Progress
2019
Marvels and Mysteries
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Progress PUBLISHER Tim Prince GENERAL MANAGER Brandy Clackley EDITORIAL Joyanna Love, editor J.R. Tidwell, managing editor Anthony Richards, writer MARKETING Zack Bates, marketing consultant
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CUSTOMER SERVICE Jessica Patterson PRESSROOM & MAILROOM Jimmy Ruff, production manager Michael Turner, press operator Jimmy Huett, press maintenance Scott Mims, mailroom manager Malinda Nance, mailroom manager Progress is a special publication of The Clanton Advertiser. P.O. Box 1379, Clanton, AL 35046 205.755.5747 clantonadvertiser.com
EDITOR’S NOTE Chilton County is home to a number of marvelous people and landmarks. This year, The Clanton Advertiser has dedicated the Progress edition to exploring local marvels, such as people we can all respect and organizations that have been pillars of the community, and exploring the stories behind elements of our community we may pass every day but do not know much about. The mysteries of how the iconic water tower works, keys to Thorsby’s recent football success and local science projects will be explored. We will also reveal the 2019 Citizen of the Year. Thanks for reading, Joyanna Love
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 2019 Citizen of the Year named ........................................ 6 From NASA to the road department ............................10 Verbena Methodist provides firm foundation ........16 The Two Towers: Big Peach and lesser-known bigger brother ........................................................................22 Rebels find success through adversity ........................26 Making connections in STEM ..........................................34 A mission of giving back ....................................................42 Canvasing the neighborhood .........................................48
Chilton County is known for its world famous ‘Chilton County Peaches’ and is often referred to as the peach capital of the South. Centrally located along I-65, it is home to award winning schools, the state of the art Chilton St. Vincent’s Hospital, as well as -H൵HUVRQ 6WDWH &RPPXQLW\ &ROOHJH &KLOWRQ &DPSXV &KLOWRQ &RXQW\ VLWV DORQJ VLGH WKH &RRVD 5LYHU ZLWK VTXDUH PLOHV RI ZDWHU /D\ /DNH DQG /DNH 0LWFKHOO R൵HU ZRQGHUIXO RXWGRRU UHFUHDWLRQ DPHQLWLHV 7KH FLWLHV DQG WRZQV LQ &KLOWRQ &RXQW\ DUH IULHQGO\ DQG IDPLO\ RULHQWHG &KLOWRQ &RXQW\ LV D JUHDW SODFH WR OLYH ZRUN DQG SOD\ The Chilton County Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to the future growth, health and prosperity of Chilton County. www.chiltonchamberonline.com • (205) 755-2400
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2019 CITIZEN OF THE YEAR NAMED Derric Scott was instrumental in the Chilton County 150th anniversary celebration being a success.
Derric Scott honored for contributions to 150th celebration
STORY BY JOYANNA LOVE PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED
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he history of a community is important to preserve as a foundation of where it has been and just how much it has grown. This preservation for Chilton County is especially important to this year’s Citizen of the Year Derric Scott. Scott was influential in spearheading efforts commemorating the 150th anniversary of Chilton County. His efforts, along with those of various committees set up to help, resulted in a week’s worth of educational and fun events in which he could be seen in a black suit and top hat sporting a tie from the 1968 Centennial celebration. “While all the committee members worked diligently to make the celebration a reality,
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he spent countless hours researching and planning before the committee was formed,” Gay West, a member of The Clanton Advertiser’s Citizen of the Year selection committee said. “About two years before the anniversary, Derric Scott visited my office to discuss possible events. A year prior to the event, he set up social media accounts to post publicity, and he contacted media outlets to have information about events distributed. He set up and manned an information table at many local events around the county in the months leading up to the celebration. He did all of this while working full-time and commuting to Birmingham.” Scott also did several presentations to community groups.
Derric Scott speaks at a Chilton County 150th anniversary event.
“He is well-deserving,” Scott’s wife Susan Scott said. “If my husband hadn’t pushed for this 150th celebration, it wouldn’t have happened. He was the one who had the idea, and then as he talked to more and more people, more and more people got involved ... he just kept pushing.” Derric Scott had visited several community organizations to garner support for a 150th celebration,
including the Chilton County Chamber of Commerce. Chamber board member Billy Singleton joined organizing efforts. Singleton said he has known Derric Scott for more than 20 years, having met because their daughters were friends. “I’m just thrilled to death for him (to be named Citizen of the Year),” Singleton said. “He has a real
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THE TOWN OF THORSBY We are proud to be a part of Chilton County. We encourage Industry and Growth. We congratulate Derric Scott for being named the Clanton Advertiser Citizen of the Year. Congratulations from all of your friends at the Town of Thorsby.
Susan and Derric Scott in their Chilton County 150th anniversary celebration attire.
passion for history, and he had a real passion for this event. Quite frankly, I don’t think it would have happened the way it did without his efforts.� Singleton said Scott kept the group moving forward through encouragement and was very organized in the administrative aspects of the celebration. Derric Scott had attended the Centennial Celebration in 1968 as a child and worked to have the 150th celebration to be just as momentous. “He (Derric Scott) made a comment one day that every generation gets the chance to observe
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something like this, and this was our generation’s chance,” Singleton said. “I think he wanted it to be very special.” Derric Scott’s parents had been involved in the Centennial Celebration. Derric Scott grew up in Clanton but moved away to attend the University of Alabama, where he went on to earn a master’s degree in electronic engineering. His career took him to Maryland where he met his wife Susan while working for the Department of Defense. The couple moved to Chilton County in 1995 and opened Scott Network Services, which was the first locally-provided internet for the county. Scott sold the business about five years later but continued working in the field. They now live in Collins Chapel. Derric Scott joined the Chilton County Historical Society about five years ago and now serves as president of the organization. He also has a passion for genealogy. “I don’t even know how far he has traced back his family,” Susan Scott said. “It’s a long ways.” He also enjoys “agriculture, anything having to do with fruit trees, growing vegetables,” Susan Scott said.
