A post (no pun intended) put up on Victoria Buzz in late February, sparked a massive outpouring of support from the community and businesses. 

An older gentleman living in Langford, had a fence he’d lovingly maintained, but which was constantly being destroyed by vandals.

Robert Wright couldn’t afford to fix the fence, but he did his best to keep it looking as good as he could. However the vandals kept returning.

Tristan Clausen, who lives near Mr. Wright, reached out to Victoria Buzz, asking if we could put a post on our Facebook page, seeking help from the public to help fix an elderly man’s fence on Peatt Rd in Langford.

“There is an elderly man on Peatt Rd in Langford who takes meticulous care of his fence, always out re-painting it white whenever someone comes along to deface it. I imagine he takes great pride in his home in a way one doesn’t see very often anymore. He’s had problems with people defacing his fence for years, but I’ve never seen it so bad. What took a couple of kids a few minutes of malicious, thoughtless effort will take this gentleman much longer to fix. Are there any kind souls who have experience mending fences who could pitch in and help this fellow out? I’d be happy to help, but sadly my expertise lies elsewhere.”

Not long after we shared his post, people from all over Greater Victoria stepped up to offer their help – whether it was helping with the garden or providing supplies for a new fence, so many offers came in!

Later in the day, we were contacted by Lyle Jordan from Medix, to let us know he had fired up a Gofundme page (donations still welcome), to fund a new fence and also to help clean up the front yard.

We shared that campaign with you, and once again the community stepped in. Donations poured in, and companies (we will provide a list once a final tally of participants is in) from all over Victoria began to contact Jordan, asking how they could help.

The following morning after the original post, Jordan went to Mr. Wright’s house to tell him about the massive community support and how so many of you wanted to step in and make things right for him.

Robert was almost in tears when we told him about our plan,” Jordan tells Victoria Buzz.

As one of the organizers, I feel overwhelmed by the work done, and speechless by how wonderfully generous the community has been.

I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that a simple idea would help not only rebuild a fence but a community and restore so many people’s faith in humanity. For me personally, I’m just grateful I could help such a wonderful soul who defended this country with pride. This has been such a humbling experience; one that I want to continue in the future.

Jason Rose from Fence Master was also there and sent this to us:

So we have met with Mr. Wright on Peat Rd and he was thrilled with the idea of a brand new fence donated by fencemastervictoria.com

Because of the outpouring of support, and so many wanting to chip in, Jordan setup and Facebook event “Mr. Wright Fence Rebuild Teardown Day!” to keep everyone in the loop.

On Sunday morning, the day of the teardown, dozens of volunteers showed up at the 85-year-old widower’s yard, eager to pitch in.

We spoke to Clausen the day of the community teardown. He told us he was blown away by the community support. He had originally been planning to only have a few posts replaced.

Here are some photos from the day:

By the end of Sunday, the yard looked amazing, but lots of work remained. On Tuesday, the fence posts went in!

Fence posts going in at Mr. Wright’s on Tuesday, March 1st! Photo by Geoff M Dibben

On Friday, Jason and his crew from FenceMaster installed a beautiful cedar fence at Robert Wright’s home!

To make the yard look better, O’Dell Slinger Service showed up with fresh soil – and yes they’re donating it!

NOW onto how you can help – again! Tomorrow, Sunday March 6th, the community is invited to take part in getting things ready for the big reveal!

Starting around 9am, the final touches and planting day will take place. Everyone in the community is welcomed to come get their hands in the dirt and plant some gorgeous annuals and shrubs!

Children will be most welcome and there will be a BBQ set up for everyone who volunteers!

If you can’t make it, but still want to support this great local cause, you can stop by their GoFundMe page and make a donation.

For more information visit the Facebook event page! See you all tomorrow!

Photo by Lyle Jordan
Photo by Lyle Jordan