The Shawnigan Lake community rallied in a big way following the news that “Nick’s Stop” on Renfrew Road near Linden Lane was destroyed March 14 as a result of a car accident.
Nick Collins, 15, was struck by a pickup truck at that location in November of 2007. He died from his injuries. The incident really affected the community as Nick was beloved by many. Ever since, the memorial has stood for many as a reminder of Nick and a reminder to all of the desperate need for drivers to slow down on Renfrew Road.
“I think everybody realizes when they come around the corner, if they know anything about it, they think oh, maybe I should slow down a little bit. It’s a 50 km/h zone and people are doing sometimes 70 km/h. around there,” said Nick’s mom, Jan Collins. “There’s kids all over the place. There’s no sidewalks. It’s Shawnigan Lake! So I think everyone uses it as a bit of a reminder to themselves.”
Social media was abuzz with concern and offers to help redo the memorial and, in the end, Shawnigan Lake’s Vanessa Allen organized a community gathering at the stop on Saturday to come up with a plan and Shawnigan contractor Brad Patterson took lead on the build.
“I grew up on that street. I got hit by a car on that street,” Patterson said. He was fortunate not to get hurt. Patterson said after having his own kids and living in the area, he knows the importance of Nick’s Stop even though he doesn’t know the Collins family personally.
By Wednesday afternoon, less than a week after the accident, construction was underway and a new roof was being lifted onto a rebuilt structure.
Jan Collins was touched by the support.
“I love our community,” she said. “The community is who built Nick’s Stop in the first place back a couple months after he was hit there. It’s really warmed my heart to see that there’s still that care. They just care.”
Citing safety concerns, the CVRD wouldn’t allow a bus stop to be rebuilt, instead aiming to move the official bus stop further down the road.
“I’m not willing to fight the CVRD,” Collins said. “They said we could put Nick’s memorial back there so that’s what’s going to happen. It’ll still have Nick’s spirit there. We’ve been told we can’t put a bench beside his memorial but there was a roof on it. They’re going to centre the roof over the cement pad that’s there and put the memorial box underneath it. It’ll look very similar but there won’t be a bench.”
Collins said she’s not surprised so many have stepped up.
“The community rallied around 11 and a half years ago and they’re still doing it,” she said. “Our community has once again proven to me just why we live here.”
Collins said it’s her belief the young driver whose car crashed into Nick’s Stop is uninjured. She’s reached out to the driver.
“I messaged her to say ‘It’s OK, it’s going to be rebuilt’. I just want to make sure that she knows there’s no hard feelings. I don’t want her to be scared for the rest of her life or feel bad about what’s happened. It was just a freak accident. “
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