280 Living Newspaper July 2011 by Starnes Media

280 Living

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neighborly news & entertainment

Volume | Issue2011 11 | July | 4July | 2011

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A 280 trafﬁc solution?

July Features

Fireworks Fun | pg 6 • Editor’s Note

• Local’s Produce

• Zumba Gold

• Junior Cotillion

• Cool Things to Do

• Princess Collette

• Family Fourth Tradition

• Apartheid Memoir

• School House

• Sports

• Restaurant Showcase

• Business Spotlight

• 280 Business Happenings 22 • Rick Watson

• Library Happenings

• Kari Kampakis

• Paul Johnson

• Calendar of Events

• Music Listings/Classiﬁeds 31 Become a fan on

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ALDOT is considering a plan for an elevated roadway on Highway 280 like this sketch of the Brook Highland Parkway and Meadow Brook Road intersection. Illustration courtesy of ALDOT.

By MAdolINE MARKHAM Survey crews have been at work on Highway 280 over the past several months, which might have led those who travel it daily to wonder, “Maybe they’ll do something to alleviate the traffic bane of everyone’s existence?” The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) is currently completing survey work on the highway that will help determine a course of action

for future improvements on the highway, according to Brian Davis, Third Division engineer at ALDOT. “It will help any decision that will be made,” said Davis, who has worked on Highway 280 issues since 1994. “It enables us to do a better job analyzing any alternatives on the table. We want to make a decision based on sound numbers.” Once the survey work is completed,

ALDOT will discuss their findings and determine the best solution with Governor Robert Bentley. When ALDOT and the governor decide on one plan to proceed with, they will involve the public. Ultimately, the governor will make the final decision. When campaigning in August, Governor Bentley said he favored

See 280 | page 23

Vapor’s vision By MIA BASS

Driving south on Highway 280 past Greystone, it’s hard to miss a bright red awning that reads, “Life is a vapor.” Behind the awning is not just a shopping spot but a ministry that supports schooling, healthcare and athletic activities for children in Kenya and other parts of Africa—all relying on the hands and hearts of the people from the 280 area. The store is run by manager Steven Palmore, but it isn’t heavily staffed. Instead, it depends on the spirit of volunteerism in the 280 area. Six volunteers come in on a regular basis; two work in the store daily. During the school year, high school students also cycle through in order to help. “Seeing God’s hand in every step the store has taken is inspiring,” Palmore said. He came into the Vapor family about a year ago, but Kim Thrasher, an

Members of the Vapor team at Vapor Sports Thrift Store. Back row: Gordon Higbee, Dustin Rosner and Mischa Jordy. Middle row: Travis Quinn, Josh Kirkland, Taylor Wyatt, Karson Nichols, Shelby Rodda and Steven Palmore. Front row: Silas Rosner, Stephanie Mleziva, Lesley Simons and Kim Thrasher.

associate at the thrift store, has been a part of Vapor since the very start. She actually knew Micah McElveen, founder of Vapor Sports Ministries, before the accident and before the vision for Vapor. The Vapor story McElveen was injured and became a

quadriplegic at age 14. After regaining use of his legs, he was able to play collegiate soccer for four years. His love of soccer led him on a month-long trip to Kenya. It was a common bond, kicking the ball between one another.

See VAPOR | page 29

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July 2011

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July 2011

Welcome Friends

280 Living neighborly news & entertainment

Editor’s Note

Unless it’s 10 a.m. or 10 p.m., inching from light to light on Highway 280 no doubt drives each of us crazy. We’ve seen survey crews at work and heard intermittent news about ALDOT’s plans for the gridlock, but this month we at 280 Living wanted to step back and ask what was actually going on. Unfortunately, we can’t report any concrete plan in place to change things, but we can say, as you’ll read in the cover story, that the conversations are moving forward with viable plans. Frustrating as 280 traffic can be, we always enjoy spotlighting some of the places to which it takes us. Our intern, Mia, profiled the ministry of Vapor Sports and their thrift store. She also got the scoop on Local’s Produce stand near Walmart and Zumba’ed with the ladies at the Heardmont Senior Center. We traveled down to Mt Laurel to meet one of the princesses at Tea Party Castle and to try the okra basket and flat bread at Stones Throw Bar & Grill. I especially enjoyed reading author

Claire Datnow’s memoir and talking with her about growing up in South Africa during apartheid. Be sure to check out her story on page 12 and consider seeing her at Mandela Day at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute on July 18. Who else do you know in our community that has an interesting story to share? We are always looking for people and places to showcase. Email me your ideas—as well as any photos submissions for photo of the month— madoline@280living.com. Also, now that lake season is in full swing, don’t forget to submit photos for our Lake Lovers Contest. Last but certainly not least, my mustdo for you this month is to try a baby bite cake at Pastry Art Bake Shoppe in Inverness. Our office has become seriously addicted to them. My favorite is the marble flavor they have on Wednesdays. Have a safe and happy Fourth of July celebration!

Meet our staff Burnette Farms in Chilton County sells peaches and other produce at the Valleydale Farmers Market. Photo by Madoline Markham.

Staff & Friends

Mia Bass Mia Bass grew up in Homewood, graduated from Homewood High School in 2008 and is happy to be back for the summer. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in English and creative writing from the University of Alabama and will graduate in December 2011. Mia works as editor of the literary journal DewPoint and as copyeditor at The Crimson White in Tuscaloosa. Working for Alabama Heritage magazine and Slash Pine Press fostered her love for publishing, and she’ll always be a poet at heart. She enjoys cheering on the Tide and singing with the Trinity United Methodist Church choir. Mia can be reached at mia@280living.com.

Contributing Writers

Paul Johnson | Irma Palmer Brent Watson | Rick Watson | Kari Kampakis Lisa DeAraujo

Contributing Photographers Cari Dean

Dan Starnes

Creative Director Keith McCoy

Community Editor Kathryn Acree

Managing Editor Madoline Markham

Sales and Distribution Dan Starnes Angela Morris

Intern Mia Bass

Published by Starnes Publishing LLC

madoline@280living.com

For advertising contact:

Contact Information: 280 Living P.O. Box 530341 Birmingham, AL 35253 (205)-370-0732

dan@280living.com Legals:

280 Living is published monthly. Reproduction or use of editorial or graphic content without prior permission is prohibited. 280 Living is designed to inform the communities along Highway 280 of area school, faith, family and community events. Information in 280 Living is gathered from sources considered reliable but the accuracy cannot be guaranteed. All articles/ photos submitted become the property of 280 Living. We reserve the right to edit articles/ photos as deemed necessary. Inaccuracies or errors should be brought to the attention of the publisher at (205) 370-0732 or by email. Please recycle this paper

This month’s winner will recieve:

Congratulations to the winner of the June Facebook fan giveaway:

$50 to Dale’s Southern Grill

Beth Shu Eaton

Thanks for reading and being fans of 280 Living.

You must e-mail dan@280living.com to claim your prize.

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Please submit all articles, information and photos to:

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Remember only Fans who “like” our Facebook page are eligible for the monthly giveaway. The winner for this month will be chosen July 20th.

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Independence Day fireworks fun By KATHRYN ACREE It’s just not the Fourth of July without fireworks. Here is a listing of fireworks venues nearby that are always worth catching: The Big Kaboom, Chelsea Park Chelsea’s free fireworks celebration is always fun and close by. The fifth annual Big Kaboom event is set for Sunday, July 3 in the Chelsea Park subdivision off

Highway 280. This event attracts about 10,000 viewers each year. Come early, around 8 p.m., for pre-firework entertainment from various local artists and groups singing the city song, “Heart of Chelsea.” Food vendors will be available, and it’s recommended that visitors bring folding chairs and blankets. Representatives from the City of Chelsea say that there is plenty of space for everyone to enjoy the show throughout the Chelsea Park subdivision as well as at an empty gravel lot at the intersection of Highway 280 and Highway 440. If you can see the water tower, you will have a great view of the fireworks. Morgan Creek Vineyards, Harpersville As part of their summer concert events, Morgan Creek Vineyards will celebrate on July 2. The evening begins at 6 p.m. with winery tours, wine tastings, music and fireworks. Admission is $10 for adults while children under 10 are free. Picnic dinners are welcome and BBQ will be for sale onsite.

Independence Day Celebration at The American Village. Photo courtesy The American Village.

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Thunder on the Mountain, Vulcan Park and Museum Vulcan Park and Museum is the “launch site” for Birmingham’s long-standing July 4th fireworks event, Thunder on the Mountain, which begins at 9 p.m. The park and museum close by 6 p.m on the 4th to prepare for the evening extravaganza. “We actually shoot fireworks from the observation deck for Vulcan, so for safety reasons, the park is closed,” said Audra Bean, director of PR and marketing. Bean gives another hint for the best viewing experience of the 20-minute show— make sure you have a clear view of the iron man himself, Vulcan. “The simulcast music is timed with the fireworks and certain features spotlight Vulcan such as fireworks that appear to shoot from his spear,” Bean said. Prime viewing locations include Five Points South, Homewood, Vestavia, Mountain Brook and the UAB campus. Based on growing crowds in recent years, organizers are advising spectators to stake out a viewing point well in advance of the 9 p.m. show. The event is simulcast on television on Fox6 and on the following radio stations: 104.7 FM WZZK, 106.9 The Eagle, 97.3 The Buck, 101.9 FM WENN, 95.7 JAMZ, 98.7 Kiss FM and 610 Heaven WAGG.

Visitors to Morgan Creek Vineyards in Harpersville enjoy a night of ﬁreworks and music. Photo courtesy Morgan Creek Vineyards.

Independence Day 1776, The American Village, Montevallo Take a step back in time to the founding of our nation at The American Village in Montevallo on Monday, July 4. The civic education and historical village offers unique entertainment and great food all day long. Costumed interpreters such as George Washington, Patrick Henry, Abigail Adams and Thomas Jefferson showcase the “Spirit of 76.” There will be Full Moon BBQ and a variety of other foods. The evening winds down as the American Village celebrates our nation’s 235th birthday with an unusual candle blowout followed by a fireworks spectacular with great patriotic music from the Montevallo Community Band. The American Village is located at 3727 Highway 119 in Montevallo. Admission is $5 for adults and children 5 and over; all active and military veterans are free. Children 4 and under are free. Gates open at 11 a.m.

6/17/11 9:46 AM

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What began as an idea to sell tomatoes on Highway 280 has expanded into an offering of zucchini, bell pepper,s squash and all kids of food products at Local’s Produce. “It’s as local as we can get,” Everett said. They sell the produce from their own Sunbelt Farm in Harpersville, where 80 acres are devoted to tomatoes and 40 to other vegetables. They also sell peaches grown by Mr. Headly in Chilton County and various veggies from farmers in Blount County and Albertville, among other foods. “Everything is made by local Alabama

An assortment of the produce for sale. Photo by Mia Bass.

friends,” Hamner said. It’s that neighborly attitude that has become the nuts and bolts of the produce stand since it opened last year. “One of the best parts of the job is getting to flirt with little old ladies and ask the kicker question, ‘How did you meet your husband?’” Everett said. The relationships Sam Hamner formed with other locals, such as the Crazy Red Headed Fat Girls who provide the salsa and preserves for the stand, make the stand a community. They also sell Kelly’s Cakes, fresh lemonade and boiled peanuts. “There really isn’t anything like this out here,” Julie Hamner said. This month Everett said no one should miss out on the huge watermelon and even more delicious Chilton County peaches for sale. Local’s Produce stand is open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m.-6 pm. and on Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m. The stand can be found at 5301 Highway 280 between Lloyd’s Restaurant and Hamburger Heaven. They welcome questions at localsproduce@gmail.com.

Car show to be held at Veterans Park The 1st Annual Hoover City Car Show will take place Saturday and Sunday, July 30-31 at Veterans Park on Valleydale Road. The free event starts at 8 a.m. each day. Cars will be parked in tents with lots of shade, and there will be food from Full Moon BBQ and shaved ice. Car registration is open Saturday, 8a.m.-12p.m. for $30; pre-registration before July 15 is $25. All money raised will go toward Magic Moments, an organization that fulfills non-medical wishes of chronically ill children in Alabama. Tickets will be sold for a 50/50 raffle.

Half the money from the tickets sold will be awarded to a winner on Sunday, and half will be given to Magic Moments. Judging for the top 25 cars will take place Saturday, 2-4 p.m.; trophy awards will be given Sunday at 1 p.m. Professional car builders will judge the competition. The event is sponsored by Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center, Full Moon BBQ, Performance Car Craft, Gastroenterology Associates, Superior Automotive, Griffey’s Hot Rods and Nabors Radiator & Electronic Service Co. For more information on how to preregister, contact Bob McCrary at 492-0904.

Valleydale widening in the works Designs to widen Valleydale Road from Inverness Center Drive to Caldwell Mill Road are being considered by the City of Hoover. The plan would widen the road from two lanes to five and improve the intersection at Caldwell Mill Road by adding turning lanes as needed, said Hoover City Engineer Rodney Long. In June the Hoover City Council authorized Mayor Tony Petelos to create and approve a Supplemental Agreement with Volkert & Associates Construction

for the design and engineering of the project, which has been in the works since 1999. The construction is still a long way off, however. Long estimates they will begin construction in three to five years. It will take one year for utility relocations and two years for construction, Long also estimates. Numerous approvals must be obtained by ALDOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) before construction can begin.

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Bob Everett operates Local’s Produce daily from the farm to the stand. Photo by Mia Bass.

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Coin skirts jingle from the waists of senior citizens. They spin in circles and wave their hands above their heads to the beat of Cee Lo’s “Forget You” and other pop songs. “Our mothers never taught us to shake it like this,” class member Sandra Alliston said. By “shaking it” at the Zumba Gold class at the Heardmont Senior Center, Alliston has lost 40 pounds. “This isn’t the sort of thing for those who aren’t active,” Sandra Craft said. She’s not kidding. The class lasts 45 minutes. The ladies said that salsa, swing and hip hop numbers are their favorites in Zumba, a work-out class inspired by Latin music and dance.

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Craft and Rena Coleman also take part in aerobics and tai chi at the senior center twice a week, along with Zumba. “We’ve been here since the beginning, since the very first class,” they said. The class began with only five or six participants in April of last year but has since grown to upwards of 25. These Friday Zumba classes are led by instructor Kim McKnight and begin at 9 a.m. Classes are free to all Shelby County residents ages 55 and up. Those interested can also join in Wednesday Zumba classes in the fall for only $8 per month. Wednesday classes begin at 1 p.m. For more information, call the Heardmont Senior Center at 991-9206.

