November 2020 Wiregrass

Stories | Recipes | Events | People | Places | Things | Local News November 2020

Wiregrass

Electric Cooperative

www.wiregrass.coop

LIFE ON THE LINES WEC’s Adams retires after four decades of service

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Time for pie!

November is the perfect time to bake a homemade apple pie, or any kind of pie, for that matter. And don’t let the fear of making a homemade crust put a crimp in your plans. Store-bought crusts are just fine, especially when you’ve got a delicious filling like the one perfected by our favorite blogger at The Buttered Home!

WIREGRASS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE is a member-owned electric cooperative serving more than 24,000 accounts in Houston and Geneva counties in Alabama and parts of Dale, Coffee and Covington counties in southeast Alabama.

ALABAMA LIVING is delivered to some 420,000 Alabama families and businesses, which are members of 22 not-for-profit, consumer-owned, locally directed and taxpaying electric cooperatives. Subscriptions are $12 a year for individuals not subscribing through participating Alabama electric cooperatives. Alabama Living (USPS 029-920) is published monthly by the Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives. Periodicals postage paid at Montgomery, Alabama, and at additional mailing office.

POSTMASTER send forms 3579 to: Alabama Living, P.O. Box 244014 Montgomery, Alabama 36124-4014.

ALABAMA RURAL ELECTRIC ASSOCIATION

AREA President Fred Braswell Editor Lenore Vickrey Managing Editor Allison Law Creative Director Mark Stephenson Art Director Danny Weston Advertising Director Jacob Johnson Graphic Designer/Ad Coordinator Brooke Echols

30 F E A T U R E S

VOL. 73 NO. 11  November 2020

the call

6 Answering WEC responds to areas affected by hurricanes Sally and Laura.

heating costs

8 Shrink Rebate program helps manufactured home owners save big.

hunters

9 Little Our younger readers prove they can keep up with the grownups when it comes to hunting.

6

ADVERTISING & EDITORIAL OFFICES:

340 TechnaCenter Drive Montgomery, Alabama 36117-6031 1-800-410-2737 For advertising, email: advertising@areapower.com For editorial inquiries, email: contact@alabamaliving.coop NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE:

American MainStreet Publications 611 South Congress Ave., Suite 504 Austin, Texas 78704 1-800-626-1181 www.AMP.coop www.alabamaliving.coop USPS 029-920 • ISSN 1047-0311

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D E P A R T M E N T S 11 Spotlight 24 Thanksgiving Crossword 26 Outdoors 27 Fish & Game Forecast 30 Recipes 38 Hardy Jackson’s Alabama ONLINE: alabamaliving.coop ON THE COVER

Look for this logo to see more content online!

Printed in America from American materials

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Wiregrass Electric Cooperative plant specialist Danny Adams retires after 41 years of service. For more, see Page 34.

8 WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

ONLINE: EMAIL: MAIL:

www.alabamaliving.coop letters@alabamaliving.coop Alabama Living 340 Technacenter Drive Montgomery, AL 36117

Get our FREE monthly email newsletter!

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Simply, thank you Board of Trustees Donna Parrish District 2 President

Tracy Reeder District 5 Vice President Debra E. Baxley District 1 Secretary John Clark Jr. District 3

Danny McNeil District 4

Kip Justice District 6

Donald Ray Wilks District 7

Greg McCullough District 8

David Winstead District 9

Les Moreland, CEO Wiregrass Electric Cooperative

Ah, November. It’s the month when the weather usually starts turning cooler, and it’s often the first month we start reaching for the yard rakes.

Before long, we’ll dive into turkey, ham, sweet potato casseroles and pumpkin pies. Thanksgiving is upon us, and despite the challenges 2020 has presented, we at Wiregrass Electric Cooperative feel grateful for so many things this fall.

First, we are thankful that Hurricane Sally only delivered us a glancing blow. We are thankful we were able to assist the cooperatives more directly impacted, and we appreciate the willingness of our linemen and warehouse workers to go when asked.

We are grateful for all of our employees’ dedication to our mission of Just Enough Isn’t Enough. Everyone’s efficient work recently allowed us to return margins to our members in the form of capital credits. And our member services representatives continue to valiantly guide our members through any troubles they encounter — pandemic or otherwise.

We’re thankful for committed employees like Danny Adams, who retired in September after 41 years of service.

We’re grateful for the cooperative spirit.

Eighty-one years ago our founders gathered their resources together to help electrify this region when no big company would. Today, we still embrace that mindset, and we enlist other cooperatives to do so.

We’re ecstatic to partner with SEDC to provide a paperless billing system, which has always been a convenient payment option. It’s been a critical service during the pandemic.

SEDC also helps with our outage management system, allowing us to provide even better service to our members.

Another cooperative resource, Gresco, provides us with some of the materials needed to

construct and repair our grid. With a Gresco office in Dothan, we’re able to get supplies quickly during emergencies, and the affordability of these materials serves our members well.

We’re thankful for our power distributor, PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, for providing a reliable electricity resource. PowerSouth also helps spur economic development in communities — evidenced when we recently partnered with them to bring a new manufacturing facility to Hartford.

We’re thankful to be in a position to give back generously to the communities we serve in many ways.

Thanks to our participating members, the Operation Round Up Charitable Foundation has donated to hundreds of worthy causes in the education, medical, law enforcement and human services fields. Additionally, we thank media partners like 95.5 WTVY-FM and WTVY-TV for helping us sponsor the Teacher of the Month and Silent Heroes of the Wiregrass awards, which help us display our appreciation to those who quietly strengthen our communities.

We’re grateful to Troy Cable for partnering with us to help expand broadband access to areas that sorely need it. Through the first stages of this effort, thousands of homes and businesses have the ability to receive high-quality internet — many for the first time. This is a critical need in today’s culture, and we have no plans on stopping our broadband expansion efforts.

Speaking of stopping, we’ll close this column with our biggest thank you — one that goes to our members. You are the ones that allow us to do so much for the community. You are the ones who truly embrace the cooperative spirit.

Thank you. n

USE OUR MOBILE APP TO: • Check your usage • Receive alerts • Pay your bill

Serving in emergencies.

Serving always.

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NO PANIC

WEC Service Area

WEC scores well on COVID-19 response survey

Despite facing the most widespread pandemic in its history, Wiregrass Electric Cooperative received high marks from members on its coronavirus response, according to a recent survey.

Eighty percent of the 327 members surveyed rated WEC the two highest scores possible on overall response, and they awarded similar scores in several main categories. The survey asked respondents to rate the cooperative on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being “very satisfied” and 1 representing “very dissatisfied,” on most questions.

More than 76% of respondents also awarded the top two scores to WEC on the subject of trustworthiness, and another 73% rated WEC either a 9 or a 10 on community concern.

“I am a teacher. I know many of my students’ families had power even though they could not pay due to being out of work,” one respondent wrote in the survey. “I appreciate Wiregrass Electric Cooperative taking care of them!”

WEC Chief Operating Officer Brad Kimbro says that while the pandemic provided unique challenges, the employees’ training and compassion guided the cooperative’s response.

“While we faced challenges we haven’t seen in our lifetimes, our longstanding practices for assisting members in times of need guided us through the difficult season,” Kimbro says. “Our culture of Just Enough Isn’t Enough reflects our dedication to providing acceptable solutions for both the member and the cooperative as a whole.”

Contact Information Mailing address 509 N. State Hwy 167 P.O. Box 158, Hartford, AL 36344 Member Care Representative Blair Howard

In addition to strong scores on the main tenets, WEC also performed well in several smaller subcategories of the survey. For instance, 79% awarded the cooperative the top two scores in business and service continuity — something reflected in one of the respondent’s comments.

“With all the confusion and panic around the COVID-19 pandemic, Wiregrass Cooperative never missed a beat,” the member noted.

Rhonda Webb, WEC’s manager of Member Services, says, “We empower our member services representatives by giving them a wide range of tools and solutions to offer to our members who are struggling financially or otherwise.”

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association selected WEC and several other cooperatives to participate in the survey, which served as a research initiative that gauged the cooperatives’ crisis response efforts.

NRECA emailed the survey to a random selection of WEC members in June, two months after the local response to the pandemic began in earnest. n

Phone 1-800-239-4602 Toll Free Outage “Hotline” 1-888-4-MY-OUTAGE 1-888-469-6882 (24 hrs/day) Website www.wiregrass.coop Find us here:

Find Wiregrass Electric Co-op on Twitter (@WEC2), Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Payment Options

BY MAIL Wiregrass Electric Cooperative Inc. Department 1340, P.O. Box 2153 Birmingham, AL 35287-1340 WEBSITE Payments may be made 24 hrs/day by Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express and E-Check on our website at www.wiregrass.coop.

PHONE PAYMENTS Payments may be made any time by dialing 1-800-239-4602.

NIGHT DEPOSITORY Available at each office location.

IN PERSON Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Payment kiosks also available 24/7 in all offices.

Hartford 509 N. State Hwy. 167 • Hartford, AL 36344 Samson 13148 W. State Hwy. 52 • Samson, AL 36477 Ashford 1066 Ashford Highway • Ashford, AL 36312 Dothan 6167 Fortner St. • Dothan, AL 36305

Member Services Representative/ Cashier Cassy Haveard

Alabama Living

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For questions regarding sanitation service, call Houston County Sanitation Department at 334-677-4781 or Dothan City Sanitation at 334-615-3820.

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SERVING B

WEC personnel respond to hurricane-impacted areas near and far

This Louisiana home suffered major damage from Hurricane Laura.

Throughout a record-setting Atlantic hurricane season in 2020, Wiregrass Electric Cooperative personnel proudly served near and far.

Beginning in late August, WEC line crews spent two weeks helping restore power to Louisianans after Hurricane Laura. The last crew left that assignment to help prepare for the local Hurricane Sally response.

Including service by warehouse personnel in a storm-stricken location, WEC professionals spent about a month working in areas hit by hurricanes.

“We’re big enough to serve and small enough to care,” says WEC Chief Operating Officer Brad Kimbro. “Our members can take a lot of pride in our efforts to respond.”

Organizing regional response

The storm was strong enough to derail these train cars.

A Wiregrass Electric Cooperative line crew prepares to respond to a hurricane-stricken area in September.

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Many electric cooperatives originated thanks to Rural Electrification Act loans following the Great Depression. Those low-interest loans helped local stakeholders construct power grids where larger companies wouldn’t.

As part of the loan process, the federal government required certain construction standards, leading cooperatives across the nation to erect similar power grids. Mutual-aid agreements that pledged assistance to each other in times of need became a natural byproduct for cooperatives, Kimbro says.

Years ago, cooperatives struck their own individual agreements. But over time it became more efficient for state cooperative associations to coordinate large-scale and regional responses.

“The electric cooperative association for Alabama can talk to the electric cooperative association for Louisiana, and they can assess the needs of multiple cooperatives at once and determine what resources are available,” Kimbro says.

Involving the Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives makes the process much more efficient and effective in any response.

While requests for extra linemen are virtually universal following a hurricane landfall, other cooperative employees also may be called to action. For instance,

WEC’s Tammy Byrd answers a call at the outage operations center during Hurricane Sally.

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G BIG WEC’s Charlie Daugherty served in Baldwin Electric Membership Cooperative’s warehouse for a few weeks after Hurricane Sally’s landfall.