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2019 Citizen of the Year Derric Scott
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Richard Gregg has spent the past 12 years as shop foreman at the Chilton County Road Department.
FROM NASA TO THE ROAD DEPARTMENT Richard Gregg brings passion of troubleshooting to Chilton County STORY AND PHOTOS BY ANTHONY RICHARDS
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eing an employee with the Chilton County Road Department is all about being versatile and creative. Having the ability to adapt on the fly is a major part of the job description, and nobody understands this more than shop foreman Richard Gregg. He grew up around an automotive shop and helped with rebuilding motorcycle engines to race
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off and on from 10 years old to his mid-20s before going into the Army Military Police for a little while. Eventually, Gregg joined the Air Force and worked in communications security, which gave him an electronic background to go with his already established mechanical knowledge. According to Gregg, having an expertise mechanically and electronically has come in
An excess pipe and mineral yard is located on the back portion of the road department’s property.
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handy, as the two have become intertwined over the past 20 years. “Nowadays, everything you do on a piece of a equipment, such as a car or truck, there are a lot of electronics involved with computers and sensors,” Gregg said. “If you don’t know the electrical side of things, you’re not going to make it as a mechanic or as a troubleshooter.” At 62 years old, Gregg has lived an interesting life with many unique career stops along the way. “My background in the military has helped me tremendously in adapting to the civilian world,” Gregg said. He also worked for a defense contractor during a four-year stint with NASA, which included him putting in the astronauts’ communications systems at the Kennedy Space Center in the late 1980s. Gregg retired from the military after 21 years in January 2001. He initially took the job with the road department as a truck driver for seven months before moving over to his current position of shop foreman, a job he has held for the past 12 years. One of the things he enjoys most about the job is its troubleshooting aspect. It has always been a passion of his to delve into a problem and devise a solution through analysis and research. “Out here [the shop] is a learning experience for me, because you come back into the automotive stuff and you see how things have changed since I was a teenager working on them [engines],” Gregg said. “It has really caught me up with what is going on in the industry.”
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The road department has about 90 vehicles and equipment that needs to be maintained, some of which are 30 to 35 years old.
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ASSOCIATED FOODS The road department has used gas tanks and pumps that it uses to fill up its equipment. The tanks allow for gas and diesel to be bought in bulk. Due to the manpower shortage the road department faces, its employees have to be able to do several different jobs on a daily basis. “It’s a unique place [at the road department] in a lot of ways, because you get to do things that you wouldn’t be able to do,” Gregg said. “In a lot of big companies, you become specialized. (Here) You have to do the overall spectrum of everything.” The department has roughly 90 trucks and pieces of equipment that can require maintenance and come through the shop for service at any time. “Our budget is small, and we have a humongous amount of roads to keep up with,” Gregg said. “We’re fighting a losing battle out here on a lot of days.” One of the people that makes sure everyone is on the same page when understanding the duties they are assigned each day is Assistant County Engineer Matthew Epperson. “I line all the crews up each morning and give them a location of where to go and exactly what to do,” Epperson said. “I try to keep the countywide major construction crews with at least a month of stuff to do, so that nobody’s waiting when they get done with a job. They can immediately go to the next one.” Epperson is in charge of handling the design work for bridges and the drafting of resurfacing projects. “His overall knowledge of the entire road department process is just invaluable,” Chilton County Engineer Tony Wearren said. According to Wearren, Epperson has gone through five years of additional training to become a certified bridge inspector. “That gives me two [bridge inspectors] when most counties don’t have any,” Wearren said. “They have to outsource that. Anytime we can do it in house, we know it is so much more cost efficient.” Epperson majored in civil engineering at Auburn University and has been with the Chilton County Road Department for a decade.
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“The longer you work with people, the better it gets,” Epperson said. “There’s a lot of people out here that I’ve been working with since I got here. It’s to the point where when I start talking about something they [co-workers] already know what I’m talking about before I even finish what I was saying.” There was one year early in Gregg’s tenure as shop foreman that the road department ran out of money with several months left in the year. Since the property that the road department uses was a landfill at one point, he started digging up the ground behind the department’s main building and was able to find some scrap metal that they could use for patchwork repairs or to sell. This story describes the mindset that employees of the road department come to work with. In many ways, it is all about maintaining and doing what has to be done to survive until the next day. The road department has gone through several incremental facility additions and upgrades over the years as money has come available. The department has previously owned gas tanks and pumps that it uses to fill up its equipment. The tanks allow for gas and diesel to be bought in bulk. According to Gregg, having its own tanks and being able to fill up on-site saves the department and the county a lot of money.
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Matthew Epperson is assistant county engineer with the road department.
“Rick is extremely detailed and extremely passionate about what he does,” Wearren said. “He’s very conscientious about saving the county money and having the job done right.” Some of the road department’s vehicles are 30 to 35 years old, but it is important to keep them running. There is an old Army truck that has been adapted to serve the purpose of a sand spreader that is used on bridges and roadways during icy weather. A Humvee is also owned by the department and comes in handy for running through flooded areas that may be impassable otherwise. It is common for the Humvee to be used during the big rainstorms that occur during the spring. Nothing gets thrown away unless it has outlived its purpose. Old tires are housed in case a spare is needed or can be sold to bring in some money. An excess pipe and mineral yard takes up the back portion of the department’s property. Wearren sees first-hand the many talented people working at the road department and is proud not only in the quality of their work, but also in the type of people they are. “I’ve got a whole crew of people that are quite good enough to go [work] somewhere else, but they love the county and they like being home,” Wearren said.
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FIRM FOUNDATION Verbena United Methodist has lasting community impact
STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOYANNA LOVE
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Verbena United Methodist Church still meets in the sanctuary built in 1876.
