Hoover Sun July 2016

Sun grow

Neighborly news & entertainment for Hoover

Volume 4 | Issue 10 | July 2016

watching the garden

$2.6M worth of projects still planned for city ‘jewel’

By JON ANDERSON

S

ince Aldridge Gardens opened in 2002, officials have been INSIDE chipping away at their master Maps and plan, adding a new garden here, more of a new feature there, year by what’s in year. store, A26 But there still are more than $2.6 million worth of projects in the master plan, and officials are eager to see the 30-acre public gardens continue to blossom and grow.

“It’s just a jewel here in this city,” said Aldridge Gardens CEO Tynette Lynch.

More than 84,000 people visited Aldridge last year, making it the sixth most visited free attraction in the state, according to the Alabama Tourism Department.

See GARDENS | page A26

INSIDE Sponsors ......... A4 News ................. A6 Business .........A12 Events .............A17

Aldridge Gardens’ CEO Tynette Lynch is looking forward to seeing the gardens continue to expand in the years to come.

Photo by Frank Couch.

3 Decades with Gray

School House .. B11 Sports .............. B15 Real Estate...... B21 Calendar ......... B22

Pre-Sort Standard U.S. Postage PAID Memphis, TN Permit #830

facebook.com/thehooversun Hunter Street Baptist Church celebrates pastor Buddy Gray’s 30 years of leading, feeding the church.

See page B6

Voter Guide: 2016 Local elections are approaching fast, so be sure you’re up to speed on who’s running for re-election, key issues and voting do’s and don’ts.

See page A8

Freedom Fest readies eclectic lineup to rock this Fourth

By JON ANDERSON Whether you like country music, rock ’n’ roll, rhythm and blues, jazz, pop or something else, organizers of the 2016 Freedom Fest at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium hope to have something to suit your taste on the Fourth of July.

The fourth annual music and fireworks festival will feature musicians who cover a variety of genres.

First on the stage about 6 p.m. will be the Air National Guard Band of the South, a concert band of about 40 members based out of Tennessee who will play a set of patriotic songs.

The 2016 Freedom Fest will for the first time accompany the fireworks show with live music from the Band of the South. Photo courtesy of Lance Shores.

They’ll be followed by Bailey Ingle, a 17-yearold headed into her senior year at Hoover High School and pursuing a career in country music.

Then comes The Negotiators, a cover band made up of musicians from the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa area who play mostly rock, but also

See FREEDOM | page A24

A2 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

HooverSun.com

July 2016 • A3

A4 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

About Us Editor’s Note By Sydney Cromwell Will you be voting?

I don’t mean in the national elections in November. I’m talking about the elections taking place in your city next month.

I’ve covered my fair share of city council meetings, budget hearings and planning commissions over the last couple of years. Those meetings have left me convinced that no vote will affect your daily life more than the vote you place in your local city council and mayoral elections.

The people you choose to represent you are critical on small-scale projects — streetlights in your neighborhood or sidewalks to your school, for example — as well as larger ones such as attracting new businesses and funding police and fire services.

Despite this importance, the majority of people do not vote in their city elections.

Inside this month’s issue, you’ll find all the information on how to register to vote, what seats are up for election

and where and when to vote. If you’re feeling stirred to civic duty, we also have information on how to qualify as a candidate.

Next month, be on the lookout for our complete election guide with candidate profiles and everything you need to know before you go to the polls. We at the Hoover Sun want to make it as easy as possible for you to vote and get the best possible representation in your city for the next four years.

MEET OUR INTERNS

Maryellen Newton Junior, Samford University Hometown: Birmingham What do you want to learn while you’re here?

“I’m really interested in print journalism, so I’m excited to learn not only how the print side operates, but also behind the scenes of how it comes to be.”

Correction

Alyx Chandler Senior, University of Alabama Hometown: Madison, AL What do you want to learn while you’re here?

“I’m most interested in longform, in-depth community features, also investigative reports and stories on women-focused issues. While I’m here, I hope to expand my knowledge of how to market and best capture an audience for a new paper through social media, as well as writing hyper-local features that tell the stories community members might not know otherwise.”

Ali Renckens Junior, Union University Hometown: Tampa, FL What do you want to learn while you’re here?

“I really enjoy writing creative nonfiction feature pieces. I’m not much of a sports reporter, but I do read a lot of sports writing, so I would defini ely be interested in improving that!”

In the article “Finding a niche in the neighborhood” in the June edition of

Sun Publisher: Managing Editor: Design Editor: Director of Photography: Director of Digital Media: Sports Editor: Page Designers:

Dan Starnes Sydney Cromwell Kristin Williams Frank Couch Heather VacLav Kyle Parmley Cameron Tipton Emily VanderMey Community Reporters: Ana Good Erica Techo Jon Anderson Staff Writers: Emily Featherston Sam Chandler Copy Editor: Louisa Jeffries

Advertising Manager: Matthew Allen Sales and Distribution: Warren Caldwell Don Harris Michelle Salem Haynes Brittany Joffrion Rhonda Smith James Plunkett Jon Harrison

Katherine Polcari Junior, BirminghamSouthern College Hometown: Chattanooga What do you want to learn while you’re here?

“I want to be able to center my future career around writing, and preferably I will end up working for a magazine. I am hoping that this internship with Starnes Publishing will reassure myself in my future career path and allow me to improve upon my abilities as a journalist.”

Hoover Sun, John Giffi ’s name was misspelled. We regret the error.

Contributing Writers: Leah Ingram Eagle Marienne Thomas Ogle Jesse Chambers Grace Thornton

For advertising contact: dan@starnespublishing.com Contact Information: Hoover Sun PO Box 530341 Birmingham, AL 35253 (205) 313-1780 dan@starnespublishing.com

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

Published by: Hoover Sun LLC

Legals: The Hoover Sun is published monthly. Reproduction or use of editorial or graphic content without prior permission is prohibited. The Hoover Sun is designed to inform the Hoover community of area school, family and community events. Information in The Hoover Sun is gathered from sources considered reliable but the accuracy cannot be guaranteed. All articles/photos submitted become the property of The Hoover Sun. 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.

Please Support Our Community Partners 30 A Realty (A19) Alabama Allergy & Asthma Center (A15) Alabama Power (A21) Anna Lu Hemphill, Realty South (A15) ARC Realty (A21) Auto Oasis Express Wash (A24) Batts’ Chimney Services (B5) Bedzzz Express (A1, B3) BenchMark Physical Therapy (B12) Birmingham Children’s Theatre (B7) Black Pearl (B2) Bromberg & Company, Inc. (B17) Brookwood Baptist Diagnostic Center (A12) Brookwood Medical Center (A27) California Closets (B14) Carbon Recall (B5) Carpet Warehouse Galleria (A7) Central Alabama Cadillac Dealers (A9) Children’s of Alabama (A25) Derrick Murphy for Hoover City Council (A1) DSLD Land Management (A5) EZ Roof & EZ Restoration (B13) Frank Brocato for Mayor (A16) Gardner Landscaping (B16) Gary Ivey for Mayor (A13) Gary Ivey for Mayor (B4) Geico Insurance (A17) Grandview Medical (B19) Hoover Florist (A18) Hoover Public Library (A10) Huntington Learning Center (B19) Issis & Sons (B9) JamJev Gymnastics (B17) Jana Hanna, RealtySouth (A13) Kasey Davis Dentistry (B1) LAH Real Estate - Hoover Offi e (B21) Magic City Chiropractic (B21) Neuralife (B2) Moran’s Rocky Ridge Hardware (B9) Mr. Chen’s Authentic Chinese (B22) Outdoor Living Areas (A14) Oxmoor Valley Orthodontics (B20) Patti Schreiner, Re/MAX Southern Homes (A6) Pure Dermatology & Aesthetics (B24) RealtySouth Marketing (B16, B23) River Highlands of Birmingham (B11) Sarver Orthodontics (B22) Sentry Heating & Air (B10) Sugar Sands Realty (B22) Sweetspire Gardens (A10) The Comedy Club Inc. (A3) The Maids (A6) The Tile Cleaner LLC (A3) Therapy South Hoover (B6) Tracey Mercer, Optometrist (A23) UAB Center for Exercise Medicine (A23, B20) UAB Honors College (A5) UAB Medical West (A28) Urban Home Market (A2) Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church (B14) Vitalogy Wellness Center (A22, A25) Vulcan Termite & Pest Control (A24) Vulcan Tire & Automotive (A9) Wedgworth Construction (A8) Weigh To Wellness (B15) Wilcox Communities (B22) Wrapsody (A18)

HooverSun.com

July 2016 • A5

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A6 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

City

Estimated cost of Hoover Sportsplex increases to $76M

By JON ANDERSON The cost of the planned Hoover Sportsplex next to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium has risen from an estimated $70 million to an estimated $76 million, Hoover Executive Director Allen Pate said.

There are numerous reasons for the cost increase, including increasing the square footage of the indoor event center from about 141,000 to about 155,000 square feet, Pate said. This will allow more room for circulation, bigger restrooms and more room outside the boundary lines of indoor fields or courts, he said.

Revised plans also include a tennis pro shop and shade structures over the seating area at the tennis courts, Pate said.

Additionally, the cost of relocating a gas pipeline came in higher than anticipated, and the previous $20.8 million budgeted for the indoor event center did not include furniture, fixtures and equipment, Pate said.

Both the previous $70 million estimate and current $76 million estimate include $3.3 million for unexpected contingency expenses.

The Sportsplex is slated to include an indoor event center, five baseball/ softball fields the same size as the field at the Hoover Met, five soccer/lacrosse/ football fields and 16 tennis courts.

The indoor facility will accommodate a full-size football or soccer field, nine regulation-size basketball courts, 12 regulation-size volleyball courts or six indoor tennis courts, city officials said. It will not be tall enough to accommodate a football game with punting but could handle a 7-on-7 game.

The event center also is slated to include a recreational walking track suspended 14 feet in the air, an athletic training and rehab center, a food court and a covered walkway connecting it to the Hoover Met. City leaders plan to borrow $80 million to pay for the Sportsplex and other “miscellaneous improvements” in the city.

Pate said about $76 million of the borrowed money would be budgeted for the Sportsplex, but he hopes the cost will actually come in less as various construction packages are bid out.

“When all is said and done, we’re going to hopefully be very close to where we started,” Pate said.

Site work for the indoor event center began on May 31 after the SEC Baseball Tournament ended.

The goal is to have the indoor event center operational by the next SEC Baseball Tournament in May 2017 and to have the sports fields and tennis complex completed by February 2018, Pate said.

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Referred for a reason.

The 124acre Hoover Sportsplex being built next to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium is slated to include a 155,000-squarefoot indoor event center, five baseball/ softball fields the size of the field at the Hoover Met, five soccer/ lacrosse/ football fields and 16 tennis courts. Sketch provided by Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood.

HooverSun.com

July 2016 • A7

Mayor’s Minute

By Gary Ivey

Summer is in full swing, National Night Out is designed which means long days at the to heighten crime and drug prepool, picnics and cookouts where vention awareness, strengthen neighborhood spirit with our folks are grilling! July is the peak month for grill fires, and roughly police and fire community parthalf of the injuries involving nerships and send a message to grills are thermal burns. criminals letting them know that Be sure to visit the City of neighborhoods are fighting back.

Hoover Fire Department’s FaceThis is always a very successful book page where we have listed event and refreshments will be numerous safety tips to keep you provided. and your family safe while you We have many activities and are cooking out this summer. events going on in our city this Gary Ivey We are so excited about the summer. Please be sure to visit groundbreaking ceremony for our website for a complete list of the Hoover Sports & Events Center that was events at hooveralabama.gov or call 444-7500. held June 14! The indoor event center should Please remember, your elected officials and be complete by May 2017 and the sports fields the city staff are here to serve you, so please finished by February 2018. This is going to be don’t hesitate to contact our office. such a fantastic addition to our community and something for all ages for enjoy.

Be sure to save the date for the National Night Out held on Tuesday, Aug. 2 at the Grove Shopping Center.

Council rezones 1,523 acres for 1,150 houses in Blackridge

By JON ANDERSON

and developers to sit down together and discuss longThe Hoover City Council term strategic planning and in June voted 6-1 to rezone the impact that any growth 1,523 acres in southwest and development has on the Hoover to make way for a school district.

1,150-house development “I’m very appreciative called Blackridge. of developers when they Signature Homes and share with us, but there Riverwoods Holdings plan really is a difference in to build the houses on being informed and in being property just southwest of engaged,” Murphy said. the 500-house Lake Wil“What happens in our city born community planned has a tremendous impact at the end of Stadium Trace on us as a school district …

Parkway.

Every home that’s built has The land previously was that impact on us.” zoned for either agricultural School officials estimate use or not zoned at all. the school system gains When this property was The Blackridge development is in one child from every 2.73 annexed in 1993 and 1994 yellow, while Lake Wilborn is in homes, Murphy said. with another 900 acres, blue. The red line is the existing Hoover planning conElvira Road, which would be city officials promised the sultant Bob House said the developers they could build replaced with a new road. Photo city charges every builder a 2.25 houses per acre, which by Jon Anderson. $1,500 “front-door” buildwould have allowed 3,382 ing permit fee and sends houses on the Blackridge property, Signature that money to the schools.

Homes President Jonathan Belcher said.

The developers of Blackridge have agreed to However, developers decided to decrease the provide an additional $1,500 for every house in density and build only 1,150 houses. They ini- Blackridge to the city, House said. However, tially asked the city to reserve 1,232 of the “lost” the city has not designated that extra $1,500 per homes for other property owned by Signature, house to go to the school system, House said. but that request was eliminated.

Bluff Park resident Curt Posey asked how Belcher said he anticipates the Blackridge much the city will get in property taxes from the community will add about 460 students to Blackridge development. Belcher said the averHoover schools, including 170 to 180 students age home value should be in excess of $500,000 at Hoover High. However, there will be an esti- or $600,000. Hoover Finance Director Robert mated 815 fewer students than there would have Yeager said a $500,000 home in Shelby County been previously, Belcher said. would generate $321 for the city and $1,639 The annexation agreement required the develop- for the Hoover school system each year. If each ers to provide a school site for every 1,800 homes, home had two vehicles valued at $15,000, the but since this development will not have 1,800 school system would get another $180 per home homes, a school site will not be required yet. per year, Yeager said.

Including this development, the city as a At complete buildout, Blackridge would genwhole has almost 6,000 houses on the books erate more than $2 million a year for the Hoover that are yet to be built, Belcher said. Blackridge school system and more than $370,000 for the accounts for about 20 percent of those, he said. city, according to Yeager's calculations.

Hoover Schools Superintendent Kathy The annexation agreements for the Blackridge Murphy said if all of those homes are built in property also require the developers to provide the next 10 to 15 years as projected, there would 29 acres for a park, but Belcher said Signature is be an estimated 5,288 high school students in donating more than 60 acres for a park along the Hoover City Schools. The maximum capacity at Cahaba River. The Blackridge developers also the two existing high schools is 5,372 students, have agreed to build a fire station. but the optimum capacity is 4,834 students, John Greene, the only councilman to vote Murphy said. So if all of those homes are built, against the rezoning, said he is not in favor of the district would be “significantly over optimal any additional residential construction in Hoover capacity” at the high school level without addi- at this time because of the additional burden it tional high school space being added, she said. places on the school system, city services and (in Murphy said she looks forward to having an this instance) traffic problems on South Shades opportunity for city officials, school officials Crest Road.

A8 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

r e v o o H

By JON ANDERSON

As the summer heats up, so is the campaign season for Hoover city elections. This August, Hoover residents will head to the polls to vote for their mayor and candidates to fill all seven City Council seats.

