Progress 2015–Working Behind the Scenes

Progress 2015 WORKING BEHIND THE SCENES

Clanton City Council Mayor Billy Joe Driver, Greg DeJarnett, Mary Mell Smith, Sammy Wilson, Jeff Price and Bobby Cook.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Local farmers produce more than just peaches Libraries changing with the digital age Veterans trying to move forward Building a championship football program Developing the county’s workforce Citizen of the Year helping bring hospital

A note from the editor

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s we stop to think about the progress that has been made in Chilton County this year, as we do each year with our special Progress edition, there are certainly tangible signs of growth.

Workers Dawkins are close to breaking ground at the site of a new hospital in Chilton County. New businesses have opened across the county. But those are the results of progress, not necessarily the causes.

So, what are the driving factors of progress in Chilton County? We tried

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to answer that question in this edition. Local residents with the intelligence and work ethic necessary to make a difference is certainly an important part of our county’s future, but sometimes this can take on different shape than one might imagine. Consider the farmers toiling to grow produce that will find a market, or those keeping libraries relevant in the digital age.

The stories you’ll find in Progress 2015 aren’t all focused on commerce.

You can read about how Maplesville’s renowned football program is able to maintain its status as one of the state’s elite.

All the folks associated with these special aspects of Chilton County are working behind the scenes to make progress. It’s time to tell their stories.

Dawkins is managing editor of The Clanton Advertiser.

The Clanton Advertiser P.O. Box 1379, Clanton, AL 35045 205.755.5747 clantonadvertiser.com

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Delicious

Diversity

Chilton County home to a variety of crops

BY DREW GRANTHUM PHOTOS BY DREW GRANTHUM AND CONTRIBUTED

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t’s no secret that Chilton County is known for an abundance of peach growers. One can count on Chilton County peaches being a staple of their local farmer’s market or fruit stand throughout the summer months.

What may come as a surprise to many is the number of crops grown in Chilton County that aren’t peaches.

While the vast majority of produce farms in the county choose the tried-and-true method of growing peaches, there are a few farms that opt to “grow” in a different direction.

Chilton Research and Extension Center Director Jim Pitts said while peaches may be the most famous crop to come from the county, it is hardly the only one.

Pitts said farmers looking for a way to make money often analyze crops in a similar way stockbrokers might look at trends on Wall Street.

“Anything you can grow early or late, it’s a given,” he said. “If you’ve got something that no one else has — that’s (what) this whole produce industry is built on, supply and demand — you’re in the driver’s seat.

But if everyone has what you have, you’re in the dog’s seat. You just can’t get (a good) market.”

That said, the next time you look on your dinner table, you might be surprised to find what you’re eating came from a Chilton County farm.

‘JUST TRYING TO DIVERSIFY’ “Strawberries, in the 1920s and 30s, were growing all over the place in Chilton County,” he said. “They used to bring them into Thorsby and pack them out on boxcars, and ship them all over the country. Everybody had a small strawberry patch. There were a lot of people that raised strawberries.”

Pitts said the methods of growing the fruit have changed over the years, ranging from unconventional to a scientific approach used today.

“They raised them differently than what they do now,” Pitts said. “They had them on matted rows and had geese go through and eat the grass out of (the patch).”

Nowadays, farmers rely on a little bit of science to help put out the bright red berries.

“You put them on a bed, and anytime you elevate the soil, it allows the soil to warm up,” Pitts said.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Jim Pitts, Director of the Chilton County Research and Extension Center, said farmers looking for a way to make money often analyze crops similar to how stock brokers analyze market trends. Penton Farms in Verbena utilize black plastic as a way to grow strawberries.

Growing strawberries tends to be an expensive endeavor, Pitts said.

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ABOVE: Sugar Hill U-Pick, run by Scott Penton and his wife, Rachell, allows customers to come out and pick their own strawberries for consumption.

“Then you put the black plastic over the top of that.

So you’ve got the elevated soil, plus that plastic, so that heat that plastic absorbs warms the soil up. That stimulates the plant earlier.”

Pitts said it is not a cheap endeavor.

“They’re expensive to grow,” Pitts said. “You’ve got to make your money back in a year. On peaches or plums, you’ve got several years to try and make (your) money back.”

Strawberries require an extensive planting and harvesting process, which includes removing and replanting the crops each season. The process is an expensive one, and a daunting task, Pitts said.

It’s an endeavor that Verbena farmer Scott Penton knows all about. Penton and his wife, Rachell, own Penton Farms, where they grow numerous crops, including peaches, tomatoes and squash, but one that gathers a great deal of attention are their strawberries. The farm has a “U-pick” strawberry patch (Sugar Hill U-Pick) that allows people in the community to come and pick a bucket full of the fruit for a fee.

Penton said the idea came as a way of giving the farm another source of income.

“It’s another way to make money, I guess” Penton said, chuckling. “Just trying to diversify our operation. We’re pretty big on diversification.”

Penton said the farm started the U-pick after a neighboring farm decided to get out of the business.

“My neighbor down the road had a U-pick straw-

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berry patch,” he said. “We were over there picking strawberries, and he said he was going to quit. We basically bought his equipment and moved the U-pick to our place.”

Penton said the effort that went into maintaining the plants doesn’t have an offseason.

“We’ll start picking around the middle of March,” he said. “And then we’re through the middle of June.

As soon as we’re through, we’re out there spraying, ripping the plastic up and getting ready to start all over. We have to plough it all up, lay the plastic back down. In the summer, we’re planting. We’re taking care of the plants all fall and all winter.”

The process of removing all the strawberry plants at the end of each season, along with the black plastic used to warm the beds, is something that might surprise those unfamiliar with cultivating the plants, Rachell Penton said.

“A lot of people think it’s the same plants, but its not,” she said. “We have to redo everything from year to year.”

