FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Thousands upon thousands of bright-eyed beachgoers have started their day at Las Olas and A1A, and the place looks pretty spiffy.
That’s because Bobby Williams was there first.
You might not know him, but he’s the guy who gets up well before dawn to keep Fort Lauderdale’s famous beachfront corner sparkling clean, making dirt and grime disappear.
Williams, 53, tackles his not-so-glamourous job with a broad smile and a cheery hello to just about everybody who walks by, earning himself the unofficial title “Mayor of the Beach.”
He’s been at it for 15 years, amassing a bit of a fan club among locals.
One recent weekday, Williams flashed that big smile, getting “hello” after “hello” and the occasional hug and handshake as folks passed on by.
“He’s awesome,” one woman proclaimed to a reporter there to interview Williams. “See you tomorrow,” said another. “Everybody knows Bobby,” said a third.
Plenty of the people he’s met on the job know him by name. Williams can’t recall all their names, but says he remembers their faces.
Because he’s not one to brag, most of his fans have no idea he helped Fort Lauderdale nab its first and only Emmy, playing a starring role in a 151-second clip that showed him on the job in June. The regional award, bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Suncoast Chapter in December, got more views than any other on the city’s website and now has a home on YouTube.
Williams, a man of humility, greeted the good news with sincere disbelief.
Enrique Sanchez, deputy director of Fort Lauderdale’s Parks and Recreation Department, says word of the surprise win quickly spread among Williams’ coworkers.
“They josh him about being a superstar,” Sanchez said. “When the video came out he was employee of the quarter. [The city] was trying to highlight people behind the scenes. And that story just resonated.”
Eric Thomas, Williams’ supervisor, calls him a stand-out employee who takes a rare level of pride in his work.
“He’s the myth, the man, the legend,” Thomas said. “He’s a positive guy, great energy.”
Keeping that beach beautiful
Williams gets up at 2 a.m. so he can start work at 4 a.m.
He’s responsible for cleaning 7 miles of beach, from Southeast 17th Street all the way to the city’s northern border with Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.
“I find trash everywhere,” he said “I try to clean all this before everyone gets here to walk. I want them to feel like the beach is never dirty.”
But when he gets there, it is. He has seen all kinds of things you don’t want to see while strolling the beach: Beer cans, condoms, bikini bottoms.
He cleans streets and sidewalks, public showers and lifeguard towers, using his pressure cleaner to wash away all kinds of gunk and grit, including human waste and vomit.
Some might have quit after the first day. But Williams has been at the job for 33 years — the past 15 at the beach.
A true blue employee, Williams will come home and tell his family all about his day on the job, said wife Maria Williams.
“He takes pictures and sends them to me to show me what he did,” she said. “He has a lot of energy. He’s a real social butterfly. He loves to talk. He says he runs into people who are having a bad day. And he tries to lighten their day and turn their frown into a smile.”
Not everything Williams finds winds up in the trash. A couple years ago he came across a Woody doll from “Toy Story” that now rides on the antenna of his truck.
“He was in the sand saying, ‘Save me.’ I said, ‘I got you Woody. You’re going on my antenna.’ I’m Woody. Woody always waves at people and says hi.”
Perseverance and the pandemic
Williams kept on working on the front lines throughout the pandemic, scouring showers and cleaning sidewalks even when the beach was closed during those distant lockdown days.
Steve Huntley, a newcomer to Fort Lauderdale, quickly became a fan.
“We moved here two months ago from Parkland,” Huntley said. “He was just so friendly. Now I look for him. People like him get underappreciated. He is awesome.”
Williams became a familiar face for Sherry Harris soon after she moved to Fort Lauderdale from Los Angeles a decade ago.
“I’ve been seeing him since I’ve been going down to the beach to walk or run,” she said. “And he’s always there. He’s a very protective individual. He just watches out for everybody.”
During the darkest days of the pandemic, he was a sight for sore eyes, she said.
“It was a bizarre time,” she said. “Some people were going to the beach before sunrise to avoid people, so they disappeared. But it was nice seeing Bobby. It was pretty comforting to see him around. He would always smile and wave, always have something nice to say. When everything was not normal he was the normal. He always makes you feel welcome.”
One thing that has not been changed by the pandemic: Williams keeps on making people laugh with his easy charm and lifting spirits when he runs across anyone who’s feeling down.
“When the lockdown was over, they came back and were giving me hugs,” Williams said. “They said they missed me. They like coming out and seeing me. I think the Lord put me right here to help people. I always make ‘em feel better.”
No time to retire
Williams could have retired three years ago. But his bosses don’t like to mention that.
“He could have retired at 30 years and he’s been here 33,” Sanchez said. “That’s a long time on any job. And he’s still excited to do it. It’s a rare quality. He could be retired and collecting a pension and he still stays here. It’d be a huge loss if he were to ever leave.”
His wife says she sometimes teases him about never wanting to retire.
“Bobby loves his job, yes he do,” she said. “When I met him he was working in the inner city. Then he moved to the beach. He says he never wants to transfer off the beach. I always tease him that he likes the bathing suits. He says, ‘No, I just like the beach.’”
Ed Cave met Williams a few years ago and keeps a smiling photo of Williams in his phone along with a shot of Woody hanging from the truck’s antenna.
Williams took a moment to chat with Cave. The conversation quickly turned to unbridled laughter.
“You got to laugh,” Williams said. “Laughing makes you feel so good. You got to laugh.”
Cave smiled before saying: “You see why people love him so much. He gets more work done than anyone else. He’s always in a good mood. He’s always getting it done, taking care of our beach. He’s Number One.”
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