Blenheim, Ont. family opens its doors to complete strangers on Christmas weekend

Denny Vervaet, along with his wife and three children, opened their Blenheim home to a family travelling from Toronto to Windsor during a snowstorm which forced Chatham-Kent officials to declare a state of emergency. (Source: Denny Vervaet)

In an effort to prevent stranded travellers from being stuck in the cold during the recent blizzard, a Blenheim family opened their home to complete strangers on Christmas weekend.

Overall conditions and road visibility in Chatham-Kent was so low on Friday that a state of emergency was declared by the municipality — remaining in effect for more than 48 hours — with officials citing multiple car accidents and hundreds of people stranded.

Among those stranded was a family travelling from Toronto to Windsor.

When one of the family members showed up at the front door of Blenheim resident Denny Vervaet's home, it resulted in a Christmas celebration both families won't soon forget.

Vervaet said he was checking on a pot of chili he was making at home Friday around 5 p.m. when he heard a knock at the door. The sight was startling, he added: a six-foot snow drift and a woman standing out front with a blizzard blowing behind.

"It sounded like someone was seriously hurt. So I just made sure no one was hurt and brought her inside to talk to her and calm her down. By that time, my wife has come up the stairs and immediately hugged her," said Vervaet.

"I thought it was just [the woman's] car which had a baby inside. But there was actually two other vehicles that were caravanning with them."

The other two vehicles were stuck somewhere else along the route. Thanks to the help of area residents, the occupants of those vehicles were picked up from the blizzard and brought to Vervaet's home.

Denny Vervaet captured this selfie of their unexpected visitors all enjoying a meal in his Blenheim home. (Source: Denny Vervaet)

Luckily, the Vervaet family was already planning a Christmas gathering for their family a few days later so the house was ready for a few extra visitors.

"By the end of it, there was 10 of them that we have overnight," he said, adding the family was of West African descent.

"It was fun to get to know them better and hear their stories. I even took the eldest son, who is an aspiring hip-hop, rap artist out of Toronto, to show him our barn because we have a lot of events and concerts there,” said Vervaet.

Next door to Vervaet's home is a brewery which he owns.

"We got to take a few of them through the blizzard to get to it because they wanted to see that,” he explained.

The families spent the night before Christmas Eve enjoying some food and conversations together. When it was time to sleep, the couple and their three daughters stayed upstairs and the 10 travellers occupied the basement.

On the morning of Christmas Eve, Vervaet, along with his wife and father-in-law, helped find the travellers' vehicles which had remained stuck in the blizzard overnight.

One was found near railroad tracks and the other was near a ditch. According to Vervaet, the travellers were worried the Christmas presents they had left in the trunks of both vehicles would have been taken during the blizzard — but everything remained intact.

"Luckily, we were able to get our tractor and pull both these vehicles out so they could get on their way," said Vervaet.

When reflecting back on the entire experience, Vervaet said the biggest lesson he learned was to "respect the weather" since blizzard events can happen at the most unexpected times.

But in those moments, he added, the most important thing we can all do is be there for one another.

"I think it's probably the worst storm I've seen."