A year after Garth and Janine Watkins moved to Canada from South Africa, they bought their first Canadian home next door to Graham Turnbull. They got to know Graham well soon after moving in when Garth discovered a leak in his roof.

Coming from a country where most roofs are finished with clay tiles, Garth was standing outside staring at his cedar shingles pondering just how he would tackle his problem when Graham walked over to chat, learned what was happening, and offered a solution.

He suggested that Garth buy a sheet of aluminium and slide it under the offending shingles. Simple.

When the aluminium was purchased, Graham returned with a ladder, climbed up on the roof along with Garth and, according to reports, did ninety percent of the work.

The roofing incident was just the beginning. Ever since whenever Garth or Janine have had a problem around their home, Graham is always there with a helpful suggestion and a hand if needed. They've also found that garden waste has a habit of disappearing from their back yard and from the back yard's of other neighbours as well. No needs to guess who picks it up and takes it to the dump.

Garth also wanted to tell me about one more example of Graham's neighbourliness. There is a tree in Graham's yard that,if he let it grow, would block Garth and Janine's view. Each year Graham makes sure that it is properly trimmed and the view maintained - A small thing in some ways but a great indicator of a true Neighbourhood Hero.

Bob and Kay Peters live on the other side of Garth's house from the Watkins. They, along with Garth and Janine, nominated Graham as today's Neighbourhood Hero.

They have been neighbours for years and Kay says she could write a book about all the things that Graham has done to help them out over the years. For example a few years ago at a neighbourhood Christmas party, Kay mentioned that apparently their dryer wasn't properly vented, and asked who she should call to get it fixed.

"I'm the guy to call," Graham told her, and the next day he was there with his tools and the dryer was fixed.

Your problem is always number one with Graham, Bob told me, and often problems get fixed as if by magic, but when something like that happens, all the neighbours know who the magician has been, Graham of course.

Bob told me of a time when he noticed that his fence was broken and made a mental note to fix it. Some time later he glanced toward the fence once again and found it standing like a line of wooden soldiers on parade. Later he learned that it had been fixed for a month. Graham had quietly slipped over, made the repairs, and failed to mention it.

Bob, Kay, Garth and Janine are not the only ones that Garth has helped. Walk pretty much anywhere along Invermere Road they tell me, and you'll find neighbours that he has helped.

You may notice that we are getting near the end of this column and that I haven't yet mentioned anything about talking to Graham. That's because he is a man of few words when it comes to talking about himself.

I did learn that, like him, his parents enjoyed helping others, and that his father was not a handyman. He tried and was persistent Graham told me, but he definitely wasn't a great handyman; however, through that persistence he did enough that eventually Graham caught the bug and he's been "Mr. Fix It" ever since.

So why is Graham always quick to drop whatever he is doing to help a neighbour?

"I simply enjoy helping people," he told me. "That's what neighbours do."