How this Maple Ridge couple’s date night turned into a viral hit

Steve Robinson was working late last Friday night when his wife, Estha, had an idea. 

The Maple Ridge couple run a local landscaping company, Grass, Gardens and Grounds, and are familiar with the many kinds of lawns and shrubs across Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. 

At the end of the work week, Robinson, 58, was tending to tasks on his computer. He also has experience in design and marketing. Ever since the couple launched their landscaping company, Robinson has filmed and edited short clips of their work for a YouTube channel. 

“Naturally, if I see something I like that I either want to capture for myself or whatever, I’ll pull out my phone and start shooting,” he said. 

But seeing her husband of 10 years slumped in front of a screen, on the cusp on the weekend, Estha, 60, suggested they get out of the house. 

She wanted a date night. 

At the time, she had no idea their commute past Christmas lights would charm hundreds of other people. 

A passion for helping others

Robinson and Estha first met almost 30 years ago. Living in Vancouver, they remained friends for 18 years before settling down in Maple Ridge together roughly one decade ago. 

In 2016, the couple began working as grocery delivery drivers for Save-On-Foods. They did that job for seven years, driving groceries door-to-door across town. Each time they pulled up to a new house, it was like they got a five minute glimpse into somebody’s life, Robinson said. 

One time, Robinson delivered food to a man who recently had his leg amputated. As he brought groceries into his house, the man suddenly opened up to him. 

He had been home from the hospital for only a couple of days, he said. The surgery was still fresh in his mind. The man then told him about the accident, which occurred a couple blocks from his house. 

Robinson listened as he put the food away, nodding to the man’s story and asking questions. It was far from the only time someone discussed the most vulnerable parts of their life to a stranger like him. 

“It was those kinds of things, being the one person these people talk to, we loved,” Robinson said.

That need for social connection accelerated when the pandemic hit. Many people in the community were alone and struggling, Robinson said. So he enjoyed being someone a local someone could talk with during the doldrums and uncertainties of the pandemic. 

“I built a real heart for [delivering] over that period of time,” Robinson said. 

Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic, Robinson and Estha left Save-On-Foods to start their landscaping company. 

They viewed the businesses as a chance to work for themselves. And similarly help the community — this time through gardening, not food. (Robinson and Estha also previously worked in landscaping, and have been gardeners for most of their lives.) 

“With the landscaping work that we do, we are still regularly interacting with the community,” Robinson said. 

Going viral

When they left their house last Friday night, Robinson didn’t plan to pull out his phone and start filming. 

Earlier in the week, Robinson saw online that many residents were asking about the best Christmas displays in town. He also noticed someone shared a map that shows where people set up displays last winter. 

On the road, they quickly realized that the map was accurate — many of the homes that displayed lights last year did so this year too. As they drove from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, he instinctively reached for his phone. Initially, he thought the videos would be his own keepsake of the night: date night.

But when they got home about three hours later, he edited the clips together and posted them on the Albion-based Facebook group.

From his years as a delivery worker and landscaper, he knew that many people in the community were still isolated following the pandemic or had mobility issues that prevented them from seeing the lights. 

“As I was capturing them, I’m like, this is the perfect content to throw up for people to enjoy who can’t get out,” Robinson said. “It was really a move for something other people could appreciate.” 

The post quickly racked up hundreds of likes and comments, with many people thanking him for sharing the clips and asking where they visited. The positive reaction even surprised Robinson, who went out with his wife the next night to share more light displays across Maple Ridge.

“I just did it as a little thing for the community,” he said. “But once I saw the responses, I’m like, this is totally the right thing to do.” 

Maple Ridge has a strong sense of community, Robinson said. That strength is particularly evident on Baker Place, where residents have banded together to string lights in between trees on the entire block. (On Dec. 18, the street is hosting a hot chocolate fundraiser for the local food bank.

The videos may have inspired hundreds of other residents during the holiday season, but Robinson credits his wife for inspiring them to get out of the house and enjoy the lights together for a few hours on a weekday evening. 

“It’s always nice to be asked out on a date,” Robinson said.