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.