Meet the Park Manager

Tommy Ervin is a Florida native and veteran of the state parks system who hopes to finish his career in the land of the mermaids.

Ervin, 52, has 31 years in the park system. He started his career in Jonathan Dickinson State Park, north of West Palm Beach, and most recently worked at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in Santa Rosa, near Pensacola.

That park included an RV resort that had been a private business, and Ervin says his experience bringing that operation under the state's purview likely helped him get the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park manager position over four other candidates.

"That and my bubbling personality," he says, laughing.

Moving to Hernando County is a coming home of sorts. Born in Texas, Ervin's family has five generations of roots in Pasco County, though he was raised in a military family in the Florida Panhandle. He visited Weeki Wachee Springs as a child.

As for his hiring, he said: "I felt very honored to be part of this attraction.

His wife Cathy works for the park system back in Panama City and hopes to find a job in this area soon. In the meantime, Ervin lives in a house just north of Weeki Wachee Springs with the couple's bulldog Buddy. The Ervins have two daughters in their 20s and two grandchildren.