280 Living January 2016

280 Living

January 2016 | Volume 9 | Issue 5

neighborly news & entertainment

Special Section

n e m o W

of 2802016

From retail and food to health care and fitness, our annual Women of 280 feature is a chance to get to know many of the faces behind the success of several area businesses.

See page B7

Jags’ Journey

A season in review: A hefty investment

by Spain Park’s football team quickly yields a strong return.

See page B1

INSIDE Sponsors ..............A4 280 News ........... A14 Business ............. A18 Food.................... A26 School House ....A27

Sports ................... B1 Community ......... C7 Opinion .............. C10 Faith .....................C11 Calendar .............C13

YEAR IN PREVIEW CONSTRUCTION A6

2016 :

WHAT’S TO COME

2016 is shaping up to be a busy year in the U.S. 280 corridor. From elections in Shelby County, Hoover and Chelsea to construction of hundreds of new homes, a lot of activity is coming.

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NIVEN’S SUCCESSOR A7

AND MORE: Commission race ................... A7 Hoover elections ....................A8 School rezoning ......................A8 Senior car tags ........................ A9 School’s milestone ................A10 Miss Shelby County ..............A12 Sports complex ......................A12 National championship .......A13

PARK UPDATES A11

A2 • January 2016

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January 2016 • A3

6801 Cahaba Valley Road Birmingham, AL 35242 205-980-4471 renaissanceconsignment.com

280 Living

A4 • January 2016

About Us Editor’s Note By Sydney Cromwell Sometimes I get assignments that are difficult, but they’re so much fun that I really don’t mind it. That was the case with the “280 after dark” story I wrote for this issue (C1). I wanted to see what life is like on the night shift, and that meant I had to be there at night.

One Tuesday, after a full workday, I stayed at Grandview Medical Center’s ER until nearly midnight shadowing their physicians and nurses. Just over 24 hours later, I was arriving at Daylight Donuts at 3 a.m. Thursday morning to watch them make a day’s worth of pastries.

To say I was tired that Thursday – and the rest of the week – would be an understatement.

But I had so much fun with it. I met people who do amazing work that I would never normally see or think about. I didn’t even feel tired while I was at the ER and Daylight because I was too interested

in what was going on around me.

The number of donut holes I ate might have helped, too.

I only scratched the surface of the work that goes on here every night, but I hope you’ll enjoy the results of my nighttime experience, as well as all the other great stories in this New Year’s issue.

If I can give you one piece of advice as we enter 2016, it’s this: Find something — a hobby, a job, a friend — that you’d gladly wake up at 1:30 a.m. for. When you find it, you’ll know. It’s called a passion.

Dan Starnes Sydney Cromwell Kristin Williams Cherie Olivier Cameron Tipton Ana Good Erica Techo Jon Anderson Staff Writer: Emily Featherston Associate Editor: Lucy Ridolphi Copy Editor: Louisa Jeffries

Advertising Manager: Matthew Allen Sales and Distribution: Warren Caldwell Don Harris Michelle Salem Haynes Brittany Joffrion Rhonda Smith James Plunkett Contributing Writers: Kari Kampakis Rick Watson Leah Ingram Eagle Marienne Thomas Ogle Steve Irvine Rachel Burchfiel Chris Megginson Jesse Chambers Grace Thornton Contributing Photographer: Frank Couch Intern: Sam Chandler

Johnny Ray’s – Chelsea (B10)

Advanced Turf Care (A6)

Kirkwood by the River (A17)

Agile Physical Therapy (B8)

Learning by Design​(A16)

Alabama Allergy & Asthma Center (B1)

Lemon Tree Yoga and Fitness (B17)

Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center (C15)

Lush Threading and Spa (B9)

ARC Realty (B6)

M&M Jewelers (B9)

Arcpoint Labs (B22)

MD Wellness & Aesthetics (B17)

Asbury United Methodist Church (A11)

Melanye Morris Esthetics (B18)

Azia Medical Spa (A21)

NAPA Auto Parts (A30)

Bar Stools (C14)

Narrows Family Eyecare (B15)

Batts’ Chimney Services (B5)

OB/GYN Associates of Alabama (A13)

Bedzzz Express (B24)

By Frank Couch

Publisher: Managing Editor: Design Editor: Video Editor Page Designer: Community Reporters:

20 Midtown, Residential/Retail (C1)

Beaumont Pharmacy (B15)

BEHIND THE LENS Macro photography sounds easy enough, right? The term refers to making a close-up photograph resulting in an image that depicts the subject larger than life. Digital cameras often have a macro setting, giving the least experienced photographer a shot at making an interesting picture. Whether you use a DSLR or compact camera, good lighting and a narrow depth of field will be our best friend when shooting macro.

To make a really captivating image, you have to slow down and closely examine what you are going to photograph.

Be ready to discover some of the intricate details not so easily seen at fi st glance or from a distance.

For this month’s Behind the Lens, I decided to look at signs and markers in the cities we cover.

Many are carved into stone or made of metal and rest at landmarks we often drive by in our daily

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Ben Franklin - One Hour (A15) Cabinet Cures of Birmingham (B10) Cabinetry Refinishing & estoration (A1) California Closets (B4) Cash World Pawn (C11) Chelsea Party Center (A2) Children’s of Alabama (A27)

Decorating Dens Interiors (B13) Doorstep Delivery (A12, B8)

Contact Information: 280 Living PO Box 530341 Birmingham, AL 35253 (205) 313-1780 dan@280living.com

Please submit all articles, information and photos to: sydney@ starnespublishing.com P.O. Box 530341 Birmingham, AL 35253

Published by : Starnes Publishing LLC

For advertising contact: dan@starnespublishing.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 280 community of area school, 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 and are under no obligation to publish or return photos submitted. Inaccuracies or errors should be brought to the attention of the publisher at (205) 313-1780 or by email.

Please recycle this paper.

PHO 280​(A24) Planet Fitness (A31) Pure Barre 280 (B20) RealtySouth Marketing (C13)

Revitalize at Greystone (B21)

Dance Studio South (B12)

neighborly news & entertainment

Pastry Art (A17)

Chiropractor Acupuncture Health Services (B12)

Cornerstone Insurance (A18)

280 Living

Over the Mountain Glass (A23)

Renaissance Consignment and Marketplace (A3)

Copy & Photo Cafe​(A12)

Behind the Lens: Historic marker at Chelsea City Hall. Camera Data: Nikon D810, Lens (mm): 60, ISO: 500, Aperture: 8, Shutter: 1/640

Our Lady of the Valley Catholic School​(A27)

Chiropractic Today (B2, B19)

Church Unlimited (B11)

commute. This coming year I hope we all make the time to stop and closely examine some of the great places we have in our backyard. Much like macro photography, you might just be surprised at what you can see when you take a closer look.

Odyssey Early Schools (A21)

Dr. Cass F. Klimcak (B9)

Rosegate Design (B19) Royal Automotive (C16) Salon 43 One (B17) Selkirk Partners (A14) Snider Therapy Centers (B16) South Shelby Chamber of Commerce (B18) Southeastern Jewelers and Engravers (C6)

Dreamscape Landscape Development, LLC (A5)

Southern Roots (B20)

East 59 (A25)

St. Vincent’s One Nineteen (B2, C14)

Elite Boutique (B14)

State Ballet Theatre of Russia​(A10)

Embroid Me (B7)

Strauss Financial Group, Inc. (B21)

Encore Rehabilitation (A28)

Studio Red Salon (A9)

ENT for Kids Alabama (A29)

Tae Kwon Do (B22)

ERA King Real Estate Homewood (B5) Everyday Pet Styles (B14)

Terry Crutchfield, e/MAX Advantage South (B20, C12)

Exclusively Ballet and Dance (B12)

The Cuckoo’s Nest (A29)

Expedia CruiseShipCenters (A7, B13)

The Ditsy Daisy (B23)

EZ Roof & EZ Restoration (C9)

The Gingerbread Lady (B19)

Fireworks Blast (B4)

The Insurance Place (B23)

Gardner Landscaping (A6)

The Maids (A19)

GradePower Learning of Birmingham (B16)

The Neighborhood Plumber (C14)

Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce (A14, B14)

The Tile Cleaner LLC (C10)

Greystone Family Medicine (A23) Greystone Marketplace (A16) Harris Doyle (A1) Health Matters (B15) HealthSouth Lakeshore Rehabilitation Hospital (A5)

St. Vincent’s Health Systems (A32)

The White Room Bridal Salon (C6) Therapy South Greystone (A20) Tom Williams BMW (A2) Tutoring Club Inverness (A13) UAB Division of Urogynecology (A15) Uptown Nail Spa (B21, C11)

Healthy Smiles of Birmingham (C3)

Vestavia Hills Soccer Club (C8)

Henderson & Walton (A18)

Vitalogy Wellness Center (A26, C3)

Heritage Medicine (B23)

Water Drainage Solutions (A19)

Highland Shoe Company (B16)

Weigh To Wellness​(A22, B7)

Homewood Antiques and Marketplace (B10)

Window Decor HomeStore (B22)

Hutchinson Automotive (A25)

YMCA of Greater Birmingham (B3)

Issis & Sons / O Advertising (A8)

Zig Zag (B22)

280Living.com

January 2016 • A5

280 Living

A6 • January 2016

YEAR IN PREVIEW

New neighbors along corridor Subdivisions in high demand

By JON ANDERSON People who live in north Shelby County along the U.S. 280 corridor can expect to continue seeing a lot of new neighbors in 2016.

From Hoover to Chelsea and unincorporated areas, demand for new housing continues to rise.

New subdivisions are starting to pop up, in addition to homes being built in subdivisions already are in progress.

Signature Homes in mid-December got approval to begin work on the 97-home Brock Point subdivision on land recently annexed into Hoover off Shelby County 41. The 103-acre parcel is just east of The Cove at Greystone and The Crest at Greystone and directly across from Shoal Creek.

Signature Homes plans to build houses that are between 3,000 and 5,000 square feet and sell them for $500,000 to $800,000, with an average price of $600,000, Signature Homes President Jonathan Belcher said. Hoover planning consultant Bob House said he expects 12 to 15 homes to be built in Brock Point in 2015.

Chelsea recently approved a new subdivision off Shelby County 47 called Wide Oak Manor.

It will have 16 lots on 140 acres, with each lot being 5 to 10 acres, Chelsea City Clerk Becky Landers said.

In the Oak Mountain area, developer and homebuilder Wayne Scotch Jr. recently started

a 10-lot subdivision called Laurel Grove on 14 acres off Cahaba Valley Trace and behind Heardmont Park.

Sharman Brooks, a senior planner for Shelby County, said it’s the first new subdivision of more than five lots that has been approved by the Shelby County Planning Commission since 2008.

It’s a sign that the housing market has recovered enough that developers are ready to start on new projects.

The lots in Laurel Grove are 1 to 1.5 acres each and will be about 3,500 square feet on average, Scotch said. The average price is in the upper $500,000s, he said.

Demand for houses in Laurel Grove was strong — so strong that Scotch had to quit advertising it because there were so many calls, he said. Nine of the 10 lots were sold before he could get the subdivision plans recorded, he said.

Construction is starting on eight of the homes, and all 10 of them should be finished by the end of 2016, Scotch said.

Now, Scotch said he’s planning to buy the Willow Branch subdivision his father, Wayne Scotch Sr., started in Chelsea just before the housing market crashed and never finished.

Willow Branch, off Shelby County 36, has land for more than 200 lots, but once the housing market soured, development there came to a halt. There are 28 lots prepared there but only

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four houses, the younger Scotch said.

Now, he’s ready to pick the project back up, probably starting in February, he said. The lots are half an acre on average, and the homes will average about 2,000 square feet, he said.

Scotch said his market analysis has shown there are a lot of people in the north Shelby and Birmingham area who bought starter homes and are ready to move up into larger, 4-bedroom homes priced from $250,000 to $300,000.

Danny Acton of Arc Realty said the opening of Grandview Medical Center on U.S. 280 has had a big impact on the housing market in the corridor. People feel good about having a hospital close by, as well as the new Brookwood Medical Center stand-alone emergency department at the corner of U.S. 280 and Alabama 119, he said.

New construction sales for the Birmingham area have risen from 1,103 in 2011 to 1,283 in 2012, 1,402 in 2013 and 1,371 in 2014, according to the Alabama Center for Real Estate. New construction sales for 2015 were on a growth track as well, with 1,277 sales in the first 10 months.

Average prices for new construction sales have grown from $227,058 in 2011 to $307,707 for the first 10 months of 2015, according to the center’s data.

Brooks said Shelby County was fortunate in that developers did not leave behind a lot of

“zombie subdivisions” with streets and lots but no houses when the market crashed. But there are still numerous subdivisions still under construction in north Shelby County.

Data from Shelby County shows there are still roughly 250 homes to be developed in Highland Lakes and about 600 more homes coming to the Village at Highland Lakes, both by developer Doug Eddleman. Eddleman also recently received approval to build 11 lots in the last residential sector of Brook Highland, Brooks said.

Shoal Creek has about 100 homes now but has room for about 250, said Caroline Little, president of Shoal Creek Properties. Development there has been slow, typically about five lots per year, but the subdivision hasn’t been marketed a lot until recently, she said.

Mt Laurel has about 240 homes but room to grow to about 550, said Julianna Vance, the marketing manager there. “We plan on building 20-25 new homes in 2016,” Vance said. Floor plans range from 1,824 to 4,016 square feet.

Houses in Mt Laurel start at $395,000, but most cost at least $500,000 Vance said.

Subdivisions still under development in Chelsea include Chelsea Park, Chelsea Station, Chesser Plantation, Highland Ridge and Polo Crossings, Landers said.

Acton said his brother, Don Acton, plans to start a 24-lot second phase of Chelsea Ridge in 2016 as well.

280Living.com

January 2016 • A7

YEAR IN PREVIEW

Election season Mayor Niven chooses not to seek re-election

By ERICA TECHO Chelsea Mayor Earl Niven, the only mayor the city has had since it was incorporated in 1996, is not running for re-election this year.

That could mean a lot of changes among elected officials.

“It’s going to be very, very different,” Chelsea City Clerk Becky Landers said.

As of press time, Councilmen Dale Neuendorf and Tony Picklesimer both had announced their intention to run for mayor, which means their council seats will be open for newcomers.

Niven Candidates can qualify to run for City Council or mayor beginning July 5, and the last day to qualify is July 19. Election day is Aug. 23, and the polls will be open at Chelsea City Hall from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Any needed runoff elections will occur on Oct. 4.

Landers said she expects there to be a good

The polling location for Chelsea’s municipal election is Chelsea City Hall. Staff photo.

turnout at this year’s election because Niven is not running for re-election.

Prior to the election, the Chelsea Business Alliance plans to hold a debate for both mayoral candidates and City Council candidates. Landers suggested community members attend the debate and a few City Council meetings before the election. “Know what’s going on in your city,” she said.

Chelsea residents should also make sure their voter information is up to date. For more information about absentee ballots and voter information, contact Landers at Chelsea City Hall.

3 positions on Shelby commission contested

By ERICA TECHO All Shelby County Commission positions are up for election this year, but only three of the commission seats are contested.

Just one of the contested seats covers the U.S. 280 area. Robbie Hayes, the incumbent representing Commission District 9, faces competition in the Republican primary from Chris Dunn.

Their district includes a large portion of the central part of the county that includes Chelsea and Westover.

Luke Lombardo qualified to run in the Republican primary against Commissioner Lindsey Allison in District 7, which includes Meadow Brook, Indian Springs Village and other areas roughly between Interstate 65 and U.S. 280, and Valleydale Road and Shelby County 11. However, Lumbardo since has dropped out of the race.

The Rev. Kenneth Dukes, president of the NAACP’s Shelby County chapter, is the only Democrat in the race as of press time. He is running for District 2, which includes portions of south Shelby County such as Calera and Montevallo, against Republican incumbent Tommy Edwards.

The only open seat on the commission is the District 4 spot. After 23 years on the commission, Commissioner Dan Acker has decided to not seek re-election. Acker suffered a stroke three years ago and cited health issues as a factor in his decision to not run for another term.

Three individuals have announced their candidacy for the District 4 spot, which covers portions of Pelham and Alabaster from Valleydale Road to Alabama 119 and along U.S. 31. The candidates are Gene Rowley, Ward Williams and Ron Griggs, all of whom are Alabaster residents.

All three candidates attended the Oct. 26 meeting, introducing themselves to the

Dunn

Hayes

commission. Rowley is one of the founders of non-profit radio station APH (Alabaster, Pelham and Helena) Radio; Williams founded Vineyard Family Services, a faith-based agency that works to help children and families where a father is absent and to promote responsible fatherhood; and Griggs has held several positions in the Shelby County school system since moving to the area in 1971.

Commission Chairman Rick Shepherd said most of the time, commissioners face contested elections when things are not going well in the county. Shelby County, however, is not facing any major issues at the time, so he is not surprised most commissioners are not contested.

“Shelby County is one of the best run counties in the state of Alabama,” Shepherd said.

“We’re financially sound. We have a very high bond rating, and we’re expecting an increase in revenue.”

Shepherd said he expects a decent turnout in this year’s primary in March and on Election Day in November because it is a presidential election. He also believes more Republicans will turn out to vote because this election follows a two-term Democratic president.

The primary election is March 1, and the deadline to apply for absentee ballots is Feb. 25. The general election is Nov. 8.

280 Living

A8 • January 2016

YEAR IN PREVIEW The Hoover City Council conducts business in October.

Photo by Jon Anderson.

Hoover gears up for August city election

By JON ANDERSON Hoover residents return to the polls this summer to elect a mayor and City Council, if the incumbents indeed have opposition.

Four years ago, no one qualified to run against Mayor Gary Ivey and three of the seven council members — Jack Natter, Gene Smith and Jack Wright.

So far, no one has announced publicly to run against Ivey, but at least two people have announced campaigns for Hoover City Council seats.

Bluff Park resident Curt Posey announced he is running for Council Place 1, currently held

by Joe Rives, and Ross Bridge resident Casey Middlebrooks said he is running for City Council but did not declare a specific place number.

In Hoover, all seven council seats are elected at-large, which means all registered voters in the city can vote in each council race instead of voting in a particular district. However, candidates do have to declare which seat they want to pursue when they qualify.

Candidates cannot officially qualify until July 5 and they have until July 19 to do so.

Municipal elections are scheduled for Aug. 23,

and any needed runoffs will be held Oct. 4. The new term for elected officials officially begins Nov. 7.

Candidates could begin raising money for their campaigns on Aug. 23, 2015 – one year before the election. The last day to register to vote in municipal elections is Aug. 10, 2016.

Ivey, a Riverchase resident and president of Crest Cadillac, has been Hoover’s mayor since Sept. 30, 2011, when he was appointed mayor by the City Council to replace Tony Petelos, who took a job as Jefferson County’s first professional county manager.

Ivey first was elected to the Hoover City Council and chosen as its president in 2004.

He was re-elected to the council without opposition in 2008, which means he hasn’t faced an opponent since he was first elected in 2004.

In the 2012 city election, councilmen John Greene, Trey Lott and Brian Skelton all won re-election over challengers, and John Lyda unseated Councilwoman Mari Morrison.

Lott resigned from the council in January 2015 after moving to Alabaster, and the council appointed Rives, who lives on Patton Chapel Road, to fill his seat in February.

School rezoning Parents await release of new plan for Hoover system

By JON ANDERSON Parents in Hoover schools are eagerly awaiting the release of Superintendent Kathy Murphy’s plan to redraw attendance zones — some looking forward to changes and others wary of what might happen.

The rezoning effort — launched publicly by former Hoover Superintendent Andy Craig in the summer of 2014 — got put on hold when Craig left to take a job with the Alabama Department of Education in January 2015.

Murphy, who came on board in June, got fully briefed on the situation but chose to shelve Craig’s rezoning plan and start fresh in developing a new one. She held five community meetings in October and November to explain the need for rezoning, citing a desire to better balance student numbers among facilities and to ensure fairness in where students are assigned.

Murphy said then that every Hoover school could be impacted by the rezoning plan but she first wanted to hear directly from parents about their concerns. Now, she and other district officials are using community feedback and input from the U.S. Department of Justice to develop the new plan.

“We really appreciate your feedback. Your feedback has given us more direction and more focus,” Murphy said. “We realize that change is difficult, and I wish to minimize the impact of rezoning on our students, our parents and our community.”

She expects to have a new plan ready to present to the public by February. It will be shared at a community meeting so the public has an opportunity to provide additional input, she said.

Each school principal also has selected two to three people from their schools, including parents, to provide input to district administrators in a smaller setting, Murphy said.

The superintendent plans to present a rezoning proposal to the school board for approval no later than early March and then will present the plan to the U.S. District Court, which is supposed to review any changes in student attendance zones before they can take effect, in accordance with a decades-old desegregation court case.

Both the Jefferson County Board of Education and Hoover Board of Education are seeking dismissal of the desegregation case but first must prove that the goals of school desegregation have been accomplished.

Justice Department officials want to make sure minority students are treated fairly in how they are assigned to schools. While school officials say they want classrooms to be integrated, they also don’t want to disproportionately impact minority students in a negative way by forcing them to travel longer distances to school just so that racial numbers balance out, Murphy said.

The public still can email feedback about rezoning to rezoning@hoover.k12.al.us.

280Living.com

January 2016 • A9

YEAR IN PREVIEW

Coverage grows Fire medic Everett Hazen checks equipment on one of Chelsea Fire & Rescue’s fire trucks.

Photo by Erica Techo.

Fire departments eye land for new stations

By ERICA TECHO At least two fire departments in north Shelby County along U.S. 280 are looking for land for new fire stations.

The city of Chelsea has two new fire stations in mind, and the Cahaba Valley Fire and Emergency Medical Rescue District also has been looking for land for a new station.

Chelsea officials set aside $50,000 in the city’s fiscal 2016 budget to buy land for a new fire station, but construction will not take place in fiscal 2016, fire Chief Wayne Shirley said.

“You’ve got to get the dirt first,” Shirley said.

Chelsea also has land for another fire station near the Chelsea Sports Complex, which is set to open off Shelby County 11 this spring. But construction of a fire station at that location will not take place this year either, Shirley said.

Plans for future stations have been on the drawing board for a few months, but when those will be built is a matter of timing and funding.

“As the community continues to grow, our department will grow with it,” Shirley said.

Cahaba Valley Fire and Emergency Medical Rescue officials respond to a fire at The Point at Oak Mountain apartments off U.S. 280.

Photo by Jon Anderson

“We’ve already got two stations … and we have on the drawing board … two more stations that will be coming as soon as the timing and funding are in place.”

Cahaba Valley fire officials have been scouting land for a new station in the Dunnavant Valley area.

- Sydney Cromwell contributed to this article.

Limiting lines New option eases tag renewal process for Shelby seniors

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE The Shelby County License Department will be introducing a new option for senior citizens in 2016. The Senior Fast Tags program is designed to help seniors avoid the long lines at the license offices.

“We are thinking about taking the tag office to the senior citizens centers, at least the bigger ones, to try to get some feedback from them and see if it’s something they are willing to accept,” said Bill Glass, operations supervisor for the Shelby County License Department. “We can pick a few days of the month to go out and advertise that we will be there on certain days if they’d like to come in to the center and renew tags. We can do the process there, so they will not have to wait in line at the license office.”

The program is still in the infant stage right now. Limited appointments began in December, and the program should fully launch in January, Glass said.

Glass said he and Reggie Holloway, who is in charge of community services, have discussed

visiting each center to get an idea of how the centers are set up and what activities they have, in order to pick times when the most people will be there. There is a possibility they will find four centrally located senior centers and advertise to all the others when the Fast Tag program will be available.

They have kicked around a lot of ideas but want to make sure they are reaching the people they intend to reach, Glass said.

“If we advertise it for senior citizens, what’s keeping anyone from making an appointment?”

Glass said. “People try to take advantage of situations sometimes, so we have to be careful when we implement this thing.”

The supervisors at each office will control the appointment schedule. Each office has a different size staff and will make sure they are staffed appropriately, he said.

There are 12 senior centers in Shelby County, including two around the U.S. 280 corridor (at Heardmont Park and the Chelsea Community Center).

For information, visit www.shelbyal.org.

Barbara Allen Owner

280 Living

A10 • January 2016

YEAR IN PREVIEW

School anniversary, expansion Hilltop Montessori marks milestones

By ERICA TECHO Hilltop Montessori has two milestones to celebrate this year: its 20th anniversary and a second building.

The school broke ground on its new twostory addition in September 2015 and it is set to open in fall 2016, just in time for the school’s anniversary.

“Where people normally have a ribbon cutting, we’re going to have a birthday party,” said Head of School Michele Wilensky.

The addition, which is part of phase three for Hilltop Montessori, is being built on land that was gifted to Hilltop Montessori by EBSCO Industries.

It will include a community center, gymnasium, science library, classroom space, multi-media center, art and music areas and a teaching kitchen.

“The community center is really our way of giving back,” Wilensky said. “It’s really nice that someone did something nice for us and now we’re able to give back.”

To build the extension, which will cost $3.4 million, Hilltop received a $5.3 million loan from the Shelby County Economic and Industrial Development Authority (SCEIDA). The loan was approved by the Shelby County Commission in July 2015, and it will be used to refinance the school’s current investment as well as fund the addition.

Wilensky said the addition provides a life

lesson for students, who can learn about giving through the land donation and can learn about sharing through the building’s availability to the community.

“This addition will further set us apart in the city and permit us to continue to fulfill our mission – to provide a quality Montessori education in an environment which fosters a child’s love of learning and a respect for self, others, community and the world,” Wilensky said at the building’s groundbreaking ceremony.

Mt Laurel residents will be able to use the community center when the school is not using it. The space will be available free of charge, although residents will have to hire a cleaning service to clean the space after it is used. North Shelby County residents can also use the community center with a small fee. Wilensky said the fee will be used to cover electricity and power costs in the community center.

The addition will incorporate the same “green” principles as the school’s existing building, helping to maintain the school’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification with the U.S. Green Building Council. Wilensky said they work to keep students involved in the project, which includes discussing environmental impact and the materials used in the building. Students will also have the chance to tour the construction site throughout the building process. They will shut down the

Hilltop Montessori students stand at the site of the school’s new building. Photo courtesy of Michele Wilensky.

construction site for a day, clear out any dangerous materials or equipment, and allow the students to walk through the project, Wilensky said.

“We have big plans for them to be involved,” Wilensky said.

The new extension will also allow for environmental educational opportunities, Wilensky said.

The teaching kitchen will focus on local, fresh lunch preparation using food from the school’s gardens as well as gardens in the area.

