(A serious article for West Newsmagazine, but fun nonetheless)
Earlier this week, Ballwin resident
Sue Magee put out a missing lighted deer report on NextDoor.com, the self-proclaimed
‘social networking service for neighborhoods.’
The crux of Magee’s theft report from the Common Ground for Park
Huntington, on Country Club by Briarwyck reads as follows: ‘I don’t know who
took them, but they were NOT looking for a new home! They have been quite content since the 1990s
to live at our house! We miss the joy
they bring to the neighborhood and us!
If you know who took them, please ask them to return them. No questions asked! We miss them!’
Magee said that there was a herd of 12 deer from which five were
recently kidnapped. She began her collection with some little ones that her
kids gave her for Christmas some 30 years ago. But to her, the lighted, wired
deer are more for all neighbors and passersby to enjoy.
According to Magee, these items are normally sold in season at both
Lowe’s and Home Depot for roughly $35-$50 apiece. She is grateful that the very
expensive 40-foot and 60-foot extension cords were left intact.
“Still, the deer are an investment,” she said. “It takes forever to
restring them every year for the lights that are out on them! Also, everybody who
goes to and from Claymont School sees them. It’s right when you pull into the
subdivision. Two or three of the LED ones that were taken are animated
ones. They’re for the neighborhood to
make somebody’s evening a little brighter.
I leave these up through January,
and I was going to leave them up through February this year. It’s just a winter scene. It doesn’t have to be for Christmas. Plus, they’re peaceful.”
Magee has also made sure to change the position of the deer so every neighbor can see them through their kitchen window or from some other vantage point in their house.
One thing that really irks her is that she had one set up right by her
playhouse. It was for a grandchild with
Cerebral Palsy who has no way to climb towers or perform other playground
functions most children can.
“Several people have offered to replace them for me, but I don’t want
them to do that,” Magee said. “I have
another neighbor who said they used to have a herd of eight or 10, and they
offered to add to the herd for next winter. That’s very sweet of them and I may
take them up on that.”
Meanwhile, Ballwin Police Chief Doug Schaeffler said that although Magee
didn’t file an actual police report, he will make sure to have someone keep an
eye out on the place so more deer don’t fall prey in the near future.