“During Hurricane Michael, we needed several warehouse personnel from other cooperatives,” Kimbro says. “We had five or 10 years of material that went through the warehouse at one time. There weren’t enough local employees to handle that volume. There have been times in the past where cooperatives have needed staking and engineering help or communications help. Basically any position is available to help another cooperative.”

Local, state response

One WEC line crew was working in Louisiana following Hurricane Laura when Hurricane Sally formed in the Gulf of Mexico. While meteorologists were predicting the storm would land near New Orleans, WEC officials called the men home.

The move proved prudent. The Category 2 storm actually made landfall near Gulf Shores, bringing damaging weather to the Wiregrass area.

At the height of the storm, Hurricane Sally caused more than 1,500 WEC members to lose power.

Through preparation, hard work and determination, though, WEC crews restored power locally within a day.

“Fortunately, the storm’s projected stronger wind gusts never really materialized here,” Kimbro says.

“I think Sally really showed that our investment in reliability really paid off. We’re constantly working on our right of ways — trimming trees — and investing in better materials and technology.”

The quick local response allowed WEC crews to assist in recovery efforts across the state. The day after Sally passed through the area, some WEC linemen assisted South Alabama Electric Cooperative, based in Troy, with repairs. During the course of the next week, WEC crews also served Brewton-based Southern Pine Electric Cooperative and in Baldwin EMC territory.

Had things been worse locally, Kimbro knows WEC employees would have embraced the challenge.

“An electric cooperative employee wears many hats,” he says. “At the end of the day, there are only 66 of us. When situations are at their worst, we have an opportunity to be our best. Sacrifices are made, and sacrifices are expected. Everyone does a good job with that.” n

Alabama Living

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WEC crews leave the Hartford office to respond to areas struck

by Hurricane Sally in September.

WEC HURRICANE RESPONSE TIMELINE § Aug. 27: Hurricane Laura makes landfall as a Category 4 storm in Louisiana. § Aug. 28: First Wiregrass Electric Cooperative crew departs to assist Beauregard Electric Cooperative with repairs. § Sept. 6: Second WEC crew leaves for Louisiana to relieve first crew and continue repairs. § Sept. 13: Second crew returns home to prepare for Hurricane Sally. § Sept. 15: Hurricane Sally is felt locally as fallen trees cause 1,121 outages on the Coffee Springs substation. § Sept. 16: Hurricane Sally makes landfall near Gulf Shores as a Category 2 storm. Local outages peak at roughly 1,500, but power is mostly restored before midnight. § Sept. 17: WEC crew assists South Alabama Electric Cooperative with repairs.

WEC linemen work on replacing a broken pole in Louisiana.

§ Sept. 19-20: WEC crew assists Southern Pine Electric Cooperative with repairs. § Sept. 21-24: WEC crew assists Baldwin Electric Membership Cooperative with repairs. § Sept. 24: WEC crew returns home.

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PUMP MONEY TO YOUR WALLET! Manufactured home rebate program saves members money, improves efficiency As temperatures drop during the winter, many Wiregrass residents experience a rise in their energy bills due to heating costs.

However, Wiregrass Electric Cooperative offers a remedy to members who own a manufactured home or who are considering purchasing a new one. The cooperative provides significant rebates to members who choose to upgrade their heating sources from electric furnaces to high-efficiency heat pumps.

Why buy a heat pump?

Members who switch to a heat pump save an average of $550 annually on their electric bills — a reflection of the difference between how electric furnaces and heat pumps work.

Electric furnaces operate like a blow dryer — they force air across a heating element. Meanwhile, heat pumps use warm air from outside to replace the cooler air inside homes. This is a more efficient process that works even on cooler days.

Experts note that heat pumps, which are rated by tonnage and kilowatts, work better in mild winter climates like those found in the Deep South, where the intense heat furnaces produce is rarely needed.

How rebates work Switching to a heat pump poses some upfront costs. But WEC and its energy provider, PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, offer rebates to offset some of those expenses.

For current manufactured-home owners, the rebate is worth $400 per ton on the new heat pump. For those looking to purchase a new manufactured home, WEC pays the upgrade rebate directly to the home dealer at the time of purchase.

To access these rebates today, visit https://www.wiregrass.coop/mh-promotion

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| Alabama Snapshots |

Young hunters

Eight-year-old Nathan went on his first hunt with his PawPaw, Phillip Watkins, last year and got these squirrels and one raccoon. SUBMITTED by April Redd, Coker.

Kason Tinker, age 11, killed this first bear in Idaho while hunting with his grandfather, Darrell Clark. SUBMITTED BY Darrell Clark, Clanton.

My son David taking his daughter, Addison, on a deer hunt (along with the gear, the backpack has a coloring book and crayons in it.) SUBMITTED BY Donna Gaubatz, Elberta.

Blake’s first deer at the age of 6. SUBMITTED

by Charles Labriola, Wetumpka.

Cade’s first dove during a dove hunt in 2019 - he was so excited! SUBMITTED by Dewanna Jones, Moulton.

Grayson Everett and Klaire Carden, 2020 Dove Hunt. SUBMITTED by Lindsey Carden, Addison.

Submit “Mountain views” photos by November 30.

Winning photos will run in the January issue.

SUBMIT and WIN $10! Online: alabamaliving.coop Mail: Snapshots P.O. Box 244014 Montgomery, AL 36124

Alabama Living

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RULES: Alabama Living will pay $10 for photos that best match our theme of the month. Photos may also be published on our website at alabamaliving.coop and on our Facebook page. Alabama Living is not responsible for lost or damaged photos. Send a self-addressed stamped envelope to have photos returned.

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Spotlight | November 'Alabama Living' writers take top awards

Macon County wins 2020 Alabama Census Bowl

Two of Alabama Living’s writers have won awards at the national level.

Hardy Jackson took first place in the Column or Series category in the Statewide Editors Association annual Willie Awards for his November 2019 column, “The Box.” The column is a remembrance of Jackson’s father’s box of memorabilia gathered during his service in World War II. Jackson also took a second place for a series of his columns, published each month as “Hardy Jackson’s Alabama,” in the national Cooperative Communicators Association awards. The association’s members include not only communicators for electric cooperatives, but also dairy, agriculture and other cooperaHardy Jackson tive businesses.

Emmett Burnett, a freelance writer from Satsuma, won first place in the Entertaining Feature category of the Cooperative Communicators Association contest for his article, “Big boss bass or big fish tale?” published in August 2019. The story recounts the tale of Leroy Brown, a legendary largemouth bass that has his own statue in Eufaula.

Emmett Burnett You can read both winning articles again on our website at alabamaliving.coop/articles/the-box/ and alabamaliving.coop/articles/big-boss-bass-or-big-fish-tale/

Sports fans – and Alabama has more than a few of those – love a good March Madness-style contest. To help increase participation in the 2020 Census, state officials created the Alabama Census Bowl competition, with tens of thousands of dollars up for grabs for schools.

Starting Sept. 2, 32 Alabama counties with low self-response Census rates began competing in a bracket-styled challenge, divided into east and west. Only the counties reaching the biggest increase in self-response rates advanced to the next week.

Macon County claimed the state championship and was the east bracket winner with the biggest increase in Census self-response over the entire contest. The county just east of Montgomery won $65,000 in grants that will benefit its school systems.

The west bracket winner, Sumter County, won $45,000 for its school systems. The Final Four runners-up, winning $30,000 each, were Choctaw and Tallapoosa counties. The Elite Eight runners-up, winning $20,000 each, were Washington, Baldwin, Pike and Randolph counties.

Our Facebook followers love Brenda Gantt!

We were proud to feature Covington EC member Brenda Gantt in our September issue, and Facebook fans loved it! Our story on Alabama Living’s Facebook page garnered more than 8,500 “likes” and more than 500 comments. Be sure to follow her Facebook and Instagram pages, both titled “Cooking with Brenda Gantt.”

Three new members for Alabama Academy of Honor selected The Alabama Academy of Honor has chosen Jo Bonner, Maj. Gen. J. Gary Cooper and Bryan Stevenson as the new class for 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the academy’s annual induction ceremony has been postponed until 2021.

Bonner represented Alabama’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives for five terms, and served as Vice Chancellor for Economic Development at the University of Alabama System from 2013 to 2018. He is currently chief of staff to Gov. Kay Ivey.

Cooper is a decorated Vietnam veteran and the first Black officer in the Marine Corps to lead an infantry company into combat. He was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1974 and later served as commissioner of the Alabama Department of Human Resources.

Stevenson, a widely acclaimed public interest lawyer, is the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a human rights organization in Montgomery. He led the creation of the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which opened in 2018.

Established in 1965, the Academy bestows honor and recognition upon living Alabamians for their outstanding accomplishments and service to the state and the nation. For more, visit alabamaacademyofhonor.org

Get in the Christmas spirit with events at Russell Lands On Friday, Nov. 27 – known as Black Friday – Santa will arrive by carriage around 10 a.m. at Russell Crossroads, 19 Russell Farms Road in Alexander City. Also that day, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., start your holiday shopping at the Holiday Bazaar on the Town Green.

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Artisans and patrons from all over will enjoy this display of handmade goods. Artisans feature jewelry, soaps, paintings, pottery, woodwork, furniture and more.

For more information, visit RussellLandsOnLakeMartin.com

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November | Spotlight

Find the hidden dingbat!

Whereville, AL

Did we make you hungry last month as you hunted for that lone piece of candy corn? Due to a fire at our printers, some magazines were delayed getting to you, so we extended the deadline for submissions. Thanks to all our readers who guessed correctly that the candy corn was in the “O” in October at the bottom of Page 18.

Baldwin EMC member Arina Ellard, age 13, was inspired to look up historic events in Alabama on Oct. 18: “After doing some research I found out that Alabama experienced its worst earthquake in 1916! It was the Irondale earthquake. I am writing this in a different house now, I did write this all on paper before deciding to email it, because of Hurricane Sally. I assure you I am alright!

Though my house isn’t. I wonder if the Irondale earthquake did more damage than Hurricane Sally.

“I am so glad to see more kids in the magazine,” Arina writes, “and I am especially proud of Ian Shreve who had written that song! I also enjoyed reading that passage about Fort Morgan being haunted, for I had gone there when I was about 6 or 7!”

Sarah Grace Tucker, age 14 of Waverly, and a member of Tallapoosa River EC, sent us some poetry: Cruising about, starting to freak out.

The deadline’s tomorrow, By mail: Not much time to borrow.

Find the Dingbat Flipping the pages Alabama Living Past Mayberry Memories.

PO Box 244014 Feel like I’m in a bunch of races.

Montgomery, AL 36124 Someone help, please!

Gettin’ nearer...

By email: I can feel it. dingbat@alabamaliving.com 15, 16, 17...

Wait, this is it!

Bottom left-hand corner on page 18!

Identify and place this Alabama landmark and you could win $25! Winner is chosen at random from all correct entries.

Multiple entries from the same person will be disqualified. Send your answer by Nov. 9 with your name, address and the name of your rural electric cooperative. The winner and answer will be announced in the December issue.

Submit by email: whereville@alabamaliving.coop, or by mail: Whereville, P.O. Box 244014, Montgomery, AL 36124.

Contribute your own photo for an upcoming issue! Send a photo of an interesting or unusual landmark in Alabama, which must be accessible to the public. A reader whose photo is chosen will also win $25.