280Living.com

January 2016 • A11

YEAR IN PREVIEW

Oak Mountain State Park upgrades Bike lanes, stable improvements planned

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE Even with the recent cuts to the state park system budget, Oak Mountain State Park still has plans for improvements for 2016.

One of the projects, which has already started, is adding bike lanes from the north trailhead to the back gate.

“We are partnering on that project with the county,” said Kelly Ezell, the park superintendent and district superintendent for central Alabama. “That’s the only portion of the park that currently doesn’t have bike lanes. The other bike lanes have been there for a while and are used a great deal. We have a lot of road bikers that use the park.”

The bike lanes that have been in place were installed as an addition to the road and are not wide enough, Ezell said. To put them in properly, the entire road will need to be overlaid, which will be another, larger project, she said.

“All the lanes will be made wide enough and properly constructed for the safety and use of the road bikers,” she said. “The second phase of the paving will be from Terrace Drive in front of the office, to Peavine. That will be done by the county and Oak Mountain State Park. Then we will work on front gate to North Trailhead.

“By the time we are done, all of the roads will have proper bike lanes,” Ezell said. “We anticipate more usage if the roads are safer and

Oak Mountain State Park is partnering with Shelby County to add bicycle lanes from the north trailhead to the back gate. Photo by Frank Couch.

more convenient.”

Both bike lane projects are being funded in part by grants, she said.

Park officials also are upgrading the horse stables. Management of the stables formerly was contracted out, but park officials have now

taken over that task. Some updates already have been made, but more improvements are planned in 2016.

“Since the previous contractor moved out, there were questions if the stables were still in business,” Ezell said. “We still have the horses,

and it is operated daily. There has been no discontinuation of business there.”

The petting farm and barn are both open for business, and horseback trail rides will resume on March 1.

Ezell said state budget cuts have severely limited park officials’ ability to start new projects.

“Our budget has been raided, and we lost $3 million that went to the general fund,” Ezell said.

“That was money we had generated through hard work and our efforts in the state park to make money to bring in funds and revenue. There are a lot of things we would really like to do, and we’ve had a lot of suggestions of things that would improve the park, but right now our hands are kind of tied.”

Park staff always want to do things to attract people and to enhance their experience, Ezell said. They do receive support from surrounding entities.

“Shelby County is wonderful to work with.

They do a great job and come in and help us out,” she said. “The city of Pelham is very good to us as well.”

Due to the cuts, the park did increase ticket prices by $1 in November 2014, but Ezell said it’s still a great deal for families to spend the day at the park.

“The best way for people to support our park is to use our park,” she said. “The way we generate funds is from user fees. When you visit, you are a park partner and are helping with that.”

280 Living

A12 • January 2016

YEAR IN PREVIEW

Pageant returns Ballfields ope Miss Shelby County to be crowned in July

Chelsea wraps up 1st phase of sports complex

By SYDNEY CROMWELL

By ERICA TECHO

Hayley Barber was crowned Miss Shelby County in 2015, and the Pelham resident is ready to help find a new pageant queen on July 15, 2016.

The Miss Shelby County pageant offers college scholarships, and winners go on to compete in Miss Alabama and represent their chosen platform throughout the year. Barber, whose platform is supporting children with vision Hayley Barber, in the center, and fellow Miss Shelby impairment, said she won $4,000 in County participants after the July 2015 competition. scholarships from the competition Photo courtesy of Hayley Barber. and is preparing for Miss Alabama She encouraged Shelby County young women in June.

“Miss Shelby County is an opportunity to to participate even if they have no prior paggrow and push yourself to learn more about eant experience.

“I have learned much more about Shelby yourself, your community, your state and your country,” Barber said. “There is an unparal- County than I would’ve thought and had the leled confidence that comes from knowing chance to meet people who are always willing who you are, and participating in Miss Shelby to help in my pursuits,” Barber said.

Applications for Miss Shelby County will County forces you to do that.”

Barber will be on hand in the Miss Shelby be available in June and are due one week County pageant this year, helping backstage, before the pageant. More details on pageant dancing and presenting on stage. At the end, participation can be found at missshelbyshe will pass on her crown to a new winner. county.com.

This spring, Chelsea is set to have three new baseball fields.

The fields are part of the first phase of the Chelsea Sports Complex, which also includes a walking trail around the park, batting cages, a 222-spot parking lot and a concession stand.

Planning for the complex, to be located off Shelby County 11, started in June 2014. The Chelsea City Council approved a con- A blueprint of the three new ballfields is shown. The struction contract for phase one in Chelsea City Council hopes construction will be done September and for the concession by the start of the season. Photo by Erica Techo. stand in November. the concession stand because Coston also is “I think this is all the contracts we need, now, to get that complex complete,” working on the fields at the sports complex.

Hopefully, this will make it easier to coordiMayor Earl Niven said.

Construction of the fields, the parking nate, he said.

The council hopes construction is done by lot, batting cages and walking trail will cost $1.14 million, along with an additional the start of baseball season.

Planning for the second phase of the sports $348,150 for electricity and lighting at the fields. The concession stand construction is complex will likely start this year. Future additions to the complex could include addicosting $399,760.

Niven said it was good that Coston General tional fields for baseball or softball, a football Contractors had the lowest and best bid for field and multiple tennis courts.

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280Living.com

January 2016 • A13

YEAR IN PREVIEW

National championships in town Hoover welcomes Junior Olympics

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE For the first time in six years, the USA Track & Field National Junior Olympics Cross Country Championships will return to Veterans Park in Hoover.

The event last took place there in 2010. This year’s event is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 10, and is expected to draw 2,600 to 3,000 athletes and more than 10,000 total attendees, including coaches, families and fans.

While the event is held on Saturday, many of the participants and their families will arrive Thursday and stay through the weekend, bringing an economic boost to the Hoover and Shelby County area.

“When we hosted it in 2010, we had over 250 participants from all 50 states,” said Mary Birdwell, a representative from USATF of Alabama.

“It was very successful. The booster clubs from Spain Park and Hoover High School and a few other schools helped us so we could have a lot of volunteers. It was a good meet, and we had good publicity for our area. We received a lot of good comments after it was over.”

The championship event rotates around different areas of the country, from the East to the central part of the country to the West. In 1999, it was held in Mobile, and then it came to Shelby County in 2010.

The event is open to any youth ages 7-18, and the runners are divided into five age groups,

including a new age group for those who are 7 or 8. Races range from a 2K for the youngest runners to a 5K for the oldest group.

Registration costs $8, plus $20 for a USATF membership card. The membership card is good for a year and allows participation in the summer race also. Runners can compete as an individual or with a track club.

USATF of Alabama is partnering again with the city of Hoover, Shelby County and the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau to bring the national championships back to Hoover. When the announcement came in 2014 that the event would be back at Veterans Park, Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey said the city was proud to be chosen as host.

“We look forward to welcoming the participants, staff and fans to the city for this prestigious event that will feature some of the most talented junior athletes in the nation,” Ivey said.

“Our staff will work hard with the local organizing committee to ensure this is a memorable experience for both the athletes and attendees.”

Birdwell said the finishing times for the championship races usually are outstanding. “If they want to run against some good athletes, this is a good meet,” she said.

Along with the national championship, the regional championship for Alabama runners will also take place at Veterans Park on Nov. 19. To keep up with information and registration, visit http://al.usatf.org/.

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Runners compete in the USA Track & Field National Junior Olympics Cross Country Championships.

Hoover will have this year’s event, which is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 10, at Veterans Park and is expected to draw 2,600 to 3,000 athletes and more than 10,000 total attendees, including coaches, families and fans. Photo courtesy of USA Track & Field.

280 Living

A14 • January 2016

280 News Council eyes new tool to ID available property

By ERICA TECHO Chelsea officials are considering hiring a company to help the city identify available commercial property in the area.

During a council work session in December, the council heard a presentation from Xceligent, a company that provides verified commercial real estate information online.

The company can supply an inventory of commercial property, including buildings for lease and sale, as well as information about those properties — sales comparisons, tenant information, historical trends on rates and occupancy and market analytics, said Shelley Shores, Xceligent’s director of client services and sales for the Birmingham market, which covers five counties.

The city of Chelsea could embed the information from Xceligent on its website, Shores said. The embedded information could be limited to just the city limits or expanded slightly outside those parameters in order to show properties that could affect the Chelsea area, he said.

The map-based tool can also be limited through different search parameters, including lease rate, available square footage, lot size, etc., Shores said.

“You guys really don’t have to do the legwork. We’re the ones calling the brokers every 30 days,” Shores said.

Xceligent costs $250 a month, plus a $250 start-up fee.

Shores said there is also a one-year contract that automatically renews, with a 60-day cancellation notice.

Chelsea Mayor Earl Niven said the council would discuss the option and council members could provide him with feedback on the product. “Then we’ll decide, and if we can get it worked out, the first of the year would be a good time to start,” Niven said.

In other news, Niven said he is glad to see the Chelsea Community Center getting so much use. The center has 75 to 80 visitors a day, he said.

Planning Commission approves multiple resubdivisions

By ERICA TECHO

A sign advertises vacant commercial space at a shopping center in Chelsea. Photo by Jon Anderson.

“I think it’s going great,” Niven said. “There’s so much excitement with people coming in. ... And it’s going to pick up, especially in the winter time with the weather.”

A sand volleyball court was recently installed behind the center, and it is open for general use. Niven also mentioned the potential of initiating a fee for the community center.

He said there would be a $100 yearly fee per family for residents and a $150 yearly fee for non-residents. Senior citizens, however, would not have a fee because of the grants the city received to help build the center.

“That’s going to be accepted with no problem whatsoever,” Niven said.

Several groups have also started or plan to start renting out rooms at the community center, Niven said, including a karate class and Chelsea basketball.

The Chelsea City Council also on Dec. 1 accepted a half-acre donation of property from Liberty Baptist Church.

The lot, which merges with the parking lot at the city’s baseball fields, is at the corner of Liberty Road and Shelby County 47.

The Shelby County Planning Commission approved three resubdivision requests at its Dec. 7 meeting.

One request, submitted by Ron Williamson, included the resurvey of one lot and the resubdivision of another lot in the Sterling Moore Family Subdivision, which is located off of Highway 36 in Chelsea. The resubdivision

would create a total of five lots in the family subdivision.

Williamson’s request was unanimously approved by the commission.

The other requests were to subdivide three lots into five in the Holsomback Family Subdivision in Montevallo, and to subdivide a lot of Knowlwood Properties located off Highway 61 into three lots.

Both requests were unanimously approved by the commission.

Commission approves new probate position

By ERICA TECHO The Shelby County Commission approved a new position within the probate court at its Nov. 23 meeting.

The resolution to create a position for a programs coordinator for mental health services and legal counsel to the judge of probate

was unanimously approved. The position was previously discussed by the probate judge and county manager, according to the resolution.

The commission also approved a resolution to award an IT bid for document conversion technology to Imaging Solutions and Services Inc.

280Living.com

January 2016 • A15

Residents offer feedback on ALDOT plans

Greg Lein, director of the state parks division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (at left), and Pelham City Council President Rick Hayes (center) talk to a member of the public during a Dec. 10 meeting about proposed bike lanes and a roundabout near Oak Mountain State Park. Photo by Sydney Cromwell.

By SYDNEY CROMWELL While Oak Mountain State Park is working on a bike lane project within the park, the Alabama Department of Transportation and the city of Pelham are working on their own bike lane project to connect the park with the rest of Pelham.

ALDOT hosted a Dec. 10 public involvement meeting at the state park to give residents the chance to offer feedback on a proposal to add about two miles of bike lanes on State Park Road from Alabama 119 to John Findlay Drive, as well as a roundabout at the intersection of State Park and John Findlay.

Greg Lein, the director of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ parks division, was at the meeting to talk about the plans.

He said the 8-foot-wide bike lanes on either side of State Park Road were important for creating “connectivity with the local community.” The finished product will allow park visitors to access outside hotels and restaurants safely on foot or bicycle, he said.

“Bringing in the community is the goal here,” Oak Mountain State Park Superintendent Kelly Ezell said. The bike lanes inside the park would connect to those outside.

Trey Gauntt, Shelby County’s chief engineer of development services, said the roundabout is being added to improve traffic flow at the intersection near the park’s main entrance. ALDOT and Skipper Consulting had considered installing

a traffic signal, but vehicle flow at the intersection “lends itself to the roundabout,” Gauntt said. “Once they get used to it, it really functions well.”

Pelham intends to connect the bike lanes to a paved trail project currently being planned.

City Council President Rick Hayes said the trail, which will take about five years to complete, will span 7.2 miles and wind through residential and industrial areas connecting Pelham High School, the Civic Center and the future Pelham Park, among other locations. Hayes added that the city is looking at off-road trail options in the same area.

A few residents at the public involvement meeting approached Gauntt with concerns about how the bike lanes would affect their neighboring property, but he said most meeting attendees were simply curious and had not expressed problems to him about the designs.

Residents were able to submit comments and concerns about the bike lanes and roundabout project in December, and Gauntt said those comments will be addressed in the six-month to nine-month planning process that ALDOT is undertaking.

Gauntt expects ALDOT to begin right-of-way acquisition in the summer of 2016, with construction beginning in the spring or summer of 2017. The project is estimated to cost around $2.6 million for design, right-of-way acquisition and construction.

This roundabout at State Park Road and John Findlay Drive will be added to reduce congestion on the roads near Oak Mountain State Park’s entrance. Map courtesy of Alabama Department of Transportation.

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280 Living

A16 • January 2016

Shelby borrows $6M for capital improvements

By ERICA TECHO Shelby County is now set to borrow $6 million in order to fund capital improvement projects.

The Shelby County Commission on Dec. 14 approved a resolution to borrow the money and make payments on the debt using the county’s lodging tax revenues.

The borrowed money will go toward the cost of road, bike lane and other public improvement projects at Oak Mountain State Park, infrastructure improvements at American Village, improvements to Cahaba River Park and other locations in the county.

The county likely will be borrowing an additional $4 million to $6 million sometime in 2016 or 2017, with the time frame depending on construction progress and project payment schedules, County Manager Alex Dudchock said.

Rod Kanter, bond counsel for the county, said the debt approved on Dec. 14 is tied only to lodging tax revenues.

“If for whatever reason the lodging tax isn’t sufficient to pay the debt, well that’s OK,” Kanter said. “The holder, the purchaser, of this warrant will just have to wait until the money comes in to get paid.”

There is no default interest, late interest or fees for late payment, Kanter said. There is also no covenant to raise the lodging tax, which Kanter said is something that is often included in this sort of agreement.

“We wanted to keep things as conservative and really as favorable for the county as possible,” Kanter said.

The debt is set to be paid off in 11 installments

through 2029, Kanter said, but after 10 years, the county will have the option to pay off the debt early or refinance for better rates.

Firearms prohibitions Also at the Dec. 14 County Commission meeting, Pelham resident Robert Kennedy Jr. spoke to the commission about a Nov. 9 resolution that made several buildings in Columbiana official annexes to the Shelby County Courthouse, thereby banning firearms from those buildings. The buildings include the property tax commission building, county license office, county public defender annex, the agri-center building, the community services building, Harrison Regional Library, Shelby County Highway Department, the historical society building and the Ray Building, which houses county highway, environmental services and emergency management services.

State code prohibits firearms in a courthouse, courthouse annex, building with a district attorney’s office or a building in which a county commission or city council regularly meets.

Kennedy questioned the reason for the Nov. 9 resolution, saying it prevented citizens from executing their right to bear arms and protect themselves in those other buildings.

County attorney Butch Ellis said a recent attorney general opinion that Shelby County could not prohibit firearms in the county’s other buildings was given before those buildings were designated as official annexes to the courthouse.

The attorney general also was clear that firearms can be prohibited in buildings where the County Commission meets, and the commission’s Nov. 9 resolution also indicates that the commission

Rob Kanter, bond counsel for Shelby County, discusses an agreement for the county to borrow $6 million for capital improvement projects at the County Commission’s Dec. 14 meeting. Photo by Erica Techo

may meet in these other buildings from time to time.

Ellis said the Shelby County Courthouse can no longer house all of the county functions it once did, and buildings where those functions are now carried out are eligible to be annexed.

Kennedy still expressed concerns about people being able to protect themselves.

“I would like to know which security measures are in place to protect the public because we are not able to protect ourselves in these buildings, and we all know that ISIS or any other body, any other criminal, is not paying attention to any signs,” Kennedy said.

Commission Chairman Rick Shepherd said the commission would not be able to answer Kennedy’s questions at the meeting, but would address them after discussion with legal counsel.

“This is not the type of venue where we have a question and answer,” Shepherd said. “We will speak with staff and legal staff to make sure we are making the right recommendations.”

The County Commission also: ► Awarded bids for development services equipment, including fire services equipment, electronic monitoring devices and accessories, basic life support equipment, backboards and restraining equipment, and advanced life support equipment. ► Approved an agreement for recertification repairs for a “snooper” truck. This truck is used for bridge inspections, and County Engineer Randy Cole said the federal government is paying for a large portion of those repairs. The repairs should keep the snooper truck certified for the next 20 years, Cole said.

280Living.com

January 2016 • A17

Hoover mayor lauds lifesaving, economic impacts of Brookwood FED

By ERICA TECHO Brookwood Medical Center’s freestanding emergency department is about more than dollars, Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey said.

Ivey addressed a crowd of more than 100 at the Brookwood FED open house Thursday, Nov. 19. He said while the new emergency center will financially benefit the city, it will also help save lives.

“The economic impact’s not as important as the kids that are going to have golf cart wrecks out here, or motorcycle wrecks or the car wrecks,” Ivey said, “the heart attacks, the strokes that all you folks, as I look around, will save lives and keep them as part of our families. And for that I thank you so much.”

Ivey said the city has enjoyed working with Brookwood in the past and hopes the close relationship will continue. While he did not want to belittle the investment Brookwood made to be a part of the city, he said the most important part of the FED is what cannot be boiled down to numbers.

“We’ll never be able to quantify what you guys are going to be able to do for us or the lives that you’re going to save because you can say, well, you know, you’d have saved them if you got them to the other ER room. But that’s not a fact,” Ivey said.

The $19.5 million, 25,000-squarefoot facility has 12 private rooms, two mental health rooms, a trauma room and rooms to handle X-rays,

The official ribbon cutting was held in November, a few weeks before the facility opened. Photo by Erica Techo.

mammograms, gynecology and other services. While the facility aims to have little to no wait for patients, there is also a triage room where a nurse will check patients and prioritize their treatment if all 12 exam rooms fill up.

If a patient needs transport to a hospital, there will be an ambulance on the premises as well as a helicopter, said Brookwood Emergency Administrative Director Conrad Brown.

“Hopefully this will provide streamlined care, ease of access and will help everybody in the community feel safer because they know

they will have access to medical care significantly faster,” said Jim McLester, medical director of the FED. With Brookwood FED’s opening, the city now has an emergency care center on each side, Ivey said. The other center is Medical West, which opened at the corner of I-459 and AL-150 in May. Garry L. Gause, CEO of the Southern Region of Tenant Healthcare and former CEO of Brookwood Medical Center, said opening one of the first FEDs in the state was a large undertaking.

“This was a new animal, and

even though there’s another one that opened a little earlier than us because they didn’t have any opposition to their CON [Certificate of Need], we’re fortunate that we were able to file the first CON in the state for this,” Gause said.

Brookwood faced a delay in opening an FED when it faced opposition from Trinity Medical. The Supreme Court officially cleared Brookwood in that legal battle in October 2013.

“It’s not easy being an innovator, and sometimes on this project it felt a little bit like Sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill only to have it roll

back down to the bottom of the hill,” Gause said. “…But ultimately we were able to get across the finish line and push that rock over the hill.”

Gause added that he is glad Brookwood can offer this additional service within its network. The network grew earlier this year when Brookwood Medical Center merged with Baptist Health Systems.

“This will add to the locations that we’re able to provide within the network, and it’s an important component for us to improve the lives of the people we serve in all of the surrounding communities,” Gause said.

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Liberty Pkwy

280Living.com

January 2016 • A19

Now Open FirstBank Mortgage Partners has opened a retail mortgage office in the Colonnade at 3443 Colonnade Parkway.

271-1210, fbmortgageloans.com

1

Greystone Family Medicine is now open at 6930 Cahaba Valley Road, Suite 102.

783-5207

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Coming Soon The Gingerbread Lady, formerly located at Grants Mill Station in Irondale, will be relocating to 5510 U.S. 280, Suite 110, in late January. Prior to their time in Irondale, they were located at the Colonnade.

960-7040, thegingerbreadlady.com

3

PHO 280 will be opening soon at 5426 U.S. 280 in Greystone Terrace.

The full-service restaurant serves unique and flavorful Vietnamese cuisine, and it will be open seven days a week for lunch and dinner.

739-2177

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Corporate Parkway, Suite 200, to 2030 First Ave. N. in Birmingham.

980-0774, lewiscommunications.com

New Ownership Moses Phillips Young Brannon & Henninger, LLP, an accounting firm at 3535 Grandview Parkway, Suite 150, has merged with Dent, Baker & Company, LLP, an accounting firm on Lakeshore Drive in Homewood. The new company, named Dent Moses, LLP, will have offices at the Lakeshore location.

972-1215, mpybh.com

6

“When it rains, we drain!”

Hirings and Promotions Strauss Financial Group, 2201 Cahaba Valley Drive, Suite 200, has hired Kristi Hoffman as operations manager.

Additionally, Arthur Strauss has been promoted to president of GenNow, LLC, a division of the company dedicated to offering investment and financial consulting to millennials and young professionals.

967-9595, straussfinancial.com

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Relocations and Renovations Lewis Communications, an advertising and public relations firms with nearly 60 employees, has relocated from 600

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NOTE: The following numbers appear on the map to indicate former locations

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280 Living

A20 • January 2016

One Nineteen Health and Wellness center celebrates expansion Hundreds tour new facility set to open in 2016 Above: The Rev. Joseph Culotta from Saint Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church blesses the building and grounds with holy water. Left: The expansion at St. Vincent’s One Nineteen Health and Wellness center includes an outpatient surgery center, urgent care center and new physicians’ offices. Photos by Erica Techo

By ERICA TECHO Shelby County residents will have a new option for urgent care and outpatient surgery in January.

The 40,000-square-foot, $15.6 million expansion at St. Vincent’s One Nineteen Health and Wellness center on Alabama 119 is set to open in the new year. The expansion, next to Greystone, includes an outpatient surgery center, urgent care center and additional physician offices.

The expansion has been in the plans since One Nineteen was built more than 10 years ago.

St. Vincent’s broke ground on the expansion in October 2014, and a ribbon cutting and blessing was held Dec. 8. Hundreds of people came to tour the new facility.

“Thank you for being here to celebrate this wonderful blessing of our new outpatient surgery center, urgent care and additional professional office building space. This has definitely been a labor of love,” said Stephanie Holderby, executive director of St. Vincent’s One Nineteen.

The expansion includes three operating rooms, two procedure rooms, additional office space, eight exam rooms and additional parking. There is also a fourth operating room already built, and it will be utilized as the facility grows.

Holderby said one goal of the expansion is to adapt to the consistently changing world of health care. St. Vincent’s officials also want to

enhance patient experience.

Neeysa Biddle, senior vice president of St. Vincent’s Health System’s parent company, Ascension Health, and the Birmingham ministry market executive, echoed those thoughts.

“Our goal is to create a true clinically integrated system of care for all of Birmingham’s area that joins together disparate services, aims to keep people healthy and living well, delivers coordinated, personalized care at the right place and at the right time,” Biddle said. “One

Nineteen is a great example of this transformational work, especially with the addition of these new services.”

Dr. John Farley, medical director for St. Vincent’s One Nineteen, said he looks forward to providing a nearby option for patients, rather than sending them downtown for procedures.

“I think that the addition of the surgery and services is going to be absolutely huge in this area,” Farley said. “I think you’re really going to like that when you have to have surgery,

not having to drive downtown at four in the morning.”

Throughout the ceremony, speakers mentioned the four Daughters of Charity who founded St. Vincent’s in 1898. The sisters will be memorialized in the Sisters’ Garden, an outdoor sacred space for services, personal prayer and reflection.

“When we first embarked on One Nineteen, we were stepping outside of the typical health care model,” said Nan Priest, vice president of Ascension Health and chief strategy and business development officer. “But like the Daughters of Charity, and all of the St. Vincent’s leaders that have come before us and whose shoulders we stand on today, we knew that adapting and innovating was the only way to truly serve the needs of our patients.”

Following the speakers, the Rev. Joseph Culotta from Saint Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church blessed the building and grounds with holy water. A blessing was also offered for the medical staff who already have been operating there.

280Living.com

January 2016 • A21

One-stop shop for parents Chelsea mom creates review website to guide families new to area

Krista and Aaron Brackin hold their daughters Lorelai (left) and Laila, who were the inspiration for Krista’s website.

Courtesy of Krista Brackin.

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE After Krista Brackin had two frustrating experiences spending money on activities for her daughter, she decided to help other parents avoid a similar situation.

When the Chelsea mother of two girls was looking for children’s activities, she searched the Internet and Facebook resale sites for information from other parents, but realized there was no centralized location for an entire list of options. The decision to start her own website came when she was trying to choose a five-day preschool, and EverythingForKids Birmingham.com was born.

“I wanted people’s firsthand experiences,” Brackin said. “It took me weeks. I did find [a preschool], and it was so good, but I was sent like 18 different schools.

It got so overwhelming doing the research. I looked at different sites, but none of them offered anywhere to give reviews or ratings on school programs, dance, gymnastics or even a complete list of any of those, so I decided it was time that became a reality.”

Brackin’s daughter Lorelai loved dance and gymnastics. When she was 4, Brackin signed her Brackin filed to become an LLC, bought the up at two local places in Chelsea. That’s where Brackin said the owners took advantage of them URL and went live with her website Aug. 7.

Everything has been out of pocket for the projfinancially.

“The worst part was that she was not learning ect. If later she offers advertising for child-apanything in class week after week,” Brackin propriate businesses, she said the money would said. “She became aggravated, and it speaks be put back into the website.

She says the biggest difference from other volumes that even at her age, she could pick websites is that all reviews are completely unbiup on that.”

Inspired by a commercial for Angie’s List, a ased. She is also in the process of contacting subscription website that lists services and com- every place that is rated on the site to give the panies so people can read reviews before making businesses an opportunity to be notified when a decision, Brackin decided to create something their place is rated or reviewed.

Comments can also be completely anonymous. similar for parents. The difference was that her site would include all unbiased reviews and also Brackin said she will monitor everything on the site and make sure the content stays appropriate so be free to users.

that her users will continue to come back.