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erbena United Methodist Church has been a pillar of the community since the 1870s. A congregation began meeting in 1871, and the sanctuary was built in 1876. Current Pastor Barbara Brewi said it was “the steadfast belief that Methodists have in grace ... you continue to grow in grace to give more grace, not just to suck it up for your own benefit” that kept the Verbena church together all of these years. The building was placed on the historic registry in 1971, and a room to the left of the entrance is dedicated to preserving some of the church’s historic documents. Long-time member Carolyn Cumbie said all of the Sunday School classes were held in the sanctuary before the Sunday School building was constructed in 1962. While the nursery and elementary classes were in rooms at the front of the church, older students and adults met in different sections of the sanctuary with three classes being held simultaneously. Even potluck suppers were eaten in the sanctuary, if rain kept the event from being held outdoors. One of Cumbie’s first memories is learning Bible verses for the nursery Sunday School class.
The Sunday School building was expanded in 1985. Cumbie attended the church as a child and young adult. She remembers when the only heat for the sanctuary was wood burning stoves. The congregation still meets in the original building with minimal changes to the exterior and interior architecture. A porch area and double doors have been added to the front. The glass in the windows has been changed. Some lights have been replaced inside. Other than that, the structure remains the same from the tongue and groove wooden ceiling created by Sid Gibson to the original wooden pews transported to Verbena by train. Verbena was thriving by 1870 with several businesses being established because of proximity to the railroad, Brewi said. Brewi said many of the early Methodist churches had a similar design to Verbena with a foyer near the entrance and an elevated pulpit at the front. “Every Methodist Church I have ever been in has had the prayer rail for Communion and prayer and that has always been a big part of services,” Brewi said.
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The wooden prayer rail with kneeling rail at Verbena surrounds the pulpit area on three sides. “Having a prayer rail has always been a very important part of the Methodist church,” Brewi said. The elevated pulpit made it easier for people to see. The 1880s to the 1920s was the peak for activity in Verbena. “Even into the 1950s, it was a busy little place,” long-time member Ola Taylor said. She said the church is not large, but it is “the right size for the community.” “We keep saying, ‘oh, we are an aging congregation,’ and one day we decided that’s not a bad thing,” Taylor said. “There is a place for an aging congregation, and one of our purposes seems to be to train the new ministers. For the past decade or so, they send us young new ministers, who are just being ordained (working on ordination) ... I think it is a good purpose for our church.” Taylor said each new pastor brings something new to the congregation. A pastor is usually at Verbena for three to five years before the denomination assigns them to a different church. Taylor also emphasized that the congregation would welcome younger people and families.
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A prayer rail encircles the podium at the front of the church. Cumbie and Taylor said the older members of the congregation “treasure” the younger members that do attend. “I have enjoyed how everyone is just family here,” Taylor said. “When something happens to one person, it happens to us all and everyone just pitches in and helps out. That is a really, really great thing.” Verbena United Methodist has retained many of the traditions and customs the church had when it first started. Taylor said she enjoyed that the church still sings the hymns, has a liturgy and rituals. “I do like the special seasons of the year (Liturgical calendar),” Taylor said. Brewi said the hymns written by John and Charles Wesley were “their theology put to music that everyone could participate in.” Many aspects of the liturgical service at Verbena can be traced back to the early days of the denomination. What would become the Methodist denomination first began in England as efforts to reform the Anglican Church of which John Wesley was a part. “All they wanted to do was to reform the Anglican Church,” Brewi said. “They did not want to start a new church.”
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The interior of the building has changed little in Verbena UMC’s history.
Wesley and others also wanted to see the Anglican Church reach out to the poor. The major thought of this group was to emphasize that “the king was not the head of the church that the individual could commune with God, that you have a responsibility for the grace you receive that you would turn around and have social conscience to help those around you — this was just so radical,” Brewi said. “And people wanted to stamp it out.” While groups following these beliefs started prayer houses for meeting, the Anglican Church was still their church.
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The original window frames are still in place at Verbena United Methodist.
The American Revolution served as a catalyst for the Methodist Church to establish itself. Brewi said during the Revolutionary War, the Episcopalians left what would become the United States to return to England. This left the Methodists who stayed behind without a place to have church and Communion. “The Methodists were the first truly American church, formed in America,” Brewi said. Wesley, who had come to Georgia as a missionary but returned to England, was still reluctant to start a new denomination, but eventually he ordained clergy. The emphasis on social responsibility led to Methodist circuit-riding preachers to preach the gospel in the wilderness, being involved in the Abolition movement as well as supporting Prohibition, workers’ rights and child labor laws. Impacting the community has been important to Verbena United Methodist members throughout the churches history. During World War I and II, Verbena United Methodist’s church bell was rung each day at 5 p.m. to remind people to pray for the soldiers. Cumbie’s friend Virginia rang the bell. “I don’t care what you were doing or where, we had about five stores here at that time, everybody stopped,
like dead stop, if you were playing football or baseball, whatever the kids were doing, you stopped and you prayed,” Cumbie said. The bells also chimed in celebration at the end of World War II. “When World War II ended, we just opened the doors of the church that night, and everybody just came,” Cumbie said. “We just all gathered here. I just remember people praying at the altar. I remember people crying and hugging each other. It was just spontaneous.” This same bell is rung every Sunday. Being a part of the community is still important to the church, each month is dedicated to supporting a different local cause. In 2018, the church joined with others in the Alabama-West Florida Conference to send support to victims of Hurricane Michael. “In Chilton County, the smaller Methodist churches bond together particularly as we provide help to each other,” Brewi said. “It is not a competition. People are in a small church because they want a small church ... they like the small church atmosphere.” The churches work together to provide programs for youth, share resources for teaching and music or lend equipment. She said the larger churches also help the smaller ones.