Scott Penton said the farm has around 50,000 plants, with the goal of trying to provide the best strawberries available to those coming out to pick, as well as those at local farmer’s markets.

“You have to stay on top of (the strawberries),” he said. “Once you pick them, you’ve got to do something with them. It’s not like a watermelon that you can leave laying around a week.”

‘WE WANTED TO DO SOMETHING BETTER FOR THE WORLD’ One farm in Chilton County specializes in getting

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consumers back to their roots, in more ways than one.

Verbena Hills Farms offers a wide variety of root plants that are grown organically. The farm is a 501c non-profit organization, founded by Carolyn Bland, co-founder of United Prison Ministries International as a way of offering an organic option for those looking for U-pick produce.

“We wanted to do all-natural organic (farming),” said Jeffrey Beaver, farm operations manager.

“We’re not getting the vitamins and minerals we need in (genetically modified) foods in the grocery store. We wanted to do something better for the world.”

Beaver said the farm does not use chemicals or pesticides in growing its crops, which include a wide variety of root plants, such as tomatoes, beets, kale, watermelon radishes, carrots and greens.

“We pay attention,” he said. “We do our research.

There are a lot of disease fighting chemicals in these root plants.”

Beaver said the farm tried to grow peaches at one point, but found they attracted pests to the farm’s other crops.

“Junebugs hit peach trees and plums first,” he said.

“When they hit, they were 5-10 yards away from the squash.”

Beaver said the farm decided to do away with the

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peach trees and focus on other crops.

“From what I observed, I felt the peach trees were magnets for junebugs,” he said. “(I thought), if I remove them, it won’t mean they won’t land, but they won’t have a catapult (to other plants).”

Beaver said there wasn’t much of a difference in the process of organically growing food.

“First you get the pH level (of the soil) right,” he said. “The only problem is keeping rabbit and deer away. The rest is keeping the bed weeded.”

While growing plants organically is the right choice to Beaver and those involved with the farm, he said convincing others about the vegetables produced by the farm can be a difficult task, Beaver said.

“The biggest thing is, with naturally growing food, a lot is not going to look perfect compared to genetically modified,” he said. “I think the taste alone sells itself.”

The farm offers its produce for U-pick, as well as at local markets. Beaver also said some of the produce gets donated to Through the Grace of God Ministries in Clanton.

Beaver said the nature of the way plants are grown on the farm was an ideology carried by those who wanted a more basic way of cultivating food.

“I’m simple,” he said. “I don’t like complicated.

I’m looking at simplicity and sustainability.”

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‘IT’S SOMETHING I DO TO GET OUT AND PLAY’ There’s no denying the importance of plums in Chilton County cuisine. Green plums, eaten with a dash of salt, have worked their way into the lexicon of Chilton County produce.

Pitts said that while peaches are the most familiar crop the county produces, e’re not getting the green plums are held in high esteem vitamins and minerals as well. we need in (genetically “People just like to eat green plums modified) foods in the with salt on them,” grocery store. We wanted to he said. “They can do something better for the pick a green plum, haul a basket around world. in the truck for a week, and still sell — Jeffrey Beaver it and it still brings good money. You take a ripe plum, it’s about like a peach; you haul it in the truck about a day and it’s over with.”

Pitts said green plums were simply plums

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TOP: Pitts examines a plum tree, one of the lesser known but more profitable crops grown in Chilton County.

ABOVE: Verbena Hills farms uses an organic approach to producing root plants such as garlic (pictured). LEFT: Scott and Rachell Penton, owner of Penton Farms and Sugar Hill U-Pick.

that were harvested before turning color, and had benefits for growers.

“That’s where the money is,” he said.

“Green plums don’t take as much spray, because the they don’t have that sugar start to build up in the fruit, so you don’t have much of a problem with fruit rot. It’s an earlier (blooming) plum, but they’ll pick them before they get ripe. You don’t pick them with any color on them. The bigger you can get it, the earlier you can get it, the better off you are.”

Pitts also said green plums have brought in a haul for grower’s bank accounts in recent years.

“Plums have been real profitable the last few years,” Pitts said. “I think what happened was, there was a slow down in planting plums, but there’s a great market for green plums that these folks are selling to.”

That said, Pitts said he felt plums may not bring in the profits in the near future.

“Right now there’s been a lot of plums planted in the ground, so this market may not be as good as it has been,” he said. “It’s a supply and demand (market), and the supply has, for several years, been way under what the demand has been. I’m looking for the market to change, because I know several folks who have pretty big acreages of plums.”

Not all who grow fruit in Chilton County claim to be farmers. Some, like Thorsby’s Gleemon Ray, do it as a labor of love.

“I’m just a poor old country boy,” the 67-year-old said. “It’s just something I like to do. It’s something I do to get out and play.”

Ray said he had around 300 trees with 12 varieties of plum.

“Some plums are a little tarter than others,” he said. “They got a little sour taste to them. I take them to the market, and I have a few fruit stands I take them to.”

Ray said he specializes in plums because he thinks they are easier to maintain than peaches.

“You don’t have to prune a plum tree like you do a peach,” he said. “Sharpshooter (bugs) don’t fool with plums.”

Ray said he makes deliveries to fruit stands in Childersburg, Prattville and to a farmer’s market in Birmingham, and while not the easiest hobby in the world, one he enjoys.

“It’s hard work,” he said. “We enjoy it. A young person getting into it, if he didn’t raise up doing it, I don’t know if he’d enjoy it. I don’t have to do it; I just enjoy it.”

