The Judges of St. Clair • American Idol Star Returns Amazing Grace Farm • Lawrence Fields • Pell City Top 10 Growth
August & September 2022
Hen Party
Ever see a chicken play music?
MAGIC CITY CHEFS
Bringing the gourmet cooking to your home
Health and Wellness SPECIAL SECTION
St. Clair doctors and medical facilities continue to set the bar high
Discover The Essence of St. Clair August & September 2022
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MAGIC CITY CHEFS
HEN PARTY
AMAZING GRACE
Bringing cooking talent to you
Chickens rule the roost in Ashville
Farm helps people connect with nature
Traveling the Backroads The Judges of St. Clair
Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy American Idol’s Gressett returns to Pell City
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The WellHouse
Healing in a peaceful environment finds home in Odenville
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St. Clair Medical
Game Changers celebrate big milestones Regional health providers set high standards
Page 48
Page 56 Lawrence Fields: Servant’s heart, leader’s legacy Page 66
St. Clair Business Page 40
About THE Cover
Top 10 ranking for Pell City in growth in Alabama Page 72 B Photo, Supplies and Framing Page 80
Final Focus
Page 82
Welcome to the hen party where chickens rule the roost at Brenda Myers’ home in Ashville. It’s free range’s next level! Photo by Mackenzie Free
Writers AND Photographers Carol Pappas
Carol Pappas is editor and publisher of Discover St. Clair Magazine. A retired newspaper executive, she served as editor and publisher of several newspapers and magazines during her career. She won dozens of writing awards and was named Distinguished Alabama Community Journalist at Auburn University. She serves as president/CEO of Partners by Design, which publishes Discover and LakeLife 24/7 Magazine®.
Roxann Edsall Roxann Edsall is a freelance writer and former managing editor of Convene Magazine, a convention industry publication. She has a degree in (broadcast) journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi, worked as a television news reporter in Biloxi and as a reporter and assignments editor in Birmingham.
Meghan Frondorf
Graham Hadley Graham Hadley is the managing editor and designer for Discover The Essence of St. Clair Magazine and also manages the magazine website. Along with Carol Pappas, he left The Daily Home as managing editor to become vice president of the Creative Division of Partners by Design multimedia company.
Elaine Hobson Miller
Elaine Hobson Miller is a freelance writer with a B.A. in journalism from Samford University. She was the first female to cover Birmingham City Hall for the Birmingham Post-Herald, where she worked as reporter, food editor and features writer. She is a former editor of Birmingham Home & Garden magazine and staff writer for Birmingham magazine.
Paul South
Meghan Frondorf is a professional photographer. She has been doing photography for 12 years locally & across the country. She enjoys doing nature/freelance and lifestyle photography.
Paul South, a native of Fairfield, is an Auburn graduate with a degree in journalism and a double minor in history. He also has a Juris Doctorate degree from the Birmingham School of Law. Although sports writing was always his first love, he had a versatile career as reporter, columnist and first full-time sports information director at Samford University.
Robert Debter
Scottie Vickery
Robert Debter was raised on his family’s Hereford farm in Blount County and previously served as vice president of the Blount County Historical Society. He has been the archive director of the Ashville Museum & Archives since May 2016 and traces three branches of his ancestry to St. Clair County in 1820.
Scottie Vickery is a writer with a degree in journalism from the University of Alabama and was a reporter for The Birmingham News. Her first assignment was covering St. Clair and Blount counties. She has more than 30 years of writing and editing experience and her work has appeared in a variety of publications. She also has worked in the nonprofit industry.
Richard (RT) Rybka
Loyd McIntosh
Richard is a full-time professional photographer based in the Springville area and owner of Natural Light Photography LLC. His 50+ years of experience behind the lens of a camera includes working as a photojournalist for a global technology company. His credentials include many magazine cover shots, standing as a Canon Image Connect Photographer, and member of the Little River Arts Council.
Katie Bohannon Katie Bohannon is a native of Gadsden and serves as news editor for The Messenger newspaper in Gadsden, where she enjoys sharing stories rooted in her local community that spread positive news.
Loyd McIntosh is a freelance writer and marketing professional originally from Trussville. He has contributed to more than 30 online and print publications. Loyd is also a former reporter and sports writer for several newspapers throughout the Southeast, including The Daily Home, and was the managing editor for The Cahaba Times and Upper90 Magazine.
Mackenzie Free Mackenzie Free is an experienced and nationally published photographer with a bachelor of fine arts degree. She is a Birmingham native now cultivating life on a farm in Steele with her husband & 4 daughters.
From the Editor
‘Happy news’ and Discover
With a nod to my first career – newspaper reporting – I often joke, “I only write happy news now!” Known as a tenacious reporter and editor, it’s kind of a disclaimer for anyone I may have mercilessly questioned in the past in my relentless quest for the story – just in case they remember my younger, more aggressive days. Don’t hold it against me. It was my job. These days I’m perfectly content with another, much more palatable quest – discovering stories to share with our readers about this place we call home. As I looked over our list of stories for the August issue, I couldn’t help remembering that it was 11 years ago this month that we first started this adventure. Discover, The Essence of St. Clair, debuted in August 2011 with the cover depicting the world-class bouldering found at Horse Pens 40. Little was known about it here at home back then. But around the world, now that’s a different story. Since then, we’ve discovered or rediscovered, as the case may be, so many people, places and things that make St. Clair a special home indeed. And it has been our pleasure and our honor to do so. As we embark on the beginning of our 12th year, we hope you will continue this venture with us. It really is a journey of discovery, introducing our readers to people and places they may not have otherwise known. Or it just may be the story behind a story they’ve known for years. Either way, it’s a discovery we make together, and that makes for happy news all around. This month’s issue is no different. There are
Discover
heartwarming stories like Amazing Grace Farm, where visionaries hope to turn it into a “Make-A-Wish” come true for the elderly, veterans and first responders. Or how a woman in Ashville sees the lighter side of raising chickens, treating her brood as special as she would her children. There are stories of innovation, like The Magic City Chefs, who bring their culinary expertise to your dinner table or special event. There are good people stories, a mainstay at Discover. In this issue, we pay tribute to Lawrence Fields, who is stepping down from the chairmanship of the St. Clair Healthcare Authority. Fields, a former mayor and civic leader, has long been known to possess a servant’s heart, and the good works to his credit over many years are testament to that. Come along with us as we celebrate the triumphant return of Pell City’s own American Idol, Tristen Gressett, who was a finalist in the nationally known television competition to see who will be America’s next star. After seeing him perform, we can’t help but suspect it just might be him. In our special medical section, we take a look at Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home and Ascension St. Vincent’s St. Clair Hospital, both of whom changed the health care landscape in the region a decade ago and are still impacting lives for the better today. Final Focus, our new feature of St. Clair County life through the lens and words of Steele’s Mackenize Free, is back with insights about the county’s roots – farming. You’ll enjoy the scenery and the engaging thoughts behind it. It’s all here and more in this issue of Discover. Turn the page and discover it all with us. Carol Pappas Editor and Publisher
The Essence of St. Clair
August & September 2022 • Vol. 67 • www.discoverstclair.com
Carol Pappas • Editor and Publisher Graham Hadley • Managing Editor and Designer Dale Halpin • Advertising Toni Franklin • Graphic Designer Brandon Wynn • Director Online Services
A product of Partners by Design www.partnersmultimedia.com 1911 Cogswell Avenue Pell City, AL 35125 205-335-0281
Printed at Russell Printing, Alexander City, AL 7
CHEFS Magic City
Using talent to cook up something special & serve others
Story by Paul South Photos by Mackenzie Free Submitted Photos
Pan fried crab cakes and marinated slaw
On a sweltering June day, Jason Mullenix is at work in a steaming kitchen. While most, if not all of us, may only hear the clatter of pots and pans, Mullenix, the owner of St. Clair County-based The Magic City Chefs, choreographs a sweet and savory dance. After just three years in business, The Magic City Chefs has a client base stretching from Atlanta to Birmingham to Smith Lake as he prepares gourmet lunches and dinners in the homes of his clients. Some want a daily lunch. Others may crave a gourmet dinner party for eight. And Mullenix wants more than just pleased palates and stuffed tummies. He wants to turn back the clock and give back by bringing families back to the dinner table to talk, not text, make eye contact with each other instead of fixed stares at a smartphone screen. “I noticed it in my own family, being a chef and working from sunup to sundown and most holidays,” he says. “I mean when families have Mother’s Day or something like that, they want to take them out to eat, you know, so that they don’t have to cook. It all falls back on the chef.” For the culinary professional, which means missed family holidays, missed little league games, even lost chances to tell bedtime stories
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
Chef Jason Mullenix displays an impressive chacuterie tray. DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
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Magic City Chefs
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and give goodnight hugs. “It really dawned on me. We were all sitting around a table at a restaurant when I had a day off, and I looked across the table, and they were all on their phones, including my wife,” he says. And I’m like, there’s nothing to see on your phone. We all should be talking … I looked around the restaurant, and pretty much the same thing was going on at every table.” He flashed back to the days when his mom cooked dinner, served at the dining room table, when families talked about their day’s triumphs and trials, laughed and kidded and became a family. Going out to eat was a rarity. “It was more than just sitting there eating,” Mullenix says. A 17-year culinary veteran, he was supervising a large institutional kitchen when the vision for The Magic City Chefs hit. For him, the joy of cooking had become nothing more
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
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Magic City Chefs In the kitchen with Chef Jason
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than a book title. “I was burned out,” he says. “The passion was gone. I was making great money, but I couldn’t enjoy it, and I couldn’t enjoy my family with it. I realized there were people out there who don’t have time to come home to cook a decent meal.” He adds, “I wanted to do something different and find that passion again. If I can help somebody through the gifts that God has given me … If I can help people, I feel like I served my purpose.” GENESIS OF A CHEF Serving others and purpose are key ingredients in the The Magic City Chefs’ recipe, a process that began when Mullenix was in the Navy, serving first in the base store, then as a barber, then a launderer and three years as a chaplain’s assistant at the Singing River Island Naval Station in Pascagoula, Miss. His cooking interest flamed up when he ran the local observance of the National Prayer Breakfast. While in the Navy, he took night courses in business administration, then went to culinary school. His first stop was as a baker at Panera Bread, working the night-owl shift. Then came restaurants, the University of Alabama (serving ESPN, the skyboxes at Bryant-Denny Stadium and Crimson Tide alumni) and other Capstone kitchens. He crafted not only pastries, but he learned the savory side of the culinary art. Then came stops in Birmingham and Pell City. In the Magic City, he catered and cooked for events at the historic antebellum Arlington House. He cooked for dignitaries ranging from mayors to the Red Hat Ladies to Nicky Minaj, where the music superstar wanted everything from food to furniture in pink for a preconcert party. The Real Housewives of Atlanta were also served during his six years at Arlington. Of Minaj, Mullenix says, “She probably came in for like five seconds. We got stuck in an elevator for about an hour trying to leave because of security.” He also worked for the firm that provided food service and vending for Honda in Lincoln. Then came another restaurant stop, followed by Birmingham-Southern College and a nursing home stint before the birth of The Magic City Chefs. The service business cooks prepared meals in-house for clients – one a day – that takes six or seven hours, depending on their choices. Every week, clients get a new menu. A family of four can go six months without eating the same entrée twice, with a wide-ranging menu. Weekends are reserved for dinner parties, from formal sit down to informal family-style or plated meals of four courses. Mullenix also supplies glassware, tableware, linens and menu cards. Everything is catered to the client. Prices vary depending on the menu, generally from $100200 per person. A romantic four-course meal costs $300. Diners must provide any alcoholic beverages. “The majority of anything local I’ve done is around Logan Martin Lake,” Mullenix says. “I haven’t had any prepared meal clients. Most of the clients I have during
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Magic City Chefs
the week are in the Mountain Brook-Vestavia Hills area.” One of his first clients, a nonagenarian in North Birmingham, gets meals delivered daily. Mullenix tries to use ingredients the clients have in-house. There’s also a creative cake arm of the business – for weddings, birthdays, etc., – that sees brisk business from March to October. Among the most unusual wedding cake requests: a “Nightmare Before Christmas” wedding cake. “It turned out pretty good,” Mullenix says. While cooking for any number of diners – from a romantic dinner for two to a wedding reception for hundreds – is a pressure cooker, there is a silver lining. “There’s a good stress about being in the kitchen; it’s not always bad,” Mullenix says. “When everything is going as it should, and you’re creating wonderful food, there’s a ballet about it that’s hard to describe unless you’ve been there.” That dance includes shopping for the client’s dinner, setting the table, preparing the meal which features locally produced, farm-to-table ingredients. And there’s still a dance, albeit alone, as he works in a client’s kitchen. It’s a pots-and-pans version of Billy Idol’s Dancing With Myself. “I just put in my earbuds and do what I need to do,” Mullenix says. Business is bubbling for The Magic City Chefs. And what’s more, Mullenix’s culinary passion has reignited, and he’s learning with every creation. And, in keeping with his calling to help others, he’s cooked for temporary clients who need meals while going through physical therapy. “It’s a lot more rewarding than cooking (in a restaurant) for a bunch of foodies.”