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THE TWO TOWERS BIG PEACH AND LESSER-KNOWN BIGGER BROTHER HELP PROVIDE WATER TO CLANTON RESIDENTS STORY BY J.R. TIDWELL PHOTOS BY J.R TIDWELL AND CONTRIBUTED
Clanton’s Peach Tower is a copy of the Peachoid water tower in Gaffney, South Carolina, although it is only half the size of its predecessor. DAVID CLACKLEY/CONTRIBUTED
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ost Chilton County peaches are filled with a pit surrounded by delicious fruit. However, the biggest peach in the land, or at least in Chilton County, happens to be filled with water. Peach Tower in Clanton has become one of the biggest attractions Chilton County has to offer, second only to the actual locally-grown peaches that the tower advertises. According to The Clanton Advertiser articles from the time period, construction began on Peach Tower in 1992 and was completed in 1993. The big peach is located near Exit 212 on Interstate 65, meaning many a traveler has laid eyes on the structure. Many of those travelers, and local residents alike, may have wondered over the years if the tower does indeed hold water. It does indeed to the tune of 500,000 gallons on average. The design was chosen because Clanton and Chilton County grow more peaches than anywhere else in the state. Clanton Mayor Billy Joe Driver and other city officials were returning from a business trip to Washington, D.C., when they spotted the Peachoid, a giant peach-shaped water tower built in Gaffney, South Carolina. According to Donnie Easterling, the superintendent of the water treatment plant for Clanton, a new water tower was already needed at the time in that area due to population growth. “They couldn’t have increased the size of the rest area on that part of I-65 without a new tower,” he said. “There was a great need for a new
tank at that interchange. It benefitted 1,000 customers (as of 1994) and the rest area.” Chicago Bridge and Iron Company, with Montgomery-based AME Engineering overseeing the project, constructed Peach Tower. The same company built the Peachoid in Gaffney. As such, Peach Tower is nearly identical to its predecessor in Gaffney, though the one in South Carolina is bigger and holds twice as much water. “They had exclusive rights (to the design) for 10 more years, and I believe this was in 1991,” Driver said. “We had to get them to release their rights to it in order to build (ours).” Easterling said Peach Tower is 120-feet tall from ground level. The tower cost around $1.2 million to construct, but thanks to $200,000 in donations collected for the structure the project ended up costing the same as any other tower to build, Easterling said. Artist Peter Freudenberg of New Jersey painted the tank. “The artist signed it at the bottom,” Easterling said. While Peach Tower is certainly the most well known water tower in Chilton County, it is not the only one in Clanton. There is also a larger white tank on Lake Mitchell Road that holds up to 1.5 million gallons of water, three times the volume of the peach. According to Easterling, the Clanton water towers are generally filled to about 75 percent capacity on average. “(Peach Tower) will hold 570,000 gallons of water, but we usually keep between 400,000
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Peach Tower’s larger brother, Clanton’s other water tower, holds three times as much water. J.R. TIDWELL/ADVERTISER and 555,000 gallons stored in it,” he said. “The level Towers are also essentially a giant safety net when fluctuates. That helps to keep the water in the tanks it comes to how much water is pumped from a facilifresh. The levels are planned out ahead of time.” ty at any given time.
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Peach Tower in Clanton glistens in the sun amidst accumulated snow during a recent winter. DAVID CLACKLEY/CONTRIBUTED
“Our pumps don’t run all of the time,” Easterling said. “We don’t usually use all of the water we pump, so what doesn’t get used gets stored in a tower. When the tanks are full, the pumps shut off and use water from the towers until the levels are back down. “During peak use sometimes we don’t pump enough water to meet demand, so the towers ensure there is water there for the customers and for fire protection all the time. If there were no storage tanks, the pumps would have to run all the time. If we had to shut them off for five minutes, we would have people without water.” Easterling said the reason why water tanks are built as towers is to allow gravity to provide pressure for the system. The height of the water tower and how much lower in elevation a customer is relative to the tower affect the amount of pressure that will be generated by water leaving the tower. Regulators are built into the system where needed to make sure the generated pressure is not too high for customers to use. “That’s the way it’s done all over the country,” Easterling said. “Gravity feeds the stored water to the customers. It’s a good, sensible way to do it.” While Peach Tower is 120-feet tall, the overflow line inside the tank is actually at 100 feet. The shape of the tank also has no effect on how the tower functions. Driver said anyone who has been down I-65 knows where Clanton is because they know of Peach Tower.
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The Thorsby Rebels football team won a schoolrecord nine games during the 2018 season BRANDON SUMRALL/SPECIAL
REBELS FIND SUCCESS THROUGH ADVERSITY PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED
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The 2019 senior class walks together during the THS homecoming parade ANTHONY RICHARDS/ADVERTISER
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he triumph and historical wave that was Thorsby’s 2018 football season was more than just a oneyear wonder. Instead, it is something that has been years in the making. Teams are often built on relationships, and in the case of the Rebels, many of those relationships have been in place since a young age. Thorsby finished the 2018 campaign by winning a school-record nine games and earning a trip to the postseason for a second-straight year. There were several tears and emotions shared on Susan Bentley Field immediately after the Rebels lost 41-14 to Ariton in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs. The sudden rush of emotions was brought about by the realization that it would be the final time that they would play together on the same field. According to Cole Hight, he had been a teammate alongside Chase Birchfield on the football field since they were about 5 years old. “We’ve played all our lives,” Hight said. Tyler Jackson began playing football in fourth grade, while Henry Wilson picked up the game as an eighth grader. “We’ve all been playing some type of sport together at some point over the years,” Cole Farris said.
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Tyler Jackson
Kane Belk
Christian Fortner and Chase Birchfield
Alex Brown “Trust” is something that is shared throughout the entire team, from the coaching staff to the players. “It would feel so weird playing without my friends,” Jackson said. “You just know what they can do, and you trust them to make plays.” Much of the success stems from the example of a senior class that leads in more ways than one. It has not been all smooth sailing for Thorsby’s seniors, who experienced both ups and the downs in their high school careers. Two years ago, several members of the current senior class played major roles on the team as sophomores.
