In July we planned to rent a pavilion for my granddaughter’s graduation from Dunkirk High School. Originally we were interested in the “largest unit,” that came with a ‘kitchen and refrigerator. Oddly enough, this unit was $75.

The other unit, smaller; came with a refrigerated truck and was $100. By the time we got to City Hall, the next day before 10 a.m., the only unit available was the $100 unit with refrigerated truck. We were OK with that as we could put all the drinks, food and cake in there to keep cool and only bring out items as needed.

My son and his wife live in Dunkirk and I gave them the $100 as part of my contribution to my granddaughter’s party. We booked it for the only opening available: July 21. On Friday, July 19, my daughter-in-law received a call from the City Hall person in charge of rentals. They said they were sorry, but the refrigerated truck was broken. She was then told we could probably use the fridge in the other unit.

What? The two units are virtually opposite ends of Point Gratiot, and they thought we could “share” their refrigerator? Absolutely unacceptable.

We were also told we could reschedule.

What? We invited more than 50 people who made the date a priority to attend. The food was already being made, the cake was already ordered. We already had balloons ordered for pickup. We could not cancel the date.

So I ran to the store Sunday morning to buy eight bags of 22 pounds of ice at $4 a bag — another expense. We had containers of ice for all the food, styrofoam containers full of ice for drinks. Sadly, we couldn’t save the cake. There was no way to keep it cool and it fell apart in the heat even though we had it sitting in a pan of ice trying to save it.

As family and friends arrived and learned of the predicament we were in, we were informed a previous letter to the editor was published about this very same situation. Someone rented the unit and was informed the truck was broken.

Let me add that my granddaughter’s maternal grandfather checked out the unit with my son, and said the truck clearly had not been operational as a refrigeration unit for a very long time! Yet the city of Dunkirk continued to rent this unit at $100 with the claim of a refrigerated truck and not offering any refund what so ever.

Shame on you Dunkirk for this sham of yours!

Bonnie Cave is a Sunset Bay resident.