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A lakeside dinner party And Mullenix sees his calling and his vision – both that would make June Cleaver smile – families at the dinner table talking like the Mullenix family did long ago. Mullenix even does the dishes. “That’s the most rewarding part,” he says, “actually seeing families able to do that.” And at the end of the evening, Mullenix hasn’t only served great gourmet food. He’s given something even more precious. “I don’t just sell great food,” he says. “I give back time.” l
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
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Traveling the
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The judges of St. Clair Shaping the county legal system
RobinsonMontgomery House
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Story by Robert Debter Archive Photos St. Clair County’s courthouse stands like a beacon, centering a perfectly square intersection in downtown Ashville. The structure itself has undergone many renovations since Littleton Yarbrough built it in 1844, but it remains central to the county’s legal system, making it the oldest operating courthouse in Alabama. Many of the stories created within its walls and the legal system itself were shaped by those who served as its judges. A sampling of those earliest years gives a glimpse of how history was made and who made it: John Ash John Ash was born Nov. 30, 1783, to William and Jane (Fleming) Ash. The family originated in York County, S.C., and, making their way south, found themselves in Franklin County, Ga., for a time. John, his brother, James, and their families made their way to Alabama. In January 1817, they were making their way on the Old Montevallo Road, which led through modern-day Ashville and Odenville in Beaver Valley. They camped there and spying game in the distance, John dismounted his wagon, took aim with his rifle and fired. The shot caused the horse to bolt, and Betsy, John and Margaret Ash’s daughter, was thrown from the wagon. She lay unconscious for three days until Jan. 27, when she died at the age of 3. Not finding it in their hearts to leave Betsy alone, the family stayed with her. A log dogtrot house was constructed for John’s family and his wife’s parents, the Rev. Thomas and Ann Newton. This house, the Ash-Newton Cabin, still stands today and is the oldest structure in St. Clair County. John would have a two-story house built not far from the Newtons and his beloved daughter. In November 1819, Ash succeeded James Thomason as county judge and remained in that position until the next election in 1821. Ash was the
John Ash grave marker
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Traveling the
BACKROADS first man elected to that position, as Judge Thomason had been appointed by Gov. William Wyatt Bibb. In 1820, Ash, Joel Chandler, John Cunningham, John Massey and George Shotwell were selected by Bibb to secure a Seat of Justice for the county. The first courts had taken place at the home of Alexander Brown near present-day Ashville in Old Town, or “Cataula” in the Creek Language. On Nov. 28, 1822, St. Clairsville, which covered 30 acres and was in the center of St. Clair County, was incorporated. In less than a month, on Dec. 12, the town was chosen by the five commissioners as the county seat. St. Clairsville was owned by Philip Coleman, a man who possessed great business skills. He and the commissioners had a model of the town built and began dividing it into lots and selecting locations for the county courthouse and jail. After this process, Coleman and the commissioners agreed to rename the town Ashville, to honor their friend Judge John Ash. The courts were moved to Ashville well in advance of the construction of the first courthouse, an 1824 wooden structure that stood on the site where Ashville Rexall Drug was located and is now home to Ashville Dental Care. The new courthouse was built in 1844 by Littleton Yarbrough, and although renovated several times, part of the original 1844 structure still stands, encased in the modern building, making it the oldest working house of justice in the state of Alabama. On Oct. 8, 1823, Ashville was purchased by the commissioners for $10,000. Judge Ash would continue to serve his community and county as state senator from 1825-1826, then 1832-1833 and 1844-1845. Margaret died in 1855, aged 63, and was reunited with her husband on April 1, 1872, when he departed this life at the age of 89. They are both buried at Liberty Cemetery in Odenville and had a total of 13 children together. Their original grave markers were donated to the City of Ashville by the John Scoggins family and are on public display at Ashville City Hall.
Elisha James Robinson
E.J. Robinson When Henry DeBerry resigned as probate judge in 1871, Gov. Robert B. Lindsay appointed E.J. Robinson, a young Ashville attorney, to that office. In 1874 Judge Robinson was elected to a full, four-year term, and the voters kept him in office until 1886. Elisha James Robinson was born on Sept. 16, 1846, to George and Mary Robinson, who had come to Alabama from Newberry District, S.C., in 1849. The family first lived in Elyton, but in 1857, they purchased a farm two-
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
Traveling the
BACKROADS
Esther Herring wedding photo, 1910 and-a-half miles away from Ashville. When he was 17 years old, Robinson entered the Confederate Army. He joined Company E, 53rd Alabama Infantry Regiment in June of 1863, and at once was in the thick of battle at Big Shanty. On Dec. 13, 1864, the discharge of a torpedo caused him to lose his right foot. He was soon discharged and returned to his studies. He read law and passed the bar examination at the age of 22. He was only 25 when he became probate judge. Judge Robinson was married three times – first to Susan Vandegrift, then to Lena Ligon, and the third time to Laura Weatherall. Two of his sons, Harold and Memory Leake Robinson, were Birmingham lawyers. After his service as probate judge of St. Clair County, Judge Robinson moved to East Lake and sold his beautiful Victorian home, built in the 1880s, to James P. and Clara (Inzer) Montgomery, which would remain in the Montgomery family for many years until it was transformed into a bed and breakfast inn known as “Roses and Lace.” It is now owned by the Nicholas Lemonds Family. Judge Robinson served as mayor of East Lake for a number of years and was active in promoting public schools there. Robinson Elementary School was named for him. He is interred with his third wife at East Lake Cemetery.
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James Lewis Herring James Lewis Herring was born in St. Clair County on Sept. 7, 1876, to James P. Herring and Elizabeth Forman. After his father’s death of brain fever in 1878 at the age of 27, Elizabeth remarried and moved from Springville to Ashville. The young James would one day be a football player and graduate of the University of Alabama. He received his degree in law from Georgetown University. In 1906, at the age of 29, James became the president of Ashville Savings Bank and would serve in that capacity for the remainder of his life. On Dec. 21, 1910, he married Esther Nunnally and the next year was elected probate judge. During his four-year term, Judge Herring championed for new and better roads in St. Clair County. The Herrings moved to Gadsden in 1916 and there, the former judge would be engaged in real estate and civic activities. He was also a devout Mason. Judge Herring passed away on Sept. 13, 1952, at his home and was interred at Forrest Cemetery. He would be reunited with his wife almost two years later, when Esther passed away at the age of 68 and was laid to rest beside him. In 1884, Judge Herring’s uncle, Augustus B. Herring, transformed the family home in Springville into the Herring Hotel, which stood until it destroyed by a fire on Christmas Day in 1960.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
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Traveling the
BACKROADS Herring Hotel in Springville
Curtis D. Adkins Sr. Curtis D. Adkins Sr. was born on Jan. 24, 1897, in Moody, attended high school in Leeds and returned from his World War I service in France to become St. Clair County tax collector at the age of 23, the youngest person to ever serve in that office. In 1928, he became St. Clair County probate judge and served as vice president and president of the Leeds State Bank for many years, as well as president of the Ashville Savings Bank. He was also a livestock dealer with large farming interests and served as post adjutant for the American Legion chapter in Ashville. Death came suddenly and unexpectedly early in the morning on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 1956, and he was buried at Ashville City Cemetery. At the time of his death, he was director of the U.S. Savings Bond sales program for the state of Alabama. Judge Adkins was married to the former Erin Westbrook, and their children were Joe, Curtis Jr., and Carolyn (Adkins) Spann. His grandson is the noted television meteorologist and author, James Spann. Adkins’ portrait was donated by the Joe Adkins Family to the Ashville Museum & Archives. It was painted by Floyd Stewart, Bessemer, a painter and St. Clair native. l
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Curtis D. Adkins
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
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Living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy American Idol’s Gressett returns to Pell City, prepares for next act
Story by Loyd McIntosh Photos by Richard Rybka Backstage at the Pell City Center for Education and Performing Arts building on the campus of Pell City High School, Tristen Gressett is just 20 minutes away from taking the stage. In his first appearance since his meteoric rise and frankly, stunning elimination from American Idol, the 17-year-old is launching his solo career. And he’s doing it from the very stage he has performed on dozens of times in high school theatre productions, choral presentations and events where he was part of an ensemble. On this night, not only is Gressett the featured performer, he’s the only performer – no band, no side musicians, no background singers. Just him, an acoustic guitar (augmented with a few electric effects) and a collection of classic rock songs and some original tunes. All eyes and ears will be focused on him this evening, a reality that is only just beginning to sink in. “It really kind of hit me today when I was getting set up that I finally have my own show where I’m getting to perform for all these people,” says Gressett. Under the management of his mother, Gressett has been performing in restaurants and bars for much of his teenage years. He comes across like a grizzled vet of honky-tonks and smoke-filled juke joints, building a dedicated group of 10-12 fans who have followed him from gig to gig. “But the rest,” Gressett says, “they’re there to drink, they’re there to eat. They couldn’t care less about the entertainment. Know what I mean?” In the dressing room, Gressett is wired – an absolute
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Tristen Gressett center stage at CEPA
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
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Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Performing for the audience at CEPA
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bundle of kinetic energy. Practically unable to sit down for more than five seconds, Gressett spends the last 15 minutes before the show laughing with his girlfriend Leah Love, joking with friends and well-wishers, and even cutting up and snapping a selfie or two with yours truly. On display is Gressett’s ants-in-the-pants exuberance that practically exploded onto the screen and had the American Idol judges – Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie – a little unnerved. “We might have to sit on top of you, man,” Richie famously said following Gressett’s rendition of Billy Joel’s Piano Man. One could easily interpret Gressett’s animation as nervousness, and who could blame them? He has a lot riding on this homecoming. Gressett, however, says “no way!” He’s more than ready to take this next step, launching his post-American Idol career from his hometown. “All my life, I’ve always wanted to be able to perform with everybody there watching for me,” he says. “So yeah, I feel like I’m one step closer to making that dream come true.” It may be a cliché to say someone is “born” for something. Gressett’s mother and biggest fan, Missie Gressett, says, in her son’s case, it’s pretty much the truth. “He kind of came out performing,” she says. “He has always loved being on the stage. Always.” She played music constantly for Tristen in utero, playing Johannes Brahms and Ludwig van Beethoven through listening devices placed on her stomach, which, at least in part, may account for Tristen’s abilities but also his wide range of musical interests. “He still listens to classical music all these years later, and he plays it on the piano,” his mother says. “When we were out in Hollywood, we actually went to the Hollywood Bowl and saw Two Cellos, so that was an amazing experience,” adds Ms. Gressett, who has become quite famous in her own right having been featured often during her son’s run on American Idol. A single mother with a vibrant, creative mind of her own – the homemade Halloween costumes she used to send Tristen to school at Eden Elementary, for instance, are legendary. She has poured much of her energy and passion into helping her only child achieve his dreams. “I am the proudest mama in the world,” she says as she works the merchandise table selling T-shirts and CDs. “We just have a special bond because it’s always just been us, and I’ve always been mama and daddy.” The American Idol Experience Gressett auditioned for American Idol along with more than 120,000 hopefuls, all vying for a coveted golden ticket to Los Angeles. Auditioning in Nashville, Gressett’s time in front of the judges is well documented – his aforementioned hyperactivity, the tearing up while chatting with fellow Alabamian Lionel Richie, his rendition of Piano Man and his thoughtful promotions of Pell City, just to name a few of the highlights. Gressett seemed to devour the screen during his audition, but, he says, so much more goes into those moments than what viewers see months later. “What
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Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy you’re seeing on television is what an editor sat down and was like, ‘OK, how can we turn this three-hour moment into two minutes?’ My audition on television, was about, what, 15 minutes? It actually happened over a span of three days.” Despite some initial hesitancy among the judges, Gressett earned his golden ticket and was whisked off to La La Land – Hollywood. There, he experienced the intensity of the show’s weekly production schedule of “a ton of interviews,” walking around Los Angeles shooting b-roll footage, practicing and generally trying to survive the insanity week to week. Despite the show’s competition format, Gressett says he never viewed the other contestants as rivals. “These were all people with the same goals, and it was awesome being around all those people who have such a strong connection because they’re all fighting for the same thing,” Gressett says. “It just never felt like a competition to me.” For much of Gressett’s American Idol run, he appeared to be the lead dog, leaving the pack behind. But Gressett was eliminated after the Top 11 show in late April after performing a rousing rendition of the Rolling Stones’ classic, You Can’t Always Get What You Want. His ouster was not without controversy. Many viewers on streaming services such as Hulu and Xfinity claim technical issues caused Gressett’s performance to go missing from the broadcast. In the days that followed, several online petitions were begun to get Gressett back on the show due to the error. In the end, the results stood, and Gressett’s run came to an early end – fairly or unfairly. American Idol tends to reward screechy divas and clean-cut young men rather than long-haired, bearded, bluesy rockers like Gressett – Alabamian Bo Bice being a notable exception – a viewpoint shared by none other than Katy Perry. “He’s a rock ‘n’ roller, and it’s really challenging for that genre sometimes to get really far because it’s not about who’s the best singer – you have to check a little bit of a lot of boxes,” said Perry in a press statement following Gressett’s final episode. “But I think that he definitely poured a lot of sauce on his performance tonight and you got to strike a balance. I wish him the best. I’m gonna be seeing him on stage. I’m gonna go to his concerts for sure.” “Somebody like me is going to have to fight a little harder,” adds Gressett, “and I fought as hard as I could. But I’m happy to make it as far as I did because over 122,000 people auditioned to be on the show. Just to be able to say ‘hey I placed 11th’ makes me feel a lot better about my journey ending when it did. I’m just happy to be able to pursue music on my own now with a stronger head on my shoulders and with the knowledge that I learned from the show.”
