Meet Bill & Frank
December 21, 2010
If you’ve been to the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House during the holiday season, there is a good chance you have seen the handiwork of Bill Wilkinson and Frank Webster.
For 15 years, Bill (shown in green) and Frank (shown in blue) have worked to decorate the Chestnut Street House in thousands of twinkling lights as part of our annual Share A Night Campaign. In 2008, they began decorating the Front & Erie House after it opened. “We start in October,” says Frank, speaking of the time-consuming but rewarding process to make both Houses into winter wonderlands.
That’s not all that Frank and Bill do around the House. In fact, says Frank, “It’s hard to describe just what we do,” although Bill jokingly suggests their motto is something like, “You break it, we fix it.” Frank and Bill both worked together at PECO for more than 30 years, and learned about the House from a mutual friend whose wife was the Director of Volunteers at the time. After retiring, Frank started helping out. “They told me, ‘You won’t have to do much – just drive the van.’” However, Frank’s start at the House coincided with the expansion of the Chestnut Street location in 1995 to more than double the number of rooms, and he ended up doing much more, including hanging artwork and shades, moving furniture, and all around making for a smooth transition. Soon after, Bill started volunteering a couple of days a week. “That didn’t last long,” says Frank, as Bill soon joined him as part-time maintenance staff. One of Bill’s first jobs was working on lighting the House. “I welded the first two dozen snowflakes,” says Bill, who has since created the more than 60 large,lighted snowflakes that adorn both Houses. Together, Frank and Bill have worked together to make each season of Share A Night bigger and brighter.
The House lighting is not all that Frank and Bill are known for, however. If you’ve been to the House, you may have also fallen prey to one of their many infamous pranks, as they are well known to be the House jokesters. From filling staff members’ cars with teddy bears, to hiding giant kangaroos behind their office doors, they are always lightening the mood when they aren’t hard at work. “If we can’t have fun coming to work, we’re not coming,” says Bill. Best of all, their love of fun has endeared them to nearly every child who has stayed at the House, especially when kids are able to borrow their gags to play jokes on their parents. “There is nothing better than seeing a kid laugh,” says Frank. Bill agrees. “Working here gives you a sense of worth.”Frank and Bill also enjoy having had the opportunity to interact with the large number of volunteers who have come through the House over the past 15 years. “Getting to know all of the volunteers has been great,” says Frank. For those of us who work and volunteer at the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House, getting to know Frank and Bill has been great as well. We hope you will drive by and see the amazing light display Frank and Bill have created this year!