Kids from the community near Drinkwater Elementary School are being credited for repairing a vandalized community cob bench on the Herons Wood Walking Trail last weekend.
Petronella van Oyen, a spokeswoman for the Herons Wood Community Association which led the construction of the bench in 2017, said she thinks the bench was heavily vandalized on the night of March 22.
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Van Oyen said she and her husband discovered the extensive damage Saturday morning.
“There was also some smashed glass on the site that we picked up so no one would cut themselves and went home to decide what to do about the bench,” she said.
“Later that morning, a group of kids, aged between nine and 13, who live in the neighbourhood came by our house on bikes and skateboards and said they saw the bench and were keen to fix it.”
Van Oyen said some of the youths were involved in the original building of the bench, which was constructed to give some character and charm to the walking trail, and to provide opportunities for local young people to learn hands-on cobbing.
The cob-bench project is just one of many the community association has been involved with over the years to beautify the area’s walking trails, and to engage the community in hands-on projects.
Van Oyen said building with cob is relatively easy, and mostly requires just basic hard work.
“The kids were on spring break and were delighted to find something to do to keep busy and to learn how to build with cob,” van Oyen said.
“They worked on it for hours, and other groups of young people, as well as adults, showed up during the day to help. The community association is grateful to the local children and others who generously volunteered their time to help repair the damage done to the cob bench.”
Van Oyen said she has no idea who vandalized the bench, and didn’t bother calling the police.
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“We just fixed it, and a lot of people pitched in to help,” she said.
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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