A clothing rack donation from Rogan’s Shoes in Neenah went missing from the Launch Pad the week of Aug. 3 because of  a misunderstanding with Pickard staff.

Launch Pad workers Matt Kemper, senior, and Chris Gilbertson, junior recounted the events that occurred Aug. 5.

Kemper and Gilbertson had big plans for the clothing rack. The boys recall thinking, “This [clothing] rack is looking really dull, how can we spice it up?”

The two Launch Pad workers came up with the idea to spray paint the rack, which they thought would make it look “really cool.” Gilbertson commented, “[We] were all excited, we ran out to [Kemper’s] truck…with the clothing rack in hand, and we were like ‘Well why are we taking this with us? We’re going to come back here and spray paint it, so let’s just leave it here.’”

The boys left the clothing rack in the ramp outside Pickard instead of putting it back in the Launch Pad, which, according to Kemper, was “a little lackadaisical on both of our parts.”

The trip to the store took longer than the boys had anticipated, as a man there had struck up a conversation with them and offered advice about the spray paint. They also took a detour to visit Kemper’s house.

After 45 minutes, Kemper and Gilbertson, with the newly purchased gold spray paint, returned to NHS to find the clothing rack missing. They were shocked and upset to have lost the recently donated clothing rack. The boys then decided to investigate the case by talking to the janitors and trying to access security camera footage. These leads did not pan out.

Kemper went on to say that Mrs. Mel Vanderkolk, who runs the ARC, was the real hero of the story.  Vanderkolk e-mailed the staff, which led Kemper and Gilbertson to find the culprit: Mr. Aaron Hoffmann of Pickard. The boys agreed the cart was not taken with malicious intent, and instead the ordeal was just a misunderstanding. The cart was returned to The Launch Pad Aug. 6, and the boys reported the exchange was amicable.

As of Aug. 20, the clothing rack has not been painted gold. The rack, however, was being used to display NHS apparel during the week of registration. The Satellite is awaiting any further contact from Kemper or Gilbertson regarding the current state of the rack.