New Pinal wine honors an old friend
by Mark Cowling | PinalCentral
William “Mac” McWilliams visited the Windmill Winery one day while he was looking for a house to buy in Florence. The 79-year-old former Navy diver, who had worked for oil companies in Alaska in civilian life had just become a truck driver.
Windmill owner Harold Christ told McWilliams, “You’ve got to be kidding; why don’t you come to work here?”
“He just lit up,” Christ’s wife, Katie, recalled.
As impromptu hires go, McWilliams turned out to be one of the best; he was the first to arrive in the morning and the last to leave at night. He was talented, building the dock at the Lakehouse and decorative touches like a Golden Gate Bridge replica. His handiwork is all over the property. “I bought one of his paintings for Harold’s birthday this year,” Katie said.
