Many of our clients and customers may not know this, but we’ve been having a bit of trouble off and on here at the center with vandals since we moved in.  The incidents started off pretty tame even though it quickly became annoying. We’d find graffiti on the outside building walls claiming we were “Jesus Haters” or “Satan Lovers”. At first we chalked up these acts of vandalism to mischievous kids who might be out having a good time, or maybe even adults who possibly had too much to drink at one of the nearby bars.

It didn’t take long before more acts of hate began to happen. Sometimes before a fair, we’d put small yard signs out around town to advertise our Psychic and Holistic fairs. At first, the signs were left alone. After a while, when it was time to pick the signs up, we’d find them beat up, pulled up, smashed apart and sometimes thrown into the town dumpsters.

So far, I guess we’ve been pretty lucky. The most damage we’ve had to put up with has been against our large, lighted billboard letter sign outside. Sometimes we’d come in to work in the mornings to find that the letters had been rearranged into vulgar language. We again at first thought this might be the work of kids, but now we are not so sure.

Chris and I left town one weekend and came back to find that someone had run over the large sign with their truck. Fortunately, we were able to get it sitting upright again.

A few weeks ago we came to work and found the power cord to the sign had been deliberately cut in half and left to dangle. Thanks to Janette and her husband, the cord was quickly repaired.

The latest vandalism has been even more devastating to our poor sign. We came in this week to find that someone had kicked or bashed the sign in so badly that it looks like a Ruffles potato chip. I guess the person(s) was hoping this would get rid of the sign once and for all. And would you believe the irony? This happened on … Independence Day weekend! The weekend we are celebrating our freedom!

Wow. It’s really disturbing when you think about people who are so against what you do in the community that they feel they have to damage or tear up your property to send you a message.

We now realize this vandalism is a deliberate act against what we are all about here at the center. There are a few signs exactly like ours just a few feet down the road from us and our neighbors have had no trouble whatsoever. What has happened to tolerance to various spiritual beliefs and freedom of speech in our country?  Why would anyone think it is okay to destroy another person’s property because they don’t believe the same way as we do or because we voice what we believe?

Recently our sign was used to advertise our store, our ghost tour and our psychic and holistic fairs. I suppose the person(s) responsible for this latest act of vandalism has decided to be in charge of demolishing our freedom of speech and spiritual belief and maybe they think this will scare us off or stop us from doing what we do here. 

Well, unfortunately for them, it has only made our resolve stronger. So much so that we have decided that it is now our mission and goal to raise enough funds for a nice, big  LED scrolling sign that will proudly display who we are, what we do here at the center and what we believe in – tolerance for all spiritual faiths and freedom of speech. 

 To that end, in the coming weeks, we’ll be organizing several fund raisers for a new Spirit Quest Center sign.  Besides the fundraisers, we will also be accepting love offerings at our center and by Paypal on our website and in our newsletter. To make a Paypal love offering now, you can use the PayPal button above.  (Thank you, so much!!)

If tolerance of spiritual belief and freedom of speech are important to you too, please help us to get our message out there! Let’s show these cowards that we mean business. We won’t be intimidated to hide our heads in shame for what we do here, nor will we stop being who we are. It’s the very principal this country was built on and no matter what our color, creed, or belief, we think all people should have the opportunity to live in harmony and love.

Thank YOU so much for being a part of our center, helping us and supporting us in what we do here! We love what we do – it’s our passion to be a part of this community, and to provide services, sales, knowledge and information to those who seek a supportive spiritual path!