Our randomly drawn winner for October is James Tucker of Moulton. For November, we’ve hidden a Thanksgiving cornucopia, also known as a horn of plenty, in this issue. Good luck! The deadline is Nov. 6.

Take us along!

We’ve enjoyed seeing photos from our readers on their travels with Alabama Living! Please send us a photo of you with a copy of the magazine on your travels to: mytravels@alabamaliving.coop.

Please include your name, hometown and electric cooperative, and the location of your photo. We’ll draw a winner for the $25 prize each month.

Alabama Living

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October’s answer: This unusual structure is by the Arab Veterinary Hospital, on U.S. Highway 231 near the Walmart Super Center in Arab.

(Because some issues of the October magazine were late arriving in mailboxes, we extended the deadline for guesses until Oct. 12. The photo was contributed by Ronnie Allen of Arab EC. The randomly drawn correct guess winner is Scott Beard of Arab EC.)

Morgan Haynes, a member of Cullman Electric Cooperative, took her magazine on a trip to Cade’s Cove, Tennessee.

Bill Capps, a member of Baldwin EMC, took his copy of Alabama Living on a trip to Kauai, Hawaii and visited the lighthouse there.

Tracy Simmons of Sylvania carried her copy on a trip to Clingman’s Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee.

She is a member of Sand Mountain Electric Cooperative.

Charlie and Claudia Wigglesworth caught up on their reading while at Orange Lake Resort in Kissimmee, Florida. The Daleville couple are members of Pea River Electric Cooperative.

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Portraits of Photographer Honor memorializes WWII veterans with images

By Lenore Vickrey

O

f the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, only about 300,000 are still alive today. Jeff Rease has made it his life’s goal to memorialize as many of them as possible.

They are the men and women of The Greatest Generation, the ones who as teenagers stormed the beaches at Normandy on D-Day, who fought bravely at the Battle of the Bulge, who cared for the wounded aboard Navy ships, and who lived to tell of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Since April 2019, Rease has taken photographs of 103 veterans, mostly in Alabama and a few in other states, for his online project, Portraits of Honor. Since he began, seven of those have passed away, three in the past two months.

“They all have a story,” says Rease, who works as a freelance photographer based in Birmingham. “I enjoy seeing their faces as they remember. Most remember about times back then better than the most recent days.”

His subjects were 18 to 22 years old when they left high school or jobs in the coal mines, factories or farms and went to war. Some were even younger. They are now in their 90s and some are older than 100. One told Rease of how he joined at the age of 14, his

USMC (Ret.) Col. Carl Cooper was the first veteran Jeff Rease photographed for the Portraits of Honor project. Cooper, who grew up in rural Chilton County, enlisted in 1942 and served 38 years in the USMC. Among his decorations is the Legion of Merit medal. After boot camp at Parris Island, training in North Carolina, Quantico, Virginia, and Camp Pendleton, California, he boarded a ship bound for Guadalcanal. He fought in the Battle of Okinawa, and after that, his unit moved to Guam to prepare for an invasion of Japan, until the dropping of two atomic bombs and the Japanese surrender ended the war. Col. Cooper was again called to active duty during the Korean War, serving in artillery and infantry, and during the Vietnam War, working mostly in training and recruiting in Washington, D.C. and California. He had a career later in education and coaching, and working with FEMA. He lives in suburban Birmingham where in March 2020 he celebrated his 100th birthday and was featured on local TV news programs still mowing his yard and tending his garden.

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Photographer Jeff Rease and PFC Hilman Prestridge.

US Army Amphibious Forces PFC Hilman Prestridge of Clay County was one of the first soldiers to land at Omaha Beach at Normandy on D-Day in 1944 as part of the First Infantry Division.

As soon as the front landing door on the Higgins boat was dropped, heavy German machine gun fire began raking his buddies as they stepped off into the water. Many died right in front of the boat, so the rest began jumping over the sides instead. “We had these life preserver things called a Mae West around our waist,” he told Jerry C. Smith of Discover St. Clair, in 2018. “They were supposed to float up under our armpits when you filled them with air, but because we were so loaded down with so much stuff, they couldn’t do that and just hung around our waists. Lots of men died with their feet sticking out of the water because all that ammo and grenades and backpacks kept them from floating upright.” Prestridge, 19, survived and his unit stayed in France until Europe had been liberated. After the war, Prestridge came home, married, and worked at Dewberry Foundry and the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind in Talladega. He now lives at the VA Home in Pell City.

6-foot, 200-pound frame convincing recruiters he was older than he was. When his mother realized he was gone, she wrote a letter to the president and he was sent home from Europe. Within a few weeks, he’d joined the Navy, then the Merchant Marine, and ended up having a long military career.

Rease’s project began when he learned about a then-99-year-old veteran living close to him in the Birmingham suburbs, USMC (Ret.) Col. Carl Cooper. After Rease posted photos of Cooper on his Facebook page, wearing his Marine uniform and all his medals, a friend saw it and asked him if he could do a similar portrait of his father-in-law in Daphne. Rease was happy to do so, and one portrait led to another.

He contacted veterans homes in Alabama and the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, compiling a list of surviving veterans.

“Everyone was very helpful,” he says. When he contacts the veterans, most have been eager to be part of Rease’s project. He travels to their homes, sets up a simple backdrop and lighting, chats with them and their families and puts them at ease. Some still proudly wear their uniforms and hold photos of their younger selves. Others wear suits or casual clothing. Rease puts his iPhone on a stand and records as he asks the veterans to talk about their service.

“They have some amazing stories,” he says. “Just about all are eager to talk. When some say theirs was not a glamorous role, I tell them they all contributed to winning the war.”

Some memories are more emotional than others, such as the veteran who talked about liberating a concentration camp. A B-17 pilot told of parachuting out of his plane after being shot down over France, pulling his ripcord at 3,000 feet with a jolt so strong it knocked his combat boots off, and then being rescued by farmers and being hidden from the Germans for eight weeks. Still another is one of the last surviving “Band of Brothers” and told Rease his dramatic story of parachuting into German-occupied France on D-Day, June 6, 1944, with his company, Easy Company.

Rease has a familial connection with the military, as his father was an Army Airborne paratrooper in the Korean War, and his brother and his son both served in the Marines. A great-uncle died in WWII serving in the Coast Guard when his destroyer escort was hit by a German submarine.

“Getting to meet these veterans and talk to them, and really Alabama Living

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Navy Electrician 1st Class Thomas Moore will be 100 on New Year’s Eve. Originally from Moody, and then Odenville, Alabama, Moore now lives in Andalusia to be closer to one of his children. He served in the Navy and the “Secret Blue Collar War,” in which the Navy used floating dry docks to repair battle damaged ships at sea, rather than waiting for the ships to be towed to Hawaii or California for repair.

U.S. Army Nurse Beatrice Muse Price was born in Bessemer in 1924 and grew up on a farm in Greensboro, where she learned nursing skills while caring for her father, who’d been injured in World War I. She graduated from nursing school in 1944 and became an Army nurse in 1945, three days after turning 21. While working at a hospital in Fort Devens, Massachusetts, she cared for Gen. George Patton, and later at Lockbourne Army Air Base in Columbus, Ohio, she was assigned to the Tuskegee Airmen, the first black pilots to serve in the U.S. military. After the war ended, she continued her nursing career at the VA Medical Center in Birmingham and started a health and wellness center at her church. In 2012, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell presented Price with the Congressional Gold Medal.

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Army Medic Sgt. Ray Lambert grew up in the Cane Creek area of rural Chilton County near Clanton. He dropped out of high school to cut timber, then joined the Army as a medic in 1940, his only medical training as an assistant to the Chilton County veterinarian. He saw action in North Africa and Sicily, winning the Silver Star for bravery. As a 24-year-old, he was sent to England to lead a team of medics, and was among the thousands who landed at Normandy on June 6, 1944. He was wounded in his arm and leg, but kept on pushing forward, helping his men, until the ramp of a Higgins boat dropped on his back, crushing his spine in two places.

He recovered in a hospital in England, alongside his brother, Bill. The highly decorated veteran now lives in North Carolina and has returned to Normandy several times, most recently in 2019 at the age of 98 for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landing. The town bolted a plaque to the concrete slab where his unit sheltered the wounded, calling it “Ray’s Rock.”

Lambert tells his story in his memoir, Every Man a Hero: A Memoir of D-Day, the First Wave at Omaha Beach and a World at War, co-authored with Jim DeFelice. Watch an interview with him at www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeiiUwKGnmY

becoming their friends, it makes it all more real to me,” he says, “especially when you hear it directly from their mouths. I have a greater respect for the sacrifices they made.”

Rease continues to travel the state and out of state to photograph veterans, working within the restrictions imposed by COVID-19.

“Those who are in retirement homes I can’t go to,” he says.

He gives every veteran a large copy of his photograph and the video of his interview.

He is exploring the idea of publishing a book of the portraits, and until then, his website remains a tribute all can see at PortraitsofHonor.us. The site also has links to video interviews on Rease’s YouTube channel. If you know of a WWII veteran you would like Rease to photograph, you can reach him through the contact page on his website. Dr. Donald E. Hayhurst landed on Omaha Beach with a U.S. Army tank recovery unit about 10 days after the initial landing and invasion. He received five battle service stars for his participation in combat including at Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge and the Rhineland, and the French Legion of Honor for his heroic participation in the liberation of France. During his service in WWII, Hayhurst’s rank was platoon sergeant but by war’s end he’d been commissioned a 1st lieutenant. He also served in the Korean War. Hayhurst became a professor at Auburn University, helping create the Department of Political Science, and was mayor of Auburn for four years. Under his leadership, he obtained a $600,000 federal grant for urban renewal used to improve the streets of downtown Auburn. A marker for this project is at Toomer’s Corner. In November 2018, Hayhurst and a former student flew to France and toured the five landing sites for Allied forces. (Information courtesy of writer Martha Poole Simmons in the Alabama Gazette.) He now lives in Millbrook, Alabama.

U.S. Army Lt. Don Salls, age 101, is the oldest living University of Alabama football player, helping the Tide win the national championship in 1942 before joining the Army after graduation. Stationed in Europe for 60 days, he was shot in the hand in field combat, and after being hospitalized in England, was diagnosed with a broken back.

“They said, ‘The war is over for you,’” he told Jeff Rease in a video interview. “Thank you, Lord!”

Salls earned a master’s degree in physical education from Alabama, a doctorate in education from New York University, and then became head football coach at Jacksonville State University from 1946-1964, winning three bowl games and seven conference titles. In 1995 he wrote a book, How to Live and Love to be 100. He now lives at the Veterans Home in Bay Minette.

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Alabama Living

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Alabama co-ops mobilize to respond to Hurricane Sally

By Allison Law

I

n the late summer, electric utility employees keep a close and wary eye on the tropics. Tropical cyclone activity generally kicks into high gear in late August, and 2020 was no exception.

Hurricane Laura, a deadly and destructive category 4 storm, pummeled southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas when it made landfall Aug. 27. More than 1 million people lost power.

Alabama sent more than 175 men from 14 co-ops to help restore electricity to the Beauregard Electric Cooperative in DeRidder, Louisiana. Several co-ops were still working there when Hurricane Sally formed in the Gulf of Mexico, and as it strengthened, Alabama’s co-op crews returned home, unsure of its path.

