WOODVILLE – Building relationships within the community and getting away from the products of “mega-global” companies are driving factors behind “Wild Bill” Spurlock’s “Wild Bill’s Guild” effort.
Spurlock, the owner of Wild Bill’s Grill restaurant, was the speaker at last Wednesday’s meeting of the Rotary Club. He spoke about Wild Bill’s Guild, which he began in early 2021.
“We are stronger as a united, acquainted community,” he said.
Spurlock handed out flyers he created when he began the guild. He commented at the time, “we have founded Wild Bill’s Guild for the purpose of uniting our community food producers with local consumers in a time when scarcity and uncertainty seem to be a greater concern. It is clear that most everything we need is available through the wealth of local resources. Our purpose is to help our community secure a stable food source for its members”.
Fast forward to 2026. Spurlock mentioned that the guild has changed since it was founded in early 2021. “When I bought the restaurant, people would come in all the time, newcomers to the community who didn’t know anybody, and they would ask me where they could find raw eggs, raw milk, fresh veggies, and so on. I would connect them with people’s names from guest checks, and would write down all their requests, and I thought there’s a better way to do this, and that’s when I started the online directory. We built the directory and called it “Wild Bill’s Guild.”
“We made the online directory and anyone that knows anything can get on it. It doesn’t cost anything; you can set up how you want your profile to look and set your contact information. It’s set up into categories so you can go in and say, where’s the raw milk, where’s the yard eggs, and find all the people who have signed into it. It’s not huge, there may be only 20 things on it now, because I haven’t promoted it,” Spurlock added.
Spurlock has been doing some trade days/farmer’s markets, usually on the third Saturday of the month at the restaurant, in the parking lot. “The idea is we are a stronger community if we are acquainted, if we build relationships among us and then we can go to get a better-quality product. It reduces our reliance on the big mega-global corporations. When we get to become more of what (the guild is), by word of mouth, and groups like Rotary to help promote it, it will grow,” Spurlock said.
To access the guild online, you can go to: www.wildbillsguild.com. Spurlock invites participants to craft their own profile describing the offerings that will appear in the directory.
For Will Bill’s Guild events, Spurlock said to please feel free to bring your own tables, tents, brochures, etc. It is entirely up to you how you wish to present your offering.
