Southwest Harbor Youth’s Roadside Stand Robbed 2 Days in a Row
Drive around Mount Desert Island and you'll see roadside stands. There are stands selling wood for a campfire, and homemade pastries, pies, and cookies. All of them operate on the honor system, and for the most part, everything goes smoothly. Except, for now, a family's roadside stand on the Clark Point Road in Southwest Harbor has been robbed on two consecutive days.
Ella Izenour, is 17 and will be a senior at MDI High School in September. Her brother Steven is 15 and will be a sophomore in September. Together the two of them, along with their cousin Noah Lewis, who is 15, from Philadelphia have been operating a roadside stand all summer, and from the sounds of it, have been offering delicious homemade pastries and muffins. They have been very successful.
Let me also add that this was their "summer job". They were earning money, and not working in public settings, because Ella's and Steven's dad is undergoing cancer treatment, and they wanted to minimize the chance of getting him sick, whether it be COVID or other illnesses, even a cold.
Now Wednesday morning they went out to their roadside stand and found that the money had been stolen. Their Mom wrote this on Facebook, on the private group Bar Harbor Barter and Swap
"My kids run a bake stand during the summer in SWH. They get up almost every day at 5:45 am to bake. It’s an honor system with a cash box and visitors to the stand have been amazingly honest and supportive. This morning, someone broke into their cash box and took all their money. If they had come to the door and asked, we would have given them something. We would have given them a pastry too. The kids were shocked that this could happen in their community, but they did learn to file a police report, so thank you to whomever for teaching my kids that lesson."
Talk about taking the high road. The problem was that the thief or thieves came back the 2nd day in a row and this time took a crowbar to the cash box, stealing the money and destroying the cash box.
The kids didn't put out pastries and baked goods this morning, Friday, August 6. They probably are taking the weekend off and reevaluating whether they are going to continue the stand.
There were lots and lots of offers from a generous community to make the kids whole. But they wanted the money to go to those in need. They wanted those who wanted to make donations to donate to Open Table MDI, The Westside Food Pantry, the Common Good Cafe.
Not only have these kids suffered a monetary loss, but they have experienced a shockingly worse lesson, a loss of trust. The money can be recouped, learning to trust again will take longer.
If you have information about who may be responsible, you are asked to call the Southwest Harbor Police Department at 207-244-7791. The Clark Point Road in Southwest Harbor is a busy road. If you took the money, please return what is left of it. Help the kids regain the trust they had.
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