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Neighbors pile up good will
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
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Doug and Sharon Carlile, of West Glen Drive in Boardman, are constantly helping out their neighbors. During the winter they clear snow from others’ driveways, They also take care of the devil strip on the cul de sac. In the summer they mow grass and mulch the trees and in the fall they rake leaves. The couple was one of two nominated by a neighbor to The Vindicator’s “Random Acts of Snow Kindness” contest.
Valley couples perform random acts of snow kindness
YOUNGSTOWN
Tom and Andrea McGoogan of Poland and Sharon and Doug Carlile of Boardman are the kind of neighbors you dream about, especially when you need help.
The Vindicator asked residents to send in names of people who perform “random acts of snow kindness,” and McGoogan of Lee Run Road and the Carliles of West Glen Drive fit the bill.
Sisters Joan M. and Linda Demeny, who nominated the McGoogans, said they moved from California to Youngstown in 2001 to take care of their parents, Stephen and Jolanda Demeny, who have since died.
Joan, a retired Veterans Affairs nurse, and Linda, a teacher at Youngstown Christian School, said McGoogan, who lives across the street, has been cleaning the snow from their double driveway for several years and refuses to take anything for his efforts.
“It’s really difficult, when you’ve been used to doing for others, to have to sit back and have someone do for you,” Joan said.
“We don’t have close relatives or family around, and they have invited us over for Christmas dinners,” Joan said of the McGoogans.
“Once our furnace went out in the middle of the night, and we called Tom and he came and checked it out. They are just special people. They’ve been so good to us,” Joan said.
“I do the snow for them and another neighbor. I have the heavy equipment to do it, and it doesn’t take much time. It helps them out, and they don’t have to worry about calling people,” said McGoogan, who is head of maintenance at Ivy Woods Manor in North Lima.
“They are kind of alone, so we have asked them over for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. This year, however, the dinner is out because the kitchen and dining room are gutted for remodeling, he said.
Sharon and Doug Carlile, nominated by Rick Hughes, are also a couple of “snow angels” who contribute to their neighborhood and neighbors.
Sharon, who retired last year from the Ohio Turnpike Commission, has been cleaning snow from the driveways of about six of her neighbors for years. Sometimes she does it twice a day. They have two snow blowers, and when her husband, Doug, is home, they clean driveways together, Hughes said.
She goes out of her way to do a lot around the neighborhood. There was a vacant house on the cul de sac where they live because of foreclosure, and for two or three years she mowed the lawn until the bank took it over and hired someone to do the lawn, Hughes said.
Sharon and Doug also take care of the devil strip on the cul de sac. In the summer they mow grass and mulch the trees, and in the fall they rake leaves, Hughes said.
Sharon said she and Doug, warehouse supervisor for Great Lakes Cold Storage in Solon, take care of a lot of neighbors’ leaves.
“We border Mill Creek Park, and it is beautiful in the fall, but there are a lot of leaves,” she said.
Being retired gives her more time to do work outside — she is in the process of re- landscaping her back yard into a bird sanctuary.
“We take care of a lot the retired people. We have neighbors in their 90s who can’t get out. We like to keep their lawns looking neat and their driveways cleared out,” she said.
“We take care of neighbors because they are neighbors, and because we like doing it. Eventually, we’ll need help too,” said Sharon, who grew up on Youngstown’s South Side.
“We were brought up to help people and not expect anything in return. I don’t understand why more people don’t help people. It makes you feel good. I recommend it,” she said.