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Tristen and his Mom, Missie
Memorabilia on display
Autographs for the fans
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy It’s Show Time! With the crowd at near capacity, Gressett hits the stage shortly after 7 p.m. and immediately launches into his version of Piano Man followed by an eclectic mix of well-known classics, Neil Young’s Heart of Gold, Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Good – showing off his considerable guitar soloing skills in the process – and a version of the Beatles’ With A Little Help From My Friends. The fifth song of the set was an original, titled The Road. Throughout the night, Gressett included a handful of accomplished original songs included on a six-song EP released in 2021 titled Act I: The Poet. Gressett’s songwriting isn’t nearly celebrated as much as his skills as a singer and performer, although it’s clear that he puts much time and effort into his writing. “Sometimes it starts with the guitar and sometimes it starts with a phrase, and then I think, ‘How do I turn this into a song?’ I also use a lot of my personal experiences that I go through and stories of people that I know and love,” he explains. A standout tune is one simply titled, Tiffany. It tells the story of a young and awkwardly inexperienced young man who finds himself attracted to a girl named Tiffany, who, though only a few years older, has a few more cynical miles under her belt than her would-be suitor. After finishing the song, Gressett said that it was one of his more humorous, jokey songs. On the contrary,Tiffany displays a maturity in its wordsmithing. In all, Gressett performed for around two hours, the crowd seemingly in the palm of his hand the entire night, even during a few moments that didn’t go as planned. For instance, Gressett managed his way around a pesky guitar cable that shorted out a handful of times during the night and handled a few of the rowdier fans with the humor and finesse of a seasoned pro. One moment that particularly showed Gressett’s grace under fire occurred when he realized he left his capo (guitar geeks will know what this is) in the dressing room, leaving him unable to play his next song in the right key. Gressett walked backstage while mumbling in a high-pitch, faux-female voice, “You mean to tell me I paid $20 just so I can watch this kid look for his stuff?” to wild laughter before returning on stage to start the next song. The show was a triumphant homecoming for Gressett, who waves his Pell City flag high and proud. While much of his talent and stage presence is natural, he says there have many people along the way who have helped him to become the person he is today. “In eighth grade, my drama teacher, Mrs. Nixon, really encouraged me to hone in on my performance in theater. I’ve always been kind of crazy, but she got me to hone in and use it as a way of expressing myself,” says Gressett. “Mrs. Kaler at the high school has been one
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Gressett rocking his acoustic of my biggest supporters. She’s such a great person in general, but she has done so much when it came to getting people to vote for me. She’s been such a huge part of this for me. “And, of course, Eden Elementary. That’s my home place over there. I love Eden. I went and sang for the kids over there recently and, man, that was such a full-circle moment for me,” Gressett add. “That was so awesome.” What’s Up Next? With his American Idol experience and high school graduation behind him, Gressett is focused on kickstarting his music career in a big way. Eventually, he plans to relocate to Los Angeles, but, until then, his schedule is full of appearances throughout the summer. He performed at the Creek Bank Festival in Leeds, the Block Party in Pell City, and he opened for American Idol winner and Birmingham native Taylor Hicks at the Jazz Fest in Alexander City. Later in June, he opened for Jefferson Starship at the Helen Keller Festival in Tuscumbia, and on July 1, Gressett performed in Canada, his first time traveling outside the U.S., at the Grand Falls Potato Festival in Grand Falls, New Brunswick. l
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
Hen Party Chickens rule the roost for one Ashville woman Story by Elaine Hobson Miller Photos by Mackenzie Free
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
Some people walk their dogs. A few even walk their cats. Brenda Myers walks her chickens. “I used to take them on free-range walks, where I’d be the rooster watching for the hawks,” Brenda says. “I only had two hens then, but I have 10 now, and while you can control one or two, you can’t herd 10.” Now she walks them in chicken “tractors,” the coops-on-wheels that her husband, Dennis, built so the chickens can go for walks without fear of predators. Brenda puts her chickens in one and pulls it with a rope to a grassy spot and lets the flock scratch for bugs and worms. “When they are tired of one place, which is about 30 to 40 minutes, they’ll look at me, and I know it’s time to move them to another spot,” she says. She treats them more like pets than egg layers. She coos to them, picks them up and strokes them, talks to them as if they were toddlers. She regales her friends with descriptions of their antics. When one was partially eaten by a predator during the night, she cried for weeks. She’s constantly perusing chicken websites for tips and picks up toddler toys for them at thrift stores. To say she’s obsessed might be an understatement. DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
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Hen Party “Chickens are awesome creatures,” she says. “God just made a good thing when he made chickens.” Brenda got her first chickens, two six-yearold hens, in January 2021 for the fresh eggs and fun. She had wanted some since first moving to Ashville in 2002, but Dennis kept saying no, they’re smelly. Getting the first two gave her a chance to see whether she liked chickens. She kept them a year before a raccoon got into their coop and ate part of one. The other died of an apparent heart attack just seeing the animal chomp away on her sister. Brenda buried them together. On her birthday in March of 2021, she got six chicks from the St. Clair County Co-Op in Ashville: two Buff Orpringtons, two Black Orpringtons and two Barred Rocks. They were a day old, shipped from the hatchery at birth. “Of that first six, one was a rooster, and I re-homed him,” she says. “I did not want the drama.” Then she got five more: two Lavender Orpringtons, two Cinnamon Queens and a Black Sex Link. She raised all of them in her basement until they reached laying age, which is five to six months, depending upon the breed. “I had to separate one, Sandy, because she got picked on,” Brenda says. “But all of them get along fine now.” The flock consists of Verna (named after a friend), Sandy, Bertha, Baby (the runt who rules the roost), Silk, Satin, Cinnamon, Honey, Lacy and Buffy. Dennis designed the latest coop and tractors. The first coop came with the first two hens, then he built a larger one last fall. The new one measures 9 feet by 31 feet. At one end is the door, while a 4-by-6-foot chicken house is at the other end. The chicken house has beams for the hens to roost on at night, with doors that close automatically behind them to prevent predators from getting to them should they manage to get inside the screened coop. A nesting box with three compartments has its own outside doors so Brenda can gather eggs without going into the coop. The entire setup includes a 27-foot run, which gives the hens some freedom of movement. Inside the run are wooden perches, a swing, traditional chicken feeders hanging from the rafters and a plastic cat-litter bucket turned into a hanging water bucket with the insertion of “chicken nipples.” The latter are handy little devices that screw into the bucket and release a small amount of water when pecked. There are two old wooden chairs tied together, back
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Brenda dotes on one of her ‘toddlers’.
