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LETTERS: Be wary out there

Editor: I belong to the Nordic Stride Club, a pole-walking group comprising a number of seniors and those quickly approaching ‘seniorhood.’

Editor:

I belong to the Nordic Stride Club, a pole-walking group comprising a number of seniors and those quickly approaching ‘seniorhood.’

We walk the local trails on Mondays and Wednesdays, and on Friday we treat ourselves to lunch at eateries from Ladner to Langley.

We are not just an exercise group. We have become fast friends and support each other in times of poor health or personal tragedy.

Within the last six months, five of our members have been hit by thieves or scam artists.

It began with two cars being vandalized in Sunnyside Acres’ Wally Ross parking lot off of 24 Avenue. The thief was seen and chased by a couple out for a stroll but told by police not to intervene.

It cost $300 to replace the window on one car and $100 on the other.

And so we moved to the parking lot on 20 Avenue. Being more visible, we thought there would be less chance of any trouble. Wrong!

Shortly after our move, two of us were approached by a woman with two small dogs who told us she had her car vandalized and her purse stolen. She said she was from Langley and had come to check on her sister’s house, while she was on vacation. She said she didn’t have enough gas to get home, and so two of us took pity and ended up giving her gas money.

That same week, another of our members was approached by the same woman in the Ocean Park Safeway lot – same story, only this time she wasn’t given any cash.

On Jan. 7, another of our members had her car window smashed in the parking lot at Historic Stewart Farmhouse. Unfortunately, she had hidden her purse in the car, and it with all of its contents was stolen.

While able to replace credit cards, driver’s licence and a car key, she is most upset by the loss of two pairs of eyeglasses valued at $1,000 each and of use to no one but herself.

These spectacles, along with her purse, were likely tossed into the bushes on one of the trails. Should you find anything from this robbery, please take it to either community policing on 152 Street or the Peace Arch News office.

I am writing this as awareness to carry any valuables on your person or leave them at home. These thieves/con artists couldn’t care less about the expense, emotional upset or anything other than the few cents they may obtain from robbing you.

Dee Walmsley, Surrey