The site is also designed to help families moving to the Birmingham area.

“We spend so much time and money on our kids. I’d rather make it easier for anyone I can,” she said. “If they were to move to our area in Chelsea, the site can show them we’ve got good schools, dance programs, doctors and more in area, and make it easier to locate them.”

In addition to starting the website, Brackin works full time as an EDI coordinator at McLeod Software. She credits her husband, Aaron, with being a huge support and help during this endeavor.

“He has been my best advocate and tells

anyone and everyone he can about it,” she said.

Brackin’s goal is to launch similar websites for cities all around the country, but as the first, Birmingham will have its own separate entity.

“It will be an across-the-country platform,” she said. “I’ll start on the state level then go to counties and break it down.”

For now, she will balance this project with her full-time job but says her passion is this website.

“Even if I’m out the money, I like doing it,” she said. “It makes me feel good to help other parents. If I can save somebody money and some headache, I feel that pays for itself.”

“If I could do anything, it would be this website, because that is where my heart is.”

280 Living

A22 • January 2016

Chamber

Preview of

The Narrows clinic director named Citizen January Luncheon of the Year for fatal crash assistance

By ERICA TECHO When Shari Hyde went to work on Oct. 20, the day started like any other. But that afternoon, an 18-wheeler collided with a sport-utility vehicle carrying a 25-year-old mother and her child just outside the physical therapy clinic where she works in The Narrows.

The mother, Alexa Mays, died as a result of the accident. But Hyde’s actions in helping the infant and continuing to help him and his father were one reason the South Shelby Chamber of Commerce named her Citizen of the Year for 2015.

“The Lord told me to run, and I was able to gently free the baby and hand him to Brandi, the waiting nurse,” Hyde said. “God gave me the chance to pray with the distraught driver of the 18-wheeler.”

Hyde has been clinic director of OnMark Physical Therapy at The Narrows for three years.

She is now working with her colleagues at the OnMark clinics in Moody, Helena, Altadena Square, Hoover and The Narrows to support Nathan Mays, Alexa’s husband, and Maddoc, their infant son. They are collecting gift cards and other donations for the family.

Hyde was named Citizen of the Year at the 10th annual South Shelby Chamber of Commerce Diamond Awards on Dec. 3. The Diamond Awards are used to recognize both businesses and community members.

Other nominees for Citizen of the Year included Harpersville Councilman William Rayfield; Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Chris George; Della Pender, founder of God’s Ministry Outreach; Peg Hill, Shelby County Board of Education vice president; Vincent Councilwoman Bridgette Jordan Smith;

Shari Hyde, the clinic director at OnMark Physical Therapy in The Narrows, at left, was named the 2015 Citizen of the Year by the South Shelby Chamber of Commerce.

Here, Hyde stands with April Stone, executive director of the chamber. Photo by Erica Techo.

Donald Shirley, Chelsea Citizens on Patrol member; and Alicia Johnson, Chelsea Citizens on Patrol member and employee at Davis Drug.

Davis Drug was named Business of the Year. When Gene Rowley of APH (Alabaster, Pelham and Helena) Radio announced the nominees, he noted that Davis Drug has been in the Columbiana community for 60 years. A nominator described Davis Drug as “a pillar, a gathering spot in the Columbiana community.”

The New Business of the Year was Simply Infused of Mt Laurel, which was opened by Cheryl Harper in April.

“Cheryl left a career with Hewlett Packard and had a dream to open this shop and be

an engaged part of her community,” Rowley said. “In fact, that is her goal for 2016, to create more business partnerships.”

The chamber also took time last month to recognize outgoing and incoming board members.

Outgoing board members were Donna Smelcer with Shelby Baptist Medical Center and Mary Deloach with Comfort Keepers. Incoming board members include Shelby County Commissioner Corley Ellis and Bobby Madison with Alabama Power.

Preceding the awards ceremony, King’s Home President Lew Burdette shared his story of fear, faith and survival. Burdette, whose organization serves at-risk youth, women and mothers of at-risk children, told the story of when he was kidnapped at 15 years old, stabbed and shot. The kidnappers threw him in an old well and left him for dead.

Burdette said he felt hopeless and could find no way out of the well.

“The good thing that I’ve discovered about hopeless situations is that we can learn a lot from them,” Burdette said.

Burdette said that night taught him how important it is to have respect for others and respect for life. If the men had that respect, he said, they never would have considered kidnapping a 15-year-old and harming him in that way.

Burdette finally made it out of the well, crawled along the dirt road to a nearby shack and took an ambulance to the hospital. He said that’s when he learned to never give up, even when things seem hopeless.

“Things certainly didn’t go my way that night, in that near-death experience,” Burdette said. “But that’s life. Every single one of us faces struggles, but the true test is how we handle them.”

Chris Nanni

The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham’s CEO and president, Chris Nanni, will speak at the South Shelby Chamber of Commerce’s January luncheon. The focus of the first luncheon of 2016 is the state of the South Shelby Chamber.

The luncheon is Thursday, Jan. 7 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Columbiana First Baptist Church. Alagasco is the presenting sponsor of the luncheon, which Johnny Ray’s will cater.

The luncheon cost is $12 per person, payable by cash, check or credit card.

No RSVP is required. Visit southshelbychamber.com.

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280Living.com

January 2016 • A23

Chief Deputy Chris George speaks at annual prayer breakfast

By ERICA TECHO Chris George’s mother was 19 years old when he was born, and she struggled with addiction until she died in her 50s.

Right after he was born, George went to live with his grandmother. They had financial troubles (they were on food stamps for a time and went through a few winters without heat), but love and faith helped push them through difficulties, George said.

George, the chief deputy for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, shared his story of faith, family and forgiveness at the Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce’s 18th annual prayer breakfast recently at the Pelham Civic Complex.

It was in those early years with his grandmother when George learned the cornerstones of faith, he said.

“If it was not for those cornerstones,” George said, “and I’m telling you this if you have young children or you are raising young children or you have influence on young children, those cornerstones you put in place now are so important, because even though I lost my way coming up through my teenage years and early 20s, every time I fell down, because of those cornerstones, that house was so solid, I got back up.”

George said when he looks back, he doesn’t think of the hard times because there was so much love in the house.

George’s mom came and went throughout his life, and his dad was absent for many milestones.

As he has grown older, George said he realizes that his circumstances have made him a better cop and father.

As he saw his mother battle with addiction, he learned a lot, he said.

Chris George, chief deputy for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, speaks at the Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce’s 18th annual prayer breakfast. Photo by Erica Techo.

“It makes me understand what addiction truly is,” he said. “See, anyone who is an addict, they weren’t always an addict. You may hate the fact that they’re an addict, and yes it’s a bad thing, but at some point they chose to consume what now consumes them, and it’s no longer a choice.”

One of his first thoughts when his son was born, George said, was how could his parents have left and not been in his life. Their absence, however, was one of the greatest gifts, he said.

“That was the best thing he could have done for me, because that’s why I’m there every step of the way for those boys,” he said, pointing to his three young sons in the audience. “I know what it’s like to not have it, so I’m going to be there of them.”

George said he also had times where he struggled with forgiveness. When he was young, his mother was held captive by a boyfriend who raped and beat her for several days. The man

was put in jail, but George harbored hate for him for several years.

“As I grew up, I started thinking about him, and I started thinking about what I was going to do to him when he got out of prison, and I was going to kill him,” George said. “That’s how much it was in my heart, that dark place in my heart. Even though it was a small place, there was a place in my heart that I knew exactly how I was going to do it.”

When that man was released from jail, George said his grandmother reminded him that he was not the one responsible for bringing justice. The message to not seek revenge did not immediately resonate, he said, but it soon sank in because of the lessons his grandmother established when he was young.

“It sunk in because those cornerstones were in place,” George said, “and I began to, I’m not going to go so far as to say I forgave that man, but I began to see that what caused him to do that was the same thing that was in my heart, and that was sin.”

George encouraged those at the breakfast to let things go, no matter how large or small the problem or dislike.

“You’ve got to let it go because it will consume you and it will build up, and it took from the time I was a kid to just about 15 years ago — that’s a whole lot of hate that was built up in my heart,” George said.

As a nation, state, county and city, George asked the crowd to live justly, humbly and lovingly.

“That means you’ve got to love people you don’t even like,” he said. “It’s all the same to God, the love that he has for us, and the sin that we have in our hearts is all the same to God.”

280 Living

A24 • January 2016

A FIT new year

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE Photos by FRANK COUCH

If you want to get healthy in 2016 but don’t know where to start, check out these local exercise options and tips from their instructors:

St. Vincent’s One Nineteen Ryan Pindroh, health and fitn ss supervisor Fitness routines: Pindroh says they have a lot of services that new or current members use.

“If you’re a new member, [we] have an orientation process that includes a general orientation to the fitness floor (resistance machines and cardio equipment). For those looking for a more specialized approach, we offer the triple pack. It consists of three 30-minute sessions.

Each is designed to meet your need, whether it be functional workout, advanced cardio or group exercise.

The third session offers an experience at our spa with a 30-minute manicure or pedicure or massage, or a nutrition consultation with one of our dietitians.”

Classes: One Nineteen offers group exercise throughout the week, including yoga, Pilates, water aerobics classes, spinning classes and more.

“We pretty much cover the spectrum in group exercise,” Pindroh said. “If that’s the area for you, you’ll be able to find something here. We have one-on-one personal training and group personal training. Our small group training ranges from cardio and core type classes,

to reformer ballet fusion, which is like a barre class. We really try to focus on finding the needs of every individual that comes in to our facility.”

They are offering a fitness special with no enrollment and no contract through February. The only cost would be month-to-month dues.

Piece of advice: “The biggest piece of advice I can offer people is really to start small. Set a realistic goal you can meet in the first month. We see a lot of people come in and say they want to lose 50 pounds in two months. Unfortunately, that is a huge stretch. I try to tell people if you’re new to exercise, start with saying ‘I’m going to the gym two days a week for the first month.’

Get more comfortable in your routine, and just get back into the habit of going to the gym and not worrying about what the end goal is. Find something you can enjoy, and then you can start setting other goals for yourself.”

Location: 7191 Cahaba Valley Road

Website: onenineteen.com Phone: 408-6600

Lemon Tree Yoga, Lee Branch Krista Young, owner/instructor Fitness routine: Young says there are many different kinds of yoga, and participants can enjoy a variety of things.

“You can have an active yoga practice up to 90 minutes, lengthening and strengthening flex and balance.

You can also get a cardio workout in that type class, as it is a real challenge for the muscles. You can take a more contemplative type class, focused more on inner reflection, meditation and quieting of the mind. This type class will allow you to feel some calmness and stress relief. We’re not just a physical practice, but a spiritual and mental practice as well. When you’re quiet and hear your true self, you can hear things we don’t take time to listen to.”

Classes/Schedule: “We are open seven days a week. We have beginner classes sprinkled throughout the week. We offer more athletic Ashtanga type classes, and also Pilates, which focuses more on the core. On Thursdays, we offer

a 30-minute core and stretch class, which has high intensive energy training. It’s an efficient way to knock out all areas at once. On weekends we have restorative type classes, restoring every muscle in your body, focusing on relaxation, complete with cushions and candlelight. We also have a class that’s just deep stretches.”

Piece of advice: Young advises people to get into a habit of doing something every week and making it a priority. “Make it an appointment that you can’t miss. You have to make time for yourself and take care of yourself before you can take care of others. This body is all we’ve got.

When I personally have entered times in my schedule for working out as if there’s no option and it’s blocked, I will do it. Also having a buddy can help if you can have someone meeting you there.”

Location: 611 Doug Baker Blvd., Suite 116 (Lee Branch Shopping Center) Website: lemontreeyoga.com Phone: 913-3491

280Living.com

January 2016 • A25

Pure Barre 280 Deanna Pizitz, co-owner of Pure Barre Fitness routine: Pizitz said Pure Barre is different in a lot of aspects because it’s a community-based exercise. It is small, isometric movements set to high energy music.

“We try to build our community in our studio. It’s about encouraging women to become stronger. Pure Barre also has a few male attendees, and clients range in age from 14 to 70. It is low impact, and all levels can do it at their own pace. We give hands-on corrections and watch to make sure you’re doing it correctly. We recommend to see best results to come three to four times per week. Classes last 55 minutes and work every part of your body.”

Classes: “We really are focused on lengthening, strengthening, toning and burning calories. We don’t like to focus on the pounds, but it’s more about inches and tightening everything up. With Pure Barre, you don’t have to wait a day in between, because our routines aren’t breaking down muscles. You can do it every day. We have clients that do it five to seven times per week. We

encourage people to bring a friend. Everyone will stay accountable if they have someone with them. I’ve had people come in to Pure Barre that never knew each other and became best friends.”

Schedule: Pure Barre offers classes daily from 6 a.m. until 6:45 p.m. during the week and both morning and afternoon classes on weekends. Pizitz said they set up the schedule to give everyone an opportunity to attend a class.

Piece of advice: “Find what you like and stick with it.

Give it at least 30 days. You have to give anything 30 days and be committed to it in that month and see the results.

You have to enjoy what you’re doing or you won’t do it.”

Location: Pure Barre will be at a new location in 2016: 610 Inverness Corners (next to Winn-Dixie) Website: purebarre.com/AL-280/ Phone: 991-5224

Jennifer Pilley, fitn ss trainer Planet Fitness 280

Tiger Rock Martial Arts, Greystone Brock Kollars, academy director Fitness routine: Kollars said they offer programs for all ages, starting for beginners ages 4 to 6 years old.

“We start by building up the mental capacity and basic coordination and taking directions.”

The juniors program for ages 7-12 consists of core Taekwando training. “It’s not just a physical thing, we like to shop in the mind as well,” Kollars said. “We give confidence training and make sure the kids are good role models and positive leaders.”

The youth program is for ages 13-16, and it not only helps with getting kids’ confidence level up during that awkward stage in their life, but also helps them become physically fit and more confident in social situations.

The adult program offers an easy way to not only get in shape by doing calisthenics and aerobics, but also learn self-defense. “This is generally why most people join,”

Kollars said.

Classes/Schedule: “We have multiple class times each week. We are open Monday through Saturday. We generally offer our classes two times per day, so that everyone

Planet Fitness, Inverness

can come either early or late.” Kollars said they teach clients to understand their own limitations, as far as goal setting on a personal level.

“If someone is a good communicator and likes talking to people, they can help build them up with their own skills by positive communication. If someone is a good demonstrator, they can help other people in the class that aren’t as good.”

Piece of advice: “For adults, nothing is holding you back but you. Don’t try and gauge other people on specifically what you should be or what goals you should make.

Just make individual goals based on yourself. On a day to day basis, just ask yourself, ‘What can I do to get better?’

We encourage adults that they are never too old to start improving. Training becomes more functional and more rhythmic and make realistic goals and try to apply them.”

Location: 5426 U.S. 280, Suite 10 Website: tigerrockmartialarts.com Phone: 981-7777

Fitness routine: Planet Fitness offers a judgment free zone, mainly focusing on general fitness. “What most people don’t know is we have a lot of first-time gym users. We have a comfortable, non-intimidating atmosphere,” Pilley said.

Pilley added there are multiple cardio weight resistance machines that are easy to use.

Classes: Planet Fitness offers a 30-minute circuit that provides a full body workout in just 30 minutes, which are popular. The business also offers unlimited fitness training with our fitness trainer, Jennifer Pilley. It takes place in a group setting with no more than five people. She focuses on areas such as arms, legs, abs, shoulders and back. She also has a design-your-own program, where she gets to know the individual, along with their goals and medical history, then designs a workout around their wants and needs. The

client gets a copy and can take it with them when they leave.

The no-commitment membership is $10 per month, but with the $19.99 per month black card you get tanning, use of any locations, guest privileges, massage chairs and more.

Piece of advice: “I tell people not to overcommit in January,” said Scott Lyons, owner of Planet Fitness 280.

“Start slow, build on where you start from. I’ve seen this for 30 years. Come January 2, people start working out five days a week when they haven’t worked out all year. Start off with something you can achieve and build on that, instead of trying to go all in.

Start off slow, then medium speed then go to high speed on the third month.”

Location: 168 Inverness Plaza Website: planetfitness.com/gyms/ birmingham-inverness-al-656 Phone: 408-0020

280 Living

A26 • January 2016

WHAT’S COOKING

Nori Thai and Sushi owner shares healthy meal for New Year’s diet

By SYDNEY CROMWELL It’s that time of year again, when we kick off a new year with new resolutions. A revamped diet and exercise regimen tops many people’s list, and so the hunt begins to refine our personal cookbooks with recipes that will ensure success.

In this series, we ask local culinary professionals to dish out the details on some of their favorite creations. Today, we talk with Putu Arsana of Nori Thai and Sushi, 4704 Cahaba River Road.

Nori Thai and Sushi owner Putu Arsana holds a dish of his spicy beef salad. Photo by Sydney Cromwell.

SPICY BEEF SALAD

Serves one ► 5-ounce steak (Arsana recommends a flank steak) ► Your preferred salad ingredients ► ½ dinner spoon (roughly ½ tablespoon) lime juice ► ½ dinner spoon fish sauce ► 1 dinner spoon sugar (Arsana prefers

palm sugar) ► 1 to 1½ dinner spoon Thai chili paste ► ½ cup red onion ► ½ cup sliced cucumber, no seeds ► Tomato slices, to taste ► 2-3 mint sprigs 1. Marinate steak as desired. Arsana uses soy sauce in the versions he cooks

Q: How long have you been cooking?

A: Nori Thai opened in 2013, but I have been working in restaurants for 25 years.

Q: What do you like about working there?

A: I am the owner and oversee the kitchen. We use family recipes and make our own sauces, which gives us a unique flavor.

Q: What’s your recommendation for a delicious meal that won’t ruin your New Year’s resolution diet?

A: Spicy beef salad.

Q: Why do you like this dish?

A: “It’s very simple, fresh and healthy,” Arsana said.

He added that the meal is a favorite of his wife, who will eat it “three times a day.” “It satisfies your cravings and balances being a carnivore and your healthy way of life,” Arsana said.

at Nori Thai and at home. Grill to taste — Arsana recommends medium-rare — and allow the steak to rest about one minute to preserve juiciness.

2. Combine lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and chili paste to create the dressing.

3. Add onion, cucumber, tomato and mint to dressing.

4. Cut steak and combine with dressing.

5. Spoon steak and dressing over salad to serve.

TIPS

Many of these ingredients can be found at an Asian market. Arsana also recommended adding crushed, roasted peanuts as a garnish for extra flavor.

280Living.com

January 2016 • A27

School House

Spain Park science teachers chosen for national conference Spain Park High School science teachers selected to be presenters at the 2016 National Science Teachers Association national conference are, from left, Amber Lewis, Kristie Cannon, Kristin Bundren, Pamela Harman, Jeff Johnson, Emily Dunn and Jean Gillespie.

Photo by Jon Anderson.

By JON ANDERSON Spain Park High School will be well represented at the 2016 National Science Teachers Association’s national conference this spring.

Seven members of the science faculty at Spain Park were selected to be presenters at the conference, set for the week of spring break, March 31-April 3, in Nashville.

Teachers had to apply to be presenters, and Spain Park Principal Larry Giangrosso said he’s excited so many from his school were chosen.

“This is big for us,” Giangrosso said.

Teachers chosen to make presentations were Kristin Bundren, Kristie Cannon, Emily Dunn, Jean Gillespie, Pamela Harman, Jeff Johnson and Amber Lewis.

Topics they’ll be covering include digitally enhanced lessons, how to use digital tools and devices to assess student learning, how to start a forensics program, budget-friendly forensics activities and labs, and hands-on science and engineering labs.

“I feel like we have so much to offer,” said Amber Lewis, one of two heads of the science department at Spain Park. “We do a lot of really innovative things here. It seems a little unfair not to share. We have a lot of

smart, motivated teachers.”

Teachers grow through collaboration, and “this gives us a chance to expand our collaboration outside of the school,” Lewis said.

Spain Park had four or five teachers

chosen to present at the national science teachers’ conference in Boston in 2008, but more teachers were selected to present this year than ever before, Bundren said.

Eleven of the 17 science faculty

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members at Spain Park are planning to attend the conference this year, at an expected cost of $10,981, including conference registration, hotel, food and travel costs.

The Hoover City Schools

Foundation contributed $1,000 toward the trip, as did the Hoover-based Legendary Shots trick basketball shot group. Science faculty members continue to look for other sponsorship help.

280 Living

A28 • January 2016

A Briarwood beacon ’83 grad’s unusual career path leads her to her calling

By ERICA TECHO Anna Nash is at her best when she is working on a new project.

“Kind of a pattern for me is once it gets past the developmental stage and once it gets kind of mundane, I move on,” said Nash, a 1983 graduate of Briarwood Christian School who 280 Living now works with a periodically will counseling minisfeature alumni try and as a business from schools coach. in the U.S. 280 Since she graduated area, catching high school, Nash has up with them started several small to see what businesses in addithey’re doing tion to side projects. now. To recomShe’ll admit her path mend someone has been far from trafor this feature, ditional, but she also contact Erica would not change it.

Techo at erica When Nash gradu@starnes ated from Briarwood, publishing.com. she studied early childhood education at Auburn University, but she left in her senior year and married her high school sweetheart.

While she planned to go back to school, her husband was transferred, and her plans quickly changed.

“That took me on an unorthodox career path in that I never really got a degree, and I think if I had, in early childhood education, I’m not even sure I would have ever been a

Anna Nash talks with one of her Beacon Groups, a group that is geared toward helping inspire and guide its members. Nash is a 1983 graduate of Briarwood Christian School. Photo courtesy of Anna Nash.

teacher,” Nash said.

She started a few businesses so her family could have that extra income, working with everything from party planning to photography to consignment clothes.

Through this non-traditional path, Nash learned the traditional “high school to college to graduate school or a job” is not for everyone.

“I don’t have regrets,” Nash said. “So many

kids today feel like they have to fit in the mold, especially in the zip code of Briarwood. … My message to kids would not be to say, ‘Don’t go get a college degree,’ but that it’s not for everybody. I’m thrilled with my career path even

280Living.com

January 2016 • A29

though I never had that [a degree].”

Nash is currently working with Restore Ministries, a counseling service in Birmingham, and recently started her own project, Beacon People.

Her path with Restore Ministries started after the economy crashed.

“We really had a do-over chance, completely, because we had been stripped of everything,” Nash said.

Nash started talking with a counselor at Restore, and that helped her to see past her earthly comforts, she said. After personally benefiting from Restore, Nash wanted to help it develop from an organic program to something that was more structured.

Nash is now director of public relations and publication development, and she works about 10 hours a week to spread the word about Restore.

“I love it because I got so much hope and help and healing, as we were going through that struggle, from the ministry that I love to be able to share,” she said. “If I believe in something, you’re going to hear about it.”

On the side, Nash started doing small business coaching. This came from her love of brainstorming, she said, and she worked to streamline processes and build up business tools for small businesses.

“It’s not really consulting,” Nash said. “It’s more inspiring and coaching, being on their team with marketing.”

The coaching developed into Beacon People after Nash realized what these small business owners had in common. Most people with whom she was connecting were purpose-driven, she said, and were using their gifts to make a difference in the world.

“I realized an hour with me could be so much more valued if they had an hour with 10 other women like them,” Nash said. “So I began to pull them together in groups, and we call them Beacon Groups.”

Unlike a typical business networking group, Nash said, Beacon Groups are aimed toward collaboration, encouragement and pulling each other up.

Since the first Beacon Group met in March, Nash has created a formal booklet, called

BR

IARWOOD CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

Anna Nash ► High school: Briarwood Christian School ► Year graduated: 1983 ► Current residence: Altadena ► What she’s doing now: Director of publications and publication development for Restore Ministries; business coach ► Family: Married with four children pathFINDER, to help guide individuals.

“We go through this and hopefully put you on the trajectory of living your life for more,” Nash said.

During all of the bumps along her path, Nash said the foundations she received at Briarwood helped her persevere.

“The emotional care that I felt from kindergarten through 12th grade, I remember feeling very nurtured and accepted,” she said. “From a spiritual standpoint, the spiritual foundations throughout the waxing and wanings of my life … I know that that’s been anchored in me since childhood.”

As someone who enjoys moving from project to project, Nash said the future is uncertain.

But for now, that uncertainty is what keeps her projects interesting.

“It always seems like this with something new, that ‘Oh, I could do this forever,’” Nash said.

“This is very fresh and very rapid, and with the growth that I see, if it continues to grow at this rate, I see that it will be changing and developing. As long as it’s changing and developing, that’s my sweet spot.”

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Traveling east on Hwy. 280, go 3 miles past the Chelsea Clock Tower and turn left onto County Road 55. Go to the first stop sign [intersection of Old Highway 280] and look across the street to the right for the white picket fence with the big cow in the yard!

Tim and Phyllis Hunter visited their grandchildren Taylor and Ty at OMES Grandparents Day. Photo courtesy of LeighFran Jones.

Oak Mountain’s Grandparents Day a success Grandparents of Oak Mountain Elementary School students were able to visit their grandchild’s school this November.

For the second annual Grandparents Day on Nov. 5 and Nov. 6, more than 350 grandparents visited their students’ classrooms and viewed their recent classwork.

Students also shared cards for their grandparents, took photos together and visited the book fair.

The day also included a specially prepared meal in the school’s cafeteria. As grandparents and their grandchildren ate, a slideshow of their photos was on screen. - Submitted by LeighFran Jones

280 Living

A30 • January 2016

Meet the Hoover school system’s

‘man behind the curtain’

By JON ANDERSON On a typical day, the Hoover school system has 18,000 to 20,000 electronic devices tapping into its computer network, and somebody has to make sure the system doesn’t choke under the load.

That somebody is Brian Fancher, the school district’s computer network administrator.

Fancher, a 30-year-old Hoover resident, is sort of “the man behind the curtain,” maintaining, monitoring and upgrading the school system’s technical network equipment and servers.

School officials say he’s a valuable asset and recently chose him as the district’s 2015 Employee of the Year.

“He’s the busiest, nonstop person I know,” said Bryan Phillips, the chief technology officer for Hoover City Schools and Fancher’s supervisor. “With him, it’s 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

When everybody else is gone, he’s there working. He makes everything easy.”

Fancher is an extremely dedicated employee, Phillips said. When the school district’s phone system went down recently, Fancher was on vacation but took three days out of his time off to get the problem resolved, Phillips said.

Fancher’s workday typically starts about 6:30 or 7 a.m., before most school employees arrive. He gets there early to make sure all systems are working properly, he said.