Here are a few things you need to know before election day.

The issues ► EDUCATION FUNDING: School funding likely is the hottest topic. Liz Wallace, Russet Woods resident and former president of the Hoover Parent Teacher Council, said many people are getting re-educated about city funding cuts to the school system, which started more than a decade ago.

The City Council in place in 2004 voted to quit giving Hoover schools 16 percent of the city’s sales tax revenues and instead provide a flat dollar amount.

At first, it was about $2 million a year, but parents protested and funding was bumped up to $7.1 million in fiscal 2006 and then $7.5 million in 2007 and 2008.

But in 2009, the City Council cut the school contribution back to $2 million, and it remained at that level through fiscal 2015. Over the past 14 years, city funding cuts have cost the Hoover school system more than $78 million collectively, city financial records show.

The City Council in December decided to increase its annual funding for schools by about $1.3 million. Superintendent Kathy Murphy said she appreciated the increased funding and hopes school and city leaders can continue to look for more ways for the city to support the school system.

Some people say the school system is still in good shape for right now, thanks to $85.6 million it received from a Jefferson County bond issue in fiscal 2007.

School officials have been relying on that money to cover budget deficits and say that pot of money eventually will run out.

Murphy said there must be a significant increase in revenues or a significant decrease in expenditures, or some combination of the two, to avoid a crisis. But others note the school system’s overall fund balance still was at $93 million at the beginning of this budget year.

Murphy and the school board are cutting staff and certain electives for the coming school year, which upsets some parents who believe Hoover schools should not have to experience such cuts.

Other parents are concerned about

school crowding and say the school system will soon need much more money to build a third high school.

“I d o n ’t think ignoring that problem Murphy is going to be good in the long run,” Wallace said.

David Bradley, a former Hoover councilman, said he thinks the group pushing for more education funding is small and that most people are happy with their city government.

However, “the way I see it, the city is not satisfied with the amount of [school] funding either,” Bradley said. “They just don’t seem to have enough money to go around.”

So much of the city’s budget is tied up in personnel and capital indebtedness, Bradley said.

It’s tough to come up with large amounts of money without raising taxes, he said.

“I’m eager to learn how much the schools would need,” Bradley said. ► SPORTSPLEX AND DEVELOPMENT: The push by Mayor Gary Ivey

and the City Council to build a $76 million Sportsplex next to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium also is an issue.

Many people involved in the parks and recreation programs say they are thrilled to see the city spending money to build a sports complex, which they believe will help relieve overcrowded city sports fields and bring in revenue from athletic tournaments.

But numerous residents have expressed frustration with how the council went about the project, providing just a few days’ notice to residents before a vote on the project.

“I’m just appalled that they would even consider that kind of debt without a lot more public input,” Wallace said.

t a h W

The sports groups were notified about the project in advance and were lined up there to support it, but the rest of the public was “blindsided” with it, Wallace said. “We felt kind of railroaded.”

And numerous residents have expressed frustration with the rate of residential growth in Hoover, saying it is overburdening schools and city roads.

“It’s not the builders’ responsibility to worry about whether city infrastructure can support those homes, but it is the city’s responsibility to make sure we can support more children in schools, more people connected to the sewer system and more cars on the streets,” Wallace said.

“City leaders act like they’re helpless to do anything about those issues.”

Bradley said Hoover needs the growth.

“I realize that as a city so dependent on sales taxes, we’ve got to find ways to get more people into the city,” he said. Maintaining the status quo in city government is not an option, he said. “You’re either going to grow, or you’re going to die.”

Plus, “I don’t know how you can really stop development in Hoover,” Bradley said. “You can’t refuse a property owner a building permit.”

He believes people are willing to have controlled growth and that the best solution is to try to find a way to make the schools whole, he said. ► PICKING COUNCIL SEATS: Bradley said one of the most interesting aspects of this year’s election is trying to figure if all the council members will seek office again. Six of them have said they plan to run, but Councilman Brian Skelton, who has battled health issues, said he is undecided.

Many of the challengers have not declared which place on the council they will seek. Hoover is not divided into geographic districts, so all seven of Hoover’s council seats are elected at large, with every resident voting for all seven council seats if they are all contested.

Bradley said he went to a campaign school 30 years ago and learned that if

Candidates can’t officially start qualifying until July 5, but at least half a dozen residents already have announced their intention to try to replace current council members, and Mayor Gary Ivey is facing a challenge from former Hoover Fire Marshal Frank Brocato.

One of the most pressing issues that keeps surfacing among the challengers is a desire for the city to provide more funding for the school system. Some candidates are calling for more control over residential growth, better long-term planning, a strong focus on public safety and better transparency and public involvement from city leaders.

“I think, as always, Hoover is divided into a lot of factions,” Wallace said.

Some people’s first priority is schools, while others focus on public safety and still others are pushing for expansion of parks and recreation opportunities, Wallace said.

“It’s really hard to get people to look at other things besides their own interests,” she said.

There is an array of challengers this year, but that doesn’t always translate into heavy voter turnout, Wallace said.

“My group of friends are very interested and involved, but then I know there are other people who didn’t even know we were having an election this summer,” she said.

Campaign signs are beginning to proliferate as candidates gear up for the Aug. 23 municipal election in Hoover. Photo by Jon Anderson.

you’re going to defeat an incumbent, you have to give the voters a reason for a change.

“No matter how good the candidate is and even if the candidate would do a better job than the current official, the voters are not going to give them that chance if they run what I call a “me-too” campaign,” he said. “Unless these challengers present a significant reason to change, then it’s going to be tough to defeat the incumbents.”

HooverSun.com

July 2016 • A9

A10 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

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► REGISTERING TO RUN: Before registering to run for public office, a potential candidate must meet certain qualifications.

In the state of Alabama, a potential city council or mayoral candidate must be at least 18 years of age, a resident of their city for 90 days prior to election and a registered voter.

Candidates can qualify to run for Hoover City Council between July 5 and July 19. The election is 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 Aug. 23, 2015 — one year before the election.

PLACE 1 COUNCILMAN JOE RIVES

PLACE 2 COUNCILMAN GENE SMITH

PLACE 3 COUNCILMAN JOHN LYDA

Running for election after 2015 appointment

Running for re-election

Running for re-election

PLACE 4 COUNCILMAN JACK NATTER

PLACE 5 COUNCILMAN JACK WRIGHT

PLACE 6 COUNCILMAN BRIAN SKELTON

PLACE 7 COUNCILMAN JOHN GREENE

Running for re-election

Running for re-election

Undecided

Running for re-election

MAYOR GARY IVEY Running for re-election

`

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HooverSun.com

July 2016 • A11

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JULY 5

Candidates begin qualifying to run. While many candidates often announce their intention to run for election before this date, this is the day when the formal process of submitting qualifying forms begins.

The last day to qualify to run. All qualifying forms must be filed with the city clerk by 5 p.m.

AUG. 10

JULY 19

Last day to register to vote for the municipal election.

Last day to apply for a regular absentee ballot, available from the city clerk.

AUG. 23

e r e Wh POLLING LOCATIONS

REGISTERING TO VOTE

► FIRST TIME: The last day to register to vote in municipal elections is Aug. 10.

Voter registration is handled through county probate offices in Jefferson and Shelby counties, depending on residence.

Applicants who are registering to vote for the first time must complete a State of Alabama Voter Registration Form and submit it to the county where they live. The applicant must provide a physical address — not a P.O. box — as well as their date of birth and an original signature. A State of Alabama Voter Registration Card will be mailed to the voter, and that will show the voter’s polling location. ► FINDING FORMS: Voter registration forms can be found at the office of the Board of Registrars, licensing offices and public libraries.

Election day

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in the city limits, Handley said.

People who normally vote at a polling place outside the city limits will be reassigned to another polling place for the municipal election, she said.

Handley said she plans to mail out forms to registered voters informing them of their polling places, but residents also may call the city clerk’s office at 444-7500 for election information.

Voter registration forms can be mailed in, and some of those forms are available for pickup at the Hoover Municipal Center, City Clerk Margie Handley said.

Most people in Hoover will vote at the same place where they vote during other elections as long as the voting location is

w o H

AUG. 18

► VERIFYING INFORMATION: Voters who are already registered to vote should make sure their information, including name and address if there has been a recent change, is up to date. Voter registration does not transfer between counties even within the same state, and any voters who have moved into Shelby County will have to complete a new registration. Name changes and changes of address within the county must be made in writing and forwarded to the board of registrars.

Voters can check that they are registered to vote by entering their last name, county and date of birth at alabamavotes.gov. ► QUALIFICATIONS: To vote in a municipal election, such as Hoover’s election, a voter must live in the city for 30 days before registering to vote.

Applications sent by mail should be postmarked before Aug. 10 and sent directly to the board of registrars.

check Aug ust’s Hoover Su n f complete l ist of candida tes

M˜ e

Stay up to date with municipal election coverage at hooversun.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter

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A12 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

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HooverSun.com

July 2016 • A13

Now Open

822-7275, parkcrestevents.com

Chicken Salad Chick is now open at 3780 Riverchase Village, Suite 110, in the space formerly occupied by Southern Wicker. This is the second location in Hoover, following their restaurant at Lee Branch.

518-0256, chickensaladchick.com

Dr. Edgar Luna, owner of Diamond Smiles, 5336 Stadium Trace Parkway, Suite 102, recently attended the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies to receive further education on several subjects, including advanced neuromuscular rehabilitation, occlusal reconstruction, and advanced implant restoration.

988-9700, diamondsmiles.com

1

OrthoSports Associates has opened a new office at 2010 Patton Chapel Road, Suite 100.

939-0447, orthosportsassociates.com

2

Formosa Chinese Restaurant is now open at 2109 Lorna Ridge Lane. The restaurant opened in late March.

900-8021, facebook.com/FormosaHoover ChineseRestaurant

3

Naaman Clinic, a surgical dermatology clinic, is now open at 100 Concourse Parkway, Suite 265.

453-4195, naamanclinic.com

4

Verizon Wireless has opened a new concept store at 104 Inverness Corners.

The store includes “lifestyle zones” for customers, including “Anywhere Business” with technology for mobile professionals; “Home on the Go” with technology for the home; “Amplify It” with bluetooth speakers for music lovers; “Power Zone” with battery life assistance; and “Get Fit” with smartwatches and technology for fitness enthusiasts.

991-9229, verizonwireless.com

8

Expedia CruiseShip Center, 270 Doug Baker Boulevard, Suite 500, recently received the “Star of Stars” award, recognizing this location as one of the top performing first-year Expedia CruiseShip Centers in North America.

437-3354, cruiseshipcenters.com/greystone

9

Hirings and Promotions 10

5

News and Accomplishments TLS – Transportation and Logistical Services, 1855 Data Drive, Suite 170, was named the second-best place to work in Birmingham by the Birmingham Business Journal within the small business division.

866-281-9440, tlsincorp.com

6

Park Crest Event Facility, 2030 Little Valley Road, has opened its newest facility, The Carriage House. The facility is two levels and features more than 20,000 square feet of event space and large rooms.

7

Re/MAX Advantage South has hired Anna Cara Clark as a broker associate.

719-6663, annacaraclark.com

Keller Williams Realty, One Chase Corporate Drive, Suite 150, has hired Rhonda Anderson, Tony Blaha, Daniel Bray, Chris Caldwell, April Edmondson and Bridgett Stallworth as Realtors.

822-2272, 555.yourkwoffice.com

11

Park Crest Event Facility, 2030 Little Valley Road, has hired Jodi Lombardo as its new event manager.

822-7275, parkcrestevents.com

12

Southwestern Investment Group, 4960 Valleydale Road, Suite 200, has hired Jesse Scroggins, AAMS®, as a financial advisor. Scroggins is a graduate of the University of Alabama. He then worked to receive his AAMS® professional designation.

730-0054, southwesterninvestmentgroup.com

Mayor Ivey Will Continue To Move Hoover Forward!

13

Anniversaries Mainstreet Monograms and More, 160 Main Street, Suite 116, is celebrating its second anniversary in July.

444-8989

14

PUBLIC SAFETY • Crime rates in Hoover are among the lowest in the state.

• $1.2 million for 10 more police officers in 2016 • Endorsed by Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale and Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego • Expanded drug interdiction force; captured over $10 million in drugs EDUCATION • Strong supporter of Hoover City Schools • Increased city funding for Hoover schools during time as mayor • Secured an additional $1.3 million from the Hoover city budget for Hoover schools in 2016 • Led effort to fund 100% of the cost for School Resource Officers through the city budget

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A14 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

Word spreads about new event facility off Little Valley Road

By JON ANDERSON

Jodi Lombardo, the event manager for the Park Crest event center off Lorna Road, stands outside the new 20,000-squarefoot Carriage House. The upper floor of the Carriage House, called the Grandview Room, can hold 500 people standing or 350 people sitting at banquet tables.

Photos by Jon Anderson.

Hoover has a new event center that is quickly getting booked.

The Carriage House at Park Crest is a 20,000-square-foot event facility perched on a hill off Little Valley Road between Lorna Road and the Elevation Hoover apartments, just south of the U.S. 31 exit at Interstate 65.

Gary Beard, the owner of the South Hall Self-Storage business, has been operating a small event center called Park Crest Place in the former Grammas Restaurant off Little Valley Road for about eight years.

He built a garden area designed for weddings and outdoor events and has been using the 5,000-square-foot former restaurant as a place for receptions, parties and corporate events.

But the small restaurant property wasn’t really big enough for many potential clients, Beard said.

“It was broken up into too many rooms,” he said. “Our customers want just a big ol’ room.”

Beard used adjacent property he owned to build the 20,000-squarefoot Carriage House. Originally, he was going to build a barn, but modified the plans and came up with the more upscale Carriage House concept, he said.

It took more than a year to build and opened in April. The two-story facility has a large, open room on

each floor, each able to accommodate 500 people standing or 350 sitting at banquet tables, said Jodi Lombardo, the Park Crest event manager.

The upstairs room, called the Grandview Room, is lit with chandeliers and includes a 35-foot-tall double-sided fireplace, a bride’s room and large windows that allow natural lighting. The downstairs room, called the Grammas floor, is equally spacious and includes a bar.

People can rent the entire 20,000-square-foot Carriage House for $4,500 on Mondays through Thursdays, $5,500 on Fridays and Sundays and $6,500 on Saturdays.

For an extra $1,000, the garden can be added onto the Carriage House rental.

Renting the garden and Park Crest Place starts at $3,500 and varies upon season and amenities. Renting Park Crest Place alone starts at $550 for corporate meetings and $1,500 for weddings and other events, Lombardo said.

So far, demand for the new Carriage House has been tremendous, Beard and Lombardo said.

“We’re completely booked for 2016 weekends, and I’ve got a handful of Saturdays in 2017 still left,” Lombardo said.

Demand for event space in the Birmingham area, much less the Hoover area, is great, especially since the

Chill out while you grill out

HooverSun.com

July 2016 • A15

WHERE TO FIND IT

The gardens

Park Crest Place

Carriage House

65 31

Cahaba Grand Conference Center off U.S. 280 soon will quit having corporate events after its purchase by the Church of the Highlands, Lombardo said.

The first event in the Carriage House was the Oak Mountain High School prom with 500 students, Lombardo said. They used both floors and had a disc jockey on the top floor and a band downstairs, she said.

There also already have been several weddings and college formal dances there.

Beard originally envisioned having two events going on simultaneously on the different floors, but parking became an issue, Lombardo said. The facility has 176 parking spaces, with valet service offered if more than 250 people are expected, she said.