Some people babysit, she hen-sits.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
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Hen Party
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to back in the center of the run, and the hens use the combined backs as a perch. And then there are the toys. There’s a toddler learning box attached to the side of the coop that plays “Old McDonald” and makes farmanimal noises when poked or pecked and two xylophones. She puts peanut butter on the toys to make the chickens peck them. She has taught Sandy to “play” the xylophone using a clicker. She also has a plastic toy caterpillar that plays, “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.” Brenda substitutes “wings” in place of “hands” as she sings along with the toy. The newest addition to the collection is a child’s bicycle. Dennis removed the handlebars, laid it on its side, and propped it up with a concrete block under each wheel. The idea is for the chickens to hop on the wheels and use them as merry-go-rounds or treadmills. “So far, no luck,” Brenda says, sighing. She likes to pick up her chickens and pet them, but there’s a trick to that. “If you scratch their backs, they’ll lie down, as if submitting to a rooster’s amorous advances. You can pick them up then,” she says, demonstrating the technique with Sandy. Their main diet consists of dried mealworms and laying pellets. But she showers them with snacks, too. So, when she approaches their coop, they gather at the door, clucking and pacing in anticipation. They’re carnivores that love bugs, especially ticks, and will eat worms, lizards and mice, too. They also like milkweed, clover and other grasses, and once ate the burrs off Brenda’s pants after her trek through the woods. She bought some sage plants for them, along with lemon mint leaves. Lots of plants are poisonous to them, though, so she checks the internet before giving them something new. “I check several sources, not just one,” she says. “I’m growing cabbage and collards for them, too. I cut cabbage heads in half and hang them in their coop.” They also like apples, pears, cucumbers, squash, watermelon and cantaloupe. Fresh corn on the cob is their favorite, though. “I didn’t know anything about chickens when I got the first ones,” Brenda says. “I had to learn from scratch (no pun intended).” She says chickens are a hoot, and they help her relax. She often takes a lawn chair and just sits by the coop, watching them and listening to their coos. “When they’re happy, they purr like a female turkey,” she says, as if everyone knows how a female turkey sounds. “When
Music lessons
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
Hen Party
Getting in on the act
Feeding time
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
they’re angry, it’s almost like a honk.” She coos back at them, as if they were human babies. Ask Dennis how he feels about the “smelly” chickens, and he replies, “I built the chicken things, didn’t I?” He likes watching them, too. Brenda says they’re quite amusing when taking dirt baths. They will lie down and use first one leg and then the other to toss dirt onto their backs and sides. Then they’ll roll over on their sides and spread the dirt and get up and shake like a dog or horse. A certain amount of dirt stays under their feathers, keeping out mites and lice. Back in early June, Verna, one of the Black Orpringtons, became “broody.” That’s what you call a hen who wants to be a mom so bad she will sit on a nest for days trying to hatch a non-existent egg. “Verna would ruffle up her feathers when touched,” Brenda says. “A lot of people get pecked when they try to handle a broody hen.” A broody one will sit on a nest up to three weeks, even though there is no rooster around to fertilize and no eggs under her. “Sometimes they will die because they don’t eat or drink all that time,” Brenda says. The best thing she has found to get a broody hen off the nest is to give her “time out.” She yanks her out of the nesting box and puts her into a large dog cage within the coop. She puts food and water in the cage and leaves her there most of the day, returning her to the roost at night. “If you do this about three days, she’ll get the message,” Brenda says. It’s a challenge keeping the chickens hydrated in the summer. She hoses down a space in their run so they can wallow in it and puts ice in their water bucket. She also gives them cool treats like frozen blueberries. She gets eight to 10 eggs per day in spring and early summer. “They’ll slow down on hot days, and they molt in the fall and don’t lay as much,” Brenda says. “They don’t lay during the winter.” Ten eggs per day are more than she and Dennis can eat. She gives away some, but she’s also learning to preserve them. Who knew you can keep them up to a year in a jar with pickling lime and distilled water? “You need the freshest eggs possible,” she says. “They can’t be older than three days. You don’t wash them but leave the bloom on. It’s an antibiotic.” (The bloom is a foamy layer of protein that surrounds the egg and is the last thing formed on the shell before it is laid, according to Chicken Whisperer magazine). Brenda preserves them in a gallon glass jar that holds 30 eggs. She stores the jars in her basement. “If you don’t want to preserve them, you can leave fresh eggs on your countertop for five weeks unwashed or you can wash them and place them in the refrigerator for three months,” she says. “Store-bought eggs won’t keep that long.” While other people are pulling up photos of their grandchildren on their cellphones or posting them on Facebook, Brenda is pulling up photos of her chickens. “They’re my grandchildren,” she says. l
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
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The WellHouse
Faith-based healing in a peaceful environment finds home in Odenville
Story by Elaine Hobson Miller Submitted Photos Anna was beyond broken. Hooked on methamphetamine and heroin, she was trying to get off drugs. She was living in Colorado, but her story started as a child in her native Estonia. That’s where her mother sold her for sex as a preschooler. “The person who hurt me the most was my own mother,” says Anna, now 37 and living in Alabama. “She was hooked on drugs. One day when I was 5 years old, my Dad walked in on me and two men. He tried to protect me. My mom killed my dad.” In 2020, 10,583 situations of human sex trafficking were reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. The number of situations involved 16,658 individual victims. Almost 81 percent of those were women. Likely 50 percent or more were children. Fiftynine of these women made their way to The WellHouse, a faith-based healing place for women who are victims of sex trafficking. Anna is one of the nearly 600 women who have been through The WellHouse program since its founding in 2010.
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“There is no such term as human trafficking in Russia,” Anna says. “What my mother did to me was considered normal.” After their father’s death, she and her brother were sent to an orphanage in Latvia, where they stayed eight years. “There was lots of abuse there, too, physical, emotional, sexual.” She came to the U.S. in January 1981, when a Florida pastor and his wife adopted her and her brother. “But I was damaged goods, I had no self-worth.” She moved to Colorado to work on a ranch when she was 19. She married and divorced twice and had a child by each husband. “I had really bad attachment disorder and PTSD.” She developed conversion disorder – an emotional state that turns into physical seizures. In the middle of a Botox injection in her neck, seizures brought back the buried memories of her childhood experiences. “I got really sick physically and emotionally,” she says. “I had counseling, physical therapy. But I didn’t know how to cope, so I started using meds. I ran out of my prescription meds, started using my son’s ADHD prescriptions. Methamphetamine is pretty much the same as ADHD meds.” Anna weighed 73 pounds and had bruises all over
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
her body when she got herself admitted to a psychiatric hospital. “I was slowly killing myself,” she says. “My (adoptive) mom and me were looking for places for rehab, and I must have filled out an application for The WellHouse while researching online. I was in the hospital for two weeks when the rescue supervisor from WellHouse called me and said they had a bed for me.” Anna entered The WellHouse grounds in Odenville on Nov 4, 2019. It was after sundown. Despite the darkness, she immediately felt a sense of peace. “The healing started as soon as I got on campus,” she says. “You feel safe here. It was time for me to stop running and face my demons.” Anna graduated from WellHouse in December 2020, after receiving “lots of TLC,” and experiencing the programs the ministry offers. “They taught me selfworth, and I started growing. I learned how to cope with trauma. They teach you how to be the person you are. I found God here, too, and learned of his love. I’m still getting counseling for maintenance, but I have a job in retail, and I’m living on my own. WellHouse literally helped me heal.” The WellHouse is a faith-based, Christ-honoring program for young women caught up in sex trafficking for whatever reason, according to board chairman Al Worthington. “We’re of the opinion that without faith there can be no major healing because the trauma is too great.” Worthington, an area real estate developer, got involved in The WellHouse in 2013 when his wife showed him a newspaper article about a nationwide human trafficking sting in the U.S. and in Canada. The sting resulted in the arrest of 123 pimps. One of them was based in Birmingham, and three young girls under his charge were rescued. “The article quoted the woman who founded this ministry,” Worthington says. “She had a pretty horrific youth, was trafficked at 15 through the age of 26, and ended up here in Birmingham. I called her that day and met with her the next. I told her I thought I might be able to help.” Finding A Home The founder began The WellHouse by taking exploited girls into her home in Tarrant City. Around 2011 or 2012, the Woman’s Missionary Union, a partner of the Southern Baptist Convention, gave her an old house in West End, where churches adopted rooms, decorated and furnished them. In 2014, WellHouse moved to Pell City, but when they eventually wanted to expand, neighbors expressed concerns about who was coming into the neighborhood, and the city asked them to leave. “We bought 63 acres in Odenville in the summer of 2016, and in 11 months built two homes and an office,” Worthington says. They now have six buildings, including a chapel and administration building. Enter the grounds on a warm spring day, and you’ll see several large, rambling, ranch-style homes. You can feel the breeze off the pond and watch the antics of
The chapel
the resident gaggle of geese. Beside the pond are picnic tables and a hammock that beckons one to doze between the trees from which it is strung. Also next to the pond is a chapel – the newest building on campus. It smells of new wood inside, and its exposed ceiling beams give it a rustic feel. It’s easy to see why Anna felt at peace on the campus. “The purpose of The WellHouse is to rescue women who have been trafficked for drugs and sex, and some from domestic abuse,” says Carolyn Potter, CEO of The WellHouse. “We built the programming around the issues they have.” These include childhood sex abuse, sex trafficking, substance abuse, a lack of basic life and social skills and a lack of education. How It Works The program begins with the rescue. “We get them when we can, rescue them from different sources,” Worthington says. “Some are reported by police, some call our 800 number or the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Next comes time in the Stabilization Center, an apartment set aside for this purpose in one of the campus buildings. “This is a huge life change for these women,” Potter says. For two weeks they receive around-the-clock attention. They are seen daily by a home coordinator and director of trauma therapy, who build an individualized treatment plan for each. Taking a holistic approach, The WellHouse treats the physical, emotional, relational and spiritual problems of these women. Physical problems, such as traumatic brain and sexual injuries, are handled first. The physical heals the fastest, while the psychological takes longer. “It’s healing to be in a pretty place,” says Holly Bunn, chief development officer at The WellHouse. “Our buildings are new, with new furnishings, much of them donated. We have pretty, elegant decor, because these
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
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The WellHouse women deserve it.” The WellHouse has an on-site medical clinic managed by UAB School of Nursing. “Their medical needs can be intense,” says Potter. “We partner with Alabama Psychiatry for those who need more. Odenville Drugs has been a great partner, too.” When the women first arrive, they’re dealing with a lot of psychological trauma. They don’t have much selfconfidence, they don’t make eye contact, and they don’t trust anyone. “That’s how trafficking works, by destroying their sense of self-worth,” Bunn says. “After a while here, they begin to believe in their own worth. They get to know themselves again, then start to accomplish things – they get their driver’s licenses, their GEDs, achieve six months of sobriety. Then they keep going on their path to success.” They can stay at the WellHouse up to three years. Their treatment plan is divided into three phases, beginning with time living in The Immediate Shelter (TIS). That’s where women continue to be evaluated and assessed and to get back the identification documents, such as passports and driver’s licenses, that traffickers took from them. “TIS can house 12 women,” says Bunn. “They stay there from 90 days to four months. At that point, with the help of her case manager, a woman will decide whether to remain at The WellHouse long term.” Phase 2, or Next Steps to Freedom (NSF), involves living in another home that also houses 12 women. “There, they continue with what was started in the first phase, with a case manager and more therapy,” says Bunn. “Cases become even more individualized in this phase.” Although most of the women at The WellHouse are between 20 and 30 years old, most haven’t finished the 10th or 11th grade, according to Bunn. “We meet them where they left off with their education, before or at the time when trafficking began,” she says. “We help anybody who wants to go to college, too, through scholarships,” Potter says. “They attend here, online, in mobile classrooms. We apply to a group in Tennessee called Free for Life that gives scholarships specifically for trafficking survivors, and they can go anywhere they want online.” The Next Phase After meeting certain requirements, the women “graduate” from The WellHouse. “We actually host a graduation ceremony for them,” Bunn says. That brings about the third phase of the program, Next Steps to Independence (NSI). “Some women move back to their hometowns in this phase, but some aren’t financially ready to live alone,” she says. “NSI takes place in one of our buildings that contains apartments with two bedrooms each, for 16 total beds. They must apply to live there and must have full-time jobs or almost full time and be enrolled in college. They must have their own transportation, too.” Most of the women in NSI apartments will have saved
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Finding peace by the water up to buy a car, but The WellHouse helps with that, too. “Car day is a big day here,” Bunn says. “We have a car fund from donors, and we’ll use it to match their savings up to $2,500.” Women may live one to two years in these apartments, because they need that time to work out the kinks of their new lives. “They pay us $200 a month rent,” Bunn says. “That money goes into a savings account, and we give it all back to them when they leave here.” Some of the programs offered at The WellHouse include art therapy by a retired schoolteacher, equine therapy at King’s Home in Chelsea, quilting classes taught by women from a local church, and ShopWell, a worktherapy program where the women make jewelry that is sold to the public online, at events and on campus. ‘After they work with ShopWell for six months, The WellHouse helps them find part-time jobs in the community, usually with some of their sponsoring partners. “We also offer job preparation courses,” says Bunn. “We partner with WorkFaith, a career preparation organization.” Volunteers help, too. “We have a volunteer training program for individuals who are interested,” Bunn says. “They can house sit for a while to give a house mom a break, handle transportation, cut grass, do repairs, mentor, etc. We’re always looking for more volunteers.” Some of the administrative work is done by volunteers, while others sort clothing for Elizabeth’s Closet, the campus clothing boutique furnished by donations. “Every quarter we have a shopping day for the women,” Bunn says. “Volunteers sort the donations and tidy up.” As a ministry, The WellHouse philosophy is that a spiritual encounter with God and the healing power of Jesus are paramount to recovery. However, staffers don’t force the issue. Participation at monthly chapel services is voluntary. “Spirituality is threaded throughout our programming because we want everyone to know they are loved by God and us,” Bunn says. “We have Bible studies and morning prayer. But we support and facilitate believers of other religions besides Christianity, too.”
