Racine Scouts Equipment Trailer Involved In Weather Mishap

While en-route to Denton, Texas, for a corps camp on February 8, the Racine Scouts were involved in a weather related mishap that landed the corps equipment trailer in the center median, south of Bloomington, Illinois. The accident occurred just after midnight on February 8 and is thought to have been caused by black ice on the pavement. Fortunately, no one was injured but the trailer suffer considerable internal and external damage and had to be towed to Bloomington for further assessment. Internally, several horns, a marimba, vibraphone and other key pieces of percussion equipment were damaged.

“The ice came out of nowhere”, remarked Kris Neal, guard instructor. “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.” Bruce Chaffee, corps transportation manager said that the force of the trailer turning over lifted the rear axle of the truck 3 feet off the ground. “The main thing to remember is that none of the five people riding in the truck were hurt in any way, and for that we are really grateful”, said Chaffee, adding that “equipment can always be replaced, but human lives cannot.”

The equipment truck was on the way to Denton, TX for a corps camp. The trailer was re-fitted with two new tired and rims and a new hitch assembly on Friday morning and then continued on to Texas. A full assessment of instruments was done on Saturday morning. when , and the corps freezer suffered substantial damage. It is likely that the trailer will be deemed a total loss due to extreme 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/INSTRUMENT REPLACEMENT FUND