Beard said he also is proud of the catering options at Park Crest. In March, he hired longtime Birmingham and Tuscaloosa area chef Darryl

Borden to be his in-house caterer.

Borden has more than 25 years in the food and catering business. He is perhaps best known as the original executive chef and partner in the Bombay Cafe, but he also has owned other ventures, including The Pub, The Canteen, The Veranda, About Thyme Catering at the University of Alabama and Gourmet Express, where he distributed handmade foods to upscale grocery stores and delis.

Borden has handled events for more than 2,000 guests at Bryant Denny Stadium, Coleman Coliseum and several golf tournaments. He also has handled events for Alabama football coach Nick Saban, preparing specialties for the Alabama team, coaches and recruits.

Beard has a collection of classic cars he offers for display at events, including inside the lower floor of the Carriage House if desired. The cars can be rented for wedding departures.

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Left: The bottom level of the Carriage House, called the Grammas Floor, can hold 500 people standing or 350 people sitting at banquet tables.

Above: The Gardens at Park Crest includes a view of Shades Mountain.

A16 • July 2016

Preview of

July

Luncheon The Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce will present its annual Freedom Award on July 21.

Regions Bank will sponsor the luncheon and the award, which was started in 2003 to recognize some of Hoover’s outstanding public servants who have dedicated themselves to the ideals of freedom.

The 2016 winner will be announced by Mayor Gary Ivey at the July 21 Hoover Chamber luncheon at the Hyatt Regency-The Wynfrey Hotel. Applicants for this award must be community role models, support local, state or federal government, promote the ideals of freedom, support the U.S. military and either live or work in Hoover. The winner will be determined by the City of Hoover Veterans Committee.

Networking begins at 11:15 a.m., with the program starting at noon. Reservations can be made by calling 988-5672 or emailing admin@hooverchamber.org. The luncheon is $20 for members or $25 for nonmembers or for those without reservations, if space is available. Payment may be made by cash, check or major credit card. You may also make reservations online at hooverchamber. org/lunch.html. Cancellations are accepted until the morning of the luncheon.

Hoover Sun

Chamber Dean: Community, universities must partner to solve problems

By ALI RENCKENS Higher education and the public must partner together to bring about the most effective, positive changes in the community, the dean of UAB’s School of Health Professions told the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce during the chamber’s June 16 luncheon.

Dr. Harold Jones, who has been dean for 15 years, expressed concern that the public increasingly fails to see how higher education affects their everyday lives.

“What we usually talk about is decline in financial support,” Jones told the 175 or so people gathered at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham – The Wynfrey Hotel. “What I’m more interested in is a decline in support for what it is we actually do … What we are is a collection of individuals with knowledge and abilities to solve problems.”

Jones emphasized the need for the community to make the university aware of what the problems are.

He talked about several programs to benefit the public that the university has undertaken with the aid of the community. For example, Gerber approached UAB to help tackle the problem of childhood obesity and diabetes.

In return, the university launched several initiatives to alleviate the issue.

“Let us be your partner,” Jones said.

“Whatever your issues are, come to us and ask us if there’s a way we can partner with you and help you solve the problem that you

Dr. Harold Jones speaks to the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce at the chamber’s monthly luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham – The Wynfrey Hotel on June 16.

Photo courtesy of Rhonda Pyatt/Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce.

find to be the most pressing.”

Once the university has listened to the public, the university can focus its efforts on helping by tailoring its teaching and research to solve community problems and partnering

with the community to carry out the most effective solutions.

“It is what we owe you as a public institution,” Jones said. “We owe you the greatest value of return.”

HooverSun.com

July 2016 • A17

Events

Hoover residents shop for produce at the Ross Bridge Farmers Market. Staff photo.

Ross Bridge Farmers Market back with fresh selections

By JESSE CHAMBERS A farmers market is back at Ross Bridge this summer for its second year offering products such as fresh produce and baked goods, as well as a wide range of activities and entertainment.

The Ross Bridge Farmers Market is open each Friday through Aug. 19 from 4 to 8 p.m., said market organizer Lyndsi Hughes.

The market is near the Ross Bridge Welcome Center at 2101 Grand Ave. in Hoover on the green space near the neighborhood’s front entrance.

The market “provides the opportunity for the Hoover community to get to know and support small family farms and local businesses in a fun and inviting atmosphere,” Hughes said last year.

Items offered include specialty desserts,

artisanal crafts and handmade bath and body products.

There is also live entertainment, food trucks for dinner and dessert and kids’ activities, including face painting and a bounce house.

“We want people to come and bring picnic blanket, let their kids play and enjoy summer Friday afternoons,” Hughes said.

Vendors include Southern Oaks Farms, Smith Heritage Farms, George Family Farms, Sprout and Pour, Garden Honey Bee, Dayspring Dairy, Bena’s Bones, Ivory Leshore’s Gourmet Bread Pudding, 5ive Oaks Pepper Jelly, Asher Riley and Bare Naked Noodles.

The market opened June 3.

For more information, go to facebook.com/ rossbridgefarmersmarket or to Instagram: rossbridgefarmersmarket.

People listen to music at the 2015 All-American Picnic at the Hoover Senior Center. This year’s picnic is scheduled for Friday, July 1. Photo courtesy of Hoover Senior Center.

Hoover Senior Center to host All-American Picnic for Fourth

By ALI RENCKENS The Hoover Senior Center plans to kick off the Fourth of July weekend with lunch and entertainment on Friday, July 1, at 12:30 p.m.

The All-American Picnic will feature live music by The New Hooteneers, performing folk music and traditional songs. There will be a moment to recognize veterans from all areas of the military.

“We’re excited about being able to honor our veterans,” said Dana Stewart, operations

supervisor of the senior center. “We have so much to be thankful for, and celebrating our independence is definitely not something we take lightly.”

The events team asks that people pre-register by noon on June 29, which can be done by submitting the $4 registration fee to the senior center. Checks should be made out to Hoover New Horizons. Veterans are admitted for free and can register by stopping by or calling the Hoover Senior Center at 739-6700.

The Hoover Senior Center is at 400 Municipal Drive.

A18 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

Rusty Coones will make an appearance at Bama’s Boots, Bands and Bikes event.

Photo courtesy of Peggy Seibert.

Bama’s Boots, Bands & Bikes II Weekend returns

By JESSE CHAMBERS Three Hots and a Cot will get some financial assistance of its own at Bama’s Boots, Bands & Bikes II Weekend on July 22-23.

The organization is a Birmingham nonprofit that works to help homeless veterans make a successful transition back to regular civilian life. It operates seven facilities for veterans, including transitional homes in Woodlawn and Center Point. Bama’s Boots, Bands and Bikes is based out of Hoover.

The two-day event will feature food and drink, live music, a special motorcycle ride and a TV celebrity appearance.

The weekend kicks off with the Veteran’s Benefit VIP Party at Cantina Laredo in Birmingham’s Uptown Entertainment District July 22 from 7 to 11 p.m.

The party includes food, drinks, a silent auction and an appearance by Rusty Coones, star of FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” and the upcoming A&E series “American Made.”

Coones will sign autographs and1 HF-HooverSunAdJune2016.qxp_Layout

be available for photos. The cost is $85 per person.

The Charity Bike Ride and the Harley Fest are Saturday.

Registration for the motorcycle ride is at Heart of Dixie Harley Davidson in Pelham at 9 a.m. The ride — to Riders Harley Davidson in Trussville — will begin at 11:30 a.m.

The HarleyFest at Riders will feature another appearance by Coones, as well as live music. Ken Randolph and Cooter Brown will play from 1 to 4 p.m. and the Randy Buell Band will perform from 5 to 9 p.m.

There will also be games, kids’ activities, food trucks, other vendors, a raffle and a silent auction.

Coones is not the first “Sons of Anarchy” actor to come to Birmingham for a veterans benefit. Series co-stars Tommy Flanagan and Mark Boone Jr. appeared at the first “Boots, Bands and Bikes” event in May 2015 in Hoover and Pelham. That event raised money for the national veterans Boot Campaign.

6/9/16 8:01 AM Page 1

Bark and Wine set for July 23 at Greystone Country Club

By ANA GOOD The seventh annual Bark and Wine event benefiting the Shelby Humane Society will be July 23 at Greystone Country Club.

The informal event, hosted by the Shelby Humane Society’s board of directors, will include dinner, silent and live auction items, services and trips donated by the Humane Society’s supporters.

The event will kick off at 6 p.m. with complimentary wine and beer selections as well as a silent auction. At 7 p.m., guests have a strolling dinner including carving and pasta stations. The night’s program and live auction, hosted by Granger Thagard, will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $150 per person and are limited to 140 reservations. Guests are asked to RSVP by July 1.

Sponsorship opportunities are available at two levels including platinum, which includes seating for eight at $5,000 and gold, which includes seating for eight at $2,500. Event seating is available for $1,200 and includes seating for six.

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The night’s attire will be “dressy casual,” according to the invitation. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Shelby Humane Society, the only independent open-admission animal shelter in the county, according to its website.

As part of its mission, the Shelby Humane Society cares for homeless, abused, neglected and abandoned animals. It also works to educate the community on the responsibility of animal ownership and protection.

The shelter cares for about 5,000 animals each year. The Shelby Humane Society’s programs and services include local adoptions, transports to northern states and “quick fix” spay and neuter programs performed to reduce overpopulation.

The Shelby Humane Society is at 381 McDow Road in Columbiana. For more information, visit shelbyhumane.org. The Greystone Country Club is at 1100 Greystone Drive in Birmingham.

For questions, to RSVP or to sponsor the event or donate to the silent auction, email THERSMIT@ southernco.com or call 216-3303.

HooverSun.com

July 2016 • A19

A record 150,064 spectators attended the 2016 SEC Baseball Tournament, up from the previous record of 134,496 in 2013, according to SEC statistics. Photo by Ted Melton.

Hoover wins bid to keep SEC baseball tourney

By JON ANDERSON The battle to keep the SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover was one of the most competitive bid processes Gene Hallman can remember, and he has been the sports tourism guru for Alabama for decades.

Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans and Jacksonville all tried to snatch the tournament from Hoover for 2017, but Southeastern Conference officials say it will remain in Hoover for now.

As of the Hoover Sun press date, the SEC and Alabama Sports Council still had to negotiate the length of the contract, but Hallman, president and CEO of the Alabama Sports Council, said it was probably a matter of whether the tournament will stay in Hoover for three or five years.

‘I THINK WE HIT A GRAND SLAM’

Regardless, tourism and Hoover officials said they are excited to keep the tournament in Hoover.

“I think we hit a grand slam,” said John Oros, president of the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Tourism is an incredibly difficult and intensely competitive business, and we were up against some great competition.

Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans are all established tourism destinations.”

All four of the cities vying to lure the tournament away are bigger than the Birmingham-Hoover area and have professional sports franchises in the ballparks they were promoting, and they came after it really hard, Hallman said.

“They made us up our game. They made us look at ways we could make this tournament better, and in the end, that benefits us all,” he said.

Nashville waged a social media campaign to move the tournament to the new First Tennessee Park, and the New Orleans Zephyrs AAA baseball team held an SEC fan night to show how people would support the tournament, Hallman said.

THE GREATEST COMPETITION

But probably the greatest competition came from Memphis, which was pitching AutoZone Park as home for the SEC tournament, Hallman said. That park was named the best minor league ballpark in 2009 and No. 2 minor league park in

2015 by Baseball America.

Some of the venues had natural fan zones near their parks, such as Beale Street in Memphis, and some people in the conference want championship events in urban environments, like the SEC basketball championship at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Hallman said.

But when it came time to decide, the vote was unanimous among the 14 SEC athletic directors to keep the tournament in Hoover, he said.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said Hoover’s plan to invest at least $70 million in a sports complex adjoining the Hoover Met “very much set that situation apart.”

The 155,000-square-foot indoor event center that Hoover is building next to the Hoover Met will be available for use as a “fan fair-type atmosphere” with food, entertainment and other accommodations for the baseball teams, Sankey said.

Hallman said the indoor center would include a sports bar with craft beers, a food court, merchandise area, fan activity area and players’ lounge. Other additions will include a Ferris wheel in between the event center and the stadium and a zip line next to the Ferris wheel, Hallman said.

Also, Hoover officials say the adjacent sports complex, to be completed in 2018, will include five baseball fields the same size as the Hoover Met, and SEC teams can use them for practice.

One of those fields will have natural turf like the Met and will be positioned to the sun the same as the stadium field, Hallman said.

Hoover also is adding 1,500 new parking spaces around the Met and expanding the number of RV spaces in the adjacent RV park from 145 to 176, Hallman said.

It didn’t hurt that this year’s tournament drew a record 150,064 spectators — up from the previous record of 134,496 in 2013, according to SEC statistics.

Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey noted that tournament attendance started out at 87,000 in 1998 and said he’s thrilled to see the tournament grow and flourish.

“It’s a huge event for the city,” Ivey said.

“We’re really excited to get it back. We’ll continue to try to host it and make it better for the citizens.”

– Kyle Parmley contributed to this report.

REDUCED

Hoover Sun

A20 • July 2016

I SPY: COULD YOU FIND THESE SPOTS AROUND TOWN?

Were you able to identify some or all of these locations?

Well, wonder no more, because here are the answers!

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HooverSun.com

July 2016 • A21

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A22 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

Russet Woods family receives backyard makeover from volunteers

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE Brad Booth was diagnosed with cancer more than five years ago. The constant barrage of treatments have kept him busy and weak, but thanks to some good Samaritans, he and his family now have a backyard retreat they can use to take their minds off their troubles — even if it’s just for a few minutes at a time.

When Brad Booth was undergoing cancer treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center, he and his wife received free housing near the hospital for two months, which was provided by a nonprofit organization in Houston. When he found something similar in Birmingham, he wanted to get on board.

“We were so impacted by this, that when Brad heard about it, he jumped all over it,” said his wife, Stacey Booth. “Since he’s not able to work, it’s given him an outlet, something to wake up for and meet others, and it’s been very helpful.”

Brad Booth reached out to Jason Carroll, founder of Red Mountain Grace, a nonprofit that houses families receiving extended medical treatment in Birmingham. He and Carroll became friends and now Brad Booth serves on the board of RMG. Brad Booth, 32, played college football at Air Force Academy and Samford University before graduating from law school in 2009. He was in practice for a year at Carr Allison Law Firm before he was diagnosed with desmoplastic small round cell tumor sarcoma in 2010. He was in treatment all of 2011, then went into remission for three years. During this time, the couple had in vitro fertilization and had their daughter, Nola, in June 2013.

In 2014, they found out Stacey Booth was pregnant with their son, Grey. This was a surprise, they said, because they’d been told the cancer procedures had left Brad Booth sterile.

Grey, Stacey, Nola and Brad Booth pose for a picture on a walking path in their backyard.

Photo by Frank Couch.

That same week, Brad Booth’s cancer returned.

He has been in treatment since June 2014, receiving chemotherapy, radiation and surgery.

The family moved into Stacey Booth’s aunt’s house in the Russet Woods neighborhood in Hoover last June. When Carroll visited, he noticed the backyard hadn’t been kept up. He knew that due to his treatments, Brad Booth wouldn’t have the time and energy to put into it, so he said he decided to help. Carroll gathered volunteers to work on a backyard project to make a space the Booths could relax in and enjoy.

Carroll, along with family members, college

roommates, neighbors and church members from Christ Community Church in Helena, gathered together in April for a day of work.