On the 16-year anniversary of Hurricane Ivan’s landfall in the same location, Hurricane Sally came ashore as a category 2 storm near Gulf Shores on Sept. 16. While the gusts from the storm – with sustained winds of 105 mph – were destructive, Sally’s slow movement brought several hours of widespread and catastrophic rainfall that caused major flooding in many parts of southwest Alabama.

As the storm moved on, there were more than 100,000 outages to cooperative members statewide, and Baldwin EMC, with more than 80,000 meters in Baldwin and Monroe counties, bore the brunt of the damage.

The co-op had about 2,000 broken poles, 1,200 broken crossarms, more than 4,000 spans of downed wire and more than 4,000 trees on lines. More than 78,000 meters were without power.

After a flyover of the affected areas, Gov. Kay Ivey was quoted by Alabama News Center as saying, “We knew that Hurricane Sally had the potential to be a devastating storm, but y’all, it’s really bad.”

Baldwin EMC CEO Karen Moore had first-hand experience with Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina, but Sally was different for her co-op. “This was certainly the most devastating storm Baldwin EMC has ever had to hit our electrical system,” she says.

Her team knew they would need help, and safety specialists from Alabama Rural Electric Association (AREA) immediately got to work on the phones, coordinating mutual aid among sister cooperatives. With such weather events, co-ops in a storm’s path have to be mindful that they, too, may suffer damage, so they must

wait to make sure their line crews aren’t needed at home before they’re promised to another utility.

But within 72 hours following the storm, Baldwin EMC received 1,365 line workers, and more came in the following days. “It’s a sight to behold to see convoys of trucks arriving at our corporate headquarters, knowing they left their families to come in our time of need.”

Baldwin received help from sister co-ops in Alabama and 11 other states. Alabama co-ops sending help were Central Alabama, Cherokee, Covington, Cullman, Clarke-Washington, Dixie, Joe Wheeler, Marshall-DeKalb, Pea River, Pioneer, Southern Pine, Tallapoosa River and Wiregrass.

Of course, Baldwin’s own employees never stopped working, though some of them had damage at their own homes. “Watching these employees show up for work in spite of their own personal loss is an extreme example of service before self,” Moore says.

Other co-ops, including Southern Pine and Clarke-Washington, also suffered damage to their systems and needed help from sister co-ops. As these co-ops restored power to their members, the crews helping them, as well as some of their own crews, were then able to travel to Baldwin to help.

In the era of social media – with the ability to quickly dash off a complaint after a few days without power – Baldwin’s members were amazingly positive.

“The fact that our members were communicating with us, offering words of encouragement and prayers, made us feel like they were very understanding of the challenge we had,” Moore says.

Co-ops who sent help were monitoring Baldwin’s social media channels, and they recognized that the Baldwin members were lifting the employees up when they needed it the most.

“We had a lot of factors working against us, but they don’t compare to the resiliency of what was working for us,” Moore says. Editor’s note: As this issue was going to press, Alabama’s co-ops were once again helping another state in need. About 75 men from 10 coops were headed to DEMCO in southeast Louisiana to restore power to the areas hit hard by Hurricane Delta.

Baldwin EMC’s Kent Enfinger works in the flooded Gulf Park substation on Sept. 18.

After the storm, 17 of Baldwin EMC’s 22 substations did not have power.

PHOTO BY HAL YEAGER/GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

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| Gardens | Pink muhly

Ornamental grasses can add texture, style to landscapes G

rass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence. It may be pink, blue, purple, gold or ivory. It may be feathery, spikey or strappy. It may be as high as an elephant’s eye or low as a turtle’s shell. And it can look stunning all year long with little more than an occasional trim.

No, I’m not referring to the turfgrasses that carpet our yards, but to the many low-maintenance, highly functional ornamental grasses that can, even in winter, add glamour and style to landscapes of all sizes and styles.

The term “ornamental grasses” actually refers to a variety of species from several plant families (true grasses, sedges, reeds and cattails among them), all of which have grass-like leaves and tend to be hardy, drought-tolerant and require little grooming. Though these plants share many attractive similarities, what makes ornamental grasses so attractive in the landscape is their diversity.

Depending on the species, ornamental grasses may have weeping to upright, towering to ground-hugging and mounding to clumping growth habits. Their slender leaf blades may be feathery, spiney or lance-like in shape, and exhibit an array of solid or variegated colors in shades of green, pink, purple, red, yellow, gold, silver, taupe and more.

Katie Jackson is a freelance writer and editor based in Opelika, Alabama. Contact her at katielamarjackson@gmail.com.

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Many of these plants produce flowers or seed heads that add extra interest to the landscape, and many change colors with each season or create striking silhouettes in winter. In addition to their visual allure, ornamental grasses also provide sensory appeal as they move, rustle and whisper in a breeze.

Because of this diversity, there’s likely an ornamental grass suited to every garden niche. They can be used as stand-alone accent and focal plants, mixed with other plants in garden beds or to create a meadow, mass planted on hard-to-mow areas, used to form borders and privacy or wind screens and grown indoors or out in containers.

As wonderful as ornamental grasses are, however, they should be chosen with care.

Some may grow quite large, require specific growing conditions and may be invasive.

In fact, a number of known invasive varieties are still available at plant centers, so don’t buy until you’ve done your research.

Start by browsing through catalogs and guidebooks to identify varieties best suited to your growing conditions and design goals. Then get expert advice from your local Cooperative Extension office, Master Gardener association, botanical garden, native plant or wildflower organizations about which ones are truly good choices.

Alabama is home to some gorgeous native options such as muhly, bluestem and prairie grasses, not to mention switchgrass and broomsedge. These choices provide exceptional habitat for wildlife and pollinators, too!

Ornamental grasses can be planted in fall (before a hard freeze) or spring. Water all newly planted grasses well and mulch fall plantings to protect their roots from low winter temperatures. Once established, most ornamental grasses need only an annual pruning (preferably in late winter or early spring so they can grace the winter landscape), possibly dividing every 3-4 years and a light application of fertilizer in spring and late summer.

Check recommendations for your chosen varieties to get specific planting and care instructions, then revel in the knowledge that the grass on your side of the fence may not be green, but it may well make your neighbors green with envy.

NOVEMBER TIPS • Plant or transplant most trees and shrubs.

• Water newly installed plants as needed.

• Plant spring-blooming bulbs, strawberries, salad greens and coolseason annuals.

• Prepare tools, equipment and irrigation systems for winter.

• Use fallen leaves as mulch or in compost heaps.

• Water houseplants less.

• Keep birdfeeders and baths full and clean.

• Fertilize cool-season turfgrasses and check lawns for weeds and pests.

• Clean dead or diseased plants and trash from garden beds, orchards and landscape areas.

• Store lawn and garden chemicals safely.

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Alabama Living

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| Alabama People |

Kyes Stevens

Providing help and hope for people and animals in need If Kyes Stevens sees anyone or anything in need, she’s going to stop and help. It’s why she’s served as a volunteer firefighter for the community around her hometown of Waverly, Alabama. It’s why she rescues, and often adopts, homeless animals — more than 150 at last count. It’s also why she is an advocate for people whose voices are rarely heard.

Stevens is director of the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project, a nationally recognized program she founded in 2003 to provide educational opportunities to people incarcerated in Alabama’s prisons. The program sprang from Stevens’ first experiences teaching poetry and creative writing classes at Talladega Federal Prison and Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women which opened her eyes to the power of — and the basic human need for — learning, creativity and self-expression.

In the years since its creation, APAEP has taught hundreds of classes in the arts, humanities and sciences to more than 5,000 incarcerated students in prisons across the state.

– Katie Jackson

How did you, with a master’s degree in women’s history and a master’s of fine arts in poetry from Sarah Lawrence College in New York, end up working in Alabama’s prisons?

After I finished at Sarah Lawrence and came home, I was looking for a job. I loved teaching, but I didn’t want to teach in higher education, so when a friend told me about a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship to teach poetry, I was excited. The fact that it was to teach poetry in a Talladega Federal Prison didn’t bother me. I knew there was a long history of imprisoned writers around the world using art and poetry to communicate from inside a system that silences you. Call it naivety or whatever, but I thought, “OK, people want to write poems. Great!”

What did you first find inside the prison that made you want to help? And what have you learned through all these years?

I found this beautiful engagement with learning. My students would say “I’ve always wanted to learn how to do that” or “I’ve always wanted to know why that is.” The motivation, the root of it, is always “I have something to say.” In these 19 years, I’ve learned that there is an absolute human longing to learn and create. It’s how we express ourselves. And if you grow up without those opportunities, which many people inside prisons did, you are being told you aren’t important, and you shouldn’t invest in hope or dreams or possibilities. We need to provide those opportunities for everyone.

The APAEP works to provide learning and hope, but how does it, or any program like it, do that successfully?

Effective programming, whether in the prison or in any community education or arts program, is about creating a space where someone can say “I’m going to take this risk and be vulnerable.”

It’s about taking the right or wrong out of it and offering them a chance to learn, explore and be curious.

PHOTO BY BARB BONDY

You’ve rescued and fostered many animals, and quite a few — mostly cats but also three dogs and 35 chickens — are permanent members of your family. Tell us about them.

Many of the animals we have now are from the Island of Misfit Toys. They are rescues, adoptees and foster-fails that just needed a chance. Many, like our double front-leg amputee Roo Baby Roo, have special needs and are a ton of work, but it’s worth it because I believe we should truly value every single life, even when it’s hard and complicated to do so.

As effective as APAEP has been, what more can be done to improve lives across the state?

We need to have conversations. We need to build better systems for our state, things like education, access to broadband service and health care. We need to invest in people and help them, even if they aren’t like us. And not just people in prison but vets returning from combat, homeless people, children, anyone in need.

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| Worth the drive |

Two states plus two ’cues equal one winning combo Story and photos by Jennifer Kornegay

A

t most Alabama bartown Fairhope. becue joints, meat “The response to the food of the porcine pertruck showed that Fairhope suasion is king. But at Texwas hungry for some realarBama BBQ in Fairhope, ly good barbecue,” Parmer beef also has a strong claim says. He was correct again; to the throne. It’s an evenly right before the COVID-19 matched rivalry that stems shutdowns, the restaurant was up to selling 400 naturally from owner and pounds of barbecue a day. pitmaster Bradley Parmer’s Parmer stressed that “rebackground and inspired ally good barbecue” begins the restaurant’s mashup with really good products. name.

“Getting high-quality meat Parmer cut his teeth is key,” he said. His pork is on Deep South ‘cue while from Compart Duroc, and growing up in west Georgia he gets beef from Creek(where pork is also king). stone Farms, both in the He ended up in Austin, Both TexarBama’s smoked turkey and beef brisket are moist and full of flavor.

Midwest. Other crucial inTexas, working in architec- Sides like creamy Texican corn salad and traditional tater salad round out the tray. ture and building. There, gredients in TexarBama’s surrounded by some of the country’s most lauded beef brisket, he recipe for success are the right materials and the right technique learned the ways of Texas ‘cue.

