Watkins retiring as executive director of the Webb Center
When William “Bill” Watkins first took on the job of executive director at the Webb Community Center in 2011 it was supposed to be an interim position, but now, over eight years later, he has decided to finally step down.
“I got to a point where I just want to enjoy some time. That’s all it is,” Watkins said Thursday. “I’ve got two kids that are retired and on Medicare and I’m still working. This ain’t making no sense at all.”
When Watkins took over the center, located at 127 Pleasant St., it was “in a big mess. I’ve got pictures of before and after and it’s something else. Physically, financially, any kind of way you look at it, it was a mess. We’ve really come a long way since then.”
Watkins said he has 13 grandchildren and “I don’t know how many great-grandkids,” noting he has great-grandchildren who have “finished college and are working on advanced degrees.” He will be able to spend more time with them “if they come around,” he said, laughing.
As for his plans, Watkins said his son has “three big fishing ponds and I plan to do a little fishing, go down to my clubhouse that I have for the neighborhood guys. I can sit around and won’t have to answer the phone and be bothered with folks all day.”
Watkins said he told the board of his intention to retire and they have advertised for the position of executive director.
“They put in the ad they’re looking for a volunteer, parttime or full-time, and that word volunteer is what’s going to kill them I’m afraid,” he said. “I’ve worked down here for nothing the entire time I’ve been here. In fact, I spent a lot of my money and I mean, a lot, that I have put into it to keep it going.”
He said the board’s best hope is to find another retired person who is looking for something to do. “That’s what it’s going to take,” he said. “I’m hoping everything goes OK. You’ve got a lot going out and nothing coming in. Grants aren’t coming in like they used to, especially the brick and mortar grants. With this being an old building, they are hard to come by.”
Watkins had retired as a lieutenant from the Hot Springs
Police Department after over 28 years, spent five years as a probation officer for the 18th Judicial District East, then another 13 years working for the Garland County prosecutor’s office as an investigator, first for Paul Bosson and later his successor, Steve Oliver, before taking on the role of director at the center.
All his efforts on behalf of the Webb Center have not gone unrecognized, with the front room of the center being renamed the William C. Bill Watkins Room on July 21, 2018, by the board in his honor.
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the center had first reduced its hours on March 31 and then on April 20 elected to close its doors to the public, but Watkins stressed, “I’ve still been here every day to answer the phones and people still came by. It didn’t really seem like we were closed, to be honest.”
The center has also started distributing food baskets to those in need, working in conjunction with Project HOPE Food Bank and area churches, the second Tuesday of every month, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., carrying the food out to people in their cars.
The basket program “is going good,” he said, with the plan being to supplement other food programs in the community.
While his initial intention is to stay on as director until they find somebody, Watkins said, “I tell you, right now, I guess my health is not as good as it used to be. I just can’t get out and do as much as I used to anymore. So I don’t know how long I will stay.”
He said he has had a lot of people calling him to say “they hate to see me go, but they understand. I do worry it’s going to be a problem down here, though.” He said he was hesitant to take the job at first when he was approached by “several Black pastors in town” who told him “they didn’t know anyone else who could pull it off.”
Laughing, Watkins said, “I thought, go ahead and blow smoke up my nostrils. They think I’m going to fall for that. But, well, I guess I did. But I took it as an interim job. My kids came in and helped me get it back going. My daughter would come down after she got off work and keep it cleaned up and presentable. I had a lot of good people working with me.”
He said he worries complacency has set in because the center has been running well for so long. “Everyone looks at it and it’s looking good. We’ve made a lot of good strides down here. But all that effort everybody put in at first has kind of ceased.”
He said he had the connections, through his years working in law enforcement and the judicial system, “to get things done and to get donations.” He noted the next person to take over “is going to need connections, too. It pays off.”
Asked if he had any regrets about taking on the director’s job, Watkins said he didn’t. “I enjoyed every bit of it. I’ve been a people person for a long time. It’s been good. I just hope I set a good example for my kids, and I call everyone who has worked for me my kids. They’re like my kids.
“The way I look at it, if the man pulled the curtain today, I’ve seen the show. You can believe that. Yes, indeed.”
Anyone interested in applying for the job of executive director can contact the Webb Center at 623-7491.