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Tsunami organizers report stolen festival stage assembly
An agriculture instructor at Prescott College noticed Tuesday morning the truss was missing from the college's Wolfsberry Farm site on the 2200 block of M.A. Perkins Trailway in Chino Valley, Tsunami organizers said. They promptly notified police. Close to 1,000 pounds of aluminum pieces make up the truss assembly that frames the stage, holds lights, speakers and backdrops, and mounts everything from scenery to tightrope walkers. Tsunami organizers estimate the loss at $15,000 and say it puts the show in a functional and financial predicament. "We were kind of reeling and had an emergency board meeting (Tuesday) night to lay some kind of alternative plan," said festival director Megan Buchanan. Chino Valley Police Detective Vincent Schaan said the department had no leads on the case other than contacting the absentee caretaker of the property and area scrap metal yards. "They used to have a caretaker out there, but he's been gone two months," Schaan said. He said that, based on the size of the missing pieces, at least two people must have handed the aluminum over a locked fence and onto a truck or trailer. "Nobody thought that somebody would walk off with it, but evidently, somebody planned this out, brought a big truck, loaded it all up and hauled it away to sell it for scrap aluminum," said Warren Miller, a Tsunami board member. "This is a problem for Tsunami, because Tsunami is always on the verge of insolvency. With a free festival, it's kind of hard to make ends meet when the event itself doesn't produce any revenue." Buchanan said the truss plays a major part in the design of the main stage of the festival by enabling organizers to set up effectively under the city's tight time constraints. She said that now Tsunami either must rent a similar structure or get a donation. "In this economy, Tsunami is struggling. We lost our largest corporate sponsor this year. The arts budgets are really tight. We're just trying to bring the best festival we've ever had for the 10th anniversary, but we're having some huge speedbumps, and this is just devastating," she said, confirming the show remains as planned for June 13 - 15. Parts of the truss assembly are labeled OPTI Trilite, which is the Canadian company specializing in large display assemblies for events like trade shows and concerts. Tsunami is looking for any information leading to the recovery of the assembly and accepts any contributions to Tsunami at P.O. Box 2570, Prescott, AZ, 86302. Visit www.tsunamionthesquare.org for more information, or call 445-5540. Contact the reporter at lmclain@prescottaz.com |
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