Over the years, Robert Hester has become about as well known to local residents as any other resident of the county. For many years he worked in broadcasting with the local radio station, a station he owned at one time. Throughout those years he broadcast football games for the high schools in the county.

His strong baritone voice has become synonymous with Bladen County football over the years.

Last Friday night he had the "thrill of a lifetime" when the North Carolina County Commissioners Association, his employer for the past 23 years, honored him at a Charlotte Knights baseball game. The special program was to mark Hester's retirement.

It included a number of "surprises," one of which was the opportunity to throw out the first pitch in a game between the Knights, a Triple A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, and the Norfolk Tides.

Hester said this was a very special occasion because he's always loved sports, but never had an opportunity to play organized sports while growing up because of having to work.

Born the oldest of six children in a sharecropper family in the Zion Hill community near Bladenboro, Hester said he and siblings had to help in the fields throughout his childhood and youth. As a result he had little if any time for leisure time activities.

"We played a little cow pasture baseball on Sundays," he said, "but that was about it. I never had an opportunity to play sports in high school."

He said one thing he learned growing up was that he did not want to be a sharecropper. He got his first public job at Hinson's Supermarket in Bladenboro while in high school, a job he would keep for several years after graduating from Bladenboro High School in 1956.

It was while working at Hinson's after graduating that he met Sarah Clark, a native of the Bluefield community, who was at the time working as a student nurse in the dietary area at the hospital in Lumberton.

"I was delivering eggs to the hospital at the time, and when I saw her, I decided right then that I wanted to date her," Hester explained. "So I wrote down her name from the back of her nurse's cap. I called her later and at first, she said no. But I was persistent."

The couple was later married. During that time, Hester went to a trade school.

"Two or three years after graduating, I attended broadcasting school in Charlotte," said Hester. "When I came back to Bladen County, I talked to Chatham Clark, who was part owner of and manager of WBLA Radio in Elizabethtown.

"Mr. Clark helped me get a full-time job in Elizabethtown at Top Mode Manufacturing, a dressmaker that had plants throughout the area, where I cut dresses during the week while I worked at the radio station on weekends," he said. "I later got a full-time job at WENC-Radio in Whiteville, a job I would hold for about four months.

"After I'd been there only a short time, Mr. Clark called and offered me a full-time job at WBLA. That was in 1963," he added. "I would work at the station for nearly 20 years thereafter."

Hester began buying shares in the radio station while he worked there over the years and in 1980, be bought the remaining stock to become its sole owner.

During his years at the radio station he became involved in a myriad of activities around the county. In addition to broadcasting sporting events, he became very active in the Jaycees, where he would eventually become president. He later also served as president of the Chamber of Commerce.

He was a charter member of the Elizabethtown Rescue Squad and coached Little League baseball for 14 years. His oldest son, Rick, became a local baseball star and went to Clemson on a baseball scholarship. He later played in the Texas Rangers minor league organization for several years. He is now County Manager of Johnston County.

Hester said that after serving as president of the Chamber of Commerce he began to consider running for county commissioner. At that time all commissioners in Bladen were elected at-large.

Hester ran in a field of several candidates and was the top vote getter both times he was elected to the office.

When he was nearing the end of his second term in 1982 and serving as second vice-president of the North Carolina County Commissioners Association, he was approached about the possibility of becoming the association's field representative.

"Butch Gunnels first mentioned the possibility of the job to me," explained Hester. "He was concerned that the association might eliminate the position and use the money in another position. He told me they were looking for someone with a background like mine in local government and public relations.

"I sent a note to Ron Aycock, the executive director of the association, and told him that I was not sure I was interested, but would like to talk with him about it," he said. "He called the next day and asked when we could talk.

"I talked with him the following week and went to work for the association on April 1, 1982. One of the things we'd agreed to when I took the job was that I could serve out the remainder of my term on the County Commissioners, which would end in November. I'd been elected for the four-year term and felt I was obligated to serve it."

In the years that followed, Hester has assisted counties in hiring key personnel, such as county managers, and maintained contact with officials in all 100 of the state's counties.

"My goal was to visit all 100 counties annually," he said, "and I did. I was the eyes and ears of the association in the field. I told people that I knew very little about any subject, but I knew people that did (know). I, in affect, put people together."

Hester officially retired in April 2004 but has continued to work part-time since then. He says he will continue to work part-time "as long as I'm making a contribution and my health is good."

The idea of the retirement event for Hester came as the association was considering how to honor him and Aycock, who had retired on June 30, 2005.

"I was informed that my retirement party would be on Friday (at the Knights game) and that Ron's (Aycock's) would be on Saturday at the association convention in Charlotte.

Hester's event began with a buffet at the baseball game, after which he threw out the first pitch in the game. His two sons, Rick and John, escorted him out to the mound for the event.

"I was determined that I was not going to throw it (the baseball) away," he said, laughing. "I think some of the managers were taking odds on how many times I would bounce it before it got to home plate. As it turned out, it only bounced once."

The association also surprised him with a baseball card they had made in his honor.

A group of county managers also learned that Hester had attended major league baseball games in a number of cities but had never been to a game in New York.

"The got together and surprised me by presenting us (Sarah and I) a paid trip to see both the Mets and Yankees play," Hester said. "The trip included airline travel, a hotel room and tickets to both games."

Hester was also honored by a group of county managers who were graduates of Appalachian State University.

"They announced that they were contributing $35,000 to endow a scholarship at Appalachian in my name to provide an annual scholarship to a student in the field of public administration."

Hester said the retirement event would always be a very special memory.

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