Western students to rebuild 'grandma's' garden trampled in street party
The garden was planted by 87-year-old Bess Srahulek's late husband John
Western students have organized an online fundraiser to repair a neighbour's garden that was destroyed during Saturday's "fake homecoming" celebration, a massive, unsanctioned party that saw 11,000 university students pour into the streets.
Srahulek moved into the two-storey post-war home in 1960, a year after marrying her husband. The couple raised four children there and stayed after their children grew up and moved out of town.
In 2007, John passed away and for the last 10 years, she's been slowly transforming the garden he planted in the front yard into a tiny sanctuary for bees and butterflies.
"It used to be a lawn," she said. "He got fed up with trying to do the lawn, so he put in periwinkle. He also put all the rocks all around."
On Saturday, it was destroyed — trampled by beer-swilling university students who flocked to Srahulek's street in the thousands for an unsanctioned and wild street party. In total, 37 people were taken to hospital and almost 60 people were charged over the course of the day.
She had hoped her student neighbours would heed a letter to Broughdale residents from Western University president Amit Chakma and keep Saturday's festivities to a dull roar, but it didn't turn out that way.
"It was a lovely letter," she said. "They didn't listen, no, that's what's heartbreaking."
Srahulek said the sloppy, all-day student booze fest began in the morning and by afternoon, she went to the back window when she began to hear shouting.
She started taking pictures when she realized there was a full fledged brawl taking place between two students just a few feet from her kitchen window.
During the celebrations, students invaded Srahulek's backyard, broke her fence, used her backyard shed as a latrine, threw a cellphone through an upstairs window and destroyed a garden planted by her late husband.
In the afternoon Srahulek found three women sitting on the bumper of her car and a man who appeared sick from drink, laying on her front steps.
"At this point, I thought 'This is it' I said 'I've had it, I'm out of here.' So I phoned the police," she said. She said a number of officers came over to her house and helped her secure her lawn furniture and items from her shed in order to prevent further damage, she also told them: "I want to get out of here."
She said two police officers led her through the crowd just as police were beginning to disperse the massive street party.
"There were so many cops there, it was unbelievable," she said.
Police eventually led her to Huron Street where they led her car through the barricade and Srahulek went to the only sanctuary she knew.
"I went to church," she said. "I stayed for mass."
When she returned a few hours later, the police barricades were gone and most of the revellers had left except for a few stragglers and she found her driveway covered in garbage.
"I had to get a broom and sweep the stuff away just to get in the driveway," she said.
In the end, Srahulek said she blames herself as much as she blames the students who trashed her garden for not reaching out to them more often.
The students have so far raised $940 to repair the damage to Srahulek's yard with plans to re-plant the garden on Thursday with the help of grounds crews from King's College.
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