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You may have seen him, standing at West 145th Street and Nall Avenue in Overland Park, waving at motorists with a Kansas City Chiefs flag.
95-year old Scottie Williams has become a fixture for morning commuters heading to work or school on Nall Avenue.
"Every morning it's a joy," Williams said. "Something I look forward to and from the reciprocation, they look forward to it too."
His friendly waves, thumbs-ups, smiles and cheers actually began when got bored on his morning walks.
Williams said he was always looking down at concrete and he wanted to try something different.
"So I said to myself, I said, 'Scotty, you're bored, you're the only one who can do anything about it, so let's try this!" he said. “When I first started this everybody looked so glum, but I was looking glum at the cement. So when I changed, everything seemed to change within me too.”
Over the years he's become someone his neighbors count on to brighten their mornings.
"He just want to light up somebody's day as they start going into work," said Sandi Grimm, a neighbor of Williams.
Lucy Reed, another neighbor, says children enjoy seeing Williams
"The little hands are out of the windows and they're cheering him on," Reed said.
Williams beams as commuters head his way.
"Oh here come a bunch of them, I like that," he said.
His morning routine brings joy to Williams and to those he greets each day.
"This little thing I do starts their morning with a smile," Williams said. "They probably think, 'Oh, look at that little old man out there doing that.' But they wave, laugh and that's good. Because I'm smiling."
