Snowstorms bring out the best in area residents

For most residents, ugly berms of melting snow and horrific potholes are all that remain of snowstorm 2008. But for some, the memories of how their neighbors helped out will linger long after the slush slinks away.

Tales of neighbors pitching in, plowing out and pulling together have filtered in from all across the city.

On the South Hill, Doug and Marilyn Lloyd sing the praises of Chuck Southwell. Fortunately for them, Southwell had purchased a four-wheeler earlier this year and had the foresight to have a blade put on it.

“He’s plowed our driveway, and cleared our mailbox and a place for our garbage can,” said Marilyn Lloyd. “A lot of kids walk on our sidewalk on their way to school, and he’s kept the sidewalk clear for them.”

Southwell shrugs off their praise. He said he enjoyed “playing” with his new four-wheeler. “It got broke in,” he said with a laugh. “The road got kind of small for awhile, I had to keep moving the snow and piling it up. It was fun.”

Across town, Nine Mile Falls resident Mary Heinen is grateful for her neighbors Jim and Carie Voelker. Heinen’s husband is disabled by multiple sclerosis, and Heinen fell and broke her elbow earlier this winter. But the Heinens didn’t have to worry about being snowed in.

“Every time it snowed they were out there, plowing,” she said. Carie Voelker didn’t mind the extra work. She laughed and said, “It’s good exercise.”

Heinen said the Voelkers are good to her children as well. “I have three 10-year-olds we adopted from China,” she said. “This year I had a Christmas caroling party, and Jim went outside and had a snowball fight with the kids. He taught my daughter how to throw a football, and taught my son, Joseph, to play catch.” He’s also helped out with household repairs.

Voelker is currently deployed with the Washington Air National Guard. According to his wife, Jim’s neighborliness is simply an expression of his Christian faith.

Carie Voelker gets teary-eyed when she talks about her neighbors. “The neighborhood is family,” she said. “If you know there’s a need, you help out.”

In the Shadle area in North Spokane, Betty Guillot called neighbor Tim Whitehall “my angel.” She said, “He kept us all plowed out and kept the street clear so we could park. He’s just a lifesaver.”

Fellow neighbor Tammy Byrnes agreed. She said Whitehall, a retired Marine, is always available to help. “He makes a path from one house to another for the mailman,” she said. “He’s our all-star.”

Whitehall believes watching out for others is the right thing to do. “I’m a firm believer in neighbors helping neighbors. It’s what makes the world go around,” he said.

However, for some West Plains residents the world seemed to come to a standstill as storm after storm dumped snow on the area. Blowing, drifting snow caused Lisa Anderson to be completely snowbound for several days. She and her children live on a summer road that is never plowed. Her neighbors tried to dig her out, breaking equipment in the process. When she stayed in Spokane with her parents to avoid being stuck again, neighbors hiked in and fed her dogs, cats, chickens and ducks. They even provided snowmobile rides to the main road where she had to leave her car. “I didn’t have to ask for help,” she said. “They just offered.”

In Spokane Valley, 89-year-old Ed Farmer said he is surrounded by thoughtful neighbors. He’s especially grateful for Matt Sisk, who lives across the street from him. “He’s one special young man,” Farmer said. “I go out, and the driveway is all clear and the sidewalk, too. I call him my little elf!”

Sisk insists it’s a mutual thing. “They keep an eye on my place when I’m gone,” he said. “They come over, and have breakfast at our place and we have breakfast at theirs.”

Farmer said Sisk even thinks about him and his wife when he’s out of town. “When he was gone for two weeks he left word for other neighbors. They pitched in and put my garbage out. They’re real great about checking in on us.”

Sisk said, “This winter was hard. You just worry about them. I hope when I’m his age someone will look out for me.”

Who knows how this year’s snowstorms will be remembered? But one thing is certain. In the future when residents recall the great snow of 2008, they’ll remember the school closures, the nasty roads, and the seemingly endless snowfall. But they’ll also have plenty of stories about residents who went the extra mile to look out for one another. Not because they had to, but simply because they were good neighbors.