Poppa J’s Kettle Corn finds silver lining after trailer stolen before Eyota Days

(ABC 6 News) – A family who owns a popcorn business out of Eyota woke up Monday morning to their trailer stolen which contained all of their equipment.

David and Chris Jorde own Poppa J’s Kettle Corn and they said what happened ended up being a ‘mere inconvenience.’

The Jorde’s said it happened during the early hours on Monday morning.

"My first thought was one of my friends must be pulling a prank on me and it didn’t take long to realize that that wasn’t the case," David said.

Within an hour of the Jorde’s noticing their trailer was missing, they had it on their Poppa J’s Facebook asking for help. But they weren’t expecting the outcome and the support that they received. The post reached over 40,000 people. There are only about 2,000 people in the city of Eyota.

David said he hasn’t even been able to answer a small portion of phone calls and texts from people reaching out to him, even people across the country. "It has just really gotten to be a bigger thing than I ever dreamt I could ever be a part of," he said.

He said the biggest thing that came out of this incident is the response and the support.

"We need to allow things like this to shine rather than to be a shadow," David said.

The trailer was found within an hour and about ten miles from the Jorde’s house.

"There’s damage. There’s damage to the trailer but it’s just stuff and stuff can be re-purchased or rebuilt or whatever. Nobody was hurt," David said. "We had a few different people say that you better be ready for a few extra customers so I actually went and got 500 more pounds of seed today to prepare for this week."

They were able to set up on Tuesday night for the Eyota Farmers Market, which kicks off Eyota Days.

The Jorde’s didn’t even think about how this would affect them, but their customers and the people they serve.

"It wouldn’t have only affected my wife and I and our family, but we have a very full schedule of community events and events coming up that are going to affect a lot of people," David said. "We just hope and pray that this individual can see this as a turning point and realize that there can be forgiveness out there."

Now they’re back to popping kettle corn for the rest of their summer events.