P2J100 Don Bergeron: Paid to spend his day at beach
Don Bergeron’s executive office is as big as the great outdoors because, well, it is the great outdoors.
Bergeron manages the 437-acre MacArthur Beach State Park and Nature Center in North Palm Beach – and is having the time of his life.
“This is one of those jobs you call ‘work,’ but it’s exactly where I’d be spending my free time if I had a regular job,” said Bergeron, an avid outdoorsman who can often be found enjoying the park as a visitor on his days off.
Bergeron could accurately be called “The Accidental Park Manager,” because working at a park was not something he set out to do. For years he owned a sea kayak and tour business in the Clearwater area.
When somebody offered to buy his business in 1998, he said yes. “People thought I was crazy,” he recalled. “After all, I got to go to work in sandals and a t-shirt, but the satisfaction wasn’t there. I couldn’t put my finger on what was missing.”
He didn’t need a job, so he decided to volunteer at Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin to have something to do. He knew a lot of people there, having been a major sponsor of the park’s fishing tournaments when he owned the kayak business.
His volunteer days were numbered, though. Actually numbered in a fraction: exactly one-half of one day. The first day, he was approached about applying for a newly-vacated park ranger position and got the job. Almost immediately, he figured out what had been missing.
“I realized that enjoying your work isn’t just about making a profit,” he said. “It’s about making people happy. I saw kids having fun and running down the trails and going to the beach. It was significant to me to be part of providing that experience, and I’ve never lost my appreciation for that.”
Bergeron’s career progressed rapidly as he worked at several state parks and held various positions of escalating responsibility.
When he learned of the park manager position at MacArthur Beach State Park, he applied after making a few “anonymous” visits there to chat up employees and familiarize himself with it.
“I fell in love with the park. I loved the habitats and the beach and the estuaries and hammocks.”
After consulting with his wife Stephanie, who’s as “adventurous” and open to living in new places as he is, Bergeron applied for and got the job in early 2008.
“There were already a lot of exciting projects underway. I hoped to help those move ahead by providing input and guidance where I could,” he recalled.
The Friends of MacArthur Beach State Park, a cadre of passionate volunteers, was in the process of raising funds to build an educational center with classrooms and a gift shop. With 40 percent coming from the State and 60 percent from private donations, the Friends orchestrated $2.1 million for the center, which will open this spring.
He realized early on that parts of the park were under-utilized, including Munyon Island, named for John Munyon who owned a hotel there that burned down in 1917. With a boat dock in the plans, the pristine island will soon have better access and be more visitor-friendly.
The next big project Bergeron is overseeing is raising $2.5 million in private donations for a natural science center for educating teaching professionals.
There are no plans to make big changes in the park’s infrastructure, as keeping it as natural as possible is a high priority for Bergeron, his staff and his army of volunteers who greet visitors, help out at the gift shop, teach classes, repair buildings, clear trails and host tours.
But that doesn’t mean Bergeron can relax in his hammock and eat mulberries from the numerous mulberry trees found throughout the park.
Talking to visitors and community members is high on his priority list.
“I could easily spend all my time in the office, but I regularly kick myself out and go out into the park,” Bergeron said. “When you work someplace long enough you can almost go on autopilot, and that can keep you from seeing subtle changes or things that are lacking.
“I ask visitors what they think about what we’re doing and what they’d like to see here. I want the park to meet people’s needs. I want visitors to walk away in awe, to be thrilled with their experience here. I want to have the best possible resources, programs and staff, always keeping in mind that there needs to be a balance – we don’t want to overdevelop the park and lose its natural appeal.”
Bergeron is frequently out and about in the community as well, telling people about this unique jewel – Palm Beach County’s only state park.
“I take every opportunity to talk to the community,” he said. “A big part of what I do is promote awareness of the park. A lot of people who live nearby tell me they didn’t even realize we’re here. I’m trying to change that.”
But don’t worry about stressing the park’s resources – Bergeron says they “aren’t anywhere close” to maxing out on capacity, even though about 140,000 visitors are expected in the current fiscal year.
And with prices rising almost everywhere you look these days, the park is one of the best bargains around – $2 for pedestrians, $4 for a car with a single occupant and $5 for a car with up to eight people. Once inside, almost everything is free (gifts, supplies and kayak rentals excepted).
As Bergeron looks with pride around the vast acreage he calls his office, peppered with indigenous plants like gumbo limbo trees and mangroves, teeming with birds, butterflies and turtles, looking very much like Old Florida did, he smiles with satisfaction.
“There were a lot of days when I owned the kayak business that I didn’t want to get up and go to work,” he confessed. “I haven’t had one single day since I started in park service work that I felt that way.”
For more information about the park, visit www.macarthurbeach.org.
