Adam Leonard, 11, had his quilting project for the Douglas County Fair, a Christmas wall hanging, stolen along with a few other projects last weekend. His family is asking the person to return it anonymously so he can enter it in the Kansas State Fair in September.
Adam Leonard spent a couple of months working on his Christmas wall hanging.
The 11-year-old boy learned his skills from his grandmother, Cathy Miles, and through the Maple Leaf Quilters Guild.
He was able to earn a reserved grand champion ribbon for his project at last week’s Douglas County Fair, but when a family friend went to pick up the wall hanging last weekend, it was missing at the fairgrounds.
“It did qualify him for a State Fair entry,” his mother, Joyce Miles, said, “so he won’t be able to do that. We are asking that it be returned anonymously.”
Adam’s project wasn’t the only one missing or apparently stolen from the displays in Buildings 1 and 2 at the fairgrounds, said Margaret Kalb, executive secretary of the Douglas County Fair Board.
She said fair officials did notify the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office after they noticed a few projects by 4-H members and others apparently were taken. The fair book has a liability section that states exhibitors enter and display items at their own risk, but Kalb said the apparent thefts were still disappointing.
“We hope that somebody would be honest enough that they would consider returning the items,” she said. “The fair board is very concerned. We do our best to find volunteers to watch those buildings. I’m sure sometimes you can’t see everything in any type of business. I’m so sorry for the loss of those types of items, and so is the whole fair board.”
Joyce Miles said her son, who will attend South Middle School this year, had planned to give the project as a gift to his father, Mark Leonard. The family is asking anyone who has the wall hanging to return it anonymously to his mother’s employer, Housekeeping Unlimited, 1611 St. Andrew’s Drive, which is west of Bob Billings Parkway and Kasold Drive.
“I think he’s just more shocked than anything that it was taken,” she said. “And if they really liked it that much, he probably would have made them one.”
Comments
Paul R Getto 5 years ago
This sucks. Give the stuff back.
Cody Ochs 5 years ago
Hey LJW, how about flagging any posts with embedded links so that they must be approved before appearing?
FlintlockRifle 5 years ago
Yes come on "' Mr Crook,"" return it to the maker. What a rotten thing to do to this young man. It don't mean anything to you anyway.
kernal 5 years ago
Only a looser steals county fair exhibits,
Reid Hollander 5 years ago
Looser than what?
BlackVelvet 5 years ago
Just like the loser who stole the hand-made velvet wreaths from the church pews at my mother's funeral years ago. There's no limit to how low some folks will sink.
bevy 5 years ago
Just when you think people can't sink any lower!
Leslie Swearingen 5 years ago
Whoever took this has deprived him of the chance to exhibit the hanging at the State Fair and win a prize at the state level. That is something he would always remember, as would his family. Kalb said that several items went missing. Is it possible that one of the volunteers took these things? Perhaps to sell online? Next year they really need to come up with a better method of guarding the exhibits.
Jean Robart 5 years ago
and maybe they should also take some responsibility for safeguarding the projects so it doesn't happen again!
Leslie Swearingen 5 years ago
Sorry, when I wrote exhibit I guess I meant project, since it was on exhibit.
ballmom 5 years ago
Very sad that someone did this. Went in today to get our kids projects only to learn that they were stolen too. Please return them to the extension office, outside even. Our KIDS work very hard on these projects and are devastated !
Nathan Atchison 5 years ago
i have a picture of this thief in my head and its comically disgusting. county fair christmas quilt klepto. its too bad this isnt a joke.
Kristy Wempe Bellinger 5 years ago
The buildings are watched by volunteers and locked at night. These volunteers, often alumni as well, love this program and take time out of their schedule to give back, the idea of a volunteer stealing a youth's project is RIDICULOUS!
I have been a 4H fair volunteer for 10 years now, and was a 4H member before that. I don't ever recall projects being stolen when I was a 4H'er, but the fact that someone would steal a child's hard work and pride and joy, disgusts me! Please whomever took these items, PLEASE RETURN THEM!!
Leslie Swearingen 5 years ago
I was trying to think though who could have done this and how and who had the most access to the projects. I am sure that most of the volunteers are honest and work hard to help the kids, but I don't think the idea of one of them being a thief is ridiculous. In the real world these things do happen.
