Heather Irvine is spreading love in Lake Country for Valentine’s Day.
Take a walk down Lodge Road and you’ll see the resident’s fence, decorated with pink, white and red hearts for the holiday. Each heart carries a message of love.
A box of blank hearts and markers sits at the end of the driveway so you can leave a Valentine message, too.
Irvine has been decorating her fence for about three years in Lake Country. Every month her fence is themed after a season or holiday.
She got the idea to start decorating it while mowing the lawn one day. The idea just popped into her head.
“Lodge is very busy with cars and lots of people walk and so I did it, and the response was overwhelming; lots of people like it and I get lots of thank-yous from parents and little kids.”
Each month she spends between $60 and $100 at local thrift and dollar stores.
“I don’t like to duplicate but I do like to reuse the materials if I can,” she said, as her collection of material continues to grow in her garage.
Irvine said she’s never been the artsy type, but she keeps busy with books and magazines, which she draws inspiration from and enjoys working outside.
Her favourite months to decorate are March because of Easter and October for Halloween because of the variety of decorations available. Irvine does most of the decorations herself but has had help from Peter Greer Elementary students in the past.
The goal is to spread happiness with her fence, for herself and others, and she’s been touched to see others have been affected by it in a positive way. A woman told Irvine she has severe depression and is only able to get out of bed some days because of the fence, she said.
“I would like to think that other people could do things that make other people happy. For me, it’s the fence,” she said. “It’s fun to make people smile and laugh.”
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