If John Holmes had told a fellow Nashvillian 15 years ago that he drives a Zamboni, that city neighbor—probably hockey-illiterate—would have scratched his beard and guessed John meant a new kind of Italian sports car. These days, while walking through a mall with his wife Barbara, a Vandy law graduate, John often overhears excited, NHL Predators-savvy youth asking their parents, “Hey, isn't that the Zamboni driver?” John admits,”It's a pretty cool job.” Despite growing up in snowy Colorado, he actually knew little about ice-skating or hockey before 1990 when he moved from a human resources position with the Metro Parks Department to a job supervising the rink facilities at the Centennial Sportsplex. City officials were more interested in his business degree from Adams State College—in John's hometown of Alamosa where he met his wife—than any knowledge of cryogenic hydrophysics he might possess. A recent promotion to director of the entire Sportsplex keeps his mind on swim meets and fitness programs as well. “It's neat to go to work where people go to have fun,” he says. Lighter summer hours give him more time with his kids (son Mitch, 16, a “midget”-level youth hockey league player, and 12-year-old daughter Erica) and more chances to hang out—his wisecracking friends might characterize it as “loitering”—at his favorite city golf courses. But now that hockey season is here again, John's busy trying to accommodate requests for sparsely available ice time and looking over the Predators' home schedule for his next Zamboni gig. He hopes that he won't have to drive the slow-moving ice resurfacing vehicle across town like last year, when a car collided with him on Broadway.
—By Jonathan Harwell Jr.