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
The WellHouse operates on an annual budget of $2.4 million, which is funded 100% by donations and grants from individuals, churches, foundations, corporations, nonprofits and federal funding for victims of crime. Fundraising gets a boost with special events in January and October. The one in October is a luncheon where a sex-trafficking survivor shares her story. The January affair is a big party called the Grace Gala, held this year at Thomas Jefferson Towers in Birmingham. “We may have to find a bigger venue next year,” Bunn says. “We had 300 people attend this year.” The newest program for the ministry, WellHouse Child, is aimed at girls between the ages of 11 and 18. “We have learned that lots of teens are being trafficked,” Bunn says. “They’re minors, and there used to be no safe house in Alabama for trafficked minors.” WellHouse Child is housed in a new, separate building erected in 2020, and will hold 10 minors. “We’re more than excited to begin this new program,” Bunn says. “These girls are identified the same way as other women, through law enforcement, hospitals, health care workers, families. Sometimes, their families are the perpetrators.” WellHouse Child is a lot like the adult program but tailored to children. They have the same issues as older women. “Their needs are the same, but more extreme,” Bunn says. “They are more likely to run away. Some may need more psychological care than we can give them.” WellHouse partners with Children’s of Alabama, where the youth are assessed and may have to return for medical attention. “We’re very excited because there’s such a huge need for this program,” Bunn says. “We take residents from all over the U.S. We’ll be able to pave the way through helping others understand how to do this work.” Human trafficking is such a hidden crime that it’s hard to get statistics, according to Bunn. Social media plays a big part in it, because victims are groomed and sold online through commercial sex ads. “Only one percent of cases are from abductions,” she says. “Most involve a manipulation process.” Men can be manipulated into the sex trade, too, and while The WellHouse only accepts women now, Bunn, Potter and Worthington hope to add a program for men someday. Every woman who winds up at The WellHouse comes of her own will. There are no contracts, and the only requirement is the desire to get well. “As much love and support as we give, it’s a lot of work for these women,” Bunn says. Anna couldn’t agree more. “At times, I wanted to give up, but I couldn’t,” she says. “I’m grateful I had the courage to stay at WellHouse.” l Editor’s Note: If you suspect a girl or woman is the victim of human sex trafficking, you may call The WellHouse local Crisis Line at 205-306-6058 or their toll-free Crisis Line at 800-991-0948. For more information about their program or volunteering, send a note to info@the-wellhouse.org
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
Story by Roxann Edsall Photos by Richard Rybka “Ultimately, I’d like it to be like ‘Make-a-Wish’ for the elderly.” – Larry Bell, hunting guide The beautiful house and barn sit well back from the road, just beyond the tranquil pond and surrounded by gently sloping hills of lush green grass. It looks like a peaceful private oasis. Amazing Grace Farm is unquestionably a peaceful oasis, but its mission is far more inclusive than private. They open their doors by invitation to elderly and disabled individuals to reconnect with nature and enjoy outdoor activities. It is also open to first responders and veterans, and all of it is offered at no cost to participants. Amazing Grace Farm offers hunting and fishing experiences, including those with mobility and special needs on the 113-acre property off Highway 26 in Ragland. Their list of accessible activities includes hayrides, cornhole, picnics, relaxing at the fire pit, shooting at their range, and meditation and relaxation. They are partnering with senior centers and veterans’ organizations to bring visitors to spend the day at the farm. “Our elderly and disabled often end up being stuck inside all day looking at four walls,” says owner and director Judy Batson. She is also a nurse and CEO of Healing Touch Caregivers in Gardendale. “I wanted to give them a way to have fun and enjoy outdoor activities again.” Judy had passed by the property countless times on her way to visit elderly clients in her work as a nurse. Each time she passed the sprawling landscape with its charming barn and home, she felt a stronger connection to it. Occasionally, she even pulled in to pass the time between clients. On one such occasion, she found the realty sign lying down in the grass, so she called the number. When she said she wanted to place an offer on the property, she was told there were already other offers, and she likely didn’t have a chance. She didn’t hear back from them and forgot about the exchange until she got the call three months later. Her offer had been accepted. “The idea for it was God-given,” says Judy. “Something about this place spoke to me.” From that point on, she says, she was driven to make the farm a place for a ministry to those she felt were forgotten – the elderly, veterans and those with special needs. She describes the house as being in “deplorable” condition, with destruction by animals and termites just scratching the surface of the level of decay. It was in such bad shape that the appraiser (who at the time was also the mayor) declared that Judy was essentially buying the land and barn; the house wasn’t worth anything. She spent the next two years working with subcontractors to gut and rebuild the house. On the recommendation of a neighbor, she hired Craig Grigsby and John Bush to work on the
The entrance
Shooting blind
West view of the stable
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
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AMAZING GRACE FARM
A relaxing swing in the woods floors. And they’re still working at the farm two years later – Craig as property manager and John as assistant property manager. Both Craig and John live in Panama City, Fla., and spend two weeks of each month at the farm working to restore it and to build programs. They’ve hired another friend, Larry Bell, also from Panama City, to serve as the guide for the hunting program. The three share Judy’s enthusiasm and mission for serving seniors. “I was introduced to hunting by my grandfather,” Larry explains. “What got me into this was to be able to give back to the people who introduced me to hunting. Ultimately, I’d like it to be like ‘Make-aWish’ for the elderly. We could give someone that one last big hunt.” Craig’s family did not hunt, so, he says, friends invited him along. “As a 16-year-old growing up, I was taken
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hunting by a couple of preachers. Every Thanksgiving, they would go hunting with their families and they’d invite me. I loved listening to their stories around the campfire. It made me want to hear more.” On this day, the fire pit is empty. A group of visitors is gathered inside around the coffee table as temperatures soar close to 100 degrees. Guests include seniors from the Ragland Senior Center, veterans and first responders from Ragland and Pell City. Laughter gives way to hugs as paramedic Cathy Riggs is reintroduced to the senior whom she helped on a call just over a year ago. After they catch up, Cathy goes with a guide who takes her to visit her old childhood swimming hole on the property. “Do you know where Happy Top is?,” asks 94-year-old Raymond E. Smith, Jr., as he talks about where he was born and raised. “You know Lewisburg? Bradford? It’s not far from Bradford. We used to walk from Bradford
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
to Happy Top to go to church.” Raymond is Sgt. Maj. Smith, a Green Beret who served in Vietnam. He talks proudly of his love for America and his pride in his service to the Army Special Forces unit. He also dearly loves fishing. When the temperature cools off, allowing him to be outside with his oxygen tank, he’ll be headed to the fishing pond. It is stocked with bass, crappie, bluegill and crackerfish. Having the pond dug out and stocked was a big-ticket item for Judy and the Amazing Grace team. Luckily, there was clay and dirt to be sold that helped offset the cost. There are many big projects in the works to continue to build programs for their guests. One of those projects is building a 12-by-12-foot shooting house. Why so big? Craig explains that it would allow the family of a physically challenged person to be a part of the experience in watching the shooting. They’ve also contracted with Michigan-based Wolf Creek Productions to document the experience as a keepsake for the client. Craig has also spent many hours working to implement plans for a zero-entry pool. Even with him digging it himself and purchasing supplies, the estimate to complete the project is $180,000. And, even then, they can’t find anyone willing to come out to work. They remain confident that it will come together eventually. “We even plan to invite churches to use it to baptize people who wouldn’t be able to (using traditional baptismal fonts),” says Judy. They are also working on a café, adjacent to the pool area, where guests could come to get a cool beverage and relive “soda fountain” memories. While not complete, the plans include 50s-style furnishings and a jukebox. Judy is quick to credit the completion of so much of the work at Amazing Grace Farm to Craig, John and Larry. “They share my vision, and they have such big hearts,” she says. “This would not be where it is without them.” Greg Estes, commander of the Ragland VFW, is impressed with the changes. “I remember seeing this property when it sold. It’s night and day different.” He is already making plans to bring people to the farm. Teresa Harden with the Ragland Senior Center brought a group to the farm and plans to make the trip again. “It means the world to them. They enjoyed it so much.” l Editor’s Note: The farm is in need of sponsors to help with the costs associated with the programs. Amazing Grace Farm is a nonprofit and depends on donations to meet the needs of its visitors. If you are interested in visiting Amazing Grace Farm or supporting their ministry, you can contact them at 205-281-7828 or info.amazinggracefarms@gmail.com.
Chatting in the shade
An OHV ready for a ride
Caregivers’ lunch
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
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ST. CLAIR MEDICAL COMMUNITY
New signs on Ascension St. Vincent’s in Pell City 48
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
Big milestones for region’s health care
Game Changers
Main corridor at Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home, one of the many ‘town-like’ features
Story by Katie Bohannon Photos by Graham Hadley Two pillars in Pell City’s health care community are celebrating a decade of service. In 2022, Ascension St. Vincent’s St. Clair hospital has begun its 11th year, and Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home commemorates 10 years of leadingquality practices and services for St. Clair County. 2805 John Haynes Drive witnessed the first workings of what would become Ascension St. Vincent’s St. Clair in Pell City, when a 68-bed licensed hospital opened in 1970. Ten years later, the hospital added a fourth floor, and the licensed beds rose to 82, before University of Alabama at Birmingham adopted management in 1985. Management shifted hands throughout the next decades, with Alabama Health Services, including Eastern Health System, St. Vincent’s and Brookwood, all playing a role until St. Vincent’s and Eastern Health System merged to form St. Vincent’s Health System in 2007. In 2011, officials celebrated the 40-bed hospital’s opening at its current location – a tremendous venture illustrated by trusted community partnerships with Ascension Health, St. Vincent’s Health System, St. Clair County Commission, the city of Pell City, St. Clair County Healthcare Authority, and a collection of committed physicians and supportive citizens. The hospital provides patients with numerous services, including Advanced
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
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ST. CLAIR MEDICAL COMMUNITY
Operating suite at Ascension
Wound Care, Anesthesiology, Bariatric Surgery, Cardiology, Dermatology, Diabetes Education, Emergency Medicine, Family and Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology, General Surgery, Gynecology, Home Medical Equipment, Hyperbaric Medicine and Nephrology. It also offers practices in Neurology, Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics, Otolaryngology, Pain Management, Pathology, Pediatrics, Physical Therapy, Radiology, Sleep Medicine, Speech Therapy, Urology and Inpatient Telemedicine for eICU, Stroke and Mental Health. The hospital strives to maintain a positive presence in the community while collaborating with Community Health Clinic and Jefferson State Community College nursing program for clinicals. Its leadership team serves on multiple local boards throughout St. Clair County, reiterating Ascension’s mission as one of the leading nonprofit health systems in the United States. Based upon building a network of care patients trust, its staff dedicates itself to creating an environment where patients feel supported and receive personalized, convenient care. “Care is about more than healing,” said Lisa Nichols, Ascension administrator. “We are here to serve, listen and understand, with support for physical health and wellness, as well as your mental and emotional health. At Ascension sites of care, care begins with addressing
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Sleep medicine room at Ascension
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
LOOK GREAT. SEE GREAT. with
NEW! State of the art exam facility and showroom 2020 Martin St. South Pell City, AL (in front of Publix)
James W. Bedsole, O.D. EYE CARE Extensive, State-of-the-Art Showroom
Advanced wound care at Ascension the whole person with dignity and respect. We begin every interaction by listening to understand you and your needs, respecting you, first as a person, then as a patient – because together, we are a community.” STATE VETERANS HOME A BEACON FOR HEALTH CARE As St. Vincent’s St. Clair strives to care for patients, Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home serves another deserving demographic. The home celebrates its 10th anniversary in November this year, first opening its doors in 2012. Prior to construction, the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs conducted a feasibility study to determine what area of Alabama most needed a State Veterans Home. Central Alabama proved to possess to the top need, and Pell City was selected as the best site for development. Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home provides residency for veterans who served a minimum of 90 days active-duty service, with one of those days during a war-time period. Residents have an honorable discharge, having lived in Alabama for 12 months before receiving eligibility to apply. Veterans pay a small fee to reside at the home, with state and federal departments of Veterans Affairs funding covering the majority of the living cost. Pell City’s location provides assisted living and domiciliary care, alongside skilled nursing services for residents as the home is licensed by the Alabama Department of Public Health and federal VA. Pell City’s location generates a home-like environment for veterans, with fully furnished, modern rooms. Rooms are private with bathrooms in each unit, divided into smaller sections with living rooms, kitchens and dining rooms. The activities department ensures veterans remain engaged in a variety of opportunities throughout the year, including trips outside the facility to local restaurants and beloved locations a bit further away, such as Chattanooga, Tenn., and Columbus, Ga. Col. Robert L. Howard Director Hiliary Hardwick has been with the home since its initial opening, witnessing every admission, every smile and every moment a veteran’s face lit up as he or she moved into their new
Dr. James W. Bedsole
EYE CARE
2020 Martin Street South Pell City, AL 35128 Located on the corner of Hwy231 and South Park Drive
205-884-2020
www.drbedsole.com
Fax: 205-338-8840 Emergency: 205-753-6221
Serving Pell City and St. Clair County families since 1991.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
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ST. CLAIR MEDICAL COMMUNITY
Using a telemedicine cart at Ascension
Joe Bell, Henry Darnell and Gene Crumpton hang out at the Veterans Home. 52
home. She discussed the transition veterans experience after moving to the Pell City location, sharing the improvements that walk hand in hand with their new home. “So many of our veterans’ quality of life has improved after moving in with us,” said Hardwick. “A lot are isolated at home because they may be wheelchair dependent and don’t have the resources to be able to go out of the house very often. Here, we have all necessary equipment and the transportation to get them out and about again. It also allows their loved ones to spend quality time with them,” she said. “It’s important to help each veteran participate in the hobbies and activities they love. We have a large number who enjoy gardening, so we have raised planter beds to make access easier for those in wheelchairs. We have several veterans who love to paint, so we have art shows to showcase their work. Last year, we even installed a putting green for our veterans who enjoy golf.” Hardwick emphasized the facility’s efforts to remain a good steward of its community. She illustrated her gratitude for the endless community support that flourished within the past decade, commending the numerous volunteers who assist with the home frequently. Just this past year, LakeFest contributed a generous monetary donation to purchase gym equipment for the home’s DOM exercise room. In return, Col. Robert L. Howard reinvests in its community, serving as a clinical site for local schools for CNA, LPN and RN clinicals. In fall 2022, the facility will serve as the host site for Project Search – a program that aids students with developmental disabilities in learning professional skills and finding employment after high school – with the Pell City School System and the St. Clair County School System. Both St. Vincent’s St. Clair and Col. Robert L. Howard continuously maintain the relationships that perpetuate successful medical resources in the community. Nichols and Hardwick reflect on the changes both facilities have manifested in the past decade, while looking forward to another 10 years of changing the landscape of Pell City’s health care for the future. “St. Vincent’s has improved access to care by expanding specialty coverage and TeleMed services,” said Nichols. “This allows our community to receive care locally without having to travel to other locations, like Birmingham. However, if your condition
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
MEDICAL CARE AS UNIQUE AS YOU ARE
Dr. Barry Collins
Dr. Rick Jotani
Dr. Ilinca Prisacaru
Pell City Internal and Family Medicine provides a full range of high-quality personalized healthcare solutions for all your family members from newborns to senior adults with our board-certified physicians and medical professionals. Established in 2012, PCIFM continues to grow with the region, adding specialties and services to better serve your medical needs, now and into the future. Office hours are Monday- Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. by appointment Extended hours are Monday-Thursday 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and Sunday 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. no appointment necessary for acute visits.
