Ucluelet’s community spirit spun an abhorrent crime into a blanket of support last week.
A thief snatched Paul Buckowski’s guitar on June 30 and, within roughly two hours, the 64 year-old local musician commonly seen busking throughout the community had a new one in his hands and local love in his heart.
“I’m almost glad they stole my frigging guitar because I had no idea that people cared so much. I had no idea. It was very odd to me that people would really be so into it. I’m just some guy that plays guitar in the street, but the community rallied around me to a point where I’m still in shock,” Buckowski told the Westerly.
“I’m astounded at what’s going on…There’s been a lot of positive things from the negative thing.”
Buckowski said he had been busking outside Ucluelet’s B.C. Liquor Store on Main Street on June 30 and left his guitar, a Yamaha Compass, resting against the store’s outer wall for roughly 15 minutes as he walked down to the harbour and chatted with a friend around 1:30 p.m.
“I spent more time away from it than I should have, came back and it was gone,” he said.
“It’s a gorgeous guitar. I was in love with that guitar. It broke my heart. But, the bottom line is: what am I going to do about it? I can’t dwell upon it.”
News of the theft spread quickly on social media as locals began collaborating on fundraising possibilities and expressing support for Buckowski. Within two hours, Buckowski said, he had a replacement guitar in his hands donated by Dave Taron of Ucluelet’s The Place TV, Appliance and Furniture Centre Ltd.
“I can’t thank him enough for being so charitable,” Buckowski said of Taron.
Taron, a longtime Ucluelet local, told the Westerly he understood how important having a guitar was to Buckowski’s livelihood.
“He’s a local guy and I know that’s his source of income so I just said, ‘Here take this guitar and see what you can do,'” Taron said. “That’s how the community is built. People help each other. It’s a small town and, I think, that’s just something everybody does.”
Buckowski said he was blindsided by the support he received from his community.
“This whole town has rallied around me. I’m shocked by it,” he said. “Yesterday, I’d say 50 people came up and were asking me about the situation and what happened. I’m sort of taken aback by it all. I had no idea anybody would care…I didn’t really understand it. I thought they maybe barely tolerated me around here. But, you know, it’s just different here.”
Buckowski said he spent roughly 42 years in the fishing industry before health issues forced him off the ocean and he began busking several years ago.
“I’ve always been a guitar player, so I went out and just started playing guitar in the street and it made me a dollar or two so I’ve just been doing it; trying not to offend anybody and not trying to panhandle off people and stuff. I do it everyday and nobody’s been real aggressive towards me so, I figured, this is a good thing,” he said.
He said he has lived in communities throughout Vancouver Island, including Ucluelet, and moved back to Ucluelet about a year ago.
“Here, you walk down the street and people say, ‘Hello’ to each other. That kind of thing had left where I was living so, I figured, I wanted to go live somewhere where people were more community minded. Little did I know Ucluelet is that in spades,” he said.
“They have something here that’s special. There’s a lot of places you can go to where they don’t have the community awareness and the charity and the heart that they do here. I think they’ve got a really special thing going on here. It’s a small town with a big heart.”
Ucluelet’s police chief Sgt. Steve Mancini told the Westerly News on Tuesday that police are investigating the theft and anyone with any information regarding the stolen guitar’s wherabouts should immediately contact the Ucluelet RCMP detachment at 250-726-7773.
