Barry Richardson: 23 Years and 7,000 Hours as a Hot Springs Volunteer

Barry Richardson began volunteering at Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas in November 1999, 23 years before this profile was written. Park records make him its longest-serving volunteer, and he had just passed 7,000 volunteer hours.

A bit of everything

He started in the Eastern National bookstore, then housed in the Fordyce Bathhouse visitor centre, and since he was right there he also helped at the Fordyce front desk, answering visitors' questions. He joined the trail crews too, installing water bars and helping any hikers he met.

These days he does a bit of everything. In a typical week he might help the natural resource management staff with water monitoring, step in at the Fordyce to answer questions, or head to the Gulpha Gorge Campground to fill a gap. He also performs a service the whole park relies on: he logs and tracks every volunteer hour across all its divisions.

Why he keeps coming back

Asked what keeps him going after so many years, Barry points to the interesting people from all over the world he has met, the places he has learned about — and the chance to talk, which he says he loves doing.

One favourite memory cured him of a fear. At a park programme about snakes, a ranger was showing a live snake to the audience, and Barry, overcoming his fear, touched a snake for the first time in his life.

Meet him at Hot Springs and you will probably hear his trademark farewell: come back and visit — and he's glad you got to see him.

Sources

• National Park Service, Hot Springs National Park, "Volunteer Story: Barry Richardson." https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/volunteer-story-barry-richardson.htm
• The article's portrait of Barry is left out.
• Words on this page from people and organisations outside the federal government are paraphrased; rewritten in hubnx's own words.