Columbia’s Stephen Spruill proudly serves his community using his skills as a friendly neighborhood handyman courtesy of his Sound Side Handyman Services venture.
Ask anyone who knows him and they’ll tell you that Spruill is proud of his hometown and even prouder of its enduring culture of small town neighborly togetherness and modest charm.
“Growing up in a town of 3,000 people, you learn pretty quick that everyone is very connected. Everybody knows everybody…it’s always been a slow moving humble town where people work and live honest,” Spruill says. “So I’ve always wanted to be part of that tradition…I believe that’s what I’m here for and why I do my best to do right by my customers and make Tyrrell County look prettier day by day.”
The son of Diana and the late Charlie Spruill, Stephen saw firsthand the kind of living a man could carve out for himself and the difference that one person could make through generosity and goodwill.
“My father passed away in 2004, he was a logger and he owned Spruill Logging… I was young when he passed but I don’t think I would be where I’m at without the motivation that I got from his example,” Spruill says. “I always knew I had some pretty big shoes to fill. He had his hands in everything…he started from nothing and he ended up with one of the biggest logging companies around…but around Thanksgiving he would still fill up a whole dump truck filled with Turkey baskets, each with a $100 bill in them, and give them out to families. He would do stuff like that and he was always happy to be the glue in his community.”
Despite his hometown pride and wanting to someday follow his father’s example, the young Spruill still yearned to see the greater world and leave the small town life behind.
“I think I was like a lot of folks in that when I was younger, I always said ‘man, I can’t wait to get out of Columbia,’” he laughs. “And I did my fair share of looking and traveling. I went out to the beach for time, and lived in the city for little bit and I done pretty good up there. But you know, as your folks get older and you start to experience certain things, you start to think about how fast time goes and you learn to appreciate certain things that you didn’t know you missed...”