Margaret and Colon “Sparkie” Sparkman pause for a photo on a rock wall at the Bluffs Lodge on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The couple is retiring at the end of October.

Sparkmans retiring after years of service on Parkway

Colon “Sparkie” and Margaret Sparkman will soon be closing the door on their career as managers at the Bluffs Coffee Shop and Lodge. In doing so, they are leaving behind a lot of happy memories, as well as satisfied customers.

Mr. Sparkman started his work in the industry at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, where he worked during the summers between his semesters at Berea College.

“I knew I wanted to do this kind of work the moment I started,” he said. “Back then, I made sandwiches, milkshakes and ice cream on the counter and gradually worked my way up.”

Mr. Sparkman worked at Mammoth Cave between 1960 and 1966, during which time he met and fell in love with his wife of 43 years, Margaret. “I had a friend who worked at Mammoth Cave and he introduced us,” she said.

The couple met in November, 1960 and wed the following July. In 1967, the Sparkmans moved to North Carolina, where they began work at Crabtree Meadows on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

While working at Crabtree Meadows, the couple’s only child, daughter Kimberly, was born.

“Margaret married into the business,” Mr. Sparkman said smiling. Recalling their trip up the mountain from Kentucky, Mrs. Sparkman said, “I hadn’t been to the mountains before and I remember him driving up them and I kept fearing that something would happen.”

Recalling that same trip and thinking back on what he saw, Mr. Sparkman said, “I thought we had died and gone to heaven.”

In 1984, after working at Crabtree Meadows for 17 years, the couple became the new managers of the Bluff’s Coffee Shop and Lodge, and have been nestled on Milepost 241 ever since.

Some may question what would keep Mr. Sparkman working in the same line of work for 44 years and the Sparkmans as a couple working together for 38 years.

“It’s the people,” answered Mr. Sparkman. “People make the job interesting.”

In defense of working with her spouse, Mrs. Sparkman noted, “Through all these years, we’ve had a good working relationship.”

The couple also credits the employees with keeping the family-like atmosphere they strive to maintain. These include long-time employees Ellen Smith, who has been at the Bluffs since it opened in 1949, Kathryn Joines, who has been an employee for 53 years and Eva Parsons, who has been at the Bluffs for 36 years.

The Sparkmans are of the opinion that it is the peace that the customers find at the lodge and restaurant that keeps them coming back.

“We don’t have air conditioning and we don’t have televisions or radios in the rooms,” Mrs. Sparkman noted.

Mr. Sparkman added, “Some would not come back if we added them.” Through the years, the Sparkmans have hosted a number of people, including visitors from the United Kingdom, Russia and Japan.

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