The school district has about 11,000 Chromebooks, 2,000 iPads and 3,500 other electronic devices that are used by students and faculty, Fancher said.

And people bring more laptops, tablets

Brian Fancher, the 2015 Hoover City Schools Employee of the Year, sits at his desk in the information technology department at the former Berry High School campus on Columbiana Road, where he monitors the school system’s computer networks. Photo by Jon Anderson.

and phones with them to school. High school students on average have 2.5 electronic devices that tap into the school’s networks, he said.

While the typical day accommodates 18,000 to 20,000 devices, peak traffic can rise to 28,000 devices on some days, Fancher said.

That’s a whole lot different than years ago, when students weren’t allowed to even have phones at school, he said.

“It’s a fun challenge,” Fancher said.

“There’s always something going on,

January 31, 2016.

January 31, 2016.

and with us pushing the education technology envelope, there’s always something to keep me on my toes.”

Fancher said he’s always been interested in computers. When he was in middle school, he saved money from a summer job to buy his first computer, he said. Then in high school, he started building computers.

He graduated from Hoover High in 2003 and went on to get a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

He worked in information technology for UPS while he was in college and a little bit after he graduated and then spent a couple of years working for Byte Size Computers in Homewood.

Fancher began working with Hoover City Schools in 2008. He started as a computer technician at Deer Valley, South Shades Crest and Trace Crossings elementary schools for three years and then spent a year at Bumpus Middle School and the Hoover High Freshman Center and another year at

the main Hoover High campus.

He was promoted to senior technician to oversee the beginning of the school system’s Engaged Learning Initiative, which involved issuing computers to every student in grades 3-12, and stayed in that job about nine months. He was promoted again to network administrator and has held that role for about 2½ years, he said.

He loves his career field, which he said is never boring because technology is always changing, and he likes interacting with teachers and students.

“After being in education, I don’t think I would want to go back to the corporate world,” he said.

In his spare time, Fancher enjoys caving, rappelling, skydiving and “Tough Mudder” competitions. Those hobbies don’t fit the stereotype for computer guys, but most of the guys on the technology team don’t fit that mold, he said.

“I like being outdoors,” Fancher said.

“It’s fun to kind of physically challenge yourself to get through some of those things. You sit behind a computer so long, you kind of want to get outside.”

Plus, in the caves, there is no wireless availability, he said. “You’re completely disconnected.”

Other finalists for the 2015 Hoover City Schools Employee of the Year were: ►► Brandi Marcrum, a physical education aide at Deer Valley Elementary School ►► Margaret Pruitt, a custodian at Gwin Elementary School ►► Lisa Yancey, the district’s student services office manager

280Living.com

January 2016 • A31

Students raise $22K for Toys for Tots Students at Oak Mountain Middle School bag the toys they bought for Toys for Tots on Dec. 11.

Photo by Sydney Cromwell.

By SYDNEY CROMWELL With the thunderous sound of students singing Christmas carols in the background, Oak Mountain Middle School’s National Junior Honor Society recently filled a U-Haul truck with toys to brighten other children’s Christmases.

The school raises money for Toys for Tots every year, and this year collected $22,895 to donate to the Marine Corps’ annual toy drive, said Ryan Hall, an eighth-grader who coordinated the school’s effort. Students collected the money in a variety of ways, including lemonade stands, bake sales, neighborhood chores and door-to-door donation drives, Hall said.

This is the 12th year in a row they have surpassed the $20,000 goal, with the eighth-grade class earning a pizza party for raising the most money.

“It’s great buying toys for kids who otherwise would not have a Christmas,” Hall said.

At 8 a.m. on Dec. 11, about 75 middle school students stormed the Hoover Toys R Us to buy gifts with the money they had raised. Students chose a lot of stuffed animals, especially large stuffed bears, but the kids could choose whatever gifts they wanted to give, Hall said. It was Hall’s first year coordinating the donation drive, but he said he wants to continue participating in high school.

“We just went up and down the aisles and found everything we could get,” he said.

In a school assembly the same afternoon, $23,000 worth of new toys were piled in the

middle of the gym floor. Students gathered to listen to National Junior Honor Society members, school faculty and former Miss Alabama Candace Brown.

“I am so impressed at how hard you guys worked,” Brown said.

Several members of the Marine Corps were on hand to receive the toys. Sgt. Harry Mendez, this year’s program coordinator and a second-time Toys for Tots participant, said the toys would be taken to a Toys for Tots warehouse and then distributed through an area YMCA.

The assembly closed with faculty leading the entire school in Christmas carols while the honor society students bagged and loaded the toys.

“They did a great job, fantastic job,” Mendez said. “Because of them, some kid whose family is struggling now will be able to have a Christmas.”

Shelby County Schools to hold annual spelling bee This month, the best spellers in Shelby County’s middle schools will compete in the annual county spelling bee.

The bee is at the Shelby County Schools

central office on Jan. 29, beginning at 8 a.m.

There are typically between 15 and 20 competitors representing both public and private schools across the county. The students are in grades 5-8.

The winner of the Shelby County Spelling Bee will advance to compete in the state competition.

The Alabama Spelling Bee is Saturday, March 12 at 1 p.m. at the Alabaster First United Methodist

Church. The winner of the state competition goes on to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

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280 Living neighborly news & entertainment

SECTION

C

Opinion C11 Real Estate C12 Calendar C13

JANUARY 2016

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING ...

By SYDNEY CROMWELL

B

irmingham may not be the city that never sleeps, but it is kept running in part by the people who start their days when the sun has gone down. From garbage collectors and road crews to doctors and security officers, night shift work is unseen but makes the day smoother for residents whose alarm clocks are going off as night-shift employees are going to bed.

This is a look at two groups of night owls along the 280 corridor.

See NIGHT SHIFT | page C4

Top left: YB’s Daylight Donuts in Inverness makes anywhere from 50 to 100 pounds of fresh doughnuts, including chocolate glazed, before 6 a.m. Middle: Grandview Medical Center charge nurse Kevin O’Shields answers the bright red phone that allows ambulance personnel to inform the ER about incoming patients. Right: Grandview’s Dr. Audry Slane listens to a patient’s heartbeat during her initial examination.

Photos by Sydney Cromwell

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280 Living

C2 • January 2016

Leadership Shelby County groups aim to help nonprofits

The Leadership Shelby County class of 2016. Photo courtesy of Carol Bruser.

By ERICA TECHO Each year, a new class of Leadership Shelby County leaders takes on projects to better the community. The class of 40 is divided evenly into four groups, and each group selects their own project to complete before they “graduate” in May. David Higgins, one of the project leaders and executive director for Easter Seals of the Birmingham, said the county benefits from Leadership Shelby County’s members and a goal to recognize strengths and areas of improvement.

“Anytime you have a body within a county that recognizes the potential of their leaders and recognizes a group that cares enough about where they live to form something like this and have it be as prominent and successful as it has been, that’s a good thing,” Higgins said.

The 2016 Class of Leadership Shelby County started in September, and project leader Chuck Purvis said he has already benefited from the communication between different professions.

“Just in the short time that I’ve been with the other leaders and the other members in the community, I’m certainly glad that I took the step to join the group because it’s been very informative,” Purvis said.

Groups such as Leadership Shelby County, Purvis said, help people step out of their comfort zone and learn more about the county.

“It’s just interesting to get a different perspective because I’ve been working for the same company for the past 27 years now, and it’s very easy to get involved in your little world,” said Purvis, vice president of sales for A.C. Legg Inc. Blanket Fort Hope One group of 10 leaders, led by Higgins, is working to support Blanket Fort Hope with its project. Blanket Fort Hope is an organization dedicated to helping child victims of sex trafficking that contacted Higgins about the project He already knew about the organization, he said, and

working with them was “a natural fit.

The group plans to create a video, geared toward children between middle and high school age, that will inform them about how to avoid becoming a victim of child sex trafficking “We’ll be targeting, there’s certain websites that are attractions to try and lure kids in to sex trafficking, certain types of scenarios that you might encounter, things of this nature that we’re going to be looking at,” Higgins said.

The group has already obtained support from groups and companies in the community, and they will create the video at no cost to Blanket Fort Hope.

They aim to complete the video before May, but the group has also planned for the involvement of law enforcement officers, the district attorney and groups in the private sector in order to update the video and keep the project sustainable.

“We don’t want this to be a one-time thing,” Higgins said.

“We want it to go on and perpetuate because unfortunately this problem is not going away.”

Wings of Hope Pediatric Foundation Another group, led by Purvis, is working on its project with Wings of Hope Pediatric Foundation.

Wings of Hope is an organization that works with the families of terminally ill children. Assistance can range from fina cial help to meal donations to lawn services.

Before joining Leadership Shelby County, Purvis had not heard of Wings of Hope. He learned about it through one of the local police departments and said his lack of awareness helped fuel their project idea.

“Our whole goal is whatever it takes to get their message out and raise public awareness,” Purvis said.

The group has plans to create a video for Wings of Hope, Purvis said, and they will also develop other promotional materials for the organization. About half of his group has some sort of background in marketing or public relations, Purvis said, and he thinks that will help with their project.

By bringing more awareness to Wings of Hope, Purvis said

they hope the organization will also gain more support through fundraisers and therefore help more families. He also said building awareness, rather than focusing on fundraising, is easier to support after they leave Leadership Shelby County.

“We wanted to do something that was sustainable,” Purvis said. “We wanted to give them something that they could take forward and keep using after our group [graduates].”

Kids First Awareness Michael Cain, manager of Shelby County Water Services, is leading a group project focused on Kids First Awareness.

Kids First Awareness is a nonprofit that works to prepare children and their families for the future through education and resources.

Cain’s group aims to expand the network for Kids First Awareness, he said. They plan to work with Cindy Hawkins, Director of Kids First Awareness, to bring in volunteers from the “professional world” for programs at Kids First Awareness.

Cain said he hopes these community leaders and leaders of business will do more than just talk to children in the program; he wants them to participate in activities with them and help them build life skills.

“With the [Leadership Shelby County] projects, that’s part of it, is learning not only to lead but being on the other side too, of helping somebody lead a group and contributing to that,” Cain said.

While they hope to bring in several volunteers as part of their project, Cain said his group is also working to keep the project sustainable. That’s why the focus is on expanding Kids First Awareness’s network, he said, where they can reach out to volunteers in the future. “[We’re] just trying to form a good baseline foundation and framework to not only let this be something our group does for the year, but to try to get something in place to help Kids First have that network of people that they can kind of go to,” Cain said.

280Living.com

January 2016 • C3

280 Living

C4 • January 2016

Above: Emergency personnel remove an empty stretcher from the Grandview Medical Center’s emergency room. Left: Dr. Audry Slane consults other members of the night shift about a patient’s care.

NIGHT SHIFT

CONTINUED from page C1

EMERGENCY ROOM NIGHT SHIFT GRANDVIEW MEDICAL CENTER The halls of Grandview’s emergency room are quiet and calm at night, but it’s not because they’re empty. The doctors and nurses who work the night shift never stop moving throughout their 12-hour shift.

“We don’t have breaks,” said Dr. Audry Slane, the night physician at Grandview. “People are hustling and bustling the whole time, and patients don’t recognize that.”

Slane works from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m., and for the majority of the shift she is the only doctor in the department. She sees everything from headaches and minor illnesses to chest pain, major trauma and psychiatric issues, juggling patients’ care with the help of night-shift nurses and making sure “everybody else is taken care of and feels taken care of and is safely taken care of, while I go do the other things I need to do.”

The variety of patients that walk through the doors is part of why Slane, who has worked with Trinity and Grandview for three years, chose to work in emergency medicine. On a single night in December, Slane and the nightshift crew treated an infant, a 100-year-old patient and all ages in between.

“I didn’t want to specialize in just one little thing; I really wanted to treat all problems, all ages, and emergency medicine is one of the few things where you get to be kind of a mini-specialist in a lot of different things,” Slane said.

Kevin O’Shields, a charge nurse whose shift starts at 7 p.m., agrees that he enjoys the “excitement, the variety of stuff you see” inside an emergency room. Both he and Slane have been working night shift for the majority of their medical careers.

“There’s just a feel for the night shift in the ER, there’s just a team environment that it’s hard to even describe, but everybody works together,” Slane said, adding the whole staff is ready to jump in and help when needed.

There are some things they can anticipate each day. Slane said that Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays are always the busiest part of the week, especially Mondays when people come in after becoming sick during the weekend. The beginning of the night shift is also the busiest, as the number of patients increases in the afternoon and evening and ebbs in the morning.

“When we come in for our shift, it’s very, very busy, and if we work really, really hard, then hopefully we can get it cleaned up and have a nice quiet ER for the rest of the night,” Slane said. “It’s very busy initially and tapers downward, whereas day shift starts off slower as the day picks up.

So those people trying to leave at 7 p.m., it’s very busy when they’re trying to leave. I just always like the feeling of being able to conquer it.”

However, there’s no such thing as a typical day in the ER, O’Shields and Slane agreed. Day or night, anyone could walk in with any problem.

“When we walk in, we know it’s going to be busy; we don’t know what we’re going to be dealing with,” Slane said. “Sometimes you can think everything’s just rolling along like clockwork, and next thing you know, you get a call from an ambulance coming in with something horrible.”

O’Shields said he wouldn’t consider changing to day shift, even on the difficult nights, and he enjoys seeing the people in his care get better. He and Slane agreed that most of their patients will never see the full scope of what the night-shift crew is doing right outside their exam room.

“I don’t think any of them [patients] probably realize what all is going on around them, and it’s hard for them to understand that being patient is a big deal,” O’Shields said.

“So they may be having a very nice, quiet experience, and not realize the horrible things that are going on a couple doors down. And so it really is tricky because we care about everybody and we want everybody to leave feeling like they’ve had a good experience,” Slane agreed. “It’s hard to always accomplish that because you can’t explain to them what was happening two doors down.”

See NIGHT SHIFT | page C5

Night shift physician Dr. Audry Slane looks at a patient’s chart while she walks through the emergency room.

Above left and right: Ambulance drivers and Grandview nurses prepare an infant for transportation to another medical facility. Below: A night shift nurse observes heartbeat monitors for the patients being treated in the ER.

280Living.com

January 2016 • C5

Above: Charlie Wilson presses doughnuts on her third day working at Daylight Donuts. Left: Haidi Cortes kneads doughnut dough. Cortes and Wilson roll out the dough and use a press to cut the doughnuts, plucking out the centers to be made into doughnut holes later. The doughnuts must sit for 30 to 40 minutes before being dropped in the fryer.

NIGHT SHIFT

CONTINUED from page C4

PASTRY CHEFS DAYLIGHT DONUTS Around the time Slane and the nurses at Grandview are seeing the flow of patients slow down, Lou Youngblood is turning the lights on at YB’s Daylight Donuts in Inverness. When you’re making 50 to 100 pounds of doughnuts by hand before 6 a.m., you need an early start.

Lou and husband Kerry Youngblood have owned the Daylight Donuts location for about a year and a half. Their day begins between 12:30 and 2 a.m. each day. “[It’s] a lot more work than we thought it was going to be,” Lou said.

They have three employees to help make the pastries, one delivery driver and one person to work at the register. A look behind the counter reveals a scene nothing like the conveyor belt of doughnuts familiar to Krispy Kreme customers.

“You’ll find out quick that nothing is automated around here,” Lou said.

Employees Haidi Cortes and Charlandria “Charlie” Wilson roll out the dough and use a press to cut the doughnuts, plucking out the centers to be made into doughnut holes later. The doughnuts must sit for 30 to 40 minutes, then Lou puts them in the fryer. If the batch is made right, the doughnuts rise to the top. The cooked doughnuts are given to fellow employee Lyn Kukal, who pours the glaze and completes the pastries with icing, fillings or toppings.

Between the different types of dough and toppings ranging from lemon icing or salted caramel to crushed Oreos and gummy worms, Kerry is confident they have the most variety of any doughnut shop in the city. They’ve also made a few original creations, including a cheese doughnut, a coconut cream bismark and an espresso doughnut.

“There’s a lot of artwork to it,” Kerry said. “It’s a talent, I promise you.”

However, Lou said most customers don’t realize it takes over two hours to make each batch of doughnuts by hand. They make all their pastries in the morning and have to guess at what kinds people will want that day. If they have too many, the extras are delivered to churches in Hueytown and Alabaster to be given to homeless shelters. But when they run out of a particular doughnut, she can’t simply go into the kitchen and make more.

“People don’t realize,” Lou said. “The yeast, it has to be made, it has to rise for 30 minutes, it’s like a two-hour process before you get doughnuts.”

Everyone at Daylight Donuts has a different way of handling the odd hours, which Lou said “dictates everything else you do.”

“These hours, you know it takes a special person to work these hours,” Kerry said.

Kerry prefers short naps during the day, while Lou and Cortes stay awake after their shift ends until their regular bedtime [is there a better way to phrase that?]. Kukal describes herself as an early riser by nature and enjoys being up that early.

“I was working in an office for a while but it was too slow. You sit at a desk and answer phones — but I like this. It keeps me active,” Kukal said. Her husband arrives each morning to deliver doughnuts to gas stations that sell them in the area, as well as church orders.

Wilson, a former chocolatier who just started the job in December, is still trying to figure it out.

“It’s the earliest job I’ve been to,” Wilson laughed. “Four-thirty was the earliest job I’d been to before this one. It definitely takes some getting used to.”

The kitchen at Daylight Donuts is much like a group of friends cooking. Jokes and laughter are exchanged over the sound of the fryer and the mixer. No one seems to mind that the sun still hasn’t risen when the last tray of doughnuts hits the front counter. When a batch of blueberry cake doughnuts didn’t rise in the fryer, Lou tossed them out and started a new batch without a trace of annoyance.

“It’s just doughnuts,” she said easily.

The Youngbloods came into the business with no experience, as Lou was a former teacher and Kerry worked in plywood and chemical sales. As Lou describes it, they “know nothing about it” and frequently turn to Haidi’s three years of experience for help.

“I like the people I work with the most. If we didn’t have who we enjoy being around, I wouldn’t stick with it long,” Lou said.

When Daylight Donuts opens for business, Lou and Kerry often stay until the morning rush ends around 9:30 a.m. They get the chance to meet and talk to the regulars who enjoy the results of their night’s work.

“You got a really unique area and a lot of repeat customers in this area. You get to know them and have a pretty good relationship with them,” Kerry said. “It’s a big town but you still have a little of the hometown feel in this type of business because you’ve got your regulars.”

Above: Cortes, left, shows off some Christmas pastries. Left: A selfdescribed early riser, Lyn Kukal doesn’t mind the early hours at Daylight Donuts.

Here, she pours glaze over doughnut holes. Below: Kerry Youngblood packages doughnut holes to be delivered to area gas stations.

280 Living

C6 • January 2016

SPEAKING UP Conversation about addiction drives community efforts HEROIN ON THE RISE

Lt. Clay Hammac, commander of the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force, reviews a presentation about drug use and addiction. The task force makes presentations to community groups, providing information about drug use in the county. Photo by Erica Techo.

By ERICA TECHO Shelby County’s growing heroin problem follows a problem with prescription medications.

“No one starts out sticking a needle in their arm,” said Lt. Clay Hammac, commander of the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force. “There’s usually progressive steps.”

Heroin addictions can develop out of dependency on a legitimate opioid prescription or through experimentation that progresses from alcohol or marijuana to pills or other drugs, Hammac said.

A quarter of the county’s drug overdose deaths in 2014 were heroin overdoses, and a majority of those victims were between 22 and 29 years old, Hammac said. To fight these overdoses and to battle addiction in Shelby County, the task force works to educate

Speaking Up is the second installment in a three-part series about heroin use and addiction in Shelby County. Look for the third installment, focused on school programs about drug use in the February 280 Living.

the community on drug use throughout the county.

In the past three years, the task force has made 159 presentations to groups ranging from parent teacher organizations to homeowners associations.

“That’s a little more than one a week,” Hammac said. “That just shows you how engaged the community is. They want to hear from somebody in the business; they want to hear from someone on this side. They genuinely want to know ‘What do we need to be looking for in our children’s lives?’”

Dalton Smith, a former Spain Park High School student and recovering heroin addict, said he has seen a change in how people discuss addiction. There are no demographic boundaries for addiction, and being open about the problem helps reduce the stigma surrounding it, Smith said. He has seen community members wanting to help with education efforts, even if they don’t have personal experience with addiction, he said.

“They want to help. They want to get out into the community and raise awareness and see what they can do,” Smith said. “I think that’s huge.”

During presentations, the task force does not limit its scope to parents. Everyone from a little league coach to a teacher to a boss can be a potential influence in a young person’s life, Hammac said, and it is important they have an interest in the young adults in Shelby County.

“Our goal whenever we’re doing these presentations is prevention,” Hammac said. “That is what our primary focus is. We can’t just stand up in front of a group of parents or teachers and say, ‘Drugs are bad. People are dying from drug overdoses.’ We

have to make it personal. We have to talk about what we see here in Shelby County.”

Prevention is the easiest side of the discussion, Hammac said.

That’s where they provide information about drug use trends and ways to communicate with young people. The harder part, however, is when an arrest or another enforcement action is taken.

“It’s not too late at that point in time, but it feels as though that damage is done already,” Hammac said. “So parents are trying to play catch up.”

Fighting addiction in Shelby County is also personal for law enforcement officers, Hammac said. There’s nothing more life-changing in an officer’s life than delivering a death notice, he said, so they have a personal reason to fight overdose deaths.

“We don’t ever want to have to make another [death] notification as long as we live, but we know that’s not possible,” Hammac said. “We’re not going to win the war on drugs overnight, but one of the things that we can do is we can get the information out there aggressively and let parents know this is a real problem, and we can’t defeat this without your help.”

For anyone hoping to join the conversation on addiction, Hammac said community members can get involved in school-sponsored programs or in countywide programs such as the Shelby County Drug Free Coalition. The coalition meets every two months, and Hammac said he often will see attendees who are simply concerned parents. The next meeting is Jan. 27 at 8:30 a.m.

For more information about the Drug Enforcement Task Force, visit dtf.shelbyal.com.

280Living.com

January 2016 • C7

Community Mayor Ivey to be honored at James Bond Gala

Hoover police officers show off the beards they grew as part of the No Shave November fundraiser for The Wings of Hope Pediatric Foundation. Photo courtesy of Hoover Police Department.

Hoover police win 1st place in No Shave November fundraiser

By ERICA TECHO The Hoover Police Department came in first place in the No Shave November fundraising effort by five Shelby County police departments.

Hoover police raised $25,100 for The Wings of Hope Pediatric Foundation.

They joined the Alabaster, Pelham, Montevallo and Helena police departments in support of the organization, which provides families of children who

have terminal illnesses with emotional support, meals, house cleaning, lawn care and financial assistance.

All together, the five departments raised $44,546 for Wings of Hope.

Hoover police Capt. Gregg Rector said while not everyone in Hoover’s department chose to grow a beard, most people donated to the cause.

Representatives from The Wings of Hope Foundation selected Hoover police Officer Issa Deades as having

the best beard among the five departments. He won a Yeti cooler. Sgt. David Lipsey was named runner-up and received a gift certificate.

“This is the first year that Hoover PD has participated in this very worthwhile cause,” Officer Brian Hale said. “We look forward, as the other departments do, to making this event grow each year and helping to ease the burden a little for these families.

Can’t wait to do it again next year.”

A Birmingham area cancer research support group is honoring Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey at the group’s fifth annual James Bond Gala, set for Jan. 30 at The Club.

The event is organized by Radiation Oncology Accelerated Research (ROAR), which started in 2009 as a way to fund personalized cancer research breakthroughs.

This year’s gala is titled “License to Cure” and will include a dinner, live auction and dancing. The band Total Assets will perform, and there will be “Bond girls” and a Crystal Head 007 martini bar and ice sculpture at the event.

Tickets cost $200 each, with proceeds going toward cancer research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Department of Radiation Oncology. Many tickets already have been sold.

As a cancer survivor, Ivey said he makes an effort to reach out to others who are experiencing cancer.

“Everyone I know has been touched by cancer, including my mother, father and mother-in-law,” Ivey said.

Ivey said he hopes by reaching out and giving back to cancer research, his grandchildren can grow up in a world without the devastating effects of cancer.

Previous honorees for ROAR’s James Bond Galas have included

Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey is the honoree for this year’s James Bond Gala organized by the Radiation Oncology Accelerated Research group. Photo by Jon Anderson.

Retirement Systems of Alabama CEO David Bronner, Realtor and author Barbara Dooley, former Alabama football player Jerry Duncan and Dr. Larry Lemak, the founder of Lemak Sports Medicine and Orthopedics.

For more information about this year’s gala or to see if tickets are still available, visit ROARtheCure.org or email ROARtheCure@gmail.com.

- Submitted by Sarah Moseley

Miss Shelby County winners participate in parade Several representatives of the Miss Shelby County Scholarship Pageant greeted community members in the Columbiana Christmas parade.

Miss Shelby County Hayley Barber was joined by her Rising Star, Briarwood Christian School fourth grader Ava Waters, in the parade. Miss Shelby County Outstanding Teen, Oak Mountain High School Student Kyra Callens, also participated in the parade along with her Rising Star Ashley Reeds, a third grader at Creekview Elementary School.

Barber and Callens were invited to a dinner party prior to the parade and held an autograph party during performances at the parade.

-Submitted by Cassandra Callens From left, Heather Burns, Amy Huddleston and Rachel Buechler pose for a photo during a fundraiser for Hilltop Montessori School.

Photo courtesy of Michele Wilensky.

Hilltop celebrates groundbreaking with fundraiser Hilltop Montessori School celebrated the groundbreaking of its new $3.4 million construction project with a fundraiser on Thursday, Nov. 12, at Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club. The theme of the evening was “Hilltop on the Green,” and the evening included a seated dinner of red snapper and beef tenderloin served on specialty “green” plates brought in for the occasion.

Guests listened to music from Alabama Jazz legend Cleve Eaton while browsing through the silent and live auction items. Jack Granger and Brent McCulloch of Granger, Thagard and Associates put on a live auction which included trips to Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley, the beach and Canada as well as a diamond necklace and earrings. The event raised more than $116,000 to be used for the school’s construction project.

Sponsors of the event included Cardiology P.C, the Newsome Family, the Prince Family and Shelby County Newspaper, USAmeriBank, Jenn and Craig Stephens, EBSCO Industries, JohnsonKreis Construction and Williams Blackstock Architects among many others. Chairing the event were Jenn Sides Stephens, Michele Wilensky and Melanie Morrison.

