When the organizers of the annual Florida Catfish Tournament in Wewahitchka approached one of their longtime sponsors with the suggestion that they incorporate their name into the tournament in exchange for more help promoting the event, they were surprised at the response.
“We suggested naming it the Roberts & Roberts Florida Catfish Tournament,” said this year’s tournament director Kenny Price. But Liberty County native George Roberts, who now lives in Bay County where the business is located, had another idea. Name it after Curtis Anders.
Price said they were already thinking of adding “In memory of Curtis Anders” at the end of the event’s name, but “George wanted to put Curtis first,” said Price. “He wanted to pay tribute to his friend.”
Anders, an avid fisherman who enjoyed sharing his catch with friends and family, died after falling from his boat on the Apalachicola River in March.
Roberts was one of many who joined members of the Wewahitchka Search and Rescue Team at the site throughout the 13-day search.
Roberts, along with Andy Bailey and Jinker Potter, both of Bristol, were on the river every day of the search.
That experience, he said, gave him some perspective of just how much work search and rescue groups do. “We kind of got to know these guys and saw what it all entailed,” he said. He was so impressed that afterwards, he purchased a new sonar for one of their search boats.
George and Curtis knew each other for many years, attending school together, fishing and hunting together and even working together.
“Curtis worked for me for 30 years,” Roberts said. “I hired him when I was 19 and he was 20.”
He said they were very close and described him as a “very good employee,” although he recalls that Curtis had a rocky start with them.
“The first day he came to work, he wrecked a dump truck,” Roberts said. After it overturned and all the dirt spilled out, he asked Roberts what he should do. Roberts said the dirt needed to be shoveled out. “He shoveled a whole dump truck full of dirt out by himself and didn’t even complain about it,” Roberts said. Afterwards, he came back to the office and said, “I guess I’m fired.” He wasn’t.
That display of patience paved the way for a long career, first at C.W. Roberts Construction Inc. in Hosford, and later at the newer business, Roberts & Roberts in Bay County.
Curtis became the “go to” guy for training employees on equipment and in fact, trained “all our children” when they did work with the company operated by Roberts and his brother, Chuck Roberts, he said.
“He was just a good guy,” Roberts said. “I miss him every day.”