Bell Buckle is beloved by many for its quaint downtown, quiet, rural land, craft fair and other events. But behind the well-known face of Bell Buckle is town clerk, Janet Robinson, who was recently awarded Clerk of the Year by Tennessee’s Association of Municipal Clerks and Recorders (TAMCAR.)  

Those who know Robinson reveal how she helps keep the small town running for its thousands of visitors and handful of residents.  

“She does a great job with all of our financial documents and getting in reports for the mayor and alderman meetings. I don’t see how she keeps up with all of it,” said Bell Buckle Mayor Ronnie Lokey.  

Robinson’s almost 30 years of work for the town encouraged him to submit her name into the TAMCAR competition. 

“She runs this town,” said Lokey, who is actually one of Robinson’s in-laws.  

The town clerk advised, “I was shocked. I had no idea he turned it in. It was a nice surprise.”  

Her responsibilities are many. She oversees all the property and business taxes and town recording, handling ordinances and resolutions as well as town meeting minutes.  

“And just whatever else I’m told to do,” Robinson says with a laugh. But it comes naturally to her. Robinson says she is a “numbers girl.”  

“My dad was a payroll person so I’ve always loved numbers. And I’m pretty OCD about check books balancing.”  

But it’s not just the numbers; it’s the people.  

“We have some really good customers. We have a really good board and good coworkers. I like people.” 

But the most difficult part of her job, she says, is dealing with the politics. Over nearly three decades, Robinson said she’s seen a lot of changes in regulation and requirements—and all the paperwork—from the state.  

When asked how she keeps up with it all, she smiles and laughs, “Prayer and help.”  

Robinson, originally from North Carolina, moved to Bell Buckle in the mid-1980s. By the early 1990s, Robinson was a young mom and looking for part-time work, which she found with then town recorder Bonnie Rucker. “She worked one week, and I worked the next,” she recalled.  

It grew into a full-time position, which she’s kept all these years, through the easy weeks and through the busy budget and tax seasons. Bell Buckle itself hasn’t changed drastically. 

“We’re still a small town and we like to keep it that way,” said Robinson. “But the job itself has changed a lot. It’s tons of paperwork, and lots more regulations we have to follow.”  

She said on top of mandated regulations, they have fees to pay.  

But, “you have to work with what you have and stay within those budgetary lines,” she said.  

Through it all, Robinson said the small-town atmosphere of Bell Buckle has kept her there.  

“It’s a good place to raise kids, and we like this kind of country life . . . lack of major traffic.

She and her husband live in a renovated church that used to be a Church of Christ in the 1950s.

“For the most part, Ilike the job. I like being close to home,” she said.  

For now, Robinson and the town will be working on Bell Buckle’s many festivals coming up in the fall. That includes the annual arts and crafts fair which is Oct. 15 and 16.  

And as for retirement. . . well, let’s just says he’s not done quite yet. 

“I’ve learned a tremendous amount. And there’s still a tremendous amount I need to learn,” she said.