Cotillion classes offer more than silver service By MIA BASS A stuffy, dry room filled with curtsies and scripted small talk isn’t the atmosphere Jackie Reames, Director of the Shelby County Junior Cotillion, sets to create in her classes. There is a dress code that includes gloves for the young ladies in Reames’ classes and silver service as well, but there is a larger objective. The League of Junior Cotillions provides a combination of character education and etiquette instruction. Recognizing the need for appropriate education in this technological age, children learn how social media blurs the lines between business and personal lives. Classes for the Shelby County Chapter start in August. “It’s about being prepared for the future,” Reames said. “It might be oldfashioned, but it’s never wrong to open the door for a young lady.” Reames is proud of the difference she sees in the young men in her classes. Junior Cotillions are typically 3-year programs for rising 5th-7th graders, but Reames encourages interested students to join in any of those years. The years before high school are defining for these students. “They are becoming young men and women,” Reames said. “The people around them are starting to take notice.” Although there are fewer boys than girls, Reames says the boys enjoy it more than she could have anticipated. One even begged his mother after one class to buy him a new suit. Parents are invited to the class in February where they can learn some of the dances their children have been learning. It’s a special time to share those lessons together. Reames said she saw a need for professional development and character building in a fun environment in her community. Being professional in a business setting is a skill that isn’t fostered for children anymore. “It can be something as small as a handshake to set someone

Jackie Reames (left) with her son and a class member. Photo by Mia Bass.

apart in an interview,” Reames said. This is Reames’ second year hosting etiquette classes in Shelby County. A friend of Reames’ from Decatur noticed the manners of Reames’ children and suggested she begin her own chapter of the National League of Junior Cotillions. There was previously no chapter in Shelby County. Reames explained she homeschooled her children for a while and made the decision early to never accept anything less than well-mannered kids. After thinking it over, Reames agreed to travel to Charlotte, N.C., where she participated in training and became an accredited instructor from the National League of Junior Cotillions. Since her first season, Reames has been in contact with the Board of Education in order to talk with school counselors and the PTO. She plans to hold a parents’ reception in August, with a PowerPoint presentation highlighting the need for the values she is standing up for in her Junior Cotillion class. Classes take place once a month in the North Shelby County Library. Each season of Junior Cotillion consists of five classes and two balls. One ball takes place in December and one in April. Each class features silver service, food and drinks. Cost per year is $325. For more information on registration and classes, contact Jackie Reames at jackie.reames@yahoo.com.

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Cool things to do on hot days By KATHRYN ACREE

July 2011

distinctive goods for home and life

It’s July, and summer is in full blast. Well, a blast of heat that is. If you and your family or friends are ready to enjoy fun minus the sun, here are some cool places not too far away to beat the heat:

English Village

DeSoto Caverns Family Fun Park, Childersburg This Alabama landmark is only a few miles east of Chelsea off Highway 280. The cavern tour begins in a room that is 12-stories high and larger than a football field. And talk about cool—the cave stays a comfortable 60 degrees year round, but with the 100 percent humidity inside the caverns, the temperature feels closer to 70. The walking tour through the caverns is a 1/3-mile journey; the entrance and exit to the caverns are wheelchair and stroller accessible. Regular park hours during July are Monday – Saturday, 9 a.m. – 6:30 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m.- 6:30 p.m. For additional information on availability and rates for all park activities, go to www. desotocavernspark.com. Tree Top Family Adventure, Chelsea This four-acre entertainment destination has become known for gokarts and mini-golf. But when the sun is blazing, it’s still a great place to be inside their 18,000-square-foot facility. They boast Birmingham’s largest arcade and prize redemption center. Among activities not to be missed are 66 mini-bowling lanes and a state-of-the-art laser tag arena. Children age 10 and under can enjoy the indoor playground and toddler area. Animaland offers a large selection of stuffed animals where you can build your new best friend. The TreeTop Café is inside for snacks or a sit-down dinner. For more information on pricing and all the activities available, call 637-3780 or visit their website, www. treetopfamilyadventure.com. iJump, Inverness With 20,000 square feet of indoor entertainment space, iJump offers inflatable play equipment, party rooms, indoor go-karts, a rock climbing wall and arcade games. For parents, there is a lounge area with computers and Wifi access. New reduced pricing includes activities that can be purchased separately or in combo packs priced from $11 to $15. Remember that socks are required for playing on inflatables and appropriate shoes are required for the rock wall and go-karts. New summer hours are Monday – Thursday, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. and Sunday, noon – 6 p.m. iJump is located on Resource Center Parkway behind Logan’s Roadhouse. For more information, call 981-2696. McWane Science Center, Downtown Birmingham Located downtown off 19th Street North, McWane Science Center offers

2006 Cahaba Road Birmingham, AL 35223 ph 205.637.5840

A cool creek winds through DeSoto Caverns Family Fun Park near the entrance to the caverns. Photo by Kathryn Acree.

four floors of interactive exhibits. From dinosaurs to a weather center to a shark and ray touch tank, this world-class museum appeals to visitors old and young. This summer’s buzz has been all about McWane’s new special exhibit, the Imagination Lab, featuring a bubble room, zip line, giant maze and messy art studio. Summer hours are Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday, noon – 6 p.m. They are open every day during the summer, even the Fouth of July. For admission prices and additional information, call 714-8300 or visit their website, www, mcwane.org.com. Free Movies, Lee Branch Nothing beats free family fun! The Rave at Lee Branch is offering a free movie showing each Tuesday and Wednesday at 10 a.m. during the summer. For July 5 and 6, the movie is Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, on July 12 and 13, it’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and on July 19 and 20, it’s Gulliver’s Travels. Doors open at 9 a.m., and the concession stand offers $1 off their movie meal combo during this time. For more information, call the Rave at Lee Branch box office at 4087857.

Cooking demonstrations at Valleydale Farmers Market Valleydale Farmers Market will hold cooking demonstrations every other Saturday:

bistro at t he D oubletree H otel d owntown

July 9- Tamara Starkey from Sysco (formerly at Cafe Dupont)

The market runs every Saturday, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., through the summer. It is located in the parking lot of Faith Presbyterian Church, 4601 Valleydale Road. For more information, visit www. valleydalefarmersmarket.com.

July 23 - Guillermo Castro from Cantina August 6 - Susan Green from Birmingham Bake & Cook Co. August 20 - Criss Smiley from 808 South, a

September 3 - Ama Shambulia from West End Community Garden

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July 2011

280 Living

Living a Fairytale: Princess Collette of Tea Party Castle

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As her beautiful ball gown swishes past, Princess Collette smiles down at a collection of elementary school-aged girls enthralled in the scene before them. Collette begins singing “I’m Waiting for My Prince” when suddenly, Prince Charming himself is there. He waltzes Collette around the room to the shy giggles of onlookers. Is this the latest historical romance novel? Has Disney produced a new musical? Have you been out in the summer heat too long? None of the above. It is simply another day at Mt Laurel’s Tea Party Castle, and for Spain Park rising senior, Becky Brinkerhoff, it is a dream part-time job. Having been involved in theatre productions since third grade, the Greystone-area music-lover knew she had found a perfect position when hired as Princess Collette. “I’ve always loved working with children, and I sing constantly,” Brinkerhoff said. “Being part of the Tea Party Castle family fulfills all my loves— singing, acting and working with kids.” Offering a unique party experience to princesses age 4 and older, the Tea Party Castle is a grand tearoom with chandeliers, fairytale wall murals, elegant tables, fine china, a stage and dance floor. Parties can include a tea party, fashion show, makeovers and more. Hostesses like Princess Collette and her singing maids entertain visitors to complete each fantasythemed event. “Beyond looking beautiful, each host princess speaks to visiting partygoers about the importance of having inner beauty as well,” Brinkerhoff said. “We talk about polite behavior and having table manners befitting an elegant princess.” Never breaking the illusion of being in character as Princess Collette is key to Tea Party Castle events. “As soon as the princess and her maids enter the room, the whole fairytale begins,” Brinkerhoff said. “It is a wonderful time for a young girl to be a part of, and I enjoy getting to celebrate that time with the partygoers. Little girls grow up so fast these days, and this encourages a return to a simpler time,

even if it is for only a few hours.” Brinkerhoff has been with Tea Party Castle for one year, first performing as a maid before being named Princess Collette. Her love of music and theatre is a guide as she looks to her future career. She hopes to pursue a degree in vocal performance or musical theatre. “I would love to be able to go to a school like NYU that is known for it’s strong arts programs,” she said. Active in Spain Park’s theatre department, Brinkerhoff also finds time for another passion- contributing to the promotion of human rights through Amnesty International. The sopranosinging honor student juggles a slew of AP classes while working her part-time schedule as a princess. “I stay very busy, but I don’t even think of my time as Collette as even being a job,” Brinkerhoff said. “I’m the luckiest girl in the world because I get to do what I love.” Tea Party Castle is located at 23 Olmsted Street in Mt Laurel. For party information, contact owner Darlene Self at 529-0081 or by email at teapartycastle@ gmail.com.

Iron City Chef to be held at Jeff State On July 18 four Birmingham chefs will compete in an Iron Chef-style competition at Jefferson State Community College, Shelby/Hoover Campus on Valleydale Road. Chefs competing in the competition are Tom Robey of Veranda, Troy Black of Learn2Q.com, Clifton Holt of Little Savannah and Robert Kamm of Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa.

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Princess Collette dazzles partygoers at Tea Party Castle. Photo courtesy Brinkerhoff family.

The event begins at 6 p.m. and will include a wine tasting, receptionstyle dinner, silent auction and music by Constant Adjustment. Proceeds will benefit the community service projects of the Vestavia Hills Rotary Foundation. The cost is $50 per person. For tickets and more information, visit www.rotarytoast.com or call 823-7723.

Oak Mountain student attends Boys State Oak Mountain High School student Joshua Self was chosen to attend the Law Enforcement Academy at the 74th annual American Legion Alabama Boys State. Students from around the state are chosen for the leadership and citizen training program, a high honor for high school seniors. The program took place May

29-June 4 at the University of Alabama. The students upgraded the playgrounds and parks in the city and participated in mock political parties, house and senates, trials, and other things to lean to solve complex problems facing city and county governments, among other activities. Self is the son of Debbie and Barry Self.

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On July Fourth it’s time for a party at the Salser home—not just some sparklers and hamburgers but a real bash that celebrates not only our country’s birthday but also their daughter Jill’s birthday as well. In early July 1984, longtime Chelsea residents Bruce and Cindy Salser were awaiting the arrival of their baby due in late June. “My dad told me this baby was waiting to come into the world on the Fourth of July, and low and behold, she did,” Cindy Salser said. Jill Salser, little sister to big brother Andrew, arrived at Brookwood Medical Center around 6 a.m. on the 4th, just an hour after Bruce and Cindy made the drive to the maternity unit. “She arrived just like a firecracker,” Salser said with a smile. Salser’s family always enjoyed the July Fourth holiday. “Growing up, my dad would spend the day grilling, starting early that morning,” Salser said. “We’d have barbecue, potato salad, baked beans, watermelon, homemade ice cream, the whole spread. It was an all-day event getting the food ready then finally eating till you were absolutely full.” Baby Jill’s birthday gave the annual celebration an even bigger reason for the family to gather. “There’s never any doubt where everyone will go that day,” Salser said. “The family just knows to come to our house every year.” The menu has not changed much since Cindy Salser was growing up. “We’ve just gotten a little smarter and have several

store-bought items now,” Salser said. “The point is for the family to enjoy the day together and not just being stuck cooking in the kitchen!” One staple menu item is Jill’s favorite cake, red velvet cake. “That is always her birthday cake, usually decorated with a red, white and blue theme,” Salser said. “There were years we might put a couple of characters on there—clowns or other figures—to make it more like a birthday cake, but it is still always a red velvet cake.” Because of her special birthday, Jill’s grandfather (Cindy’s father) gave her the nickname “Miss America.” “He told her when she was very young that she was Miss America and she truly believed she was,” Salser said. The family especially treasures the memory after their grandfather passed away in 2009. Twenty-seven years later, party traditions like decorating the house and tabletop with patriotic colors are musts. Some years the family enjoys driving over to Chelsea Park to go to The Big KaBoom on July 3 or watching the Thunder on the Mountain fireworks on television. Sparklers and fireworks are still in the mix, although scaled down for the little ones in the family that aren’t too thrilled with the loud noise. Jill is now married and the mother of a toddler. Red velvet cake and homemade ice cream still await her on her birthday, as well as a house full of friends and family ready to enjoy this special summer holiday.

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July 2011

School House

Local author publishes apartheid memoir By MAdolINE MARKHAM Claire Datnow thinks of her life in two parts: growing up in South Africa and living most of her adult life here in Birmingham. “Why did I go from Johannesburg to Birmingham?” the Greystone resident said she contemplated for years. “I must be here for a reason.” The reason became clear this year when the publishing of her memoir about growing up in South Africa coincided with apartheid exhibits at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and the Birmingham Museum of Art. The exhibits alluded to parallels between South African apartheid and the Jim Crow era South. “It was wonderful to feel the connection between my two lives,” she said. Born in 1939, Datnow tells the story of her family, country and immigration to the United States in Behind the Walled Garden of Apartheid: Growing Up White in Segregated South Africa. She paints the canvas of her childhood and young adult years amidst the exotic landscape of South Africa, weaving her personal stories with the historical context of apartheid. The more she researched for the book, the more she realized how her family and comfortable suburban life had sheltered her from fully grasping what was happening in her own country in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Through her book, Datnow hopes readers will absorb some of historical complexities of the apartheid system. Datnow and her husband, Boris, moved from South Africa to California in 1965 when he got a job with NASA, moving to Birmingham in 1972. They became acquainted with their new country during the Civil Rights Movement, and Datnow is quick to point out the differences she saw between it and apartheid. “In America people could make change,” she said. “Having no censorship was so refreshing to me. In the grip of

Datnow’s Writings Behind The Walled Garden Of Apartheid The Final Diagnosis Edwin Hubble: Discoverer of Galaxies The Nine Inheritors (Coming Soon) Adventures of the Sizzling Six The Lone Tree Who Stole The Cahaba Lily? The Living Treasure (Coming Soon) Datnow’s books are available at The Little Professor in Homewood, The Birmingham Museum of Art gift shop, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute gift store and on Amazon.com and mediamint.org. Ebooks are available on the Barnes and Noble Nook, Sony Reader, Diesel ebooks, and Smashwords.com.

