While enroute to Denton, Texas, for a corps' camp on February 8, the Racine Scouts were involved in a weather related incident that landed the corps equipment trailer in the ditch just outside of Bloomington, Illinois. The accident occurred just after midnight and is thought to have been caused by black ice on the pavement. Fortunately, no one was injured but the trailer suffered considerable external and internal damage and had to be towed to a repair facility in Bloomington for further assessment. Internally, several horns, along with a marimba and other key pieces of percussion equipment were damaged. “The ice came out of nowhere”, remarked Kris Neal, guard instructor for the Scouts. “One moment we were driving down the highway and the next thing we knew; the back end of the trailer was fishtailing and then the trailer was in the median on it’s side”. The force of the accident lifted the rear axel of the truck almost two and a half feet off the ground according to Bruce Chaffee, corps transportation director. “The main thing is that none of the five people riding in the truck were hurt in any way and for this we are very grateful. Equipment can always be replaced, but human lives cannot.”

The equipment truck was on its way to Denton, TX for a corps’ camp. The trailer was refitted with two new tires and rims and a new trailer hitch assembly on Friday morning and continued on to Texas. A full assessment of instruments and other equipment was done on Saturday morning, where it was discovered that three contrabass horns, a marimba and a vibraphone sustained substantial damage. It is likely that the trailer will be deemed a total loss due to the amount of structural damage to the frame.

The corps is presently accepting donations to replace instruments and other equipment lost in this unfortunate incident. Contributions can be sent to: TRUCK REPLACEMENT FUND, Racine Explorer Scouts! P0 Box O85298 Racine, WI! 53408-5298.