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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Man donates landscaping to help beautify St. Patrick’s

Mark Albin continues family tradition of supporting school

Mark Albin was on hand  last week  at St. Patrick’s School to talk about his landscaping project there. His company, A.M. Landshaper Inc., installed a flagpole, planted trees, shrubs and grass and put in some boulders. (Kathy Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)

Herman Victor St. Patrick probably will not notice the difference in the landscaping outside St. Patrick Catholic School in Hillyard. He’s the school’s hamster, and from his cage in the back of the computer lab, nothing much seems to have changed.

But in front of the school, a new flagpole has sprouted, green grass stretches out between the big, old brick building and the sidewalks, and in the back by the paved-parking-lot-turned-playground, trees and bushes have been planted.

“We’ve put in five large trees and 25 shrubs and some landscape boulders,” said Mark Albin, whose business donated the landscaping to the school. “We also put in a flagpole in front of the building. It’s been a great project to work on. I think all the students came up and thanked us while we were working on it.”

Albin’s connection to the school stems back to the early ’70s, when he attended St. Patrick Church. He grew up in Mead, but his parents attended church in Hillyard because the pastor who married them was serving there.

“Actually, back then, my dad donated a load of bark to help the landscaping around the school and the church,” Albin said. “I like that helping out around here has become almost a family tradition.”

Today, Albin owns A.M. Landshaper Inc., together with this business partner Tye McGee, and his crews have just finished putting the last touches on the new landscaping around St. Patrick.

According to Albin, asphalt was the school’s main landscaping feature. It wasn’t very inviting. “I think what we did softened up the building a bit, and made it look nicer for the kids here,” Albin said.

It was a welcome gift.

“We are so thankful,” said Maurice Grant Prater, development director for St. Patrick. “The mission of the church is to serve those who are poor or less fortunate, and sometimes that creates quite a burden for us.”

Prater said St. Patrick has many students from the neighborhood and accepts children regardless of the family’s ability to pay full tuition.

So why would Albin choose to help a school he never attended?

“This is a small private school and it seemed like they needed it,” Albin said, adding that he finds so many things are taken for granted in the public school system, like new paint and nice landscaping.

“To us, this project was really quite simple,” Albin said. “It feels good to give – it sure brings new meaning to Thanksgiving.”

Reach Pia Hallenberg Christensen at 459-5427 or piah@spokesman.com.