Ellen Bruck, author Claire Datnow and Elizabeth Kohn at a reading and book signing for Datnow’s memoir held at Little Professor Book Center. Photo courtesy of Claire Datnow.

apartheid, there was nothing we could do to make a difference.” In the book, Datnow chronicles the evolution of her view of right and wrong, from a child who accepted what she was taught to a young adult who questioned the morality of an unjust system. “Over time you see it’s not right,” she said. “I had an uneasy feeling that what was being done was wrong, and we couldn’t right that wrong,” Datnow said. She hopes readers will reflect on how their personal lives are impacted by historical events as she did. Always an avid reader, Datnow developed a desire to write in her early 20s. She published a few newspaper articles, but for years she focused on raising children and her teaching career. She taught gifted students in Birmingham City Schools before choosing to write as a career.

She began her fulltime writing endeavors with the memoir, writing the entire book in 1996. But the timing was not right to publish the work then, she said. The apartheid government had just fallen in 1994, and she didn’t think people were ready to read her story yet. With the memoir draft on her shelf, she wrote a series of young adult environmental novels and The Final Diagnosis, a collection of real life medical mysteries based on autopsies she coauthored with her husband, an autopsy pathologist. Then, two years ago, she he pulled out the memoir manuscript and submitted it for publication. Local publisher Media Mint released it earlier this year. “Apartheid is now an era that has disappeared,” she said. “There is a generation that didn’t grow up with apartheid, people want to know about it.”

Nelson Mandela Day, established on July 18, 2009, encourages people to do 67 minutes of community service in honor of his 67 years of service. There are also an Apartheid Museum and a Nelson Mandela Museum in South Africa now. Today Datnow continues to write and speak to students. Who Stole the Cahaba Llly?, the latest book in The Sizzling Six eco-mystery series named for her six granddaughters, will publish soon, and she said she’ll never stop writing books for the series. She is also finishing The 9 Inheritors, a historical novel that traces a family inheritance from 1790 Jerusalem to the 21st century United States. Datnow will be signing copies of her memoir in the bookstore of the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum on July 18 during their festivities for Mandela Day. The free family festival and cultural exchange will also feature music, dancers, vendors, a children’s village and free admission to their galleries.

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Spain Park High raises over $32K in first Relay for Life

July 2011

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Spain Park students Kathryn Novak, Matt Smith, Danielle DeBose, Margaret Connolly, Oliver Parker, Andrew Sbrissa, Alex Henson, Devon Schoenemen, Sophia Richey and Os Nakayama with teacher and cancer survivor Oliver Parker. Photo courtesy of Grace Connolly.

This year Spain Park High School hosted its first independent Relay For Life event at Jaguar Stadium, with a goal of raising $30,000 to go towards cancer research. The event was organized and run primarily by a committee of Spain Park students. Until this year, Spain Park partnered with Hoover High School in order to put on a large relay event. However, a group of senior students at Spain Park wanted to establish an individual relay tradition for their school, so they broke away and began to plan an event of their own. A primary committee consisting of 13 senior students and one faculty sponsor organized the preliminary plans for the event and were joined by a committee of six juniors. The team of students planned several pre-relay fundraising events including a pajama pass day and a student dodge ball tournament. These popular

events alone rose well over $2,500 to go towards cancer research. More than 20 relay teams participated in fundraising as well as ten major corporate sponsors. The relay itself was a six-hour event, including activities such as face painting, a volleyball tournament, inflatables, live music, karaoke, caricatures and lots of food. Several cancer survivors took place in the event including one current Spain Park teacher and several Spain Park parents. Thanks to the hard work of the Spain Park Relay For Life committee, the relay teams and several generous sponsors, the total of all Spain Park’s proceeds added up to $32,575.84. Committee members agree this year was a major learning experience for future relays and that it also provided the foundation for a Relay for Life tradition at the high school.

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OMHS Class of 2011 college-bound At the annual awards day at OMHS in May, the school announced statistics for its class of 2011: 82 percent of students in this class will be attending 4-year colleges, 10 percent will be attending 2-year or technical colleges, 2 percent of the students in this senior class will join the military

and 6 percent are undecided or will enter the work force or internship programs. The school was proud to announce that 174 students received scholarship offers totaling over $8.5 million as of early May. Additionally, 64 students scored 30 or higher on the ACT.

Oak Mountain students achieve IC3 Certification Three Oak Mountain High School students have become the first in Shelby County to achieve Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3) certification. Cole Kinchler, Velmatsu Lewis and Rohan Nair completed the online Teknimedia training with their Business Technology Applications class and chose to be the first Shelby County students to take the

IC3 exam to become certified in computer literacy. The exam consists of three parts: computing fundamentals, key applications and living on-line. IC3 is an industryrecognized computer literacy certification. Their Business Technology Applications teacher is Sandra Gallups.

OMHS juniors place in video contest Daniel Tuggle, Jonathan Ashworth and John Caraway, juniors at Oak Mountain High School, recently won third place in the ALFA Insurance Drive Smart campaign and DRV NOW TEXT L8R video contest. Gretchen Marlow, another OMHS student, had her video selected as a top 12 finalist. ALFA asked teens to submit videos depicting the dangers of texting and driving and received more than 150 entries. The winning OMHS students received a

cash prize of $750, and an identical prize was awarded to the school’s film club. Their video showed the possible dire consequences of texting and driving. The video will be distributed along with the other top two winning videos to all driver education programs in the state and all television stations as public service announcements. The videos can be viewed at http://alfadrivesmart.com.

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North Shelby’s Ghosh competes at science and engineering fair

Alabama School of Fine Arts graduate Arina Ghosh studies the effect of heavy metals on the human body and bloodstream. Photo courtesy of the Ghosh family.

Arina Ghosh of North Shelby County has been selected to be a 2011 Intel finalist. She was a member the Alabama team that competed in the International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles. Ghosh is a recent graduate of the Alabama School of Fine Arts. Ghosh won first place in the biochemistry category, the Boeing trophy for best scientific method and many other special awards at the recent Alabama Science and Engineering Fair held in Huntsville. She has spent three years studying the effect of heavy metals on the environmental food chain and ultimately the metals’ possible absorption into the human body and bloodstream. This spring, Ghosh was selected as one

of ten finalists in the prestigious Alabama Science Scholar Search and Gorgas competition. The selection is based on a student’s academic excellence and scientific research. An abstract of each finalist’s work will be published in the Alabama Academy of Science Journal. At this year’s Gorgas tuition scholarships event, Ghosh was chosen as fourth alternate with a cash award to the college of her choice and offers of full and partial tuition scholarships to 14 Alabama colleges and universities. Ghosh is the daughter of Leena and Deep Ghosh of North Shelby County. She will be attending the University of Missouri -Kansas City School of Medicine’s 6-year BA/MD program in the fall.

OMIS’ Sears wins Carrie C. Robinson Award

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Oak Mountain Intermediate’s media specialist Linda Sears is the recipient of this year’s Carrie C. Robinson Award through the Alabama School Librarian Association (ASLA). This award honors an Alabama librarian who provides an innovative, creative and exceptional library program for children or young adults. The award recognizes an outstanding school library media program and is sponsored by the Alabama Instructional Media Association. Sears will be recognized for the award at the annual ASLA Summer Meeting.

Oak Mountain Intermediate’s Linda Sears.

Phillips selected as legislative page Spain Park High School’s Danielle Phillips has been selected as a legislative page for 2011. Danielle will attend a program at the Alabama State Capital for 4 days as a representative for Spain Park. She is the only student from her school to receive this top honor this year. The Alabama Legislature offers a unique opportunity for young people to participate in the legislative process through its legislative page program. Pages assist each house of the legislature during its sessions. Like many other facets of the legislative process, the use of pages is a legacy of the British Parliamentary system. Pages have played an integral role in the Alabama Legislature since the early nineteenth century.

Spain Park High School’s Danielle Phillips will serve as a legislative page. Photo courtesy of the Phillips family.

School House

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LPMS eighth grade assists Bargain Carousel

July 2011

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Eighth graders from Liberty Park Middle assisted with the Junior League’s Bargain Carousel.

As part of their grade-wide community service project, the Liberty Park Middle School eighth graders and teachers assisted the Junior League of Birmingham with

their Bargain Carousel multi-family yard sale. The students helped clean, sort, price and prepare the donated items for the sale.

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An incredible 58 percent of the outgoing seventh grade class at OLV was invited to participate in the Duke University Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP). In order to qualify, students must achieve a qualifying score at or above the 95th percentile on certain subtests of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. These academically gifted students are invited to take their choice of either the ACT or the SAT, tests which are designed for high school juniors and seniors, as seventh graders.

According to Duke TIP records, 48 percent of OLV students who took the test scored at the state recognition level, which means their score was in the top 50 percent of all students nationwide taking this test. Additionally, OLV students Mick Hagelskamp and Jack McGuire qualified for grand recognition; they are invited at attend a ceremony at the Duke campus for recognition of scoring in the top 10 percent of all students nationwide taking this test.

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Max Steinmetz, a survivor of Auschwitz, visited the eighth grade class at OLV.

Max Steinmetz, a Holocaust survivor, recently visited OLV and shared his story of survival with the eighth grade class. Steinmetz was sent at the age of 17 to the Auschwitz concentration camp along with his parents, younger sister and brother. His mother, father and sister were sent to the gas chamber immediately upon their arrival at Auschwitz, and his brother eventually died of starvation at the camp.

Upon his liberation from the camp in 1945, Max weighed only eighty pounds and was the only surviving member of his family. “It is hard to grasp that something like this would ever occur, and the message is clear—it must not happen again,” wrote eighth grade student Casey Young in an essay discussing Steinmetz’ visit.

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Sports

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enough to lead the side that won our fourth state championship. It feels great to win this for our school and our community. Who inﬂuences you most? My older sister Cristina. She is there at my games whenever she can make it. She is the person that I most try to compete with academically. She is someone I relax with when I have free time. She helps me with my problems.

Alexander Rivera Senior Oak Mountain High School Soccer

Oak Mountain High School’s Alexander River, a graduate of the class of 2011 led his team as varsity captain to the 6A state title in May. We asked Alexander to share his thoughts on being part of this celebrated team and his future plans.

Team captain Alexander Rivera, #5, holds the 2011 state 6A soccer title trophy high while enjoying the victory with his teammates. Photo courtesy of the Rivera family.

What position do you typically play? Center back

soccer and why have you stayed with this sport over any others? I’ve been playing for 14 years. It’s part of me. Everything I do can relate back to soccer. It teaches me how to work well with others and how to lead when I need to lead. It also feels good to be able to be part of a sport that if played correctly can be one of the prettiest sights to see.

How long have you been involved in

What is the most valuable lesson you’ve

learned playing soccer? I’ve learned how to work with other people and how to direct other people into becoming one cohesive unit. Share your thoughts on being part of this outstanding Oak Mountain team. It is an honor to be part of the Oak Mountain squad. We have such a rich tradition, and we expect to be at the top every single year that we compete. This year I was fortunate

Share your honors and awards in soccer, plus any other school/ community activities. 2011 high school state champion (captain), 2009 club state champion (captain), 2011 All-Lakeshore team, 2011 all-metro honorable mention, National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Spanish Honor Society, Spanish Club, Drama Club What are your college or career plans? I will be attending Washington University in St. Louis on an academic scholarship to study biomedical engineering. What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Hang out with my girlfriend, Katie West, or play Fifa with my friends.

Hornets honor Pleasant Grove in scrimmage The Chelsea High varsity football team played host to the Pleasant Grove Spartans in a spring scrimmage game. The Hornets took the opportunity to extend a helping hand by making the event an evening of compassion for the opposing team. The town of Pleasant Grove suffered extensive damage during the April 27 tornado outbreak. Admission to the game was $5 with proceeds benefitting Pleasant Grove High School. In addition, donations from the Chelsea area were passed along to representatives of the Pleasant Grove community and their area churches. Chelsea fans wore not only their team’s

Oak Mountain Lacrosse wins state In their first season, the Oak Mountain women’s team of sixth to eighth graders went undefeated. They defeated Mountain Brook in the semi finals and Berry (4-3) in the final game to win the state championship. Front Row: Maddie Bailey, Celia Brand, Sarah Waine, Macy Wallace, Catherine Clark, Lindsey Aston, Gracie Wilks. Back Row:: Assistant Coach Van Beamon, Caitlin Carney, Aly Bonville, Lindsay Phillips, Mary Elizabeth Moore, Charlee Vawter, Maddie Everhardt, Rachel Robb (MVP), Rachel-Kate McGee, Elizabeth Richmond, Amelia Reardon, Emily Harrington, Caroline Grace Upton, Ashley Beamon, Amberlee Cruz, Erica Holmes, Meredith Edwars, Coach Hunter Faulconer.

Chelsea mayor Earl Niven recognized Pleasant Grove mayor Jerry Brasseale (waving to the crowd) at the Chelsea High spring football scrimmage game. Photo by Cari Dean.

blue and white colors but also purple and gold ribbons in support of Pleasant Grove.

Chelsea cheerleaders Kaylee Morosky, Caroline Pierce, Chelsey Sanders and Laura Beth Towery show their support of Pleasant Grove with purple and gold ribbons. Photo by Cari Dean.

www.280living.com

Sports

July 2011

SEC West predictions The past two football seasons have seen a pair of teams out of the same state win the coveted national championship. The Auburn Tigers claimed trophy a year after the Crimson Tide did the year before. In my opinion, the two best teams in the Southeastern Conference reside in Alabama. Now, some may say I’m biased because this is my home. Not true. Well, I do live in this beautiful state, but I went to another SEC school. Here’s a hint. My school really needs a mascot and claims to redshirt Miss Americas. Both true. Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, here’s how I see the SEC West falling in place in 2011.

The Iron Bowl as always will be a war, but this year could be one of the biggest games in the heated rivalry’s history. I know that the Tide met the Tigers when both were ranked in the top five nationally, but they have not since the BCS reared its confused head. I see Alabama calming the War Eagle cry some this year by beating Auburn to claim the SEC West title. The state of Louisiana continues to produce great players, but Les Miles has let some slip away along with a few games he could’ve won. I see LSU challenging but slipping into the third spot and a Floridabased bowl game. Arkansas is losing their leader at the

Berry Middle lacrosse takes ﬁrst, second

The Berry Middle lacrosse teams had a strong showing in their recent state championships. The boys team took home

first place to win the state, and the girls team placed second.

quarterback position, which will be a hitch in the Razorback’s progress, but look for Bobby Petrino to get things figured out for the Hogs by season’s end. Fourth place is my predicted spot for them to land. The Egg Bowl, which will be in Starkville this year, will probably determine who will sit at the bottom of the SEC West. The finale in Mississippi may also decide who goes to a bowl or not. I’m going to say that Houston Nutt and Ole Miss will pull this one out or his seat could really heat up in Oxford. That would place Mississippi State at the bottom. Looks biased, huh? Well, battling for the cellar isn’t a whole lot to brag about, and

by Brent Watson I’m just going to go with it. No one really knows, but its fun to speculate. One thing is for sure the SEC will battle and probably win another national title and could come out of this state again. We’ll see. Besides being an avid sports enthusiast, Brent Watson dedicates much of his time to running his business -- Comfort Keepers – a non-medical in-home care company. You can reach him at (205) 981-1800 or visit centralalabama@comfortkeepers.com.