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Many were thrust into the starting lineup, and it took some time for them to adjust to the difference in play at the varsity level. As a result, the Rebels finished the 2016 season with a record of 1-9 and were outscored by an average of 27 points per game. This was a drastic change from the undefeated junior varsity season that the sophomores had experienced as freshmen in 2015. It would have been easy for the team to accept the losing culture, but instead the players banded together and strived for improvement.
“It’s really just everyone being on the same page,” Birchfield said. The hard work and airtight focus paid off with the vast improvement that they were searching for. Thorsby’s 2017 record improved to 8-3, with a first round playoff victory against Geneva County. Daryl Davis took over as head coach for the 2017 season and began his second stint with the varsity squad. The players were very familiar with Davis and his coaching style from his time coaching with the junior high and junior varsity squads. That, along with keeping previous head coach Billy Jackson on staff as defensive coordinator, allowed for a seamless transition right off the bat. “I had the opportunity and I took the job [as varsity coach] because of them,” David said. “They’re a close group that works hard and plays hard.” There were high hopes surrounding Thorsby football in 2018, and the Rebels did not disappoint. Production on the offensive side of the ball took a monumental leap forward in the past three seasons. In 2016, Thorsby averaged 10.3 points per game. That average has increased to 39 points per game in 2018, which led to another school-record of 394 points scored in a season. Having been in Davis’ offense for years made the players very familiar, to the point where they could relay what they saw on the field to help the sideline decide any adjustments that needed to be made. “Before I even had to tell them, they already knew,” Davis said. “All of them understood what we were trying to do, which was huge.” There were many key contributors that helped the offense reach that historic mark. Christian Fortner’s play at quarterback was mesmerizing over the past two years, making plays with his arm and his legs on a weekly basis. However, Fortner’s talent as a signal caller is not the only weapon that the Rebels had on offense.
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Thorsby had plenty to Cole Hight with his parents on senior night choose from, especially in ANTHONY RICHARDS/ADVERTISER the receiving corps, where Farris, Jackson and Brody Barnett were all-Advertiser selections out wide. Meanwhile, Jacob Lockhart and Birchfield provide change of pace options in the backfield. Henry Wilson was thrown into the role of a starting offensive tackle and faced struggles adapting to the position as an undersized player. “Man he’s worked hard, and it’s gotten to the point where he is probably our best lineman,” Davis said. “He’s a coach’s dream, because he’s [focused on] doing his job until the whistle blows. That’s very rare.” The Rebels finished with three of the top four tacklers Wilson credits his teammates for being there and help- in the county as Jackson, Belk and Jones finished with ing him overcome the doubt that he had in his mind. 86, 80 and 73 tackles respectively. “I just starting playing football because it was someSome of the same playmakers on offense were also ball thing different to do,” Wilson said. “I didn’t realize how hawks on the defensive side of the ball. much it would affect my life. As I went through it, I had Jackson, Lockhart and Sawyer Sellers combined for people that I could count on to push me to do better. seven interceptions in the secondary. They’re like a second family to me.” Birchfield and Jackson acted as coaches on the field, In many ways, the defense embodied the Town of making sure everyone was lined up properly from their Thorsby. middle linebacker and safety positions. The Rebels were undersized, especially up front, but Several sophomores saw extensive playing time and were quick off the ball and disruptive in the opposing were asked to make plays on a routine basis. backfield. The influence that the graduating seniors had on the Alex Brown, Kane Belk, Brent Jones and Brady Wat- football program will not just be specific to the seasons son were excellent at rushing off the edge. they played, but will be continue to be evident through the Belk led the county with eight sacks at the end of the play of the underclassmen that took lessons from them. regular season, while Jones got to the opposing quarter“We have a strong bond, and it’s going to be hard to back on four separate occasions. break,” Birchfield said.
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Fernando Barrio, Jordan Johnson and Dalton Scarbrough display a claw robot and light board completed in Engineering Research and Design.
MAKING CONNECTIONS Students explore engineering through practical projects STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOYANNA LOVE
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roblem solving and developing hands-on skills are at the heart of the STEM Academy at LeCroy Career Technical Center. Several classes are offered giving students the chance to work on projects related to robotics, electrical engineering, engineering design and exploring new technologies. A new class offered this school year, Engineering Research and Design, is working up to creating field sensors to monitor and collect environmental information. Teacher Jay LeCroy said the majority of the students in the class have taken previous STEM courses. “I’ve always had a fascination with computers and programming,” Dalton Scarbrough of Verbena High School said. “The STEM department at the trade school has really helped me explore what I wanted to do.”
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WHAT IS STEM? STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math. STEM classes often incorporate elements of each, focusing on how the content areas relate to each other and converge in real-world scenarios or careers.
Grace Tuell solders copper wire to the metal connectors on the back of a light board.
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Blake Henderson and Grace Tuell work with a 3D printer.
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Engineering Research and Design is something LeCroy said he had wanted to offer in the county for some time. “We wanted to be able to offer the skills needed for the student that is going either directly to work in STEM fields or to college in engineering and science fields,” LeCroy said. “We wanted it to be that class where they developed the ability to build things, to solve problems and have the equipment in place for them to be able to do that.” The class has students from a variety of Chilton County high schools. Opportunities to build things is what drew Fernando Barrio of Chilton County High School to the class. “I really enjoy making things and seeing how it is going to work out,” Barrio said. One of Barrio’s first projects in the class was to build a robot with a claw to pick things up. Such a robot could be used in a warehouse to move boxes of merchandise. He was especially excited about the catapult project the class worked on. The project involved a lot of trial and error and helped students develop building skills. It also required several math and physics calculations for the energy to move an object with the desired force for the desired length. Jordan Johnson of Chilton County High School was drawn to the layout of the class because there
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was more freedom to work on different individual projects as opposed to a lecture-style class. Grace Tuell of Chilton County High School said the format appealed to her also. “I’ve always been creative and hands-on, and I like making things,” Tuell said. “But, when I was younger there wasn’t a lot of classes for me to do that in ... I love coming out here (LeCroy) and being able to work on projects with a team.” Blake Henderson of Isabella High School was interested in the Engineering Research and Design class because of his interest in computers. He said he enjoyed the opportunities to take things apart, see how they work and put them back together in the class. “You have the freedom to make mistakes and it not hurt you,” LeCroy said. “Your success comes from determining what doesn’t work several times, so the student has the freedom and the equipment to do that.” The class also incorporates programming, electronics and physics.
