Block rocks child’s birthday party — social-distance style

Opinion

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This article was published 24/03/2020 (2008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A tight-knit Wolseley neighbourhood wasn’t about to let a global pandemic spoil a four-year-old boy’s birthday party.

When the Manitoba Children’s Museum was recently forced to close its doors in the effort to help limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, plans for Darik Chopyk’s fourth birthday bash went up in flames — and the kind-hearted residents of Dundurn Place came to the rescue.

When Darik and his family turned onto Dundurn during their afternoon walk Monday, the freshly minted four-year-old’s eyes were big as saucers: the trees along the Winnipeg street were festooned with multi-coloured balloons, green, purple and gold streamers fluttered in the gentle breeze, and banners and window signs wished him a “Happy Birthday!”

“What’s happening?” the surprised youngster chirped, before pedalling his tricycle at the speed of airport luggage along the slushy sidewalk while dozens of beaming neighbours — doing their best to observe social-distancing guidelines — serenaded him from porches and front steps.

It was a block party with a difference, a low-key celebration designed to ensure a timid boy’s birthday wasn’t lost amid the chaos of the coronavirus crisis.

Sitting on his steps, basking in the sunshine, Evasio Murenzi, the unofficial “mayor of Dundurn Place,” proudly banged on his African drum.

“A drum for the king,” Murenzi said, laughing. “This kid will never forget this day.

“This is fantastic. And the weather is celebrating with us. It’s sunny. It’s wonderful, especially at this time when everybody is running away from each other.”

Across the street, another neighbour, a professional musician, strummed the birthday song on his massive bass, while yet another blared the iconic tune from a megaphone equipped with a portable music player.

“Only on Dundurn Place,” a passer-by chuckled as he strolled through the slush, toting a bag of groceries.

One of the party organizers, Loraine MacKenzie Shepherd, minister at Westworth United Church, said residents had hatched the idea for Darik’s replacement party on the block’s Facebook page.

It is a close-knit neighbourhood, even before the novel coronavirus rolled into town, forcing residents to hunker down in their homes.

“This is not out of the ordinary for this block,” MacKenzie Shepherd explained, as choruses of the birthday song rolled down the street. “We do this sort of stuff. We look out for each other.

“We do a street closure once a year and do whatever, pick up garbage, have a potluck supper in the middle of the street.”

The Chopyk family, who live nearby on Maryland Street, were adopted by Dundurn residents about four years ago, when a fire in a partially built apartment block chased the family from their home.

“We were in our pyjamas just to see what was going on and this family was running the other way,” MacKenzie Shepherd recalled. “They had a newborn little boy. We put them and a few other people up that night.”

With current social-distancing rules, there was no cake or presents, but the neighbourhood put its heart in the party.

“We were hoping to make this little guy’s day,” MacKenzie Shepherd said. “We thought it would be a way to make him feel loved and honoured… It also gives us on the block a way to deal with our stress and anxiety and frustration over the coronavirus.”

Chimed in her partner, Nancy Pinnell: “We wanted to make it a little bit special for Darik. We really need these good-news stories right now.”

When asked if he was surprised, the birthday boy, a man of few words, only nodded his head, hiding his eyes under purple mittens.

Was it an awesome party? “Um, I don’t know,” he finally told a pushy newspaper columnist.

Darik’s mother, Katya Bilokon — who moved to the city with husband Oleg Chopyk in 2011 — was deeply moved by the display of compassion.

“It’s a special day,” she gushed, keeping a wary eye on Darik and baby brother, Alexander. “It’s a great thing they did. Even in times of quarantine, you can make things special.

“(Darik) was counting the days before his birthday, and then we had to cancel his party. At first he was, ‘No friends, no party.’ This really cheered him up. I think it’s the best neighbourhood and we are blessed,” Bilokon said.

“My heart is overflowing with love. I’ve never experienced something like this. He was surprised… I didn’t tell him what was going to happen, but he knew there’d be a surprise on Dundurn Place. They really saved the day.”

For the upbeat residents, the celebration was extended when they learned Free Press photography intern Jesse Boily (there to capture Darik’s surprise party) had turned 30 the same day. The block erupted in yet another spontaneous round of Happy Birthday.

“It was kind of exciting to photograph a birthday celebration on my own birthday, especially during a quarantine,” Boily declared, as pint-sized Darik pedalled away from a group of Winnipeggers who had definitely gone the extra mile.

doug.speirs@freepress.mb.ca