Hamilton responds with love to Locke Street vandals
- Robert Cekan
- 05 Mar 2018
A mob of 30 masked individuals stormed Hamilton’s popular Locke Street Saturday night creating an estimated $100,000 of damage to the street’s businesses and parked cars.
Businesses located near the southern end of Locke Street seemed to have gotten the brunt of the damage with several smashed windows reported at Pippa & Prue, Donut Monster, The Beverly, Bitten and many others.
Rather than the community erupting in rage, Hamilton responded in the most Hamilton way: with love.
Sunday morning saw thousands of residents descend upon the street in show of their support by spending money at the businesses affected, tipping staff generously and by offering to clean up or repair however possible.
Hamiltonians’ love radiated up and down the street with more acts of kindness than we could possibly list. There are some standouts, however, including:
- Donut Monster inviting all neighbours, even the ones involved in the incident, to come to the coffee shop and have a “peaceful discussion on reconciliation and moving past violence”
- Local businesses like The Hearty Hooligan, Merit Brewing, Hello Baked and Swiss Chalet providing food for the staff of Locke Street businesses
- FirstOntario Credit Union providing a portion of Donut Monster’s insurance deductible
- Residents writing messages in markers on the plywood that covered broken windows
- Huge line-ups at several local businesses, with some going down the block
While the actions of this masked group are sickening and leave many unanswered questions, if there’s one thing this event has shown, it’s that Hamilton is one of the strongest communities out there and that the spirit of our community cannot be shaken.
This Saturday, March 10, Hamilton will celebrate #LoveLockeDay to further support the street’s local businesses and celebrate one of our city’s most vibrant communities.
If you have any uplifting stories regarding this event, please share them in the comments or through info@trueresident.com
Header image provided by Bryan Webber
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