Former 亚洲天堂 Lake resident Corrina Bodnar could not contain her tears after seeing a replica of a painting of her late father last week.

The original painting was located at the Lakeland Hotel, which back in the mid-1990s had a fine dinning restaurant where Bodnar and her father used to eat.

鈥淚t was a big deal to us,鈥� she said nostalgically. 鈥淲e would always make a reservation to have a table and have dinner.鈥�

In 1995, a front desk employee of the hotel offered to paint the walls of the lounge.

鈥淚 enjoyed painting as a hobby,鈥� he said.

The hotel鈥檚 front desk was Gavin Lynch, an Ottawa-based artist who grew up in 亚洲天堂 Lake. Lynch now paints for a living and has shown his work at many prestigious galleries and museums across Canada.

Since Lynch painted images of locals who were well-known in the community, the place became known as the 鈥渓egends鈥� lounge.鈥�

Considered one of the local legends, Bodnar鈥檚 father - Gary Giesbrecht - was known for his generosity.

鈥淲hen someone offered to sell him something, he would always buy it, even when he didn鈥檛 need it,鈥� said Bodnar.

Last year, Skin Tyee Nation purchased the Lakeland Hotel and announced that they were going to renovate it. Soon after the announcement, local resident John Patrick received a phone call from a friend who was interested in the paintings at the Lakeland Hotel. The friend asked him if the paintings remained intact.

Patrick went to the lounge to find out for himself. He took photos of the paintings and later posted them on the 鈥淗ell-Yeah 亚洲天堂 Lake鈥� Facebook page, asking if anyone recognized the local legends.

That鈥檚 when Bodnar recognized the image of her father, who died in 1998.

She said that when she saw Patrick鈥檚 post on Facebook she had tears in her eyes and she could not contain her excitement. She contacted Patrick right away and asked if she could purchase the picture.

Patrick discussed her request with Skin Tyee Nation Chief Rene Skin, who then decided to give the painting to Bodnar for free.

Even though the painting was done directly on a wall, Steve Gooding, project manager for the hotel鈥檚 renovation project, was able to remove the painting from the wall.

鈥淲e were going to get a nice frame and give it her,鈥� said Patrick. 鈥淎nd they [Skin Tyee Nation] were planning a small ceremony.鈥�

However, after the picture was set aside so that the ceremony could be arranged, a former hotel employee accidentally destroyed the paintings.

鈥淚 felt really bad about what had happened,鈥� said Patrick. 鈥淪teve was shaken by this, and I was speechless; I didn鈥檛 know what I was going to tell Corrina; she had been looking forward to this.鈥�

As they were looking for solutions to what had happened, Gooding suggested printing and framing the photos that had been previously taken. But Patrick decided to take the idea one step further. Patrick posted on Facebook one more time asking if anyone knew a local artist who could do a replica of the painting.

That鈥檚 when someone recommended 亚洲天堂 Lake artist Daphne Hourie.

When Hourie heard the story of how the paintings had been destroyed, she said she was moved, and decided to paint the replica for free.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a nice thing to do for the community,鈥� she said humbly.

Hourie also covered the framing costs. In addition, she plans on doing two more replicas of the destroyed paintings and donate them to the Lakeland Hotel.

鈥淚 thought that was an incredible gesture,鈥� said Patrick.

After much anticipation, when Bodnar finally saw the replica for the first time, she was at a lost for words.

She said that since her father passed away, it鈥檚 never been the same for her and her family.

Bodnar will now be able to see her father鈥檚 image any time she wants as the painting found its new home - her mother, Eva鈥檚 house, on Tchesinkut Lake.

鈥淪he [her mother] will definitely be hanging it up on her wall,鈥� said Bodnar with a sparkle in her eyes.