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GOING BEYOND BOOKS

Libraries work to stay relevant in a technological society

BY EMILY REED PHOTOS BY STEPHEN DAWKINS AND EMILY REED

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ibraries have traditionally who come in the library every single day, served as a place of solitude and they never check out a book.” where individuals can go check With rows and rows of shelves still out books and research infor- lined with books throughout the walls of mation. the library, the concept of checking out a In recent years, libraries have started book is not dead. figuring out ways to target audiences of However, a shelf filled with recently reall ages by staying relevant in a techno- leased movies on DVD stands in the cenlogical society. ter of the library’s main room, catching “Libraries have definitely changed over the eye of anyone who walks by. the years,” Chilton-Clanton Public Li“The DVD section almost serves as a brary director Kelly Easterling said. “We movie store in a way,” Easterling said. have to target many different audiences “We try to stay up to date on all of the now, and a lot of those audiences are not newest movie titles so we get them in as necessarily wanting to come to the library soon as they are released.” to check out a book. Libraries as a whole In 2004, the total number of circulation have really worked to change our focus.” (items checked out) for the Chilton-ClanEasterling said free computer access, ton Public Library was 60,412. free Wi-Fi, the ability to check out recentTen years later, the total number of cirly released movies on DVD and movies culation was listed at 42,198. shown at the library are all recent addiAlthough the circulation numbers tions to the Chilton-Clanton location in an dropped over the years, the number of effort to reach a wider group of patrons. “electronic resources” including wire“We have a lot of people who visit our li- less, or Internet connections skyrocketed brary just so they can use the computer,” during the same time period.

Easterling said. “There are certain people In 2004, there were 3,755 individuals

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Chilton-Clanton Public Library director Kelly Easterling said libraries have changed over the years. Libraries have started figuring out ways to target audiences of all ages by staying relevant in a techological society.

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ABOVE: Bridget Fulmer uses a computer at the Chilton-Clanton Public Library. Although circulation numbers have dropped over the years, the number of “electronic resources” connections has skyrocketed. who used an electronic resource for the year.

In 2014, the library logged 14,959 individuals who used the computer.

Easterling said oftentimes, the library serves as a hub for kids who need a place to “hang out” between the hours of when they are finished with school, but waiting for their parents to come home from work.

“There are some kids who come hang out here in the afternoons,” Easterling said.

A common misconception Easterling said people still associate with the library is an “old-school” approach of having to whisper in a place where people

Tim Jones Heating & Cooling

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are reading a book or researching.

“I actually encourage people to come in and talk out loud,” Easterling said. “I think gone are the days of the stereotypical librarian who would hush you for talking. Libraries are now serving as a hub for the community to come together. People can come and interact with others, they can laugh, they can attend events held here with friends and even come to the library to watch movies.”

At Clanton Middle School, Library Media Specialist Sonya Jones said the library at the school often serves as a gathering place for friends, and for kids to enjoy discussing recent book titles.

“I want the kids to be excited when they come in here,” Jones said. “This is an age that is difficult to target with different types of technology competing for their attention, but kids love reading book titles that could potentially be turned into a movie, or that their friends are also reading.”

Jones said in recent years, “trendy” book titles help catch the attention of younger readers who enjoy picking up a book and reading.

Titles like the Hunger Games series, the Lemony Snicket series or books by popular young adult writer John Green are frequent book titles checked out from the library.

“If the book is going to be made into a movie or if it has already been in the movies, it will more than likely be popular,” Jones said. “There are certain books that are really hard to keep on the shelf.”

Even though Jones said many kids enjoy reading book titles on electronic devices such as a Kindle, she tries to encourage the students to stay motivated to read, regardless of what device they use.

“It is a good feeling when you see that kids are excited about picking up a book or reading on a Kindle,” Jones said. “I think if the title of the book is popular, the kids are more inclined to be interested in it. I also like for them to come in and talk to me about why they enjoyed the book. I do not believe the kids have to be quiet when they walk into the library. I believe the spoken word and the written word go hand in hand.”

At the Jemison Public Library, making popular children’s book titles come to life is a goal each year of librarian Tammie McGriff.

“I love for kids to use their imagination when it comes to reading,” McGriff said.

The Jemison Public Library sponsors a fairy

The Church at Bethel

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Clanton Middle School Media Specialist Sonya Jones said the library serves as a gathering place where friends socialize and discuss books.

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tale show held at the Jemison City Hall Auditorium each spring where all ages are invited to enjoy seeing popular characters from children’s books come to life.

“The event is a good time to show children that books and the characters within can come alive if you use your imagination,” McGriff said.

Life-size characters including Cinderella, Rapunzel and Mother Goose are just a few of the characters who often make appearances at the show.

“For us, it is all about having the kids come and have fun,” McGriff said.

McGriff also holds a weekly “story hour” at the library where preschool age children come and participate.

“I think the story hour serves as a good precursor to what the kids will learn once they get to school,” McGriff said. “They learn to interact with others and it gives them that boost of confidence they will need when they head off to school.”

Whether individuals visit a library for the purpose of research, to check out a book title, to watch a movie, or to work on a computer, Easterling said he is confident a library will still maintain a valid purpose in a community.

“There are some areas where people attend concerts or plays at a library,” Easterling said. “The concept of a library might have changed and will continue to change, but people still enjoy coming in and checking out a book they want to read, or coming in and interacting with their friends, and I think that will always stay relevant.”

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Still making

sacrifices

LEFT: Charles Jones returned to Chilton County after his service in World War II. He lives in the Bent Creek apartment complex and attends Clanton Church of Christ..

RIGHT: A wall in Charles Jones’ apartment is devoted to memorabilia from his service in World War II.

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Local veterans proud of service to country

BY STEPHEN DAWKINS PHOTOS BY STEPHEN DAWKINS AND CONTRIBUTED

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t doesn’t take much searching to find evidence of the sacrifices Chilton County residents have made for the United States of America.

Veterans proudly tell of their time spent overseas, protecting our country’s values, while staunch supporters solemnly attend annual Memorial Day and Veterans Day observances.

American flags fly across the county, and a veterans memorial stands at the Chilton County Courthouse, a reminder of those lo-

cal residents who have given their lives for a cause they believed in.

