(WBIR - KNOXVILLE) For 37 years Carl Williams was the voice of Channel 10.
At age 17, Carl got his start in radio, but on Aug. 12, 1956, he helped bring WBIR TV to households everywhere. Of course, Carl will tell you that things were a little different back then.
"There were two people in the newsroom. That's what made up the new staff. And yes, it's a lot different now."
Carl retired from the anchor desk in 1993. Since then he hasn't stopped exploring the world around him.
"Sometimes when things get a little boring at home I've been known to go to the kitchen, fix me a bologna and cheese sandwich, get me a bag of potato chips, get in the car and go over and join the tourists in Gatlinburg. Get up in the mountains, drive around and find out what's there. Makes you appreciate it. You've got to wonder when you see stuff like that, you've got to wonder who did all of this. You know what I mean?"
Carl still reads his paper in the morning while sitting in front of the TV with the news on, but his real joy in retirement comes from those he loves.
"Some of the winter months I spend with my two sons in Virginia. I usually go up and spend two or three weeks at a time in the woods. We hunt, we fish...have a good time. It's never enough of that."
Whether exploring the Smokies or playing with his five great grandchildren, Carl Williams is enjoying life.
And, he will always have a place in his heart for Channel 10.
"A special place in my heart? Yeah. It always will have. It's kept me here in East Tennessee with some of the best people in the world. I cherish that."
