Jacinda Szabolcsi’s didn’t find a paddle in the creek, but to her surprise on closer inspection she did find some roller derby gear.
Szabolcsi said while walking to work awhile ago she noticed something odd in the water near the bridge on Government Street.
“Finally the snow melted enough and I could get down there and I found a roller skate, two wrist guards, two elbow pads and a red helmet,” she said.
A former derby girl herself, Szabolcsi immediately realized what the gear was used for.
The next morning, Friday around 7:30 a.m., she posted a picture of the gear in a Penticton community Facebook page.
It didn’t take too long before the owners, the Penticton Pistoleras roller derby team, were identified.
“I was at work so I wasn’t checking right away, but I’d say by 11:30 a.m. someone from the team was connecting with me.”
By Friday evening the gear, unfortunately with one skate still missing, was returned.
Kimberley Wall, a Pistolera member said the gear was from the recruit program the team held in the fall. A member had put the gear in her car and it was broken into in November. The gear along with other items stolen.
“The skates were new. We rent them out as part of the eight week training program and the protective gear was donated by a team member,” she said.
“Derby gear is definitely an investment. Equipment can be kind of on the pricey side. There is expenses that go along with the sport.”
Hall wasn’t sure of the exact price of the roller skates but said they start at about $200 and can be as high as $1,000.
“We were pretty much resigned it was gone and that was just an expense the recruitment program would have to burden,” she said. “We’re super thankful to her that she came forward and posted and through tagging and sharing we were able to get it back.”
Wall planned to scour the creek to see if the other skate could be located. She said the bearings were rusty but with a little TLC the skates would be useable again.
This isn’t the first time Szabolcsi has found items in the river. In the past she’s found a pair of shoes and a speaker.
“There’s a lot of cool stuff in the creek,” she said.
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