Good neighbors: Mark Garrison fosters community

Mark Garrison and his neighbors have turned their neck of the woods into a tight-knit community.

Garrison, or “Garr” to his neighbors, is the guy who shovels snow for everyone else. He lends his tools and takes in neighbors’ garbage cans when they are out of town. The neighborhood kids play with his kids in his front yard.

On hot summer nights, folks who live in his Rockwood neighborhood can be found having a beer on his front porch.

“That’s what my folks did all the time,” Garrison said of his impromptu parties. “Now my kids’ friends know where the soda is.”

Garrison said he remembers when he was a kid, watching his parents interact with their neighbors. Everyone knew everyone else, and everyone lent a hand. Kids could play at the other homes in the area, and everyone felt safe. The neighbors looked out for one another.

“We have the ability to have a close-knit family of families,” Garrison said.

The list of things Garrison does for his neighbors is a long one.

When he and his wife, Sue, moved into their house seven years ago, the woman who had lived there before them was upset about losing a neighborhood Christmas party she had thrown every year.

The Garrisons promised they would continue the tradition.

On the first snowy day of the year a few years ago, Garrison helped direct traffic while a school bus full of children navigated its way up the hill.

One of his neighbors once found a squirrel trapped in her fireplace. Garrison put on a ski coat and gloves but was afraid the squirrel would run loose in the house. Finally, he just reached in and grabbed it.

“We joke about that,” he said, adding that he is happy the neighbor feels comfortable calling for help when she needs it.

Garrison, a professor in the pharmacy program at Washington State University’s Spokane branch, also coaches baseball, soccer and basketball for his three children.

Garrison was named a “good neighbor” by Tammy and Andy Walker. They spelled out “G-O-O-D N-E-I-G-H-B-O-R,” giving a reason for each letter why they think he is a good neighbor.

Tammy Walker said a good neighbor is someone who looks out for others.

“It’s someone you can depend on,” she said.

“I kind of did it as a joke on him,” she said of her letter to the newspaper. But the sentiment she felt behind her “joke” was sincere.

She said neighbors tease Garrison that he is “Mr. Perfect” – his yard is always mowed, they take cues from him when to put up their holiday decorations, and when he puts out his garbage can, it must be garbage day.

“He sets us all straight,” Tammy Walker said.

She said the neighborhood is full of old houses and plumbing. From time to time, the basements flood during heavy rainfalls, and the sewers and drains back up. Garrison is always out helping others get their basements clean.

“Whoever has got it worst gets the attention,” he said of the floods. “We all help out.”

Like most good neighbors, Garrison isn’t quick to admit he is one. He just says he does what he can.

“You don’t do it to get any credit,” he said.

Garrison also is quick to mention that his neighbors are good to him as well.

Tammy Walker likes to bake and brings him cookies.

“He’s very easy to please,” she said.

The camaraderie the neighbors share is apparent. They joke and laugh about themselves and their neighborhood’s comings and goings.

“We are lucky,” Walker said. “We are lucky we all like each other.”