We as a people undoubtedly believe that veterans deserve the best care we can offer when they return from service, but national controversies have shown that this isn’t always the case.

So, what does a veteran in Chilton County look like? It’s a varied demographic, ranging from a 91-year-old man who was among the group of brave souls who landed at Normandy in France on D-Day during World War II

to a 23-year-old who was injured by rocket-propelled grenade fire while on a base in Afghanistan.

Above all, these veterans share a passionate pride of country and their service, and a willingness to help those like them.

‘IT WAS JUST A DISMAL SITUATION’ Charles Jones was drafted on Feb. 2, 1942, about eight weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He had been out of grade school at Isabella for about two years and was employed with Goodyear.

With experience running section molds for tires and a high mechanical aptitude score (he only missed one question even though he said he had been a “flunkie” all his life as a mechanic), Jones went into a U.S. Army engineer company.

After stints in Ireland and England, Jones was part of the D-Day landing at Normandy, France. The casualties were high. Jones compared the scene, with thousands of dead soldiers floating in the water, to dumping a box of matches in a bath tub.

“It looked to me like we were going to lose the beach head,” Jones said. “It was just a dismal situation.”

But the Allied forces were victorious and began an invasion of German-controlled France. The troops moved daily for weeks, Jones recalled, marching at night in order to avoid enemy fire.

“After the first night there, I didn’t think I’d make it to the second night,” he said.

Jones’ company de-detonated anti-personnel and

www.caec.coop

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anti-tank land mines. They also erected personnel bridges so that troops could move across small rivers.

Allied troops were set to descend upon Fontainebleau, the famed French palace and commune. They understood there was no opposition there.

“We engineers were not a fighting company, but my squad arrived about 5:30 a.m. and met a German soldier on guard duty,” Jones said. “He didn’t make any attempt to stop us. We halted him. He said there were 600 soldiers at the castle, which had been converted to a washeteria, and they were instructed to not give battle.”

Jones’ time on the front lines ended soon after. He was reassigned to a headquarter company in Paris. At 6 a.m. each morning, he was responsible for rousing a colonel and transporting him to a French palace. He later ny veterans that worked for Stars and want to come sit around, Stripes magazine and military commutalk, have a cup of coffee, carried nications. On one such we’re here. And anybody trip, he was involved in a wreck. who wants to help us, Jones was in France we’d take the help. for about three and a half months (“I could —Michael Wellborn nearly teach a class in French,” he joked). He said he had no trouble adjusting to civilian life upon his return.

Jones worked for Lime Cola for a time, making deliveries in Chilton County and across the river in Coosa County. He would later go back to work for Goodyear.

He lives now in a neat apartment at the Bent Creek complex in Clanton, where mementos from his service hang on the walls and a book of photographs from World War II is a prized possession. Jones, 91, attends Clanton Church of Christ and is thankful for his time to serve God and his country.

“The good Lord blessed my life,” he said.

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‘THAT’S ALL I KNEW...I DON’T FEEL LIKE I FIT IN AT ALL’ Donny Eslinger was a baseball player at Jemison High School who was popular among his classmates. After graduation, following a lifelong dream, he enlisted in the Army at age 18.

He was deployed to Afghanistan in April 2011. Two weeks after a brief leave, where

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he was home visiting his family, his base in Afghanistan was struck by rocket-propelled grenades fired by insurgents.

As he lay in a hospital recovering from broken bones and shrapnel wounds, Eslinger was presented a Purple Heart by President Barack Obama. But his battle was not over.

Eslinger and his mother, Mary Sazera, said their first experience with the VA was a frustrating one. He recalls that on the ride to the Birmingham office, he was the youngest person on the bus...and Sazera was the second youngest. Accustomed to the very best care and treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, Eslinger had become just another case. He said his psychologist fell asleep during his interview.

“I said, ‘I’m done,’” Eslinger said.

He hasn’t been back, and phone calls from VA representatives go unanswered and unretured, though he was declared 90 percent disabled due to the injuries and uses veterans insurance for health care.

Eslinger wanted to go back into active duty. He’d wanted to go home after his injuries, of course, but he had never given any thought to what he would do once his military career was over. All of a sudden, it was over. He still holds onto the military mindset of not complaining or seeking help, just trying to move forward on his own.

But the military culture doesn’t always translate well to civilian life.

“That’s all I knew,” Eslinger said. “I don’t know what college life is. I don’t know what working a full-time job is. I don’t feel like I fit in at all.”

When he returned home, Eslinger’s brother Daniel was playing football and baseball at Jemison. The older brother attended most every one of the games. Eslinger had always been close with baseball coach Jason Easterling and started helping out some.

Then, Eslinger found himself talking with football coach Jake Hogan and then coming in for a summer workout. Eslinger was introduced to the team as “Coach Strong,” derived from the “Donny Strong” slogan used by his supporters during his recovery. He’s been around Jemison athletics since.

“I always say I’m fully employed but not employed at the same time,” he said.

Eslinger’s favorite place is the weight room. He’s always been passionate about fit-

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ness and weight lifting, and the passion has only increased since his injuries.

“I just remember wanting to do one pushup when I was sitting in the hospital with half of my skull missing,” he said.

Eslinger said, even before military training, he’s been the type to give 100 percent to whatever he’s doing. He’s hard on himself after workouts he considers below his standard.

He’s a proponent of the CrossFit regiment, with plans to start a training program at a local fitness center.

Eslinger still will always bear the scars from his injuries, but he’s thankful that he can go about his daily life, including grueling workouts, without lingering physical pain.

“I’m happy where I’m at,” Eslinger said. “I could be way worse off. I’ve seen it.”

‘WHAT THESE GUYS ARE DEALING WITH IS TERRIFYING’ Phil Burnette and Michael Wellborn are also examples of significant problems veterans face. Wellborn has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder from his time

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in as part of Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti in the mid-1990s, while Burnette suffered from chemical burns.

