Nanaimo Man Cleans Up After Vandals

Kody Laughlin, 21, is a technician at Speedy Glass in downtown Nanaimo.

Nanaimo man cleans up after vandals: Kody Laughlin acted immediately when he learned vandals had tagged a Fitzwilliam Street hairdressing salon window pane. He grabbed some cleaning supplies and drove to the shop to remove the ugly mess. It was gone by the time the store owner arrived for the day. It's not the first time the young man has taken time to clean graffiti off a window.

Laughlin, 21, is a technician at Speedy Glass downtown. Employees there like being downtown, and they do what they can to stop graffiti. "I thought I might just rip up there and get it done," said Laughlin. The tag was on the windowpane of Lou's Salon Barber Shop, one of several brightly painted businesses along the Gallery Row block in the Old City Quarter business district.

George Ewing, who owns the block, saw someone cleaning paint off Lou's window as arrived at GEM Fabrication, Gates and Gifts, his business. He thought it was a contractor for the Downtown Nanaimo Business Improvement District's anti-graffiti program. "I had just gone for a walk down to Wallace Street for a coffee and back and there was this guy cleaning the window. There was a major paint spray on the window," Ewing said. He asked if salon owner Lucinda LaCouvee had called him to do the cleanup. He was surprised to learn the young man did it voluntarily.

The glass specialist had the materials and knowledge to remove paint from glass, and "just decided to do it." Ewing, who'd rescued a heritage building when he lovingly restored the century-old Gallery Row in the 2000s, was impressed by the young man's actions. "It generates a good feeling downtown. It's great," Ewing said. "There's so many opportunities for negativity and so forth, it's nice (to see) the other side of the coin."

LaCouvee, who opened Lou's last July, got a phone call at 7:30 a.m. that day saying vandals had gone around spraying paint on glass windows on downtown businesses. "By the time I got to work, people were in the parking lot in the back, and George told me, 'You won't believe this but a Good Samaritan cleaned it up.'" She later learned the young man was a schoolmate of her son's, at Dover Bay Secondary School. "It turns out I used to drive him and my son to boxing when they were in school together." She remembers him as a "really well-rounded, great kid."

Growing up in Lantzville, Laughlin said he always steered clear of drugs and other negative influences in his youth. "I tried to stay away from that scene," Laughlin said. "I'm not much of a party person." He said he benefited from good role models, including his father, who supported him in everything he did. He recently returned the favour, when his father wanted to help a local baseball team find a coach. "They wouldn't have a team if there wasn't a coach, so I said: 'I'm willing to help them out.'" He said his fellow staff members routinely help when they see vandalism downtown.

Shannon Johnson, a Speedy customer service representative, spotted the graffiti that morning, while out to get coffee. She asked Laughlin if he'd mind cleaning up the mess, and he willingly obliged. "I just thought it was a good thing to do," Johnson said. 

The DNBIA started its anti-graffiti program in 2013. Whenever a business is vandalized, they can just call the association and a contractor will soon arrive to clean up the mess. Each call costs the DNBIA $75, so when people do it voluntarily, it saves merchants. "We're so grateful we have business owners and front-line staff that care so much," said Corry Hostetter, DNBIA executive director. "We're just so proud of folks down here that are like that."

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