“I laid out a design on paper and looked at what materials and tools we’d need,” he said.

“Just by telling Brad’s story, people donated.

One company donated sod and plants. We had other companies give us some highly discounted things. His buddies came together and gave the rest of the money to do it.”

The day of the event, Carroll laid out the project with spray paint, and was joined by about 30 volunteers. The plans included laying sod,

planting gardens, laying pine bark, sod, pea gravel and border rock and flagstone rock for a pathway. The workers also built a playhouse, pressure washed the fence, cut down tree limbs, made a fire pit with chairs and also assembled a trampoline.

When the family arrived home and saw what had been done, Carroll said they were overwhelmed. “They didn’t realize the project would be that big,” he said. “They loved it. The best things about this project are that a lot of people got to see the church in action, and also this was a monkey on Brad’s back we were able to take off.”

Stacey Booth said she couldn’t believe all the effort that was put into the project for them.

“It’s hard for me to comprehend that people wanted to step into our story, and weren’t afraid of cancer, and just wanted to help us,” she said.

“It made it feel like a home for me. We felt very loved by it.”

While Brad Booth is on full-time disability during his chemo treatments, the family has enjoyed spending time in their updated backyard, sitting in the Adirondack chairs around the fire pit and watching their kids play, Stacey Booth said.

Although the type of cancer Brad Booth suffers from has never been cured, it does go away for a time before coming back, and treatment has to be resumed. He already has beaten the odds he was given when he was diagnosed: Only 15 percent of those diagnosed live for five years.

Stacey Booth said her husband knows this is God’s story, and they’re in it.

“He really encourages me to stay positive and not get down in the dumps,” she said. “He always says [he has] the easier part of this, that I’m juggling everything — the kids, the house, the food and stress, and he is just fighting cancer. He definitely encourages me and pulls me back up.”

Thursday July 7 - Tuesday July 12 - Thursday July 14 - Tuesday July 19 Thursday July 21 - Tuesday July 26 - Thursday July 28 - Saturday July 30

HooverSun.com

July 2016 • A23

Bringing beauty home Ross Bridge stylist, mother of 3 launching beauty-on-demand app Yazmin Cavale shows off Glow, her new beautyon-demand app.

The Cavales want to have about 1,000 clients and about 24 Glow Pros ready to start beta testing in July. They said they plan to fully launch the service by Aug. 31. Photo by Sydney Cromwell.

By SYDNEY CROMWELL As a stylist and mother of three, Yazmin Cavale knows the feeling of being pulled between family time and looking beautiful.

About six months ago, the Ross Bridge resident said she was thinking about ways to take the business she runs out of her garage — offering hair, makeup and spray tan services — to the next level. But instead of opening a store, she and husband, Jim Cavale, hit upon a different idea — an app.

“I have three kids, and I just want someone to come do my hair. I don’t want to go somewhere and do it,” she said.

That was the start of Glow, the beauty-on-demand app that the Cavales are launching in August. Glow will connect users with hair, makeup and tanning professionals — called Glow Pros — who can bring those services right to their door.

“I call it the Uber of beauty because you can either order it a day before, a week before or an hour before,” Yazmin Cavale said. “I don’t feel like celebrities should be the only ones that get glammed up. I think everyday women are celebrities, and so I think they need to feel like they can get someone to come to their house and do these beauty products or these beauty services.”

Glow will be free to download, and Birmingham residents can read biographies and reviews of each of the Glow Pros, whom Yazmin Cavale has handpicked both from freelancers and existing beauty businesses. Messaging, scheduling and payment can all be done in the app, and every Glow Pro can serve clients either from their own business or at the client’s home for an additional fee.

Yazmin Cavale said she plans to use it for her own clients.

“It would cut my time from answering emails

and giving directions and instructions. It would just make my life so much easier. I can just show up to a place,” she said.

Jim Cavale, who is the president of Iron Tribe Fitness, said he sees this as a way for beauty businesses in Birmingham to expand their reach through technology.

“We’re not going to try to compete with them; what we’re going to try to do is open up the marketplace to them,” he said.

Since coming up with the idea, Jim and Yazmin Cavale have worked with Platypi, a Birmingham startup, to build the app. Yazmin Cavale brings the beauty knowledge, and her husband brings the business background. So

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far it’s been a smooth process, but the Cavales know the real challenges will begin once they open Glow up for beta testing and for the initial launch.

While managing a business and team of stylists is a change of pace for Yazmin Cavale, Jim Cavale said he looks forward to seeing her rise to the occasion.

“She has the unique ability to not only be great at these services … but she has the ability to recruit people and attract people to be just as good as her and lead them,” he said.

Yazmin Cavale said she thinks Birmingham is a great market to start an app like this with the success of services such as Uber and Shipt.

Jim Cavale said eventually they’d like to expand Glow “from the South out,” starting with cities like Nashville and Atlanta and growing from there.

“I’ve lived everywhere. I’ve lived in L.A., New York and Miami, and I find that women here in the South just love getting ready. They love putting on makeup; they love doing their hair; they love spray tans, and I think it’s a great market for it,” Yazmin Cavale said.

The Cavales want to have about 1,000 clients and about 24 Glow Pros ready to start beta testing in July. They said they plan to fully launch the service by Aug. 31. To learn more, visit glowout.io or search Glow by Yaz on Facebook.

A24 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

FREEDOM

CONTINUED from page A1 rhythm and blues, jazz and a little bit of country.

The Negotiators cover tunes from the 1950s to present day, said Allen Barlow, the lead guitarist and band leader who owns the Homewood School of Music.

Their set list includes songs by artists ranging from Elvis Presley and Frankie Valli to Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Van Halen and ZZ Top. They also play songs by Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Linda Ronstadt, Hall & Oates, The Commodores, Bob Marley, Grateful Dead, Prince, Queen, Taylor Swift, Stone Temple Pilots and Blind Melon.

“There’s a lot of versatility in the group,” Barlow said. “They’re all professionals, and they all teach, and they know how to understand the language of music in all of its dialects.”

Barlow and keyboardist Matt Wiley, a jazz piano instructor at the University of Alabama and University of Alabama at Birmingham, have been singing and playing music together since they were kids in school, Barlow said. They went to college, got their music degrees and put The Negotiators together later in life — about 12 years ago, he said. They met the other members of the group playing various gigs around town.

Jon Campbell is the lead vocalist and is at his best singing classic rock songs by groups such as Led Zeppelin, The Police and Boston, Barlow said. Steve Ramos is on the drums, and John Jackson plays bass guitar.

The three members of the horn section playing at Freedom Fest are members of The Birmingham Seven jazz group. The leader is baritone saxophonist Daniel Western, while Gary Wheat plays tenor sax, and Rob Alley plays trumpet.

The band’s size varies from two to 10 people, depending on the need, Barlow said.

The Negotiators play two to five times per month, doing mostly weddings and corporate events, and they usually play a few festivals each summer, he said. They frequently play at Otey’s Tavern in Crestline and at Superior Grill on U.S. 280 in the Inverness area. They have provided tailgate music for CBS 42 sports broadcasts at Alabama football games in Tuscaloosa, Barlow said.

They got the name from a “Star Wars” line

when Obi-Wan Kenobi was called “the negotiator.” Barlow said he had been trying to think of a good band name for a long time, “and I thought that sounded kind of cool.”

This will be the first time they’ve played in a baseball stadium, Barlow said.

“I’m excited about it. It’s close to home,” he said. “It’ll be a real fun event. We’re looking forward to the show.”

The Band of the South is the 572nd Air National Guard Unit, based out of the McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base near Knoxville.

The unit is made up mostly of band directors but has people from other professions as well, Tech Sgt. Chad Bailey said.

They get together to rehearse or perform about one weekend a month and for two weeks during the summer. This year, they’re spending their summer concert tour in Alabama.

In addition to the concert at Freedom Fest, they also will perform at Vulcan Park on June 28, at a Montgomery Biscuits baseball game on June 29, at the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center on June 30 and at a Birmingham Barons game on July 3, Bailey said. A couple of brass quintets likely will perform at the Birmingham VA Medical Center sometime during the tour as well, and more concerts may be added.

This is the only Air National Guard band for the southeastern United States, so they cover a 10-state territory, Tech Sgt. Elisa Wardeska said.

Ingle, the Hoover High student who will

perform prior to The Negotiators, has always enjoyed singing. She sang the national anthem at a Birmingham Barons game at age 11 and wrote her first song at age 13 when her grandmother died. But the burning desire for a music career actually became real in August 2014 when she won a radio contest and got to sing on stage with Keith Urban at the Oak Mountain Amphitheater.

That lit a fire within her, and ever since, she has been performing weekly at bars and restaurants in the Birmingham area and sometimes in other states. She sang at the Funky Fish Fry in Birmingham’s Avondale community the past two years, a hunting festival in Fairfield, Tennessee, and the SliceFest music festival in Birmingham’s Lakeview community in June.

But Freedom Fest is probably the biggest venue for her since she sang that one song with Urban in front of about 11,000 people two years ago, she said. Last year’s Freedom Fest drew an estimated 7,000 people, while more than 10,000 came in the inaugural year of 2013 and an estimated 12,800 people showed up in 2014, organizers said.

“I’m so excited,” Ingle said. “I’m really thankful for the opportunity to get to sing for everybody there.”

The Freedom Fest will conclude with a 20-minute

Clockwise, from left: The Negotiators, Bailey Ingle and the Air National Guard Band of the South will perform at the 2016 Freedom Fest on July 4. Courtesy photos.

fireworks show at 9 p.m. “We will guarantee one of the biggest shows in Alabama,” said Erin Colbaugh, the city of Hoover’s events coordinator.

And this year for the first time, the fireworks show will be accompanied by live music, from the Band of the South, Colbaugh said. In the past, a recorded music track was used.

In between, the main musical acts will be the ZOOperstars, a group of mascot-like characters in inflatable costumes who dance to music, and the Bucket Ruckus, a percussion duo that bangs on buckets and other items.

The festival also will include inflatable play centers for kids, face painting, balloon twisters and a car show. People who want to display their cars can do so for free and are asked to arrive by 4:30 p.m. Gates for the festival open at 5 p.m.

Admission is free, but concessions will be available for purchase.

NOT WELCOME HERE.

8

Turning away unwanted houseguests since 1965 663-4200 | www.vulcantermite.com

HooverSun.com

July 9th

July 2016 • A25

A26 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

WHAT’S IN STORE

Shade garden lawn renovation: $30,000

3

Patio expansion: $90,000

Cascade garden: $2 million

8

1

Pavilion expansion: $90,000

4

2

11

Outdoor classroom: $21,000

9 10

SOURCE: ALDRIDGE GARDENS

Woodland trails: $81,000

5

Boathouse boardwalk: $39,000

Meditation spot: $22,000

GARDENS

BY THE NUMBERS Other projects and estimated costs: ► $90,000: Extend the pavilion area to include a new patio and fireplace with an arbor around it. ► $90,000: Extend the back patio outside the Aldridge building, with steps and plantings leading down to a hard surface by the lake. ► $81,000: Construct new trails on the southernmost part of the property near Rocky Ridge Ranch Road. That area is on a hill and provides a view of the rest of the property. ► $40,000: Construct an area of “outdoor rooms” with 18-inch foundation walls designed to resemble the foundations of old buildings. Each room would contain a collection of ground cover and a place for a sculpture. The existing trail in that area would be reconstructed to wind through each room and provide more of an experience for visitors. ► $39,000: Extend a wooden walkway off the boathouse to the other side of the lake, similar to a floating walkway. ► $30,000: Renovate the shade garden lawn to make it more level. The area, which is a popular wedding spot, is slightly sloped, and the root system of the trees there is wearing out the grass as the trees have grown larger. ► $22,000: Add a fountain in the fiveacre lake to improve aesthetics and keep the water circulating. ► $22,000: Build an outdoor classroom on a flat spot on a hill, as well as a trail to it.

Lake fountain: $22,000

6

7

Community garden: $177,000

Outdoor rooms: $40,000

CONTINUED from page A1

The cascade garden would include a stream cascading down rocks and across several terraces with fountains made of cut stone. Japanese maples would be planted along the stream. The total estimated cost is $2 million. Artist’s renderings courtesy of Aldridge Gardens.

The Aldridge Gardens master plan includes a $90,000 project to extend the back patio outside the Aldridge building, with steps and plantings leading down to a hard surface by the lake.

There have been numerous additions in recent years, including an entrance plaza, wetland stream, camellia garden, azalea trail, bonsai display, a new fountain, interactive water wheel and a veterans memorial arbor set to be dedicated in November.

But nearly a dozen more projects in the master plan would add to the beauty that visitors experience and attract even more people, Lynch said.

The most expensive project is construction of a cascade garden, which would include a stream cascading down rocks and across several terraces with fountains made of cut stone, said Rip Weaver, the gardens’ executive director.

Japanese maple trees would be planted along the stream, he said.

In 2012, the estimated cost for the cascade garden was $2 million, about half of which would go toward the fountains, he said.

The next most expensive project is a community fruit and vegetable garden, proposed near the entrance sign along Lorna Road.

This area would include hay bale gardens, where fruits and vegetables are grown in raised gardens surrounded by hay bales, and tower gardens, where fruits and vegetables are grown in vertical cylinders that require less space than traditional gardens. Both types of gardens require no tilling of the ground, Weaver said. The community garden also would include a fruit tree orchard.

The idea is for companies to provide volunteers to work the gardens, and the fruits and vegetables would be donated to food banks, Lynch said.

The estimated cost for the fruit and vegetable garden is $177,000, with much of that going to purchase the tower gardens and to extend the decorative fence that surrounds most of Aldridge. Maintaining such a garden likely would cost Aldridge an additional $20,000 a year, records show.

The original master plan for Aldridge Gardens also included a $12 million visitors center and

HooverSun.com

100-vehicle parking deck, but gardens officials decided they didn’t want to intrude on the side of the property by Rocky Ridge Ranch Road with a big building, Weaver said.

Plus, the original plan was to charge admission to visit Aldridge, which would have helped generate revenue to pay for the visitors center and parking deck, Weaver said. But that source of potential revenue was eliminated when officials decided to make admission free.

Parking can be an issue at Aldridge, Lynch said, as the 92-space parking lot sometimes fills up quickly, particularly during an event. The Birmingham First Seventh-day Adventist Church next door has been a gracious neighbor and allows Aldridge to use its parking lot, she added.

Aldridge officials use the parking lot at River Oaks Village at the corner of Lorna Road and U.S. 31 as off-site parking during the largest events of the year, such as Taste of Hoover, Art in the Gardens, Paws in the Gardens and the

July 2016 • A27

“

More than 84,000 people visited Aldridge Gardens in 2015, according to the Alabama Tourism Department. Above: The view looking across the 5-acre lake at the main building. Photos by Frank Couch.

”

The city of Hoover has embraced us. They really realize the jewel we have here. We couldn’t do it without the city.

Whispers of the Past Native American festival, and provide shuttles to and from Aldridge.

Several years ago, there were discussions about the city buying the Birmingham First Seventh-day Adventist Church property to expand Aldridge, but city leaders had other priorities at the time, Lynch said.

Aldridge officials stop pursuing that idea in 2013, but “if that opportunity ever comes up again, we would happily look at it again,” Weaver said.

TYNETTE LYNCH

Lynch said the city of Hoover, which owns Aldridge Gardens, has been an excellent partner with the Aldridge board of directors, a nonprofit that runs the gardens by contract.

The city provides almost a third of Aldridge’s nearly $1 million annual budget, she said. The contribution slated for fiscal 2016 is $306,000, up significantly from the $148,000 provided in 2013, according to numbers provided by Hoover Finance Director Robert Yeager.