Welcome, Dr. Jeffery P. Jackson It is our pleasure to announce Dr. Jeffrey P. Jackson joining our team of dedicated healthcare providers. • Residency, St. Vincent’s East Family Medicine • Doctor of Medicine, Cum Laude, St. George’s University School of Medicine Dr. Jackson will serve our community with the same dedication, experience and compassion that guide healthcare at PCIFM. Dr. Jackson will begin seeing patients September 1, 2022.
• Primary Care • Specialist Care
• Family Wellness Care • Women’s Health
41 Eminence Way, Suite A | Pell City, AL 35128
www.pcifm.com
• Sports Medicine • Onsite Diagnostics
205-884-9000
ST. CLAIR MEDICAL COMMUNITY
The lighted mural in the Veterans Home entrance requires additional care, know that we are connected to a large network of providers, encompassing a wide range of specialties.” Impacting the economy, as well as health care, “Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home has brought more health care jobs to Pell City, as we employ over 300 employees,” said Hardwick. “Our opening along with the new hospital, have helped recruit and expand other health services here in Pell City. We also help support our local health care providers, as our veterans see many of the medical specialists in the community.” Opening their doors within months of each other, their missions have continued a similar path over the past 10-plus years, delivering quality care close to home in service to their community. And the community, in return, continues to reap the benefits of those missions.
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New putting and chipping green at the Veterans Home
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
ST. CLAIR COUNTY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
SERVING THE RESIDENTS OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY SINCE 2009
IF YOU NEED A RIDE, GIVE US A CALL!
205-338-1352
ST. CLAIR MEDICAL COMMUNITY
New standards
Regional health providers have reputation for top-notch care Story by Jackie Walburn Photos by Meghan Frondorf and Richard Rybka Putting patients first by offering expanded services, hours and expertise, Pell City’s medical providers – Pell City Internal and Family Medicine, Complete Health Pell City and its satellite locations in Moody, Springville and Trussville, and Pell City Pediatrics – all prioritize preventative medicine as they aim to meet patients’ needs close to home. Serving local and area patients from infancy to childhood to adulthood, geriatrics and Medicare, medical professionals in long-established practices in St. Clair County offer tested, trustworthy medical care in patients’ hometowns. PELL CITY INTERNAL AND FAMILY MEDICINE Pell City Internal and Family Medicine is one of the local practices actively expanding services and hours since it was established in Pell City in 2012 by physicians Dr. Rick Jotani and Dr. Barry Collins. A growing, local medical practice, Pell City Internal and Family Medicine is located at 41 Eminence Way, Suite A, just off U.S. 231. PCIFM offers primary and specialist care, family wellness care, women’s health, sports medicine, outpatient care, on-site diagnostics, on-site physical therapy from ATI, pediatric care and extended hours, including weekend clinics. Family and internal medicine are part of the name and mission at PCIFM. Describing family practice and internal medicine physicians as “the gatekeepers of individuals’ health and well-being,” Dr. Jotani says the family doctor, with knowledge of most disease processes, helps coordinate care with specialists, referring patients to trusted specialists and coordinating and following up on those referrals. With regular office hours set at 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Fridays, PCIFM offers extended hours for sudden
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sickness or minor injuries. No appointment is required during the extended-hours walk-in clinics, which are open from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday, plus each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The family practice’s extended-hour clinics are designed to address acute sudden problems, when needed, not for chronic problems, follow-ups or rechecks. Common symptoms of an acute illness include fever and cold symptoms, including runny nose, cough, ear ache, diarrhea, sore throat, nausea, rash or headache. Medical staff at PCIFM include founding physicians Drs. Jotani and Collins, and Dr. Ilinca Prisacaru. A new physician, Dr. Jeffrey Jackson, is scheduled to join the practice in the fall of 2022. Jotani completed his medical training at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, a residency in Spartanburg, S.C., and a sports medicine fellowship at Halifax Sports Medicine at Daytona Beach, Fla. He is the team physician for Pell City High School. He also founded Jotani Aesthetics, with offices at PCIFM, which offers non-surgical and non-invasive cosmetic treatments including Juvéderm®, Botox®, Restylane® and CoolSculpting®. Collins completed his medical training and residency at UAB. He is chief of medicine at Ascension St.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
CoolSculpting room at PCIFM DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
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ST. CLAIR MEDICAL COMMUNITY Vincent’s St. Clair Hospital, active with local boards and clinical research. Prisacaru is a Romanian-born physician with experience as a medical volunteer with Red Cross Romania and in health education for Hispanics in New Jersey. She completed her family medicine residency at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. All three physicians are members of the Medical Association of Alabama (MASA). Also serving patients at PCIFM are Adrienne Shambray, DNP, a family nurse practitioner with a doctor of nursing degree from Jacksonville State University; Jackson Cornelison, a family nurse practitioner with five years’ experience as a critical care nurse; Emmy DePew, a family nurse practitioner, and Jessica Earnest, a family nurse practitioner with experience in primary and urgent care and women’s health, and Jessica Stewart, a family nurse practitioner. Having a local, established primary physician has many advantages for patients and their health care. “Being local enables patients to stay close to home,” says Terri Woods, office manager for PCIFM. “They do not necessarily have to drive into Birmingham or Trussville for medical care. This also helps get specialists interested in coming into our area to serve the patient population.” PELL CITY PEDIATRICS The first, fully pediatric medical practice in St. Clair County, Pell City Pediatrics is a member of the award-winning Children’s of Alabama family. Pell City Pediatrics became Children’s initial, stand-alone primary care practice when it opened in Pell City in 1995. Located at 2850 Dr. John Haynes Drive in an office building brightly painted with primary colors, Pell City Pediatrics serves both sick and well patients ranging from newborns to 18 years of age. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Three pediatricians serve Pell City Pediatric patients. Dr. Rubina Siddiqui has been with the practice since it opened 27 years ago. A board-certified pediatrician, she completed her pediatric residency at St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital in New York. Dr. Irfan Rahim joined the practice in 2000. He completed his pediatric residency training at Metropolitan Hospital Center in New York. Dr. Farzana Malik joined the practice in 2022, bringing more than 20 years of experience in
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Pell City Pediatrics
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
Caring Is At The Heart of Everything We Do
4010 Masters Rd. Pell City, AL 35128 Phone: 205-884-1111 Fax: 205-884-1114
Lakeside Hospice Is A Faith Based Non-Profit Organization
Introducing
Dr. Jack Vibbert Dr. Jack Vibbert earned his degree at the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine and has practiced primary care since 2017. He believes in caring for the whole patient – mind, body and spirit. By looking beyond symptoms, he aims to understand how your lifestyle and environment impact your health and well-being. Learn more at CompleteHealth.com or schedule a consultation to talk to him in person to see how he’s putting patients first... always.
Call 205-498-8607 to schedule today.
Accepting New Patients 7201 Happy Hollow Rd. | Trussville, AL 35173 Monday - Friday 7:30AM - 5:30PM
ST. CLAIR MEDICAL COMMUNITY practice in Mississippi and Georgia and as a medical instructor at colleges across the country. She graduated from Pakistan College Sharjah and Rawalpindi Medical College. She completed her residency training at Rush Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago. She speaks English, Urdu and Hindi. Being recognized for patient-centered medical care for its patients, Pell City Pediatrics received certification from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). The Patient Centered Medical Home certification is a model of primary care that combines teamwork and information technology to improve care, improve patients’ experience of care and reduce costs. Comprehensive aspects of patient care, including referrals, medication management, diagnostic tests, immunization administrations and other services, are provided by the practice. The only health system in Alabama solely for the care and treatment of children, Children’s of Alabama has provided specialized medical care for ill and injured children since 1911. Ranked among the best children’s hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Children’s serves patients from every county in Alabama and nearly every state. It is a private, not-for-profit medical center that serves as a teaching hospital for UAB in pediatric medicine, surgery, psychiatry, research and residency programs. In addition to the large Russell Campus on Birmingham’s Southside, it has additional specialty services at Children’s South, Children’s on 3rd and in Huntsville and Montgomery. At clinics including Pell City Pediatrics, Children’s provides primary medical care through community practices including Greenvale Pediatrics at Alabaster, Brook Highland in Birmingham and in Hoover, Mayfair Medical Group in Homewood, Midtown Pediatrics in Birmingham, Over the Mountain Pediatrics in Birmingham, Pediatrics East at Pinson and Trussville, Pediatrics West at McAdory and Bessemer and Physicians to Children/Central Alabama Children’s Specialists in Montgomery. COMPLETE HEALTH PELL CITY Complete Health Pell City offers all aspects of primary care with on-site diagnostics and imaging at its offices at 70 and 74 Plaza Drive in Pell City. Open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Complete Health Pell City has more than a dozen physicians and nurse practitioner providers to meet all patient needs. Complete Health Pell City was formerly known as Northside Medical Associates. Primary care is critical to managing day-to-day health needs. Research also shows that a long-term relationship with a primary care provider keeps patients healthier and lowers their medical costs. Complete Health offers far more than just primary care. Complete Health Pell City focuses on caring for
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Pell City Pediatrics has a warm, comforting environment
State-of-the-art, 3D mammography at Complete Health Pell City – one of its many cutting-edge imaging options
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
Find the care you need close to home Ascension St. Vincent’s St. Clair From the routine to the unexpected, you can count on compassionate, personalized care from Ascension St. Vincent’s St. Clair care teams. This includes giving you access to a variety of specialties right in your own neighborhood.
