What a Waste!

[Luddite]

My mother has been involved in a local amateur dramatics society for many years. It was a very successful society, but over the past few years, the older members have moved along for one reason or another, leaving the 'youngsters' to run the committee. Being in a relatively affluent area, and one which was used as a weekend retreat for many Society members, the costume shed has built up a unique collection of clothing from the mid-1800s on. Many of the items were serious museum pieces, and included many classic Designer pieces. And hats, all stored in their boxes, Operatic costumes, complete uniforms from all eras and so on. It was a total goldmine. You'll notice I used the past tense there, as quite recently, the committe decided to clear the costume shed of all the old stuff. Instead of giving it to museums, selling it to collectors or whatever, it was taken out and burned. Unbelievable! Nobody bothered to check, even. Needless to say, mum has now resigned from the Company.

What's probably worse is the fact that a 'grotty old door' was also tossed onto the pyre - it was the original 11th century door from the nearby Bishops Palace which was removed for safekeeping.

 

[Ada Veen]

oh my gosh, that is heartbreaking!

 

[Spitfire]

Are they crazy????Retarded in any way???:eusa_doh:

 

[carter]

Sheer Idiocy. The inmates have taken over the asylum.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

I feel like getting a plane ticket and kicking some arse.

 

[carter]

I feel like getting a plane ticket and kicking some arse.

Connect thru DFW and I'll go with you.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Makes me sick. I hate stupidity.

 

[BellyTank]

I feel like getting a plane ticket and kicking some arse.

ARSE!!!

B
T

 

[BellyTank]

Makes me sick. I hate stupidity.

Oh- you're hard one...

B
T

 

[panamag8or]

That is a microcosm of today's society. If it doesn't have a cord or a computer chip in it, toss it.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

That is a microcosm of today's society. If it doesn't have a cord or a computer chip in it, toss it.

Although I suspect if someone had just said "that stuff you're about to burn is worth thousands" they wouldn't have burned it. Dollar signs work in today's society too.

 

[pennyseranade]

What were they thinking??? Oh yeah, they weren't. That's the problem is no one thinks. What a waste

 

[scotrace]

My God what a horror story!

Everytime one has to sit through some eternal committee or board meeting, or feels like they are wasting their time at such meetings, remember that boards and oversight committees are created to prevent such disasters. I hope there are enough people left there who care enough to create a very controlled set of written and inviolate procedures for the disposal of property owned by the theatrical company. Such property doesn't belong to the individuals who happen to find themselves in charge at the moment, but belongs to the entity itself, and should not be subject to disposal without first seeing a rigorous process of approval by several, intentionally slow-moving and hard-to-budge people.
Otherwise, you lose an irreplacable collection that took decades to assemble! Ugh. Awful!

Perhaps this can be turned into a positive? If no rules are in place, they can be set up by those with the maturity and intelligence to do so properly, like your mother - it would be an additional waste to not have her long experience and love for the theatrical company come to the rescue at such a critial moment. If there is no proper governing board, this can be created.
(and the people who burned the collection then carefully and quickly beheaded. )
Such a loss! I hope your mother can gather forces and channel the anger into a long-lasting prevention of such idiocy happening again.

(Edit to add - yipes, you're in the UK? I assumed such lunacy only happened in America! Here, it would not be surprising. There? Almost unthinkable!)

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Just for burning the door, they should be prosecuted for vandalism and wanton destruction of historical artifacts. Stupidity and ignorance are no defense in the eyes of the law.

bk

 

[volatile]

That's just criminal! Did no-one stop to object? Did no-one, between the committee deciding to do this, the people carrying the stuff from the shed, the people building the bonfire and the imbecile who lit the match, so much as blink to think that they were destroying thousands of pounds worth of irreplaceable stuff? Have these muppets never heard of Ebay?

This is the kind of thing you should be writing to the local paper, or even the national tabloids, about. Shocking.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

This is the kind of thing you should be writing to the local paper, or even the national tabloids, about. Shocking.

You might be right, to raise awareness. I hate to think that a local theater group would be demonized for their ignorance, but others might learn from it.

 

[scotrace]

Demonize and behead, I say.

 

[dhermann1]

Did these jerks at least have the decency to resign? Did it make the local papers? These people need to be publicly humiliated for their act of wanton vandalism.

 

[jake_fink]

I read the OP with a growing sense of dread, knowing it was going nowhere sweet... but there is something strangely sinsiter, even cultish about this. They couldn't just throw the stuff away, or give it away, or sell it, they had to BURN IT!?!? Who burns garbage anymore, nevermind the things you listed.

Please write, say or do something; these guys are obviously nutty.

 

[KilroyCD]

I feel like getting a plane ticket and kicking some arse.

I'll join you...