Spain Park boys lacrosse takes state title

The Berry Middle girls lacrosse team placed second in the state championship. Photo courtesy Annemarie Wilson.

The Berry Middle boys lacrosse team won ﬁrst place at state. Photo courtesy Annemarie Wilson.

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The Spain Park High School boys lacrosse team recently took home their ﬁrst state title win. Pictured with the trophy are players Kyle Thurmond, Max Hines and Brandon Allen. Photo courtesy Steve Hines.

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July 2011

280 Living

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Alabama RoadKill 3v3 soccer team members are Spain Park’s Kevin Getsinger and Greg Yund, John Carroll’s Kelly Getsinger, Mountain Brook’s Nathan Diehl and Indian Spring’s Alex Jamroz and Dan Diehl. Photo by Kevin Getsinger.

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The Alabama RoadKill 3v3 soccer team was crowned national champions at the Kick It 3v3 Soccer World Championships recently held at Walt Disney in Orlando. Team members are students from Spain Park, Indian Springs, John Carroll and Mountain Brook. The event hosted over 800 teams in various age groups. Competing in the U18 boys, the RoadKill went undefeated through pool and bracket play which

Briarwood sports season-end update By the close of the school year, Briarwood Christian High School achieved these 5A sports accomplishments for the spring 2011 season:

the state for girls 300M hurdles. Mary Catherine Ellard came in 6th in the state girls 3200. The girls relay team took third in the state 4x800 relay.

Baseball The Lions made it to the third round of the baseball playoffs. They defeated Pleasant Grove in the first round and Hueytown in the second round, but they lost to Russell County in the third round.

Boys track Will Edwards came in seventh in the state for boys javelin throw. Kalan Reed took second in the boys 110 hurdles and second in the boys 300M hurdles. Ramsay Ritchie took fifth in state boys 1600 and second the state boys 3200. The Briarwood boys relay team took 8th in the 4x800 relay.

Girls soccer The girls made it to the second round of the state playoffs, defeating Fort Payne 3-1, but then losing to Arab 4-2. Boys soccer The boys team made the state playoffs but then lost to St. Pauls 7-1. Girls track Elizabeth Crown came in seventh in

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included games with the two-time defending champs from Chicago. 3v3 soccer is an extremely fast-paced game with three players against another team of three in two 12-minute halves. While the fields are smaller than regular competitive soccer, there is still a great amount of ground to cover with fewer players and no defined goalie. Transitional skills as well as foot skills and speed are all extremely important to the game.

Girls tennis The girls placed third in the 5A state tournament. Boys tennis The boys placed second in the 5A state tournament.

River Run equestrians continue to win In November, 280 Living shared the story of a local mounted equestrian drill team from River Run Farms on Highway 119. The team had competed in the first mounted drill team competition in our state held in Montgomery. The USEDA (US Equestrian Drill Association) is now making it possible for team members to letter in the sport in high

school just like other athletes. Also, the River Run drill team recently traveled to Unadilla, Ga., to compete in regional competitions. Troop B won the regional championship for the novice freestyle and theme divisions. They are still undefeated and will be traveling to Lyndale, Texas, this summer for the first time for national competition.

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280 Living

Your Health Today By Dr. Irma Palmer

Many of us have enjoyed the humor of Jeff Foxworthy and his “You might be a redneck if…” jokes throughout the years. In fact, we’ve all probably recognized some of the people he has referenced. Similarly, in the chiropractic field, we can recognize certain postural problems that reveal the need for a spinal examination. We all know that our self-image and the way others view us are directly affected by our body posture. We’ve all observed people who seem to draw attention and radiate positive energy simply because of the confident, self-assured way they carry themselves. Conversely, a poor self-image is often accompanied by poor posture. As a chiropractor who has treated thousands of patients over the years, I have personally witnessed the phenomenal healing and energizing power of the human nervous system on a daily basis. Proper posture is a critical part of this picture. Following are three simple tips for developing a healthy posture: TIP 1: Strengthen Your Back Muscles Strengthening the muscles of the back increases the stability of the spinal column and can help prevent serious problems caused by musculoskeletal imbalance. By balancing the strength in

the front and the back of your body, you will have less chance of injury in your daily activities. Building up some muscles, while ignoring others, may pull your body out of balance. Exercising both sides of your body evenly can prevent imbalance of muscle strength on either side of the spine. Musculoskeletal imbalance can also be caused or aggravated by the type of work that you do, by unilateral sports such as tennis or golf, or by always favoring one side when you carry a briefcase, handbag, child, or other heavy object. Whenever possible, change sides or positions to prevent muscular imbalance and subsequent structural imbalance. Another example of a repetitive physical activity that negatively affects the musculoskeletal and nervous system over the years involves the cervical (neck) portion of the spinal column. Any activity that requires you to look down for long periods of time, especially reading, computer use, and deskwork, can produce a chronic forward head weight bearing position. Worse yet, is the habit most Americans have of lying down with one or several large pillows under their necks to read or watch TV in bed as they prepare to unwind.

July 2011

You Might Need a Chiropractor If… TIP 2: Evaluate Your Posture Seeing yourself as others see you can often be the first step in making improvements on your posture. I recommend evaluating your body in a full-length mirror from the side view—a position in which you rarely see yourself – viewing your posture while using a handheld mirror. So what does ideal posture look like? When viewed from the side, your ears are balanced directly above the arches of your feet, and your head is only slightly forward of the neck, shoulder blades, and lower back. A plumb line dropped from overhead should pass through the ear, shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle. Also assess your posture from the front view. Ideally, both of your hips, shoulders, and ears should be level. Your head should not tilt to one side or the other. Your feet should be pointing directly forward. TIP 3: Think It Through It’s often helpful to think your way through to good posture. Stand with your back completely against a flat wall; the back of your head, shoulders, buttocks, and heels should be touching the wall. Try this: Think tall, lengthen your neck, and let your head move upward, with the chin slightly in. Breathe deeply from

your stomach, pushing out your chest. Concentrate on lengthening your spine, still imagining the top of your head reaching toward the ceiling. Keep your stomach in and buttocks tucked. Slightly bend your knees without locking them, since locking your knees puts unnecessary stress on your lower back. Now, visualize yourself walking with a certain presence, a way of carrying your body that projects self-confidence and inner strength. Picture yourself with great posture; head held high, shoulders back, feeling tall, proud, and self-assured. I have always loved the old saying, “To be, act as if.” When you assume the body posture of a strong, energetic, and confident person, walking with a spring in your step and a smile on your face, you will find that the physiological changes also positively affect your mind and soul—lifting your spirits and sometimes even changing your whole outlook on life! Take some time to pay attention to your posture. Taking care of your spine is essential for achieving optimal health. Remember, it is how you carry yourself that counts. Think strong, energetic, and confident! And when people see you coming, they won’t have any reason to start cracking “You might need a chiropractor if…” jokes at your expense!

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July 2011

Restaurant Showcase

Foods & Flavors

Stones Throw Bar & Grill |

By MAdolINE MARKHAM

3 Mt Laurel Avenue 995-0512 www.stonesthrowgrill.com Tuesday, 5:30 to 9 p.m. Wed. & Thur., 11 am- 2 pm, 5:30 to 9 pm Fri. & Sat., 11 am- 2 pm, 5:30 to 10 pm

Chef Chris Harrigan can easily talk for hours about how his experience as a chef, farmer and restaurant consultant brought him back Mt Laurel to create the casualupscale menu he changes daily at Stones Throw Bar and Grill. Harrigan wants the restaurant to be a gathering space for people who live just a stone’s throw away. “We try to foster relationships and create a craving so our customers want to come back,” he said. He opened Stones Throw in the former Standard Bistro location in the spring of 2010 when fine dining was losing its market in the middle of the economic crisis. The idea was to create a hybrid of family and fine dining experiences using higher end techniques with lower price points. “We wanted to be more accessible, to appeal to different kinds of people and to incorporate traditional Southern fare,” Harrigan said. The signature of each of Stones Throw’s dishes is fresh, seasonal produce. Harrigan grew up gardening and for two years before coming to Stones Throw grew vegetables at a farm in Vincent exclusively for chefs. “I use anything local I can get my hands on,” he said. Stones Throw has a small garden with herbs and some lettuces and tomatoes, and most other produce is sourced from local farmers. Stones Throw offers a buffet during lunch that’s $10 per person and can be eaten in 10 minutes, Harrigan said. Each day has a different theme: Wednesday is Mediterranean, Thursday Mexican, Friday

Okra Basket with homemade dipping sauces.

Chef and general manager Chris Harrigan in the Stones Throw dining room. Photos courtesy Stones Throw Bar & Grill.

Southern Soul and Saturday brunch. The fried chicken and Southern sides on Friday pack the biggest crowd of the week. For those looking for an affordable, casual meal, a half-pound hickory burger is $10 and so is a flat bread with seasonal toppings like pestos and squashes that’s big enough for meal. Most appetizers are less than $10 and meant for sharing. You can find Southern classics with an upscale twist like fried chicken livers and okra baskets with a homemade ranch dressing. “I love okra, and the only way to eat it is fried,” Harrigan said. The smoked chicken nachos are topped with uniquely delicious salsa fresco, queso sauce and lime crema, all made fresh. At the next price point are daily dishes like a Brick Oven Roasted Chicken Breast with braised new potatoes ($18), a Southern Fried Porterhouse Chop ($22) and Shrimp and Grits ($24). The Shrimp and Grits is always available with its classic combination of capers, tomatoes, McEwen and Sons grits and a white wine sauce. For those looking for a more upscale dinner, there’s always a nice cut of beef like a Hickory Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Balsamic Glaze ($32) and a few fresh seafood dishes.

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Harrigan serves succotash, a traditional Southern combination of sweet corn, black eyed peas, okra and smoked bacon, with seafood all summer. “It’s simple and Southern,” Harrigan said, “It doesn’t get any better than that combination in the summer.” The Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo is hearty and popular ($7); you can make a meal out of it and a salad like a Hearts of Romaine “Cobb,” Baby Greens and Watermelon Salad with goat cheese and grilled red onions, or Southern Tomato Caprese salad with fried green tomatoes and basil pesto. The selection doesn’t stop at the printed menu. Harrigan said you can make any request from former menus or really anything. “We don’t say, ‘No,’” he said. He marks up the menu each day, adjusting the details of recipes and adding new items to the menu he hopes people in the surrounding neighborhoods will come by to try for either a quick weekday meal and a special occasion dinner. “We want people from neighboring areas to come and hang out,” he said. He fondly recalls how many families came to eat on the patio in the spring and let their kids run around and play in the garden.

Shrimp and Grits.

Harrigan is considering adding a meal like meatloaf and side dishes served in large dishes family-style for $10 per person. The restaurant also has a private dining room and offers catering services. Harrigan has worked for 20 different restaurants concepts in Birmingham, San Francisco, South Florida and Italy over his career. He’s trained under Frank Stitt, helped open the original Standard Bistro 10 years ago, was a country club executive chef and consulted on openings for Jim N Nicks, among other things. With all this experience, he is now fulfilling a different dream operating his own restaurant and trying to put a definition on upscale casual dining. “People want good food that’s not as expensive but is still interesting,” he said. Fresh, simple, local, seasonal—that’s what you’ll find at the core of Stones Throw’s dining experience.

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Business Spotlight

Pastry Art Bake Shoppe |

940 Inverness Corners 995-5855 Pastryartcakes.com Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

If you haven’t been experienced the baby bite, be forewarned. These round, bite-sized cakes, laden with the perfect amount of icing, will have you making regular trips to Pastry Art Bake Shoppe. The bakery opened a location between Kohl’s and Mellow Mushroom in the Inverness Corners shopping center earlier this year. “We have seen people in cars outside our Homewood location who will eat all six baby bites they just bought, and then some will come back for more to take home,” coowner and pastry chef Carol Gregg said. The baby bites, along with cakes and cupcakes, are baked fresh daily, and there are seldom any left at the end of the day. The baby bites sell for $1.25 each or $14.50 a dozen. “You just have to eat one to get your sugar fix,” Gregg said. “It’s almost guilt free.”For many, the caramel, red velvet and chocolate cakes taste exactly the way their grandmother used to make it. Pastry Arts also receives accolades for the turtle and French vanilla flavors served daily, as well as those you can only catch one day a week. On Tuesdays, there’s chocolate espresso and coconut; on Wednesdays, marble and Italian cream; on Thursdays, vanilla lemon and strawberry; and on Fridays, carrot and vanilla lime. Gregg’s husband and business partner, Dennis, recalls a “giant of a man” coming in one day and eating a baby bite. “Excuse me, ladies,” he said all of a sudden, “Would it jeopardize my manhood if I broke down and cried?” The cakes and icing are made from scratch, and the only food dye used is in the their most popular flavor, red velvet. But what makes them so unbelievably good? “It’s a trade secret,” Gregg said. The only hints she gives are that it’s all about quality and consistency and that they use “specialty” pans to make the small, round baby bite cakes. In fact, Gregg won’t even share her secrets with her bakers at Pastry Art. “The recipes are all in my head,” she said. She always mixes part of the recipe, and the bakers finish off the process and decorate them. She’s

Pastry Art co-owner and pastry chef Carol Gregg with a plate of baby bites. Photo by Madoline Markham.

also constantly tweaking recipes to make better and experimenting with new flavors. “My wheels are always turning,” she said. A couple of Carol’s favorite cake flavors are hummingbird, pumpkin and chocolate pepper, specialty flavors that can be ordered by request. By request you can also order a fruit-forward orange, lemon or key lime flavored cake and icing; chocolate chip-filled cake; chocolate peanut butter; or cake with piped in filling, like chocolate cake with raspberry filling. Pastry Art is also well known for their weddings and specialty cakes, including specially decorated cupcakes, all made with the same cake and icing recipes as the baby bites. You can call either location to set up an initial

July 2011

By MAdolINE MARKHAM

consultation appointment. Many people will order just baby bites for a wedding with a cake topper on the stand or two small cakes with an array of baby bites. Their cheese coins, sold by the half pound ($9), are a popular addition to a groom’s table. You can call in preorders for baby bites and cupcakes as well. The five main flavors are available in any quantity; daily and specialty flavors must be ordered by the dozen. Gregg was an art major in high school and had dreams of becoming a medical illustrator, but she started a family after graduating college instead. It was her children who led her back into art, to use her sculpting talents to craft baby bites, cupcakes, and cakes. Gregg did part-time seamstress and secretarial work when her kids were growing up and baked cakes for her kids and their friends. Her daughter’s high school graduating class requested something different for a cake, something like a petit four, so Gregg came up with her own take on in what was to become the baby bite. From there, friends started requesting the bite-sized cakes for showers. After tweaking her cake and icing recipes over the years, she started selling slices of cake in her sister-inlaw’s downtown Birmingham restaurant, Cameo Café. The cakes became popular, and many people began to order whole cakes. After the café closed, the Greggs seized an opportunity to open their own shop in downtown Homewood five years ago. The original idea was to be a bakery specializing in cakes, not necessarily baby bites, but the focus quickly changed when customers began to rave about the decadent little cakes. In fact, the baby bite name didn’t come about until after they opened. People had called them “cake bites,” “angel cakes,” “little pieces of heaven,” and all sorts of things, but it was “baby bites” that came to mind as a name and stuck. Many customers who lived out Highway 280 had asked them to open a store near them. The Greggs knew they wanted to expand and the Inverness Corners location seemed a good fit. The second location opened in early 2010. Gregg now spends most of her time at the 280 location and doesn’t intend to stop anytime soon. “I am going to keep doing it until I can’t do it anymore,” Gregg said. “My 9-year-old granddaughter wants me to do her wedding cake, and I don’t intend to stop.”