Specialties: • • • • • • • •
Cardiology Diabetes education Gastrointestinal Lab Neurology Orthopedics Pain management Physical therapy
• • • • • • • •
Radiology Respiratory care Sleep lab Speech therapy Sports medicine Surgical services Telehealth services Wound care
© Ascension 2022. All rights reserved.
LET’S
POWER SAFETY If you feel tingling in the water, it might be electrified. Get out of the water immediately but avoid metal ladders. Shout and warn others to stay out of the water.
We value your membership. We value you.
To find specialty care that is right for you, call 205-548-4859
Ascension St. Vincent’s St. Clair 7063 Veterans Parkway Pell City, AL 35125 ascension.org/StVincentsALCare
ST. CLAIR MEDICAL COMMUNITY the whole patient as well as offering state-of-the-art diagnostics in a comfortable and convenient setting. “We have designed our entire practice, especially our diagnostics, to be patient-focused,” says Laura Gossett, director of ancillary services at Complete Health. Complete Health Pell City has 3D mammography in a spa-like setting, state-of-the-art GE CT machine with 3D overhead panels that make patients feel comfortable. Complete Health Pell City also has a powerful, modern MRI that includes software to reduce noise and knocking and provides music for the patients. “We also have an on-site pharmacy open seven days a week to help patients quickly and conveniently,” said Gossett. Since joining Florida-based Complete Health in the fall of 2020, the Pell City practice has expanded services offering extended hours, flexible walk-in times, patient engagement centers and dedicated Member Support Representatives (MSRs) who serve as liaison between patient and available benefits, including Medicare, says Shelley Gallups, practice manager for Complete Health Pell City. Complete Health Pell City is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with Urgent Care on-site open seven days a week. Providers serving Complete Health Pell City include physicians Dr. Michael Dupre’, medical director for acute and post-acute patient care for all Complete Health practices in Birmingham and primary care provider; Dr. Stephen Fortson; Dr. Ronald Helms, a lifelong Pell City resident; Dr. William McClanahan and Dr. Hunter Russell. Nurse practitioners serving the Pell City office include Kimberli Clinkscales, CRNP; Holly Nichols, CRNP; Kaitlyn Pierce, CRNP; Robert Screws, CRNP; Joy St. John, CRNP; Anne Tolene, ARNP (Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner), Brittany Washington, CRNP; Haley White, CRNP. Emily Mince, PA-C, and Allison Wineski, PA-C, are the practice’s physician assistants. Dianna McCain is the Member Support Representative for Complete Health Pell City, helping patients navigate Medicare and health services. Also located at the 80,000-square-foot campus at Plaza Drive in Pell City is Complete Health Pell City’s Urgent Care. With convenient, early and late hours to fit patients’ schedules and walk-in appointments, the urgent care clinic is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday and from 1 to 6 p.m., on Sunday. Dr. Timothy Ricketts leads the urgent care provider team, which also includes Dakota Nichols, CRNP, and Jonathan Windham, CRNP. In addition, the practice has locations throughout St. Clair County, with clinics in Moody, Springville and Trussville.
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Toshiba MRI at Complete Health
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
WHO IS
YOUR
PT?
TherapySouth is an outpatient physical therapy practice with a fun, family-oriented environment. For more than 30 years, Tyler McGrady and the experienced physical therapists in Pell City have built relationships with their patients and helped them achieve their physical goals. We know you have a choice for your healthcare, and we’d love for one of our great people to be your physical therapist!
Pell City | 205.338.6106 | 85 Plaza Drive www.therapysouth.com
Real People. Real Life Stories. “When my mother had the beginnings of dementia, she was in Birmingham, and I was in Pell City. Working full time, I couldn’t be there. But Always There could, and they helped her with the things she needed to remain independent -- taking her grocery shopping, making sure she got the right medications at the right time, being a companion. Always There allowed her to stay in her own home and took the worries away from my siblings and I when we couldn’t be there for her.” -- Carol P.
• Companionship • Care Management • Errands • Laundry • Light Housekeeping
• Bathing and Grooming • Dressing • Escorts for shopping and appointments • Meal Preparation
When you can’t be there, Always There can.
30 Comer Avenue Suite 1 Pell City, AL 35125 Visit AlwaysThereInc.com
205-824-0224
ST. CLAIR MEDICAL COMMUNITY A new look for Northside, now Complete Health Pell City
PHYSICIAN-DRIVEN PRIMARY CARE With 16 locations in Florida and Alabama, Complete Health is a Florida-based, privately-owned, physiciandriven primary care practice group that focuses on quality primary care with expanded services and convenient care options to provide care efficiently and cost effectively. When Northside Medical Associates joined Complete Health in October 2020, along with Birmingham Internal Medicine Associates (BIMA), it created one of the Birmingham area’s largest primary care groups. Other Birmingham area Complete Health practices include Complete Health Deerfoot in Pinson, Complete Health Greystone (formerly BIMA) at St. Vincent’s 119 on Cahaba Valley Road, the Simon-Williamson Clinic in Birmingham and Complete Health Adamsville. Aiming to help medical practices provide higher quality patient care resulting in better health outcomes, Complete Health describes itself as a physician-driven, professionally managed, technology-enabled primary care group striving to provide unrivaled support services and outcomes. Value-based care benefits for Medicare patients are at the core of the company’s primary care philosophy of providing a better health care approach to aging, according to the Complete Health website, completehealth.com The company’s Member Support Representatives (MSRs) act as liaison for patients at each location with Medicare and other health issues. The company considers the MSRs as an extension of a patient’s doctor’s office and someone to help patients understand benefits and health care coverage, particularly when it’s time to enroll in Medicare and Medicare
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Advantage programs. All Complete Health locations are accepting new patients with convenient locations to serve all primary care patients. Locations are: Complete Health Moody at 2834 Moody Parkway, is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Providers at Moody include physicians Dr. Lea Clayton and Dr. Tom Perkins, a military veteran who specializes in men’s health issues, and nurse practitioners Casey Crumb, CRNP, and Janet “Alecia” Cruzado, CRNP, a Pell City native. Member Support Representative Cassondra Fowler serves Moody seniors to help them make the most of their Medicare benefits. Complete Health Trussville at 7201 Happy Hollow Road, is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Providers at Trussville include physicians Dr. Scott Boyken, medical director for BIMA East, Dr. Andrew Smith and Dr. Jack Vibbert, plus nurse practitioners James “Frankie” Crumb, CRNP, specializing in adult acute care and geriatrics, and Celeste Richardson, CRNP, who has worked in nephrology, trauma care and case management. Penny Witcher is Member Support Representative for Trussville patients. Complete Health Springville at 480 Walker Drive, Springville, is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Providers at Springville include physician Dr. George Harris and board-certified nurse practitioners Mary Beth Martin, CRNP, and Sue Payne, CRNP. Member Service Representative Penny Witcher serves the Springville office to help seniors make the most of their Medicare benefits.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2022
CELEBRATING A NEW ERA
When we cut the ribbon on the new St. Vincent’s St. Clair in 2011, it signified a new era in health care in the region. Today, we celebrate Ascension St. Vincent’s St. Clair as it builds on its strong foundation for a second decade of service to our community.
St. Clair County Health Care Authority
Lawrence Fields, chairman . James Mc Gowan . Joe Lee . John Wesley McHugh Christy Wills . Bill Murray . Judy Martin . Ren Wheeler . Rusty Jessup
ST. CLAIR MEDICAL COMMUNITY
Lawrence Fields
Brenda and Lawrence Fields at Fields and Gossett Realty in Pell City
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A servant’s heart guides leader’s legacy Story by Scottie Vickery Photos by Graham Hadley Submitted Photos When Lawrence Fields soon steps down from his role as chair of the St. Clair County Health Authority, he’ll be closing the door on more than three decades of community service. A former two-term mayor of Pell City, his impact has been significant. Fields opened the door to economic development in a most creative way, and he was instrumental in bringing St. Vincent’s St. Clair to the area. These days, however, after a lifetime of looking out for others, he’s having to shift the focus to himself. “I’m being treated for lung cancer,” the 80-yearold Fields said. “I’m trying to whup that, so it’s time to step aside and let someone else ride the horse for a while.” He’s leaving a big saddle to fill. “I really believe that Lawrence’s impact on Pell City and beyond is immeasurable,” said Guin Robinson, who became mayor a few years after Fields’ last term and is now associate dean of economic development for Jefferson State Community College. “He truly has a servant’s heart. Not everyone who gets into politics has a servant’s heart, but Lawrence does.” FINDING HOME Fields, the first self-described “outsider” to be elected mayor, served from 1988-1996. Born in Birmingham, he moved to Pell City in 1974 after he and his wife, Brenda, fell in love with Logan Martin Lake. “We started camping out here on the lake and on Sunday afternoon, we’d always hate to go home,” Fields said. “Finally, Brenda asked why we didn’t just move here.” They built a home on the lake, he got a job with an insurance company, and she started substitute teaching. In 1978, Brenda got her real estate license and has been selling homes ever since. She and her partner, Bill Gossett, own Fields Gossett Realty in Pell City. “A lot of people start out here with a weekend home, a summer home,” said Fields, who earned his real estate license and joined the company following his last term as mayor and was recently the first to be inducted into St. Clair County Association of Realtors’ Prestigious Hall of Fame. “The more they end up staying here, the more they like it, and they make it permanent. It’s convenient
Welcoming Katie Couric to town
to Birmingham and Atlanta, but you don’t have the hustle and bustle.” From the moment he made the move, Fields got busy making an impact. He decided to run for mayor because “I’ve always been the kind of person who likes to help people,” he said. “When I became the mayor, I didn’t want to be highfalutin. I just wanted to be a regular guy and have the mayor’s door open so people could just come in and talk to the mayor. I think I did a good job of that.” State Rep. Randy Wood recently sponsored a resolution passed by the House of Representatives praising Fields for his contributions to the community. It credits Fields as “a man of steadfast selflessness and unwavering diligence who is passionate about serving others.” It also cites other accomplishments – annexing Mays Bend, Eagle Point and Stemley Bridge into Pell City and recruiting ConTel (now CenturyLink), Kmart and other businesses. Pell City Lakeside Park opened during his administration, a sprawling destination point on Logan Martin Lake’s shoreline that now attracts thousands of visitors each year. The resolution praises Fields for being a charter
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ST. CLAIR MEDICAL COMMUNITY
St. Vincent’s St. Clair ribbon cutting in Pell City member of Lakeside Hospice, a member of the Pell City Rotary Club and for the contributions he made serving more than 20 years as president of the Athletic Booster Club. The resolution noted that Fields spearheaded the efforts to build a new field house and install a sprinkler system on the high school’s football field. That’s all well and good, but what Fields really wants to talk about is Katie Couric.