Dee Harrell-Schneck 5 years ago
My kids grew up doing 4-H, so this just breaks my heart. I don't believe that any of the volunteers stole any of the projects. However, my (now adult) daughters & I walked through this building & looked at all of the projects. We were appalled at how many people were walking around & touching the projects - picking them up, turning them over, etc. I looked for the volunteer & she was sitting in a corner, completely engrossed in a book. We did make a point of asking people not to touch the projects/quilts, but of course, we're just part of the public & were told to mind our own business. So sadly, it doesn't surprise me that things were stolen. Having volunteers are a great thing, but they need to remember that they are there to do a JOB - not be so engrossed in a book that you don't pay any attention to things & people around you.
verity 5 years ago
Shakes head in dismay and disgust!
Can't get much lower than stealing a kid's 4H project.
tomatogrower 5 years ago
Somebody is a jerk. The Journal World should try and get pictures of everything that was stolen. Surely someone with some morales will notice that the thief has these items, and call the police.
purplesage 5 years ago
What a low life. Think about hanging a quilt / hanging for Christimas. Someone come in and comments on how nice it is, who made it, where'd you get it. The bum can proudly reply, "I stole it from a kid at the county fair."
It is great that Adam has the memories of working on this with his grandma. Too bad it will be tarnished by this kind of thoughtless theft.
kernal 5 years ago
Another possibility is the persons who took these items are going to try and pass them off as their own at another fair, especially if prizes include money.
If there are any pictures, maybe copies could be emailed to LE in areas with upcoming fairs?
Tristan Moody 5 years ago
I'm not sure of a fair in the area with prizes that hand out enough money to be worth it..... Even when i won champion-type ribbons on my projects, the premiums paid out didn't come close to the cost of producing the project. But of course, that's not the point anyway.
riverdrifter 5 years ago
3007th 'consecutive' 'totally dumb' comment issued. A 'new world record' on these ljworld 'boards'. "Congratulations"! You're right: it is "unimaginable".
richh 5 years ago
Oh boy, if this item is not your, then please return back to the boy, who worked hard on his project and won the champion ribbon!
I recommend that 4H add a long glass door with shelves and lock up. I heard that several cities were same things, somebody steal any item and never return back to the owner since.
When I was young kid and I looked at my bugs box, I didn't win, and I was upset little. My mom talked with her friend, 4H leader and she said that I won blue ribbon. She looked at the notebook and there is my name with blue ribbon award. Someone steal my blue ribbon and put on other item or replace with red or white ribbon. That leader found that someone put my blue ribbon on other person's item and bring it back to me.
galfromku 5 years ago
I had family members steal hand embroidered table cloths from my wedding!! People that steal are lower than skum!!! Hope you get them back, Big guy!!!
patkindle 5 years ago
just a poor doper trying to scrape together enough money for his next trip dont be so harsh, drugs are good welcome to lawrence the same nice guy that sells you pot sells crack to your kids
chootspa 5 years ago
Wow. Were the items taken all prize winners, or were they just the easiest things to steal? Why would anyone do that? It's really not like you can pass it off as your own. They're unique items. I hope everyone gets their things back.
Lawrence Morgan 5 years ago
Do you have pictures of this wall hanging, in addition to the one that is shown? It's small and doesn't have much detail.
The Journal World should put them with this story!
Tomato 5 years ago
Wow. What kind of person steals from the county fair? And a Christmas wall hanging of Santa, no less? What are they going to do, hang it on their wall and admire their Christmas spirit come December? "I sure do like my Santa wall hanging, I'm glad I stole it from that little boy at the Fair. Merry Christmas."
Maybe give it as a gift to someone and hope not to hear "Hey, this looks familiar. Didn't I see it in the paper?"
StirrrThePot 5 years ago
People suck.
Clara Westphal 5 years ago
Maybe this is the same person who stole the little boy's lawn mower last Sping.
MarcoPogo 5 years ago
Hmmm, using the normal LJW board logic, I think we can safely say that Douglas County Fair exhibit thefts have greatly increased while "you-know-who" is in office. Can't argue with the facts.
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