Blake Henderson strips the plastic coating from copper wiring.
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Southern Research, an engineering firm, has become a partner for support and equipment for the class. LeCroy completed a fellowship with the company this summer. “They are telling me from the engineering side that ... a student and people who have graduated need a certain set of skills that are not traditionally taught in an academic class, but they need the academic skills that are not traditionally taught in a career tech class,” LeCroy said. “Well, this is a place to put both of those sets of skills together.” Being able to solder, build and program a circuit as well as being able to calculate how much energy it needs and can handle are some of the skills essential for students wanting a career in “technology-driven manufacturing,” LeCroy said. One of the early projects for the Engineering Research and Design class was to construct a light board and program different lights to blink in a certain order. Students worked in small teams to place mini lights to spell STEM, solder components together and program each letter to light up individually. Students used Ohm’s Law to calculate how much electric current the system can handle. “This is a 5-volt (power) source ... the brightest bulbs on this board are the blue ones, and they can only handle 3.8 volts,” Johnson said. “If you ran 5 volts through there, it would blow up.”
The project was to help students learn how to use the microprocessors that will be used later in the final field sensor project. LeCroy said the equipment the students are using is what they would use in industries. The end goal for the course is “to build something that would be a marketable product,” LeCroy said. “All their creativity and their knowledge is going to come into play at the very end to build something that would be used by someone outside the classroom,” LeCroy said. This project will be solar-powered environmental sensors that will test water, air and soil. Once the students complete the construction and programming of the field sensors, they will be approaching community members about allowing a sensor to be placed on their property. The environmental data collected by the field sensors will be uploaded into a database being created by undergraduate students at the University of Alabama. Johnson said understanding the sensors and coding to collect accurate readings was going to be challenging. “It is going to require a lot of trial and error,” Johnson said. “I’m excited about it. Ever since I was a kid I have wanted to build something to help someone ... So, if we can build these sensors that will collect data
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Grace Tuell and Blake Henderson sort through supplies for a Computer Numerical Control milling machine. The machine is used to create components for circuit boards.
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that will hopefully help the environment, then I think that is pretty awesome, especially for a group of high school students.” Barrio said he is looking forward to overcoming the challenges to make something useful that others can use. Tuell was looking forward to learning the computer coding elements of the sensors. She said the weather, such as extreme temperatures, could create some challenges for the sensors. Engineers from Southern Research will be visiting the class during the program to provide input and assistance. “It really aligns perfectly with one of the four staples of what Southern Research is involved in, which is energy and environment,” Katherine Lanier of Southern Research said. Lanier said she liked that the project gave students the opportunity to experiment without having everything automatically work out, like with some experiments used in science classes. “They are getting real data, and it is something that can contribute to our society,” Lanier said. She said the project “forces them (the students) to really think like an engineer, to think like a scientist and a problem solver and get results in a way that they weren’t expecting.”
LeCroy Career Technical Center is one of two schools chosen for this pilot project as a part of the company’s STEM outreach program. Lanier said the plan is to expand to other classrooms, so data from across the state will be available. Teacher Jason Sosa also works with students to develop components with the 3D printer and Computer Numerical Control milling machine. The milling machine in designed to cut components for circuit boards. Students then solder the electronic components to the board. The machine was purchased through existing Career Tech funding. Sosa said the STEM students will also be working with welding students. “Once the part components are cut with the CNC plasma cutter, the welding can show them this is how we weld the components together,” Sosa said. He said using different machinery gives the students “a well-rounded skill set and knowledge.” The STEM program had been at Chilton County High School the previous school year. Now that the STEM Academy is back at LeCroy, faculty are hoping students will take classes consecutive years building on what they have learned and expanding their skills.
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Chilton County United Way provided a grant to the Chilton County Sheriff ’s Office for its 2018 Operation Santa Claus initiative.
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A MISSION OF GIVING BACK Chilton County United Way provides help to the place it calls home STORY BY ANTHONY RICHARDS PHOTOS BY ANTHONY RICHARDS AND J.R. TIDWELL
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he Chilton County United Way provides a helping hand to a number of organizations in the county each year. This is made possible thanks to the donations and fundraising efforts throughout the year as part of the ongoing mission of the United Way. Carol Fortuna is in her second year as campaign coordinator with the Chilton County United Way. According to Fortuna, the opportunity to lend a helping hand to the community that she now
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calls home is something that is very special. She receives phone calls from residents in dire need of assistance, and she can help direct them to the right organization that can provide them with the assurance and aid they need. “I’ve learned a lot about the good that the Chilton County United Way does for the community,” Fortuna said. “It’s a very rewarding job.” All of the money raised goes toward helping those in need in Chilton County. “It benefits mostly children,” CCUW chairwoman Mary Mell Smith said. “That’s our target.”
The CCUW board members decide which direction to take with the fundraisers each year. “It can be different from year to year,” Fortuna said. In 2018, the primary fundraisers included one with Pies by Mike, the “Ride for the Cause” motorcycle ride and a family fun day at Goose Pond Park. According to Smith, receiving donations through payroll deductions is a very common method of donating. The CCUW allocates one-time grants to various organizations. The requests are subject to remaining available funds.
The “Ride for the Cause” motorcycle ride was one of CCUW’s primary 2018 fundraisers. CONTRIBUTED
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Employees of various organizations and companies have the opportunity to take out a donation from their wages to be given to the CCUW. “The Chilton County School System is a big supporter,” Smith said. The more money the CCUW brings in means more to spend and provide assistance, in some cases to those organizations that donated. An example is the $200 that was given to each principal of the public schools in the county in 2017 compared to the $250 each principal received in 2018.
