Richard and Yvonne Dubac say it’s been a few years – they figure about 30, give or take – since a vehicle last careened through the yard of their South Surrey home.
Back then, culprits cut an arc from the property’s northwest corner eastbound, leaving tire tracks in their wake.
Just to be safe, the couple decided to put in a hedge along their property line to the north (14 Avenue), hoping to dissuade the next person who felt the urge to veer from the beaten path.
Over the years since, as the hedge grew, the lot’s west side (162A) became home to a few of their live Christmas trees – including two that paid tribute to Yvonne’s parents.
“Thought that would stop them,” Yvonne said Nov. 14 of the plantings, the day after a vehicle cut a path from that same corner southbound.
Along its semi-circle route, the offending auto ripped out an eight-foot fir, dragged it to a rock garden in front of the Dubacs’ house and narrowly missed a neighbour’s truck – and again left tire tracks in its wake.
“That’s the Christmas my dad died,” Yvonne said of the uprooted evergreen’s sentimental value.
“Each tree out there all got a memory. The big one was from when my mom went.”
Married 55 years, the Dubacs have lived at the corner lot near South Meridian Elementary for the past 54.
Crime-wise, it’s been a fairly uneventful 5½ decades, and they’re confident last weekend’s damage wasn’t intentional; more likely the result of an impaired driver, they believe.
But it’s frustrating, nonetheless.
“The whole front lawn,” an exasperated Yvonne said. “Two old people work so hard to make a nice place... (I’m) not very happy.”
The one bright note is the now-cut Christmas tree won’t go entirely to waste. Otherwise virtually unscathed, it has been promised to the Dubacs’ neighbour to use as part of their yuletide decor.
Anyone with information on those responsible for the damage to the Dubacs’ yard may contact Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502; cite file #2011-156652.