Jim Dailey

Thank You Arkansas Park’s staffer, Richard Smith …

At 8:34 AM I pulled into the parking lot at Pinnacle Mountain State Park and decided to make a pit stop at the men’s room before hitting the trail.  Richard Smith, pictured above was cleaning the restrooms and emptying trash containers.  I acknowledged him, said “thanks for keeping the park and restrooms clean” and asked if I could take his picture to be highlighted in my blog as another of my Local Heroes. Permission granted I took the picture and headed for the trail.

Over the next 90 minutes of hiking, my mind bounced back and forth between enjoying the beauty of this iconic park to thinking about Richard and the important job he performs so we may have a pleasant visitor experience.  Upon returning to my car, I noticed Richard was still fastidiously going from picnic area to picnic area picking up trash, emptying containers and installing new plastic bags all in preparation for another full day of new visitors.

I write this in hopes each of us will think about, appreciate and say “thanks” to  the hundreds, maybe millions of Richard Smiths who make our world a better and more enjoyable place to live, work and play,

Richard Smith … You are my local Hero !!!!

Now a couple of shots from the hike …

I think Bigfoot roams the Pinnacle trails … with this beauty, one can certainly understand.