Bill Scott is not a man who likes to stay still for long. One of his bicycling shirts is emblazoned with the bright colors of a roadrunner, a definite reflection of Bill’s energetic character. Bill meets with a handful of close friends near Catalina highway several times a week. The men cycle for several hours before sitting at a local coffee shop where they often discuss sports and politics. They have conflicting views occasionally, but that doesn’t stop them from voicing them.

“We can agree to disagree, and still walk away friends.”

Bill said that his wish for the world is that everyone else could do the same.  He began working with Habitat shortly after retirement. When people ask Bill about his early retirement, he responds, “I don’t know how I ever found the time to work 40 or 50 hours a week.”
He adds that such a lifestyle leaves little time for anything other than work.

Retirement did not stop Bill from staying busy.  Instead he was able to choose when and where to invest his hours of labor. In a typical week, he volunteers with Habitat two days, bicycles three days and still finds time for yard-work on the weekends.

Bill has worked with Habitat for almost 30 years, filling a variety of positions. Four of those years were spent serving on the board of directors, during which time he was elected president and held that position for two years. Since the opening of the new Habistore, he spends a lot of his time there.

“One reason I like working in the store,” Bill said, “is that it helps to keep things out of the landfill.”

He enjoys learning about building methods that are not only cost-effective, but also energy efficient. Bill also likes the challenge of helping shoppers find just what they need.

In the past, Bill’s work with Habitat has corresponded well with one of his “favorite vices”, traveling. Bill and his wife, Shirley, have spent many summers working with the CARE-A-VANNERS, also called the Habitat Gypsies. After Shirley would finish teaching the spring semester, the Scotts would pack up their RV and set the coordinates for the next Habitat site. They worked on sites in many states including Wyoming, Texas and Michigan.

The crew of CARE-A-VANNERS changed over the years, yet there were also familiar faces. The Scotts still correspond with several volunteers from past builds. Bill remarked that the experience really brought strangers together.

“You show up to a site,” he said, “and there are ten or so couples you’ve never met…by dinner, they feel like family.”

With such an energetic nature, Bill finds it hard to understand that some people spend a lot of time stationary and in the shade of their living rooms.

“People go home and sit in their rocking chairs; and watch T.V. all day,” Bill said. “All they have to do is pick up the newspaper and look at all the volunteer opportunities…there’s something for everybody.”

Bill admits that there were times when his work with Habitat left him thoroughly exhausted. He recalls an afternoon when he met with Shirley after working on-site. They were shopping for a new mattress, and Bill said that he couldn’t resist flopping down on one of the mattresses in the bedding store. He told his wife, “You couldn’t pay me to work as hard as I worked today!”

Since that day, Bill has heard other volunteers express the same sentiment. He says that one of the wonders about Habitat is that it brings out a certain determination in people that money cannot buy.

Interviewed and Written by Volunteer Sierra Russell