Angelo said “have you read the paper today?”

“No”, I said.

“So you haven’t read the paper today,” as he continued to work.

“No”, I said, “should I?”

“You might be interested,” he said with a grin.

“The Herald or the local paper?” I asked.

“The Tallaganda Times,” he said “Nick’s got a copy.”

Angelo waited as he worked till I got to the spot that said collection tins had been placed strategically around town, and was rewarded with an exclamation of embarrassment on my behalf.

“Did you have anything to do with this?” I asked indignantly.

“No!” he said with a laugh.

That’s how the news of the fund raising activities came to me.

Just days before Mark Goode, the local policeman, said to me when I walked into the station to report the stolen car and tools, “There’s a chance we might get it back, he probably just wanted transport out of Braidwood.” But it wasn’t to be, and more’s the pity. For there could be more lost here than a car and some tools. Something more precious, a sense of trust, the feeling that you could call into Mutton’s, or any where else, and leave your keys in the ignition, you could leave your chain saw on the back of the ute, call in at the pub, have a beer, take a six-pack, come outside and it would all still be there. And that would be the shame, and that would be the real loss. If we allow this sort of experience to colour and to distort our view of each other. I won’t leave my keys in the ignition any more, but I refuse to allow this to imbue me with a sense of mistrust.

And now to the real point of my letter, I wanted to say a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to the entire community. I have always had lots of faith in my fellow beings and this experience has reaffirmed that faith.

I have been heartened and humbled by the kindness and generosity of this wonderful town. The response to my predicament was immediate, with offers of the use of numerous vehicles, the generous and unconditional use of tools by many more people, donations of money, I have been told, made by people who could least afford to do so. All this has served to strengthen the affinity I feel I have with the community of Braidwood. GORDON PRITCHARD, Braidwood.