“People walk up to me and say, ‘You don’t look disabled,’” Wellborn said.

The suicide rate for veterans is “astronomical,” they point out, as lack of employment and relationship difficulties often spiral downward.

“In combat, it’s very structured,” Burnette said. “You come back and have to figure out where you fit in your family and society.”

Burnette knows first hand. After a year in service, he came home a different person.

“I couldn’t relate to my wife,” he said. “It was constant arguing, fighting, bickering.”

He starting drinking and was divorced within a year.

“You can’t help but be changed by these experiences,” he said.

Veterans with PTSD suffer from realistic,

CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: President Barack Obama visited Eslinger and presented him with a Purple Heart while he was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland. His physical recovery, and his readjustment to civilian life, has been aided by his passion for weightlifting. Eslinger’s mother, Mary Sazera, spends time with her son while he was hospitalized.

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LEFT: The DAV chapter meets at 11 a.m. the second Saturday of each month at the Clanton Masonic Lodge, located at 308 Eighth St. N. in Clanton. RIGHT: Officers of Chilton County Chapter 33 of Disabled American Veterans include Clifton Blum, Bobby Payton, Michael Wellborn and Phil Burnette. disturbing dreams “You’re not there anymore, and you can’t get away from it,” Wellborn said. “What these guys are dealing with is terrifying.”

There’s a lack of institutional support for veterans returning home with problems, both agreed. Some sort of period of adjustment is needed, along with psyche interviews, spiritual counseling and a mentoring program, they said.

Even for those with an obvious need for benefits, facing the system alone can be daunting.

“It’s hard to go to the [U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs] alone,” Burnette said. “You can get ground up and spat out.”

‘WE’RE TRYING TO MOVE FORWARD’ Wellborn and Burnette, who are officers with the local chapter of Disabled American Veterans, recently opened a second veterans services office in the county. The new office is located at the Clanton Masonic Lodge. It’s open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Monday through Thursday, but anyone wishing to visit should first call (205) 282-4027.

The veterans services office at the Chilton County Courthouse remains open and can be reached at (205) 280-4685. From 150-200 cases were being handled a month at the

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courthouse office, convincing Wellborn and Burnette that a second office was sustainable.

“We’ve helped a large number of veterans since we’ve been open--veterans and their families,” Wellborn said. “It hurts when people can’t get help. It’s been a pretty great experience helping people.”

Wellborn and Burnette stressed the office also located there is open to any veterans--or anyone wanting to help. And they want the office to be a gathering place for veterans.

“Any veterans that want to come sit around, talk, have a cup of coffee, we’re here,” Wellborn said. “And anybody who wants to help us, we’d take the help.”

The two thanked both Real Estate Associates and the Clanton Masonic Lodge, which allows the use of the facility at no cost, for their help.

Wellborn and Burnette have big ideas for the office, including securing a vehicle for transporting veterans to appointments, starting an equine outreach for veterans with cognitive disabilities, and providing jobs for veterans who are homeless or out of work.

Another idea is a “stand down,” which would be a local version of events that have gained popularity across the country, where veterans have a chance to network, find employment and even see dentists and

barbers.

Of course, such measures take money, which is hard to come by.

“It all hinges on donations,” Burnette said.

Wellborn and Burnette have seen Chilton County-based DAV Chapter 33’s attendance for meetings decline to just a few people, but they’ve also seen participation increase recently to 122 members. The increase led officials to move meetings to the Masonic lodge.

Attracting younger members is still a struggle. DAV chapter meetings have been moved to Saturdays in hopes of attracting younger veterans. Wellborn and Burnette said an important hurdle is that veterans of more recent conflicts don’t know what benefits are available to them.

“You can feel bad for taking help when others need more,” Burnette said. “They’ve earned this. It’s not a give-me. We have to find out how to kick down that door.”

Other local veterans organizations include chapters of American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Wellborn and Burnette said there can be a negative opinion of veterans organizations as just old men swapping war stories, or even drinking clubs.

“It’s not about that,” Wellborn said. “We’re trying to move forward.”

DEVILS’ DUE

Hard work pays off for Maplesville football under Hubbert

BY DREW GRANTHUM FILE PHOTOS

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The Maplesville Red Devils run out to collect the trophy after winning the 2014 AHSAA Class 1A State Football Championship.

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S

everal factors go into finding success on the football field, and for the Maplesville Red Devils under head coach Brent Hubbert, all those factors appear to be working hand-in-

hand.

The Red Devils captured the AHSAA Class 1A state football championship in December 2014, dominating the contest. The game was played in Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, and Maplesville executed nearly perfectly on offense and defense, taking a 49-0 win over Hubbertville to capture the school’s first state championship in football since 1996.

The win was a culmination of sorts; instead of being a “one-year wonder” with the right team, players and coaches, the quest for a state championship has been in place since Hubbert took over the program in 2004.

Make no mistake, the success of the program the last 11 seasons under Hubbert is nothing out of the ordinary for Maplesville, a program that has come to be almost synonymous with the town it represents.

According to the Alabama High School Football Historical Society, the first recorded game Maplesville played was in 1934, but it was the 1956 team that established the Red Devils as a force to be reckoned with.

LEFT: Maplesville head coach Brent Hubbert addresses the media after the championship game.

RIGHT: Members of the squad celebrate after a touchdown in the title game.

The squad finished 10-0 that season, before a state playoff system, so the team never got a chance to play for a state title, but those on the team—including current Maplesville mayor W.C. Hayes—still hold fond memories of what the team accomplished.

“That’s what started (the success we have) now,” he said. “That was the first time Maplesville (went undefeated and untied).”

Hayes, who also serves as the public address announcer for football games, said the style of play was different compared to today’s squad, but the results were similar.

“We ran from a type-T offense,” he said. “Back then it was three yards and a cloud of dust.”