- Submitted by Michele Wilensky

Miss Shelby County Hayler Barber (second from left) and Miss Shelby County Outstanding Teen Kyra Callens rode in the Columbiana Christmas parade along with their Rising Stars, Ava Waters (far left) and Ashley Reeds (far right). Photo courtesy of Cassandra Callens.

St. Catherine’s welcomes Bishop Santosh Marray Bishop Santosh Marray visited St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church in Chelsea on Sunday, Nov. 8. He talked with members informally and then led the Eucharist Service and delivered a sermon. He finished the day with a potluck lunch with the church. Photo courtesy of Pam Kimball.

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C8 • January 2016

Grand Menorah Lighting at The Summit Photos by Frank Couch A crowd gathered at The Summit shopping center on Dec. 6 to celebrate the start of Hanukkah with a Grand Menorah Lighting.

As the crowd swelled to more than 500 people, families took the opportunity to take photos with Dreidel Man at the event. Balloon artists also entertained guests with balloon animals and hats, and hot chocolate was plentiful.

Birmingham Mayor William Bell lit the service candle on the Grand Menorah, and afterward prayers were sung.

Clockwise, from top: Birmingham Mayor William Bell lights the service candle Sunday, Dec. 6, during the first Grand Menorah Lighting at The Summit in Birmingham.

More than 500 people fill The Summit for the lighting just after sundown and enjoyed hot chocolate, doughnuts and latkes. Daniel Burnick wears a light-up menorah hat at the celebration.

280Living.com

January 2016 • C9 An entire shift of police officers rush into the lake for the 2014 Polar Plunge. Photo courtesy of Deputy Debbie Sumrall.

Get chilled for charity at Polar Plunge

By ERICA TECHO Brave the cold and support Special Olympics Alabama by participating in the Polar Plunge.

This year’s Polar Plunge, a fundraiser where community members run into the lake at Oak Mountain State Park for charity, is set for Jan. 30. All donations and funds raised from the event go to Special Olympics Alabama, an organization that provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

The Polar Plunge has been a long-standing event with Special Olympics, but there was not always one in Alabama. A few years ago, law enforcement officers who were at the Special Olympics Alabama state games in Troy decided they would kick off the event.

“A couple of fellas said, ‘I think we do [need the Polar Plunge], and this year’s going to be the first one,” said Dr. Robert Bushong, executive director of Special Olympics Alabama.

“They went out to the [hotel] swimming pool and raised $141. They’ve come a long way.”

The event includes a costume contest before the plunge, a bonfire and time for people to buy food and drinks in addition to the actual plunge.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, which is part of the Alabama Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics, participates each year. Deputy Debbie Sumrall said she encourages people to donate to the event and take on the challenge of a plunge.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Sumrall said. “Most everyone plunges in their costume. We had a mermaid plunge last year. They had to pick her up off the beach and set her in the water.”

Jane Cameron, an athlete with Special Olympics Alabama, has participated in the Polar Plunge for the past four years. Each year, she dresses up in a tuxedo costume. She said some of her favorite costumes from the past years were a prisoner costume — which stood out among the law enforcement officers — and the mermaid costume from last year.

She said she enjoys the cold and enjoys the chance to swim in the lake. Most years, she will go out to the yellow rope that divides off the plunge area.

“Last year, the mayor of Pelham decided that he needed to plunge with Jane,” Bushong said. “And Jane understands that when you plunge with Special Olympics, you go all of the way.”

When the mayor didn’t want to go all the way out to the rope, Cameron decided to dunk under the water where they turned around.

“I love swimming,” Cameron said. “I touch the yellow line.”

To take the plunge, there is a minimum $50 donation. Individuals are encouraged to donate as much as they can, and while $50 includes a shirt for the plunger, participants can receive more swag as they donate more. There’s also a chance for those who don’t want to go in the water to participate.

“Even if you don’t want to plunge — if you’re too chicken to plunge — you can purchase a “Too chicken to plunge” T-shirt and laugh at the fools running into the water,” Sumrall said.

Registration for the event starts at 8 a.m., and the plunge takes place at 9 a.m. The event continues throughout the morning until noon. For more information about the event or to register, visit specialolympicsalabama.com.

Birds of prey fly i for Audubon program The Alabama Wildlife Center, located at Oak Mountain State Park, will host the annual “Birds of Prey, Masters of the Skies” event on Sun., Jan. 24. There will be two sessions of the popular presentation, at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The program -- part of the 2015-2016 season of Audubon Teaches Nature – features live birds from the Callaway Gardens Birds of Prey Program.

Attendees will learn the birds’ features, adaptations and field marks to help them identify the birds out in the field, and attendees are urged to bring their children and their cameras.

Alabama is home to several species of birds of prey, also referred to as raptors, including eagles, hawks, kites, owls and falcons, according to Doug Adair, AWC executive director. “’Birds of Prey’ is a fun, family-friendly program where you have the rare opportunity to meet these amazing raptors up close and personal, which is always a lot of fun,” Adair said.

This is the 25th year that the AWC has been a part of the Audubon Teaches Nature, according to Adair.

“We have been delivering fun and education programs for the community all those years, and the Birds of Prey program is one of the most popular programs in the series,” he said.

The program is co-sponsored by the AWC,

A barred owl is one of many birds of prey the Alabama Wildlife Center rehabilitates and showcases during yearly programs.

Photo courtesy of Doug Adair.

the Birmingham Audubon Society, the Oak Mountain Interpretive Center and Friends of Oak Mountain The AWC is located at 100 Terrace Drive at Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham. For more information, call 205-663-7930 or go to www. awrc.org.

Admission to the park is $5 for adults and $2 for seniors (62 and up). There is no admission charge for children under 5.

To learn more about the Birmingham Audubon Society, call 205-719-3678 or go to http:// birminghamaudubon.org.

280 Living

C10 • January 2016

Opinion My South By Rick Watson

Fancied by Fairhope Chamber members listen to a recap of the year at the annual meeting. Photo courtesy of Lisa Shapiro.

Greater Shelby chamber readies for kickoff luncheon

By JESSE CHAMBERS The Greater Shelby County Chamber will hold its monthly Community Luncheon at the Pelham Civic Complex & Ice Arena banquet hall on January 27.

This will be the annual meeting for the 2016 calendar.

The doors will open at 11 a.m. for business networking, and the program will begin promptly at 11:30 a.m. The Chamber will draw for door prizes for the guests before the conclusion of the luncheon at 1 p.m.

The annual meeting celebrates the achievements of 2015 and kick off a new year of programs and activities under the leadership of 2016 chair Paul Rogers.

The Chamber luncheons, with an average attendance of 175, are

held at the Civic Complex the final Wednesday of each month.

Each event is hosted by a Chamber Work Group and features a keynote speaker or program — recommended by the work group — addressing timely business or community issues.

At each luncheon, the Chamber also announces and recognizes its Ambassador of the Month for his or her outstanding achievement and dedication to the Chamber.

Admission is $20 per person for Chamber members and $30 per person for non-members and includes a luncheon buffet.

Reservations should be requested by Mon., Jan. 25. For more information, contact 205663-4542 or info@shelbychamber. org. Guests can also register online at shelbychamber.org.

Looking back, some of the best seafood they could carry. We later times of my life were near the ocean. learned that Jubilee is a phenomeIn the late sixties when Jilda and I first non that happens from time to time started dating, it was Panama City, in Mobile Bay. It was a magical day.

Florida. But through the years, we cast We hadn’t been back to Fairour nets wider, in America and abroad. hope since 1980, but this past week, In 1980, I was in Mobile with Ma we went to Orange Beach for my Bell putting that city back together birthday. after Hurricane Fredric. Jilda joined On Saturday afternoon, we decided me and we spent a lot of my off time to take a short road trip to Fairhope. by the sea.

Don’t you love the name Fairhope?

I have a picture on my desk of Jilda It’s always been beautiful, but it and me taken that year. We were standhas become what resembles an artist Watson ing at the edge of Mobile Bay, in early community with bookshops, bousummer as the sun edged down into the sea. tiques and art galleries.

She had long, flowing blonde hair that fell in loose Narcissus, with blossoms as fragile as webs, curls to her waist. She wore a Harley-Davidson halter bloomed on the corner in front of the public library in the warm January sun. Out on the library’s lawn top and I thought she looked like a fashion model.

My hair was blowing in the evening breeze (yes is a steel sculpture of an open book.

The sidewalks were packed with people winI too had hair in 1980). We smiled broadly for the camera as if we didn’t have a care in the world. dow-shopping at beautifully decorated stores and Actually, back then I doubt we had many cares, dining on the patios of upscale restaurants. You could but if we had, it wasn’t evident in this photograph. hear music mixed with the sound of laughter, and it Later, after posing for the photograph, we drove felt like Tahoe, Aspen or Jackson Hole. to the east side of the bay to Fairhope. It was a beauWe sat on a bench by the bay and I shot a selfie tiful place and that evening as darkness fell, we sat of us smiling into the camera. We weren’t quite with our legs dangling off the public fishing dock as as fetching as we were in 1980, but we smiled as the vapor lamps hissed to life. Moths as big as bats broadly. danced and darted in the circle of light.

We decided, on the way home, to spend our anniAll of a sudden, we heard people off in the dis- versary in one of the hotels in Fairhope and spend tance shouting “Jubilee, Jubilee, Jubilee.” It became some time by the water. Maybe I’ll dig out my old a chant as people rushed down to the water’s edge. bell-bottom jeans for the trip.

We didn’t notice at first, but fish, crabs, shrimp Rick Watson is a columnist and author. His latest and all kinds of sea life seemed to be in some kind book “Life Changes” is available on Amazon.com. of mating frenzy in the bay. For a few hours, people You can contact him via email at rick@homefolkwith nets, cans and large buckets caught all the media.com.

280Living.com

January 2016 • C11

Faith Life Actually By Kari Kampakis

In the thick of parenting It recently occurred to me that my husband and I have reached an interesting midpoint in parenting.

We’ve been parents for 13 years. We have 13 years until our youngest child leaves for college.

We’re halfway to an empty nest. We’re in the thick of parenting.

Our busyness today is different from our busyness when the kids were little. While we’ve certainly hit a sweet spot (with our daughters ages 13, 10, 9 and 5, we can enjoy them without being physically exhausted and sleep-deprived), we’ve also entered a new stage with more moving parts than I expected.

These days, parenting is a game of mental gymnastics. We have 4 kids with 4 distinct personalities and 4 sets of needs. They go in 4 different directions and make 4,000 requests a day for our time, energy and money. We love them to pieces, but we’ve gotten good at saying, “No.” We have to, because they function better with parameters. They’re more respectful and pleasant when we aren’t too lax and inadvertently letting them boss us around.

I wonder sometimes what stage of parenting I’ll miss most when our nest is empty. I’ve seen grandparents get teary-eyed and choked up as they say, “I’d give anything to have one day, just one day, where my kids are all back home.”

When I look back 20 years from now, what stage will I miss most? At what moment in time would I freeze my kids and life as we know it?

Part of me thinks this stage could the

frontrunner. Despite the demands, the endless carpools, the emotional sagas, and the short-circuiting in my brain, I really like where we are.

I like how personalities are kicking in and passions are taking root. I like how the eight-year gap between my oldest and youngest reveals the fleetingness of each season, and I’m reminded to enjoy my kids exactly where they are, because their lives and their tastes evolve quickly.

While my baby just started kindergarten, my oldest just started middle school.

While my baby likes to curl her hair, my oldest likes to straighten her hair.

While my baby is learning to read, my oldest is learning algebra.

While my baby just lost her first tooth, my oldest just lost her last tooth.

While my baby loves Disney and bouncy houses, my oldest loves “The Hunger Games” and trampolines.

Our kids are past dirty diapers and tantrums on the grocery floor, yet years away from driving and college. They’re self-sufficient, yet they still need and want us. And while I don’t like the idea of anyone leaving home, I do like watching my girls grow up. I love seeing who they’re becoming and noticing God’s work in them as they test their wings, overcome challenges, use their gifts, learn from mistakes, and try to make the world better.

Still, some days are hard. Some days I feel overwhelmed, unequipped, and unable to appreciate the joys and miracles in front of me. While parenting small kids, I found plenty of great

books and blogs to help guide me, but I struggle to find resources that speak to me in raising teenagers. The answers get less cut and dry as kids grow up because small children = small problems and big children = big problems.

My favorite advice comes from parents ahead of me whom I respect and admire. I piece together their stories and wisdom to prepare my heart and mind for what’s to come. I’m learning to be a better listener and to empathize with what my children face. I’m practicing the poker face I’m told I need to have when the kids share unsettling stories, and I want them to keep talking. I’m understanding the importance of asking good questions, knowing their friends, and taking advantage of car rides as uninterrupted time to talk.

I’m also learning to embrace humility. What gets clear in the thick of parenting is how even the “good kids” make mistakes sometimes.

Every child is just one poor choice away from making their parents look like failures. And if my instinctive reaction to my children’s mistakes is, “What will people think?”, then I’ve got a problem. I’m parenting with pride instead of humility, worrying more about appearances than the longterm well-being of my kids.

All this to say, parenting gets more complex with time. There are more balls to juggle and more action-packed days that make the years fly by. With this action, however, comes an excitement and a sense that really important and life-changing things are happening. This is

where the rubber hits the road. This where you hang on for dear life as you help your child navigate foreign terrain and pray those seeds you’ve been planting since birth will ultimately produce good fruit.

Parents ahead of me often say, “These are the years you’re going to miss. This is what it’s all about,” and I believe them. While I won’t miss the laundry piles that stack up to Mount Rushmore, or the constant clutter of dishes in the sink, I can imagine looking back with laughter and wistful smiles as Harry and I remember, above all the headaches and low points, how much fun we had giving our daughters a childhood that shaped us as much as them.

In the thick of parenting is a special place to be. There’s a lot to reflect upon, yet little time to reflect. And if we treat these days are a GIFT, a temporary season full of opportunities to engage with our children and point them in a meaningful direction, we can soak them up instead of wish them away, knowing that even on the hard days, we still have it really good, because our family is together, and the memories being made are the kind that last a lifetime.

Kari Kubiszyn Kampakis is a Mountain Brook mom of four girls, columnist, and blogger for The Huffington Post. Her first book, “10 ULTIMATE TRUTHS GIRLS SHOULD KNOW,” is available on Amazon and everywhere books are sold. Join her Facebook community at “Kari Kampakis, Writer,” visit her blog at karikampakis.com or contact her at kari@karikampakis.com.

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280 Living

C12 • January 2016

280

Real Estate Listings MLS #

Zip

Address

Status

Price

735460

35242

5064 Greystone Way

New

$749,000

735838

35242

6238 Eagle Point Circle

New

$359,900

735803

35242

5109 Clubridge Drive

New

$499,900

735761

35242

3754 Cotswold Drive

New

$349,900

735747

35242

131 Belvedere Drive

New

$239,900

735651

35242

5053 Shelby Drive

New

$259,900

735613

35242

5438 Dover Cliff Circle

New

$299,000

735576

35242

1016 Greystone Parc Road

New

$409,900

735435

35242

210 Hawthorn Street

New

$349,900

735419

35242

5332 Meadow Garden Lane

New

$300,000

735418

35242

3992 Guilford Road

New

$205,000

735459

35242

7500 Kings Mountain Road

New

$749,900

735384

35242

1977 Indian Crest Drive

New

$389,500

735323

35242

1319 Inverness Drive Cove

New

$209,900

735320

35242

162 Narrows Creek Drive

New

$249,900

735262

35242

5327 Greystone Way

New

$599,900

735215

35242

4192 Crossings Lane

New

$319,000

735178

35242

2994 Kelham Grove Way

New

$446,900

735595

35043

121 Branch Drive

New

$199,000

735345

35043

10468 Chelsea Road

New

$179,900

5064 Greystone Way

7500 Kings Mountain Road

Real estate listings provided by the Birmingham Association of Realtors on December 14.

Visit birminghamrealtors.com.

Are you or someone you know looking for your next home in one of these neighborhoods?

Cell: (205) 873-3205 Email: tecrutchfield@charter.net Web: www.terrycrutchfield.com

Please contact me today!

SOLD!

UNDER CONTRACT

Also under contract: 1000 Ashmore Lane

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280Living.com

January 2016 • C13

Calendar 280 Community Events Jan. 5: Greater Shelby Chamber Small Business Mentorship Group. 8 a.m. Greater Shelby Chamber Office 1301 Co. Services Drive, Pelham. Visit business.shelbychamber.org.

Jan. 6: Greater Shelby Chamber Ambassadors Work Group. 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Greater Shelby Chamber Office 1301 Co. Services

Drive, Pelham. Visit business.shelbychamber.org.

Jan. 24: Alabama Wildlife Center & Audubon Teaches Nature: Birds of Prey, Masters of the Skies. 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. 100 Terrace Drive, Oak Mountain State Park, Pelham.

Park admission $5 adults, $2 children.

Briarwood Athletics Boys Varsity Basketball

Girls Varsity Basketball

Jan. 6: vs. Pinson Valley. 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 6: vs. Pinson Valley. 4:30 p.m.

Jan. 9: vs. Homewood. 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 9: vs. Homewood. 6 p.m.

Jan. 13: vs. John Carroll. 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 13: vs. John Carroll. 6 p.m.

Jan. 16: vs. Pelham. 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 15: vs. Pelham. 6 p.m.

Jan. 17: vs. Springville. 4:30 p.m.

Jan. 17: vs. Springville. 4:30 p.m.

Jan. 20: @ Homewood. 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 19: @ Chelsea. 3 p.m.

Jan. 23: @ John Carroll. 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 20: @ Homewood. 6 p.m.

Jan. 24: vs. Chelsea. 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 23: @ John Carroll. 6 p.m.

Jan. 26: @ Pinson Valley. 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 26: @ Pinson Valley. 6 p.m.

Jan. 27: @ St. James. 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 29: @ Springville. 7 p.m.

Chelsea Athletics Boys Varsity Basketball

Girls Varsity Basketball

Jan. 5: vs. Pell City. 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 5: vs. Pell City. 6 p.m.

Jan. 7: @ Childersburg. 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 8: vs. Oxford. 6 p.m.

Jan. 8: vs. Oxford. 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 15: @ Oxford. 6 p.m.

Jan. 9: @ Oxford. 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 16: @ Briarwood. 6 p.m.

Jan. 16: @ Briarwood. 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 19: @ Montevallo. 6 p.m.

Jan. 19: @ Montevallo. 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 22: @ Pell City. 6 p.m.

Jan. 22: @ Pell City. 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 28: @ Gardendale. 6 p.m.

Jan. 28: @ Gardendale. 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 29: vs. Shelby County. 6 p.m.

Jan. 29: vs. Shelby County. 7:30 p.m.

Chelsea Library Wednesdays: The Tot Spot. 10:30 a.m. A 30-minute story time for preschoolers. We read, sing, dance and sometimes craft.

Fridays: BYOC - Bring Your Own Crochet (craft). 10 a.m. Audio/Reading room.

Jan. 9: Club. 9:30 a.m. For ages 5 and up.

North Shelby Library Jan. 4: Introduction to Google Docs.

6:30-7:30 p.m. A brief introduction to using Google Drive. Must already have a Gmail account set up before class. Limited space, registration required.

Jan. 14: Computer Comfort. 2-3 p.m. An introductory class covering the computer and various basic functions. Limited space, registration required.

Jan. 6: Microsoft Word 2013. 10 a.m.-noon.

An introduction to the word processing program Microsoft Word. Limited space, registration required.

Jan. 21: Internet for Beginners. 2-4 p.m.

The basics of navigating and searching the Internet for those with little to no experience. Limited space, registration required.

Jan. 11: Microsoft Excel 2013. 10 a.m.noon. Limited space, registration required.

Jan. 25: Great Apps for Kids. 6:30-7:30 p.m. Parents, come learn about some of our favorite

280 Living

C14 • January 2016

North Shelby Library Cont. fun and education apps out there for kids. Limited space, registration required.

Jan. 28: Email for Beginners. 2-4 p.m.

Learn the basics of Gmail. If you have a Gmail account already, please make sure you know your user name and password. Limited space, registration required.

Kids Jan. 2: Lego Club. 10-11 a.m. Creations will go on display in the Children’s Department. No registration required. All ages welcome.

Jan. 12: Picture Book Club: Bear Celebrates Janubeary. 4 p.m. Registration required.

Jan. 13: Newberry Pie Book Club. 1 p.m.

Talking about Newberry books and eating pie. All ages welcome. Registration required.

Jan. 20: Homeschool Hangout: Salamanders. 1 p.m. Henry Hughes, Director of Education at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens will

be sharing about river conservation, salamanders, and the importance of salamanders in the health of our local eco-systems.

Jan. 22: Stuffed Animal Sleepover. 4:30 p.m. Break out your favorite jammies and head to the library for a fun storytime and craft. Bring your favorite stuffed animal, who will enjoy a very special sleepover at the library. Come back the next day to pick up your animal friend and see what they did all night at the library. Registration required. All ages welcome.

Jan. 25: 1000 Books Before Kindergarten. This ongoing program is a nationwide challenge that encourages parents and caregivers to regularly read aloud to their children. By reading just one book a night, families can reach the 1,000-book goal in three years and provide their children essential early literacy skills. Sign up at the children’s desk starting January 25th to get your child on track to a lifelong love of reading! Open to families with children between the ages of birth through five. Registration required.

Story-Time Programming

tales. All Ages. No Registration Required.

Mondays (Jan. 4, 11 and 25): Toddler Tales. 10:30 a.m. Stories, songs, 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.

Teens

Tuesdays (Jan. 5 and 19): Baby Tales. 10 a.m. 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 will begin one week prior to program date.

Wednesdays (Jan. 6, 13, 20 and 27): Mr. Mac Storyteller Extraordinaire! 10:45 a.m.

Stories, puppets, and lots of music for every member of the family. All Ages. No Registration.

Thursdays (Jan. 7, 14, 21 and 28): P.J. Story Time. 6:30 p.m. Come in your PJs, have milk and cookies, and hear some wonderful bedtime

Jan. 8, 15 and 22: Gaming. 3:30-5:45 p.m.

Come to the teen department each Friday afternoon for open gaming: board games, card games, Wii, XBOX ONE, and Minecraft. Teens need a parent permission slip on file to attend. Contact Kate at 439-5512 or nsyouth@shelbycounty-al.org for more information.

Jan. 11: Anime Night. 6 p.m. Join us in the teen department for an evening of anime. The audience will pick what we watch. Treats will be served and costumes are welcome! Contact Kate at 439-5512 or nsyouth@shelbycounty-al.org for more information.

Jan. 21: Teen Tech: What’s Inside? 6:30 p.m. Find out what’s inside the tech we use every day: computers, phones, toys, and more. We’re destroying them all in the name of science. Contact Kate at 439-5512 or nsyouth@shelbycounty-al.org for more information.

Mt Laurel Library Kids Jan. 9: Crafty Saturday. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Drop in to make a craft at the library. All ages with parent help. Registration is not required but supplies are limited. Contact the Mt Laurel Library at 991-1660 or mtlaurellibrary@gmail.com for more information.

Jan. 5: Toddler Tales. 10 a.m. Stories, songs, fingerplays, and more make up a lively 30 minute program designed especially for short attention spans and their caregiver. Ages 36 months and younger.

Registration begins January 2 and is required. Contact the Mt Laurel Library at 991-1660 or mtlaurellibrary@gmail.com for more information or to register.

Register online using the Calendar on mtlaurellibrary. org.

Jan. 15: Storytime with Ms. Kristy. 11 a.m. Stories, music, and more for every member of the family. All ages. No registration required. Contact the Mt Laurel Library at 991-1660 or mtlaurellibrary@gmail.com for more information.

Jan. 19: Picture Book Club: Biscuit. 4 p.m. Celebrate a beloved book series with stories, games, and a craft! Registration required. Register using the library’s online calendar at mtlaurellibrary. org or call 991-1660.

Jan. 22: Stuffed Animal Sleepover. 4:30 p.m. Break out your favorite jammies and head to the library for a fun craft. Bring your favorite stuffed animal, who will enjoy a very special sleepover at the library. Come back the next day to pick up your animal friend and see what they did all night at the library. Registration required. All ages welcome.

Jan. 23: Lego Club. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. The library provides the Legos, the kids provide the imagination and creativity. Families are welcome to drop in anytime between 11 and 1 to build spectacular creations which will be displayed in the library. Contact the Mt Laurel Library at 991-1660 or mtlaurellibrary@gmail. com for more information.

Adults Jan. 7: Mt Laurel Book Club. 7 p.m. The Book Club will be discussing The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah. Contact Sara at 991-1660 or mtlaurellibrary@gmail.com for more information.

Jan. 12: Device Advice. 6-7 p.m. Did you get a new tablet or smartphone for Christmas? Do you want to learn how to access everything the library offers? Drop in to learn about our new digital resources and to get individual help with your smartphone, tablet, or laptop. Contact the Mt Laurel Library at 991-1660 or mtlaurellibrary@gmail.com for more information.

Breakfast with the Doc Cutting-edge Foot and Ankle Injury Treatments Wednesday, January 20 8:00–9:00 a.m.

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Join Francisco Caycedo, MD, with OrthoSports Associates, to learn more about the latest diagnostic and treatment resources available for foot and ankle injuries. Dr. Caycedo will share how dynamic exams with tools such as ultrasounds are now being used to better treat ankle sprains and control inflammation.

Hear what our expert has to say.

Bring your questions and enjoy a light breakfast.

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

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280Living.com

January 2016 • C15

St. Vincent’s One Nineteen Jan. 2: Lupus Support Group. 10 a.m.noon. This group supporting lupus patients and their families meets the first S turday of every month.

This month’s topic is Managing Holiday Stress by Tonya MacNicol. This event is free and sponsored by the Lupus Foundation of America, Mid-South Chapter.

1-877-865-8787.

Jan. 4, 5 or 6: Holiday Challenge Weighout. Normal operating hours. The Holiday Challenge was designed to help you maintain your weight during the holidays. For those who signed up and completed the initial weigh-in in November, don’t forget to weigh out in January in the Fitness Center.

If you haven’t gained any weight during the challenge period, you’ll qualify for one of four $50 One Nineteen gift certific tes. Prize recipients will be by e-mail.

Mondays: Next Chapter Book Club-Greystone Chapter. 4:30-5:30 p.m.

The Next Chapter Book Club (NCBC) offers weekly opportunities for people with developmental disabilities to read and learn together, talk about books, and make friends in a relaxed, community setting. This group meets at St. Vincent’s One Nineteen in the Wellness Area. The current book the group is reading is Divergent by Veronica Roth.

