spare copper kettle. It’s not perfect, it’s not our favorite one, but you know what, it’s going to get us going until we can get a new one ordered and manufactured for us,” Vosters said.
The couple said scrap yards have been warned to be on the lookout for the equipment.
They have also found a new, more secure spot to store the trailer and all the kettle corn making supplies.
If you have any information, please call St. Bernard Police.
[ad_2]
Source link