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Raleigh’s Place hosted Christmas Whistle Stop in November. It is one of the organizations that receives an annual allocation from CCUW.
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Those $50 increases per school were the direct result of the increase in the overall donations from the local community. “The more money that we get in, the more we can give,” Smith said. “That’s what we’re all about.” Smith was named to the role of chairwoman this past year. “It makes you realize just how much this organization does and how much there is to do,” Smith said. Another way people can help give back is by shopping online at smile.amazon.com and choosing Chilton County United Way as the nonprofit organization. Through the program, Amazon will donate .05 percent of the purchased price to the selected charitable organization. “If we could just get a slice of that pie,” Smith said. According to Smith, a lot of people are still not fully aware of the Amazon Smile initiative. “Our numbers are very low with that right now, and we want to boost that up,” Fortuna said. The CCUW Kickoff is an event held annually in August. During the event, the CCUW recognizes its
Chilton County
agencies and allows them an outlet to explain to the public what services they provide. The goal of $175,000 was met during the 2017 campaign. The financial figures from the 2018 campaign are still in the process of being finalized. Not all of the $175,000 was used, which allows for it to be saved and relied on during leaner years. “You just never know,” Smith said. According to Fortuna, there have been disasters within the past year, such as Hurricane Michael and the wildfires in California, which may have also garnered the donations of people in Chilton County. “And rightfully so,” Smith said. As is the case with nonprofit organizations, they rely heavily on the donations. Generosity is what keeps the CCUW moving forward. The following is a list of the agencies that CCUW offers allocations to and what they are used for: • The Chilton County Emergency Assistance Center, Inc. provides food, clothing, prescription
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Bobby Martin the CCUW’s 2019 goal of $175,000 during the annual Kickoff event in August 2018. drugs, dental and traveler’s aid to people dealing with a type of disaster. • Chilton-Shelby Mental Health provides day programs, therapy, recreation, education and group homes for mentally-challenged adults as well as programs for mentally-challenged infants and preschoolers. • The American Red Cross meets the vital needs of the community through its blood bank, disaster services, serving the military, educational CPR and water safety programs. • Easter Seals West Central Alabama Rehabilitation provides for the unmet needs of the disabled through transportation of children to clinics, purchase of orthopedic appliances, comprehensive rehabilitation and therapeutic recreation, public education and advocacy.
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• Easter Seals of the Birmingham Area Pediatric Rehabilitation provides medical rehabilitation for newborns to people 21 years old with disabilities regardless of ability to pay. • Boy Scouts of America, Tukabatchee Area Council, is a youth development organization that provides a program for young people that builds character and is designed to train them in the responsibilities of participating citizenship and personal fitness. • Girl Scouts of North Central Alabama builds girls with courage, confidence and character. It strives to develop leadership skills in girls who will in turn make the world a better place. • Butterfly Bridge Children’s Advocacy Center provides forensic interviews, multi-disciplinary team
Jana Zuelzke of Butterfly Bridge speaks during the CCUW Kickoff in August 2018.
coordination, advocacy services to children and adolescent victims of abuse and witnesses to violent crime. • The Family Sunshine Center provides aid to battered adults and children. It is committed to ending family violence for Chilton County residents. • Kelsey’s Place provides job readiness programs through Chilton and Shelby County’s Department of Human Resources. It also provides job placement and resume writing services for the general public. • Raleigh’s Place is a foster care ministry serving Chilton County and the surrounding areas by providing a home, free summer camp and emergency clothing for children in need. Each of the nonprofit organizations are grateful for the contributions they receive from CCUW and the community as a whole. “The facility has grown a lot,” Raleigh’s Place co-founder Sharon King said. “We have a lot more kids coming to [summer] camp, so we have to raise a lot more funds.” The CCUW has also allocated requests for one-time grants to Operation Santa Claus, Toys for Kids in Maplesville, Chilton County Board of Education, Chilton County Department of Human Resources (foster child fund), Chilton County Humane Society, PEECH (Chilton Education Foundation), 4-H program, Care Net, Chilton County YMCA, S.P.A.N. of Chilton County and the Chilton/Clanton Public Library. The approval of the one-time grant requests is subject to the remaining available funds. The United Way’s stated mission is to increase the organized capacity of people to care for one another. Giving back to such organizations is an example of how the CCUW seeks to accomplish that mission.
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Chilton County Arts Council President Sue Ann Hoyt stands in her personal art studio in Clanton.
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CANVASING THE NEIGHBORHOOD Arts Council helps support local artists STORY BY J.R. TIDWELL PHOTOS J.R. TIDWELL AND JOYANNA LOVE
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hilton County may not be home to the largest cities or the highest society, but Sue Anne Hoyt of Clanton and many others are working hard to increase awareness and participation in the world of art. Taking the time to pursue ventures in that field takes both passion and dedication. Hoyt’s personal path into the field was filled with many twists and turns, but she always felt the call to pursue her passion. Hoyt was born in Montgomery but grew up in Tampa, Florida. “My father was in the military, and my grandparents lived here,” she said. “We came up to visit a lot. That’s how I ended up back here (eventually).” Hoyt’s father was killed in Korea when she was 6 years old. Her mother remarried, and she and her new husband started a children’s camp on 40 acres out in the woods. “That was a unique upbringing,” Hoyt said. “I grew up close to nature. I don’t like big cities. I always was one to draw. I was kind of an introvert, and I drew in my room and read a lot.” Because of that passion, Hoyt decided to major in art at the University of South Florida. “I got through two years of basic art classes,” she said. “The critique process in the art world is pretty brutal, and I was young and not ready for that. I changed my major and got a degree in sociology.” Years went by, and Hoyt went through a marriage and a divorce. She had three children and eventually remarried.
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As a painter, Hoyt uses a myriad of brushes of different shapes and sizes.
