SNOHOMISH, MARCH 11: There is no one more embedded into the Snohomish community than our March Hometown Hero, Bill Webster.
Webster is a business owner, Snohomish chamber board member, Kla Ha Ya Days president, and frequent volunteer at the Snohomish community food bank.
“Bill is involved in so much in Snohomish,” nominator Tammy Comeau said. “He also rises to any request the food bank asks, recently collecting donations for gloves & socks, then making a Costco run and delivering. He and his wife have spearheaded Kla Ha Ya Days the last couple of years… He really is the Snohomish Hometown Hero.”
Webster began working at a young age, he said, wanting to learn everything he could. He has experience in construction, sales, and legal, among other things.
He moved to Snohomish in 2019 and saw the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on people in the community. He helped the Snohomish community food bank organize a Thanksgiving meal delivery program, which still runs today.
In 2024 the program served 227 families in Snohomish, Webster said.
“I recognized that people want to help, and they just don’t know how. Serving others and helping people is the best medicine when you’re caught up with your own self,” Webster said.
A few years later he became president of the Kla Ha Ya Days festival. In 2022, the festival board members were considering dissolving the event if no one stepped up to take it over, Webster said.
Since then, Webster has been running the festival, as well as other notable events in the city like Ground Frog Day and the Easter parade.
“I’m excited about everything, my life is a blast…” Webster said. “I have a strong desire to build community and to serve others, so that is just kind of how I roll.”
Outside of managing his own business as a painting contractor, he said he spends most of his time helping the Snohomish food bank. Serving others stems from his own personal experiences he said.
“What I do is try and put as much good out into the world as I can and food’s a great way to do that. Everybody needs it. It’s a small, simple thing, but if you don’t have it, it’s a big deal,” Webster said.
During the unusually long cold weather at the beginning of February, the food bank ran out of gloves, hats and other cold weather essentials.
Webster bought more than 400 pairs of gloves and 500 pairs of socks, donating them to the food bank. He got help by posting on Facebook, receiving funds through Venmo which was used to buy the clothes.
Webster encourages everyone to get involved with their local community.
“Many people think that their time invested won’t make a difference, but it does. One person can make a difference,” Webster said.
Hometown Hero is a promotion from radio stations Everett’s Greatest Hits KRKO and Classic Country KXA. Each month the stations celebrates an individual making a difference in the community and gives them a $100 Visa gift as a small token of appreciation. Presented by Eden Health. If you would like to nominate a Hometown Hero, see here.