– in this case, a massive smoker fed by huge stacks of white and red Today, TexarBama combines the two. But what has grown into oak logs. “In Texas, they use post oak, but here, red and white oak a popular and routinely crowded eatery (in a place with plenty of are plentiful,” he says. “Oak burns hot and clean and adds some nice good eating options) started as a hobby. Parmer moved to Fairhope vanilla notes to its smoke.” in 2015 to be closer to his parents, who’d relocated to the coastal Hovering around 200 degrees, this smoke continually bathes the city. “I wanted to be close to my folks and to have a simpler life,” he meat in a process that can’t be rushed. Beef brisket slowly cooks for says. “I was getting a little burnt out on the crowds and busyness 13 hours, and pork butts, about 12 hours. And the smoke serves of Austin.” He was doing carpentry work on construction projects dual purposes: It’s the cooking method but also provides the majority of the flavor. “We use minimal seasoning,” Parmer says. “On down at Alabama’s beaches and started playing around with barbecue at his home on the weekends, using a smoker hand-built from the beef, it’s just salt and pepper.” old propane tanks.

There are several different barbecue sauces available at TexarBama, including a version of Alabama white sauce, and while they’re Soon, a neighbor got involved, and word of the duo’s tender, succulent ‘cue spread like the meat-scented smoke wafting on the wind. all delicious, they’re truly not needed. Parmer is partial to the brisket, but customers seem to be pretty split, opting for pork and beef Other neighbors started dropping by, begging for a bite. Then, people from outside the neighborhood wanted in on the eating action. options in equal measure. While these two proteins are enjoying Parmer decided to make things more official. “We started hosting a a joint reign, there’s a less common contender also vying for the backyard barbecue the first Saturday of the month,” he says. They crown: smoked turkey. “It’s so moist, it couldn’t even think about being dry,” Parmer says. That’s no hollow boast; the thin slices of breast took donations to help offset their costs, and six months in, they are so tender and deeply flavored, you could be fooled into thinking were drawing throngs of more than 100 people. “I thought, well, I might be able to make some real money with this,” Parmer says.

TexarBama BBQ TexarBama BBQ became a business in early 2018 but started as 212 ½ Fairhope Avenue a mobile operation, serving out of a food truck/trailer in Fairhope’s Fairhope, Alabama 36532 warehouse district. In just a few months, Parmer’s initial hunch was 251-270-7250 proven right; lines for TexarBama’s food wrapped around the block, Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday and Parmer was selling 200 pounds of meat every day. He knew Fairhope texarbama.com then that the city would support a stationary spot, so in June 2018,  TexarBama opened in its current building on the edge of down22 NOVEMBER 2020

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it was altogether a bird of different feather.

Most folks flock to barbecue joints for meat, but Te x a r B a m a’s other offerings should not be TexarBama owner and underestimat- pitmaster Bradley Parmer ed. Sides like turned his barbecue hobby rich and gooey into a thriving business. smoked mac ‘n cheese and silky collard greens threaten to upstage the main attractions. And selections like pulled-pork nachos (only available on the weekends); brisket, pulled pork and smoked, shredded chicken tacos; and a variety of tangy margaritas bring a bit of Tex-Mex flair, as does the creamy, sweetheat Texican corn salad (think cheesy, spicy Mexican street corn served conveniently off the cob) with its punch of pungent fresh cilantro.

With a vast menu (there are burgers, salads and sandwiches in addition to the ‘cue), its blend of barbecue styles, plus some Alabama comfort-food favorites alongside Lone Star state standards, TexarBama BBQ has earned a loyal following, and Parmer finds the repeat customers rewarding.

“We’ve got a lot of regulars,” he says, “and this community has been very supportive.

It’s fun to know that people really like what we’re doing.”

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Not the Last Dance

That original TexarBama BBQ food truck is still getting use; you’ll see it now parked on the restaurant’s patio, and when restaurants were slowly re-opening after COVID-19 shutdowns, it served as a walk-up window to keep diners ordering and eating outside for increased safety. Note its exterior: It’s reclaimed wood from Texas, and according to Parmer, some of the planks were floorboards at dancehalls in their former lives.

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PET HEALTH

Understanding arthritis pain in pets – and managing it

J

ust like us, as our pets age, they slow down. A common problem in older pets is arthritis. The word means inflammation of the joint. Some of us call it Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD).

Arthritis can affect one or many joints of the body. When we hear arthritis, we tend to think of the knees and hips, but there are over 100 joints in the spine alone, and they could be affected as well!

Arthritis primarily affects the joints, but the trouble spreads out to the nerves and the muscles associated with it. When we treat arthritis, we frequently forget about the associated nerve and muscle tissues. From human experience, we know that sometimes a muscle spasm hurts more than the affected joint itself.

To understand this disease and its various presentations, the following symptoms in dogs can be helpful: Early: Most of the time, this stage goes undiagnosed. There will be slight changes in mobility, very mild, and an almost non-noticeable delay in getting up from a sitting posture. It is best to start some intervention at this stage.

Moderate: Owners start to notice that their pets are slowing down, and a little extra effort in getting up and sometimes sitting Goutam Mukherjee, DVM, MS, Ph.D. (Dr. G) has been a veterinarian for more than 30 years. He works at his home as a holistic veterinarian and is a member of North Alabama Electric Cooperative. Send pet-related questions to drg.vet@gmail.com.

Thanksgiving Across 1 National day of gratitude, first observed by the Pilgrims in 1621 7 Cook with dry heat 8 Thanksgiving pie 10 Baseball stat. abbr.

11 ____ beans, vegetable staple at Thanksgiving 13 Event announcer (abbr.)

15 Visit 16 The original reason for Thanksgiving 19 Drink holder 21 Thanksgiving dressing 24 Dried fruit 26 Gather 28 ‘’There, it’s done!’’ (French word) 29 What Brenda Gantt was holding on our September cover 30 Man

down. Movement may be better or worse after rest or play. Cold days may be worse.

Severe: Anyone can notice this stage. The pet is visibly stiff gaited almost all the time. There is marked muscle loss. This stage may also be associated with some loss of nerve functions.

For cats, diagnosis is difficult as they are good at hiding their symptoms. Watch to see if they are avoiding jumping up on high places. It is said that over 60% of cats have some degree of arthritis after the age of 10.

There are many treatment options for arthritis, and it can get really confusing to decide on which way to go. The exact nature of the treatment depends on the severity of the disease. I think as the disease progresses, all pets will need some support from pharmaceutical products. Our goal is to minimize and be judicious in their use.

We tend to use the “whatever necessary” approach when the pain is severe before tapering down to the minimum effective dose. Our biggest ammunition against arthritis is client education. We teach clients the different ways pain is originated, transmitted and perceived by the brain. Then we discuss how each class of drugs helps with each of the aspects.

We will address these details in the next article. There are many choices. There is a tremendous amount of research going on to find effective alternatives for opioids in human medicine; I am sure our pets will benefit from the outcomes, too.

crossword

by Myles Mellor

25 Thanksgiving dinner topping 26 City transport 27 College email address ending Answers on Page 37

Down 1 Traditional Thanksgiving bird 2 Country band named for their home 3 Hobby shop buy 4 Informal acknowledgement of debt 5 Heat in a microwave oven 6 Thanksgiving usually ____ families (brings them together) 8 Apple ___ dessert 9 Food choice list 12 Numbered road, abbr.

14 ___berry sauce 15 Meat filler at Thanksgiving dinner 17 Type of potatoes served at Thanksgiving dinners 18 Heat control equipment 20 Circle ratio 22 Dinner ____: thanksgiving dinner go-with 23 Bird that’s a symbol of peace 24 NOVEMBER 2020

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Avoiding fraud this holiday season Navigating the busiest shopping season of the year, while also protecting yourself from theft, is no simple task. Fraudsters and scammers consider the holidays a very lucrative time of year to steal from you. Here are three things you can do to protect yourself from potential fraud:

Gift card scams

When purchasing a physical gift card from a retail store, always check the packaging. Fraudsters will tamper with it to obtain the PIN, then wait for the card to be activated. Before you even have time to wrap it, the fraudster has drained the card balance leaving the recipient a piece of plastic and a headache at the register.

According to the National Retail Federation, more than 50% of Americans will purchase a gift card this upcoming holiday season. If fraudsters can compromise even 1% of these cards, they rob American consumers of over $300 million.

Only do business with merchants and retailers you know and trust.

When buying from a website for the first time, check the site for customer service phone numbers. Place a call to the business and attempt to talk to a representative. Each month 1.4 million fictitious sites are created to snare online consumers. Fraudsters create fake websites to closely resemble legitimate retailers and then offer merchandise at deep discounts to attract buyers looking for a deal.

You may be surprised to find that the so-called “customer service department” is not even staffed.

Be careful attempting to purchase goods or services online through popular community marketplaces.

Before buying from an online marketplace, do your homework.

If the seller asks you to pay using a peer-to-peer cash transfer service, such as Venmo, be on high alert. These services are convenient but not meant to pay for goods or services from people you do not know. These payments are almost instant and, in many cases, impossible to recover from scammers. Read the terms and conditions of any payment service before using it to purchase items. Attempt to meet up with the seller at a neutral public place.

Many cities have designated locations, such as police departments or civic centers, that are considered safe places to meet a stranger.

Remember, be vigilant and on high alert while shopping, and happy holidays from Alabama Rural Electric Credit Union!

Learn how you will be protected from fraud at Alabama Rural Electric Credit Union, a division of Alabama ONE, at www.arecu.net/fraudalerts

Jackie Davidson Payments and Digital Fraud Risk Manager Alabama ONE

SOCIAL SECURITY

New benefit verification letters

W

e are excited to announce the release of a new, standardized Benefit Verification letter.

People receiving Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits can obtain their letter by using their personal my Social Security account. You can use the letter as proof of income for loans, housing assistance, mortgage, and other verification purposes.

Please create your personal my Social Security account to access your new Benefit Verification letter online in a safe, quick, and convenient way without needing to contact us. People not receiving benefits can use their account to get proof that they do not receive benefits, or proof that benefits are pending, in the same standardized letter. Individual representative payees can also use the new my Social Security Representative Payee Portal to access the new Benefit Verification letter online for themselves or their beneficiaries.

You can access your Benefit Verification letters at ssa.gov/ myaccount. If you don’t want to use your personal my Social Security account, you can call our National 800 Number, 800772-1213 to speak with a representative or to use the Interactive Voice Response system. You can also contact your local office. Kylle’ McKinney, SSA Public Affairs Specialist, can be reached by email at kylle.mckinney@ssa.gov.

Alabama Living

AL STATE NOV20.indd 25

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10/14/20 1:20 PM

| Outdoors |

Check state’s game laws before deer season

A

labama deer hunters should possession doesn’t have to report check the regulations before anything.” hunting this year. The state The state manages more than made some changes to game laws 700,000 acres of wildlife manageincluding creating two new deer ment areas for public hunting. hunting zones.

Sportsmen can also hunt national Zone D centers around Bankwildlife refuges, other federal lands head National Forest northwest of and other public properties. Good Birmingham. It includes parts of habitat conditions and a good Lawrence, Winston, Cullman and mast crop should mean abundant, Franklin counties. Zone E includes healthy deer across much of Alatwo separated tracts in extreme bama. eastern Alabama. One includes “The quality of the deer depends parts of Calhoun and Cleburne on what they’ve been eating and counties. The other sits in Barbour they’ve had plenty of groceries this and Russell counties. year,” Cook says. “Some wildlife Deer typically rut earlier in management areas that typicalthese two new zones than in the ly have the highest deer harvests rest of the state. Therefore, people each year include Oakmulgee and can begin hunting in these zones Barbour. Sam Murphy is also one about two weeks sooner than othof the better ones. It’s an area that er parts of Alabama. Season dates produces a lot of deer and some and regulations on public hunting pretty good ones too. In the southproperties may differ from estabern half of the state, Geneva State lished state dates and regulations A whitetail buck stands at alert. Deer hunting is the most Forest and Lowndes are two of the popular type of hunting in Alabama. The state created two new so always check first before hunt- deer hunting zones for this season. better places to hunt.”

