BALTIMORE — The burglars tried to pry the metal grate off of a window at the Waverly Brewing Company before smashing the glass in a sliding door to gain entry, and when they couldn’t find any cash, Co-Owner Melissa Yukna says they stole other items of value.
“It’s the first thing I saw,” said Yukna, “I mean it brought me to tears. I looked and I said, ‘The Orioles pictures are gone,’ and you know, it hurt.”
A framed collection of autographed baseball cards of players from the 1983 championship team, Ripken and company, which had been a gift to the business owners when they opened up here a decade ago.
“The baseball cards were more of a sentimental thing to the brewery,” said Assistant Brewer Jamison Gilmore, “We’re all big Orioles fans and we take a lot of pride in being from Baltimore and the Orioles in general and to really take that was just the biggest gut punch to the whole thing.”
Board games, beer mugs, Christmas stockings—-the thieves also made off with items that carried mostly sentimental value.
Adding insult to injury, the owner says some people on social media have suggested the break-in could have been an inside job.
This, at a business, which has just four employees who put their heart and soul into a craft—-brewing beer.
“It’s hilarious to me to think that, because it was a $700 window that I had to replace using cash,” said Yukna, “We have a $2,500 insurance deductible. No one’s making bank on an insurance claim for this.”
The Waverly Brewing Company has pledged to reopen this week, even though it will be brewing less beer as it shifts funds to pay for the damage, but it will continue to provide a gathering spot for the surrounding tight-knit community.
“Anybody can come in and take glassware and Orioles gear you want, because I’m gonna replace it,” said Yukna, “and hopefully, maybe I’ll replace it with a World Series banner. Hopefully. Fingers crossed. You hear that, Adley? Anyway,” she laughed.