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July 2011

280 Business Happenings

Greater Shelby County Chamber of Art gallery has new name Commerce July Calendar of Events for the 280 Area

7/13 – Network 280, McAlister’s, 8:30 a.m. Xontact april@shelbychamber.org for information. No cost to attend. Great networking opportunity! Sponsored by 280 Living. 7/27 – Chamber Membership Luncheon, Pelham Civic Complex, 11 a.m. networking, 12 p.m. program. Featuring Dr. John Stewart, president of the University of Montevallo. $17 for Chamber members, $25 for nonmembers.

Insky’s Art, formerly Thomas Kincaide Signature Gallery, moved to its new location at the Summit and opened on May 16. The shop offers art from Thomas Kincaide as well as other artists. Inksy’s sells collections of artists from New York to Texas as well as internationally. Robert and Jo Ann Holder also support local artists and currently feature a few National Championship paintings depicting the Auburn Tigers and Heisman trophy winner Cam Newton. They offer in home showings, free delivery and in-home hanging. Insky’s Art is open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sundays by appointment. For more information, visit www.thomaskincaidebirmingham.com.

Krispy Kreme coming A new Krispy Kreme location is scheduled to open on July 6. It will be located in the Bazaar 280 shopping center in front of the Walmart Supercenter. Krispy Kreme offers their famous doughnuts including original glazed, custard or jelly filled, chocolate with sprinkles and crullers. There will also be mini doughnuts, doughnut holes, coffee and cool Krispy Kreme chillers.

New family practice Heritage Medicine opened in 2009 near Greystone on Highway 280. Doctors here want to get back to the days where the doctor-patient relationship is at the forefront. Heritage Medicine is the place where family medicine meets preventive medicine and is a sort of “one-stop shop.” From the everyday physical to cholesterol testing and vitamin and herb supplements, they look for ways to better serve your family. neighborly news & entertainment If you’re looking to lose weight, do it in a medically supervised setting with the assistance of appetite suppressants For information about Greater and Lipo/B12 shots. They also offer Botox, Juvederm and Shelby County Chamber of Dermal Fillers. This new clinic offers LED light therapy to treat a Commerce events, broad range of skin needs including wrinkles, psoriasis, eczema go online to: and acne. www.shelbychamber.org Heritage Medicine is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday or call 663-4542. Bradford 280 Living Ad:Layout 1 3/25/11 through 12:09 Friday. PM Page 1 To schedule an appointment, call 637-3470.

280 Living

T-shirts and more One Stop Printing opened in March with a variety of printing options for any need. T-shirts are the most popular item at the shop. Pricing begins with an initial setup fee and is adjusted based on the number of shirts and colors included on the shirt. Owners Lamar and Rachel Whitner prefer Gilding shirts for their durability and variety of colors. It takes only two days for the shirts to come into the store, and 70 shirts can be processed per hour. The Whitners have previously made shirts for teams, Vacation Bible Schools and marathons. In addition to T-shirts, the shop makes banners, yard signs and real estate signs. They specialize in screen printing and logo design. The store is located at 10699 Old Highway 280 in Chelsea. They are open from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, call 907-6921.

Zig Zag sewing shop now open in Chelsea Zig Zag offers specialty fabrics such as 60-inch fabrics and materials for children’s clothing that aren’t always found in big box stores. They also offer quilting fabrics and designer patterns. For those interested in learning how to sew, classes are offered at varying times each month. Classes include simple options such as sewing by a pattern and more advanced skills like learning how to begin and complete a quilt. A class will be taught by an instructor who specializes in fiber arts and will introduce students to the art of home dying. If you aren’t sewing savvy yourself, Zig Zag also takes custom orders. For gift ideas, Room It Up products are available, from backpacks to beach towels. Blank T-shirts and onesies are options for monogramming either in the store or in your home. Zig Zag is located at 48 Chesser Crane Road, Suite F in Chelsea. Store hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, visit www. zigzagchelsea.com.

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280 Living

www.280living.com CONTINUED from page 1 building an elevated roadway. In January, the governor’s spokesperson said he did not favor one plan over another. “No plan will ever please everyone,” Davis said, “but we want to figure out the best long term solution.” When will they be able to determine a solution? Davis said they can’t put a timeline on it now. When a decision is made, it will, however, be for all of Highway 280, not just one side of I-459 or the other, Davis said. ALDOT is currently looking at the two plans that have been proposed over the past several years: the FIGG Engineering plan for an elevated highway and Rethink 280’s alternative plan. 280 Living took a look at the two major proposals that have come to the table over the years. Elevated highway FIGG Engineering has devised an elevated highway plan to alleviate the traffic issues. Currently, 30 percent of traffic on Highway 280 is coming from south of Eagle Point Parkway and not intending to stop or turn off the highway until I-459 or beyond. With this plan, all of this traffic would access an elevated highway from Eagle Point Parkway and stay on for the 5.5 miles to 459. There would be at least one entry/exit point off the elevated highway and possibly more; this is still under consideration. Businesses along the highway argue that cars would not stop along the way with this plan, but proponents of the FIGG plan argue that currently, people cannot access the businesses effectively because of congestion. They say that separating through traffic and local traffic will better serve businesses. Thru traffic commuters on the elevated highway would not be stopping at businesses regardless of access points. Local traffic accessing the businesses would still travel the street-level, at-grade roadway and have easier access to businesses with the reduction of cars on the at-grade roadway. The elevated highway would be built primarily at night and during off-peak periods. Specially engineered concrete segments would be constructed on a site near the highway and then brought over the completed highway to build the bridge from the top. These segments would be connected like a large Lego set to form the elevated road. Traffic would keep moving on the at-grade roadway at all times during construction. The segments are designed with technology to contain the elevated highway’s lighting and capture its noise as well as to cover the exterior with aesthetically pleasing

materials like limestone. In the 2007 proposal, this project was estimated to cost $386 million; a $2-3 toll was proposed to fund the bond issued to cover the expenses. There has also been a proposal for an elevated highway to stretch past I-459 to Elton B. Stephens Expressway; this entire project would cost about $800 million. All details of the toll funding are currently under consideration. As of the 2010 plan, there would be no tollbooths or plazas; transponder and electronic equipment would scan a bar code in vehicles and allow traffic to move at full speed. The elevated highway construction would be similar to the Selmon Expressway in Tampa, another FIGG project. It cut commute time in half by adding six lanes on piers in the median of the existing urban expressway. The 5.13 mile elevated roadway diverted 20 percent of traffic. The construction cost $100 million or $65 per square foot and was paid for in part by a $1.50 toll. Proponents of the FIGG plan argue for its simplicity to build. Those opposed claim it is too expensive and that the elevated structure would hurt the landscape of the area. ReThink 280 plan A second conversation is what to do with 4.7-mile segment of Highway 280 from 459 to Elton B. Stephens Expressway. ALDOT has been discussing an alternate plan to an elevated highway for this segment with grassroots group ReThink 280. ReThink 280 started when representatives from Homewood, Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills disliked the elevated proposal and came together with their communities to design an alternate plan. ReThink 280 argues that their communities have more established neighborhoods that have less growth and less growth potential than the other side of I-459. They have designed, but not engineered, plans for no traffic signals for through traffic as well as a way to rework the Elton B. Stephens interchange. Eventually, ALDOT would have to take control of the plan and work out engineering details for it to be viable. The ReThink 280 design starts east of Dolly Ridge Road, where the ten lanes from the proposed elevated highway would become six at-grade lanes as you travel past I-459 toward downtown. There would be two sections of the road sunken under the current grade to accommodate access to side roads. They would be slightly less than a half mile each: the first from Hampton Inn to Office Park, and the second from just east of Rocky Ridge Road to Cahaba Village. Drivers

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The Highway 280 plan proposed by FIGG would feature four elevated toll lanes. Illustration courtesy of ALDOT.

would take a ramp off Highway 280 onto a roundabout to go to cross streets and shopping centers. In addition, they would build bridges for intersecting roads Cherokee Road and Dolly Ridge Road to go over Highway 280. ReThink 280 estimates their plan would cost around $180 million, significantly less than the elevated highway. ALDOT argues that it will cost more with maintenance expenses. Also as a part of the ReThink 280 design, the Elton B. Stephens interchange would be reconstructed to make the primary flow of traffic from Highway 280 to Elton B. Stephens instead of from Highway 31 to Elton B. Stephens as it is now. For now, the ReThink 280 designs are conceptual and not engineered. “There are still complications; it is a complicated corridor,” Temple Tutwiler of ReThink 280 said at a public hearing in June. Their mission remains to prove to ALDOT that there are other alternatives to the elevated highway that work. ALDOT has asked for more detailed information from Walter Kulash, the Florida-based traffic consultant working on the ReThink plans, to see if that idea has merit, Davis said. “The ideas we are considering will mold themselves into the viable solution, whatever that is.” What do you think about the FIGG and ReThink280 plans? What, in your opinion, should be done with the corridor? Tell us at www.280living, on our Facebook page or by email, madoline@280living.com.

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My South By RICK WATSoN

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Dog Days have arrived here in Alabama. Dog Days are those days in the middle of summer when it gets hotter than Satan in a wool sweater. I always thought the term was unique to the South, but after a little research, it turns out, they talked about Dog Days when Aristotle was learning his philosophical chops from Plato. The reason they called it Dog Days back in the day was not because it was hotter than a blistered puppy in a pepper patch, but because Sirius the Dog Star was brightest during the months between July and September. Fleas, tics and other critters love Dog Days. I walked down to check the garden just before dark tonight, and a mosquito as big as a pigeon nailed me on the arm. I’m thankful the air was still this evening because if he’d caught a breeze, he could have hauled me off and drained me like a stuck pig like they do in the country. Here in Alabama you can usually tell it’s Dog Days when it gets hot enough by 9 a.m. to bake a potato in the glove box of your car. I remember one Saturday when I was about 16, before we had air conditioning, we used our imagination to beat the heat. I’m not sure whose idea it was, but word spread around our neighborhood like a summer cold. Before noon, ten of us were in the back of a pickup headed down to the river with inner tubes. Even though it was during the heat of the day, the water in the Warrior River was cool and as refreshing as a glass of iced tea. As we floated gently down the stream, Mother Nature put on a show. We saw blue herons and bullfrogs. We saw water moccasins, catfish, blue gill and carp that

looked like giant gold fish. We lost count of the turtles basking in the afternoon sun on logs at the river’s edge. One fisherman on his way to check his trotline, puttered by us in a handmade wooden boat with a small outboard motor. The waves from the wake rocked us like a baby in a bassinet. We all talked a lot at the beginning of our watery journey, but after a while we settled into the rhythm of the river and the conversation lagged. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as we bathed in the sights, sounds and smells—it felt good to be alive. Unlike a highway, the river meanders through the countryside, and it is sometimes difficult to get your bearings. As the evening sun was setting, I wasn’t sure where we were. My dad had agreed to pick us up down river, but he wouldn’t hang around forever and I had visions of our crew having to walk home in the dark. But Dad spent a lot of time on the river and had calculated about how long it would take us to get to the pickup point. He was there waiting when we rounded the bend. We’d spent so much time in the water that our fingers were as wrinkled as prunes. Today, the weatherman said the temperature would be dancing around a hundred degrees. I’ve often said in the past that I like it hot, but I’ve had about as much of Dog Days as I can stand. I can’t wait to see frost on the pumpkins. You can learn more about Rick Watson at www.homefolkmedia.com. He is available for speaking engagements and other events. Contact him at rick@homefolkmedia.com.

Exclusively Ballet season recap Isn’t that a nice change?

Exclusively Ballet & Dance’s 2010-11 Performing Company company members included: Alexandra Freeman, Hope Hess, Ashley Lewis, Mackenzie Payne, & Kelsey Smith. Katie Gray, Brynn Horsley, Shelley Johnson, Allison Pendleton, Emmy Shaver and Victoria Yeager. The company participated in the following Dance Competitions and Conventions this year: New York City Dance Alliance Competition/Convention in Mobile; CO Dance Competition/ Convention in Birmingham; Dance Educators of American Competition/ Convention in Huntsville; and Applause Talent Competition, Birmingham. The Seniors received the following awards from New York City Dance Alliance: High Score Award, second place teen ballet, High Score Award, fourth place Junior Jazz, Distinguished Achievement Award for Outstanding Smiles, and Distinguished Achievement Award for Outstanding Costume. Juniors received Gold & High Silver awards from CO Dance. Both Performing Companies received several awards from Dance Educators of America. Seniors received Platinum for their jazz group piece “Cooler than Me” and were also awarded second place teen group high score and “Precision Personified.” Senior Company members received Gold for their ballet, “Kashmir,” along with fourth place teen production 13 & under. Alexandra Freeman received Platinum for her solo “Sleeping Beauty Variation I” and earned the Poetry in Motion award. She won first place teen solo high score and was awarded for the highest solo score among all age groups. Hope Hess was awarded Gold for her ballet solo “Far & Away” and

also received third place pre-teen solo high score. Mackenzie Payne was awarded Platinum for her solo “Teenage Dream” and also won fifth place teen solo high score. Ashley Lewis and Mackenzie Payne received Platinum for their duet “Sleeping Beauty Variation” and first place teen duet high score. Kelsey Smith received Gold for her ballet solo “Sleeping Beauty Variation II” and received the Beautiful Ballerina Award. The Junior Company received “Gold” and 2nd place junior group high score for their ballet “Penny Lane” and also earned Gold for their jazz performance of “Life of the Party” and fourth place junior group high score. Junior Company member Victoria Yeager was awarded Gold, Broadway Bound, and first place junior solo high score for her solo “My Philosophy.” This summer several members of the Performing Company are travelling to Las Vegas, Nev., on scholarship to participate in Dance Educators of America Intensive Ballet Seminar. They are Alexandra Freeman, Hope Hess, Ashley Lewis, Mackenzie Payne and Kelsey Smith. Alexandra Freeman and Victoria Yeager will also be competing in Dance Educators of America’s National Dance Competition the week of July Fourth. Exclusively Ballet & Dance Performing Company members for the 2011-12 season will be: Kendall Coley, Alexandra Freeman, Katie Gray, Hope Hess, Brynn Horsley, Lauren Jackson, Shelley Johnson, Abigail Johnston, Ashley Lewis, Katie Mattox, Gabby Murphree, Mackenzie Payne, Allison Pendleton, Caity-Lyn Richard, Kathryn Taylor Sisk, Kelsey Smith and Victoria Yeager.

