JACKSONVILLE — Paul Richards, engineer and construction manager for Jacksonville Wastewater, believes that being involved with the public is important in life.
Richards will transfer positions from vice president to president of the Jacksonville Lions Club on July 1.
“I’d like to take a more active role in the civic, cultural, social and moral welfare of the Jacksonville community,” Richards said.
The office term will offer Richards many opportunities to learn new skills and grow as a leader, he said.
“By taking advantage of these many opportunities to learn and grow, my term will have personal- and professional-development benefits that will last a lifetime,” Richards said.
Throughout the year, the Jacksonville Lions Club provides eye screenings for the Jacksonville North Pulaski School District in cooperation with the North Little Rock Lions Club. The club hosts biannual rummage sales, a Golf Ball Drop and a golf tournament, among other activities.
The club also participates in the annual Jacksonville Clean-Up Day and the Jacksonville Christmas Parade, he added.
Richards said the goal of the Jacksonville Lions Club is to empower volunteers to serve the community, meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote international understanding.
“We mainly try to provide eye exams and glasses for schoolchildren and elderly individuals in the Jacksonville area who otherwise could not afford them,” he said.
Richards said the club also supports World Services for the Blind, Mid-South Lions Sight and Hearing Services and local activities within the community.
“We support local youth activities such as scholarships, the Girls & Boys Club, a Leo Club and a youth baseball team, and assist individual young people in need,” he said.
The ability to provide scholarships to graduating high school students as they begin college is memorable to Richards, and he enjoys being involved with the general public.
“It feels good to be able to give back to the community I grew up in,” he said.
Richards is also an associate constructor with the American Institute of Constructors and an Eagle Scout.
As an Eagle Scout, he said, he has learned to value perseverance, discipline, motivation, leadership, accountability and achievement.
Above all else, he is most passionate about his family, he said.
“I’ve always tried to do the best I can in order to provide for my family and be a good example for my kids,” Richards said.
“They give me the strength to be the best that I can be.”
Bob Williams, current president of the Jacksonville Lions Club, said Richards has contributed time and talent to the club.
“He is willing to serve and give back to the community, and balances this service with his family and his other responsibilities,” Williams said.
Williams described Richards as someone who is easygoing and gets things done.
Williams said Richards gets along with everyone and is always willing to help when he’s needed.
“Stepping down as president of the club is an opportunity to let someone else experience the gratification of leading one of the premier clubs in our community,” Williams said. “This is my second term as president. I first served from 2002 to 2003, and I am honored that I was asked to serve again.”
Watching young individuals join the club and being able to experience and live the club’s motto have been memorable for him, Williams said.
“Community service projects are high-visibility initiatives that illustrate the ‘We Serve’ Lions Club motto,” Richards said. “We are hoping this will likely attract onlookers — all potential new Lions Club members.”
Richards said the Jacksonville Lions Club recently awarded scholarships to Taylor Toombs and Allison Seats of Jacksonville High School.
The club has also provided eye exams and eye glasses to three individuals since January of this year, he said.
Thea Hughes, executive director of Jacksonville Wastewater Utility, has worked with Richards for 11 years.
Hughes described Richards as intelligent, hardworking and dependable.
“Paul received his bachelor’s degree in construction management from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock by going to school at night while working full time and raising a family,” she said. “He continued his wastewater training during that time as well and recently achieved his Class IV Wastewater Operator’s license, which is the highest level offered by the state of Arkansas.”
Richards received the utility’s Dick Morris Employee Excellence Award in 2009 and was selected as the Arkansas Water Environment Association’s Young Professional of the Year in 2016.
“When we hired Paul, we hoped he would ‘work out’ and be one who would advance in his career and within our utility. Not only did he ‘work out’; he excelled,” she said.
Hughes said Richards was promoted to engineering and construction manager in September 2015, and she trusts him to make good decisions.
“He is also wonderful with his family. He is a wonderful dad and husband,” Hughes said.
Staff writer Kayla Baugh can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or kbaugh@arkansasonline.com.