Wednesdays: Babe Café. 10 a.m.-noon. We invite breastfeeding moms to join us for our lactation support group meeting. Moms will have the opportunity to meet with a lactation consultant, as well as network with other breastfeeding moms. The group is designed to give breastfeeding moms encouragement and support, as well as helpful information and tips from our expert. This event is free, and registration is not required.

Jan. 9: Charcot Marie Tooth Support Group. 2-3:30 p.m. Join us for a new support group for patients and families who have Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT), which is an inherited form of peripheral neuropathy. For more information on CMT, visit cmtausa.org. This event is free.

Jan. 12: Blood Pressure/Body Mass Index Screening. 8-11:30 a.m. A representative from St. Vincent’s Wellness Services will be screening for blood pressure and BMI in the front entrance.

This screening is free.

Jan. 19: Comprehensive Diabetes Education. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. If you have diabetes or are at risk, this seminar is a must. A physician’s referral is required, and pre-assessments given preceding the class date. To register, please call 939-7248.

Jan. 20: Breakfast with the Doc. 8-9 a.m. Join Francisco Caycedo, MD, with OrthoSports

Associates, to learn more about the latest diagnostic and treatment resources available for foot and ankle injuries. Dr. Caycedo will share how dynamic exams with tools such as ultrasounds are now being used to better treat ankle sprains and control inflamm tion.

Hear what our expert has to say. Bring your questions and enjoy a light breakfast. Free, but please call 4086550 for reservations.

Jan. 21: Wellness Screenings. 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. We’ll be offering cholesterol, blood glucose, blood pressure, BMI and waist circumference screenings by appointment. Results and interpretation are available in 15 minutes with a simple finger stick The cost for St. Vincent’s One Nineteen members and for non-members is $20. Call 408-6550 to register.

Jan. 21: Cuisine at One Nineteen. 6-7:30 p.m. Join us for this month’s Cuisine at One Nineteen featuring Fig Tree Café. Bring a bottle of wine and a friend and enjoy this evening in a relaxing atmosphere. The cost is $25 per person. Please call 408-6550 for reservations.

Jan. 25-31: Scale Back Alabama Weighin. 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Scale Back Alabama is a free statewide weight loss contest designed to encourage Alabamians to get healthy with encouragement from a partner (only two to a team) and the help of online modules. St. Vincent’s One Nineteen is a weigh in/ weigh out site for the contest. Teams that lose ten pounds each within the ten week contest period are eligible to win $1,000, $500 or $250. Individuals who meet the goal, but aren’t eligible for the team prizes may win one forty $100 prizes. Weigh-out will be April 11-17. Register prior to weigh-in online at www.scalebackalabama.com.

Jan. 27: CPR for Family and Friends. 6-8 p.m. Join us for a classroom-based, practice-whileyou-watch DVD and instructor-facilitated program on how to perform the basic skills of CPR in adults, children, and infants. The class focuses on how to help an adult, child, or infant who is choking. It is designed for parents, family members, friends, older siblings, and babysitters ages 11 years and older, who want to learn CPR, but do not need a course certific tion card. To register, please call 939-7878.

The cost is $20 per person Jan. 28: Thirty Minute Meals for Families. 11 a.m.-noon. Start the New Year off right with this demo and tasting of healthy, quick and easy meals your whole family will love. Whether you are a family of two, four or six, you will enjoy this quick class for new ideas. Five recipe cards will be included. Reserve your space at 408-6550. The cost is $12 for tasting and recipes with a minimum of six participants.

Area Events Jan. 2: Fifth Annual Resolution Run. 7:30 a.m. Red Mountain Park, 281 Lyon Lane. Visit raceroster.com to register.

Jan. 5-6: Gregg Allman. 8 p.m. Iron City Birmingham, 513 22nd St. S. $42.50. Visit ironcitybham.com.

Jan. 7: Birmingham Art Crawl. 5 p.m.- 9 p.m. 113 22nd St. N., downtown Birmingham. Meet local artists and performers. Artwork for sale. Visit birminghamartcrawl.com.

Jan. 10: Southern Bridal Show. BJCC Exhibition Hall, 2100 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N. 12 p.m.-5 p.m. $10 advance, $15 at door. Visit eliteevents.com.

Jan. 14-16: Lyric Theatre Grand Opening: 3 Nights of Moderne Vaudeville. 7:30 p.m.

1800 Third Ave. N. $40-$60. Visit lyricbham.com.

Jan. 17: Alabama Symphony Orchestra Reflect & Rejoice: A ribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 3 p.m. Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center, 1200 10th Ave. S. $9-$24. Visit alabamasymphony.org.

Jan. 22-24: La Traviata. Leslie S. Wright Fine Arts Center, Samford University. Presented by Opera Birmingham Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m.; Jan 24 at 2:30

p.m. $20-$90. Visit operabirmingham.org.

Jan. 24: Alabama Wildlife Center & Audubon Teaches Nature: Birds of Prey, Masters of the Skies. 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. 100 Terrace Drive, Oak Mountain State Park, Pelham.

Park admission $5 adults, $2 children.

Jan. 26: Alabama Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster & Friends Series: Russian Moods. 7:30 p.m. Brock Recital Hall, Samford University, 800 Lakeshore Drive. $32. Visit alabamasymphony.org.

Jan. 26: An Evening with Art Garfunkel.

7 p.m. Leslie S. Wright Fine Arts Center, Samford University, 800 Lakeshore Drive. $50-$200. Visit tickets.samford.edu.

Jan. 27-31: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Legacy Arena at the BJCC, 2100 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. Jan. 27-29 at 7 p.m.; Jan 28-30 at 10:30 a.m.; Jan 30 at 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.; Jan. 31 at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. $16$81. Visit ringling.om.

Jan. 29 Alabama Symphony Orchestra Coffee Concert. 11 a.m. Carlos Izcaray conducts Tchaikovsky. Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center, 1200 10th Ave. S. $19-$33.

Visit alabamasymphony.org.

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280 Living neighborly news & entertainment

SECTION

B

Sports

JANUARY 2016

SPAIN PARK 2015 SEASON REVIEW: Hefty investment yields strong return

By SAM CHANDLER

A

Spain Park junior running back Larry Wooden runs for a first down in the Class 7A title game against McGillToolen at Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa on Wednesday, Dec. 2. Photo by Frank Couch.

fter going 3-4 in Class 7A, Region 3 play and missing the postseason just one year ago, the Spain Park football team constructed a season to remember in 2015.

On their way to the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Class 7A championship game, the Jags strung together a school-record 12-game winning streak, clinched the region title with an undefeated region record and toppled archrival Hoover High — twice.

“If you look at all the stuff that went right for us this year, I mean, I’m sitting there thinking, it could be three or five or 10 years before this happens again for us,” said Spain Park coach Shawn Raney, who just concluded his third season as head coach with a heartbreaking loss to McGillToolen in the state final.

What was the key to such an unprecedented turnaround and improbable run to the state championship game? Everybody bought in.

“I put a deal up on the big screen early this summer, and I said we’re only going to be a good football team if it hurts you to let your teammate or your coach, if it hurts you to let them down,” Raney said. “For the first time since I’ve been here, I thought we got to that point. Our kids didn’t want to let their teammates down, didn’t want to let their coaches down, and whenever you get that, you’ve got something.”

Achieving such a collective sense of

investment is, as Raney discovered in his first two seasons at Spain Park, much easier said than done. Due to his conservative style of play, which emphasizes a relentless commitment to the ground game and requires a near-impenetrable defense, Raney’s roster necessitates a certain type of player in order for his team to reach its full potential. Little room exists for blue-chip superstars and self-centered divas. A successful Raney-coached team must consist of driven, selfless individuals who value collective success over personal glory.

Scan the 2015 Spain Park roster, and you’ll find an abundance of that prototype.

“I felt like we have a lot more cohesion between everyone on the team, and I just feel that everyone did their job the way it was supposed to be done,” senior center Grey Best said. “I feel like there was no star athlete who just did his own thing, compared to like last year, when we had a couple of those guys. But this year everyone played as a team, and everyone executed as a team. Everyone went out there as one.”

But, as anybody involved with the Spain Park program can attest, the transformation did not happen overnight.

Beginning last November, one week after the Jags’ season came to a premature end following the regular season finale, the process of evolving into a new team commenced. Signaled by the

See SPAIN PARK | page B3

280 Living

B2 • January 2016

Your Health Today

Consider a cleanse

By Dr. Irma Leon Palmer

T

he opening of a new year is full of potential and determination to see drastic change in one area or another, but no matter what area you choose, wouldn’t you agree that the fiery willpower has usually fizzled and faded by Valentines? If health goals are based off of temporary emotions, they will never stick around too long. The heart of a decision is the real motivation factor.

How would better health change your life?

Would you be able to easily play on the floor with your grandchildren, get back to favorite hobbies like hiking or traveling, or wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on each new day? Symptom-free living is a lot more than just pain relief, it restores life and all the things worth living for. Find your “why” and watch your resolve grow.

A common resolution at the new year is to lose weight, whether it’s the last few pounds of baby weight or getting bikini ready for an upcoming cruise. A garbage bag of junk foods goes out to the barrel, colorful lunches are packed and drive-thrus are avoided, and gym memberships quadruple. While none of these are bad decisions, the likelihood of them lasting through the year and through the rest of your life is not very high. Real change is

slow and steady, like the tortoise in the race against the hare. Making one good decision and sticking with it will be more beneficial to your overall trajectory of health, than yoyo dieting, binging and purging as the months tick by.

At Chiropractic Today, we encourage our patients to look at their overall health as a five-spoked wheel containing solid faith, spinal health, intentional thinking, regular exercise and life-enhancing eating habits.

We specialize in restoring and maximizing spinal and neurological health, however, having a healthy spine and nervous system will only take you so far if you eat junk, stay under significant stress, or feel disconnected from healthy relationships, etc.

A great way to jumpstart the year and your health is with a cleanse or purification system to get you moving in the right direction. We recommend our patients go through either one or two rounds of a 21 day purification program by Standard Process.

It supports a healthy and well-balanced diet and provides ample nutrients to keep you fueled while also cleansing and detoxing organs such as the liver, kidneys and intestines. This purification program supports the

body’s natural toxin-metabolism processes and builds healthy lifestyle habits. It is designed to purify, nourish, and help maintain an appropriate body weight. Full body purification assists in clearing skin, reducing bloating, improving digestion, better sleep, clearer thinking, proper elimination, and increased energy and vitality! After the cleanse is finished, most of our patients say that continuing a healthy eating and exercise regimen is so simple because they have seen and reaped the benefits of good habits.

Almost always, they want to continue on this pathway towards health and wellness!

It is simple indeed. You eat real food!

You do not have to stress about figuring out “cleanse appropriate” foods, because a simple to follow food guideline is provided with this purification program. Additionally, you’ll receive a cookbook and have a phone app to guide you seamlessly through the phases of the cleanse. You’ll get reminders of proper water intake, supplement requirements and food journaling. We help by monitoring results in conjunction with chiropractic care to provide the support and guidance you need to achieve the best results possible.

Don’t think you are toxic? Consider this.

Toxins are found in foods we eat, unpurified water we drink, chemical-filled products we put on our skin, in the air we breathe, and these accumulate over time. Take notice of the amount of hair products, makeup, detergents, bleach, car fumes, lawn care, bug sprays, preservatives and food colorings, etc that you come in contact with every day.

Toxin buildup can present as foggy mind, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, gastrointestinal upset, cravings, weight gain, low libido, and skin issues A 21-day cleanse benefits everyone because it’s highly unlikely you live in a sterile bubble.

Furthermore, many in our community will participate in a 21 day spiritual reflection, growth and service. The Standard Process 21 day program aligns congruently due to the fact that it’s all God’s foods. Plantbased foods and supplements detox your body, your mind and help gain clarity and strength through the process. We will have a kick-off cleanse workshop Monday January 4th at 6:15pm. All attendees and pre-orders will receive 15% off the cleanse kit.

Please RSVP so your kit can be pre-order in advance so you can start the cleanse the day of the workshop.

MAKE YOUR NEW YEAR’S FITNESS RESOLUTIONS A REALITY

NO ENROLLMENT FEE

NO CONTRACT

NO KIDDING Terri Key Member since 2006

408-6544 • onenineteen.com • 7191 Cahaba Valley Road This offer ends February 29, 2016

280Living.com

January 2016 • B3 SPAIN PARK

CONTINUED from page B1

Spain Park’s Thomas Jordan tries to keep a punt out of the end zone in the first half of the class 7A title game at Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa on Wednesday, Dec. 2. Photo by Ted Melton.

departure of the 2015 senior class, a new group of leaders, the Class of 2016, began to emerge, ready to take charge and change the program’s culture.

“I feel like the seniors this offseason really, really pushed everyone to the limit — not only their selves, but everyone else around them in a way where everyone knew we had a chance to make the dream work because the team was working,” Best said.

Energized by a unifying offseason, Spain Park entered 2015 led by a group of veterans determined to elude the same disheartening fate experienced one year before. Unlike the previous senior class, this team would not allow its season to end shy of a postseason berth.

“It was definitely one of those things where like, you saw how it went down last year, and you didn’t want that same feeling,” senior defensive back Bryan Sanderson said. “You see them not even make the playoffs, and you just know that’s not how you want to go out.”

Not even an adrenaline-pumping, season-opening loss in triple overtime changed that.

While other teams would have undoubtedly wilted after the deflating loss to Class 6A Austin High School, the Jags viewed the defeat from a positive perspective, using it as an opportunity for an early-season self-evaluation.

“After the Austin game, we especially bought in because we knew we were better than how we played that night,” Sanderson said. “At that point, we knew we weren’t just going to go out and beat teams. We had to go out and play together and do everything we were supposed to do to win a game.”

Immediately, the effect was evident. After rebounding the following week with a dominant 31-0 blanking of Hueytown, the Jags relied on one another as they grinded through the treacherous, seven-game gauntlet better known as region play.

But, as a testament to the team’s resilient composition, when the going got tough, the tough got going.

Spain Park never folded down the daunting

stretch, as player after player stepped up when it mattered most. Whether it was splitting the uprights with a game-winning field goal or coming up with a vital stop on fourth down, the Jags banded together like never before, refusing to let one another down.

“They continued to believe no matter what was going on, you know, on the field whether we’re ahead, behind,” Raney said. “They just continued to play and do what they were coached to do.”

That trend continued throughout the postseason as well, with Spain Park mounting a pair of fourth-quarter comebacks in both the state quarterfinals and semifinals. No matter the opponent, the Jags established themselves as a team that played all 48 minutes.

“We’re not going to finish until the clock strikes three zeroes across the board,” senior fullback DeAndre Thompkins said.

And they didn’t, not even in the state final with their backs against the wall. Trailing by two scores with less than six minutes to play, Spain Park kept fighting and trimmed the deficit to two points before falling just shy in the closing ticks.

Despite the stinging defeat, the Jags’ 2015 team still surpassed expectations, providing a foundation to build upon and a benchmark for which to aim.

“I feel like we really set the bar, like the standard, for what a Spain Park team should be, especially with how blessed we are with the facilities we have, with the program we have, with how big our school is in general and the population of students,” Best said, “and I feel like this year we really changed the name of the ‘SP’ on our helmets.”

Plus, thanks to the team-wide adoption of unselfish attitudes, a culture (and status) change has been sparked at the Park.

Rather than annually assuming the role of Hoover’s little brother and perennially settling for second place, the vibe emitted from Spain Park’s Columbia blue-coated hallways communicates the notion of a program on the rise, the framework for years of future success already constructed.

“I think if we can keep this going here, with the consistency and the buy-in by the kids, I think it will do nothing but get better,” Raney said.

280 Living

B4 • January 2016 The Oak Mountain youth cheer squads pose for a picture after bringing home trophies at the UCA Alabama State Youth Competition.

Photo courtesy of Maryjayne Herring.

The sixthgrade Oak Mountain Youth Football team won the JSYFL Championship in November.

Photo courtesy of Tim O’Brien.

Oak Mountain youth cheer squads take home trophies

By ERICA TECHO Several Oak Mountain youth cheerleading squads came away from the UCA Alabama State Youth Competition with trophies.

Four Oak Mountain youth squads participated in the competition, which took place at Vestavia Hills High School on Nov. 15.

The second-grade squad won third place, the third-grade squad won sixth place and the sixth- and fifth-grade squads came away

in first place.

The sixth-grade squad has won first place in competition for five years in a row.

There were 23 girls on the cheerleading squad this year, and six of the girls have competed from second grade through sixth grade.

Those cheerleaders are Sara Frances Steadman, Makena Muggeo, Olivia Herring, Cassidy Sumpter, Aubrey Gaut and Jessica Haberlein.

Haberlein also won the individual competition in her division.

Oak Mountain youth celebrate football, cheerleading wins

By ERICA TECHO Oak Mountain Youth Football players and cheer squads finished their seasons with successes.

The sixth-grade Oak Mountain Youth Football team won the Jefferson-Shelby Youth Football League (JSYFL) championship in November.

The team triumphed over Hoover with a 31-18 win on Nov. 21.

The game was tied 18-18 in the third quarter, and the team, coached by Steven Hunt, managed to pull away for the win.

Oak Mountain’s fifth- and sixth-grade cheerleading squads also won the Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA), taking away first place.

Spain Park wrestlers start season with young team

By SYDNEY CROMWELL This winter, freshmen and sophomores will be the only ones hitting the wrestling mat for the Jags. With last year’s state placers graduated and sole upperclassman Manny Allan out for the season on a torn ACL, coach Ryan Thompson is leading a team with a lot of new faces.

“This doesn’t mean that our wrestlers lack experience. None of these wrestlers are first year wrestlers. All of them have

had prior experience. We have a class of young wrestlers who have a very good work ethic and potential,” Thompson said.

Though he described it as a “rebuilding year” for the SPHS team, the Jags performed well at their first meet, the Huntsville Invitational in December. Three of the six competing wrestlers medaled.

Freshman Jack Rivers walked away with the varsity tournament championship in his first varsity meet. Fellow freshman Cameron Perry was the champion of the

7/9 grade tournament, and freshman Jake Harrison took a fourth place medal in the same tournament.

Sophomore Emmanuel Thuo placed 11th in varsity and sophomore Jacob Parker placed 12th. Freshman Jacob Sharpe placed ninth in the 7/9 tournament.

In addition to the talented young wrestlers, Thompson said he is excited about the newly remodeled wrestling room with new equipment, and the large number of middle school wrestlers joining the team this year.

The Spain Park wrestling team. First row, from left: Jack Rivers, Gavin Pudlick, Caelan March, Emmanuel Thuo, Harry Shaull.

Second: Anders Jonas, Ashton Nichols, Jake Harrison, Jacob Sharpe, Jacob Parker. Third: Coach Matt Thompson, Cameron Young, Coach Ryan Thompson, Ryan Campbell, Manny Allen, Coach Klint Starling. Photo courtesy of Jim Pressler.

280Living.com

January 2016 • B5

Swimmers and divers make splash at state championships

By SYDNEY CROMWELL Spain Park, Oak Mountain and Briarwood Christian’s swimming and diving teams were represented at the AHSAA State Championships on Dec. 5 in Auburn.

These athletes racked up several finishes in the top 16, competing against students from more than 30 schools across Alabama. Spain Park’s Rachel Cunningham and Briarwood’s Sadler Keen both came home with gold medals, as well. SPHS coach Sally Mathias said Cunningham, a twotime state champion, broke two of her team’s records at the championships.

The SPHS girls 200-yard medley relay team set a new team record, and freshman Tyler Dean broke the 100-yard backstroke team record she had previously set in the sectional meet.

“Our students worked hard to develop their God-given athletic abilities. These results reflect their hard work and dedication,” Briarwood coach Alison McKeen said.

Spain Park’s women’s team placed 12th overall in Class 6A-7A, and Oak Mountain placed 29th. The men’s team at Spain Park placed 13th and the Briarwood men placed 17th. The full list of top-16 results is below:

The Spain Park swimming and diving team at the state championships. Front Row: Rachel Lebo, Caitlin Bullard, Jon Pickett, Georgie Fickling. Middle Row: Bailey Deas, Caroline Rice, Tyler Dean, Zachary El-Fallah.

Back Row: Ward Lockhart, Rachel Cunningham, Peyton Clutts. Photo courtesy of Sally Mathias.

► 5th place, boys one-meter diving: Jon Pickett ► 5th place, boys 50-yard freestyle: Peyton Clutts ► 7th place, girls 200-yard medley relay: Tyler Dean, Rachel Cunningham, Bailey Deas, Caitlin Bullard SPAIN PARK ► 9th place, boys 500-yard free► 1st place, girls 200-yard individstyle: Ward Lockhart ual medley: Rachel Cunningham ► 9th place, boys 100-yard back► 1st place, girls 100-yard breaststroke: Peyton Clutts stroke: Rachel Cunningham ► 13th place, girls 200-yard indi► 2nd place, boys one-meter vidual medley: Bailey Deas diving: Zachary El-Fallah

Briarwood swimmer Sadler McKeen shows off his gold and silver medals. Photo courtesy of Alison McKeen.

► 5th place, girls 400-yard freestyle relay: Bailey Deas, Caroline Rice, Tyler Dean, Rachel Cunningham ► 16th place, girls 100-yard backstroke: Tyler Dean

BRIARWOOD CHRISTIAN

► 1st place, boys 500-yard freestyle: Sadler McKeen. ► 2nd place, boys 200-yard freestyle: Sadler McKeen ► 15th place, boys 500-yard freestyle: Mason Mathias

OAK MOUNTAIN

► 9th place, girls 100-yard freestyle: Haley Burt ► 10th place, girls 50-yard freestyle: Haley Burt

Indoor runners lace up for kickoff of new season

By SAM CHANDLER Winter has officially arrived in Alabama, and for track and field athletes across the state that means one thing: It’s time to head indoors.

For sprinters and field event specialists, a long offseason spanning nearly seven months has finally reached its conclusion. Meanwhile, the time has come for distance runners to trade the hilly and uneven terrain of cross-country for the smooth springiness of a synthetic track.

As coaches, athletes and parents prepare for long weekends at the state-of-the-art athletic palace better known as the Birmingham Crossplex, here’s a quick look at some of the top athletes along the 280 corridor.

GIRLS

Zoe Shore, Spain Park, senior: Distance specialist secured a fourthplace finish in the 3,200 meters at the 2015 7A indoor state meet and earned All-State cross-country honors in the fall for a second consecutive year.

Maddie Hoaglund, Westminster School at Oak Mountain, junior: Distance star won four individual outdoor state titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters as an eighth and ninth grader. After a fourth-place finish at November’s 1A-2A state cross-country meet, it remains to be seen if she’ll be able to grab her fifth title.

Nicole Payne, Oak Mountain, freshman: She won the 7A outdoor state championship in the 400 meters last spring as an eighth grader and just claimed All-State honors in cross-country for a third straight year.

Oak Mountain runner Cole Stidfole (left) will be among the athletes competing in indoor track and field events this winter.

Photo by Sam Chandler.

BOYS

Daniel Nixon, Spain Park, senior: Mid-distance specialist won his first individual title at last spring’s 7A outdoor state meet, shattering through the 1:55 barrier in the 800 meters with a time of 1:54.49.

He opened his season with a pair of wins in both the 400 and 800 meters at the Magic City Invitational on Dec. 5 Cole Stidfole, Oak Mountain, junior: Distance standout won the 3,200 meters at the 7A indoor and outdoor state meets in 2015. Considering he clocked the fastest time in the state of Alabama during cross-country in the fall, look for him to continue dominating in his signature event.

Wiley Boone, Westminster School at Oak Mountain, sophomore: Youngster earned a runner-up finish in the long jump and a thirdplace finish in the triple jump as a freshman at the 2015 1A-3A indoor state meet.

280 Living

B6 • January 2016

Above: Nick Mullens (9), a former Spain Park Jaguar, earned the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year award at the University of Southern Mississippi. Photo courtesy of Jack Duggan.

Right: Chelsea High alum and Georgia player Jake Ganus (51) received the Bulldogs’ Most Valuable Player award this year. Photo by Cari Dean.

Ganus, Mullens earn postseason honors

By KYLE PARMLEY

Jake Ganus and Nick Mullens were standouts in high school just a few years ago, one at Chelsea and one at Spain Park.

Now playing at the University of Georgia and the University of Southern Mississippi, respectively, Ganus and Mullens hold that same reputation at the college level. Each has walked away from the 2015 football season with a set of well-earned postseason honors.

Ganus racked up at Georgia’s annual team gala, the event where program awards are handed out. The 6-foot-2, 233-pound linebacker took home the honor of overall Most Valuable Player, was named a defensive captain and was a recipient of the Frank Sinkwich Toughness Award.

The Vince Dooley Most Valuable Player award is named after the legendary coach that

led Georgia to a national championship in 1980 and six Southeastern Conference championships. Dooley was on hand to present the honor to Ganus.

It is hard to believe there were questions as to whether Ganus, a two-way player at Chelsea High School, could compete at the SEC level.

Those questions were answered in a big way, as the senior led the Bulldogs with 96 tackles, nearly 30 more than the next highest total on the team.

A three-year starter at UAB, Ganus was forced to look elsewhere at the conclusion of the 2014 season, when the football program was eliminated.

Georgia and coach Mark Richt gave him that opportunity, and Ganus did not disappoint, as he became the unquestioned leader of the defense that made up for an offensive deficiency when running back and Heisman Trophy candidate

Nick Chubb was injured midway through the year.

Georgia finished the season with a 9-3 record, and will conclude by playing in the Jan. 2 TaxSlayer Bowl against Penn State.

Not to be outdone, Mullens achieved recognition as well, earning the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year award. He is the first player in Southern Miss history to win the award.

The 6-foot-1, 196-pound junior signal caller was the catalyst behind the offense of the most improved team at the Football Bowl Subdivision level.

Southern Miss won six more games in 2015 than the previous season, as the Golden Eagles won their last six regular season games and won the C-USA West Division title.

They finished the regular season with a 9-4 record and earned a berth in the Zaxby’s Heart

of Dallas Bowl.

The quarterback prepped at Spain Park High School under head coach Chip Lindsey during his junior and senior seasons. After spending the 2013 season at Auburn, Lindsey served as the offensive coordinator for Mullens and the Golden Eagles the past two seasons.

Under Lindsey’s tutelage, Mullens helped the Southern Miss offense set five single-season school records, including passing yards (4,263 yards) and total touchdowns (67). Mullens also tossed 36 touchdowns, good for sixth most in the nation. Following the season, Lindsey accepted the same position at Arizona State University.