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July 2011

North Shelby and Mt Laurel library July happenings North Shelby Library Summer Reading Note: July 14 is the last day for summer reading registration. Come by the children’s department to register for our summer reading program. No phone registration, please. July 27 is the last day to have your reading log stamped. Special Programming Tuesday, July 5 from 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m., Craft – Make Your Own Lei. Drop in anytime between 2 p.m.- 3:30 p.m. All ages welcome. Registration required. Registration begins two weeks prior to craft date. Thursday, July 7 at 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., McWane Starlab Constellations. Grades K-3. Crawl into an inflatable planetarium and learn about the solar system and constellations! Registration required. Monday, July 11, 2 p.m. Movie Matinee – Tangled. All ages welcome. No registration required. Snacks served. Tuesday, July 12 from 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Craft – Hands Around the World Magnet. Drop in anytime between 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.. All ages welcome. Registration required. Registration begins two weeks prior to craft date.

fingerplays and crafts make up a lively 30-minute program designed especially for short attention spans. Registration will begin one week prior to each storytime. Ages 19-36 months. Registration Required. Tuesdays, July 5, 12, 19 and 26 at 9:30 a.m. Baby Tales Story Time-A story time designed especially for babies and their caregivers. Stories and music provide interaction for the babies and time for caregivers to talk and share with each other. Ages: Birth to 18 months. Registration Required. Registration begins 2 weeks prior to program date. Wednesdays, July 6, 13, 20 and 27 at 10:45 a.m. Mr. Mac (Storyteller Extraordinaire.) Stories, puppets, and lots of music for every member of the family. All ages welcome. No registration required. Thursdays, July 7, 14 and 21 at 7 p.m. P. J. Story Time -Come in your PJs, have milk and cookies, and hear some wonderful bedtime tales. All ages welcome. No registration required. For more information or to register for any of our programs or storytimes, call or email the children’s department at 4395504 or northshelbyyouth@gmail.com.

Teen Summer Reading: You are Here The North Shelby Library Teen Department has all kinds of programs and activities scheduled for this year’s summer reading program — music, comics, movies, crafts, and more! Registration runs until July 12. Reading logs are stamped until July 25. Battle of the Books Strategy Meeting Thursday, July 7, 5:30 p.m.-6 p.m. Stop by the get tips on what to expect and earn extra points for your team. Team must be set by this meeting. Please call 439-5512 or email nsyouth@shelbycounty-al.org for more information or for help finding team members. Wii Gaming and Pizza Thursday, July 7 – 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Rock out with your friends in the Young Adult Department with Rock Band and Guitar Hero while enjoying pizza. Vulcan GameBox will be supplying the great prizes. Please call 439-5512 or email nsyouth@shelbycounty-al.org for more information. Craft Night: Steampunk

found objects to create a Steampunk style keychain. Win prizes & enjoy snacks. Please call 439-5512 or email nsyouth@ shelbycounty-al.org for more information. Harry Potter Movie Marathon Thursday, July 14 – 6 p.m.-10 p.m. Be ready for the midnight showing of Part II of the Deathly Hallows by watching The Half-Blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows Part 1! Snacks served and prizes awarded. Please call 439-5512 or email nsyouth@ shelbycounty-al.org for more information. Wizard Rock Tuesday, July 19 – 6:30 p.m.-9:30pm Harry Potter + Live Music. Featuring The Whomping Willows, Lauren Fairweather, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Tonks and the Aurors. Please call 439-5512 or email nsyouth@shelbycounty-al.org for more information. Movie Night: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Thursday, July 21 – 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Return to Narnia for another adventure. Prizes, popcorn, and soda. Please call 4395512 or email nsyouth@shelbycounty-al.

Monday, July 11 – 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Use

Thursday, July 14- 10:30 a.m.- Peter Hart Puppets. Puppets from around the world (such as an Indian snake charmer and Scottish pigs) will perform a show filled with music, fun, and audience participation. All ages welcome. No registration required. Monday, July 18- 2 p.m. Movie Matinee – Despicable Me. All ages welcome. No registration required. Snacks served. Tuesday, July 19 from 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.. Craft – Cartouche (Your name in hieroglyphs.) Drop in anytime between 2 p.m.– 3:30 p.m. All ages welcome. Registration required. Registration begins 2 weeks prior to craft date. Wednesday, July 20- 1 p.m. B’Tween the Pages Book Club. Join our book club to discuss some great books. Kids 9 – 12 years old. Registration required. Thursday, July 21- 10:30 a.m. Starshine Faces. Watch as your favorite stories come to life through face painting. Some kid’s faces will be painted during the show, then face painters will paint faces for one hour after the show. All ages welcome. No registration required. Monday, July 25- 2 p.m. Movie Matinee – Gnomeo & Juliet. All ages welcome. No registration required. Snacks served. Tuesday, July 26 from 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.. Craft: Hodgepodge. Drop in anytime between 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. All ages welcome. Registration required. Registration begins 2 weeks prior to craft date. Summer Reading End Parties. Choose which day and time is best for you. Grade level prizes and a grand prize drawing will be held at each end party. Thursday, July 28- 10:30 a.m. Summer Reading End Party with Blazer’s Animals. Join us for a trip around the world where we may see anything from a baboon in pants to an African porcupine with 10-inch quills. Refreshments and prizes immediately following the show. All ages welcome. No registration required. Saturday, July 30- 6 p.m. Summer Reading End Party with Ron Anglin. Quite a Catch Juggler. Have a ball with this comedian/juggler while giving both sides of your brain a workout. Refreshments and prizes immediately following the show. All ages welcome. No registration required. Story-Time Programming Mondays, July 11, 18 and 25 at 9:30, 10:30, & 11:30 a.m. Toddler Tales -Stories, songs,

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July 2011

280 Living

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Nothing else says USA like BBQ NEXT TO HOME IT’S

LifeActually By Kari Kampakis

Sea & Suds I’ve always been a beach girl, an avid fan of flip-flops, tank tops, shorts and shades. When my feet hit the sand, I become a different person—a person I’d like to bottle up and bring home. What is it about the beach that transforms me, draws me in like gravity? I sat down recently to ponder my love for the world’s best vacation hole. Here are some reasons that came to mind. The colors: I find it great fun to drive down the road and see rows of houses painted like Easter eggs. Happy hues are everywhere, from funky art in gift stores to hot pink Adirondack chairs outside every gas station. Living in suburbia, I’m used to monochromatic palettes, and it’s a refreshing break to see people getting gutsy with color. The consistency: The beach looks the same now as it did when I was young. Unlike most things, it doesn’t age. There’s comfort in that because it makes it feel like home. An easygoing attitude: Technology is out, Jimmy Buffet is in. Anyone working a BlackBerry or planning a conference call is likely to endure ridicule. Cocktails are in vogue any time of day, justified by the saying, “It’s five o’clock somewhere.” Unconditional acceptance: The beach welcomes everyone, regardless of circumstance or appearance. Whether I shave my legs, paint my toenails or pack on a few pounds is irrelevant. I can go with a party or alone, comfortable either way in the hospitable environment. Unlimited resources: An endless supply of water, shells and sand can entertain my kids for hours. Buckets and shovels—combined with imagination— create a pleasant batch of memories. Watching my kids look for sand dollars, build forts under the pier and bury each other in the sand is like reliving my childhood, only this time I’m wise enough to cherish it.

LIBRARY

CONTINUED from page 25 org for more information.

Monday, July 27 – 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Nine alien children have fled their annihilated homeworld and have sought refuge on Earth. Three are dead. He is number 4. Prizes, popcorn & soda. Please call 4395512 or email nsyouth@shelbycounty-al. org for more information. Battle of the Books Competition and End Party Thursday, July 28 – 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Cheer for your favorite team and see who reigns supreme while enjoying snacks! Door prizes, drawing for the Grand Prize, and the Battle of the Books Champions will be crowned. Please call 439-5512 or email nsyouth@shelbycounty-al.org for more information. Storytime Programming Toddler Tales

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The space: There are no walls at the beach, and that makes it impossible to keep a guard up. The mix of fresh air, sunshine and ocean breeze tears down defenses, creating a confessional of sorts. Sometimes the conversation is internal, an inner monologue held on a long walk down the seashore. Other times the conversation includes loved ones, people who care about the particulars of my life. However my thoughts unleash, the result is always therapeutic. The restoration: The beach recharges my battery by unplugging me from the world. Disconnecting from reality calms my nerves, clears my head and zaps my worries all at once. Free of responsibility and distractions, I can enjoy my family, focus on simple blessings. One of my favorite writing holes is under a beach umbrella, listening to the waves crash and scribbling on a notepad I keep in my beach bag. What about you? Is there anything you’d add to this list? Perhaps your happy place isn’t as much the beach as it is the lake, the mountains or another nook of nature. Whatever the case, the reasons are probably similar. We all have an escape of choice, a place we go to relieve stress and catch a much-needed breath. Wherever you vacation this summer, I hope you embrace the social code. I hope you walk around barefoot, catnap on a hammock, eat lunch at two o’clock and dinner at eight. Most of all, I hope you let the change of scenery work its magic on you. Summer’s the perfect excuse to break rules, and whatever peace you find away from home, try and bring some back. Kari Kubiszyn Kampakis is a Birmingham mom of four with a background in PR, writing and photography. Learn about her blog and ﬁction writing at www.karikampakis.com or ﬁnd her on Facebook and Twitter. Email her at kari@karikampakis.com.

Wednesdays, July 6 and 20 – 10 a.m. Stories, songs, fingerplays and more make up a lively 30 minute program designed especially for short attention spans and their caregiver. Registration begins two weeks prior to each storytime. Ages 36 months and younger. Registration required. Call or email the Mt Laurel Library at 991-1660 or mtlaurellibrary@ gmail.com for more information or to

Wednesdays, July 6 and 20 – 11 a.m. Stories, music and more for every member of the family. All ages. No registration required. Call or email the Mt Laurel Library at 991-1660 or mtlaurellibrary@ gmail.com for more information. Summer Reading Programming Summer Reading As part of the North Shelby Library’s Summer Reading Program, the Mt Laurel Library will have all kinds of great programs and activities in June. Participants can earn prizes and the chance to win a bike by reading books. Registration for the reading program runs through July 12 and book log stamping runs through July 27. Craft Days Wednesdays, July 13 and 22 – 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Drop in between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to create fun items at the library. All ages with parent help. Registration Required. Call or email the Mt Laurel Library at 9911660 or mtlaurellibrary@gmail.com for more information or to register. Raptors and Reptiles Thursday, July 14 – 2 p.m. Meet reptiles and raptors from around the world. All ages. Registration Required. Limit 20. Call or email the Mt Laurel Library at 991-1660 or mtlaurellibrary@gmail.com for more information.

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Greystone club chooses scholarship winner

280 Living

Inverness clubhouse ranked #1 in country Golf Inc. magazine listed the Inverness Country Club clubhouse as the top new clubhouse in the country in its spring 2011 issue. The 24,000 square foot building was designed by Chambers and constructed by Rives Construction Co., Inc. The article noted the clubhouse’s versatility. The sawtooth-shaped dining room allows the space to be one large room or tow be divided

up into smaller spaces for more intimate gatherings. The reception desk can double as a bar for pre-function activities. “Very traditional and classic look and design with red brick, hard woods and dark rich colors,” Jim Richerson was quoted as saying in the article. For more information on the club, visit iccalabama.com.

Service Guild holds luncheon

July 2011

Celebrating

20 Years! 1991 - 2011

Please Join us! Open House & Registration Saturday July 30, 2011 10:00am - 2:00pm

Fall Classes

Begin August 18, 2011 2011-2012 Season Spain Park 2011 graduate Kiki Ford. Photo courtesy of Greystone Ladies’ Club.

Kiauna Shante “Kiki” Ford is the winner of the 2011 College Scholarship Award presented by the Greystone Ladies Club. The Scholarship Committee, comprised of GLC members Ann Layne, Therese Haselden and Shirl Ward, chose the recent Spain Park graduate from among 18 applicants. Ford, whose GPA was 3.79, plans to attend the University of South Alabama in the fall to study physical therapy. Ford’s teachers have high regard for her “excellent work ethic and dedication as a student, as well as her thoughtfulness and caring of others.” As the GLC Scholarship Award recipient, Kiki will receive $1,000 to be used toward college tuition or college-related expenses.

Back Row: Guild Gala Chair Tommie Ford, Nominating Chair Natalie Sansom, President Elect Christie Mundy, Special Events Chair Jen Dent, VP of Membership Ashley Johnson, Mercedes Co-Chair Nancy Ferren, Advisor and Past President Julie Cundiff, President Pauline Scott. Front Row: Social and Arrangements Chair Emily Forsythe, VP Bell Center Classroom Coordinator Melissa Oliver, Parliamentarian Julie Gillis, Mercedes Co-Chair Tracy Thornton. Photo courtesy of The Service Guild.

The Service Guild of Birmingham held its annual May Luncheon in honor of the Class of 2004 at The Club on May 9. The Service Guild is a service organization dedicated to maximizing the potential of children from birth to 3 years of age at risk for development delay through the The Bell

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July 2011

280 Living

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Your Community, Your 280 Living

280 Living neighborly news & entertainment

In your mailbox each month. Always online. www.280living.com

Prizes are awarded to Facebook fans in each issue on page 4.

To inquire about advertising, contact Dan Starnes, publisher, 370-0732 or dan@280living.com.