“The city of Hoover has embraced us. They

really realize the jewel we have here,” Lynch said. “We couldn’t do it without the city.”

Roughly another third of revenue comes from venue rentals, with people, companies and organizations hosting weddings, meetings and parties, Lynch said. The rest of the money comes from grants, donations and memberships, she said.

The number of members at Aldridge has grown from about 1,400 three years ago to about 1,700, but Lynch said she would like to have 2,000 members.

There are different levels of memberships, ranging from $35 to $1,000. Members get access to the gardens during extended hours and have privileges to fish in the lake and walk dogs in the gardens at certain times. They also are eligible for discounts to programs and reciprocal admission and discounts to more than 200 gardens across the country.

To learn more about becoming a member or making a donation, go to aldridgegardens.com.

Sun

School House B11 Sports B15 Real Estate B21 Calendar B22

SECTION

B JULY 2016

Hoover native Jessie Pitts tries luck in duo after ‘The Voice’

By JON ANDERSON America came to know Jessie Pitts as the girl with a voice “like a bowl of Lucky Charms – marshmallows only,” thanks to country star Blake Shelton on NBC’s “The Voice.”

But that was 1½ years ago when Pitts made the Top 12 during Season 7 of the hit show.

Now Pitts, a 2013 graduate of Spain Park High School, is trying her luck with a new adventure.

In January, the 20-year-old moved from Nashville to Los Angeles to pursue her musical career in a different setting. By coincidence, she connected with Matt Cermanski, an alumnus of Season 5 of “The Voice,” and the pair are trying now to make it as a duo called Smoke & Hollow.

Pitts and Cermanski met through a mutual friend when Cermanski was looking for a female singer to work with him on a song he wrote called “Can’t Remember To Forget You.” The friend recommended Pitts, so they got together and “it sounded awesome,” Pitts said.

“We decided to start making some more music and writing some more songs together.”

They’ve recorded at least half a dozen songs together and are continuing to work on more and developing a marketing plan. They likely will have some music released by fall, said their manager, Ginger Ramsey-Grippe.

See PITTS | page B20

Hoover native Jessie Pitts and duo partner Matt Cermanski pose for a photo with young fans after a concert at Rhodes Park as part of Do Dah Day festivities in Birmingham in May. Photo by Jon Anderson.

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Dentistry

B2 • July 2016

Hoover Sun PAID ADVERTISING

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The Neuralife treatment can provide a successful solution for patients with complex neuropathic issues that aren’t responding to traditional protocols or for patients who no longer wish to rely on pain medications. Trained specialists begin with a medical history and comprehensive physical exam to fully understand the details of the patient’s condition. From this evaluation, a treatment plan is established for the patient.

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Opened in July of 2015, the Hoover NerveCenter was the country’s first stand-alone clinic of its kind.

HooverSun.com

July 2016 • B3

B4 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

‘Nobody dresses like the way he does’ Hoover’s Carl West has sense of style that sets him apart

By JON ANDERSON

Carl West is known for his sharp-dressed and traditional sense of style and fashion. Photos

by Jon Anderson.

Ever since he was a young boy at age 6 or 7, Carl West has had a keen interest in clothes and fashion.

When other kids’ parents went on trips, they would bring their children typical souvenirs, “but I always got clothes,” the 60-year-old West recalls.

He distinctly remembers his mother coming back from a trip and bringing him a green V-neck pullover sweater with a stripe in the middle of it.

“I just thought it was fantastic,” West said.

As he grew up and matured into adulthood, West always kept an eye on what people were wearing and watched people he thought were good dressers, whether it was celebrities or historical figures, he said.

So that helps explain why the Hoover resident typically is one of the best-dressed people in the room wherever he goes. It’s common to see him in a three-piece suit when he goes out for dinner or to a meeting of the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission, on which he serves.

West said he doesn’t really care for the trend

toward more casual dressing these days. He sees it as a lowering of standards in America.

“Friday casual became business casual became sloppy casual became wear whatever you want to wear,” West said. “Maybe that’s OK, but it’s not my style.”

Casual dressing in certain circumstances is fine, he said, as long as people are dressed neatly and professionally.

“When I walk into a business where people are dressed professionally, I think it’s a professionally run organization,” he said. “It’s better than somebody waiting on you with a golf shirt and a pair of wrinkled khakis.”

If you look at pictures of Birmingham in the 1930s, you’ll see men wearing hats and coats, but not anymore, West said. He named a few businesses in the Birmingham area that stand out as still having professional attire: the Von Maur department store, Wells Fargo and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, from which he retired about five years ago.

West said he does like three-piece suits, but he’s into all kinds of classic, traditional styles of clothing.

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HooverSun.com

July 2016 • B5

Carl West, at right in the chalk-striped suit, blue shirt and red tie, chats with Hoover Councilman John Lyda just before the May 9 meeting of the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission, on which both men sit.

“My general philosophy is always go with the basics and stuff that’s been around forever,” he said. “I think the worst thing you can do is trend-hop.”

People can spend a lot of money on a new trend only to see it fade, he said. “The classics never go away.”

He recently saw a picture of the actor Humphrey Bogart from the late 1930s, wearing a chalk-stripe gray suit. “You could put it on today, and everybody would think you were the bestdressed person in the room,” he said.

Other famous men whose fashion he admires include Winston Churchill, Cary Grant, Fred Astaire and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

West said he and his wife, Jennifer, travel a lot, and he feels the only places where men still regularly dress stylishly are London and Italy.

“London is the men’s fashion capital, in my opinion,” he said.

West said for the past 15-20 years, he has gotten all of his suits, trousers, sport coats and

dinner jackets custom-made at Hong Kong Tailors in Homewood. “They’re master tailors,” he said.

He subscribes to fashion magazines such as The Rake. “It has really cutting-edge stuff, very traditional, too,” he said. He also gets Esquire’s “The Big Black Book” that comes out twice a year.

He typically likes to buy suits made of wool or a custom wool mix, he said. A lot of the fashions he likes are not mass-manufactured anymore, so he brings pictures of things he likes to tailor Ramesh Kirpalani and asks what it will cost to make them.

“I like it because it gives me flexibility to use the types of fabric I want, the way I want something designed,” West said.

He probably has about 30 suits, 10 of which are three-piece suits, he said. Some cost $500 to $600, but others can run $3,000 to $4,000, he said. “It all depends on the quality of the material and the fabric,” he said.

Kirpalani said West’s suits probably average about $850 to $900. West said some people may think his suits are expensive, but he buys quality material that lasts. “I’ve been wearing some of those suits 20 years, and they never go out of style,” he said.

Kirpalani said West has an awesome sense of style and is probably the best-dressed man in the area.

“Nobody dresses like the way he does. He’s very, very particular about his clothes. He wants to be one of a kind,” Kirpalani said.

The first time West came to Hong Kong Tailors, he looked around so much that Kirpalani thought he was never going to buy anything. He left but came back four or five months later and has been coming ever since, Kirpalani said.

“He wants quality, reasonable price and good workmanship,” Kirpalani said.

West stays conservative with his suits, trousers and coats, but he steps out to distinguish himself a bit with his shoes, ties, pocket squares, tie

braces and cologne, Kirpalani said.

West said he likes to get his shirts from the Golden Fleece line at Brooks Brothers. For ties, he likes Brooks Brothers, Robert Talbott, Dion and Brioni. For shoes, he favors Alden, Crockett & Jones and Peal & Co. Kirpalani said West is very confident about what he’s going to wear. He said West never brings his wife in to get approval before he buys, and he respects West a lot for that.

West met his wife when they worked at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama together, and she noticed his fashion sense from day one.

“He has an impeccable style. He has a very defined way of thinking about how he wants to look,” Jennifer West said. “He’s very polished, very classy, very traditional, and he always looks fabulous.”

Jennifer West said she loves clothing, too, but she doesn’t consider herself a fashionista.

It’s hard to buy gifts for her husband, and she probably has bought him only a couple of things to wear in the 11 years they have been married, she said.

“I will never, ever go buy him a tie or buy him a shirt,” she said. “He probably wouldn’t like it, and he does such a good job.”

West also does most of his own ironing and steaming. He knows how to take good care of his clothes, she said.

Carl West said the worst thing people can do with a suit is take them to the cleaners. The cleaners treat them with chemicals that break down the fabric, he said. The only time he takes a suit to the cleaners is if he gets a stain that won’t come out, he said. He prefers to steam his suits immediately after wearing them, before putting them back on the rack in the closet, he said.

“That’s probably overkill, but that’s just the way I do it,” he said. “I want it fresh-looking when I’m ready to go.”

West said he got some of his fashion sense from his parents.

“My dad — he always looked sharp,” West said. “We grew up on a farm, but if we ever went into town or went to dinner somewhere, he always looked sharp and squared away. My mother, too. She was old-school — if you went somewhere, you dressed up.”

B6 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

BUDDY GRAY:

30 years of leading, feeding Hunter Street Baptist Church Buddy Gray in June celebrated 30 years as pastor of Hunter Street Baptist Church. The congregation honored Gray for having led them through a relocation to Hoover, decades of growth and transformation into a megachurch with 4,500 active members.

Photos by Jon Anderson.

By JON ANDERSON

Buddy Gray started working at Hunter Street Baptist Church in 1978 as a part-time youth minister while he was a student at Samford University. The church was still in west Birmingham.

A year later, he was made associate pastor and held that job for a year until he went to seminary in Texas.

He knew someday he’d like to return to Hunter Street, but he never thought it would really happen, he said.

That chance came six years later. Gray was pastoring Bush Memorial Baptist Church in Troy in 1986 when he got the call from the Hunter Street search committee, asking him to be their pastor.

Recently, the congregation honored Gray for 30 years as senior pastor, having led them through a relocation to Hoover, decades of growth and transformation into a megachurch with 4,500 active members.

Thirty years is a long time for a pastor to stay at the same church. The average Protestant pastor remains at a church only three to four years, according to the Southern Baptist Convention.

So how did Gray wind up staying 30 years?

“The grace and the goodness of God and the grace and the goodness of the people of Hunter Street,” Gray said.

EARLY DAYS OF MINISTRY

When Gray was called to Hunter Street, he was 29, but the average age of the church was 70.

A once-thriving congregation, which had more than 1,600 people attend the opening of a new sanctuary in 1958, had dwindled to about 300 people by 1986. Many church members had moved out of western Birmingham into the suburbs, especially young families.

They were looking for fresh leadership,

and Gray seemed just the right fit, said Wayne Dunlap, one of five people on the search committee that unanimously recommended hiring Gray as senior pastor.

“His personality meshed with that of the congregation,” said Dunlap, who is now 81. “For his age, he was very mature. He was a fine example of a Christian young man.”

Gray had a strong work ethic and preached straight from the Bible, he said.

“He did not take away or add to the verses he was preaching from. He preached through a chapter in the Bible. He didn’t leave anything out,” Dunlap said.

Plus, Gray is honest and has the ability to interpret the Bible in a way that can be understood by everyone, from pre-teens and up, he said.

“His message was always clear and has been for 30 years,” Dunlap said. “As the years went

“

by, he just endeared himself to the congregation more and more.”

RELOCATING TO HOOVER

Gray also realized something had to be done to stop the church’s numerical decline. Dunlap recalls a crucial sermon where Gray challenged the congregation, asking them whether they wanted to be caretakers and take care of what they have, undertakers and bury the church or

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HooverSun.com

Hunter Street Baptist Church Pastor Buddy Gray hugs a church member in line to greet him during a reception honoring him for 30 years as senior pastor.

risk takers and step out on faith and relocate.

There was some resistance, but after much prayer, when the day for a vote came, all but four people voted in favor of the move, Gray said.

Their last service in Birmingham was in September 1987, and the 220 or so active members made the move to Hoover.

For 18 months, they met in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church on Lorna Road in Hoover while they built a new building on 11 acres off Alabama 150. Their first service was on Easter Sunday in 1989, with about 300 people attending in buildings Buddy, Tricia and Andrew Gray on June 1, 1986, when designed to handle 600 people, Buddy Gray started as pastor of Hunter Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Photo courtesy of Hunter church records show.

Paul Huckeba, the current Street Baptist Church. chairman of deacons, said it was a big step for a young pastor to conWatch Gray talk about his time at Hunter Street: vince a senior adult congregation to relocate.

“I think the church embraced Buddy for having the courage to do that,” he said.

Gray said the move just made sense because 280living.com/topics/video so many Hunter Street members already had hooversun.com/videos relocated their homes in the direction of Denise Dean, a member of Hunter Street for Hoover.

24 years, said there are not enough adjectives to describe the wonderful man of God that Gray is.

EXPLOSIVE GROWTH The growth in Hoover was explosive. By “His heart and passion to preach God’s Word and 1994, Hunter Street opened a new 1,800-seat love people surpass anyone I’ve ever encounworship center and since has added recreation tered,” she said.

Amy Knight, a member for 12 years, said space and new buildings for children and youth.

Hunter Street now has an annual budget that’s she’s so grateful to have Gray as her pastor.

“He points us to Christ weekly. He points us to more than $9 million, about 18 people on its ministerial staff and about 100 employees. The the gospel,” she said. “He challenges us. What he membership rolls swelled to about 7,500, but tells us isn’t always what we want to hear, but it’s many were inactive, so church leaders last year what we need to hear, and we just know that he had everyone rejoin and culled their rolls down is always going to be preaching from the Word.” to about 4,500 members, Gray said.

HOW LONG WILL HE STAY? Average attendance on Sunday mornings is Dunlap said Gray probably will remain Hunter about 3,000, he said.

Gray said he never imagined when he came Street’s pastor until he’s ready to retire, “and he to Hunter Street that the church would grow so will be pastor emeritus and stay on until they carry him to Elmwood, I guess.” Dunlap said large.

However, “our goal was never to be a big he’s only one person, but as far as he is conchurch, and our goal now is not to be a big cerned, “the pulpit is [Gray’s] as long as he wants church,” Gray said. “Our goal is to be a healthy it.”

When asked whether he would be willing to church. We believe that healthy things grow, give up his job at Hunter Street if God called him (but) not everything that is big is healthy.” somewhere else, Gray said absolutely.

“This is His church, not mine,” Gray said. “I’d ‘LOVING GOD, LOVING PEOPLE’ Gray said what has brought him the greatest like to stay another five or six years if they’d let satisfaction is the relationships he has been able me and if God will let me, but if that’s not what to build by being with people in all phases of they want or God wants, I’m OK with that.”

He wants to be a good steward with the their lives, from births and baby dedications to resources God has provided and, under God’s baccalaureate services, weddings and funerals.

“They’re the most wonderful group of people guidance, leave the Hunter Street congregation as healthy as he can for whoever takes his place, I can ever imagine being with,” he said.

Huckeba said Gray is a transparent person he said.

Gray said Hunter Street has a great ministerial with a gregarious personality, and he gains consensus well with other church leaders and con- staff and great lay leaders that fulfill important roles. nects with all ages.

“For a pastor, my main job is to lead and to “He will meet with young teenagers to do Bible studies, and he connects with young feed,” he said. “I love people. I’m their shepherd. adults, young marrieds, median adults and I’m not the CEO.” He doesn’t want to be known as a preacher, he senior adults,” Huckeba said. “When you’ve got a person that can communicate with all the levels said. “I want to be a pastor, and loving people is at any given time, that makes a big difference.” what a pastor does.”

