Hot Springs Village Welcomes New General Manager Charles King at Meet and Greet
The HSVPOA Board of Directors and staff hosted a lively Meet and Greet for our new General Manager, Charles King on Friday, August 7 from 4:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. A special thank you to Board Director, Pam Avila and Executive Assistant, Ella Scotty for their roles in planning this successful and fun event! Thank you also to the rest of the Board and staff for all your hard work.
It was a very sultry day with rain showers before the event. The weather did not appear promising, but then right before the parade started, the sun came peeking through and shone her bright beacon on the Village. It almost seemed an omen of good things to come.
There were a number of colorful signs and a balloon archway which added a nice feeling of festivity and celebration to the event.
ShugaBeatz greeted the well-wishers with vibrant music as the parade entered the Porte Cochere from the north. This lively duo consists of Bill and Laura Sorrells, a married couple from Texas. They donated their musical talents and time to this event. As usual, their performance was fantastic!
The HSVPOA Police and Fire Departments led the parade, followed by staff vehicles and a large number of well-wishers.
A persistent and steady caravan of well-wishers passed through the Porte Cochere at the Ponce de Leon Center/Woodlands Auditorium. Many Villagers paused in their traverse to speak with the GM, some of the staff and Board. Charles King received many good wishes and words of encouragement from the Villagers. Although the day was sizzling, the parade participants were met with reciprocity from King. All-in-all there was a spirit of optimism and enthusiasm.
I previously saw Charles King at a Board Discussion Session. I had the delightful honor of meeting him face-to-face for the first time on Friday afternoon. My overall first impression is that he is a sincere and nice person who wants to do a great job in his position as General Manager. Mr. King shared, “I’m extremely excited about the future of Hot Springs Village. I think that there is an immense amount of opportunity that we’re going to harness to make life better for both current and potential Villagers.”
After talking to the staff and Board of Directors, I could see my initial perceptions regarding King were shared.
Some of the comments made were: (not all comments were included due to the intent of keeping this article fairly short)
Wayne Foltz, Treasurer: “I’m excited that Charles King is here and wish him the best!”
Pam Avila, Board Director: “I just thought it would be really fun to welcome Charles in a light-hearted Hot Springs Village welcoming way. With all the COVID restrictions, this just seemed like the logical thing to do – COVID style drive-through.”
Jason Temple: “We’re having a great time here welcoming Mr. Charles King, the new General Manager. We’re all trying to become acquainted with him. He seems like a great and fun guy with a lot of commonsense and know-how – a great Point A to Point B Guy. I expect a lot of good ‘get ‘er done’ things coming up.”
Board Director, JoAnne Corry: “We’re excited to have Charles here. We’re looking forward to what he can bring to the Village and I think the people are really going to like him.”
Board Director Dick Garrison: “I just told Chief Middleton that the best asset that our new General Manager has is that he is a good person. I believe that down to my toes that he is an honest-to-God good person.”
Police Chief, Ricky Middleton: “I only talked to him for a few minutes. I like him. He seems like he is going to be a fine man.”
Avila, Marcy G. Mermel, and others served ice cream sandwiches that were generously provided by the HSVPOA Treasurer Foltz. Thank you to everyone who participated! As we always say, “It takes a Village. It really does.”
Special Note: Let’s move forward in the Village and continue to redevelop our trust in the POA Board and Staff. We have a bright and sunny future under the new leadership of Charles King. It appears it is highly likely there are many positive things on our horizon and we eagerly anticipate all the good things to come in HSV. Thank you for reading. Please be sure to bookmark this website so you do not miss any updates.
Please click on the photos to scroll through the photo carousel.
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Short Video & Slide Show of King Meet & Greet
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By Cheryl Dowden, August 9, 2020
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Rosanne Hitch
08/10/2020 — 12:11 am
Thank you so much for the pictures and the video, it is greatly appreciated! Great job!
HSVP C
08/10/2020 — 6:39 am
You are welcome, Rosanne. Thank you for your kind words.
Jeanette
08/10/2020 — 10:07 am
Where are the masks and 6 ft. distancing? Not a good example of Board and staff being responsible citizens. Just like Diana telling the Board she and them can talk all they want without wearing a mask as long as they are 6 ft. apart but a “speaker” must be 12 ft. away from others so they won’t “spit” on others. How does that make sense? If the Chair is speaking you don’t have to worry about her “spitting” on the others but you do need to worry about a “speaker” and keep that person 12 ft. away. I’m with Kirk. Let’s see that in writing.