She drove confidently into the parking lot. She felt an assurance that had not been there in weeks, able and capable to handle whatever came her way. She was glad this moment was here for she had anticipated it all morning, rehearsed what she would say, able to declare with absolute certainty her position and want. This time there would be no doubt. She knew she could do it. She approached the speaker, rolled down her window and heard the words that had shaken her so frequently in the past, “Hello, welcome to Coffeeville. May I take your order?” The time had come, “Yes, I’ll have a double half-caf non-fat latte with two sweeteners.” She didn’t even say please. She wanted to leave no doubt. The time was now and this is was her desire. With absolute confidence, she commanded her order. And this time, she would get it. Confidence. What is it exactly? When do we know we have it? I have done some recent polling on the meaning of confidence. I hear such definitions as: “Being sure of yourself” “Believing you can” “Knowing you can” “Having courage; mentally, physically” “Resolving to be true to yourself” These are good definitions and often what we consider to be the sum total of what confidence is. It is an internal assurance in an action about to be taken, a trusting in one’s capability to carry out one’s intent. “I am confident in my ability to do this action, therefore I will attempt it.” In this definition of confidence, there is pro-activity, a taking of initiative, stemming from the belief, the assurance, that one can, much like the Little Engine That Could. Confidence arises from a sense of “couldness”—“I could make this happen if I really wanted to or tried it.” We tell our children that the little engine could because it believed it could—it was confident. Therefore, it made it happen. But is that all there is to confidence? I don’t think so. I think this definition is Part A. I think there is a Part B, and the Part B is deeper, richer, more stabilizing, more peaceinducing (which honestly is what I hear

most people requesting when they say they need to be more confident; I hear them really saying they wish they were more at peace with what was happening). So here is Part B to “confidence”: the perception that whatever happens is handle-able. “Whatever happens, I’ll be OK; I can handle whatever results occur.” This aspect of confidence speaks of one’s trust in his or her own adaptability. It is about handling the unknown beyond what one’s capability creates, instigates or sets in motion. It deals with our reactions to events, where we have little or no control or sense of anticipation. It is one thing to be capable; it is another to be adaptable. The person who believes they are capable is confident to a degree, but a fuller measure of confidence comes when that same person believes that no matter what their capability instigates, he or she can handle what comes next and be okay, be at peace. Most of our worry and anxiety comes from what we cannot anticipate. But if we perceive that we can handle well whatever is thrown at us, especially beyond what we can consider or anticipate, we can be at peace. And if we are at peace, we feel much more assured about any situation that may occur. We are truly confident, well roundedly so. And that can make a difference in our lives in so many ways, from handling a problem at home to ordering a highmaintenance cup of coffee. Or even in making up words for a monthly article in 280 Living (“couldness,” “handle-able,” “well roundedly”). My spell checker is going nuts. I, however, am at peace; confidently so. To talk further about the places in your life that lack “couldness” or “handle-ableness”, please consider Samaritan Counseling Center for your counseling or consultant needs. You may reach us at 967-3660, or visit the website at www.samaritancc.org. Paul Johnson is the executive director as well as a professionally licensed marriage and family therapist and associate licensed counselor at Samaritan.

Westminster School holds service day The Westminster School at Oak Mountain held a school-wide service day on May 6. “It was the prayer of the faculty and staff that the service project initiative would help students be others-focused and service-minded,” said Lori Jill Keeler, lower school principal at Westminster. After a school-wide tornado relief drive, second graders sorted the collected personal care items, food, clothing, and blankets and loaded them into an eighteenwheeler. The items were delivered to the Christian Service Mission to meet critical needs of the communities hid hardest by the April 27 tornados. Third graders worked at the Bell Center, a treatment center for children with physical and mental challenges. First graders delivered more than 1,100 pounds of rice they had collected for

the Hispanic community service ministry of Birmingham’s Christian Service Mission. Fourth graders worked with preschool children at the Lovelady Center, and fifth graders hosted a party at the VA Hospital for the military men, women, and families who are serving and have served us. The sixth grade students worked at the Children’s Ronald McDonald House cleaning guest rooms and cooking meals for families of hospitalized children. Finally, the kindergarten classes visited and played games with residents of the Somerby Assisted Living Center. Following the day of service around the city, all of the students gathered back in the school’s gym to share highlights about their experiences at the various locations. The school plans to hold this event again each year.

280 Living

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VAPOR

July 2011

Get involved with Vapor

CONTINUED from page 1 This was the trip that sparked the vision for Vapor Sports Ministries. McElveen believed he could minister to kids in these impoverished countries by connecting with them over the game of soccer. He set out to raise leaders within these communities and create ministers as well as soccer coaches. McElveen began one center in Kenya while living there for a year, and his mission evolved into building 40 centers in 40 slums across Kenya and Africa by the year 2017. There are currently three operational centers in Kawangware, Ngong and Togoville, with plans to open four more in 2012. A section of the Highway 280 store is devoted to educating shoppers on the work that is ongoing in Africa. A flat screen and sound system broadcast Vapor’s vision when you walk in the store. And it is a team of 280 residents and Alabamians who make much of the international ministry possible. When the Vapor team needed a headquarters four years ago, they received hospitality only an Alabama resident could provide. McElveen came to Sylacauga to visit his uncle and met David Pursell, who owns Farmlinks Golf Course. Pursell gave Vapor much needed office space as well as housing accommodations for all employees. That number has grown over time to 10. The ministry has also reoriented the goals of people like Vapor’s Vice President of Finance Daniel Roberts. “Our one goal, whether it’s thrift stores or how we raise money, is to make disciples,” said Roberts. He says that there will always be elements to running a business, but the goals change when you’re surrounded with fellow believers. Roberts admits he was one of those who graduated with an accounting degree and a goal of making the most money possible. “I landed a dream job out of college and learned from the best Christian

12th Man—Volunteer to give a monthly pledge of any amount that benefits Vapor’s work overseas. Their work is not possible without a strong backbone of supporters. Hasmin’s Friends—Provide $42 per month to give food, books and supplies for a child in a Vapor Sports league. You will communicate with your child four times per year and receive a photo and biography of your child.

A shopper looks through donated items at Vapor Sports Thrift Store. Photo by Mia Bass.

businessman I know,” Roberts said. It was through his boss that he had his chance meeting with McElveen. Roberts left the bank to spend four and a half months in India. He knew he had to call McElveen once he got home. After the man who was originally hired to open the store was unable to be there for opening day, Roberts took the reins on September 23, 2009. “I was there to stay,” Roberts said. A community ministry It’s that sort of passion that is evident to those who frequent the thrift store. Church groups including those from McElveen’s home church, The Church at Brook Hiills, come together to volunteer—from sorting donated items to folding jeans. But this isn’t a one-way process. While Vapor’s primary purpose is to benefit the ministries abroad, they also support local people traveling oversees for mission trips, give back to the churches and help the community as a whole. After seeing the way the 280 and

greater Birmingham community reacted and supported the ministry, Roberts and the Vapor team decided to open another branch of the thrift store in Columbus, Ga. and have plans to open another store the first of next year. Vapor has helped with funds to send people overseas on mission trips. Most recently, Vapor helped when The Church of Brook Hills partnered with a church in Pratt City to assist 60 displaced families affected by the April 27 tornadoes. “Vapor is providing the resources toward stabilization,” said Brook Hills Local Disciple-Making Pastor Keith Stanley. Vapor provided these 60 families with vouchers to use in the thrift store to reestablish some feeling of normalcy. The next time you’re driving down Highway 280 and have a little extra time, stop by Vapor to shop, donate, check out the handmade Kenyan bracelets or a sponsor a child. You can learn more about out what Vapor is doing overseas or fill out an application to volunteer at the thrift store at www.vaporsports.org.

Kids4Kids—Inform and empower kids about the poverty abroad by requesting tools available through Vapor Sports Ministries’ online site. This program can be done in conjunction with Vacation Bible School or any other church day camp or mission week. Mission Trips—Participate in a 10-day trip to an area impacted by Vapor. Trips are taken to East and West Africa, and the trip to Haiti from December 27 to January 3 is still open for volunteers to attend. Donate— Drop off men’s, women’s and children’s clothing as well as household items, electronics and furniture at the thrift store. Vapor operates on solely donations. Shop—Stop by the store to browse or look for something specific. All proceeds from the store go toward the work of Vapor Sports Ministries in Africa and Haiti. Volunteer—Pick up an application at the store. Volunteers at Vapor do everything from folding jeans to sorting clothes and checking out customers.

Breakfast with the Doc Tendonitis to Carpal Tunnel Thursday, July 28 8:00-9:00 a.m.

Join Reneé Riley, MD, with Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center as she discusses the causes and treatment of common upper extremity aches and pains.

Learn about rotator cuff tendonitis and tears, including signs that you may have progressed from inflammation to a more serious torn tendon. Also, learn ways to keep elbow tendonitis from becoming a nagging problem, and the signs and symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Please call 408-6550 to register for this free seminar.

Personal. Passionate. Committed. 7191 Cahaba Valley Road, Birmingham, Alabama 35242 onenineteen.com

5299 Valleydale Road Suite 111 • Birmingham, AL 35242 www.southeasternjewelers.net • 980-9030

30 |

July 2011

July Calendar of Events

Music & Arts

7/1- 8-1- In Focus-- Photography by Birmingham City School students. The

Education Department brought cameras, photography instruction and a passion for photography out into the community. Birmingham Museum of Art. Hours: Monday –Friday, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m., Sunday, noon – 5 p.m., closed Mondays and major holidays. Admission: donation suggested. More information: 205-254-2707.

7/1-7/24- A Stitch in Time: Southern Quilts in the African- American Tradition.

Drawing from the Museum’s permanent collection of American quilts--among the largest in the country-- this exhibition will explore the African- American quilting tradition from vibrant patterns to whimsical pictorials. Birmingham Museum of Art. Hours: Monday –Friday, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m., Sunday, noon – 5 p.m., closed Mondays and major holidays. Admission: donation suggested. More information: 205-254-2707.

7/4, 7/10, 7/17, 7/24, 7/31- Jazz in the Park. Bring your picnic basket and lawn

chair for an evening of jazz featuring a diverse group of Birmingham area jazz musicians. 5 p.m.- 8 p.m. Various parks. Admission: free. More information: call 205-616-1735.

7/9- Doo Wop live in Birmingham. Alabama Public Television presents legends

of group vocal harmony in a live concert. 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center. Admission: $75, $100, $150. More information: www. alysstephens.org.

7/9- Motley Crue with New York Dolls. One of the world’s most iconic rock bands. 7:30 p.m. Verizon Wireless Music Center. Admission: $33- $107.70. More Information: www.livenation.com.

7/10- Jazz in the Park. Features the Neo Jazz Collective, Roland Gresham and

Kenneth Williams. 5 p.m.-8 p.m. W.C. Patton Park, 3969 14th Avenue North. Admission: free. More information: www.magiccitysmoothjazz.com.

7/14- Steve Earle and the Dukes (and Duchesses) featuring Allison Moorer. Earle

quickly became a master storyteller in his own right after the 1986 release of his debut record, Guitar Town. 7 p.m. Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center. Admission: $29.50 - $49.50, students $20. More information: 205-975-2787.

7/17 -O.A.R. in concert. Hailed as one of the best live bands on the planet, O.A.R. has built a rabid following and a well-deserved reputation as a must-see band when they come to town. 7:30 p.m. Admission: $28.50 and $32.50. Sloss Furnaces. More information: www.ticketmaster.com.

7/17- Jazz in the Park. Features the Neo Jazz Collective, Laser’s Edge and Southpax Saxes. 5 p.m.-8 p.m. Ensley Park, 2800 Avenue K. Admission: free. More information: www.magiccitysmoothjazz.com.

7/24- Jazz in the Park. Features the Neo Jazz Collective, T.A.D. of Jazz and Vann

Burchfield. 5 p.m.-8 p.m. East Lake Park, 1st Avenue North and Oporto-Madrid Boulevard. Admission: free. More information: www.magiccitysmoothjazz.com.

7/24- Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band. Of the Idaho-born singer-songwriter,

Paste magazine declares, “Put simply, Ritter is the most gifted interpreter of Americana, as an arranger and a lyricist, working today.” 6:30 p.m. Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center. Admission: $29.50. More information: www. alysstephens.org

Theatre

7/11 – “Kids on Stage” Summer Drama Camp. SESSION III Disney’s High School

Musical. 9 a.m. Alys Robinson Performing Arts Center, 1200 10th Avenue South. Cost for two week camp: $350. More information: www.alysstephens.uab. edu/events.

7/14-8/7 – Hairspray. Get swept away to 1960s Baltimore, where the 50s are out - and change is in the air. Thursday – Saturday 7:30 p.m and Saturday and Sunday 2 p.m. Red Mountain Theatre, 1116 26th Street South. Admission: $30$35. More information: 324-2424 or www.redmountaintheatre.org.

7/14 – Steve Earle & The Dukes (and Duchesses) featuring Allison Moorer. 7 p.m. Alys Robinson Performing Arts Center, 1200 10th Avenue South. Admission: $20-$49.50. More information: www.alysstephens.uab.edu/events.

7/18 – “Discovering the Visual Arts” Summer Camp for ages 8-14. 9 a.m. Alys

Robinson Performing Arts Center, 1200 10th Avenue South. Cost: $190. More information: www.alysstephens.uab.edu/events or call 975.4769.

7/24 – Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band – Good Songs Good People Series.

The new series this summer features today’s hottest singers, songwriters, and performers in the beautiful setting of the Sirote Theatre. Alys Robinson Performing Arts Center, 1200 10th Avenue South. Admission: $29.50. Cocktail Hour begins at 6:30 p.m. More information: www.alysstephens.uab.edu/ events.

July 2011

HEARDMONT PARK SENIOR CENTER CALENDAR The center will be closed Monday and Tuesday, July 4 and 5 in honor of the holiday.

SPECIAL JULY EVENTS:

JULY 7- Blood pressure clinic & watermelon seed spitting, 11:15 a.m. JULY 8- Center Dance, 7 – 9 p.m. JULY 12 - Advisory Council Meeting, 1 p.m. JULY 19- Wii Bowling w/ Betty, 12:30 p.m. JULY 22- AARP Driving Class, 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. JULY 26- Wii Bowling w/ Betty, 12:30 p.m. NOTE: Please reserve meals in advance. Outings are limited to 12 people, so sign up early.

