From the Community Development Authority to the city’s summer enrichment mentoring program, Wilbur ‘Bubba’ Masters participates in the organizations that work for the growth of the community and the projects that strive to better the individual.
Masters’ willingness to serve on many boards and organizations earned him the 2013 Spirit of Citizenship Award, an honor bestowed by the Family Success Center.
Masters was honored Aug. 27 with a banquet/roast at the Senior Activity Center in Gadsden.
The citizenship award was inspired by Gadsden’s Spirit of American Citizenship Monument, constructed in 1997 to celebrate Gadsden’s sesquicentennial. The Family Success Center keeps that spirit alive by honoring Gadsden residents who embody the spirit of citizenship in the community.
This year’s recipient’s life exemplifies a quote found on the monument: “Never doubt that committed citizens can change our nation. Indeed they are the only ones who have.”
For the past 28 years, Masters has worked for Regions Bank, where he now serves as city president and community banker. He has served the community in the following roles:
United Way of Etowah County – past president, board member, vice-president of administration and finance, co-chair of the capital campaign; Salvation Army – board member; Gadsden Regional Medical Center – board member; Darden Rehabilitation Foundation – board member; Gadsden Commercial Development Authority – secretary and board member; Commercial Development Authority – past president and board member; Gadsden Cultural Arts Foundation – past president and board member; Summer Enrichment Program – board member; Junior Achievement – past president and board member; Gadsden Rotary Club – board member and president-elect; Gadsden First United Methodist Church – member and past board chairman; University of Alabama National Alumni Association – past president; Boys & Girls Club – past president; Downtown Gadsden Inc. – past president; Industrial Development Authority – past president; Family Success Center – past board member.
Masters was born in Augsburg, Germany while his father served in the U.S. Army. His father was graduated from the University of Florida and after completing his military career he went to work for Goodyear in 1959 and moved the family to Gadsden.
Bubba Masters was graduated from Westminster Christian School, Gadsden State Community College, the University of Alabama and the Banking School of the South at Louisiana State University.
He is married to Debra Weaver Masters, who manages the Peppermint Pony. The couple has a son Sam, who completed his Master’s studies at New York University and now resides in New York City. The Masters are members of Gadsden First United Methodist Church.