Good neighbor : When needed, Prestas dug right in

Tom and Aileen Nuxoll knew they had a major job ahead of them when they moved to Dishman Hills.

Their four-acre lot had to be cleared and trenches had to be dug for utilities – all before house construction could begin,

What they found were the kinds of neighbors everyone hopes for: Pete and Kathy Presta.

For starters, the Prestas dropped by to welcome their new neighbors to the hill. Not only did they offer friendship, they offered the use of their bathroom.

“When you’re trying to use a bush, the idea of having a real, live bathroom is heaven,” Aileen said.

While the Nuxoll’s worked away on their retirement home, the Prestas kept coming back. Pete brought over his shovel on a daily basis and helped dig and, more importantly, move the endless supply of rocks standing in the way of the upcoming construction. Kathy dropped by with food, drinks and moral support.

“I don’t think we really did anything out of the ordinary,” Pete insists. “We just did what any neighbor would do. It really wasn’t anything all that special.”

The Nuxolls gratefully disagree.

“Oh, it was much more than that,” Tom said. “My gall bladder acted up in the middle of all this, and I had to have emergency surgery. I couldn’t do a single thing for 12 days or so. Pete and some of our other neighbors all stepped in and did the work for us.

“We had some trees that needed to come down to make room for the power lines. At one point we had Pete and three other neighbors up in those trees, topping them out – chopping off limbs so they could come down. Climbing trees like that is above and beyond the call of being neighborly.”

When it came time to put in the shop, Tom Nuxoll rented a back-hoe to do the trench work.

“Tom thought he could just climb on it and do the work, but it turned out he couldn’t,” Aileen said. “He didn’t know how to run the machine. Thankfully, Pete did – he’s retired from Washington Water Power – he jumped on it and did all the digging for us.”

Still, Pete Presta insists he did only that which any good neighbor would do.

“If you see someone that needs a little help, you just do it,” he said. “No big deal. Anyone would do it. Especially when you have good neighbors – you’re always willing to help out.”

The couples have become fast friends in the year since the house construction ended. But Pete and Kathy Presta still go above and beyond the call, the Nuxolls insist.

“They are always keeping an eye out for everyone – they’re a great block watch,” Aileen said.

That, Pete said, is a necessity when you live on acreage.

“We’re always having people come up here and dump things,” Pete said. “We just had someone come up and dump a couch and other garbage. You have to keep an eye out for things like that, unfortunately.

“We all watch out for one another up here.”