Byline: Patrick Kampert
Jun. 3--The hippo's crime was cuteness.
Newly married Kim Tupper saw the offender in a candle shop at Fox Valley Mall and had to have it. The small, tan candle in the shape of one of nature's largest animals was taken to the register, paid for and brought home. It was a colossal mistake.
Tupper's husband, Rich, like any observant male, thought his bride's purchase meant she loved the oversized mammals. She didn't. She just thought the single small candle was neat. But he bought hippos for her anyway. Tupper says her husband even told the extended family that "Kim likes hippos." That did it.
The avalanche of hippos began and continued ...