Friday, July 29, 2016

People of Big Creek - Robert Spence

As an introduction of sorts, I'm posting pictures of people we met in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park I  have taken over the years. These are the "characters" in my book, Big Creek - A Closer Look at a National Park, in order of appearance.

I would guess that Spence, as he is called, is the main character in the book, after the Great Smoky Mountains National Park itself. He is definitely a "character". Spence is the maintenance man for the Big Creek campground.  He mows the grass, whacks the weeds, cleans the toilet buildings, repairs the  split-rail fence, cleans the ashes from the campsites, cleans out the horse stalls, blows the forest debris off the sidewalks, washes the sidewalks, checks the water quality, and picks up trash dropped by park visitors. I'm sure I've missed a few things. He keeps Big Creek in tip-top shape.

In addition to his maintenance chores, Spence interacts with part visitors.  They see his uniform and ask him questions about camping, hiking, picnicking, and bears. Many visitors refer to him as a park ranger. They all love him.

Here he is the first day we met him in 2010.  He stopped by the host site to introduce himself and to check us out, no doubt.



Spence always stopped in to refill his store-bought coffee cup when he first arrived in the morning. We bought a folding chair at Walmart for him to sit in when he came by in the afternoon for a cold drink. He said he couldn't sit in it too long; he had to get to work.



He carried his tools and cleaning supplies on a Gator.


He tested the water every day from the faucets in the campgrounds and kept records of such in a small building.


Spence is a grass mowing


ditch digging,




weed whacking




leaf blowing,


pressure washing,



sidewalk sweeping,


man with an attitude.



He told us he had worked on trail crews for a number of years before and they never had ice.  They drank their sodas hot.  For a long time, he would accept a soda without ice. On one particularly hot and humid day, he decided he would take it with plenty of ice.



He had a great sweaty hairdo when he took his cap off.


He would often stop and eat his lunch at the motorhome.



 If I took a picture of him working, he would say, "I TOLD you not to take a picture of me working!" Then, if I took a picture of him taking a break, he would complain, "I TOLD you not to take a picture of me when I'm not working!"



 Spence was just telling us about a woman in the picnic area who had said to him:

"Thank you very much, you disgusting, despicable, ugly, little man for ruining my picnic!"

He was regularly picking up the split-rail fence after park visitors knocked it down to make room to park. He never said bad things about park visitors like I would have.




Here he is picking up the No Parking sign that had been knocked down by a young drunk camper.



A few times, we saw him let down his long hair at the end of the work day.  


Andy composed a song about Spence, you can guess the tune.


Smoky Mountain Maintenance Man
Lyrics by Andy and Dinata Misovec


He’ll be comin’ round the mountain when he comes.
He’ll be comin’ round the mountain when he comes.
He’ll be comin’ round the mountain. He’ll be cussin’ and a shoutin’
He’ll be comin’ round the mountain when he comes.

He will bring his big weed eater when he comes.
He will bring his big weed eater when he comes.
He will bring his big weed eater and the campground will be neater.
He will bring his big weed eater when he comes.

He will clean the campers’ ashes when he comes.
He will clean the campers’ ashes when he comes.
He will clean the campers’ashes and where they wipe their asses.
He will clean the campers’ ashes when he comes.

He’ll be ridin’ on his mower when he comes.
He’ll be ridin’ on his mower when he comes.
He’ll be ridin’ on his mower and the grass is getting’ lower.
He’ll be ridin’ on his mower when he comes.

He will fire up his blower when he comes.
He will fire up his blower when he comes.
He will fire up his blower, but with age he’s get’n slower.
He will fire up his blower when he comes.

He’ll be drive’n on his Gator when he goes.
He’ll be drive’n on his Gator when he goes.
He’ll be drive’n on his Gator sayin’ “see y’uns later”.

He’ll be drive’n on his Gator when he goes.