The Red Devils continued the success over the next few decades, with the 1975 team posting an 8-2 season according to AHSFHS. It was in the 1980s, however, when the program skyrocketed to success.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Corey Hall (No. 32) and Robert Girlie (No. 10) celebrate the team’s “No. 1” status after defeating Hubbertville 49-0.

Terence Dunlap races to the endzone on a touchdown run. Nathan Bush (left) and Larry Leggett carry the state championship trophy around JordanHare Stadium. “He brought life into it,” former player Jeremy White said of Hubbert coming to the program in 2004.

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In 1984, the first year under coach Jim Hubbert, the Red Devils went 10-4, clinching a region title and the first playoff appearance in program history. The Devils marched all the way to the state semifinals, where they fell to Valley Head, 10-8.

Hubbert stayed for the next two seasons, returning to the semifinals again in 1986 after the school posted its second undefeated and untied regular season.

After Hubbert left following the 1986 season, the Red Devils’ success continued, reaching the semifinals again in 1989.

Hubbert returned in 1990, and the Red Devils achieved the pinnacle of success in 1996, recording a 15-0 season and capturing the first state championship in program history with a 45-6 win over Lynn High.

With the rise of success in the program came the rise in support from the community. Maplesville came to love their Red Devils, and the team became a symbol of pride for the town.

“This town loves football,” Hayes said.

“Everyone in the town is for them.”

Former player Jeremy White said the role of importance the football team plays in the town is noticeable at an early age.

“It’s one of those things, you grow up going to pep rallies and games,” he said.

“From five years old, you just know you’re going to play.”

Fellow former Red Devil Justin Little, who graduated in 2006, agreed with Little.

“On Fridays, the town shuts down,” he said. “It’s a great atmosphere. It has a small college atmosphere. They’re bringing grills to the school (to tailgate with). That’s saying a lot for a little 1A country school.”

Hubbert’s final season with the team came in 2000, and while the team was able to reach the state semifinals in 2001, the team regressed over the next two seasons.

By the 2003 season, the Red Devils posted a 1-8 record, with the lone win coming as a forfeit by Reeltown.

“My ninth grade year we went to the semifinals,” White said. “My junior year, we went 0-9 (on the field).”

With the program at arguably its lowest point, the school turned to Brent Hubbert, son of Jim Hubbert, to turn the team around.

“I think he was the fourth coach in four years,” White said. “(When) he showed up, your expectations weren’t the highest.”

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Hubbert came to the Red Devils after serving as head coach at Jemison for three seasons.

Hubbert said the choice to come to Maplesville was an easy one to make.

“I know the history,” he said. “Of course, my dad was here, (but) just knowing the tradition, being familiar with the program, and any coach wants somewhere where they think to be at a program with a chance to be successful.”

Little said Hubbert’s move to a smaller school stood out him.

“I’ve always had so much respect for him,” he said.

“I don’t know too many guys that would leave a 4A power to come to a 1A school.”

White said Hubbert’s impact on the team —and their success— was immediate.

“He brought life to it,” he said. “We didn’t put as much work into it before. Everybody liked him.”

In Hubbert’s first season with the team, the Red Devils finished 5-6, losing in the first round of the playoffs.

“We lost by one point to Millry,” White said. “That’s a huge turnaround.”

Hubbert said one of the main selling points from when he started was restoring the winning tradition of Maplesville football.

“The main thing we brought back up (was) tradition,” he said. “Did (they) want to be those guys that when (people) look back and see where a downfall

“It didn’t take long,” Hubbert said of selling the kids on the value of hard work. “They had it the first year; we just had to sell them on it.”

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ABOVE: Maplesville quarterback Cole Spencer talks to a reporter after winning the Class 1A championship. started, and it was more or less getting back a mindset. It didn’t take long; they had it the first year. We just had to sell them on it.”

Hubbert said the turnaround came from both parents and players being willing to believe in what the coaching staff was trying to do.

“Besides the kids buying in, the parents have to buy in to the type of work you’re doing,” he said. “That’s easy here, because all the parents around here know what hard work is. They’re working in mills, in the woods (and) the fields. They’re fighting and scratching for everything, and that carries over to our kids and our program.”

Hubbert said he feels the willingness to work by the players is what makes Maplesville teams so strong.

“Really and truly, that’s the difference,” he said. “It’s a relentless effort, from start to finish.”

Little, who played two seasons under Hubbert, said the team began working harder in all aspects of the game, from the weight room to the practice field to the actual games.

“He got the intensity back,” Little said. “We wanted to lift (weights).”

After an 8-3 season in 2005, the Red Devils posted back-to-back undefeated regular seasons in 2006 and 2007. The team reached the 1A state championship game in 2013, where the Red Devils fell to Pickens County, 38-18.

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ABOVE: “Besides the kids buying in, the parents have to buy in to the type of work you’re doing,” Hubbert said of the community support the team receives. “That’s easy here, because all these parents know what hard work is.”

All the pieces clicked in 2014, however, as Maplesville put on a dominating performance in the title game, putting an exclamation point on a perfect 15-0 season.

“It’s great,” Hubbert said. “Watching the kids run out to get the trophy, that’s the payoff.”

While winning the title was enjoyable, Hubbert said the Red Devils have no plans to rest on their laurels.

“When you eat something, and like the taste of it, you go back for more,” he said of winning the title.

“We want to eat again. (The team)’s got to understand, in the wild, the hunted have to work harder.”

Those close to the program said they felt the Red Devils will have no problems staying hungry under Hubbert.

“I think Brent Hubbert is one of the best coaches in this state,” Hayes said. “(They’ve) got as good a defense as I have ever seen.”

Little echoed the sentiment.

“I just love him to death,” Little said. “It wasn’t just about football with him. He taught us about life. The work ethic (of the team) is outrageous, and they believe in themselves.”