Center Manager: Theresa Green Hours: Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Phone: 991-5742 Fax: 991-5657 Email: heardmontpark@hotmail.com

Family Fun

email your events to calendar@280living.com

MONDAYS (except 7/4)

9:30 – 10:30 a.m.- Tai Chi 9:30 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.- Mah Jongg 10:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.- Canasta

TUESDAYS (except 7/5)

10- 11 a.m.- Aerobic Workouts 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.- Bingo & Board games 11 a.m.Bible Study 12 p.m.- Lunch

WEDNESDAYS

9a.m. – 12 p.m.- Bridge Club 11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.- Rummikub 12 p.m. – Lunch

THURSDAYS

10 - 11 p.m.- Aerobic Workouts 10 a.m.- 2 p.m.- Bingo & Board games 12 p.m.- Lunch

FRIDAYS

9– 10 p.m.- Zumba Gold 9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.- Canasta & Mah Jongg 10 – 11 a.m.- Intermediate Line Dancing 11a.m. – 12 p.m.- Beginning Line Dancing

7/1-31- Baby Season. You can observe the care of Alabama native wild bird

patients in raptor flight cages. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Alabama Wildlife Center at Oak Mountain State Park. State park admission: $3 (adults) $1 (children). More information: call 663-7930 or visit www.awrc.org.

7/4- Flag Making & Parade. Come the Campground Pavilion and join us to make

flags or other patriotic crafts, then parade through the campground. 10 a.m. Oak Mountain State Park. State park admission: $3 (adults) $1(children). More information: call 663-7930.

7/4- Thunder on the Mountain. Birmingham’s biggest fireworks show. 9 p.m. Vulcan Park and Museum but can be viewed from surrounding areas. Admission: free. More information: www.visitvulcan.com.

7/4- Celebrate the 4th of July at American Village. Enjoy unique entertainment

and great food all day long. Watch actors filled with the “Spirit of 76” and see George Washington and other patriots. 11 a.m.-fireworks at dusk. American Village, 727 Highway 119, Montevallo, AL. Admission: adults and children over five: $5. All active military and veterans are free. More information: www.americanvillage.org.

7/9- Things That Go Bump in the Night. Come to the campground pavilion and learn about the creatures that are playing while we are sleeping. 7 p.m. Oak Mountain State Park. State park admission: $3 (adults) $1 (children). More information: 663-7930.

7/18- Nelson Mandela International Day, hosted by the Birmingham Civil Rights

Institute. The free family festival will feature music, dancers, vendors, a children’s village, free admission to BCRI galleries and a “67 Minutes” Booth where festival-goers will sign up through Hands-On-Birmingham to commit to community service in our area.. 12-8 p.m. Kelly Ingram Park, downtown. Free. More information: Laura Caldwell Anderson, 328-9696 x. 215.

7/23- Nature Scavenger Hunt. Visit the Treetop Nature Trail and look for things in nature on this fun filled nature scavenger hunt. 10 a.m. Oak Mountain State Park. State park admission: $3 (adults) $1 (children). More information: 6637930.

Food

7/12- Authentic Spanish Tapas with Ruben Raposo of Raposos Gourmet and

Tapas. Spanish Tapas bars are at the very center of every Spanish community. These mouthwatering little dishes are not limited in size, ingredients or to a fixed course in a meal which makes them equally appealing for everything from tailgating to party finger food to mix n’ match “small plate” dinner fun. Pre-registration required. 6:30 p.m.- 9 p.m. Birmingham Bake & Cook Company, 5921 Valleydale Road #125. Class fee: $35. More information: call 980-3661.

7/21- Perfect Vinaigrettes for all Seasons. Using a variety of vinegars (herbal, citrus, rice,

cider, balsamic and more!) we’ll prepare and pair perfect vinaigrettes with seafood, meat and poultry, salads, grilled vegetables and even desserts to show how easy and versatile vinaigrettes are. Pre-registration required. 6:30 p.m.- 8:30 p.m. Birmingham Bake & Cook Company, 5921 Valleydale Road #125. Class fee: $35. More information: call 980-3661.

7/26- Classic Southern Summer Sides. However your garden grows, these recipes will bring back some tried and true southern classics to your table – some with a bright new twist. Pre-registration required. 6:30 p.m.- 8:30 p.m. Birmingham Bake & Cook Company, 5921 Valleydale Road #125. Class fee: $35. More information: call 9803661.

7/28- Sharpen your Knife Skills, Part I - Beginner Level. This “nuts and bolts” class will sharpen your knowledge of knives and their various uses. Bring two of your knives for an enhanced learning experience – the one you feel the most comfortable with and the one you feel the least comfortable with, too. Limited to 10. Pre-registration required. 6:30 p.m.- 9 p.m. Birmingham Bake & Cook Company, 5921 Valleydale Road #125. Class fee: $30. More information: call 980-3661.

Sports 7/4-7/7- Birmingham Barons vs. Mobile BayBears. Special promotions include

Independence Day fireworks, AAA Wednesday and thirsty Thursday. Game times vary, but generally most evening games begin at 7:05 p.m. Regions Park, Hoover. For tickets and information, go to http://web.minorleaguebaseball. com or call 988-3200.

7/4 - 7/9- Eagle Point Golf Club is hosting the annual PGA “Bring Your Daughter to the Course Week” This is a family-focused activity where you can share your passion, for the game of golf ,with your daughter. Daughters play free. Enjoy a free group clinic with your daughter on July 9 from 8 a.m.-10 a.m. More information: please contact the golf shop at 991-9070 or www. eaglepointgolfclub.com.

7/13-7/18- Birmingham Barons vs. Jacksonville Suns. Special promotions include ladies night, parrot head night, Friday night fireworks, kids jersey giveaway and a team autograph session. Game times vary, but generally most evening games begin at 7:05 p.m. Regions Park, Hoover. For tickets and information, go to http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com or call 988-3200.

7/19- Eagle Point Golf Club annual Junior Invitational. 3 p.m. Eagle Point Golf Club. Entry Fee is $30 per Jr./Adult Team, which includes 9 hole green and cart fee, and range balls. Also includes a hot dog dinner and awards following the tournament. To register, call Jim Wise at 991-9070 Ext. 12 or www.eaglepointgolfclub.com.

7/26 - 7/28- Junior Golf Camp at Eagle Point Golf Club. Kids will learn skills,

rules, etiquette and have on-course experience. Refreshments provided. Tuesday and Wednesday 9a.m.-11a.m., Thursday 9a.m.-12 noon. More information: contact Jon Oliver at 991-9070 Ext. 22 or www.eaglepointgolfclub. com.

7/26- 7/30- Birmingham Barons vs. Huntsville Stars. Special promotions include 90s night, thirsty Thursday, Friday night fireworks and football kickoff night. Game times vary, but generally most evening games begin at 7:05 p.m. Regions Park, Hoover. For tickets and information, go to http://web. minorleaguebaseball.com or call 988-3200.

280 Living

www.280living.com

280 Live Music Listings HOGANS Irish Pub & Grill 507 Cahaba Park Circle 995-0533

Every Wednesday / Thursday 8pm Live Music by Razz Ma Tazz Every Friday / Saturday 9pm - Until Live Music by Razz Ma Tazz

280 Living neighborly news & entertainment

CAFE FIRENZE 110 Inverness Plaza 980-1315

7/1– Red Halo 7/2– Live Music 7/3– Morning Wood 7/6– All Star Live Band Karaoke 7/7– Beer Bands & Bingo, Live Music 7/8– Deputy 5 7/9– Outshine – Sexy Tractor 7/10– Family of Friends 7/13– All Star Live Band Karaoke 7/14– Beer Bands and Bingo, Misused 7/15– The Ugli Stick 7/16– Trademark 7/17– Morning Wood 7/20– All Star Live Band Karaoke 7/22– The Expandables 7/23– Family of Friends 7/24– Family of Friends 7/27– All Star Live Band Karaoke 7/29– Jeff Otwell Opening for David Nail 7/30 – After the Crash

5426 Highway 280 (205) 874-6361 www.greybarbham.com 7/1- Slang 7/8- Bonus Round 7/16- Negotiators 7/22- Outshine 7/29- Slang

The Fish Market Restaurant GREYSTONE 5407 Highway 280 980-8600 every Thursday night live music with Jeff Taylor. All Parrotheads are invited.

Courtyard Oyster bar & grill 280

band and dj schedule 7/1-Voodoo Jones / Heath & the YaYa’s 7/2- Gentlemen Zero / Rockster / Heath Shoemaker 7/3- 3-Way 7/4- Erica & the Soulshine band 7/5- Live Band Karaoke 7/6- Matt & Sean / Koonce & Matt 7/7- Erica & Eric / Heath Shoemaker 7/8- The Wheelers / SK5 7/9- Atticus Avenue / Rockster / Shoemaker 7/10- Spoonful 7/11- Dj Kop 7/12- Nick Yourgules 7/13- Matt & Sean / Koonce & Matt 7/14- Erica & Eric / Heath Shoemaker 7/15- William A. & Local Celebrity / Flashback 7/16- Todd Simpson and the Mojo Child / Rockster / Heath Shoemaker 7/17-3-Way 7/18- Dj Kop 7/19- Live Band Karaoke 7/20- Matt & Sean / Koonce & Matt 7/21 Erica & Eric / Heath Shoemaker 7/22- Sommerville / Sk5 7/23- 4th & 1 / Rockster / Heath Shoemaker 7/24- Spoonful 7/25- Dj Kop 7/26- Nick Yourgules 7/27- Matt & Sean / Koonce & Matt 7/28- Erica & Eric / Heath Shoemaker 7/29- The Haulers / Matt Hill band 7/30- Ray Gun Adminstration / Rockster / Heath Shoemaker

July 2011

Classiﬁeds

Community Contributors Wanted 280 Living is looking for people in the area to contribute news and write stories. Email madoline@280.com if interested.

HELP WANTED:

Not your ordinary ‘Retail Sales’ position. Part-Time to start, can grow to fulltime. MUST be customer service oriented – familiar with Microsoft Word, Publisher, Excel, etc. POS experience a plus. Fax resume/work history to 205.980.8346

Now Hiring

ROGERS TRADING COMPANY HWY 280 BEHIND LOGANS ROADHOUSE Part time retail sales associate. Up to 30 hours avail. Good hourly rate plus commission. Employee discount. Apply with shannon: 408-9378

Permanent Part-time Job

Children & Gift Shop Hwy 280 -- Greystone Area Weekends required but no nights Call 205-222-3193 and leave a message

Calling all lake lovers! Third Annual 280 Living Lake Lovers Photo Contest It’s lake season, and we want you to capture all the action of tubing, swimming, ﬁshing, skiing, sun bathing and more. Share your best photos with us, and we will pick winners from each of four categories:

Best action photo

(skis, wakeboard, knee boards, tubes, etc.)

Best kid photo Best pet photo

Best ﬁshing photo

To enter, email your photos in a jpg format to contest@280Living.com. Please send high quality jpg images and include a caption and photo credit. Deadline for entries is August 9, 2011. We will publish the winners in the September issue as well as post them on our Facebook page and our website.

July 2011

AAA Travel Last Minute Deals ✪ Alaska and European Cruises: SAVE up to 50% off select sailings and dates in 2011. ✪ Hawaii: SAVE up to 45% on rack rates at The Waikiki EDITION. Valid for select travel through 12/15/11. ✪ Hawaii: SAVE up to 30% on rack rates at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa. Valid for select travel through 12/17/11.

✪ Hawaii: SAVE an additional 15% at the Grand Wailea on Maui on any air-inclusive vacation. Valid for select travel through 12/22/11.

✪ Mexico Hot Deals: SAVE up to 57% PLUS Kids 12 & younger stay and eat FREE and receive a

resort credit of up to $400 per room. Roundtrip air and three nights’ accommodation at a participating Hot Deals hotel are required. Book by 7/24/11 for travel through 12/22/11.

✪ Cancun: SAVE up to 40% PLUS Kids 12 & younger stay and eat FREE in Family Jr. Suites and above at the all-inclusive Gran Caribe Real Resort & Spa Cancun. Book by 7/24/11 for travel through 12/20/11.

✪ Puerto Vallarta/Riviera Nayarit: SAVE up to 51% PLUS receive a FREE guaranteed room upgrade and a spa credit of up to $50 per room at the all-inclusive Riu Palace Paciﬁco. Book by 6/27/11 for travel through 10/28/11. Ask about RIU Updeals!

✪ Tahiti & Fiji Hot Deals: SAVE $500 per booking to Tahiti and Fiji in addition to FREE nights and meals! Book by 9/4/11 for travel through 3/31/12.

✪ Costa Rica: SAVE up to 15% at the Laguna Lodge - Tortuguero. Book by 7/24/11 for travel through 12/15/11. ✪ Tahiti: SAVE 40% PLUS receive daily breakfast for two at the Moorea Pearl Resort & Spa. Valid for travel 7/1 – 10/31/11. A three-night minimum stay and overnight stay at the Manava Suite Resort Tahiti is required.

✪ Fiji: Receive every 3rd night FREE PLUS FREE daily breakfast at the Sonaisali Island Resort. Valid for travel 7/1 – 12/30/11 and 1/1 – 3/31/12.

✪ Bahamas: $250 instant booking credit at participating hotels and resorts. Book by 7/11/11 for travel through 12/21/11.

✪ Dominican Republic: Summer Special – 4th night FREE at Casa De Campo in Elite and Balcony Rooms. Book by 6/30/11 for travel through 9/30/11.

✪ Bermuda: Every 5th night FREE at The Fairmont Southampton. Book by 8/26/11 for travel through 8/31/11. ✪ Miami: 5th night FREE at the Grand Beach Hotel. Valid for select travel 7/1 - 9/30/11. ✪ Los Angeles: 4th night FREE at The Beverly Hilton. Valid for select travel through 8/31/11.

CALL AAA TRAVEL FOR ALL YOUR TRAVEL NEEDS: 2400 Acton Road - Birmingham, AL 35243

Phone (205) 978-7030

Rates quoted are per person, based on double occupancy unless otherwise stated. Weekends are additional. Offers valid for select travel dates and booking periods - call for details. Rates, offers, specials, inclusions, blackout dates, supplemental fees, terms, conditions, availability and itinerary are subject to change without notice. Certain restrictions may apply. Taxes, gratuities, transfers, airfare and excursions are additional unless otherwise indicated. Rates shown do not include Transportation Taxes of $16.30, Passenger Facility Charges of $3 - $18, per segment tax of $3.70, International Departure or Immigration taxes of $40 - $80, or September 11th Security Fee of $2.50 per enplanement (up to a maximum of $5 per one-way or $10 per roundtrip). Additional airline restrictions, including but not limited to baggage limitations, standby policies and fees, non-refundable tickets and change fees with pre-flight notification deadlines may apply. Fees and policies vary among airlines and are subject to change without notice. Please contact the airline directly for details. Not responsible for errors or omissions. [Pleasant Holidays acts only as an agent for the various travel providers shown above.] CST# 1007939-10. UBI# 601 915 263. TAR#5308.