Bill's Elbow South
(JACOB LANGSTON/
ORLANDO SENTINEL)
Dec 29, 2005
Oviedo restaurateur a 'sweet guy'
Employees remember William Charles Foulkes delivering Easter baskets and
Christmas presents anonymously.
Gary Taylor Sentinel Staff
Writer
December 29, 2005
It was business as usual Wednesday at
Bill's Elbow South in Oviedo Marketplace mall, two days after the restaurant's
owner was found dead in his home.
But for family and others who knew
William Charles Foulkes, neither the restaurant nor the community will ever be
the same without the jovial owner.
As sole proprietor, "this was his
life," said Foulkes' brother, Ken Hall, who was helping to oversee operations
Wednesday.
It hasn't been determined who will take over the popular
restaurant, Hall said, but "the family very much wants for it to stay
open."
That's not just because of the people who patronize the place, but
the 80 people who work there. Hall said the core staff consists of loyal and
longtime employees.
"We've got a lot of people depending on this
place."
"It would be a sad day if they close," said Bob Jones of
Chuluota, who eats regularly at the restaurant. "I love it."
Foulkes, 52,
operated the restaurant a short distance away on State Road 426 for about 10
years before moving into the mall 21/2 years ago. The spot, one of two full-size
restaurants at the mall, was formerly occupied by Oldenburg Bar &
Grill.
Jones said he has eaten at Bill's "at least three times a month"
since the restaurant opened, often dining on his favorite dish, marinated
steak.
You can't eat there without seeing people you know, said Esther
Gardner, who knew Foulkes for more than a decade.
The restaurant is
always busy, Gardner said. "You always have to wait."
And no matter how
busy Foulkes was, she said, he would always find time to stop by her table and
visit for a few minutes.
"We called him 'Big Daddy'," she said. "He
was the King of Oviedo."
But it is the good that Foulkes did in and around Oviedo
for which he should be remembered, said Gebing, who worked for him for eight
years.
Each Easter morning, Foulkes would set out at 2 a.m. to deliver
baskets full of candy to the homes of his employees as well as to needy children
included on a list provided by local police officers, Gebing said.
But
Foulkes didn't stop with setting a basket on the front steps, she said. He mixed
up a special concoction and painted "bunny prints" on the sidewalk leading to
each house.
Foulkes was equally mysterious before each Christmas. He
would give Gebing a list with the names of 10 to 35 needy children and send her
shopping for presents. "He didn't want anyone to know that it came from him,"
she said.
More publicly, about three years ago, Foulkes, as a Notary
Public, performed a New Year's Eve wedding ceremony at the original restaurant
for a soldier who was home from Iraq, said Gardner, a florist who Foulkes often
called upon for last-minute flower arrangements.
He got all dressed up to
perform the marriage ceremony, complete with a tuxedo and top hat, she
said.
"He was a really sweet guy," she said.
Baldwin-Fairchild
Funeral Home, Oviedo Chapel, is handling funeral arrangements.
Gary
Taylor can be reached at gtaylor@orlandosentinel.com or
407-324-7293.