PHOTO BY JOHN N. FELSHER ing anywhere.

People might also find good deer “Last season, our state deer harvest was up 14 percent from hunting in Black Warrior, Blue Spring, David K. Nelson, Perdido the previous year based on Game Check numbers,” says Chris and Upper Delta WMAs. Sportsmen can also apply to hunt variCook, the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division ous Special Opportunity areas. For details, see outdooralabama.

Deer Program coordinator. “I don’t know how much of that can com/hunting/special-opportunity-areas. be attributed to people just getting more used to using Game “Some really good deer are taken off those Special Opportunity Check or the change where they could use bait. I’m sure it was a Areas as well as deer for the freezer,” Cook says. “I’m more familcombination of both.” iar with Cedar Creek and Portland Landing areas. Those areas are The state also made a change to deer possession. Anyone who covered up with deer.” bags a deer or a turkey must report that kill through Game Check In any property, get out early and often to scout. Go where deer within 48 hours. To report game, many sportsmen use the app already want to go. On public properties, pick several hunting available at outdooralabama.com. Frequently, a hunter bags a spots. One person’s favorite place might also be another person’s deer and drops it off at a processor. When that animal changes favorite place. To avoid the crowds on public lands, hunt in the hands, it must include written documentation of the transfer. afternoon or during the week.

Sportsmen can also apply for a public dog hunting opportunity “When a hunter kills a deer, that hunter must still report the on Geneva State Forest near Florala. Sportsmen do not need to deer to Game Check and receive a confirmation number,” Cook bring their own dogs. Dog handlers will release their dogs in the says. “When the processor takes possession of that deer, that perarea. Each hunter selected for the hunt will be assigned a stand son has to record the hunter’s name and the confirmation number where that person can wait for deer. Watch outdooralabama.com associated with that deer to prove that the deer has been reported for details. in Game Check as required. For anybody to take possession of Sportsmen who bag a deer this season might want to let the a deer or turkey that he or she didn’t kill, that person must have experts check it for chronic wasting disease, or CWD. So far, the that information from the person who killed it, but the person in debilitating disease similar to mad cow disease has NOT been confirmed in Alabama, but deer in Tennessee and Mississippi have tested positive for it. Hunters can bring deer to CWD testing John N. Felsher lives in Semmes, Ala. stations across the state.

Contact him through Facebook.

For more information on deer hunting in Alabama, see outdooralabama.com/seasons-and-bag-limits/deer-season. 26 NOVEMBER 2020

AL STATE NOV20.indd 26

www.alabamaliving.coop

10/14/20 1:20 PM

DOUG HANNON’S FISH & GAME FORECAST

2020

NOVEMBER

Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

DECEMBER

Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

EXCELLENT TIMES A.M.

1:06 - 3:06 1:54 - 3:54 2:42 - 4:42 3:30 - 5:30 4:18 - 6:18 5:06 - 7:06 5:54 - 7:54 6:42 - 8:42 7:30 - 9:30 8:18 - 10:18 9:06 - 11:06 9:54 - 11:54 10:18 - 12:18 10:42 - 12:42 A.M.

11:30 - 1:30 NA 1:06 - 3:06 1:54 - 3:54 2:42 - 4:42 3:30 - 5:30 4:18 - 6:18 5:06 - 7:06 5:54 - 7:54 6:42 - 8:42 7:30 - 9:30 8:18 - 10:18 9:06 - 11:06 10:42 - 12:42 11:30 - 1:30 NA 1:06 - 3:06 1:54 - 3:54 2:42 - 4:42 3:30 - 5:30 4:18 - 6:18 5:06 - 7:06 5:54 - 7:54 6:42 - 8:42 7:30 - 9:30 8:18 - 10:18 9:06 - 11:06 9:54 - 11:54 10:06 - 12:06 10:42 - 12:42 11:30 - 1:30

MOON STAGE

PM

1:30 - 3:30 2:18 - 4:18 3:06 - 5:06 3:54 - 5:54 4:42 - 6:42 5:30 - 7:30 6:18 - 8:18 7:06 - 9:06 7:54 - 9:54 8:42 - 10:42 9:30 - 11:30 10:18 - 12:18 10:42 - 12:42 11:06 - 1:06 FULL MOON PM

11:54 - 1:54 12:42 - 2:42 1:30 - 3:30 2:18 - 4:18 3:06 - 5:06 3:54 - 5:54 4:42 - 6:42 5:30 - 7:30 6:18 - 8:18 7:06 - 9:06 7:54 - 9:54 8:42 - 10:42 9:30 - 11:30 11:06 - 1:06 NEW MOON 11:54 - 1:54 12:42 - 2:42 1:30 - 3:30 2:18 - 4:18 3:06 - 5:06 3:54 - 5:54 4:42 - 6:42 5:30 - 7:30 6:18 - 8:18 7:06 - 9:06 7:54 - 9:54 8:42 - 10:42 9:30 - 11:30 10:18 - 12:18 10:30 - 12:30 11:06 - 1:06 FULL MOON 11:54 - 1:54

GOOD TIMES AM

7:33 - 9:03 8:21 - 9:51 9:09 - 10:39 9:57 - 11:27 10:45 - 12:15 11:33 - 1:03 NA 1:09 - 2:39 1:57 - 3:27 2:45 - 4:15 3:33 - 5:03 4:21 - 5:51 4:48 - 6:28 5:09 - 6:39 AM

5:57 - 7:27 6:45 - 8:15 7:33 - 9:03 8:21 - 9:51 9:09 - 10:39 9:57 - 11:27 10:45 - 12:15 11:33 - 1:03 NA 1:09 - 2:39 1:57 - 3:27 2:45 - 4:15 3:33 - 5:03 5:09 - 6:39 5:57 - 7:27 6:45 - 8:15 7:33 - 9:03 8:21 - 9:51 9:09 - 10:39 9:57 - 11:27 10:45 - 12:15 11:33 - 1:03 NA 1:09 - 2:39 1:57 - 3:27 2:45 - 4:15 3:33 - 5:03 4:21 - 5:51 4:33 - 6:03 5:09 - 6:39 5:57 - 7:27

PM

7:57 - 9:27 8:45 - 10:15 9:33 - 11:03 10:21 - 11:51 11:09 - 12:39 11:57 - 1:27 12:45 - 2:15 1:33 - 3:03 2:21 - 3:51 3:09 - 4:39 3:57 - 5:27 4:45 - 6 ;15 5:11 - 6:41 5:33 - 7:03 PM

6:21 - 7:51 7:09 - 8:39 7:57 - 9:27 8:45 - 10:15 9:33 - 11:03 10:21 - 11:51 11:09 - 12:39 11:57 - 1:27 12:45 - 2:15 1:33 - 3:03 2:21 - 3:51 3:09 - 4:39 3:57 - 5:27 5:33 - 7:03 6:21 - 7:51 7:09 - 8:39 7:57 - 9:27 8:45 - 10:15 9:33 - 11:03 10:21 - 11:51 11:09 - 12:39 11:57 - 1:27 12:45 - 2:15 1:33 - 3:03 2:21 - 3:51 3:09 - 4:39 3:57 - 5:27 4:45 - 6 ;15 4:57 - 6:27 5:33 - 7:03 6:21 - 7:51

The Moon Clock and resulting Moon Times were developed 36 years ago by Doug Hannon, one of America’s most trusted wildlife experts and a tireless inventor. The Moon Clock is produced by DataSport, Inc. of Atlanta, GA (www.moontimes.com), a company specializing in wildlife activity time prediction.

Note FULL MOON is listed on November 30. It was incorrectly listed as a NEW MOON in the October issue.

Alabama Living

AL STATE NOV20.indd 27

NOVEMBER 2020 27

10/14/20 1:20 PM

| Consumer Wise |

How to breathe easy about your home’s air quality

By Pat Keegan and Brad Thiessen

S

ealing air leaks is one of the best ways to make your home more energy efficient, and there are steps you can take to ensure your home has an adequate amount of healthy, fresh

air.

The average home loses about half its air volume every hour, so it can be sealed considerably (often at a low cost) and still have more than enough healthy air.

Pollutants are the main cause of poor indoor air quality, and the most dangerous pollutant is carbon monoxide (CO). It can come from furnaces, water heaters or stoves that burn natural gas, propane or wood. The problem usually occurs in devices that are old, in need of repair or installed or operated in a manner that prevents clear, unobstructed supply and exhaust of combustion air.

Excessive moisture in the air can also be considered an indoor pollutant because mold and dust mites thrive when relative humidity is above 60%. One sign your home is sealed too tight is window condensation, which can happen if moist air doesn’t exit the home at an adequate rate.

Pollutants can cause physical reactions such as coughing or sneezing, but carbon monoxide causes more severe reactions, such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath, confusion, blurred vision or loss of consciousness.

So, what can you do to ensure healthy indoor air as you increase your home’s energy efficiency? The first strategy, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is to eliminate or reduce the source of pollution. And the first pollutant to eliminate is carbon monoxide. If you have a combustion furnace, it should be inspected and serviced regularly by a professional. If you have any combustion appliances, it is critical that CO detecPatrick Keegan writes on consumer and cooperative affairs for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the Arlington, Va.-based service arm of the nation’s 900-plus consumer-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperatives. Write to energytips@collaborativeefficiency.com for more information.

28 NOVEMBER 2020

AL STATE NOV20.indd 28

A furnace that been inspected by an HVAC professional and is properly vented can help you have a pollution-free home. SOURCE: ACTIVE STEVE, FLICKR USER

tors are installed and replaced every five to seven years.

If you live in an area with radon, which you can determine by checking out EPA’s radon map, keep it out of your home because it is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Radon tests are not expensive, and your local health authorities can provide more information. If radon levels are too high, you’ll need to hire a professional to install a system that will divert radon gas to the outside of your home.

Here are a few additional pollutant reduction measures to consider: • Never smoke tobacco inside.

• Run the exhaust fans in bathrooms and your kitchen after use.

• Store toxic cleaning and painting products outside.

• Never idle a vehicle, even for a minute, in an attached garage.

The second strategy is ventilation. Your home probably has more than enough natural ventilation from outside air leaking into the home. If you suspect this isn’t adequate, the best way to know for sure is to hire an energy auditor to do a blower door test.

Many experts recommend sealing the home as tight as possible and using mechanical ventilation to ensure a consistent and adequate supply of outside air. The most energy efficient ventilation system is a heat recovery ventilator (HRV), which pulls in fresh air from outside and captures the heat from indoor air before it is exhausted to the outside.

The third and final strategy is to clean the air. The easiest step is to simply change your furnace filter at least once every three months and keep your furnace supply and return air registers free of obstructions. If any rooms do not have an air return, keep the doors open. There are several home air cleaning systems available––some are effective, and some are not. The EPA offers a handy online guide: epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/air-cleaners-and-air-filters-home.

