PERSONAL
I began my life’s adventure in
Greenville Hospital on August 3, 1950. My parents, Art and Norma Williams, raised me along
with my sister Sondra (now Sondra Wiggins) in the Transfer area about one mile from my
alma mater, Reynolds High School.
My dad, who is now deceased was a graduate of the former Transfer High School, and a
veteran of the U.S. Navy,
where he served as a Fire Controlman on a destroyer (U.S.S.
McGowan 678) in the south
Pacific during WW II. He retired from the former CB&I Plant, (Chicago Bridge &
Iron) and former site of Trinity Industries, where he worked for 33 years until
the plant closed in 1982. My mom, the former
Norma Jean Stuver, who is now deceased, graduated from Greenville High School in 1944. She
was a Stanley Home Products dealer, softball & basketball coach and a former bus
driver for Reynolds School District. In addition, my maternal grandparents, Peter and
Mabel Williams (Transfer Area) and Troy and Ruby Stuver (Greenville Area), and their
families were from the Greenville area. My roots and relationships have connected me
fondly to the Transfer, Reynolds & Greenville areas all my life.
EDUCATION
I attended Transfer Elementary School
(Transfer) grades 1 through 6 and Reynolds High School in grades 7 through 12. I graduated from
Reynolds in 1969. I started my collegiate career at the local Edinboro
branch campus in Farrell. I completed my Bachelor of Education degree at
Edinboro State College in 1974 and earned my Masters Degree in Speech
Communication at West Virginia University in 1979.
SPORTS
I lettered 3 years in football and basketball at Reynolds. I was
fullback & outside linebacker on Reynolds' 1968 team which was Mercer
County Class A Co-Champions and Class B Champions. The 1968 team was the
first Reynolds team to beat (and score on) Greenville.
I was captain of Reynolds' 1968-69 basketball team which has the 3rd
best basketball record, 17-5, in school history. I
held the career rebounding record with 806 rebounds for 39 years and am
the only player in school history to be both the career scoring and
rebounding leader.
Along
with my mother, I coached the Reynolds Girls Basketball team until it
became a school sport in 1973.
I also played on the Edinboro State College Off-Campus basketball team
at Farrell which we won the C.C.C. Championship in 1970-71.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
I began my teaching career at the
Whitesville Junior High School in Whitesville, West Virginia in 1974 and continued there
until 1990. I taught a 5th grade self-contained classroom and a computer class
for the 9th grade students. In addition, I was head coach for the girls’
junior high basketball team and assistant coach with the junior high boys’ basketball
program.
Locally, when I moved back to the Reynolds area in 1990, I substituted as an elementary
teacher in the Greenville, Reynolds, and Sharpsville School Districts
for two years. In 1995 and 1996, I
coached a girls and boys varsity basketball program at a local Christian high school where
I also taught a basic computer course.
VIDEO & INTERNET BUSINESS
In 1989, while still teaching in West
Virginia, I established a video service business, ACW Productions. When I returned home
after the death of my mother in 1990, I continued my video business in the local area.
From 1991, I have worked full time with my video business providing a variety
of services including filming wedding & other events, creating specialty
photo collages, transferring slides, converting vhs tapes, cassettes,
and records to DVDs, CDs, among other services. I have filmed 277 weddings and edited
16
others. I also have done over 500 business and personal projects with
the bulk of my work being in the Greenville
area and the Shenango Valley. A partial list of past clients include; Horizon Hospital System (presently UPMC Horizon), ENT Allergy and Associates, UPS, Sheetz, Sharon Tube, Wheatland Tube, U.S. Liner,
Camp Reynolds 50th Celebration Committee (Filmed 3 day Celebration)
Grove City Outlet Malls (Filmed Grand Opening), Reynolds High School
(Filmed 50th Anniversary), and Trinity Industries
among others. I have produced football, basketball, baseball & softball
recruiting & highlight
videos of local athletes. I also have filmed high school graduations, video
scrapbooks (Greenville High School), community plays, dance recitals, proms
plus a wide variety of other projects
In 1997,
ACW Productions expanded into the internet service business
providing a variety of services including web page design & management
and hosting.
I have managed a variety of local web sites. Four personal sites
that ACW Productions (www.acwpro.com)
has created and
manages are
Camp Reynolds, a World War II Army Camp (www.campreynolds.com), Reynolds Wrestling (www.reynoldswrestling.com),
Reynolds Raiders (www.reynoldsraiders.com)
and the Greenville Area Web Site (www.greenville-pa.com) and USS McGowan (www.ussmcgowan.com)
The History & Experiences of my Dad's ship during WW2. I also created and maintained the Greenville
Football web site for 10 years (1999-2009).
CAMP REYNOLDS PROJECT
In 1992 I created a video for the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Camp
Reynolds and since that time I have individually have been developing
the history of Camp Reynolds (a WWII Army Camp) through the Camp
Reynolds Project. Since 2013 I have been giving presentations and
setting up displays. I am in the process of starting to write a book
about Camp Reynolds. |
