Remembering Bill Hall

By Pam Windsor

For just over three decades, Bill Hall reigned as Nashville’s much-loved, authoritative voice when it came to predicting Middle Tennessee’s ever-changing weather. And even though he retired in 2005, and passed away in 2011, people haven’t forgotten the Spring Hill native many considered “part of their family” when they watched Channel 4’s nightly newscast. 

“No, they haven’t,” his wife, Carolyn, admits. With a laugh, she adds, “They would call him Snowbird’s daddy. He kept many a child happy when it got cold. They’d look to see what Snowbird said on whether or not school was closed.”

Kids and adults alike relied on Hall’s sidekick, Snowbird, to guide them on how to prepare for the next day.

“Bill enjoyed that,” recalls close friend Gaylen Bandy, “because it would get the little kids excited and it was also something the parents would pay attention to because of their children. Where were the kids going to stay if the weather was bad and they had to work? So, Bill was always really on top of things.”

For years, Hall was part of the popular Nashville TV news team that included Dan Miller, Demetria Kalodimos, and Rudy Kalis. 

He got his broadcasting start on the radio at WKDA in Nashville. His relaxed demeanor and calming voice resonated with viewers. When he took the TV job at WSMV, he became determined to learn all he could about forecasting the weather, and it paid off.” 

“People often told Bill if he didn’t say it, they wouldn’t believe it,” Carolyn remembers. “He was the one telling the truth about the weather. He didn’t use big words or anything, he said it to where children would understand it. Sometimes viewers would call or write and ask, ‘How do you get the forecast?’ And he would say, ‘Well, I talked to the big guy,’ and he was talking about God. He said God told him what was going on.”

Bill was not only passionate about the weather, often staying long past the end of the late news during severe weather conditions to make sure viewers had the information they needed, he loved the outdoors. He hosted his own show, Land of the Lakes, and even wrote his own cookbook. 

“He was a country boy,” notes Carolyn, regarding his love of hunting and fishing. And she offered behind-the-scenes support to everything he did.

“When he got the fishing show or when he went hunting, he’d come in from work, lay down, and when he got up, I’d have all his gear ready. And there were many mornings there might be four or five guys at our house having breakfast because I’d fix it for them before they left.”

Hall had the chance to fish with a lot of famous people through the years, and Carolyn mentions singer, Mel Tillis and Reverend Dr. Morgan Babb among his favorites. But the celebrity side of his work never changed him. And Carolyn would know.

The two met in high school. She was living in Columbia, Tennessee, while Hall grew up in Spring Hill. When it came time to go to high school, black students were not allowed to attend locally, so Hall was bussed to Carver-Smith High School in Columbia.

“This was in the early 60s,” Carolyn says. “Those were the times we lived in.”

At 15, Hall worked a part-time job at Stan’s Restaurant and Truck Stop in Spring Hill and didn’t get off until midnight. He often overslept, missed the bus, and would have to hitchhike to school. 

Carolyn says Hall noticed her before she noticed him.

“He would leave little notes on my locker. I would ignore them at first, but after a while he kinda grew on me. He was a country boy, and I’m from the city.”

They went on to marry; Hall served in Vietnam, and they started a family and raised three children together. During the years in between, they worked together as Hall went on to become a well-known TV icon. 

“What you saw on TV was the way he was in real life,” says his friend, Bandy. “Bill didn’t put on a show, he didn’t try to impress anybody. He was just Bill.”

Carolyn says Hall was special to everyone who knew him. And he loved Spring Hill. 

“Yes, he did. It was home. Bill was a small-town boy who made good but stayed a hometown boy. He never changed.”

By Pam Windsor

Spring Hill resident Vicki Bechet grew up in a family that set a strong example of "giving back," so it's something that has always come naturally to her. Even as a child, she remembers setting up a lemonade stand to raise money for the American Cancer Society. While helping others has always come with its own reward, Bechet was especially honored to get national recognition during the annual convention of the General Federation of Women's Clubs in June. 

She received the group's Jennie Award, as members from across the United States and worldwide gathered in Chicago. 

"It's very gratifying to be recognized for your hard work and enthusiasm when it comes to being a community service volunteer," Bechet says. "It was a wonderful recognition of my 40 years with this organization."

Handed out every two years, the award is named for the organization's founder, Jane Cunningham Croly, who wrote for national newspapers under the pseudonym "Jennie June." It celebrates extraordinary club women who epitomized Croly's spirit of independence, courage, and persistence in their roles as volunteers in every aspect of their lives.

Bechet is a fourth-generation member of the GFWC and founder of the GFWC's Spring Station Woman's Club. A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Bechet is a nationally certified (retired) RN who has stayed actively involved with the GFWC throughout much of her life. 

The organization has been around since 1890 when Croly, who created a women's group in New York, decided to try to pull similar clubs together to form a federation, and got a charter from Congress to do so. 

Working together, those groups have had a considerable impact on their communities, as well as their country.  

"Since we started, women's clubs are credited with starting 75 percent of all libraries in America through the 1930's," Bechet explains. "We were instrumental in getting the first Pure Food & Drug Act passed, the first child labor laws passed, and the formation of the National Park Service. And during World War II, we raised enough money to buy hundreds of warplanes."

In fact, the GFWC's "Buy a Bomber" campaign raised $101,671,750 to purchase planes for the Air Force. Translated into today's dollars, that's approximately $1,520,266,385. 

There are currently GFWC chapters in every state with the current membership at around 60,000. Local groups work on a wide range of projects and fundraisers. Bechet's largest GFCW project was the state-wide initiative to replace the thousands of elementary school library books destroyed in the August 2021 flash flood in her hometown of Waverly, TN.

"Some of our projects are big, some are small, but we have a lot of fun, we really do. Things like the Waverly book project can take several months. We also do smaller projects that can be accomplished in a 45-minute session, such as when we pack up toiletries to give to ShowerUp, a local organization that provides hot showers for the unhoused." 

The Spring Station Woman's Club meets one night a month, usually the first Monday from 6-8pm in the basement of the Winchester Community Facility on Maury Hill Street. 

"I can't think of another organization for women in this country that has the breadth and depth of service opportunities, gives women an outlet for their creative juices, and encourages them to have fun while working together and gaining incredible friendships," Bechet says. 

New members are welcome, with dues set at $50 per year. For information, visit their Facebook page or email gfwcspringstation@gmail.com