Meeting Regis Philbin in person
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NATIONAL NEWS The journalist and former news anchor, who was co-host of NBC’s Today Show at the time, came to Pell City in 1996 to interview Fields when the city hosted the Bosnian Olympic team for the Olympics in Atlanta. According to The Washington Post, Pell City was one of more than 70 towns in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Florida that hosted foreign athletes. The late Sam Meason approached Fields with the idea, and Fields said they formed a committee, and “we put in an offer to house them and take care of them. They were here about a month,” he said. “We rolled out the red carpet for them.” The city won high praises for its efforts. “Few communities have done more to prepare for their guests than Pell City,” the Washington Post story read. “During the past four, war-torn years, most Bosnian athletes
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have had to train outside of their country. The Bosnian Olympic Committee has no funds and has had to rely on the International Olympic Committee for help in qualifying athletes and paying their way. Hosting the Bosnians will cost Pell City about $150,000; all but $30,000 of that has been donated by local businesses. The rest will come from community fundraisers.” It was enough to bring Couric calling. “Sam came to me and said, ‘Hey Mayor, we got a call from NBC, and Katie Couric wants to interview you,” Fields said and grinned. “I said, ‘Lord have mercy, here’s my chance for fame.’” Couric had told Fields he could only tell a few people about the interview, but when “the big old black limo rolled up at the old Rexall drugstore,” a crowd of hundreds of people had gathered. “She said, ‘I thought I told you a few,’ and I said, ‘Well, this is a small town. I told a few, and they told another few,’” Fields said and laughed. Couric was the one laughing a few minutes later after she asked Fields to identify the most exciting thing that had happened in Pell City before hosting the athletes. “I told her it probably was when Kmart came, and everybody cracked up,” Fields remembered. “Then Katie asked if we could start over so she could ask me the same question without her laughing this time.” RECRUITING PRACTICES The fact is, when Kmart opened in Pell City, it was big news. It was the early 1990s, long before St. Clair was growing as fast as it is now, and no big-box stores had been willing to gamble. “We didn’t have anywhere people could shop,” Fields said. When he read in the paper that Kmart CEO Joseph Antonini would be attending a ribbon cutting at a new store in Birmingham, Fields made plans to attend. “I gave him one of my cards and said, ‘I’m the mayor of Pell City, and we want a Kmart in town.’ He said to write him a letter, so I did.” The letter wasn’t the only thing Fields sent. He and Joe Wheeler, owner of Pell City Steakhouse, wanted to give Antonini a real taste of what the city had to offer, so they started shipping him packages of some of Pell City’s finest each week. “We shipped big old shrimp, we shipped steak, we shipped honey, we shipped all kinds of things,” Fields said. “Finally, Mr. Antonini’s secretary said we didn’t have to ship anything else. He knew where Pell City was.” Not long after, they received official word that Kmart was coming, Winn-Dixie and other businesses soon followed. “Kmart was a turning point,” Fields said. Robinson agreed. “It really was a big deal,” he said, adding that he believes it marked the beginning of Pell City’s economic development and ability to recruit industry. “It sent a message that we were open for business. One hallmark of a leader is finding a way, when the odds are stacked against you, of bringing a project to fruition.”
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1 6 0 0 7 T H AV E N U E S O U T H BIRMINGHAM, AL 35233 (205) 638-9100 ChildrensAL.org
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ST. CLAIR MEDICAL COMMUNITY ADVANCING HEALTHCARE Despite his accomplishments, Fields decided not to run for a third term because of the time it took away from Brenda and their three children. “It takes a lot of dedication and time, and your family has to make a lot of sacrifices,” Fields said of the job. “Your phone rings constantly, and normally at night. My kids asked me not to run again, so I didn’t.” That didn’t mean he was giving up on public service, however. Fields has been a member of the St. Clair County Health Authority for more than 20 years and has served as chair for much of that time. He, along with members of the authority, the St. Clair County Commission, the City of Pell City, the St. Clair County Economic Development Council and Ascension Health, the parent company of St. Vincent’s St. Clair, worked tirelessly to bring the hospital to the area. The state-of-the-art hospital opened in 2011 and changed the face of healthcare throughout the entire region. It also made Pell City and St. Clair County more attractive to industries, manufacturers and corporations and proved to be a major recruiting tool for economic development. At the time, Fields called it “one of the best economic engines to come to St. Clair in a long time” because quality healthcare is something employers want for their employees. “It was my last big accomplishment,” he said recently. TEAM EFFORT Although Fields’ impact is evident throughout Pell City, he is quick to credit others, as well. “I didn’t do anything by myself,” he said. “I had a lot of help and a lot of people who were behind me 100 percent. These days it’s always ‘I, I, I,’ but that’s not necessary. It should be ‘we, we, we.’” Fields has recently learned that he still has a big team that will always have his back. “A lot of people have called since they found out I had cancer, and they want to know what they can do to help me,” he said. “It’s just so good to have friends. I’d rather have friends than money.”
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As a member of White Flag Club, Fields got to know many of the NASCAR drivers like Bill Elliott.
Daughter Danielle followed in father’s footsteps with love of racing, bringing her face-to-face with stars, too – like Tom Cruise. She worked for Bill Elliott, and Cruise was a guest of NASCAR.
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St. Clair, Alabama
Business Review
Fort McClellan Credit Union expands footprint into area. 72 • DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • Business Review • August & September 2022
Story and photos by Carol Pappas
Top-Ten Showing
Pell City ranks ninth in growth It has been little more than a year since the U.S. Census Bureau released its 10-year data report on the nation’s people and economy. And one year out, statistics show Pell City has reason to celebrate. Ranking the population growth of Alabama’s cities, Pell City came in as the ninth-fastest growing city in the state. No.1 was Foley in Baldwin County, and 10th was Fairhope. In its report of fastest growth between 2020 and 2021, Pell City showed a 2.7 percent jump in population. And while that’s welcoming economic news for the city, it’s not surprising, according to City Manager Brian Muenger. “For the last several years, we have experienced extremely high volume” of new home construction, he said. In fiscal year 2021, the city issued 214 new home permits. This year, the number already issued stands at more than 100, and there are still several months left to go. Over a three-year period, that adds up to 500 new homes – “well beyond anything we have seen,” Muenger said. In years prior, the average was “strong and steady” at about 50 to 60 new homes a year, he added. He attributes what some may see as a sudden boom to years in the making. It takes time to move a new development through the permitting and legal stages and into the construction phase. When historically low interest rates intersected with high demand for new housing, it was a “perfect storm” for developers. He pointed to developments in Horizons and Fox Hollow that has attracted new construction firms
Fox Hollow is one of the many housing communities growing in Pell City.
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Business Review
Pell City Ninth in Growth
with national-level reputations coming into the area alongside local contractors, as well as a “steady influx” of lake-property seekers and buyers as contributing to the growth. And that’s just inside the city limits. Residential growth’s impact on the economy includes areas on the “cusp” of the border as well as growth on the Talladega County side of Logan Martin Lake. Those areas do business in the city. “Even if it’s not in Pell City, there is a lot going on right around us that is attractive to new investment,” Muenger explained. Signs of that attraction are already taking shape. Vulcan Tire and Fort McClellan Credit Union are going up on opposite corners of U.S. 231 and Alabama 34/19th Street. Strip centers at Publix are building out. Freddy’s Steakburgers has opened in Bankhead Crossings development near Walmart, and other property is expected to be developed near Buffalo Wild Wings. Just across Interstate 20 at U.S. 231 and John Haynes Drive, newly opened Starbucks and Jersey Mike’s are going strong. In that same complex, construction is moving along on a sit-down restaurant called The St. Clair. Muenger noted that Starbucks and Jersey Mike’s are “doing incredibly well already.” It is an encouraging sign that what people in the area said they wanted, literally came and in turn, the people are supporting it. “It is testament to our retail capacity.” Muenger sees it all as a win-win-win. It was the former location of a single business – Hardee’s – which served the community well for many years. But in its place, three businesses will be generating revenue, jobs and filling needs the community identified. Of late, much focus is on the property just a few hundred yards away on John Haynes Drive. St. Clair’s old hospital has been demolished to make way for a muchanticipated retail center, which will include Hobby Lobby, T.J. Maxx and other nationally known retailers. Trees are being cleared to make way for grading – a welcome sign of progress to passersby and to those involved in the project. The property, owned by the city, is under contract to be purchased by a Chattanooga-based development company. Final legal requirements of the deal are fulfilled, and officials were awaiting the appraisal and closing in midJuly. Tree removal began in early July, and traffic-control improvements are underway to accommodate the extra traffic expected in that area. Signals at John Haynes Drive and nearby Jeanne Pruett Drive will be upgraded and timed with signals at Vaughan Drive and Walmart to support better traffic flow through the entire area of U.S. 231 around those developments. Eventually, three lanes will be a part of John Haynes Drive to ease congestion. “It’s very quickly heading toward something tangible that people can see,” Muenger said, “and that’s very exciting.”
Vulcan Tire and Automotive coming soon
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Starbucks and Jersey Mikes already drawing new business
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Business Review
B Photo, Supplies and Framing Latest business to call Pell City home Gale and John Kirkpatrick
Story and photos by Carol Pappas Building on the success of earlier ventures into the world of professional photography, John and Gale Kirkpatrick are opening a second location for B Photo Supplies and Framing near Cropwell Commons on Stemley Bridge Road in Pell City. The heavily traveled thoroughfare, also known as Alabama 34, fronts the new store on the curve just a few hundred yards from U.S. 231 South. In October, the Leeds couple opened its first store in Hoover’s Lee Branch and within a few days had secured a lease-purchase agreement for the Pell City location, formerly housing Well Way, which moved to a new
location. The Kirkpatricks readily admit that their business plan is constantly evolving – an effort to meet the needs and demands of the photography industry. They have capitalized on opportunities when they saw them, and they are filling niches previously underserved. Within the space, you will find a photography studio on one end with a number of backdrops and sets designed for professional photographers to hold sessions without having to fund and maintain their own space. A retail store of photographic equipment and supplies not available in this part of the state occupies another portion of the building. And custom framing, also not available in the area, is prominently featured. Their building also provides two short-term-lease office spaces, available for business people to meet their
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clients in a professional setting. They may need office space only a few hours a month, and the Kirkpatricks are providing those kinds of opportunities. In their own business, high-end products for lighting, bags, straps, umbrella and backdrop stands, tripods and lenses are among the offerings for photographers. “Photography is a tough market,” Kirkpatrick said. “We wanted to level the playing field” by offering studio space, equipment, reception and back-office support, if needed. Top names like Savage, Godox, Sirui, Peak Design, Superior and Geekoto lead its photography equipment offerings – equipment not found in this part of Alabama. The Kirkpatricks know firsthand the struggles of the photography business. They started out as wedding and event photographers in 2003 in addition to their ‘day jobs’ at Briarwood Christian School. The photography business grew rapidly, and they opened their first studio in 2006 in the Birmingham area. It did very well until 2009, Kirkpatrick said, which was in the midst of the Great Recession. Photography is a luxury item, he said, and they scaled down significantly through that financial crisis. They kept all their equipment, though, weathered COVID setbacks and delays and then invested in all the inventory when Perry Computer and Camera closed its doors in Birmingham, leaving only a couple of photography suppliers located hours away. They have added custom framing, a natural fit for the photography business but yet another need for the general public. As any good entrepreneur will tell you. Find a need and fill it. That’s exactly what the Kirkpatricks are doing. Their investment in Perry’s photography inventory led to the Lee Branch studio opening – already thriving – and now the Pell City expansion with its early indications of great potential. “We made the investment, so they won’t have to,” Kirkpatrick added. “We want to serve the community because there is a need.”
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Final F
cus
Life through the lens of Mackenzie Free
Legacy of the Land Farmers, I’ve determined, are a different breed. They are thick-skinned and tenderhearted. They are hardworking and resourceful. They are disciplined and devoted. Their legacy is a long and important one. It is a bit of a love story actually … the relationship between a farmer and his farm. There’s a deep and spiritual connection between farmer and field. The very nature of farming is built on faith. They must have faith in the changing of the seasons, the weather and the very cycle of life itself. So much is out of their hands. Their lives become a continuous prayer. Just as the farmer must cultivate, prepare and protect his fields … the field also cultivates and prepares the farmer. It is a job like no other, after all. It has no beginning or end … the work is never done. They are the original founders & curators of civilization. The stewards of both land & livestock. They bear the burdens and responsibilities of the landscape and living things appointed to them. They are bound to it by blood, sweat and birth. It is a calling after all … A noble one. A divine partnership of the highest order … The farmer and his farm. [*St. Clair County currently has roughly 500 working farms comprising nearly 60,000 acres] [**Featured photo of Legacy Farms of Steele]
- Mackenzie Free -
Wife, mother, photographer & current resident of the unassumingly magical town of Steele, Alabama
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