We hope these suggestions will be helpful as you seal air leaks in your home and enjoy fresh, healthy indoor air. www.alabamaliving.coop

10/14/20 1:20 PM

2021 Statement of Ownership Publication: Alabama Living Publisher: Alabama Rural Electric Association Editor: Lenore Vickrey Owner: Alabama Rural Electric Cooperatives, 340 TechnaCenter Dr., Montgomery, AL 36117

Year Avg. Current (Oct. 2020) A. Total No. of Copies: 422,025 427,378 B. Paid and/or Requested Circulation: 1. Outside County 422,025 427,378 2. Inside county 0 0 3. Sales through Dealers, Carriers, etc.

0 0 4. Other Classes Mailed 0 0 C. Total Paid/or requested Circulation: 422,025 427,378 D. Free Distribution by Mail 4337 4,369 E. Free Distribution outside the mail 0 0 F. Total Free Distribution 0 0 G. Total Distribution: 422,025 427,378 H. Copies Not Distributed 4,337 4,369 I. Total 426,362 431,747 Percent paid and/or requested 100% 100% Alabama Living

AL STATE NOV20.indd 29

NOVEMBER 2020  29

10/14/20 1:20 PM

| Alabama Recipes |

Time to bake a

Pie!

I

Photo by The Buttered Home

f the thought of making a homemade pie makes you a bit nervous, take it from a cook who knows how to bake a great pie: Don’t be.

“I love scratch-made cooking,” says Brooke Burks, who writes The Buttered Home blog and is our partner for each month’s recipe pages. “That’s what I grew up doing. But I also work for a living. Making a pie crust can be a little anxiety-inducing, but with the ease of getting a store-bought crust, there’s no reason why you can’t experiment with making different kinds of pie at home.”

Her apple pie recipe on these pages is an uncomplicated one, using either a homemade or purchased pie crust. “Lots of people don’t like doing pie because they feel it’s too complicated,” she says, “but this recipe for apple pie is as clean as it gets.”

When she does decide to make a homemade crust, Brooke will make two to four and put them in the freezer. “If I get pears or apples when they’re in season, I’ll sometimes make hand pies (individual small pies that can be baked or fried) using the same crust. Or you can use (canned) pie filling. You can make them sweet or savory.”

Brooke will be making this month’s apple pie recipe in a video for her YouTube Channel this month, and we’ll be sharing it with our readers on Facebook. For details on how to make a homemade pie crust, visit thebutteredhome.com/homemade-piecrust. — Lenore Vickrey 30 NOVEMBER 2020

AL STATE NOV20.indd 30

www.alabamaliving.coop

10/14/20 1:20 PM

Homemade Apple Pie is a recipe that takes us right back to our childhood.

Back when days were easy and folks made a pie to have for unexpected company. Easy and delicious, it can be Brooke Burks made with a homemade pie crust or a store-bought one. The result is the same: soul-warming, good food memories. Whether you need them or need to make them, this pie is for you! The pie crust recipe and many more can be found at TheButteredHome.com.

Homemade Apple Pie

1/2 3 1/2 1 1/4 6 1 2 1 1

cup sugar plus 1 teaspoon tablespoons plain flour cup brown sugar teaspoon ground cinnamon teaspoon nutmeg cups green apples, peeled and sliced tablespoon lemon juice pie crusts, one for bottom and one for top tablespoon butter, cold and cubed egg white

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, 1/2 cup of white sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix peeled and sliced apples with lemon juice, taking care to coat each slice. Sprinkle with sugar and spice mixture and mix well to coat again.

Line a deep dish pie pan with one crust. Pour apple mixture into pie crust. Dot apples with cubes of butter evenly. Place second crust on top and seal edges with bottom crust. Using a knife, cut 1- inch slits in the center of the top to vent.

Beat egg whites until frothy.

Using a brush, brush egg whites on top of crust. Sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon white sugar evenly over the top.

Taking a long strip of aluminum foil, tent edges of pie for first portion of cook time. Bake 25 minutes with edges tented. Remove pie from oven and remove foil. Place back in oven and cook another 20-25 minutes until pie is browned.

Cool for 15 minutes, slice and serve. Enjoy!

Alabama Living

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NOVEMBER 2020  31

10/14/20 1:21 PM

Cream Cheese Caramel Choc-o Nutty Pie 1 9-inch cookie pie crust 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese 1 can sweetened condensed milk 1 can whipped cream 1 bottle caramel syrup 1 bottle chocolate syrup 1 chocolate bar ¼ cup whole pecans Place cream cheese in a microwavable mixing bowl and microwave about 3 minutes to soften. Take out and stir until soft, add condensed milk, stirring until well combined. Pour mixture into cookie crust and spread. Spread whipped cream around edge of pie. Pour chocolate and caramel syrups over the top of pie. Chop chocolate bar and crumble over syrups. Drop the pecans over the top and around the pie. Cool and set before serving.

Julia Fleming Southern Pine EC

50

$

Cook of the Month Prize!

February: Chocolate | November 6 March: Jams, jellies, marmalades |

December 4 April: Eggs | January 1

3 ways to submit: Online: alabamaliving.coop Email: recipes@alabamaliving.coop Mail: Recipes, P.O. Box 244014 Montgomery, AL 36124 Please send us your original recipes (developed or adapted by you or family members.)

Cook of the Month winners will receive $50, and may win “Cook of the Month” once per calendar year.

AL STATE NOV20.indd 32

1 1 3 1 1 1 3 1 ¼

Almost Too Easy Layered Lemon Pie

9-inch pie shell, unbaked cup sugar tablespoons plain flour cup light corn syrup cup flaked coconut 8-ounce can crushed pineapple eggs, beaten teaspoon vanilla cup butter, melted

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened ½ cup sugar 1 can lemon pie filling 1 8-ounce container Cool Whip, thawed 1 graham cracker crust

In a bowl, combine sugar and flour. Add corn syrup, coconut, pineapple, eggs and vanilla, mix well. Pour into pie shell and drizzle with butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until knife inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Chill before cutting. Store in refrigerator.

Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in ½ of lemon pie filling.

Fold in Cool Whip. Spoon into pie shell.

Spread with remaining pie filling. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Linda Lee Cullman EC

Trudy F. Nelson Central Alabama EC RECIPE CLARIFICATION The Chicken and Dumplings recipe featured in our October issue should have included the following: Use enough water to cover chicken thighs and vegetables by 2-inches for cooking of the chicken. After de-boning the chicken, you may need to add up to an additional 2 cups of water or broth to cook the dumplings. Add as much liquid as needed to give dumplings enough room to simmer.

Themes and Deadlines:

32 NOVEMBER 2020

Coconut Pineapple Pie

Mail order form and payment to: Best of Alabama Living Cookbook P.O. Box 244014 Montgomery, AL 36124-4014 COOKBOOKS @ $19.95 EACH: (Shipping included)

Cookbook

TOTAL ENCLOSED: $

Name: Address: City:

State:

Zip:

Phone Number:

www.alabamaliving.coop

10/14/20 1:21 PM

Mama’s Sweet Potato Pie 2 2 1 1 1/2

eggs cups sweet potatoes teaspoon nutmeg or cinnamon teaspoon pure vanilla cup milk

Bake sweet potatoes and let cool. Peel and cut up. Mash with fork or potato masher. Stir in all remaining ingredients and beat well. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Take out and brush with melted butter over top, then sprinkle with nutmeg or cinnamon.

Cinnamon works best.

Christina Mechaw Joe Wheeler EMC

La Pastiera Dolce (Sweet Spaghetti Pie)

3/4 1 3 1/2 1/4 1 1/4

pound spaghetti noodles, uncooked 15-ounce container ricotta cheese eggs, slightly beaten cup sugar cup grated Parmesan cheese cup whole milk stick butter Cinnamon, for topping

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Break uncooked pasta into irregular-sized pieces.

Cook pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente. Drain well and set aside. Put ricotta cheese in a large bowl and mix until smooth. Add slightly beaten eggs, sugar, Parmesan cheese and whole milk.

Mix well. Add cooked spaghetti and toss until well coated with cheese mixture.

Pour into a well-buttered 9x13-inch baking dish. Dot with slices of butter and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until puffy and golden brown. Remove from oven and set in a warm place for at least an hour before serving or it can be kept in the refrigerator covered with foil for serving at a later time. Cut in squares with a sharp, wet knife. Cook’s note: For a sweeter pie, sprinkle with confectioners' sugar before serving. This pie also makes a great lunch or snack and can be eaten either hot or cold.

Janice Bracewell Covington EC

Yummy Pecan Pie

Apple Cranberry Pie

½ 3 1 1 3 1 1 1 1

1 pie crust

cup sugar tablespoons all-purpose flour cup light Karo syrup cup dark Karo syrup eggs, room temperature teaspoon white vinegar teaspoon vanilla cup pecans, chopped 9-inch pie crust, unbaked

Filling: ¾ cup sugar 2 tablespoons flour 1 teaspoon cinnamon ¼ teaspoon salt 5-6 cups apples, peeled and thinly sliced 1½ cups fresh or frozen cranberries

Mix first 7 ingredients. Stir in pecans.

Pour into crust. Cover edges with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake until filling is puffed and golden, about 35 more minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Topping: 1 cup rolled oats 2/3 cup brown sugar 2/3 cup flour ½ cup butter

Linda Lee Cullman EC

Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl and mix well. Add apples and cranberries and mix. Put crust into a deep-dish pie pan. Spoon the apple and cranberry mixture into the crust. Combine all topping ingredients and mix with fork until crumbly. Sprinkle topping over filling. Bake at 425 degrees for 35-45 minutes. Cover crust edges with foil and bake 15 minutes. Uncover and allow to brown.

Coconut Pecan Pie 5 eggs, beaten well with mixer and set aside 2 cups sugar 1 stick butter or margarine, softened 1 14-ounce package Angel Flake coconut 1 cup buttermilk 1/2 cup chopped pecans 2 unbaked deep-dish pie crusts Using electric mix, cream butter and sugar. Add beaten eggs and mix well.

Add buttermilk, coconut and pecans.

Pour into unbaked pie shells. Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for 35 minutes or until pie is golden brown on top. Makes 2 pies.

Adria Joachim South Alabama EC

“Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness.”

- Author Jane Austen

Suzy Shepherd Pioneer EC Alabama Living

AL STATE NOV20.indd 33

NOVEMBER 2020 33

10/14/20 1:21 PM

Danny Adams, who began working with Wiregrass Electric Cooperative in the 1970s, recently retired after four decades of service.

‘In your blood’

Since 1974, Danny Adams has witnessed several changes in Wiregrass Electric Cooperative’s operations, including the arrival of computers, mobile phones and bucket trucks.

“Back in those days, we didn’t have any bucket trucks. The only thing we had was a pair of hooks. If you came to a pole that was bad, you tied it to the truck and climbed it anyway,” he says.

“Looking back, having to climb like we did and how we had to work back then, I couldn’t do it now. Back then, I didn’t know any different.”

When Adams retired in September, he reflected on several events and the growth WEC has experienced in the past 46 years — 41 of which he worked with the cooperative. One thing, however, didn’t change: WEC’s commitment to community.

“Former General Manager Bruce Dyess wanted you to join the fire department or be a part of the rescue squad or do whatever you want to be a part of the community,” he says. “A cooperative is different. The public looks at us in a different way. Power is power, but with a cooperative you’ve got a voice.”

