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Thursday, October 24, 2013
Steve Gross/Anniston Star
Caution tape surrounds the Ranburne house that a car rain into this week.
Local teen a hero LAURA CAMPER
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Laura Camper
Cody Kelly a sous-chef at the current location Ranburne Bulldog brings the American cuisine to the restaurant.
Sutton’s to open in Heflin LAURA CAMPER
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On Tuesday, a worker scraped stickers identifying Father and Son Grill off the windows at the restaurant on Burns Street in Heflin preparing for the new restaurant, Sutton’s, to move into the building. Heflin’s gain is Ranburne’s loss. The Suttons own The Bulldog restaurant, which has been a fixture in the town since 1966, Bryan Sutton said. And the family will shut the doors to the Ranburne location at the end of the month. Michelle Sutton and Bryan Sutton were cleaning and rearranging furniture inside the Heflin building Tuesday. The family was looking to expand, said Michelle Sutton, manager of the restaurant. Seven members of their family of nine were working at the restaurant in Ranburne, and they needed the opportunity to serve more meals, she said. Bryan Sutton, her husband and the chef, said the restaurant on Main Street seated just 50 people. The building in Heflin has 130 seats, plus room
to expand into the basement and an area where pool tables are now installed, he said. They were looking for a new site in Ranburne, Heflin or Carrollton, Ga., when they received news that the building they were leasing was going into foreclosure. “When the building became unavailable, I said, ‘It’s time,’” Michelle Sutton said. They settled on the location in Heflin and the restaurant will close in Ranburne on Nov. 1, and reopen as Sutton’s in Heflin on Nov. 6, she said. The move is bittersweet, she said. The family lives in Ranburne and that’s home, but the opportunity for growth is necessary, she added. Before he opened The Bulldog on Main Street, Bryan Sutton managed “The Big Dog” for five years. That much larger restaurant closed when the owner decided to sell the building to a church, he said. So 19 months ago, the family opened in the current location. That’s one reason for the name change, Bryan Sutton said. “We couldn’t do that to the town,” he said.
During their time in Ranburne, the family restaurant has made a name for itself. Her daughter Mariah Kelley, who serves as dessert chef, has received notice for her cheesecakes. “We make the best cheesecakes you’ve ever had in your life,” Bryan Sutton said. Her son, Cody Kelley serves as sous-chef, creating the American cuisine the restaurant has been serving at its Main Street location. They’re going to stick to the same menu – burgers, ribs, hot wings, seafood and steak – in the new location, Bryan Sutton said. They’re also going to add a dessert bar where Mariah Kelley can highlight her work, he added. “We hate to see them go,” said Pam Richardson, Ranburne town clerk. The town has lost several businesses in the last few years and it has affected sales tax revenues. In fiscal year 2012, the town took in $103,156 and in fiscal year 2013, which ended Sept. 30, sales tax revenue dropped to $90,985.61. Staff writer Laura Camper 256463-2872. On Twitter @LCamper_
Locals will open for Marshall Tucker Band LAURA CAMPER
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Local boys Nick Bowles, Dylan Laminack and Alan Kerr, also known as bluegrass band High Cotton, have been performing together for more than 10 years, but until recently as blues musicians. But their new sound may be what got them the opportunity to perform as the opening act for the Marshall Tucker Band on Friday at Zinn Park in Anniston. “I’m really excited,” said Kerr, 53. “We’ve never done anything remotely like this.” Kerr, who lives in Heflin, grew up listening to the Marshall Tucker Band and some of the first songs he learned to play on the guitar were the band’s songs. “Fire on the Mountain has been one of my favorite songs since I first heard it,” Kerr said. The Marshall Tucker Band, a southern rock band that got its start in the early 1970s, will headline a free concert beginning at 7 p.m. The Marshall Tucker Band formed in 1972 in Spartanburg, N.C. The band released its first album in 1973.
The original band performed until 1980, when member Tommy Caldwell passed away in a car accident. They produced a string of hits including “Can You See,” “The Highway,” “Fire on the Mountain” and “Heard it in a Love Song.” The band members found Frank Wilkie to take Caldwell’s place, but he and band members Toy Caldwell, George McCorkle and Paul Riddle left the band in late 1983. Doug Gray and Jerry Eubanks continued on until 1996, when Eubanks retired. Gray kept the band together and it continues to record and tour. Bowles said up until he saw “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou,” he had little interest in country or bluegrass music. “That sort of got my toes wet,” Bowles said. His bandmates grew up listening to country, though, he said. Now that he’s developed an interest in it, they are continuing to widen his knowledge of the genres. Bowles, 37, is a 1994 graduate of Cleburne County High School, where he met Laminack, he said. Kerr, n See Band page 8
A car accident this week in Ranburne inspired a teenage hero, say some of the emergency staff who responded to the scene. Pat McKinney, 68, and her granddaughter, Danielle, 13, were coming back from lunch in Bowdon, Ga., in a 2008 Volkswagen Jetta about 1 p.m. on Monday, said Ranburne police Officer Allan Fordham, who is investigating the accident. They were headed north through Ranburne when the Jetta left the road near the Dollar General Store on Main Street and hit a 2000 Ford Ranger, said Fordham. The force of the crash knocked the pickup into the garage of a house at 21208 Main St. The Jetta crashed into the house, coming to a stop in the living room, Fordham said. The pickup caught fire, which spread to the garage but didn’t reach the house, he said. “They had a NASCAR-type accident,” said a paramedic who worked at the scene. According to Ranburne Fire Chief Carl Smith, a woman named Janice Williams lives in the house, but it was not occupied at the time of the accident. Danielle McKinney said she had closed her eyes and didn’t see the impact, but she heard glass breaking and squealing tires. After the crash, the first thing the teen noticed was her legs were wet. She opened her eyes and saw that the air bags had deployed. She said she learned later that the water had come from the air bags. When she looked to the side, the girl thought she saw fire and knew she and her grandmother had to get out of the car. Her grandmother was moaning but not fully conscious, the girl said. “I tried to wake her up,” Danielle McKinney said. But her grandmother wouldn’t wake up. The teen pushed a piece of lumber off her grandmother’s chest and unbuckled her seatbelt. Then she went to get help.
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“I tried my door and couldn’t get it open,” Danielle McKinney said. “I crawled into the back and tried the door and couldn’t get it open.” She was able to crawl out the back passenger window, then she realized they were in a house. She walked around the house looking for help or for people who were hurt. But she wasn’t able to see a way around the car to the outside. She saw some people outside and called for help. One man came and helped her and two more came and helped her grandmother, the girl said. When the ambulance got there, the two were in the Dollar General parking lot waiting for help. The paramedic said the scene was horrific. When he looked in the car, every air bag had deployed. The 4-foot piece of lumber that had landed on Pat McKinney was lying on the dashboard and the steering wheel was bent. “It was a crash that people should not have survived,” said the paramedic, who didn’t want to be identified. Fordham said the damage was evidence that the Jetta was going faster than the speed limit. But he’s still investigating how fast, and why the car left the road. He could usually determine the speed by the skid marks, but there were none, Fordham said. The city of Ranburne might have to call in Alabama State Troopers to help figure it out, he said. The troopers can access the car’s computer, Fordham added. The two McKinneys were transported to Regional Medical Center and left later that evening. Pat McKinney is bruised and sore and Danielle McKinney has a broken wrist and bumps and bruises. They were lucky because of the safety features in the car and because of Danielle McKinney’s quick thinking, said Justin Roberts, the teen’s cousin. The paramedic said he couldn’t believe a 13-yearn See Hero page 8
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