July 2016 • B7

B8 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

Gloria figu es it out Hoover teen skates toward success on ice

By SYDNEY CROMWELL

Gloria Marshall skates at the Pelham Civic Complex. Marshall competes about five times per year, with her next performance at the Magic City Ice Classic at the Pelham Civic Complex July 29-31. Photos by Sydney Cromwell.

It’s easy to love some parts of figure skating, such as the pretty costumes and graceful routines. But for Gloria Marshall to reach the level of skating talent she has, she also has to love the hours of grueling training behind the scenes.

And falling. A lot of falling.

“We have the bruises to prove it,” Marshall said.

A Hoover resident and home-school student entering her junior year of high school, Marshall began skating at 10 years old in a “Learn to Skate” class at the Pelham Civic Complex. She had tried other sports, such as soccer and dancing, but figure skating held a special allure.

“Skating is a combination of being an athlete and being a dancer, and since then I’ve been hooked,” she said.

Coaches Eric and Heather Mumper also noticed something special in their young student. “She started like every little girl starts and learned to skate. And I went to the mom and said, ‘She really loves it. Can we do one day a week of private [lessons]? That’s how it all started,’” Heather Mumper said.

Now, Marshall is on the ice six days a week, several hours per day. She also has Marshall off-ice conditioning several days. It’s a difficult schedule, even more so because the smallest factors like sleep loss or outside stress can affect her performance.

“You can go from one day being able to land a jump to the next day not even to do things that were simple. And those are the days where you really have to take a step back and take a deep breath and go through the process. Those are the harder days,” Marshall said.

Heather Mumper added that many students don’t stick to the sport like Marshall has. It can be a slow process to build up the strength and the talent to compete well, as well as to see through the tough days.

“It’s a two-way street. [Eric] expects them — and I do, too — to be hard-working and do what they need to do, but we’re there with them the whole time because skating is a lot of peaks and valleys. They’re going to be really hot and then they’re going to be hurt, and they’re going to be down. You need your coach through all that,” Heather Mumper said.

“It takes a long time to see the benefit of ice skating.”

Before Marshall nails a jump in front of judges, there may be dozens or even hundreds of times where she doesn’t land it.

“I think you fall more than you land because you learn. It’s like trial and error. I think when they were little they thought falling meant failing, and I think they’ve learned as they’ve gotten older [that] it’s OK to fall.

It’s part of the learning process,” Heather Mumper said. “It takes so much core strength and leg strength to be able to do what they do every day.”

There’s also personal sacrifice. Marshall has been home-schooled since she was in middle school, partly in order to make room for skating.

“We never had time. If I would come in I was always late from staying up working on school projects… so being home-schooled gave me extra time to practice,” Marshall said.

In addition to the skaters themselves having to balance practice, schoolwork, family and friends, Heather Mumper said behind every serious skater is a committed family. From getting to practice, traveling to competition and paying for lessons and gear, she said young skaters couldn’t make it far at all without a support system.

Four years since she began competing, Marshall is now skating at the novice level. There are only two levels — junior and senior — above her in American competitive figure skating. Marshall competes about five times per year, with her next performance at the Magic City Ice Classic at the Pelham Civic Complex July 29-31.

Depending on her performance throughout the year, Marshall can qualify for regionals, sectionals or even nationals. She said her ultimate goal is to continue improving and compete in nationals. Heather Mumper said Marshall ’s dedication and talent make her a role model for many of the younger skaters at the rink.

While pulling off a difficult move — Marshall’s favorites are toe jumps — and competing are things she always looks forward to, Marshall said she just enjoys being on the ice.

“It makes you feel powerful, strong. I used to love when we’d do the Learn to Skate classes, just gliding … taking one push and being able to go all the way around the rink,” Marshall said.

HooverSun.com

July 2016 • B9

at G

B10 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

Sisters take 3rd in international science fair

By GRACE THORNTON Most kids look at a ladybug and see a cute insect. Sisters Rowan and Rozan Elqishawi looked at the spotted beetles and wondered if their blood could cure a disease and save the world’s citrus industry billions of dollars.

“What my sister and I have essentially done is create a pesticide and potential antibiotic from ladybug blood,” said Rowan Elqishawi, now a Hoover High School graduate. “We have discovered that the blood of the Asian lady beetles can be used to create a pesticide with the potential to ‘cure’ a specific disease along with certain strains of E. coli.”

The pair of sisters recently expanded on their discovery to win third place in their category at a highly prestigious international science fair.

The disease, huanglongbing (HLB), causes billions of dollars worth of losses to the citrus industry every year, she said.

“The current treatments for HLB are not effective and involve mostly preventive measures in which there is no permanent cure whatsoever. Our goal was to find it,” Rowan said.

And their research was successful, said Rowan’s sister, Rozan, an upcoming junior at Hoover High School.

“We have found a potential cure for HLB from ladybug blood,” she said.

And it’s because they started asking out-of-the-box questions a long time ago, said science teacher Rana Eloubeidi.

Rowan, left, and Rozan Elqishawi point to their names on the Wall of Fame at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Photo courtesy of Abeer Elqishawi.

“I had the pleasure of teaching Rowan science when she was in sixth grade,” Eloubeidi said. “I saw in her a passion for science and a strong sense of commitment and a high level of hard work that enabled her to pose interesting scientific questions and then to conduct well-designed experiments in

pursuit of plausible answers.”

It carried Rowan Elqishawi through to her senior year and helped her lead and encourage her sister’s love of science, too, said Janet Ort, environmental teacher at Hoover High School.

“She [Rowan] is passionate about improving the world around her by

investigating issues. She also has the thoroughness to search out new solutions and overcome any hurdles along the way,” Ort said. “And her leadership of the ladybug project was a wonderful juxtaposition of ‘a-ha’ moments and hard work. She has the gift of story to communicate the process and potential of the results

to the world.”

That showed as the sisters represented the state on Team Alabama at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix in May. About 1,700 students from 75 countries, regions and territories competed for $4 million in prizes at Intel ISEF. The Elqishawi sisters won third in the plant science category.

“We also had the opportunity to present our project to about 3,000 school children ages 7 to 14 from the state of Arizona,” Rozan Elqishawi said. “I feel like we had the duty to make these kids enjoy our presentation, because we may have given them the inspiration to conduct a science project of their own.”

It was the encouragement of the sisters’ mother, teachers and mentors that gave them their own inspiration to ask questions and chase the answers, Rozan Elqishawi said — mentors such as Tariq Hamid, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

“Both of these girls are extraordinary,” Hamid said, who offered his lab for their use with the project. “They came to me with an idea, and all I had to do was refine it and help them with the science. I was very impressed with the dedication and commitment that these girls showed.”

The project could have significant implications on citrus diseases, he said.

“And it might spawn new directions in figuring out an effective treatment for the disease,” Hamid said.

HooverSun.com

July 2016 • B11

School House HHS student to share stage with jazz icon Hoover High School senior Tyler Greengard will join a select group of students from across the globe to study and perform with the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and jazz musician Wynton Marsalis.

Greengard plays the tenor saxophone, and this was his second year to be selected to join the group of 42 high school jazz musicians.

This year’s academy will be held at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York from July 18-31. The two-week residential institute, designed and instructed by Jazz at Lincoln Center Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis and a select faculty, will serve as a rigorous training program to focus intensively on the students’ artistic development and commitment to become the next generation of great jazz musicians.

The summer program also includes several public performances, which will be incorporated into the Bard SummerScape 2016 Festival, a seven-week-long arts festival which includes opera, music, theater, dance, film and cabaret.

Greengard is a member of the Hoover High School First Edition Jazz Band under the direction of Sallie Vines White. In the fall, he will

Tyler Greengard is a member of the Hoover High School First Edition Jazz Band. Photo courtesy of Debbie Greengard.

attend William Paterson University in New Jersey and major in jazz studies.

– Submitted by Debbie Greengard.

A Prince of Peace fifth-grader celebrates the “bridge crossing” before entering middle school next year. Photo courtesy of Jill Spero.

5th-graders celebrate ‘bridge crossing’ Prince of Peace Catholic School’s fifth-graders recently celebrated their “bridge crossing” and “house sorting” in preparation for entering middle school.

The students ran through a tunnel of red, green, blue and yellow flags held aloft by eighthgrade students, and parents, students and teachers cheered nearby. The four colors represent the four POP middle school service houses: St.

James, St. Thomas, St. Francis and St. Paul.

The students signed their names on their class banner and were officially “sorted” into their middle school houses.

The “bridge crossing” name for the ceremony was initially coined because students previously crossed a bridge connecting the early elementary and upper elementary buildings.

– Submitted by Jill Spero.

Prince of Peace School student athletes Samad Muhammad, Aidan Loehr, Aaron Malpas, Austin Cornelius and Ethan Cull. Photo courtesy of Jill Spero.

That’s the beauty of life at River Highlands, a picturesque community offering carefree living with utmost warmth, hospitality and security for the future. Newly renovated residences provide privacy and options. Superior services make life easier and more fulfilling. And, residents and staff help loved ones feel right at home.

ExplorE HoovEr’s finEst sEnior living lifEstylE today.

Call 800.724.6321 or visit RiverHighlands.com for more information.

Prince of Peace students bring home awards at Catholic Schools Track and Field Day Prince of Peace School student athletes Samad Muhammad, Aidan Loehr, Aaron Malpas, Austin Cornelius and Ethan Cull earned top overall individual awards at the 2016 Catholic Schools Track and Field Day. The students received awards for grades five

Embrace each day with peace of mind.

through eight and competed against students from more than 10 Birmingham Diocesan elementary schools.

Prince of Peace placed second overall as a team.

– Submitted by Jill Spero.

1851 Data Drive, Hoover, AL 35244 Memory Care Application & License Pending

Assisted Living • Memory Care • Short Term Stays

B12 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

Retirement time for 4 veteran Hoover school administrators

By JON ANDERSON Four veteran Hoover school administrators have decided to retire.

Melody Greene, a longtime Hoover educator who has been an assistant superintendent the past three years, had her last official day on May 31.

Carol Barber, who spent 18 years as principal at Simmons Middle School, 5½ years as assistant superintendent and the past 3½ years as principal at Trace Crossings Elementary, set her retirement date as July 1.

Charles Butler, who spent the past nine years as an assistant principal at Hoover High School, also is retiring effective July 1.

And Kathy Wheaton, who spent 18 years as principal at Berry Middle School and the past three years as principal at Greystone Elementary, is retiring Sept. 1.

Together, the four administrators have more than 140 years in education.

MELODY GREENE

Greene said she started teaching when she was 21 and is turning 60 this year and decided to invest her time differently.

The time demands of an assistant superintendent job are massive, and she’s ready to spend more time with her family, including four children and 12 grandchildren, she said.

“To everything, there is a season,” Greene said. “I believe my season here is done.”

Greene, who graduated from the former Berry High School, started her teaching career at John Carroll Catholic High School and stayed there two years. She then filled in for a teacher at Berry High for a year before taking seven years off to raise young children at home.

In the fall of 1988, just as Hoover opened

She has been blessed to do a little bit of everything in her career and has loved working for Hoover City Schools, she said. She’ll miss the friends she has made and miss contributing because she believes in the power of education, she said.

In retirement, she wants to teach at the Sunshine School at Children’s Hospital, which helps children keep up with their education while in the hospital. One of her grandsons had cancer, and she knows how much of a struggle it is, she said.

She also hopes to travel with her husband, Hoover Councilman John Greene, who supported her greatly over the years, she said.

CAROL BARBER

Greene its own school system, she came back to teach English and literature at Berry. Berry transformed into Hoover High School in 1994, and Greene continued at Hoover until 2006. She served as director of the Hoover High International Baccalaureate program from 2001 to 2006.

She then worked five years as an assistant principal at Pelham High School and one year as an assistant principal at Spain Park High School before being pulled to work in the central office in November 2012. She officially became assistant superintendent in July 2013.

As assistant superintendent for administration, she is the “office of complaints and problems,” she said. “I like solving problems. I like helping get things back in order and finding positive solutions, even if they don’t make everybody happy.”

Barber has been with Hoover City Schools since the system began in 1988. She worked a year as director of curriculum and instruction and then 18 years as principal at Simmons Middle School, where she was named a Middle School Principal of the Year for Alabama.

She was promoted to assistant superintendent in 2007 and served in the central office for 5½ years. She came to Trace Crossings as principal in November 2012.

Barber said at the time she was moving to Trace Crossings to help resolve strife, low morale among the faculty and a negative culture at the school, which had become the heart of the debate about school test scores and rezoning. She said the school is in a much better place now.

“It’s a very strong staff” that has played a leading part in some of the educational movements in Alabama toward project-based learning and innovative instruction in science, technology, engineering, arts and math, she said.

“There are some outstanding teachers in this

Barber building,” she said. “You just have to get out of their way and let them do their job.”

Personally, Barber said she is ready to devote more time to her family. She has a daughter in Virginia who just gave birth to Barber’s second grandchild, and she wants to spend more time with them, she said.

She has “loved every single day” of her 49 years in education, she said. “I have enjoyed not only what I do, but the people with whom I’ve had the privilege of working,” she said.

Before coming to Hoover, Barber served as a classroom teacher in Illinois, Missouri, Texas and Kansas, a central office administrator, principal and teacher in Colorado, and the director of elementary education in Portsmouth, Virginia.

While she spent many years at a middle

HooverSun.com

July 2016 • B13

school in Hoover, her first teaching assignment and first administrative assignment both were in elementary schools, and it’s fitting that she end her career in an elementary school, she said. Her best memories are of times working directly with students and teachers, she said.

“I love being around the children,” Barber said. “I like being in an environment where you can have that daily contact with kids.”

Wheaton

Butler

CHARLES BUTLER

Butler started his education career as a teacher at Pelham High School. After seven years in the classroom, he spent four years as an assistant principal at Montevallo High School before coming to Hoover High in August 2007.

Butler started out as the assistant principal overseeing the sophomore class but more recently has been in charge of career tech opportunities, including all the career academies, the family and consumer science program, television and broadcast program and work-based learning, commonly known as co-op education.

When asked why he is retiring, Butler said, “Sometimes you just know when it’s time. I just felt like I need to do something different.”

The most rewarding aspect of his job has been seeing students grow and develop into young men and women and develop skills that will make them successful in life, he said. He especially has enjoyed working with students who do not want to go to college and those who don’t believe they can do something and find out that they can, he said.

“I just want all the kids to be able to do well,” he said.

Butler said he’s not yet sure what he’ll do in retirement, but he may volunteer to read to young students. “I just want to do something to give back to students,” he said.

KATHY WHEATON

Wheaton is completing her 42nd year in education. She, too, got her start in an elementary school, as a substitute teacher in second and third grades in Portsmouth, Virginia, she said.

She started teaching in Portsmouth City Schools in 1974 and spent one year as an assistant principal in a junior high school before coming to serve as an assistant principal at Berry High School when Hoover formed its own school system in 1988. She made the transition to the new Hoover High School when it opened in 1994 and was named principal of Berry Middle School when it opened in 1995.

She remained as principal at Berry for 18 years until being asked to take over at Greystone Elementary three years ago. Leaving Berry was not easy for her because of the many relationships she had built over the years, but Wheaton answered the call.

She said people at Greystone have been kind and welcoming to her and it has been a wonderful experience. It’s just time to move on to the next phase of her life, she said.

“I’ve been very, very blessed. I’ve had a wonderful career, outstanding opportunities,” she said. “It’s just time to go and let the next generation have it.”

Retiring was not an easy decision, she said.

“It took me a while to get here.”

Her fondest memories have been hearing from former students about how something she did made a difference in their lives, she said.