He’ll be golfing on the golf course when he’s gone.
He’ll be golfing on the golf course when he’s gone.
With his woods he will be smackin’. With his irons he’s weed whackin’.
He’ll be cussin’ on the golf course when he’s gone.


Friday, July 22, 2016

People of Big Creek - Ranger Tim Rand

As an introduction of sorts, I'm posting pictures of people we met in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park I  have taken over the years. These are the "characters" in my book, Big Creek - A Closer Look at a National Park, in order of appearance.

Here is Ranger Tim the first day we met him.  He was our point of contact with the park.  That day, he spent about half the day with us, showing us around and going over the rules and our responsibilities.  I still remember that he said our top responsibility was to have fun and our second job was to make sure all the park visitors had fun and stayed safe. 





He was at least six foot four.  That smile was always on his face. Here he is a few weeks later.




When he went up the trail for a rescue, Tim took off his bullet-proof vest and donned a rescue backpack.





One day, on his day off, Tim dropped in so we could meet his family. Little Becky was still half asleep when they took her out of her car seat, so she was not ready to smile for the strange lady with a camera. Like her Daddy, she smiled most of the time too.  



Here is Ranger Tim with Becky at a lunch picnic at the ranger station in Cosby.




Here is my favorite picture of Ranger Tim (and Ranger Heath). We were having a cookout on our last night in Big Creek to introduce my daughter Jennifer and her husband George to Ranger Tim and his wife Kendra. We had also invited camper friends Steve and Ginger from Cincinnati. After dinner, we built a campfire and made S'mores. It was just about dark when Ranger Heath came in with his ranger truck lights flashing to crash the party. Those two large law enforcement rangers transformed into a couple of eight-year-olds around the campfire with marshmallows. The rest of us are laughing to this day.






Ranger Tim left the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and moved on to the Delaware Watergap. Later, he moved again to Acadia National Park, which, I believe was his career goal. Aside from career goals, the move would put them closer to family.















Thursday, July 21, 2016

People Seen in Big Creek - Ranger Dennis Milligan

As an introduction of sorts, I'm posting pictures of Great Smoky Mountains National Park employees I  have taken over the years. These are the "characters" in my book, Big Creek - A Closer Look at a National Park, in order of appearance.

Park Ranger Dennis Milligan was there to greet us when we first arrived in the park in July of 2010. He led us to our  camp host site in Big Creek.


I thought he looked so young but, that is probably because I am getting so old.

One day, Dennis came to Big Creek on his day off to run up the Big Creek trail.  We dog sat his two dogs Kelly and Cody. They waited patiently for Dennis to return.



Dennis responded to a broken-leg incident at the Midnight Hole.  Then, the boy in the background had fallen off the trail and rolled down the mountain.  Dennis had heard him calling for help and told him to follow the creek down to the picnic area.



Ranger Dennis transferred to Joshua Tree National Park to be closer to his girlfriend. Now I am determined to visit Joshua Tree to see him again.


People Seen in Big Creek - Ranger Dennis Milligan

As an introduction of sorts, I'm posting pictures of Great Smoky Mountains National Park employees I  have taken over the years. These are the "characters" in my book, Big Creek - A Closer Look at a National Park, in order of appearance.

Park Ranger Dennis Milligan was there to greet us when we first arrived in the park in July of 2010. He led us to our  camp host site in Big Creek.


I thought he looked so young but, that is probably because I am getting so old.

One day, Dennis came to Big Creek on his day off to run up the Big Creek trail.  We dog sat his two dogs Kelly and Cody. They waited patiently for Dennis to return.



Dennis responded to a broken-leg incident at the Midnight Hole.  Then, the boy in the background had fallen off the trail and rolled down the mountain.  Dennis had heard him calling for help and told him to follow the creek down to the picnic area.



Ranger Dennis transferred to Joshua Tree National Park to be closer to his girlfriend. Now I am determined to visit Joshua Tree to see him again.