B.C. senior creates 'Tiki Garage' to provide vacation from isolation
Before he decided to embark outside with a wine glass and folding chair, Gary Mitchell was feeling out of sorts.
"Everybody was in a mask. Nobody would talk," the Saanich, B.C., man recalls. "You didn’t want to get close to other people."
Along with enduring the pandemic, Mitchell was also mourning the loss of his wife of 55 years.
"I was maybe a bit lonely."
So, Mitchell attempted to do something about it. He set up his folding chairs safely beside his driveway, had a sip from his glass, and started engaging with the world again.
"I talked to people as they went by," Mitchell smiles. "And soon it developed."
Mitchell's salutations inspired his neighbours to join him along the street for physically-distanced soirées, which proved to be a salve for so much isolation.
"It was just this connection we could have," says Barbara Clee, who lives a few houses away. "We could enjoy ourselves."
But despite the camaraderie, it could be cold on the street. So, Clee offered to start hosting the gatherings in her garage.
"In the beginning everybody was looking at what’s in the garage, a lot of junk and stuff," Clee says. "I thought I want to [spruce it] up it a bit."
So, Clee started playing a sunny soundtrack of Hawaiian music on her CD player.
"It was just to take you away from reality," she smiles, before showing me how she started transforming her garage.
HOME IMPROVEMENTS
Every week she would add something new, from floor to ceiling pictures of sandy beaches and palm trees, to bold flowers and bright parrots. Then there were the countless leis and a ukulele, and even sunscreen, shades, and a snorkel.
"I wanted it to be a happy-go-lucky place," Clee smiles. "To come and enjoy a few laughs!"
Every Friday afternoon, Clee would invite her neighbours over for a sunny sojourn.
"We could plan to be on a trip," Mitchell smiles. "We didn’t have to be far from our own home."
While the pandemic appears to be subsiding, and travel restrictions are lifting, trips just down the street to Clee's are only increasing.
"I feels like Hawaii! It feels good," Mitchell smiles. "We’ve all got to know each other even better."
Although it was designed as a vacation from isolation, Barbara’s Tiki Garage has become a venue for connection, a place were neighbours have become friends.
"We’ve all created such a bond between us," Clee smiles, "We’re like family now and it’s very nice."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.