She also has enjoyed hearing stories from parents and grandparents about how children she taught or led have accomplished various things, she said. Some of them had a tough time and found their way, while others always had a dream and were able to follow it through, she said.

A lot of her best memories are the little things, such as students at Berry lining up to form a giant ribbon to show support for people dealing with breast cancer, she said. On the last day of school this year, the entire student body at Greystone gathered in the lobby area to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and recite the Pledge of Allegiance together — another special moment, she said.

Those times where students and faculty come together with a common bond mean a lot, she said.

From left: Assistant Principal Kara Chism, Principal Dilhani Uswatte, students London Coleman, Ryless Herbert and Andrew Powell, PTO member Nancy Halsell and Paul DeMarco. Photo courtesy of Jason Gaston.

Rocky Ridge Elementary receives playground update Rocky Ridge Elementary School’s playground just got a little cooler thanks to a community service grant.

Paul DeMarco helped secure this funding. He worked with Rocky Ridge Elementary School

administrators and the school’s Parent Teacher Organization to help realize the project, which is now a key component of the school’s recently renovated playground.

– Submitted by Jason Gaston.

B14 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

HooverSun.com

July 2016 • B15

Sports

DYLAN SMITH

RISING TO THE TOP

By KYLE PARMLEY Dylan Smith is ready for high-major college basketball.

After a season at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, Smith is transferring to the University of Arizona and joining the traditional power in the college basketball world.

A star on Hoover High School’s 2015 Class 7A state championship basketball team, Smith scored 17 overtime points in the Bucs’ semifinal game against Lee-Montgomery and helped the team to a win over Mountain Brook to capture the school’s first title.

“I wanted to win a state championship before I graduated,” Smith said. “We said all year it was title or bust, and we proved ourselves right.”

He then took his talents to UNC Asheville, where he starred as a freshman in 2015-16. Smith led the Bulldogs with 13.5 points per game, starting the final 18 games of the season. UNC Asheville won the Big South Conference Tournament to seal a spot in the NCAA Tournament and took on eventual national champion Villanova in the first round.

“We were in the game until they went on a run,” Smith said of the game against the Wildcats. “They were veteran players, knew the game well and moved the ball well.”

Despite the 86-56 loss, Smith led the team with 14 points, but he said the game brought him to a realization.

“I just felt like during the season I could go play high-major,” he said.

Smith spoke highly of the Bulldogs and his season there, and he said he used the opportunity to “prove the doubters wrong” — something he has been doing his whole life.

“I had a lot to prove growing up, being small and people saying I couldn’t play,” Smith said. “I have played with a chip on my shoulder all the time since I picked up a ball when I was 12.”

Smith will have to sit out the 2016-17 year due to NCAA transfer rules, but he said he will use the time to get better.

“Getting stronger and taking contact going to the rim. Skill-wise, I’m ready for that level, and I proved it,” he said.

He chose Arizona over the likes of Oregon, Texas A&M, Butler and others.

Dylan Smith during the 2015 Class 7A state semifinal game, where he scored 17 points in overtime to send Hoover to the title game. Staff photo.

C A L L F O R A FREE CONSULTATION (205) 994-2393

B16 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

Lady Jags battle to finish off great season of softball

By KYLE PARMLEY

Julianna Cross, left, and Jenna Olszewski celebrate after winning the North Central Regional. Photos by Kyle Parmley.

It can be difficult in the moment to take a step back and look at the big picture.

After falling to Sparkman in the Class 7A softball state championship game, Spain Park’s players were understandably upset, not content with a runner-up trophy. The Lady Jags wanted the blue map, not the red one.

C.J. Hawkins tried to explain to her girls all they had to be proud of, from the trials faced all season long to having their backs against the wall and rallying three times in the state tournament to get to that point. At the moment, it likely rang hollow to the girls who laid it all on the line the last two days of the season in Montgomery. But it certainly did not diminish what they accomplished.

“Oh, I’m so proud of these girls,” she said.

“They fought through so much adversity, and we’ve been through a tremendous amount of ups and downs, and they never gave up, so I’m real proud of them.”

In the 2016 season, Spain Park won the area tournament and the North Central Regional, the first time the school has been able to say that in the same year. The second-place finish at state was the best the program has done, eclipsing its fifth-place showing in 2014.

The Lady Jags had the opportunity to lay its head down after falling to the loser’s bracket with a loss to Sparkman after defeating Fairhope in its opening round game. In their third game of the day to start the tournament, Spain Park fell behind Central-Phenix City in the eighth inning, but the Lady Jags rallied to score three, win the game, and survive to see the next day.

“They’ve been resilient all year. They just don’t quit. I’m just very proud of them. They believed in each other, and they just kept fighting

HooverSun.com

July 2016 • B17

Kynadi Tipler gets a hug from Coach C.J. Hawkins after a big hit at Regionals.

Destini England made a big impact in the postseason of her senior season.

through,” Hawkins said.

That resiliency showed up on the final day, with two convincing defeats of James Clemens and Vestavia Hills to reach Sparkman once again in the final. The team lived up to its mantra, “#RTL,” Refuse to Lose.

Hawkins remembered the first day of the season, where her team rallied behind freshman Kate Campbell as she pitched 14 innings in two wins against Central-Phenix City and Beauregard.

She saw some of the team’s great potential then.

She said her team began to believe that it had the tools to make a run after beating Vestavia Hills for the Area 6 championship, a team that defeated them a few weeks prior.

Hawkins said, “I felt like they had all the right

we had with the seniors, Kynadi played a remarkable third base and was constantly hitting bombs … and just a warrior out there,” Hawkins said.

England returned to the team late in the season, but her impact in 13 games matched that of anyone else. Key hit after key hit upon her return pumped her average up to .435 with 13 RBIs. “Destini brought that extra spark, and she’s so competitive and just put us up to that extra level that we needed,” Hawkins said.

Texas commit Mary Katherine Tedder hit a school-record 20 home runs on the season.

Auburn commit Jenna Olszewski missed more than 20 games due to injury, but returned to give her team a boost in the latter part of the season.

ingredients and just tenacity and dedication to each other. They’ve had a good time, and they really have had a little bit of drama, and when you have upperclassmen that are playing at the next level, it always encourages the other ones to work harder.”

Those upperclassmen are Kynadi Tipler and Destini England, two seniors who will play softball at Delaware State and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, respectively. Just having two seniors usually makes the future look that much sweeter, but neither will be easy to replace.

Tipler finished her career with a .419 batting average, 10 home runs and 45 RBIs on the season.

“The future’s great, but those two are going to be big holes. Just like any year, the leadership

The pitching situation is set for years to come, as seventh-grader Annabelle Widra boasted a 13-5 record and became the team’s horse in the circle down the stretch. Freshmen Campbell and Caroline Kendrick also provided the bulk of the remaining innings.

More than anything, Hawkins said she saw her team build momentum toward the end of the season and rode that to a great finish.

“You have peaks and valleys, but they never gave up on each other, and they learned to just overcome, get better at their skills, and trust each other, and that’s the main thing you teach in team sports,” she said.

The program continues to climb, and now there is only one step left: a blue map.

Let us help spread the news! Email sydney@starnespublishing.com to submit your announcement.

B18 • July 2016

Hoover Sun

Hoover head track and field coach Devon Hind, right, helped Presley Weems develop into one of the best mid-distance runners in Alabama prep history. Photos by Sam Chandler.

Making the impossible possible

By SAM CHANDLER Many young athletes have a role model.

For Hoover High student Presley Weems, that person was Carmen Carlos.

A 2013 graduate, Carlos established herself as the state’s preeminent female distance runner during her time at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School in Mobile. Three years removed from the prep scene, she still holds Alabama high school records in four events.

“I remember being at the state meet eighthgrade year and thinking, ‘I wonder what it’s like to have everyone know you and to have everyone know your times and know your events,’” Weems said of Carlos.

These days, she doesn’t have to wonder.

Four years after her initial trip to the 2012 state outdoor track and field meet, it’s safe to say Weems has reached a similar level of high school stardom.

“I’ll have random people come up to me and they’re like, ‘Good job, Presley.’ I don’t know them, but it means so much because they understand how hard it is and how much work it takes,” Weems said.

The admirer has evolved into the admired.

Throughout her time competing for Hoover High School, Weems, a 2016 graduate, carved her legacy as one of the most decorated athletes in Buccaneers history.

She won five individual state championships, set an all-time state record and helped propel the Hoover girls to eight team state titles from 2012 to 2016 in indoor and outdoor track and field.

“Honestly, it’s been the best experience,” Weems said. “If I had to look back and say what my favorite part of high school is, it would definitely be running.”

THE CONVERSION

Having always enjoyed the sport, Weems’ initial foray into running began in fifth grade.

That’s when she joined Speed City Track Club.

Managed by the parents of future Hoover teammate Brittley Humphrey, Speed City introduced Weems to what would become one of her favorite qualities of track and field: self-reliance.

“It’s like a team aspect, but at the same time you can kind of control what you’re doing,” she said. “I used to play basketball, so you had to

rely on other people to kind of pick up the slack.

In running, you’re in control, and I like that.”

Although Weems’ hoops career spanned from age 5 through her freshman year, track and field slowly but surely claimed her attention and passion. Much of that can be attributed to the influence of Hoover head track and field coach Devon Hind.

Although Weems specialized in sprinting events at the outset of her career, Hind confronted her with a challenge during her eighthgrade year at Simmons Middle School.

“He asked me if I would run an 800 [meter], and if my time was good enough, I would get to start running up with the high school,” she said.

To Weems, the 800-meter run represented a distance twice as long as she was accustomed to racing.

Nevertheless, she overcame her inexperience and landed a spot on the varsity team.

“I saw that she didn’t have enough potential to compete in the events that she was competing in, like the 4x100 and the 200 and the 400,” Hind said. “It just wasn’t going to get there on the varsity level. That’s why I had to talk her in to coming up.”

By the end of the season, she progressed enough to earn an 11th-place finish in the 800 at the high school state meet.

It was there, at her first state competition, that Weems saw Carlos run.

MAKING HISTORY

After claiming her first and second individual state titles as a junior, Weems had proven she was on her way to becoming the runner she had envisioned. She even discovered the correct approach to racing an 800.

But she said she wasn’t satisfied with her past success, and her coach could tell.

So she transformed from what Hind called a “hard worker” into an “exceptionally hard worker.”

“This whole year she pretty much went to the front and led everybody in practice,” he said. “I don’t think that had happened really until this year, on a consistent basis anyway.”

The results of such dogged dedication steadily surfaced — and then erupted.

At May’s state outdoor championships, Weems posted a remarkable string of performances over a three-day span.

Seen running at the Class 7A, Section 3 meet at Mountain Brook High School on April 29, Presley Weems recorded blistering times on the track throughout her career at Hoover High School.

On Day One, she registered a personal best of 4 minutes, 52.35 seconds to win the 1,600 meters.

On Day Two, she wielded her speed — to Hind’s pleasant surprise — and captured a runner-up finish in the 400 meters in a personal-best 55.92. She also ran a leg on the champion 4x800-meter relay.

Then on Day Three, she delivered the race of her career.

Crossing the line in 2:08.99, Weems became the first female in state history to break 2:10 in the 800 meters. Her mark bested the old state record by nearly three seconds.

“When she ran the 800, it brought tears to my eyes,” Hind said. “I still get choked up thinking about it. It was a beautiful race, and to be the best that’s ever been in Alabama and to know that I had a part of that with her, is just really special. To see it all come together at state meet was really one of the highlights of my career. To see somebody do what you’ve asked them to do and just see it come together, it’s just a pretty incredible feeling.”

Even with such an illustrious performance, Hind said Weems still hasn’t reached her full potential.

That spells good news for one local university.

A Samford signee, Weems will run cross-country and track and field for the Bulldogs this

coming school year. Academically, she plans to pursue a degree that enables her to become a geriatric therapist.

“I’m super excited. I just love Samford so much, and I love the coaches, and I have one of my old teammates there,” Weems said.

Although she will no longer don the conspicuous Hoover ‘H,’ Weems’ impact on the Bucs’ program will be felt for years to come through the people she leaves behind.

One of them is rising Hoover junior Sydney Steely. An all-state mid-distance runner, Steely has trained alongside Weems for the past four years. “I mean her times and her mindset and the way that she works so hard to get what she wants, it’s definitely something that I strive to be,” Steely said of Weems.

Hind said he wouldn’t have it any other way.

The veteran coach said he hopes Weems’ legacy inspires younger Hoover runners to follow in her footsteps and shoot for the stars.

“She has made the impossible possible now.

Nobody has ever broken 2:10 in the 800,” Hind said. “Now, every girl coming through Hoover will say, ‘Oh my gosh, Presley did it, why can’t I?’ I’m hoping that’s how they’ll think. Then they’ll be saying, ‘How did she ever run that fast?’ Then I’ll tell them: ‘It’s just hard work and dedication.’”

HooverSun.com

July 2016 • B19

Heart care in Birmingham has a new home.

(And multiple locations for your convenience.)

Looking for heart specialists in Birmingham?

Like many of the area’s notable physicians, the Alabama Cardiovascular Group has settled into their new offices in the Grandview Physicians Plaza. But you can count on us at any of our six locations.

Birmingham: 2151 Highland Avenue South, Suite 320 Fultondale: 339 Walker Chapel Road Gardendale: 2217 Decatur Highway, Suite 123 Grandview Health Campus: 3686 Grandview Parkway, Suite 720 Pell City: 2048 Martin Street Trussville: 5890 Valley Road, Suite 200

205-971-7500 • alcardio.com 91379_GRAN_CardioGrp_10x7_5c.indd 1

5/11/16 5:47 PM

Hoover Sun

B20 • July 2016

Pitts said the artists whom she admires the most are the ones who are transparent to a certain degree. She wants her music to be art and not something made up to fit a marketing scheme, she said.

PITTS

CONTINUED from page B1 Pitts in September 2015 released her first solo single (“Heart on Fire”) and was getting ready to release her own extended play recording of original songs this summer, until she met Cermanski.

“We liked what we were doing so much that we kind of put everything on hold,” Pitts said.

“It’s just kind of a process of figuring out what route you want to go and what kind of demographics you want to go for, what kind of genre.”

Cermanski described their sound as a little bit of country, a little bit of rock ’n’ roll and a little bit of Fleetwood Mac – “rock and soul.”

Pitts has a jazz background with smooth, sweet vocals, and Cermanski has more of a rock ’n’ roll background with hard edges. Pitts referred to them as “salty and sweet,” but both of them said their voices just blend together well.

Their manager said their voices fit naturally, like sibling harmonies.

“It’s definitely something special they have between them. It’s pretty awesome,” said Ramsey-Grippe, who is from Gardendale but has lived in Los Angeles for many years.

She’s been in the music business for 20 years and has managed some “American Idol” winners and knows a good fit when she sees it, she said.

“They’re complementary opposites. They both bring a different kind of energy. Even personality-wise, they kind of balance each other out,” Ramsey-Grippe said. “You can’t force it.

You either have that chemistry or you don’t.”

AFTER ‘THE VOICE’

After getting bumped from “The Voice” in November 2014, Pitts returned to Nashville and has spent a lot of time working on her writing and trying to develop herself as an artist, she said. She’s also been learning to play guitar, she said.

Shelton, who became Pitts’ coach on “The Voice” after she was cut from Gwen Stefani’s team, gave her a guitar, and “when Blake Shelton gives you a guitar, you feel like you owe it to him and yourself to learn how to play it,” she said.

