Deborah Corrao / L’Observateur / June 5, 1999

Every day you can see them – Bill and Annie – on their route from Bill’s home on Mahogany Street to the Hibernia Bank on Main Street in LaPlace.

The daily trek has become a ritual for Bill Thomson and his faithful companion, a mixed breed dog of Australian shepherd descent given to him as a 50th anniversary present by his children two years ago.

Chookie, a little dog that had held a special place in Thomson’s heart for many years, had passed away. Thomson’s daughter Terri, who lives inBoerne, Texas, rescued Annie from a local pound as a surprise for her father. The new puppy was christened “Annie” for “annie-versary.”Thomson’s usual afternoon walk with Annie took on new meaning this past February when he noticed that litter was once again piling up on the streets along his path, streets that had been swept by cleanup crews in a post-Mardi Gras blitz.

“As I walked I noticed a few cans appear here and there,” Thomson says, “so I decided to start picking up litter as I walked.”An avid golfer, Thomson, 73, fashioned a tool out of a golf club that was missing its head, abandoned by its owner at the Riverlands Country Club.

He fitted the end of the driver with a nail and was in business.

Along the way Thomson measures the success of his pickup campaign by the amount of cans he accumulates on the nail. He deposits the litter ingarbage cans at various landmarks he passes.

Giving back to his country and community comes easily to Thomson.

In 1944 the Victoria, Texas, native left his childhood sweetheart Ruth behind to enlist in the Navy when he dropped out of Baylor University after an emergency operation for appendicitis.

His brother Tommy, a gunner on a fighter plane, had already lost his life in World War II, shot down by an enemy plane over Italy.

Thomson was assigned to the troop transport ship, the USS Sea Flier, a merchant ship pressed into service for the war effort. In April of 1945the young sailor was hit by shrapnel during the invasion of Okinawa.

After V-E Day the Sea Flier was sent to Marseilles to pick up 2,000 American soldiers and transport them to the Pacific to take up the war against Japan.

As the ship headed into the Pacific through the Panama Canal, the sailors got word that the Americans had bombed Nagasaki, effectually ending World War II.

Thomson returned to his hometown with a Purple Heart and married Ruth in 1947. In 1963 the family moved to LaPlace to help start up the Dupontplant in St. John Parish. He retired 21 years later but has never let thegrass grow under his feet.

He plays golf nearly every day with the RAMS – Riverlands Amateur Men’s Seniors – a group of about 15 retirees who enjoy being on the golf course almost as much as Thomson does.

He served as president of Riverlands Country Club for eight years and continues to serve on the board as second vice president.

Fortunately, his wife of 52 years enjoys the sport, too. The couple oftenplays in tournaments together and loves to travel to play on other courses throughout the country.

The Thomsons also enjoys visiting daughters Terri and Jan, who lives in California, and their four grandchildren and great-grandson.

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