VIDEO: Perry Hall's Mayor William 'Buddy' Butt Turns 90

William "Buddy" Butt is known as the mayor of Perry Hall.

The title is unofficial. He was never a politician, merely an activist.

His activism, however, mostly in the form of diligent volunteer work, made him one of the most central men in Perry Hall's history.

From the to the Perry Hall Improvement Association, many of the community's most defining landmarks and organizations were either founded or significantly shaped by Buddy's influence.

Born on March 30, 1921 in Perry Hall, near the intersection of and , he came from a long line of German farmers. They had large families, worked hard and raised vegetables, he said.

When he was 17, he made his living as a huckster, selling the family's produce from Perry Hall to Towson. He was an and active member of the .

Buddy had always felt a sense of social activism, he said, but it wasn't until the 1940s that his vision for a stronger, more defined, better connected Perry Hall would reach fruition.

In 1945, along with other community members, he founded and served as president of the Perry Hall Improvement Association. In 1949, the PHIA started an annual down Belair Road, which Buddy would eventually chair 12 times.

In 1963, after significant lobbying, he helped found Perry Hall's first library on Belair Road.

He became an active member and president of the Kingsville-Perry Hall Lions Club, a member of the Maryland Accordion Club and the German Society of Maryland.

In 1987, he helped found the Northeast Business Association, which became known as the Perry Hall Business and Professional Association, and later, the Perry Hall White Marsh Business Association.

In 1988, he retired from the produce business and decided to focus exclusively on his "Pride of Germantown" fruit baskets, which he still sells from his Belair Road home.

"When they call me the mayor of Perry Hall, I just take that as a compliment because I've accomplished so much in my life," he said.

Buddy's life-long motivation was the desire to improve, he said. "When I leave this world, I want it to be a better place than when I came."

Editor's Note: Some historical information was drawn from the book, "Crossroads, The History of Perry Hall, Maryland," written by David Marks and published in 2001 by the Perry Hall Improvement Association.