Pitts last year came back to Hoover to perform in the Freedom Fest at Hoover Metropolitan

MELDING WITH A NEW PARTNER

Hoover native Jessie Pitts finds her groove during a performance with her duo partner Matt Cermanski at Do Dah Day festivities in Birmingham in May. Photo by Jon Anderson.

Stadium on the Fourth of July. She also sang the national anthem at Spain Park’s graduation in 2015, which she said made her more nervous than singing on national television.

“With high school students, you don’t know how they’re going to react,” she said. “Plus, it was my first time singing the national anthem in front of a crowd.”

Pitts moved to Los Angeles in January to take a full-time job with World Arts, an independent center for performing artists, but it didn’t work out, she said. So she decided to go full throttle after her music career.

“It’s the first time in my life where I’ve really been able to put everything into music, all my time,” she said. “It’s paying off.”

She was excited about her planned solo project release, she said.

“I didn’t want to change directions [and switch

to a duo], but it felt so right. It felt so natural,” Pitt said. “What we’re doing feels so authentic.”

That’s where they got the name Smoke & Hollow. So many people in the music business and in Hollywood are hollow people, full of smoke and mirrors, Cermanski said. The name “Smoke & Hollow” is a reminder to themselves of what they don’t want to be, he said.

“What makes us good right now is being real,” he said. Plus, the name Smoke & Hollow just sounds cool, he said.

Ramsey-Grippe said a lot of people in the music business try to figure out a strategy to sell records and then make music to fit that strategy, but “90 percent of the time, it doesn’t work.”

The musicians who are most successful are the ones who do it because they love it and the ones whose songs come from true life experiences, she said.

Cermanski is from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, just northwest of Philadelphia. He grew up in a musical family, started writing songs when he was about 12 and started playing a guitar his dad gave him when he was 13. He taught himself how to play and grew up on rock ’n’ roll, he said.

At 17, he released an album called “Long Road Home.” He first auditioned for “The Voice” in the show’s fourth season but didn’t get picked in the blind auditions. He took vocal lessons and performed in bars and restaurants and came back a second time to “The Voice” in Season 5. That time, three judges wanted him on their teams, and he chose Adam Levine to be his coach.

After he was cut from “The Voice,” he moved to Los Angeles about two years ago. He has released a couple of singles, done some college shows and also done some acting while in L.A. “It takes a certain will to not give up,” said Cermanski, who is now 23. “It comes down to commitment and working hard. If you have a good team working behind you and with you, it’s going to work out.”

Pitts said Cermanski is a strong guitar player, which has allowed her to work more on her vocals.

“The Voice” was such a dynamic learning experience, but no one from the show has really broken out and made it big yet, Pitts said. “It’s such a great platform, but you have to be your own artist,” she said. “However much you put into it is how much you get out of it.”

Smoke & Hollow made their debut performance together at the Hotel Café in Los Angeles in late April. Their second show was at Do Dah Day in Birmingham in May. Pitts said she and Cermanski have gotten a lot of good feedback so far, but she’s eager to see how the rest of the industry responds to their collaboration. “I truly believe what we’re doing — there’s going to be great things come from this,” she said. “It’s been exciting.”

HooverSun.com

July 2016 • B21

Hoover

4909 Crystal Circle

Real Estate Listings MLS #

Zip

Address

Status

Price

752948

35226

4909 Crystal Circle

New

$434,500

753137

35226

2518 Sebonac Road

New

$440,000

753112

35226

3439 Flintshire Drive

New

$249,900

753084

35226

4520 Jessup Lane

New

$375,000

753073

35226

2503 Sebonac Road

New

$500,000

753062

35226

2362 Bellevue Terrace

New

$670,000

753034

35226

2514 Grand Point Circle

New

$269,900

753031

35226

2401 Chalybe Trail

New

$316,900

752966

35226

2604 Creekview Drive

New

$269,900

752951

35226

389 Park Avenue

New

$240,000

752933

35226

1487 Haddon Drive

New

$580,000

752941

35226

604 Dunmore Circle

New

$259,000

752868

35226

4853 Crystal Circle

New

$415,000

752832

35226

2460 Brookline Drive

New

$799,900

752926

35226

2118 Woodledge Drive

New

$359,900

752805

35226

2200 Darlington Street

New

$300,000

752789

35226

4423 Heritage Park Drive

New

$689,900

752722

35226

3733 James Hill Circle

New

$309,000

752712

35226

2068 Greenside Way

New

$419,000

752681

35226

856 Lake Crest Drive

New

$345,000

Real estate listings provided by the Birmingham Association of Realtors on June 13.

Visit birminghamrealtors.com.

2118 Woodledge Drive

B22 • July 2016

Join us for some Family Fun!

Hoover Sun

Calendar Hoover Events

SPECIAL

FREE NIGHTS AND

HOT DEALS Enjoy luxurious gulf side accommodations including fully equipped kitchens, private balconies & beach front pools. Efficiencies, 1,2,4, or 4 bedroom condominiums available by the night or week.

BOOK ONLINE 24/7

Gulf Shores & Orange Beach

Every Tuesday night: Kids eat free at Vecchia Pizzeria & Mercato. 610 Preserve Parkway, Hoover.

(One child per adult.) Visit vecchiabirmingham.com.

July 15: Free Friday Flicks. “The Peanuts Movie.”

Veterans Park. 6:30 p.m. Movie begins at dusk. Visit hooveral.org.

July 29: Free Friday Flicks. “Star Wars- The Force Awakens.” Veterans Park. 6:30 p.m. Movie begins at dusk. Visit hooveral.org.

July 4: Hoover Freedom Festival. 5 p.m. Hoover Met. Music, entertainment, car show and fireworks.

Visit hooveral.org.

July 16: Members Only Guided Bird Walk. 8 a.m.

RSVP required. Visit aldridgegardens.com.

July 30: 7th Back to School Health Fair. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Prince of Peace Catholic Church. Free health screenings, free backpacks and school supplies.

Visit facebook.com/AlabamaLatinoAIDSCoalition.

July 7: Economic Development Committee Meeting. 8:30 a.m. Hoover Chamber Office. Visit hooverchamber.org.

July 8: Free Friday Flicks. “Shaun the Sheep.”

Veterans Park. 6:30 p.m. Movie begins at dusk. Visit hooveral.org.

July 12: Hoover Chamber Coffee & Contacts. 7:309 a.m. Advantage Resourcing. Visit hooverchamber. org.

July 12 & 26: IGNITE Bible study and potluck group. 7 p.m. Oakmont Presbyterian Church, room 208 at 7 p.m. The main dish is provided, bring a side dish large enough for yourself plus 2. Must be 19 years of age or older to join.

July 14: Chamber Speed Networking Event. 8:3010 a.m. Marriott Birmingham, Highway 280.

July 14-16: National Select 7on7 Football Championships. Hoover Met. Visit select7on7.com.

July 17: The Friendship Force of Birmingham meeting. 2 p.m. Vestavia Civic Center.

July 20: Chamber Ambassador Meeting. 4:30 p.m.

Hoover Chamber Office. Visit hooverchamber.org.

July 21: Hoover Chamber Luncheon. Hyatt Regency-The Wynfrey Hotel. 11:15 a.m. Networking, Noon Luncheon. Call 988-5672 or email lisa@hooverchamber.org for reservations. Visit hooverchamber. org.

July 21: Landscape Your Own Backyard Tour and Talk. Aldridge Gardens. 6 p.m. Talk by Sid McLean, DIY “Backyard Landscaper.” $15 members, $20 nonmembers. Visit aldridgegardens.com.

July 22: Free Friday Flicks. “Kung Fu Panda 3.”

Veterans Park. 6:30 p.m. Movie begins at dusk. Visit hooveral.org.

Stardome Comedy Club | 1818 Data Drive, Hoover. Visit stardome.com.

July 1-3: DL Hughley. Friday, 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.; Saturday, 6:30 and 9 p.m.; 6:30 p.m. Sunday. $33.

July 8-9: Carlos Mencia. Friday, 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.; Saturday, 6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. $26$31.

July 15-17: Arnez J. Friday, 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.; Saturday, 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.; Sunday, 6:30 p.m. Sunday. $33.

July 28-30: Rodney Carrington. Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Saturday, 6:30 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. $44.50, $179.50 VIP.

July 28: Business after Hours. 5 p.m.-7 p.m.

Galleria Woods Retirement Community. Visit hooverchamber.org.

www.sugsands.com sugarsands@sugsands.com 251.974.1672 | 800.824.6462

ONE DAY ONLY!

Freedom Tour of Homes

 Saturday, June 25th from 12 - 4 PM  Maintenance-free living means freedom from exterior chores and so much more!

Come learn about all of the new-found freedoms you can enjoy by owning a home at Cornerstones at Oxmoor Valley. Decorated model and various underconstruction lots will be open for tour. Plus, enjoy a poolside BBQ!

WilcoxCommunities.com

(205) 942-6619

Cornerstones at Oxmoor Valley | 101 Cornerstone Court | Birmingham, AL

Offer Expires 07/31/16

HooverSun.com

July 2016 • B23

Hoover Public Library Kids

Adults

Mondays: Together with Twos. 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Children’s Programming Room. Stories and crafts for twos and their caregiver. Register each week. Visit hooverlibrary.org.

All Month: Stump the Librarian. Nonfiction Department.

Tuesdays: Father Goose. 9:30 a.m. Children’s Programming Room. Visit hooverlibrary.org. Stories, songs and snacks for ones and their caregiver. Register each week. Visit hooverlibrary.org.

Tuesdays: Early Birds. 10 a.m. Children’s Programming Room. Stories, songs and finger plays for birth to 12 months and their caregiver. Register each week. Visit hooverlibrary.org.

Wednesdays: Tiny Tot Tales. 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. A short action-packed story time for children under four. Children’s Programming Room.

Visit hooverlibrary.org.

All Month: Wednesday Walk & Talk. 8:30 a.m. Log some steps and chat about books, movies and more during an easy stroll around Howard Lake before the library opens.

July 3: Global Cuisine @ the Plaza: American. 2:30 p.m. Library Plaza.

July 9: Purl @ the Plaza. 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Library Plaza. Bringing your nerdy knits to share.

July 10: The Matchcoats. 2:30 p.m. Library Plaza.

Country-blues and folk duo combines vocal harmonies with guitar playing reminiscent of Mississippi John Hurt.

Wednesdays: After Lunch Bunch. 1:30 p.m.

Children’s Programming Room. Visit hooverlibrary.org.

Storytime for ages 3 and up. Visit hooverlibrary.org.

July 11: Ice Warriors: USA Sled Hockey. 2 p.m. & 6:30 p.m. The Library Theatre. Documentary following the USA Paralympic Sled Hockey team as they prepare for the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.

Thursdays: Storytime Live. 10:30 a.m. Children’s Programming Room. Stories, songs, games and puppetry for ages 3 and up. Visit hooverlibrary.org.

July 11: Helping Hands. 3 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Adult Programming Room. Drop in to make newspaper rolls for a local humane society. Adults and teens.

Thursdays: PJ Storytime. 6:30 p.m. Children’s Programming Room. Wear your pajamas for stories, songs and a bedtime snack. All ages. Visit hooverlibrary.org.

July 12: Daytime Nonfiction Book Group. 10:30 a.m. Adult Programming Room. Accidental Empires

by Robert X. Cringely.

July 5: Madcap Puppets present: Monsters of Baseball. 10:30 a.m., 2 p.m., 6:30 p.m. Giant puppets bring the history of baseball alive through songs, stories and poems.

July 6: Madcap Puppets. 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

July 7: Madcap Puppets. 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

July 9: Read. Write. Draw. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. A book festival for kids and teens. Featuring author and illustrator Chris Raschka.

July 10: Young Artists Reception. 3 p.m. Celebrate the featured children’s gallery artists.

July 11: Story Gym: Play Ball! 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Summer storytime workout for children under 4.

July 12: Safari Greg. 10:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Magic, laughs and animal surprises.

July 13: Safari Greg. 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

July 14: Safari Greg. 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

July 14: Camp Half-Blood Training. 4 p.m. Save the world with games, snacks and crafts. For grades 4-6.

July 15: Movin’ with M.A.C. 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.

For ages 3-7.

July 19: Jim Gill on the Plaza. 10:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Family concert to sing, dance and play.

July 20: Jim Gill on the Plaza. 10:30 a.m., 2 p.m.

July 21: Jim Gill on the Plaza. 10:30 a.m., 2 p.m.

July 21: Amazing Race. 4 p.m. Grades 1-3.

July 23: Mo-lympics. 10:30 a.m. All ages.

July 25: Story Gym: Team Up! 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Summer storytime workout for children under 4.

July 26: Doctor Kaboom! 10:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Character-driven science comedy.

July 27: Doctor Kaboom! 10:30 a.m., 2 p.m.

July 28: Doctor Kaboom! 10:30 a.m., 2 p.m.

July 31: Harry Potter Birthday Bash. 4 p.m. Eat cake and celebrating getting into Hogwarts.

July 14: Second Thursday Fiction Book Group. 10 a.m. Theatre Level Meeting Rooms. The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell.

ds, n a h e k a h es w e r o f e B ds. n a h d l o h we

July 14: Sweet Licks Dixieland Band. 6:30 p.m.

Library Plaza. Dixieland jazz band featuring clarinet, cornet, banjo and bass.

July 15: All Day Color & Chill. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Adult Programming Room. Adults and teens.

July 15: Friday Night at the Movies. 6:30 p.m.

Library Theatre.

July 16: Alabama’s Ninja Warriors. 2 p.m. Library Theatre. Meet three of Alabama’s toughest athletes who have attempted to conquer one of the world’s most grueling obstacle courses to become American Ninja Warriors.

July 19: Glue Gun Gang: Fruity Coasters. 6:30 p.m.

Adult Programming Room. Paint cork coasters to resemble colorful fruits. Adults only.

July 20: No Jacket Required Nonfiction Book Group. 10:30 a.m. Adult Programming Room. This month’s genre: South America.

July 21: Glue Gun Gang: Fruity Coasters. 10:30 a.m. Adult Programming Room. Paint cork coasters to resemble colorful fruits. Adults only.

July 22: After Hours @ the Plaza: Game Nite. 7 p.m.-10 p.m. Library Plaza.

July 22: Color & Chill at Game Nite! 7 p.m.-10 p.m.

Library Plaza. Adult coloring page event.

July 23: How to Find Grants. 10:30 a.m. Training Center. Learn how to use the Foundation Center Cooperative database to find grants for nonprofits and individuals. Reservations required.

July 23: Write Club. 10:30 a.m. Adult Programming Room. Share and network with other aspiring writers.

July 24: How to Find Grants. 2:30 p.m. Training Center. Learn how to use the Foundation Center Cooperative database to find grants for nonprofits and individuals. Reservations required.

At RealtySouth, real estate doesn’t simply equate to hard negotiation and paperwork.

For us, it’s more than a transaction. It’s the relationship that matters most. For more than 60 years, we’ve been running in the same crowds. If I look familiar, it’s not necessarily because I sold your parent’s home. Our children swim in the same pool. They’ve laughed on the merry-go-round together at the mall. Your community is our community.

We are proud to be your neighbor.

It’s Who We Are.

July 25: Monday at the Movies. 2 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.

Children’s Programming Room. Free admission and refreshments.

July 28: I Love the 90s Trivia. 7 p.m. Library Plaza.

Show off your 90s trivia and pop culture knowledge and win great prizes.

July 28: Nighttime Nonfiction Book Group. 7 p.m.

Allen Board Room. Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides.

www.realtysouth.com/welcomehome

Who We Are CLASSMATES POOL-VillageLivingHALF.indd 1

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