“Dear rubber band collector”, is how restaurant owner Gelco Groote opens his cry from the heart on the Instagram account of his Hoogeveen restaurant. For four years now, Restaurant ‘t Schippershuus has been the target of a “rubber band thief” every now and then. “They are always the same elastic bands, you know the ones, that you also use for the tent.”
Last weekend it happened again on the Hoofdstraat in Hoogeveen. Then eight elastic bands disappeared into the inside pocket of the still unknown ‘elastic roller.’ Groote uses this type of spider hooks for the sails that he has been stretching around his terrace since 2017. These are intended to keep terrace visitors out of the wind.
“We are gradually losing about 150 to 200 elastic bands. It’s not about the money at all for me! They only cost 25 cents each, so we don’t mind that, but it is now becoming a matter of principle” , says Groote, “there also seems to be some rhythm to it. He takes them alternately and takes the same colors with him. Then he always leaves the canvases hanging undisturbed.”
For four years, the restaurant has been trying to find out who the man with the rubber band collecting craze is, but it has always been unable to capture him on camera. Several reports to the police also did not lead to the desired result. Until last weekend. Groote: “At a quarter to eleven he came by and we got a full picture of him, he was a bit shy, but we now have a face.”
“What do I do when he shows up on our doorstep tomorrow? Then I shake his hand and ask him if his art object is almost ready. If he still needs more elastics, I will happily give him a new bag.” , Groote concludes with a laugh.