The "Ghost" of Gardner’s Garage

Claire Doll
MSMU Class of 2024

(6/2022) When I first met Ghost, he leapt up on top of my notebook and launched my pencil into the air, watching it fall to the floor. Then, as he looked up at me, I noticed how the afternoon sunlight turned his green eyes into pools of sparkling gold, and I smiled, running my hands through his gray and white fur. How could I possibly be mad at him?

Perhaps this is why so many customers go to Gardner’s Garage just to see Ghost, the cat who lives in the auto repair business located on S. Main Street in Woodsboro, MD. He loves to push pencils, look out the window, and dig into customers’ purses, among other things. But honestly, who has ever heard of a cat living in a car garage? Why is he named Ghost, and how did Gardner’s Garage become his home?

It all started in the icy cold of January 2020. The tenants who lived right above Gardner’s Garage posted a photo of a stray kitten on Facebook, asking if anyone knew where the cat had come from or who he belonged to. Thinking someone lost it, the tenants placed the kitten in a small box on their porch; then, the stray found his way to the auto repair shop. Like a ghost, he began appearing and disappearing in front of Gardner’s Garage, sneaking into the store, and refusing to leave. Customers would even ask the shop’s owners—Justin and Margo Gardner—"Is that your cat outside?" It quickly became a joke to many. "He was very friendly," said Justin. "Every time he would come in, he knew I was going to put him outside, so he would go farther and farther back in the shop to stay." Even before belonging to Gardner’s Garage, Ghost became famous around the shop for his adorable presences and mysterious vanishings.

On a particular winter evening, upon leaving work, Justin happened to be walking outside and heard a distinct "meow" from above. Sure enough, as he looked up, he saw the stray cat perched on one of the top windowsills near the roof, stuck. After climbing onto the roof himself and rescuing the cat, Justin then heard a familiar "meow" the next morning—this time, from inside the shop. Baffled, Justin immediately realized that after pulling a car in, he also attracted the infamous stray cat who simply did not want to leave. "He was so tiny," said Margo, smiling as she recalls the small, helpless kitten who had been rubbing against her legs in the shop.

However, the funniest interaction with Ghost had to be with the crab cakes. The third or fourth time that the cat was let in, Justin was eating crab for lunch. After dropping a piece on the floor, instead of throwing it away, Justin used it as bait to lure the stray out of the shop. "That cat will never go away after eating crab balls," said Margo, and sure enough, she was right.

"You have to do something with this cat," said Justin. "He keeps showing up everywhere." After several frequent and adorable encounters with the stray, Justin and Margo decided to find out who the cat belonged to—if he belonged to anyone. With the help of a cat-loving customer of the shop, Margo scooped the small kitten into a box and drove him to the vet. "If he doesn’t have a chip, I want to keep him," Margo told the doctor. Then, after learning that the cat, in fact, did not belong to anyone, she immediately was filled with excitement. Instantly, she decided on the name "Ghost," reminiscent of the ghostlike appearance and actions of the cat. After being bathed and cleaned, the small, six-year-old Ghost was happily welcomed to his new home: Gardner’s Garage.

Ghost is popular among the customers of Gardner’s Garage and greets each and every person who walks through the door. "He has a following," says Margo. After all, even those who are not particularly fond of cats find themselves attracted to Ghost. "He likes to go through customer purses," says Margo when describing how he interacts with customers, "and at any given point, there will be fifty pens on the floor…he pushes things off the counter as he goes, like a clearance sale." Customers will even go out of their way to walk past Gardner’s Garage just to see Ghost peeking through the window, watching the town. However, when people come in the shop, Ghost will back away from the door; although he came from the streets of Woodsboro, the cat refuses to go back outside, preferring to stay in his comfy garage home instead.

"He’s either sleeping, or he’s crazy," said Margo. Ghost starts off his day in a calm mood, and spends the afternoon wildly around the shop, and then winds down before Justin and Margo leave to go home. Ghost also loves to jump on Justin’s shoulders and is described as super cuddly and loving.

Funnily enough, Justin and Margo have cats at home, cats who have never met Ghost. In fact, Ghost lives entirely at Gardner’s Garage, sleeping in the shop when the couple goes home. Justin and Margo also own a mixed lab that they rescued. "We tend to be that kind of couple," Margo said with a smile when reflecting on the animals that live both at their home and their shop. Justin and Margo opened Gardner’s Garage ten years ago. "I never really had a plan to open up my own business…but it’s very rewarding," says Justin. Gardner’s Garage is a full-service repair shop available for all makes and models.