Born to be a lineman

Adams retires after 41 TOTAL YEARS of service to WEC 34 NOVEMBER 2020

032_CVR.indd 50

After graduating high school, Adams approached his neighbor, WEC Samson District Supervisor Billy Blalock, about job opportunities within the cooperative. While Blalock didn’t have anything available immediately, he offered Adams a position doing line work a few months later.

“I didn’t know anything about power, about electricity. I was just a young kid,” Adams says. “He took a chance on me, and I wasn’t going to let him down. I gave him everything I had.” www.alabamaliving.coop

10/15/20 2:36 PM

Danny Adams stands at his desk in September before his retirement.

Adams thrived during his long career at WEC, which was interrupted only by a five-year break in the early 1980s when he worked for a gas utility. He eventually advanced through the linemen ranks to a job in the metering department. After he returned to line work for a time, WEC promoted him to a plant specialist position in the engineering department in 1999.

WEC Vice President of Engineering and Operations Jason Thrash, left, discusses working at the cooperative with Danny Adams during Adams' retirement ceremony in September.

Alabama Living

032_CVR.indd 51

In that role, Adams helped the cooperative factor in infrastructure needs and potential obstacles before connecting a new home or address to the WEC grid.

Obstacles include things like swimming pools and septic systems.

“You have to know the line work part before you do what I did,” Adams says.

“You’ve got to know the line part and the specifications.”

Someone with his skill set could have worked in a variety of industries, but after returning to WEC in 1985, leaving for any other job never crossed Adams’ mind. In fact he always returned to line work during emergencies like Hurricane Michael and Hurricane Ivan.

“It gets in your blood, and you don’t want to do anything else,” he says. “It’s a way of life. It’s all you want to do.”

Changes aplenty

During his 41 years, Adams observed many significant changes in how WEC completed the task of electrifying rural southeastern Alabama. Bucket trucks arrived in late 1975 after Operations Superintendent Howard Kinsaul witnessed visiting cooperative crews use them effectively following Hurricane Eloise.

“He saw how much work you could do with a bucket truck and how much less time it took. He ordered them right after that,” Adams says, noting bucket trucks also improved occupational safety. “One bucket with the visiting cooperatives could do more in a day than all of our crews could in a week. He saw the writing on the wall.”

Computers — and eventually tablets and mobile phones — also revolutionized operations. In the mid- to late-1970s, every member’s information and billing statements were kept in large volumes printed every 30 days. “You had to go to that book to reference how much a bill was,” he says.

“That was the only record you had.

“Now, a member can come in and the member services representatives can pull up anything with a snap of the finger. The way we engineer jobs has changed. I can do it on my mobile phone, and it sends the points where you set the poles back to the office.”

Adams says those changes have only served WEC members better.

“We have no more people working here than we did in 1974, but the time without power during an outage is a lot less than it was,” he says. “It all makes a difference.”

Maintaining focus

While the methods have changed, WEC’s member-driven focus and investment in community has always remained, Adams says.

“The management people and the board, they really push the cooperative way of life.

This is home. You raise your kids in the community,” he says. “With us, if you come in and apply for service, within a week’s time you can have power. With a big company, it might take you a month. That’s the difference.”

And it’s that feeling of community Adams will miss most in retirement, although he will enjoy spending time with his wife, Joann, and their grandchildren.

“I’ll miss everything, not only the people I work with but also the people I meet out in the public every day,” he says. “It’s gonna take some getting used to. Once it gets in your blood, it’s hard to lay it down.” n

WEC CEO Les Moreland presents Danny Adams with a gift at Adams’ retirement celebration.

NOVEMBER 2020 35

10/15/20 2:36 PM

| Our Sources Say |

Sally heroes T

wo years ago, Hurricane Michael struck the northwest Florida coast near Panama City. The destruction was so complete I thought it would be months before basic electric, water or sewer services would be restored. I wondered if the area would ever be the same.

However, I underestimated the determination and resolve of the people. The people in the communities affected moved quickly. Within days after Michael, the communities were energized, and destroyed houses were being removed. Others were being repaired. Businesses were reopening in the areas that had electric service.

Our distribution members, West Florida Electric Cooperative and Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative, and hundreds of vegetation clearing personnel, electric linemen, and contractors restored the electric infrastructure in just a few very long weeks. PowerSouth employees, Cooperative Energy crews and contractors restored our transmission system in just nine days.

Disasters and crises can tear communities apart, and Michael, a Category 5 hurricane, was a terrible disaster. But disasters and crises can also bring people together. Although two years later there is still much left to be done, it is remarkable for so many people to have worked together after Michael to rebuild their lives and their communities.

On September 16, the Alabama and northwest Florida coast was struck by Hurricane Sally, another devastating storm. Like Michael, Sally didn’t start out very imposing. It just started out as a tropical disturbance over the Bahamas, became a tropical storm near south Florida without much fanfare and drifted into the Gulf of Mexico. It was predicted to weaken and go to Texas and then to Louisiana, but kept drifting and intensifying. It strengthened before making a hard turn to the north and coming ashore on the Alabama coast as a Category 2 hurricane.

Sally was not as powerful or damaging as Michael. However, for those of you who have not experienced a hurricane personally, none are easy. We have dealt with Opal, Ivan, Rita, Erin, Dennis and other named storms over the past 25 years. None of them were easy. All of them caused devastating damage and disrupted lives. And so did Sally.

Like Michael, communities affected by Sally started coming together quickly. The next day, neighbors were helping each other clear trees and repair damage. It was also heartening to see the

signs in communities welcoming and encouraging electric workers. Some people brought workers water and food to help with the restoration. Again, communities came together.

PowerSouth members - Baldwin EMC, Escambia River Electric Cooperative and Southern Pine Electric Cooperative - had thousands of trees on lines and thousands of broken poles. Hundreds of miles of distribution lines were damaged and out of service. Other surrounding electric cooperatives also had significant damage. Gulf Power suffered similar damage in and around Pensacola.

The efforts of our distribution systems and Gulf Power Company were outstanding. The confusion immediately after a hurricane is overwhelming. Communications are usually disrupted, and information is difficult to obtain. Roads are often blocked, and it is very difficult to access areas to define the damage. However, these utilities moved very quickly to assess the damage and start the restoration effort.

PowerSouth personnel were on the road before the storm had completely moved out of Gulf Shores. By late afternoon more than half the damage had been assessed, and crews were assigned responsibilities to clear the lines of fallen trees and repair the damage. PowerSouth employees and contractors started early and worked late to get substations restored. By Friday at 7 p.m., just 65 hours after PowerSouth lost its first substation, service to all of our substations was restored. By noon Saturday, all of our transmission lines were returned to service.

PowerSouth’s transmission system was damaged, but not as severely as by Michael. We had 191 miles of transmission lines and 31 distribution substations out of service by the time Sally cleared.

Rebuilding from a hurricane takes a huge coordinated effort, only accomplished by planning, determination, hard work and people working together. Our people and the work they did were remarkable. It’s amazing what people can do when working together to triumph over crisis. I couldn’t be prouder of what PowerSouth people did to restore electric service to a devastated area so quickly. They went over and above the call of duty.

Just a few months ago, I wrote about heroes working at PowerSouth. Our people again established that they are heroes.

They proved it once more. I am proud to be on their team.

I hope you have a good month.

Gary Smith is President and CEO of PowerSouth Energy Cooperative.

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www.alabamaliving.coop

10/12/20 11:44 AM

| Classifieds | How To Place a Line Ad in Marketplace Closing Deadlines (in our office): January 2021 Issue by November 25 February 2021 Issue by December 25 March 2021 Issue by January 25 Ads are $1.75 per word with a 10 word minimum and are on a prepaid basis; Telephone numbers, email addresses and websites are considered 1 word each.

Ads will not be taken over the phone. You may email your ad to hdutton@areapower.com; or call (800)410-2737 ask for Heather for pricing.; We accept checks, money orders and all major credit cards. Mail ad submission along with a check or money order made payable to ALABAMA LIVING, P.O. Box 244014, Montgomery, AL 36124 – Attn: Classifieds.

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Answers to puzzle on Page 24

Alabama Living

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| Hardy Jackson's Alabama |

Appreciating veterans, and anchovies

Illustration by Dennis Auth

V

eterans Day. I grew up among veterans.

World War II, mostly. Though I had an uncle who served in World War I, the veterans who defeated Hitler and Tojo are the ones I remember.

My Daddy was one.

What I recall most was how little he talked about what he saw, did, and endured. I wanted to know. Wanted to compare his exploits to what I had seen in the movies or on TV. Daddy did not attend war movies and he resolutely avoided WWII documentaries on TV. Did not want to remember.

But once his guard broke down.

It was back in the early ‘50s. I was not yet in my teens. Daddy and I were on the way to the coast. For lunch we stopped at a little pizza place. I had never eaten pizza with my father, didn’t even know that he Harvey H. (Hardy) Jackson is Professor Emeritus of History at Jacksonville State University. He can be reached at hhjackson43@gmail.com

38 NOVEMBER 2020

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knew what it was, much less liked it.

We went right in and placed our order.

Mine was pretty standard – cheese, sausage, etc. His was much the same until, in closing, with a flourish, he added “anchovies.”

I didn’t know what they were.

Then the meal arrived and I saw them, little brown fish with what looked like tiny hair sticking out.

Gag. Daddy saw me looking. “Wanna try a slice?”

Now I was a big boy. Recently my Daddy had introduced me to raw oysters. So, I figured that if my Daddy could eat an anchovy, I could eat an anchovy.

So, I did.

And while I was enjoying this new treat, he told me why he liked anchovies so much.

World War II. Up in the front line.

Lonely and scared, he wrote Mama that he missed her, missed two-year-old me and missed sardines. For some reason, he did not explain, the thought of sardines re-

minded him of home.

Mama took the hint and with some of her precious ration stamps she bought a few tins, packed them up and shipped them to her husband who was in the process of bringing down the Third Reich.

The day the delicacy arrived was the day that Daddy’s unit “liberated” a German supply depot. In it they discovered crates of anchovies, waiting to be sent to Hitler’s troops. From the way Daddy told it, he and his fellow warriors fell on the prize like vultures and ate until they could eat no more.

Meanwhile, Daddy took Mama’s sardines, stuffed them in his pack, and wrote his wife thanking her for the treat. As far as she knew, he enjoyed them on arrival, not weeks later when the anchovies were gone.

So, my Daddy and I shared a secret.

And in the years to come, when we ate pizza, we shared anchovies.

Thank you, veterans, for the country we love.

And thank you for anchovies. www.alabamaliving.coop

10/14/20 1:21 PM

CALL FOR ENTRIES Alabama Rural Electric Association’s

11 Quilt Competition th

Our 2020 theme is: First responders

Mail, or E-mail form below for your entry package. Deadline to submit quilt square is January 29, 2021.

Name:_________________________________________________ Address:_______________________________________________ City, State Zip:___________________________________________ Mail to: Linda Partin AREA E-mail:_________________________________________________ 340 TechnaCenter Drive Montgomery, AL 36117 Phone:_________________________________________________ Cooperative:____________________________________________ or Phone: 334-215-2732 E-mail: lpartin@areapower.com (The electric cooperative name on front of this Alabama Living.)

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