Mullens and Ganus never faced each other in high school, but matched up twice at the collegiate level, with each player’s teams splitting the two contests in 2013 and 2014.

280Living.com

January 2016 • B7

Women of 280

ION T C E AL S

I SPEC

n e m o W

0 8 of 2 2016

ASHLEY PAYTON CARTER EMBROIDME Ashley Payton Carter opened EmbroidMe in August 2015. The fullservice custom marketing business provides decorated apparel and promotional products to clients with top-notch customer service. Her grandmother, also a business owner, inspired Carter to launch her own business. She chose an EmbroidMe franchise to build off of her previous experience in consumer marketing, consulting and retail.

“Our philosophy is to make our clients look good so they feel good.

When you are out promoting your business or cause, we want you want to feel like a million bucks in our custom apparel,” she said.

She is passionate about customer service. “Providing an excellent client experience and developing lasting relationships with our clients is our top priority. When our clients walk through our doors, we want every moment with us to be great experience and for them to know they not only have a business partner at EmbroidMe, but also a friend.”

Running a business takes ambition, smarts and a lot of drive. The women who run businesses along the 280 corridor have all three, plus a passion for what they do.

From retail and food to health care and fitness, our annual Women of 280 feature is a chance to get to know some of the faces behind the success of many of the businesses in our area.

Icon indicates additional video feature at 280living.com: Businesswomen discuss what drives them to succeed.

EMBROIDME ► WHERE: 5263 U.S. 280 ► CALL: 205-518-6407

LESLIE ELLISON Women

WEIGH TO WELLNESS Leslie Ellison is passionate about empowering people. In fact, it is the cornerstone of her business, Weigh to Wellness. Their mission is to partner with each patient to develop a treatment plan tailored to each patient’s individual needs, focusing on weight loss and reducing the health risks associated with obesity.

Whether a patient wants to lose several hundred pounds or just a few, this comprehensive approach will help them to establish long-term goals avoiding endless cycles of yoyo dieting by offering free lifetime maintenance.

Weigh to Wellness provides patients with strong support while equipping them with the knowledge and tools necessary to achieve life changing results. The experienced staff treats everyone as if they are their only patient, by reaching into their personal lives. What works for one patient may not work for another. To meet such varied needs, the program includes nutritional guidance and meal planning by registered dietitians as well as the option of meal replacements, protein supplements and prescription medications. Lipotropic and B12 injections are also available to increase energy safely and enhance weight loss.

Ellison, who has more than 20 years of experience with working in the medical weight management field, decided to open her own clinic in June of 2014. Her first year in business has proven to be a success, celebrating 10,000 pounds lost!

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WEIGH TO WELLNESS ► WHERE: 4704 Cahaba River Road, Suite A1 ► CALL: 205-994-2393 ► WEBSITE: aplanforme.com

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LISA ALTAMIRANO AGILE PHYSICAL THERAPY Lisa Altamirano is the owner and clinical director of Agile Physical Therapy, a progressive physical therapy practice and Pilates studio that has been in business eight years.

She is excited about expanding into their new building.

Prior to opening her own business, she worked for 10 years as a physical therapist at UAB, where she worked with UAB athletes, dancers, and active people of all ages.

Her physician father and grandfather’s love of medicine first influenced her as a child, but it was injuries she suffered as a dancer that led her to the field of physical therapy.

“After my ACL injury and surgery, I was not offered PT, but my uncle sent me to a trainer at Tulane University who worked with the football team.

In one session, he made a large impact on me … I thought I wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon, but decided I wanted to spend more time with my patients and facilitate their progression back into life. It is very rewarding to see a patient’s joy when they first perform a basic function and later achieve a life goal.”

Efficient movement and persistence of quality care is the foundation of her practice.

“We see all types of patients and some have seen multiple medical clinicians/trainers without results.

Patients seek us out because we design a unique individual plan and we don’t give up! We blend science with inspiration to achieve motivation and success for our patients.”

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AGILE PHYSICAL THERAPY ► WHERE: 3125 Blue Lake Drive, Vestavia Hills ► CALL: 205-969-7887

HOLLEY SIDES Women

DOORSTEPDELIVERY.COM Holley Sides and her husband, George Sides, dreamed of opening their own business together. When they were living in Florida, they discovered DoorstepDelivery. com and loved the service and the food. It was a perfect fit for them to open a franchise.

“We knew we wanted to move back to Birmingham — we just did not know what we wanted to do when we moved back from Florida. During our residency in Florida, we found a great service DoorstepDelivery.com. We ordered from this service over 60 times in one year! One night after we ordered we saw a link on the site for franchise opportunities. The next day, my husband called and here we are today offering great food to the great people of Birmingham!” Sides said.

The couple, who met in Birmingham, was ready to come back to their “adopted hometown.”

“We fell in love with Birmingham and each other at the same time. My love for my husband and the love for our great city are both the inspiration behind my desire to be an entrepreneur,” Sides said.

Together, they have created a thriving business in a thriving community.

“In our business, my husband and I are responsible for everything. You cannot

delegate the small things to someone else and you cannot take a vacation day or sick day.

No matter the challenges I face, I always feel I can find a way to overcome that challenge and be a better person because of it!”

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DOORSTEPDELIVERY.COM ► EMAIL: 200 Cahaba Park Circle ► CALL: 205-903-FOOD (3663)

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Women

DR. CASS F. KLIMCAK

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DR. CASS F. KLIMCAK DENTISTRY Dr. Cass Klimcak has practiced general dentistry in the Highway 280 Eagle Point area since 2001. Dr. Klimcak earned a Bachelors of Science in Biology from the University of Georgia, where she graduated in 1996 with honors as a Phi Beta Kappa. In 2000, Dr. Klimcak received her Doctorate of Dental Medicine from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry.

Dr. Klimcak is passionate about helping others achieve a lifetime of good oral and overall health. She was awarded for her “ability to excel in the dentist-patient relationship” by the Birmingham Dental District Society. She is also a recipient of the Quintessence Dental Society Award for Clinical Achievement in Restorative Dentistry. Dr. Klimcak is passionate about staying current on the developments in dentistry through continuing education.

She maintains an active schedule of professional study in current dental health topics and clinical techniques through her memberships in the American Dental Society, Birmingham Dental Society, and the Frank Spear Study Club.

Dr. Klimcak’s dental philosophy is to provide the highest standard of care to every patient in a kind, professional, ethical manner while maintaining an emphasis on continued optimal oral health. To achieve optimal oral health, preventative dentistry is the goal for every patient.

This involves daily care, good nutrition, and periodic check-ups and cleanings. Dr. Klimcak and her team also provide fillings, crowns, bridges, veneers, teeth whitening, and implant restorations.

Please go to cassklimcakdmd.com to see the office and staff. You are invited to call the office to schedule an appointment with one of the friendly team members.

DR. CASS F. KLIMCAK ► WHERE: 1000 Eagle Point Corp. Dr., Suite 102 ► CALL: 205-981-9449

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NAAZ DHANANI LUSH THREADING AND SPA A young, very talented and passionate entrepreneur, Naaz Dhanani owns Lush Threading and Spa. It features a variety of spa services, including waxing, facials, individual eyelash extension, haircuts, hair color and hot oil treatments, spa body treatments and much more. The salon, which has been open since 2010, specializes in threading.

“Many people still aren’t aware of threading,” Dhanani said. “It’s an old, but efficient technique. When there was no wax or tweezers, they used thread to arch brows and remove unwanted hair, that come out of the follicle and last longer and is very precise.”

Dhanani grew up in India and moved to the U.S. with an American dream.

Dhanani’s mother and sisters were her inspiration while growing up. “I loved helping my sister in her salon during my summer vacation,” Dhanani said.

It was when she really became passionate about grooming others, and she went on to pursue her cosmetology license. In 2010, it was a dream come true for her, and her family when their first salon opened in Hoover.

LUSH THREADING AND SPA

► WHERE: 4618 U.S. 280 ► CALL: 205-582-9969

LAURA ROBINSON M&M JEWELERS Laura Robinson opened M&M Jewelers in 1991 and takes pride in the hometown jewelry store that has served the local community for 25 years.

M&M moved to its current location in Inverness Corners in November 2013.

Robinson, the sole owner, is a Resident Graduate Gemologist.

M&M Jewelers specializes in jewelry design, appraisals, jewelry/watch repairs, jewelry insurance replacement, engagement rings, exotic colored stones, new watches and pearl jewelry. The store offers a large selection of exquisite diamonds for customers to view. Robinson can answer any questions about the precious stones.

The store offers one-to-one personal assistance to all customers in a relaxed hometown atmosphere. Robinson is committed to excellent customer service no matter how large or small the purchase.

“My philosophy is to make sure each customer is satisfied with their purchase, repair, etc., and know that M&M Jewelers can assist with all jewelry needs...even just a watch battery,” she said.

M&M JEWELERS ► WHERE: 440 Inverness Corners ► CALL: 205-991-0593

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WENDI PEEKS Women

CABINET CURES Wendi Peeks, owner of Cabinet Cures of Birmingham, is a custom cabinet refacing specialist.

“I work with homeowners who need or want an investment quality, kitchen cabinet makeover. And, personally, I have been there, so I can definitely relate to my clients. I have been that homeowner who has built and sold homes, remodeled homes, and I have so owned those outdated (in my case, oak) cabinets! What I didn’t own then was my own cabinet refacing business. It really is today’s ‘go to’ solution for creating a fabulous kitchen transformation without the cost and time of remodeling,” Peeks said.

The 3-yearold company is built on the strength of service and relationships. For Peeks, it’s all about serving the client.

“When I come into a home, it’s not about a job to me, it’s about a relationship and the opportunity to serve — whether I end up doing a kitchen makeover or not. I know the quality of the product I use, I know that I put forward an experienced and professional install team, and I believe in my abilities to guide the homeowner through the decisions and the process, so they are the givens.

“What I want to do better everyday is personal —it’s getting to know, understand, and appreciate the prospects or clients that come into my

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life. I’m not the fit for everyone, and, I shouldn’t be, but I hope that I bring something into their day that is positive and can be passed forward.”

CABINET CURES ► WHERE: 5291 Valleydale Road, #121 ► CALL: 205-598-0331

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CHRIS COLLINS

MIRANDA CARTER

HOMEWOOD ANTIQUES AND MARKETPLACE

JOHNNY RAY’S BBQ, CHELSEA

Chris Collins of Chelsea opened Homewood Antiques and Marketplace in September of 2010. Though it’s a bit of a drive from her home, visiting with customers as they drop into her eclectic store in the “quaint neighborhood” environment makes it all worth it. Part of Collins’ dream was to be located in an “old-fashioned” walking community, and she has found that in Edgewood.

“It’s great because you really get to know your customers. We know all of customers by name, ” she said.

She loves the relaxed, quaint atmosphere with people coming and going, moms dropping in and the overall great neighborhood environment. In addition to antiques, Homewood Antiques and Marketplace also features new and repurposed items. Customers will fine home furnishings, accessories, gift items, new clothing for both adults and children and much more. As Collins likes to say, it offers “old and new and everything in between.”

HOMEWOOD ANTIQUES AND MARKETPLACE ► WHERE: 930 Oxmoor Road, Homewood ► CALL: 205-414-9945

Miranda Carter, owner and operator of Johnny Ray’s BBQ in Chelsea and Columbiana, was recently honored by AL.com and Birmingham Magazine’s program Women Who Shape the State, which recognizes female leaders in Alabama. She was the only person in Shelby County included in 2015’s list of 34 women. She has also been honored with awards that include Business of the Year, New Business of the Year and Ambassador of the Year for the South Shelby County Chamber, Business of the year for the Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce and Best Barbecue in Shelby Living’s Best of the Best contest.

She attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham in business management and opened her first franchise, Johnny Ray’s BBQ in Chelsea at the age of 19.

“It was such an honor that he believed in me at such a young age,” Carter said. “It was always a dream of mine to own a restaurant.”

JOHNNY RAY’S BBQ, CHELSEA ► WHERE: 10569 U.S. 280, Chelsea ► CALL: 205-678-8418

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JESSICA SCARSELLA MASTER SCARSELLA’S WORLD CLASS TAE KWON DO Jessica Scarsella is the co-owner of Master Scarsella’s World Class Tae Kwon Do, which offers classes in Tae Kwon Do for children, adults and families in the Birmingham area.

“The philosophy of World Class Tae Kwon Do is to teach the highest quality martial arts, to empower our students with valuable skills for daily life, and to contribute to a safe and peaceful community,” Jessica said.

She discovered the world of Tae Kwon Do first as a way to get fit.

“I began Tae Kwon Do as a way to exercise and learn some self-defense,” she said. But she gained so much more than a workout regime.

Now she wants to share what she has learned with others.

“At World Class Tae Kwon Do, we want each student to do his or her best. I know the goals and struggles of our students, and it is inspiring to see them working their hardest in class and using the respect, focus and self-confidence that we develop in class when they are off the mat as well. Daily I can see students making small strides toward their long-term goals,” she said.

One of Jessica’s favorite parts about their program is that Tae Kwon Do is for everybody! “From ages 4 to 74, Tae Kwon Do is a great way for boys, girls, women and men to work on focus, confidence, self-defense and relieving stress.”

Women of 280

MASTER SCARSELLA’S WORLD CLASS TAE KWON DO ► WHERE: 268 Inverness Center Drive ► CALL: 205-981-9636

ABBE BALL Women

CHURCH UNLIMITED Abbe Ball and her husband, Brandon, launched Church Unlimited in December of 2014.

“Ever since I can remember, church has been an important part of my life.

After majoring in Vocal Performance at Montevallo, I attended Bible School and got married. My husband, Brandon, and I began serving in our local church.

After serving faithfully for many years, an incredible opportunity was presented to launch a church on 280, which was always a dream for us,” Abbe said. “At Church Unlimited, we want everyone to experience the joys that come from doing life with others who ultimately become like family.”

The idea of Church Unlimited is to introduce others to a spiritual awakening that transcends the limits of everyday life.

“So many people are struggling from day to day. Not just to pay their bills or hold a job, but struggling to find meaning in life. Society, pressures, deadlines and circumstances can put boundaries around us, and keep us from our full potential. We want people to know that they don’t have to live within these invisible fences. When we invite God into our lives, he heals our hearts, and helps us experience a life without limits,” she said.

She finds fulfillment in watching people find the support they need as they meet life’s challenges. “Seeing people overcome difficult, sometimes hopeless situations is a tremendous reward for me. It is an honor to be a part of people’s lives, to serve them, and watch them grow in their relationship with God.”

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CHURCH UNLIMITED ► WHERE: 5235 U.S. 280 ► CALL: 205-968-1180 ► WEBSITE: www.mychurchunlimited.com

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NENA MANISCALCO DANCE SOUTH STUDIO As the owner and director of Dance South Studio, Nena Maniscalco is in her 26th year of providing exceptional dance instruction in Shelby County for beginner, intermediate and advanced level dancers.

“Our continued success shows that Dance South is a well-respected dance studio in the community providing thousands of students over the years with the best dance training and executing dance performances for audiences that are family friendly based on age appropriate music, choreography and costumes,” Maniscalco said.

Maniscalco started her dance school in the fall of 1989 as the only after-school activity at Inverness Elementary. After a few years, the demand for classes led her to build a professional studio facility in Chelsea. Her success has grown from showcasing annual dance recitals at Inverness Elementary, to the Performing Arts Center at Oak Mountain High School, to multi-show professional recital productions at the BJCC each year.

The faculty teaches classes in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical/contemporary, hip-hop, clogging, dance technique and dance conditioning. Additionally, beginner and advanced classes are available in gymnastics and dance acrobatics. Dance education is offered to recreational and competitive students as well as those who are simultaneously pursuing opportunities in Birmingham musical theater productions, individuals performing dance talent in pageants, and dancers performing on middle and high school dance teams.

The main studio is located at 316 Foothills Drive in Chelsea, but Dance South also provides dance instruction to students in six other remote locations in North Shelby County. For information, visit the website at www.dancesouth.com.

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DANCE SOUTH STUDIO ► WHERE: 316 Foothills Drive, Chelsea ► CALL: 205-678-4414

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DR. CHERIE JOHNSON CHIROPRACTIC ACUPUNCTURE HEALTH CENTER Our clinic wants to help reduce typical aches and discomforts, but our overall goal is to treat chronic conditions from the source. We want to treat the patient as a whole, not just their symptoms. I work with patients who are experiencing issues such as; neck, mid and low back pain, arthritis, disc degeneration, and joint discomfort. With acupuncture, we treat patients encountering infertility, insomnia, neuralgia and depression.

I offer a wide range of natural supplements, along with individual nutritional counseling, detox programs, and a yeast cleanse for those seeking to change their diet and lifestyle. I work with diabetics and hypoglycemics on lowering blood sugar naturally; teaching them the process of correct carbohydrate and sugar intake. I like doing hair analysis testing as a way to determine if a patient has heavy metal toxicity or mineral imbalances that could affect hormones, adrenal glands, thyroid problems, and other system issues. With over 14 years of experience, I find chiropractic care, acupuncture and good nutrition complement each other to reach desired results.

CHIROPRACTIC ACUPUNCTURE HEALTH CENTER ► WHERE: 2800 Greystone Commercial Blvd., Suite 2B ► CALL: 205-408-5600

MONICA BARNETT SMITH EXCLUSIVELY BALLET & DANCE Monica Barnett Smith, owner/artistic director of Exclusively Ballet & Dance, is a graduate of UAB and former principal dancer with the Alabama Ballet. She teaches dancers of all ages and ambitions from the budding professional to the enthusiastic novice.

“I believe our success has been a result of offering the highest quality of dance training in a warm but professional environment,” she said. “We offer a wide variety of dance classes in all disciplines, not just ballet. We accept dancers from 3 years old to the young at heart. Exclusively Ballet & Dance offers their students a unique opportunity by giving them a choice when deciding their future: recreational classes in all discipline: ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, lyrical, modern and hip hop. Our main goal is to help students looking to pursue dance professionally.

We can also enhance dance skills to be part of a school dance team, gymnastics team or individually for as an ice skater. Private lessons are available to those who would like individual attention in all disciplines. Our goal is to meet the dancers’ expectations and help them achieve their dreams.”

EXCLUSIVELY BALLET & DANCE ► WHERE: 7154 Cahaba Valley Road ► CALL: 205-995-9220

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MARY ANNE TURNBULL, KATHY HENTON, GINI BETH WELCH EXPEDIA CRUISESHIPCENTERS Mary Anne Turnbull, Kathy Henton and Gini Beth Welch of Expedia CruiseShipCenters work to give clients the vacation of their dreams.

Expedia CruiseShipCenters offers a variety of services that includes not only planning cruises, but anything travel related, including creating itineraries for land travel, tours, all inclusive reservations, air, hotel and car rentals for groups or individuals. They can book anything travel related for clients and there’s no charge for them to handle it. The cruise lines, hotels and other booking agencies pay the agents individually on commission.

They derive great satisfaction from the pleasure they bring to clients. They enjoy “providing expert advice and the best value to our customers, helping them to enjoy the experiences with their friends and family members that enrich life. And being there when they need us should any problem arise when they travel,” Turnbull said.

When clients book with Expedia CruiseShipCenters they get its top 2,000 list, which gets the best prices or deals that are pre-negotiated by Expedia CruiseShipCenter’s group department in Vancouver, providing deeper discounts. “We are here to serve and make travel decisions simpler and more pleasant. Because we are paid by our suppliers and not the client, our services usually save the client money, as well as time and hassle,” said Welch.

“The fun of working with a team, sharing ideas and insights…and then the joy of hearing about the experiences of my clients when they return from their travel,” makes all of the hard work worthwhile, Turnbull said.

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EXPEDIA CRUISESHIPCENTERS ► WHERE: 270 Doug Baker Blvd., Suite 500 ► CALL: 205-437-3354

LAURA PURVIS Women

DECORATING DEN INTERIORS Laura Purvis began sewing custom window treatments in her basement in 1999 after a friend needed draperies for a new home.

One thing led to another, and her “hobby” grew into a full custom window treatment workroom.

In 2013, Laura decided it was time to offer her clients more than just curtains and purchased Decorating Den Interiors, the world’s largest interior decorating franchise company.

It was one of the best decisions Purvis ever made. Her passion for fabrics and furnishings and her eye for all things design has turned into her dream job.

“At Decorating Den Interiors, we have a pretty simple design philosophy: We think your home’s interior should express your tastes and support your lifestyle,” Purvis said. “We work with your budget and save you time and money by bringing everything to you. With our complimentary consultation, we can assess your needs and lifestyle and develop a plan that works for you and your family.”

From initial consultation, to product selection, to final installation, “we handle every detail,” she said. “We offer window coverings, upholstery and fine furniture, custom bedding, floor and wall coverings, lighting and accessories. We are a true full service, beginning-to end decorating service. So you can be sure your ‘after’ will be the home of your dreams!”

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DECORATING DEN INTERIORS ► EMAIL: laurap@decoratingden.com ► CALL: 205-447-4589

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LISA MARIE Women

EVERYDAY PET STYLES

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Lisa Marie brings 25 years of experience to her business Everyday Pet Styles, which has been in business eight years.

Everyday Pet Styles provides clients with professional, knowledgeable, compassionate and respectful service. Lisa Marie takes special care when grooming pets. There is no cage drying. Dogs are hand fluffed, and she does scissored styles, balancing layers throughout the hair.

Lisa Marie grew up helping her dad and stepmother with their grooming business in Maryland. Though she entertained the idea of other professions, including journalism, it was pet care that stole her heart.

“I fell in love with grooming and received so much joy from turning a shaggy dog into a kissable pet … dogs get more love when they’re groomed,” she said.

Sometimes, dogs that are not regularly groomed can have an uncomfortable experience. Lisa Marie is sensitive to their special needs.

“It’s about building trust with the dog and the pet owner. I like ending on a good note, so that the next visit is associated with happy thoughts,” she said. By taking time to make pets feel more comfortable and addressing their unique situation, Everyday Pet Styles creates a great experience for both the pet and their owner.

Though working with some dogs that aren’t regularly groomed can be challenging, it’s always worthwhile.

“It’s years of training that enables me to get the job done safely and efficiently.

It’s the dogs themselves that keep her motivated. She attributes her inspiration to “tail wagging, dog breath kisses and smiles from my clients.”

EVERYDAY PET STYLES ► WHERE: 8687 County Road 11, Chelsea ► CALL: 205-678-9385

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MELANIE GOODWIN, KELLY ANDERSON, LISA SHAPIRO AND KEYLA HANDLEY

VICKI TAYLOR

GREATER SHELBY COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

ELITE BOUTIQUE

Shelby County continues to be recognized as one of Alabama’s premier counties and home to some of the state’s best communities in which to live. The Greater Shelby County Chamber — through its strong volunteer base, staff and collaborative partners — is committed to ensuring that Shelby County continues to be the premier place to live and do business through its program of work which includes: business development and support, community and workforce development, governmental relations, increased visibility for its investors and some of the best business networking opportunities anywhere.

The Chamber relies on several outstanding women on their professional staff to help accomplish these goals. That group includes: Melanie Goodwin, (Comptroller and Director of Operations); Keyla Handley, (Director, Community and Investor Development); Lisa Shapiro, (Director, Communications and Marketing); Kelly Anderson, (Manager of Workforce Development).

Vicki Taylor, the owner of Elite Boutique, which has been in business for four years, never dreamed she would be in business for herself, but when the opportunity came, she went for it.

At Elite Boutique, they strive “to offer the highest quality of clothing and customer service we possibly can,” Taylor said. “We also strive to inspire and empower women to be the best version of themselves they can possibly be rather than a clone of what others think they should be.”

The clientele is as eclectic as the variety of clothing and accessories.

“I love getting to know my clients and their families. We truly love our clients and have their best interest at heart. Everyone who walks in the door is greeted with a smiling face and a warm heart. Despite size, age, race or budget, there is always something for everyone at Elite Boutique!”

GREATER SHELBY COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ► WHERE: 1301 County Services Drive, Pelham ► CALL: 205-663-4542

ELITE BOUTIQUE ► WHERE: 2663 Valleydale Road ► CALL: 205-408-0220

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DR. JESSICA PALMER Women

NARROWS FAMILY EYE CARE Dr. Jessica Palmer of Narrows Family Eye Care is a leader in the field of clinical eye care and vision disorders.

Palmer, who has been in private practice for nine years, provides patients with eye health examinations, refractive exams for contacts/glasses, vision therapy-eye exercises for children with crossed or lazy eye, ocular disease management-glaucoma, macular degeneration and other vision concerns.

Palmer is passionate about helping others and it shows. It began with her love of science combined with her innate compassion for others. She found the perfect profession in the field of optometry.

“I knew early on that I wanted to be in the medical field,” she said.

“I loved science and helping others. I chose optometry because there is something special about being able to help someone see clearly. I believe your vision is your most valuable sense, and that how you see can affect your whole disposition in life.”

Palmer pursued her passion in college and graduated from Troy State University in Troy, Alabama, with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1999. She obtained her Doctorate of Optometry degree from the University of Alabama, Birmingham in 2005.

She is a leader in her profession and is a member of the American Optometric

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Association, the Alabama Optometric Association, the Birmingham Area Optometric Society and the University of Alabama, Birmingham, School of Optometry Alumni Association.

“We believe in top-notch service, with current diagnostic equipment and quality eyewear. We go above and beyond to help you see clearly,” she said.

NARROWS FAMILY EYE CARE ► WHERE: 13521 Old Highway 280, Suite 249 ► CALL: 205-980-4530

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TAMMY ROGERS BEAUMONT PHARMACY AND GIFT BOUTIQUE Beaumont Pharmacy and Gift Boutique, owned by Tammy Rogers, isn’t your ordinary pharmacy. Complete with its own soda shop, patrons can order everything from a prescription to a gift basket.

“Customer service is our main priority,” said Rogers, who is also the lead pharmacist. “We know all of our customers by name and are willing to go above and beyond to satisfy every customer.”

The pharmacy is fully equipped to assist customers with any medical need.

Beaumont also specializes in compounding, pet medicine flavoring, child medicine flavoring, nutrition counseling and immunizations. While waiting on orders, customers enjoy a treat from Beaumont’s old fashioned, in-store ice cream shop. The ice cream parlor offers everything from ice cream cones to build your own sundaes.

Rogers and her staff are happy to assemble the perfect gift basket for any occasion. “Anything we do is fast, friendly and convenient,” Rogers said.