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WORKERS OF TOMORROW Chilton County making strides in preparing students for the workforce

BY ABBY TOWNSON PHOTOS BY STEPHEN DAWKINS AND CONTRIBUTED

A

shifting industrial climate and the efforts of several organizations to modernize local education could have a positive effect on the future demographics of employment for the citizens of Chilton County.

“Chilton County was known as an agricultural county,” said Fred Crawford, Chilton County’s industrial development coordinator. “Even though agricultural lumber is still the No. 1 employer in the county, a strip of industrial area along Interstate 65 and in Maplesville has necessitated the training of individuals to work in these industries. We now have three automobile suppliers operating a facility in the county.

We have sign makers. We have other technological industries that need skilled labor.”

With technical and manufacturing industries on the rise in the area, can Chilton County provide the skilled employees to fill the needs of growing businesses? The answer to this question can be summed up in two words: workforce development.

OPPOSITE PAGE: LeCroy Career Technical Center has been on the cutting edge of developing students for the modern workforce. Programs include cosmetology, automotive repair and HVAC, among others.

Students also run a radio station, WSMX 98.3.

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Chilton County’s superintendent of education, Tommy Glasscock, was director of LeCroy Career Tech Center for six years.

He said there’s been a change in people’s perception of the technical school.

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Crawford defined workforce development as “the education and training of persons who are in the workforce today and will be in the future workforce— those people who are the employees of tomorrow.”

Tommy Glasscock, Chilton County’s superintendent of education, believes workforce development starts in the K-12 schools, and the sooner the better.

“We’ve got to get the message out at an earlier age,” he said. “I think we have to start talking about getting kids to be college and career ready in elementary school.”

Glasscock emphasized the importance of hands-on experience in education and engaging students at the K-12 level and beyond.

“Our classrooms are set up for lecture-based learning, and students don’t learn that way anymore,” he said. “We have to get rid of the desk and put the round tables in, start opening discussion with our students about project-based learning. Let’s propose some scenarios to them and let them figure it out. Let them get the wrong answer and not punish them like we do on a test.”

Glasscock also called for a change in thinking for students preparing to go to college, noting the difference between having a college degree and being career-ready.

“My goal is that every student eventually will attend a four-year college and get a four-year degree,” he said. “Unfortunately, what we’re finding statistically is that they’re graduating with a degree, and they still can’t find a job.”

Once again, Glasscock pointed to the need for experience-based education and developing professional skills.

“An apprentice is a good example,” he said. “You take an internship or an apprenticeship program where someone is gaining a four-year degree with a handson approach, three days in the classroom, two days on the job. They’re going to be a marketable student.

They get it. And industry gets it, and they’re looking.

They’re waiting for that student to graduate.”

In answer to the growing need for adaptable, proactive education and training, Chilton County has met the challenges of workforce development by forming the Education Workforce Development Council, cooperating with Jefferson State Community College to coordinate dual enrollment courses for high school students, supporting the LeCroy Career Technical Center and establishing career technical programs in the high schools.

“We think that the career technical programs have done an outstanding job of preparing students to work in the industries, through grants that have been obtained by the career technical school to purchase equipment that they can train on in school, so they’ll be ready to go out and work in the industry almost im-

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ABOVE: Jobs like the ones available at local factories like Kumi Manufacturing (top, left) and Johnson Controls require technical training in high school, which students receive at LeCroy.

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mediately,” Crawford said.

Some of these grants would not have been possible without the Education Workforce Development Council, according to Janice Hull, chairwoman of the council. One of the EWDC’s tasks is to approve funds and help determine how they will be spent.

“In the last couple of years, the state legislature passed a $50 million bond issue to furnish equipment, facility or technology to the career and technical classes,” Hull said. “If you did not have a workforce development council in place, you did not get to participate.”

Thanks to the existence of the EWDC, Hull estimates almost $400,000 of the bond came to the LeCroy Career Technical Center, which, among other things, made it possible to replace outdated equipment.

Among its many programs, the career technical center offers more recent career training options like the Advanced Manufacturing Academy, the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Academy and the Public Service Academy, which offers training in firefighting and law enforcement. Other training programs, like heath science, cosmetology, auto collision and auto repair, have been offered since the LCTC was founded in 1969.

Glasscock, who was director of the LCTC for six years, thinks there has been a change in people’s perception of the technical school. “Used to, we were that resort you went to when you weren’t going to go to college,” he said.

Now students are viewing career technical classes not just as an alternative to college, but as a partner in education and career goals.

“I don’t think it’s an either-or proposition anymore,” Hull said. “I think sometimes, it’s both.”

According to Crawford, one thing that has made a positive difference in workforce advancement is students shifting from a short-term viewpoint, getting a job, to one of long-term career training. Another important factor is that the leaders of industry and the leaders of education are talking more, discussing the future of job development and adapting education to meet the needs of the future.

“That’s a must,” he said.

Overall, Crawford thinks Chilton County is meeting the challenges of the workforce and that the main goal is staying ahead of the needs of industry. “We need some more work in it, and we’ve got to keep up and plow ahead.”

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A judge and a

gentleman

Reynolds named Citizen of the Year

WRITTEN BY EMILY REED CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

A

ABOVE: Each year, a board made up of past Citizens of the Year nominates and selects a new recipient of the honor. Sibley Reynolds is the 12th Citizen of the Year.

Reynolds is pictured with his wife, Rhonda Reynolds.

lthough he is most often seen wearing a black robe with a gavel in his hand, Chilton County Judge Sibley Reynolds is also a family man, friend, colleague, choir member, business partner, secretary of the Chilton County Health Care Authority, and this year’s Citizen of the Year.

“It is not just one thing about Sibley that made him stand out as a good candidate,” friend Mickey Bates said. “We thought he was an excellent choice for this award because of his overall community spirit. His faith, his family and his community are all very important to him, and that is easily visible from every action he does. It was because of those visible actions that led us to unanimously recommend that he be chosen.”

