Every day is Flag Day at 25 Alsop Drive.
Starting last Christmas, Fenwick resident Deb Foster has been displaying flags on her impeccably manicured lawn themed according to events or seasons. The flags have holes cut out so those so inclined can get in and pose for a picture.
“I was looking for Christmas stuff and saw this one,” Foster said as she pointed to the green Let’s Take an Elfie sign which started it all. “I saw another one with birds but this was more fun.”
Foster, a 66-year-old native of Niagara-on-the-Lake who retired to Fenwick with her husband, Rob, in 2013, didn’t see much activity at first.
“The kids are going through hell. I’m a retired ECE [Early Childhood Education teacher] and I left to work with seniors, so I’ve always had to do stuff to get people going,” she said. “I thought it would be fun but no one would come on the lawn so I made a sign saying that it’s okay to come on the lawn and then they started coming."
Students at nearby Wellington Heights Public School then began to take notice.
“The neighbours told me the school had to exercise and that I had a gym class on my lawn. It was amazing. I was so glad and then I started seeing kids on the lawn.”
Foster next put out a flag for Valentine’s Day, complete with treats.
“I thought I would do it again. The first one blew away because I made the holes too big and things were closed so I ripped off one of my placemats and made it with that,” she said.
Foster has been delighted with the reverence shown by those who stop for a picture or treat.
“They have been very respectful of the property. When I put treats out they didn’t grab them all. They took one or two and were respectful of the property.”
From there it was flags for St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Canada Day, and one for graduation in June in blue and orange, the colours of the Wellington Heights Huskies.
“They were saying the kids weren’t going to have a graduation ceremony and they didn’t know what was going to happen. I thought I was going to lose my grad gang,” she said.
A summer flag hung for the months of July and August but now it’s time for a yellow Back to School sign.
“They have been working from home, studying from home and back and forth. I know some of them are really excited to see their friends and some of them are afraid they are going to get sick,” Foster said.
Foster plans to keep it going with flags for Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Remembrance Day.
“It’s just some fun,” she said. “It’s such a great neighbourhood. The park gets used a lot and people are always out walking their dogs.
In fact, one neighbour has been trying to get a selfie with her dog, who won't sit still long enough for the picture to be taken.
“I know dogs’ names better than people’s names,” Foster said.
