12 • January 2014
The Homewood Star
Community
Annual Salamander Festival to take place at Senior Center
A date with Buddy Holly Homewood-based Assistance League of Birmingham will host a date with Buddy Holly on Jan. 25. The night will be one of ’50s fun and includes dinner, drinks, a silent auction and the musical, Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story. The fundraiser will benefit the three nonprofit programs of Assistance League: PrimeTime Treasures, Operation School Bell and Operation Literacy. Attendees are invited to wear poodle skirts, leather jackets and bobby socks for the event. The event will be held at the Virginia Samford Theatre at Caldwell Park and begins at 6 p.m. Tickets are $100 or $125 for preferred orchestra seating. Call 870-5555 to purchase tickets. To learn more about Assistance League of Birmingham, visit assistanceleaguebhm.org or find them on Facebook.
Colleen Adams and Melinda Thornbury pose with Buddy Holly.
Holmes receives mayor’s proclamation The annual Salamander Festival features a variety of activities for all ages including, of course, salamanders themselves.
Friends of Shades Creek will hold its annual Salamander Festival on Saturday, Jan. 25 from 3-5:30 p.m. at the Homewood Senior Center, located adjacent to Patriot Park in West Homewood. The free event marks the season when salamanders migrate from the mountain of Homewood Forest Preserve by Homewood High School to a wetland pool to find a mate and lay eggs. “If you’re lucky, you might see them do their dance in the wetland pool during the migration,” said Michelle Blackwood, president of Friends of Shades Creek.
University professors will be at the festival to talk and answer questions about salamanders. Educational displays will cover fish, recycling, composting, gardening, fossil tracks, native plants and wildflowers. The festival will also feature music, dancing, a chocolate fountain and other food, and crafts for kids. Festival entry and crafts are free. T-shirts and novelty items will be for sale, and there is a small charge for food at the chocolate fountain. For more information on Friends of Shades Creek, visit shadescreek.org.
Homewood Mayor Scott McBrayer recently presented to Will Holmes a proclamation in honor of her 101.5 years of age. Holmes, a resident of Windsor Drive in Homewood for more than 43 years, was presented with the framed proclamation prior to an Amaranth Club luncheon meeting at Homewood Public Library. Holmes is the former director of social work for Children’s Aid and is a graduate of both the University of Chicago and Tulane University. She is a longtime member of the Amaranth Club and is known for her wit, kindness, inspiration and many years of enjoyment in the Club. Hostesses for the event were Margaret Wiygul, Beth Hardwick, Angela Comfort, Pam Colbert and Jocelyn Bradley. Charles Buchanan, author of Fading Ads of Birmingham, was the speaker, and the event was catered by The Yellow Bicycle. The Amaranth Club, one of the oldest literary clubs in the area, was founded in 1897 by daughters of many of Birmingham’s pioneer families, and some of their descendants remain among those on the roster.
Scott McBrayer shares the proclamation with Will Holmes in the Homewood Public Library Auditorium.