Hungry Mother State Park has promoted long-time Ranger Ryan Blevins to assistant park manager of visitor and event services. He succeeds Kevin McDonald, who was promoted to park manager earlier this year.
Blevins is from Chilhowie and started with Hungry Mother in 2000 as a seasonal maintenance ranger, spending his summers working at the park while attending Berea College in Kentucky. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree, Blevins became a 1500-hour trades technician, where he learned valuable skills in maintenance, carpentry and customer service.
Blevins went on to serve as a district natural resource assistant before returning to the Hungry Mother team as maintenance ranger in 2014 and then as special events ranger in 2022.
As assistant park manager of visitor and event services, Blevins is responsible for a range of park operations, including event services and catering, merchandise, visitor experience and volunteers, and seasonal operations at the park’s beach and Dock ‘n Shop.
“Over the past 20 years, Ryan has had the opportunity to work within every section of park operations, making his experience invaluable,” said Park Manager Kevin McDonald. “Given his skills and passion for Virginia State Parks, we can’t wait to see what he accomplishes, especially for our growing events department.”
Hungry Mother offers guests a range of event spaces, including the nationally acclaimed Hemlock Have Conference Center, the largest full-service meeting facility in the Virginia State Parks system that can accommodate over 200 people. The park also runs a catering operation out of its Lakeview Event Center. Meals can be booked through scheduled events only and can only be served at the event center at this time.