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“I started making some small plaques and some calligraphy to sell at a Christian bookstore,” she said. That move back into the world of art proved to be a catalyst for her. “I had a talk with my husband, and I realized that fear was the basis behind me not pursuing art,” she said. “So, then I thought I had to do it. I went back to USF and was a semester away from getting another Bachelor of Arts, and I still felt like I didn’t know what I wanted to about color. I decided that another BA wouldn’t amount to a hill of beans. “My husband was from Maine, so we went up there. I went to what was called the Portland School of Art at the time in Portland, Maine. We decided to move there. I graduated from there with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.” Hoyt said her time spent in Portland finally gave her the confidence she needed to pursue a career in the field of art because of the heavy emphasis on color and design. “It was really intense (there),” she said. “It was eight to 10 hours a day in a studio for two years. I received an award that had to be voted on by the entire art faculty, which was most likely to succeed in the art world. That’s funny, because succeeding in the art world is difficult. I don’t consider it a financial success, but I have worked hard and improved and I’m happy with where I’m at with it.” Hoyt and her husband decided to move back to Alabama after a family visit. “My husband said ‘this is like Maine but not as cold. I really like it here.’ So we moved back down here.” Hoyt decided to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in painting and ended up being given a fellowship at Auburn University.
“It didn’t cost me anything to go there,” she said. “That was wonderful.” With a master’s degree under her belt, Hoyt was ready to make a go of things in the field of art. However, once again life threw her a curveball. “I had all these grand intentions with my painting, and then a little granddaughter was born,” she said. “She was going to need daycare, and I couldn’t stand it. We made a decision, and I decided to take care of her (and later other grandkids). We built a big house out on the lake, and when the recession hit, we decided we didn’t need the big house moved back into the city. I spent time in my studio but also watched the children during the daytime.” Once her grandchildren got a little older, Hoyt began painting more and “got quite a bit of work done.” Once again, however, life threw a curveball her way. “It came about that we had six great-grandchildren taken into custody by DHR,” she said. “They were faced with being adopted and split up is what DHR communicated to us. We couldn’t allow that to happen, so we are now licensed as a foster home and they are still technically in (DHR’s) custody. We are expecting to get full guardianship in six months.” Hoyt’s time in the studio took a back seat to helping take care of those great-grandchildren. While Hoyt loves her family and would do anything for them, she was still disheartened by once
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Hoyt’s studio gives her a space to work on projects as well as showcase some past creations.
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These paintings by Maurice Cook of Birmingham were on display at the 2018 Chilton County Arts Festival.
Pictured from Left to Right are: Allen Caton, Joseph Parnell, Steve Langston, Matthew Mims, Joe Headley, Greg Moore & Jimmie Hardee.
Chilton County Commission • (205) 755-1551 500 2nd Ave North Clanton, AL 35045
again being unable to spend as much time in the field of her passion. That’s when her husband, who Hoyt said has always supported her work, made a suggestion that they change their schedules to allow her to help watch the children and spend time in the studio. “I was in tears one day,� she said. “I had all this education and all these materials, and here I was doing nothing. (My husband) suggested we schedule a time, so that’s what we did. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from whenever I can get down here to noon is my time in the studio. “It has really been good, because when you know you have limited time you can either do nothing or make it very productive. I am finding it very helpful, because the worst thing you can do as an artist is sit there and second guess yourself every minute. If you get too analytical, it shuts you down. This schedule helps me work more quickly and be less analytical.� Hoyt works mostly with oil on canvas in the abstract genre, though she has done some things like small watercolors for interior designers in the past. Hoyt said the recession earlier this decade “killed spending on art,� making it tougher for artists to make a living selling their wares. “I’m optimistic that things will get better with the uptick in the economy,� she said.
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Hoyt is the president of the Chilton County Art Council, a group that aids local artists and puts on a few events each year. She has been in the position over the last four years. According to the organization’s website, the Arts Council, “…promotes the arts in Chilton County to reward individual artists and as a resource for arts organizations to enhance tourism, provide instruction, and network with cities and regions throughout the world. The Chilton Arts Council is part of the entire community and is enhanced by economic, age and cultural diversity to celebrate all arts and cultural organizations in Chilton County.” The cost to join is $20 a year for individuals, $10 for students and $40 to cover an entire family that wishes to participate. Hoyt said she likes helping out the next generation of up and coming artists, including some of her own family members. “A lot of my grandchildren are talented little artists,” she said. “I have painted with them, and I really enjoy encouraging them. Two of my granddaughters and I did a lot of little paintings for the festival this year. My 16-year-old granddaughter sold more paintings than I did.” The council’s two biggest events each year are March Gourd Madness and the Chilton County Art Festival.
Hoyt said she and Mack Gothard, who manages those two events, were able to obtain grants for both. March Gourd Madness was last held on March 2324 at the Conference and Performing Arts Center at Jefferson State Community College Chilton-Clanton Campus. It is a two-day festival highlighting gourd art that features demonstrations, classes, vendors of gourd art and supplies. “This year, I have been going and getting teachers from out of the county that are well known for their classes,” Gothard said before the event in 2018. “My main purpose is to get Central Alabama and South Alabama.” The 2018 Arts Festival was held on July 28. The event featured many different vendors all with artwork of various styles for sale. Gothard said 10 new vendors were among the 50 total selling wares during the event. “It is exciting to know that we have different people with glass, different people with paintings and new people doing woodwork with some of the old artists that come every year,” Gothard said. “It is exciting to know we have new people wanting to come to our event.” To learn more about the organization, visit chiltoncountyartscouncil.com.
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Kendra Hayes 205-288-2229
Alden Little 334-518-0865
Thelma Miller 205-281-0964
Sandy Pate 205-299-0363
Julie Payton 205-337-5582
Lindsay Payton 205-389-2285
Rhonda Peterson 334-343-1978
Cindy Porter 205-351-1892
Christy Ray 205-688-0813
Janet Sammons 205-688-6003
Debbie Smith 205-217-3712
Stephanie Wall 334-531-2379
Nancy Carter Wood 251-978-7632