Bunner’s moniker, The Pool Man (TPM), had a simple, unsophisticated beginning. He provided basic daily pool maintenance on the 68,000-gallon swimming pool at the Pisgah View Ranch for three years. Susan’s moniker, Ms Fix It (MFI), who also ran The Gift Stall, bought Bunner various colored tank tops as his official uniform and had “Pool Man” emblazoned on the back. This was much preferred over “Pool Boy” or “Cabana Boy.” He instantly became known thereafter as “The Pool Man.”

This super fun picture of Bunner replete with sunglasses, wine, and wearing his Pool Man tank top was taken at Tapoco Lodge near Robinsville, TN. He and pal Nick Muszynski were scoping it out in late summer 2018 as a potential meet up point after their 2019 segment hike of the Appalachian Trail. There are so many stories of those hikes…..We will periodically insert them into this blog – primarily after a glass of wine and many laughs over the antics. Sample: Nick rolled over in his sleeping bag while sleeping on the upper deck of a crowded shelter. He managed to squirt out his pillow past the head of the sleeping bodies below and on down to the ground. The relaying of this particular story involved so much laughter it was a struggle for the listener to hear the words of the story between the chortling.

For the past three years, The Pool Man has written stories about his AT section hikes. Would be glad to share them with readers who have interest. Just let us know via the “contact us” at top of this page.