Out of all the good guys out there, our Lee Haffey just might be the best of the bunch. After all, he does have a “day” named after him in Missouri.
His humble heart won’t admit it, but if you sift through names of park employees from the past two decades, a long list of folks will confirm they carry “Lee lessons” with them in their daily work. Lee, a long-time Attractions Supervisor, gives all the glory to the leaders who’ve encouraged him over his 23 years at Silver Dollar City.
“I’ve been blessed to work with the very best people around,” he smiles. “I copy a lot of that love they showed me. I wish I would have come to work here back in my 20s!”
He was in his 50s, though, when fate took a twist and brought him here. Lee was a grocery guy long before he was a theme park person. He owned a grocery store in a mountain town in Colorado, where he mastered his customer service skills. Lee's love for people is evident in his every interaction.
Lee sold Downtown Grocery and headed south to Brownsville, Texas, to work for a grocery store chain. It wasn’t long after that when he was called to the Ozarks to care for his elderly parents and got a part-time job that would shape his next chapter.
“I worked in the labor pool at Silver Dollar City, which means I learned all the different rides so I could fill in. I was the only one in the pool at the time. My buddy “Roach” was over Wildfire and asked me to join his team.”
So, he did. Lee loved his time at Wildfire and eventually learned all the rides at The City. But it was his engagement with the younger staff that caught the eye of the company’s leadership.
“The youngsters looked up to me like a grandpa,” he laughs. “I always want to see them do good, then do better. I want them to have more opportunities in life than I had. My responsibility is to give people a chance to grow and succeed.”
Lee’s City life came full circle when he became the leader of the Labor Pool, where he started all those years ago.
“I get tickled when I can identify someone who will probably stay with Silver Dollar and help them on a track to leadership. I have a responsibility to teach young folks what work is about. I mentor them. I tell them that even on the hot days when they encounter a grumpy guest, there’s a lesson to be learned there about listening.”
Lee listens a lot. In addition to overseeing the Labor Pool, he’s also in charge of answering guest feedback through phone calls, emails and letters.
Lee’s fatherly encouragement matters, too. His mentoring was making such an impact at the park that he was recognized at the state level in 2011 when he was named a regional winner in Missouri’s Older Worker Contest, a competition by the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services to celebrate the state’s most dependable employees over the age of 60.
“Isn’t that something,” he smiles. “I got to meet the Governor and First Lady and have a fancy dinner at the mansion. They even proclaimed it ‘Lee Haffey Day,’ and my hometown of Nixa did the same. Pretty cool for an old guy like me.”
These days, some staff at The City call Lee “Grandpa,” and that’s just fine with him. At 75 years old, he is set on working at least two more seasons so he can get his custom sign for 25 years of service.
“Like most old guys, I tend to rattle on and on and really don’t say much,” he says. “But, I want you to hear me when I say this: I love this park and its people. Silver Dollar City has given me more than I have ever given them. Wildfire is still my all-time favorite, but just working here has been the best ride of all.”
As Public Relations Manager for the Silver Dollar City Company, she is eager to tap into her journalism background to hunt down “heart tugs” to write about—those stories that celebrate…
