For Geraldine Aiken and Irene Adams, a newly built gazebo outside their St. Stephen apartment building is the kind of magic a group of women, with a little help from their friends, can achieve.
Aiken hosts coffee in her apartment on Wednesday mornings.
“One day, Irene said it is too bad we don’t have a gazebo that we could have coffee out on the deck,” Aiken said.
The group considered a pop-up-style gazebo, but were concerned about the weather and about the logistics of setting it up and tearing it down.
They approached a friend, Doug Scott, who offered to build them a wooden gazebo.
“We did not expect it to be anything like this,” Aiken said.
Aiken and Adams sought approval from the building’s owners, who agreed to let the group proceed.
“We’d like to hold a yard sale to raise money for it because we did that last year to raise money for someone going through cancer, and it worked out pretty good,” Adams said.
They started to advertise and collect items from the residence to sell at the yard sale.
“I think even before we had a yard sale, we sold about $1,700 worth of stuff, because people would go by and see it and they’d want each other’s stuff,” Adams said. “The adage: One man’s trash is another’s treasure.”
It rained on the day of the yard sale, but the sun did come out, Adams said, making it a successful day.
“People along the way said we can’t contribute, we can’t give our time, we don’t have treasures, but we’ll donate,” Adams said.
In total, they raised $4,700.
Doug and his son Nick Scott got to work, laying the cement foundation and building the roof.
“Nick and Doug went and used some recycled lumber and kept our costs down,” Aiken said.
Other residents also contributed. Alan Gray purchased lights, and Kurt Tucker hung them — with the help of several onlooking women, according to Aiken.
“We’re a family,” Aiken said. “We had a great time watching it being built. We want to express appreciation that the building owners allowed us to do this. It’s greatly added to our enjoyment of our home.”
Both Doug and Nick were presented with plaques for their hard work.
But so was Aiken, who was recognized for always being there for her fellow residents and for the vibrant garden she spent countless hours planting and tending — a colourful backdrop to those Wednesday morning coffee chats.
