After putting up signs in her neighbourhood without result, Marjorie Worsley is a little embarrassed about calling a local newspaper about a missing hammer.
"It's ridiculous," admits the Panorama Ridge resident.
On the morning of Thursday, Nov. 17, Worsley lost a 20-oz. blue-handled Eastwing framing hammer she and her husband Steve had borrowed from a contractor named Herman.
They were finished taking apart scaffolding at their home in the 12900 block of Southridge Drive and were loading it onto a trailer to return to Home Depot (7350 120 St.) when Marjorie left the hammer on the utility trailer before driving off to the store.
It fell off somewhere between the couple's home and Home Depot.
Worsley is now wracked with guilt, having learned that Herman, whom she had just met, had used the hammer for 37 years. The company that makes the hammer – Eastwing – was going to gold-plate it three years from now, to commemorate Herman logging 40 years with the same tool.
"He knows it's missing and he's pretty choked," says Worsley. "I've never seen a man so attached to a hammer. It's built a lot of things for him."
Even Herman's wife got teary-eyed, says Worsley.
Ground searches between their home and Home Depot turn up nothing, and the Worsleys are looking for the public's help.
They're offering a $100 reward for the hammer's return – two to three times as much as the cost of a new hammer of the same make.
"It's a sentimental thing," Worsley says.
Anyone who knows the whereabouts of the hammer is asked to call 604-572-2902 or 604-789-6534.
bjoseph@surreyleader.com