Good Samaritans, Friends Replace Stolen Christmas Decorations
LAWRENCE COUNTY (KDKA) – A Lawrence County family was angry and saddened when thieves stole six inflatable Christmas figures from their front yard, but they were happily surprised by the support that followed.
A corner lot in Little Beaver Township has brought smiles to passersby for 30 years. Bob and Queennette Mattocks delighted in filling the yard with inflatable Christmas decorations, but this year, on December 7th, Queennette discovered that six large blow-up figures were gone.
"I was so upset," Queennette said. "I went in to tell my husband, and he says, 'Calm down, just calm down. Tell me what's wrong.' And I said, 'They're gone. They're all gone.' Somebody just, they took them. They took them all."
They replaced the 12-foot Santa with a smaller version and figures in the side yards remained, but it wasn't the same.
"It was the spirit of the reasoning behind them that they took," Queennette said.
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The couple was ready to give up on decorating, when…
"This [inflatable] Christmas tree was on our back steps along with two other blow-ups," Queennette said.
With a card that read, "please know there are more good people than bad."
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Then, Queennette's co-workers in Beaver surprised her, big time, Monday afternoon with three new inflatables, including a 12-foot Santa to replace the one that was stolen. She says they gave her the money that was left over from the office collection.
"So I went yesterday and took the money, and I bought two blow-ups because there were two other families that were hit," she said, "and I got a big blow-up for each of those families to put up in their tree."
The thieves who took those decorations merely reinforced the spirit of Christmas.
"I have a lot of friends, and I have a lot of love," Queennette said, "and I am blessed with my life."