BEAUMONT PHARMACY AND GIFT BOUTIQUE ► WHERE: 264 Inverness Center Drive ► CALL: 205-991-7171

DYMPHNA ‘DEE’ BAUDOIN HEALTH MATTERS Dymphna “Dee” Baudoin was inspired more than 25 years ago to explore natural health after experiencing chronic health issues.

“Lifestyle changes and vitamin and herbal supplements allowed my body to heal. Within six months, I was symptom free, and my quality of life was restored.”

Dee’s vision is to address the whole person.

“We don’t focus on symptoms, we look for root causes.” The 5.0 Elite, a bio feedback scan that identifies pathogen stressors and other variables contributing to health issues, enables Dee to recommend supplementation and homeopathy specific to the client’s needs. EVOX, a perception reframing counseling tool, facilitates a person’s shifting from a stuck thought pattern, helping them move to a place of healthier thinking.

“These modalities allow me to focus on the whole person in the healing process. My goal is to educate, equip, and encourage others to live their lives to the fullest.”

HEALTH MATTERS ► WHERE: 3000 Meadow Lake Drive, Suite #105 ► CALL: 205-408-6901

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MICHELLE MAURO Women

GRADEPOWER LEARNING OF BIRMINGHAM Michelle Mauro is committed to fostering learning in the students she works with at GradePower Learning.

Mauro is quick to point out their program is different from the typical tutoring service.

“In our experience, tutoring simply doesn’t work. In fact, more often than not, ‘tutoring’ is counterproductive to the learning process,” she said.

“At the core of our programs is an underlying philosophy to teach students how to learn. This gives students a sense of control over their own minds and builds authentic self-esteem. It’s important to note that most other commercial tutoring programs use rote learning, behavior modification processes, or mastery through repetition. Each has been proven ineffective and don’t lead to long-term success. Before we opened GradePower, many of our families had no choice but to find this out the hard way. Now, their kids are with us and are seeing real progress not just with class grades, but with benchmark tests such as ACT, Stanford, and Iowa,” she said.

“Like many families in our area, we understand that well-educated youth are crucial to the health of our region. Statistics show that, in Shelby County alone, more than 6,000 school-aged kids are underperforming in the classroom and need the specific solutions we offer. Further, another 3,000 have potential to attain even higher educational standards.”

GradePower is a member of the Oxford Learning family, which was founded in 1984 in London, Ontario, Canada, by Dr. Nick Whitehead. The U.S. 280 location opened in April of 2013.

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GRADEPOWER LEARNING ► WHERE: 1401 Doug Baker Blvd., Suite 105 ► CALL: 205-980-5745

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ANGIE NAVARRE

DR. SHARON L. SNIDER

HIGHLAND SHOE COMPANY

SNIDER THERAPY CENTERS, INC.

Angie Navarre is the owner of the Highland Shoe Company, which opened in March 2015 and features shoes, clothing, jewelry and more.

“My kids are teenagers now, and the timing was right for mom to pursue her dreams,” Navarre said. “All of our jewelry is handmade, and we like to support our local artists, such as Lucy’s Inspired and Kristalize. Our store is about comfort, quality and style.”

Being an entrepreneur comes naturally to Navarre.

“My grandparents and parents were business owners. I think it is in my blood to be an entrepreneur. It gives me great joy getting to know each of my customers. My customers are truly a blessing to me,” she said.

“My philosophy is to treat people with kindness. I appreciate my customers’ patronage and hope they enjoy the products they purchase from our store.”

HIGHLAND SHOE COMPANY ► WHERE: Village at Lee Branch, 250 Doug Baker Blvd. ► CALL: 205-783-5325

Dr. Sharon L. Snider, Developmental Optometrist, offers a unique approach in her practice at Snider Therapy Centers, Inc. It is the only practice in the state of Alabama specializing in the field of neuro-visual rehabilitation. They have three offices located in Birmingham, Huntsville and Columbus, Mississippi. Patients travel from distances as far away as Kentucky and the Florida Panhandle. This is one of few practices in the nation that combine visual, auditory and vestibular therapies in one location.

Dr. Snider graduated from the UAB School of Optometry in 1983 with a Doctorate in Optometry. She obtained her first board certification in the field of Developmental Optometry in 1996.

“My personal opinion is that our brains are created by God and are far more changeable than most people are aware. It is the philosophy of neuroplasticity on which our therapies are based,” she said. “We believe performance, whether school, athletic or social can improve with appropriate therapeutic interventions.”

SNIDER THERAPY CENTERS, INC. ► WHERE: 4000 Meadow Lake Drive, Suite 121 ► CALL: 205-408-4414

280Living.com

January 2016 • B17

LELA A. CAMPBELL

Women

MD WELLNESS AND AESTHETICS

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Lela A. Campbell, one of the owners of MD Wellness and Aesthetics, has always been passionate about health and wellness.

She and her husband, Dr. Brian Campbell, a graduate of Emory University and a boardcertified physician, started the clinic in 2014.

“I love helping people,” Campbell said. “I feel like we can make a positive difference in so many people’s lives.”

MD Wellness and Aesthetics offers a variety of services for both men and women. These include medically supervised weight loss programs, bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, vitamin injections and IV Infusions. Also available are anti-aging treatments, such as, Botox, Juvederm and Restylane. One of Campbell’s favorite procedures is the Eclipse Micro Pen Elite with PRP (platelet rich plasma) for nonsurgical skin rejuvenation and hair restoration.

Campbell works alongside her husband, Wellness Consultant Susan Brignet and Medical Assistant Alison Evans. They assess patients needs and create a program that can address a variety of concerns, such as weight loss, hormonal imbalance, anti-aging and nutritional concerns. They treat the whole person, not just a symptom, Campbell said.

“We really enjoy being a part of our patient’s success stories,” she said. “There are many instances where patients have called to thank us for making them feel like themselves again.

“It does require a commitment from them.

We are not a quick fix. We don’t want to be a quick fix. We want to encourage and support healthy lifestyle changes,” she said.

The Campbells have three sons in the Mountain Brook school system and are members of the Hoover Chamber of Commerce and Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce.

MD WELLNESS AND AESTHETICS ► WHERE: 650 Inverness Corners ► CALL: 205-582-9216

Women

Women

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KRISTA YOUNG LEMON TREE YOGA Krista Young, owner of Lemon Tree Yoga, found her passion in yoga when she discovered its benefits in relieving her back pain from years of sitting at her desk job. She also noticed its calming effects. Believing that others could also benefit from the healing effects of yoga, Young, a certified yoga instructor, opened Lemon Tree Yoga four months ago.

“The more I learned, the more I wanted to practice and share its healing benefits with others,” she said.

Young loves working with her students and watching them grow.

She values “seeing an improvement in my students. Watching them smile to themselves as they progress,” she said. “Everyone can do yoga. It is for all ages, body types and levels of fitness. Being inflexible is not an excuse not to try yoga, because yoga can help you become more flexible, along with improving balance, strength and so many other things.”

LEMON TREE YOGA ► WHERE: 611 Doug Baker Blvd., Suite 116 ► CALL: 205-913-3491

BRITTANY SANDRETTO SALON 43 ONE Brittany Sandretto launched Salon 43 One about three months ago.

“I have been working in a hair salon since the age of 15. I have always loved it and decided to finally open my very own,” she said. “It has always been a dream of mine. My parents have their own business. I saw the hard work they put into it but also how rewarding it was as well. My husband finally pushed me to open my very own salon. He was 100 percent behind me and supports me every day.”

The salon is committed to excellent customer service in a comfortable atmosphere.

“We are a hair salon that was created to provide excellence. Every person who comes in will enjoy their time and be totally amazed when they leave. I also wanted a place where people feel welcomed and love coming to get their hair done. It’s just a home away from home.”

SALON 43 ONE ► WHERE: 5291 Valleydale Road ► CALL: 205-968-1620

280 Living

B18 • January 2016

APRIL STONE Women

SOUTH SHELBY COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE April Stone is the executive director of the South Shelby Chamber of Commerce.

The 22-year-old Chamber of Commerce was incorporated in October of 1993 and represents six communities, including Columbiana, Chelsea, Westover, Vincent, Wilsonville and Harpersville.

Stone has been in chamber work for more than 13 years. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Montevallo in the area of mass communications.

“I was working toward a career in television, and I realized that television was not where my interest lied. I began to research new career avenues and found a Chamber of Commerce in Shelby County. I was excited about living and working in the same county,” she said.

She discovered her love for working with communities and business and fostering the growth and development of her county. The mission of the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce is “to support stakeholders for the stability and growth of the South Shelby Region by providing service that cultivates economic expansion and growth.”

Stone has been a part of the vibrant growth in Shelby County from the addition of new tourist attractions to the development of new businesses and the growth of employment in the county.

She finds meaning each day in her profession as she works with business owners, and she is inspired by the idea that she can help someone’s business.

“My favorite part of chamber work is the opportunity to refer someone to a member so they can develop those better business relationships that positively impact their bottom lines,” she said.

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SOUTH SHELBY COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ► WHERE: 208 E College St., Columbiana ► CALL: 205-669-9075

MELANYE MORRIS MELANYE MORRIS ESTHETICS

Women

Melanye Morris brought 25 years of experience in the beauty industry with her when she opened her own business in Birmingham a year ago.

“I believe that there is a science and an art to facials,” she said. “I utilize my expertise and creativity to blend the medical and spa fields into every facial.

Having worked as a makeup artist, spa director, physician assistant and education and sales executive provides my clients with a holistic skin care program.

Partnering with my clients to determine their skin concerns and exploring avenues that drive results often include wellness concepts. There are many factors that can impact skin health. Some examples are one’s current diet, skin care routine, water intake, exercise, prescription medications and even the changing seasons. Stress can also affect the skin causing multiple problems.”

Morris incorporates massage techniques to reduce stress that many of us see on our face every morning when we look in the mirror.

Morris’ interest in skin care began in her youth.

“When I was a young girl and would be ‘missing’ at the grocery store, my mother always knew where to find me: aisle 12 (the skin care and beauty section). I always knew that I would be a part of the beauty industry.”

Morris decided to leave the safety of the corporate world and start her esthetic studio located inside Salon Suites.

“Improving your skin health requires commitment and routine. It is a partnership. Together we can create radiant, healthy, glowing skin one facial at a time.”

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MELANYE MORRIS ESTHETICS ► WHERE: 5363 Highway 280, Suite 13 ► CALL: 205-757-7540 ► WEB: birminghamfacials.com

280Living.com

January 2016 • B19

NANCY NORRIS Women

ROSEGATE DESIGN INC. Interior designer Nancy Norris opened Rosegate Designs in 1999.

Along with partner Abby Lieb and an amazing team of decorators, they’ve created a successful business that serves the needs of many residents and commercial customers in Birmingham and the Southeastern area. Rosegate offers comprehensive outside design services and a turnkey workroom for custom window treatments, bedding, upholstery, and pillows.

With an onsite design center stocked with designer fabrics and samples, Rosegate Design is the perfect resource for designers, decorators and those wanting a beautiful home.

Norris works with her team of designers to create a living or working space that best represents the individual. The store’s inventory of about 500 bolts of fabrics plus samples makes it easy to find any style or color for the right price.

Clients will also find showcases of home accessories, custom floral arrangements, fine furnishings and seasonal items.

The Rosegate team keeps up-todate on the latest trends in patterns, prints and color schemes so they can create classic room designs.

“There are many interior design teams in Alabama to choose from,” Norris said. “Whether your tastes are traditional or lean to the contemporary, our team has the resources to provide our clients with beautiful, classic and functional spaces. The energy at Rosegate is contagious.”

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ROSEGATE DESIGN INC. ► WHERE: 6801 Cahaba Valley Rd., Suite 102 ► CALL: 205-980-5014

Women

Women

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DR. IRMA LEON PALMER

ELLEN MORRIS

CHIROPRACTIC TODAY

THE GINGERBREAD LADY

Dr. Irma Leon Palmer began Chiropractic Today, a bilingual wellness chiropractic center in 1993 out of a passion to help others. Her passion spills over to her clients, as she inspires them through her own actions and philosophy, which is to “Serve!”

“I love to give and serve others, lead, guide and encourage those desiring outstanding health on a journey to restore it in the most natural way possible,” she said. “My goal is to make a difference in the lives that I have an opportunity to influence. I want to share my knowledge and provide a common sense game plan to achieve 100 percent health and well-being. I desire to inspire people to move towards health and to make a positive impact on the lives of those in our circles of influence and make a difference in the future generations. I love to provide hope, direction and a strategy for patients to attain a healthier lifestyle.”

Ellen Morris, founder of The Gingerbread Lady, LLC, learned to make gingerbread houses from her mother when she was a teenager. She began donating the elaborate houses for charity and soon began her own business.

Now, the popular gingerbread houses have received numerous awards and even appeared on numerous local television programs and was even featured nationally as part of the Christmas set on “The Young and the Restless.” She created a replica of the governor’s mansion to raise funds for its renovation and was commissioned to make the gingerbread replica of the White House at American Village in Montevallo.

She has been featured in The Birmingham News, The Gadsden Times, Southern Living at Home and Over the Mountain Journal, among others.

The Irondale store closed Dec. 24, and the new 280 store will open when renovations are complete in late January or February. The Gingerbread Lady also features a gift shop filled with a variety of eclectic gifts for every occasion all prewrapped and ready to go. “Expect The Unexpected” at The Gingerbread Lady.

CHIROPRACTIC TODAY ► WHERE: 420 Inverness Corners ► CALL: 205-991-3511

THE GINGERBREAD LADY ► WHERE: 5510 U.S. 280 ► CALL: 205-960-7040

280 Living

B20 • January 2016

DEANNA PIZITZ, AMY MCCOOL, MEREDITH LATIMER PURE BARRE

Women

Deanna Pizitz, Amy McCool and Meredith Latimer are owners of Pure Barre 280. Pizitz opened the fitness studio almost five years ago with two other partners. She was previously an instructor at the Pure Barre in Homewood. McCool and Latimer, both previously instructors, bought the previous partners’ shares of the business last November. They all credit Pure Barre for transforming not only their bodies, but their lives. The three joined forces to create a place where women feel empowered and inspired to reach their full potential.

Pure Barre is not just a workout, but a culture unto itself that encourages and supports women who come there to become the person they aspire to be. Pizitz not only saw instant results from the Pure Barre technique, but was drawn to the vibrant atmosphere.

“I always wanted to go into business for myself because my parents were in business for themselves,” she said.

The result is a place where women can thrive. “Really it is all about helping and empowering women to become the best they can be,” said Pizitz.

They find inspiration in “the women who come in our studio! They have all had different life experiences, and they have pushed through adversities and continue to strive to be stronger women,” said Pizitz.

They want everyone to feel a part of the studio they have created and know “that it is a welcoming, warm environment where women come to work out and encourage each other to become the best version of themselves.”

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PURE BARRE ► WHERE: 610 Inverness Corners ► CALL: 205-991-5224

Women

Women

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TERRY CRUTCHFIELD RE/MAX ADVANTAGE SOUTH As an experience Realtor® of more than 30 years, Terry Crutchfield is the perfect person to help you find your dream home. With her knowledge of surrounding communities and homes for sale, she can hone in on the perfect house for you. Crutchfield always makes her client her top priority.

Her enthusiastic approach, energy and passion serve her well in providing exceptional service to clients. Before, during and after the sale, she has the ability to listen to clients and assist them in making wise investment decisions.

As native Alabamian, she sees Birmingham as a hidden gem with countless amenities, from a thriving economy to five star restaurants, world-class sporting events and entertainment. Terry feels blessed to reside here and enjoys introducing visitors and clients to the beauty of our area. She devotes her free time to family and raising funds for cancer research and clothing the less fortunate.

TONYA YOUNGBLOOD AND JESSICA WILDER SOUTHERN ROOTS Tonya Youngblood and Jessica Wilder opened Southern Roots almost two years ago. The boutique specializes in clothing for ladies and tween girls.

“Over the years, Jessica and I have helped others in their businesses, so we are very familiar with running a business. We decided to take the leap and open our own business,” Youngblood said.

They were inspired by their own love of fashion and shopping, and they are passionate about providing stylish and comfortable clothing for ladies of “all shapes and sizes at affordable prices,” Youngblood said. “Our customers inspire us on a daily basis. We love when they come in and say that they love shopping in our store.”

Southern Roots has something for everyone. “We want people to know that even though we are a small boutique, we carry a variety of sizes and that our inventory is constantly changing. You could see something new every day.”

RE/MAX ADVANTAGE SOUTH

SOUTHERN ROOTS

► WHERE: 2635 Valleydale Road, Suite 200 ► CALL: 205-873-3205

► WHERE: 48 Chesser Crane Road, Suite E, Chelsea ► CALL: 205-678-3990

280Living.com

January 2016 • B21

HEIDI STRAUSS Women

STRAUSS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. Heidi Strauss, president and co-founder of Strauss Financial Group, Inc., provides wealth management and investment consulting for clients. She entered the profession in 1984 after realizing how little emphasis was being devoted to women and their financial security.

“Finance and business were skills that came naturally to me, and I wanted to share my knowledge in a simple and understandable way with other women.

After obtaining a business degree, I joined a brokerage firm consisting of 22 men and myself,” she said.

Strauss preferred to focus on solutions for clients rather than the sales centered focus that the brokerage firm expected. As a result, she opened her own firm in 1988 and developed an independent fee-based financial advisory business that put the client first.

She has since helped many clients reach their financial goals.

“Creating and preserving wealth for generations is our mission, and we strive to do this by offering objective, personalized financial advice,” she said. “With 31 years of experience, I have dealt with almost every financial situation and strive to be the trusted adviser and resource person for my clients when financial questions arise.”

Strauss is inspired by the personal relationships and trust that she has developed over the years and the financial benefits created by proper planning.

“I get great personal satisfaction when I help a client retire early with financial security, guide a widow through the transition of losing her life partner or help create enough assets to pay for college. These are the tangible results of my efforts, and to be able to create peace of mind and eliminate stress is extremely rewarding.”

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STRAUSS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. Creating and Preserving Wealth for Generations

► WHERE: 2201 Cahaba Valley Drive, Suite 200 ► CALL: 205-967-9595 ► EMAIL: hstrauss@straussfinancial.com

Women

Women

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DANIE’L CALLEGAN

KIM NGUYEN

REVITALIZE AT GREYSTONE

UPTOWN NAIL SPA

When Danie’l Callegan decided to return to school, she chose the field of esthetics because of a passion for skin care and a desire to help others.

She opened Revitalize at Greystone located within Reeves Cosmetic Dentistry in 2014.

In her skin studio she provides customized, advanced facial treatments and waxing services. The studio is a convenient addition for those receiving dental services to book a facial, peel or brow wax along with their regular appointment. The office also offers treatments such as Botox, Restylane and Juvederm. All injectables are administered by Dr. Todd Reeves.

Revitalize uses Image, a pharmaceutical-grade skin care line based out of Florida, in its treatment protocols and embodies the “Live Now, AGE LATER” slogan. When Callegan is not helping clients to look and feel their best, she spends time with her husband, Trey, and three sons, Hayden, Connor and Gavin.

Kim Nguyen brings 23 years of experience to her business, Uptown Nails, which opened two years ago. The popular nail salon provides clients with excellent service in a comfortable environment.

Not only do they provide excellent service, but they also create a luxurious experience for the customer. Services include pedicures and gel manicures, with a variety of colors to choose from. There are also a variety of special artist designs available. In addition, the team at Uptown Nails also offers acrylic nails, basic manicures and waxing. Nguyen prides herself on offering customers a beautiful and clean atmosphere. Pedicure spa tubs feature disposable liners. Nguyen’s attention to detail and customer service is the reason for her success and excellent reputation.

Nguyen takes time with each client’s needs and desires. Her kindness and attentiveness to clients has earned her lifelong customers, making Uptown Nails the perfect place for pampering.

REVITALIZE AT GREYSTONE

UPTOWN NAIL SPA

► WHERE: 8040 Hugh Daniel Drive ► CALL: 205-305-7222

► WHERE: 4851 Cahaba River Road ► CALL: 205-703-8290

280 Living

B22 • January 2016

SHERRY POUNCEY Women

ARCPOINT LABS

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Sherry Pouncey is the co-owner of ARCpoint Labs, a clinical lab specializing in affordable clinical testing for patients with no or high deductible insurance. ARCpoint also performs Medicare wellness exams, life insurance physicals, drug and alcohol testing, DNA, pre-employment background screens, corporate wellness programs and DOT compliance including random programs and physicals. It provides drug screen programs for several local schools and also manages random drug programs for families and individuals.

“As a locally owned ARCpoint Labs franchisee, we offer the personal service of a local business with the resources and network of a national brand,” Pouncey said.

“My husband and I researched business opportunities that would allow us both to work in areas that would maximize our professional strengths. As a nurse, this was an easy professional transition. I run the lab and office every day. My husband handles development. ... Our philosophy is simple: We provide caring, professional services in a variety of work environments.

Whether in business, raising children or life in general, the right way is the only way.

With that in mind, we’ll be successful.”

ARCpoint allows her to make a true difference in others’ lives, which as a former nurse is important to her.

“Being a nurse, you have the privilege and obligation to make a difference in the lives of your patients. It’s no different at ARCpoint. Whether it’s offering professionalism and respect while performing discreet testing like paternity or infidelity or helping someone understand their lab results, it’s my opportunity to make a difference.”

ARCPOINT LABS ► WHERE: 5510 U.S. 280, #215 ► CALL: 205-582-4055

Women

Women

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CHRISTY ALVERSON ZIG ZAG SEWING STUDIO Christy Alverson opened Zig Zag Sewing Studio in Chelsea in 2011. The Brother and Handi Quilter dealership has been a successful business venture, and a second location opened December in Pelham.

“We sell to and teach consumers how to use sewing, quilting and embroidery machines when purchased, and two technicians are on staff for service and repair,” Alverson said. “Our shop also has all of the supplies essential to the completion of sewing projects: fabric, sewing patterns, tools and notions, as well as blank items for embroidery such as shirts, totes, hand towels and baby items. We are also a monogram shop specializing in one-of-a-kind custom monogramming and appliqué.”

Monogramming and embroidery are a great at-home business.

“At Zig Zag, we offer everything that is needed to those who want to start an at-home business, beginning with a machine and outstanding customer support.”

ZIG ZAG SEWING STUDIO ► WHERE: 48 Chesser Crane Road, Suite A&B, Chelsea; and 2156 Pelham Parkway, Suite C, Pelham ► CALL: 205-678-9822

MARIANNE LANGAN AND PAM MITCHELL WINDOW DÉCOR HOMESTORE Pam Mitchell and Marianne Langan have more than 30 years combined experience in providing custom window treatments. Their store, Window Décor Homestore, provides customers with custom window treatments including blinds, shades, shutters, draperies and hardware. They offer custom bedding and pillows and a large selection of fabrics, and offer full interior design services. They are the only Hunter Douglas Gallery in Birmingham, showcasing window coverings, including customer favorites like Duette® Honeycomb Shades, Silhouette® Window Shadings, Luminette® Privacy Sheers, wood blinds, shutters and more.

Mitchell has always had a love for interior design and found a special niche with window treatments. She is passionate about providing clients quality products.

“With constant upgrades and nonstop innovation, I will continue to strive for higher standards and to be the best that I can be at what I do.”

Her work continues to inspire her through “meeting new people and putting smiles on their faces, when I can turn their home or office into that masterpiece.

WINDOW DÉCOR HOMESTORE ► WHERE: 1401 Doug Baker Blvd. ► CALL: 205-437-9575

280Living.com

January 2016 • B23

Women

Women

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MICHELLE BUTTS AND CINDY PARNELL

MARIAN WASHBURN

THE DITSY DAISY

Marian Washburn opened Insurance Place in 1988. The company provides insurance for individuals, families and businesses located in Birmingham and surrounding areas, handling both their personal and business insurance needs.

“My family was in the insurance business, and the opportunity arose for me to start an office of my own a few years after college,” she said.

The business venture offered Washburn the chance to “build a business from the ground up, to provide a career for myself and financial support for my family,” she said.

Washburn focuses on putting clients at ease as she helps them navigate the world of insurance by providing information and services that make the process easy and effective.

“We strive to be prompt, efficient, available and appreciative of our customers,” she said.

She loves working with people and building meaningful relationships. “Everyone is unique and we enjoy talking to and getting to know our customers.”

Michelle Butts and her mother, Cindy Parnell, owners of The Ditsy Daisy, offer a great selection of styles for shoppers. Since opening in 2011, the women’s boutique has grown locally and online with customers from across Alabama and all the way from South Florida and north to Maryland. Their spacious Chelsea location offers ample space to browse through clothing from several different lines, as well as jewelry, shoes and small gift items.

Michelle, who was looking for a different avenue to pursue after studying computer science at Auburn University, came up with the idea for the store.

“I had previously owned a boutique in Sylacauga, and Michelle came to me saying, ‘Mom, why don’t we open a boutique in Chelsea?’” Parnell said. A venture was born, and now younger daughter, Lindsey Parnell, is also part of the team. Together the trio offers a great selection for every woman!

THE DITSY DAISY ► WHERE: 16383 U.S. 280, Chelsea ► CALL: 205-678-6166

INSURANCE PLACE

INSURANCE PLACE ► WHERE: 2225 Cahaba Valley Drive ► CALL: 205-995-1956

KELLY PARKER Women

HERITAGE MEDICINE Kelly Parker, B.S., clinic administrator of Heritage Medicine, was first inspired to open the practice that she shares with her husband, Matthew Parker, MD, while still a student at Samford University. It was during this time she did a thesis on how to drive down the cost of health care. She also served in the Air Force as a medic prior to finishing her degree at Samford. It was while serving in the Air Force in Texas, where she met her husband.

The two were both passionate about returning to an earlier time in medicine, when doctors took time with patients and treated the whole person. Their mutual interests resulted in Heritage Medicine, which they opened together in Birmingham in 2011. Together with their staff, which includes Emma Richardson, (front office manager), Alisha Ahmed, (patient care technician), Nancy Marie, (patient care liaison) and Regina Bergfeld, (receptionist), they attend to patients’ needs and concerns.

The practice offers traditional medicine, as well as a variety of other forms of treatment that can remedy an illness or concern without exorbitant cost, while treating the root of the problem and not just the symptom.

Various methods of treatment can range from Ayurvedic, Chinese medicine and Appalachian, utilizing herbs.

“We want to treat the whole person and their family,” she said. “We want to be a friend and someone the patient can depend on. We take the time that they need. If they need an hour, we will take an hour with them. Our practice is patient centered, not doctor centered.”

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HERITAGE MEDICINE ► WHERE: 50 Manning Place, Mt Laurel ► CALL: 205-995-4690