Richard Brand: Tribute To Mr. Sam Watkins


I arrived here in l993 and from my position as Pastor of one of the downtown churches, I became involved in a great number of civic activities. In all my years in Vance County I have not met anyone who worked harder or worked longer, had more vision and passion, who gave more to this community than Mr. Sam Watkins. Mr. Watkins walked and talked with politicians, bankers, and community leaders, but he was not opposed to getting out and doing the grunt work as well. I saw him mowing the grass on a riding mower at the corner of Ruin Creek and I-85. Mr. Watkins ran a lot of things but I never met anybody in this community that I would rather have running all those things than Sam Watkins. As far as I know, the only politics that Sam cared about was what was good for Henderson and Vance County. Well done, Sam Watkins.