Each year, a board made up of past Citizens of the Year nominates and selects a new recipient of the title.

Reynolds is the 12th Citizen of the Year, with past honorees including Hollis Jack-

son, Kenneth Moates, Bobby Martin, Curtis Smith, Jimmie Harrison Jr., Mickey Bates, Gay West, Tony Smitherman, Eddie Reed, Tom Brown and Allen Payton.

“I have never seen someone who can go from ‘a-to-z’ in dealing with hardened criminals to higher-up officials,” friend “Red” Turnipseed said. “I have been here in this county for 38 years and have known Sibley for that long, and can honestly say he is just a wonderful guy.”

While Reynolds, a native of Chilton County, has been a circuit judge for many years, he has most recently been instrumental in working to see a hospital open in Chilton County.

“He has dedicated so much of his time to see that this county gets a hospital,” Turnipseed said.

The Chilton County Health Care Authority, formerly the Chilton County Hospital Board, is an organization that has worked to bring a hospital to Chilton County since the closing of Chilton Medical Center in October 2012.

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Chilton County Commissioner Shannon Welch said he would best describe Reynolds as “generous” due to giving his time away from his family, and countless hours toward making the hospital a success.

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In the June 2014 Primary Election, Chilton County voters overwhelmingly approved a 1-cent sales tax increase to fund the construction of a new hospital.

The referendum was included on the Primary Election ballots.

The hospital is owned by Chilton County but will be operated by St. Vincent’s Health System.

The site for the new hospital will be located off Highway 145, near Interstate 65 Exit 212, and officials hope to have a groundbreaking ceremony at the beginning of March.

Reynolds serves as the secretary for the Chilton County Health Care Authority and spent much of 2014 speaking at different events throughout the county to provide updates to residents about the progress

being made on the hospital, and field any questions people had regarding the project.

“Sibley has gone way above and beyond to serve the people of Chilton County,” said Allen Payton, who also serves on the Authority. “Since knowing him by serving on the board together, we have become good friends, and I don’t think he has ever missed a meeting. The folks of this county are real fortunate to have him.”

Payton said Reynolds has a “genuine” interest when it comes to seeing a hospital open in the county.

“I think for a lot of people who grew up in this county, when the hospital closed, we all felt like we had lost something,” Payton said. “I was born in that hospital just as Sibley was, so to lose that hospital was almost like a slap in the face to the people

of Chilton County. We want to work hard to get back what we lost, and I think that is a big reason Sibley has worked so hard to see a hospital come back to this county.”

Payton said a characteristic clearly exhibited by Reynolds is his ability to be “quick on his feet.”

“He has this ability to think quickly as far as making decisions about moving things forward,” Payton said. “He is also very savvy when it comes to making decisions, which is a good characteristic to have as a judge.”

Chilton County Commissioner Shannon Welch said he would best describe Reynolds as “generous” due to giving his time away from his family, and countless hours toward making the hospital a success.

“Every small detail of the hospital has his

CLANTON

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ABOVE: Reynolds is pictured with his family: son-in-law, Wes Wyatt; daughter, Mary Beth Wyatt; wife, Rhonda; grandchild, Reynolds; and son, Mac. hand in it,” Welch said. “The members of the Authority really respect him, and they know he is not going to lead them in the wrong way.”

Welch said Reynolds is also “sincere” and puts a lot of time and interest into everything he does.

“I think it shows with the product this county is getting in the hospital and the St. Vincent’s partnership,” Welch said.

Chilton County Commission Chairman Allen Caton echoed Welch’s sentiments saying Reynolds’ passion and love for his county is what fueled his desire to see a successful hospital open in the county.

“This is Sibley’s home,” Caton said. “This is where he grew up. He will do everything he can for the people of this county. I love sitting down and talking with Sibley about the hospital. He almost goes to stuttering because he is so excited about it, and when you see the passion coming from him, it makes you get excited.”

When he isn’t spending time in the courtroom or working with the Health Care Authority, he can be found singing in the church choir at Clanton First United Methodist Church.

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“He is a very active member of our church choir,” said Greg Faulkner, minister of music at CFUMC. “He is always very positive and always singing and having a great time.”

Faulkner said Reynolds is “very active” with the church ministry known as “River Church” or “lakeside church” at Lake Mitchell each summer.

“Sibley is always a vital part of making sure everything is set up for the services each Sunday at River Church,” Faulkner said. “I always know that I won’t see Sibley in the choir here during the summer because he will be at the lake helping with River Church. He is just a good, Southern, gentleman. He is a good Christian example and overall, he is just a good guy.”

Bates, who has grown up with Reynolds, said one thing that stands out to him is Reynolds’ attentiveness to the elderly.

“He is always very concerned with making sure the elderly individuals are taken care of,” Bates said. “He will go and pick them up and take them to church on Sundays or he will go pick them up and take them to his house for holiday dinners.”

Bates said Reynolds is also very

quick to “lend a hand in the community.”

“He is always very ready and willing to go speak at a school when a teacher needs someone to come and talk about a civics lesson or government.”

Bates said Reynolds is also an avid hunter and often works to make sure the “youngsters” in the county have a place to hunt.

“He loves hunting,” Bates said.

“Whether it is duck hunting, deer or pheasant hunting. He works really hard to make sure that the young people are exposed to life in the South the way we have always enjoyed it, and he wants to make sure that they have a place to go hunt.”

In whatever capacity individuals from the community may find Reynolds, one thing is clear: he is well liked, respected, and loves Chilton County.

“He is a wonderful person through and through, and I am tickled to be able to say he is my friend,” Caton said. “If you are fortunate enough to know him, then you are lucky.

This county is truly blessed to have someone like Sibley who wants to see this place be the best it can be, and I wish there were more people like him.”

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