Andrew Gude: Legends and Truths

The celebration of Andrew’s Refuge Manager of the Year Award was spectacular in so many ways. Hundreds came to be part of the event. We all wore our buttons proclaiming Andrew: He’s Legendary! Others will tell the story of all the plaudits he received. I want to tell about two moments that were highlights for me, although I didn't record his exact words.

One of the many calls he got on his personal cell phone, the number of which he made available to the public, was from a hunter who insisted he had seen a skunk ape or a swamp ape on the Lower Suwannee Refuge.

Those of us listening to the story laughed, and wondered how Andrew would deal with someone who believed the swamp ape myth. Andrew, being Andrew, said something like, “Oh really! Where did you see it? We see them all the time too.” Andrew said he frequently used such bald-face lies because they often led to his having a great laugh with a shocked caller.

Then, he went a bit further with the skunk ape. He included a line in the official government hunt brochure saying that “The taking of skunk apes or swamp apes is strictly prohibited on the Lower Suwannee NWR.” Refuge managers from all over the country called him to ask “What the Heck?” when they saw the brochure.

In the audience, we were applauding and laughing. Fantastic as the story seemed, it was no surprise to the many of us who know Andrew and appreciate his sense of humor, and mischief.

Just as the laughter began to fade, Andrew did something that was not at all the Andrew we knew and expected. He went serious on us.

He told us that at the end of the day, in thinking about Friends and the community having nominated him for this award, he was extraordinarily proud to have been a US civil servant. Civil servants, every day, bring ethical standards, passion, knowledge, and skills to the work the American people ask them to do. The ethics and commitment of US civil servants are what make American democracy rise above all the others of the world. Andrew looked at all of us and said "I am grateful and proud to have been a US civil servant."

We were on our feet, feeling proud too.

For his funny, bald-face lies and for his breathtakingly passionate lived-truths, Andrew Gude is a legendary refuge manager for the year, and for the ages.

from  Peg Hall, former president and board member