Grandfather Mountain has always been a big part of the lives of Gail and Snyder Garrison and their family. One of the couple’s first dates was hiking the Profile Trail through rain and hail to go camping on a weekend away from college at UNC-Chapel Hill. Snyder’s sister, Rosa, was childhood friends with Catherine Morton, the daughter of Hugh Morton, the owner of Grandfather at the time. Gail and Snyder took their two sons, Thomas and Luke, on many picnics and adventures on the mountain and crossed the Mile High Swinging Bridge more times than they can count.
Luke had a passion for learning, especially about science and nature, and loved the outdoors, sports and his church. When he passed away in 2015, Thomas, with guidance from his parents, started the Luke Garrison Foundation to honor his brother’s memory and support organizations that share Luke’s passions. The foundation’s board of directors is made up of Luke’s friends spanning his life, from childhood through college.
Snyder and Gail thought it was a great opportunity for these young board members to give back and be involved in their communities, and to have important discussions about how to allocate funds when the need is greater than the resources available. Once each year, the board of 20 people meets in Linville at Gail and Snyder’s home to review grant applications and make decisions about how the foundation’s funds will be distributed.
“The vision is working!” said Snyder. “These ‘kids’ are now having children of their own, and they have wonderful conversations and are passionate about these projects and organizations that they are choosing to support. It did exactly what we hoped it would do.”
Board member Carolyn Duckett says, “Being a part of the Luke Garrison Foundation is one of the greatest honors of my life and is something I’m incredibly proud of. When you lose someone you love, they leave behind a hole in your heart. While that hole will always be there, the foundation, its members and the Garrison family have become the bridge and stepping stones that help me navigate my way around the void Luke left behind.”
Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation has been the grateful recipient of numerous Luke Garrison Foundation grants, including one in 2024 to support the Chronolog citizen science project on the mountain. Chronolog is a program where visitors take photos of a particular area with their own devices and upload them to the Chronolog organization’s website. In addition, guests can go to the website to see a time-lapse slideshow of images from their location and observe how the view has changed over time.
As the project goes on, staff will be able to review the Chronolog database and monitor how each station’s landscape has grown and transformed over the years, observing things like the timing of fall color or the greening of trees in the spring. This data could hold key information for issues that may impact the surrounding environment, such as tree blights or development.
“Honoring Luke through the foundation means supporting the things he cared about,” said Duckett “High on that list is Grandfather Mountain. It has become a part of us, too. It’s the home of our annual meetings and a place where we feel closest to Luke. Knowing that people will stop at the Chronolog stations for years to come, taking in the same views Luke cherished, brings a deep sense of comfort and pride.” Learn more about the Chronolog citizen science project.
