October & November 2015
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VETERANS HONORING THOSE WHO SERVE
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Features and Articles Discover
The Essence of St. Clair
For Our VETERANS Honoring those who serve our country
Tutwiler Home a masterpiece Page 22
Page 34
Working Dog Training
Page 8
Traveling the Backroads Locks of the Coosa River Page 12
Ashville Archives Veterans Pell Citian at Iwo Jima
Artist finds voice, future in his paintings Page 28
Page 30
Page 35
Keeping Dad’s legacy alive Page 40 Veterans Home 2015
Page 44
HAM Radio operators
Page 48
Brenda Wyatt Book
Page 60
Produce Central: Chandler Mountain Farms Page 52
Gardens Galore
Page 64
The Kitchen Restaurant Business Review
Page 68 Page 72
October & November 2015
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Writers AND Photographers
Carol Pappas
Linda Long
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 in features, news and commentary and was named Distinguished Alabama Community Journalist at Auburn University. After retiring, she launched her own multimedia company, Partners by Design Inc. In addition to marketing, design and web services for companies and nonprofits, Partners publishes Discover, various community magazines for chambers of commerce and Mosaic Magazine, a biannual publication of Alabama Humanities Foundation.
Linda Long has worked in communications for more than 25 years in print, broadcast, nonprofit promotion and special event planning and implementation. Her writing has appeared in Business Alabama Magazine, Technology Alabama, Mobile Bay Monthly, Birmingham News, Huntsville Times, Partners Magazine, Birmingham Magazine, Alabama Alive, Cahaba Talk, Hoover Outlook and Shelby Living. She served as news and special projects producer for NBC13 News, where her work won national, regional and state honors, including two Emmy Award nominations. Long has served as a press secretary and a political reporting correspondent.
Leigh Pritchett
For almost 30 years, Leigh Pritchett has been involved in the publishing industry. She was employed for 11 years by The Gadsden Times, ultimately becoming Lifestyle editor. Since 1994, she has been a freelance writer. Her work has appeared in online and print venues. She holds the Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Montevallo.
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. A former editor of Birmingham Home & Garden magazine and staff writer for Birmingham magazine, she has written for a variety of local, regional and national publications. She is the author of two non-fiction books, Myths, Mysteries & Legends of Alabama and Nat King Cole: Unforgettable Musician.
Jerry C. Smith
Mike Callahan
Jerry C. Smith’s interest in photography and writing go back to his teen years. He has produced numerous articles, stories and photographs for local websites and regional newspapers and magazines, including the St. Clair County News, Sand Mountain Living, and Old Tennessee Valley. His photos have appeared in books, on national public television, in local art displays and have captured prizes in various contests. A retired business machine technician and Birmingham native, Jerry now lives near Pell City. He recently published two books: Uniquely St. Clair and Growing Up In The Magic City.
Mike Callahan is a freelance photographer who resides on Logan Martin Lake in Pell City. He specializes in commercial, nature and family photography. Mike’s work has been published in Outdoor Alabama Magazine, Alabama Trucking Association and Alabama Concrete Industries magazines. Publishing his work to the internet frequently, he has won many honors for pictures of the day and week. One of Mike’s latest assignment’s was to be chosen as one of the photographers for this year’s 2015 Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
Wallace Bromberg Jr.
Jim Smothers had his first work published in The Gadsden Times in the late 1960s when his father, sports editor Jimmy Smothers, had him take games called in from youth sports coaches and put a camera in his hands at Jacksonville State basketball games. For more than 40 years he has been a writer, photographer, graphic artist and editor at publications in central Alabama for which he has won dozens of Associated Press awards. He has degrees from Jacksonville State University and the University of Montevallo and also studied at the Winona School of Professional Photography.
Wally was born in Birmingham. He graduated from Mountain Brook High School in 1973, and went on to Auburn University where he graduated in 1976 with his BA in History and minors in German and Education. Wally’s skills in photography blossomed during college. Upon graduation, he entered his father’s business, National Woodworks, Inc. After a 30-year career, he decided to dust off his camera skills and pursue photography full time.
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Elaine Hobson Miller
Jim Smothers
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
From the Editor
Our Veterans
My own remembrance of World War II — besides what I read in history books and novels – was the shrapnel scars on my father’s forearm, a physical reminder of his service to country in the Philippines. He never talked much about it. That generation rarely did. As inquisitive children, we asked. But it was my mother who related the story of that fateful day. He saw one of his buddies killed right in front of him when the grenade exploded, the shrapnel peppering his arm like a scattering of bullets finding a single target. As painful as my father’s memory must have been, sadly, his story is not unusual. There are hundreds of thousands just like it. For some, the memory may not be quite so personally vivid. For others, it is a scar others cannot see, a wound they carry deep inside that never heals. In 2015, we look back on the 70th anniversary of Iwo Jima and VJ Day. Our own modern day reminder is right here in our own back yard, the Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home, which is celebrating its third anniversary this month. This model for the country is a tribute to what veterans mean to our community and our nation and within its walls, stories of war and remembrance abound. With these milestones to reflect upon and Veterans Day just around the corner Nov. 11, Discover is using this special time to honor the brave men and women who made valiant sacrifices for our country. While the personal stories in this issue center on World War II and what has been called the Greatest Generation, we salute the generations in all the wars and conflicts before and since that beckoned the patriots among us to step up to serve. St. Clair Countians probably know the ideals of service better than most. After all, 10 percent of its population are veterans. The next time you pass the monument in front of the courthouse in Pell City, pause for your own remembrances of the St. Clair
Countians who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. A poignant night time shot by photographer Mike Callahan, whose own father served in World War II, graces our cover. When he submitted it, he summed it up in a powerful way: “I must tell you that I sat there on ground composing this shot while thinking of my Dad and some of the last conversations we had. He was a highly decorated WWII veteran and my hero for all time.” In our book, they are all heroes. As we celebrate their service, we are dedicating a special section of the magazine this issue to veterans. They are a mere sampling of myriad stories of St. Clair Countians helping shape our country. And we share them with our readers as a symbol of our unending gratitude. As is our tradition, though, there is plenty more to discover in this issue. You’ll read about the official keeper of our history. You can take a step back in time when steamboats and ferries traversed the Coosa. You can even learn about picking a tomato atop Chandler Mountain, Alabama’s own tomato capital. But it doesn’t stop there. Come along in the pages that follow and discover it all with us. Carol Pappas Editor and Publisher
Discover The Essence of St. Clair
October and November 2015 • Vol. 26 • www.discoverstclair.com
Carol Pappas • Editor and Publisher Graham Hadley • Managing Editor and Designer Brandon Wynn • Director of Online Services Mike Callahan • Photography Wallace Bromberg Jr. • Photography Dale Halpin • Advertising Peg Overton • Advertising
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WORKING BREEDS Trainer Doyle Ivie helps dog owners learn how to improve their pets’ herding instincts at Kim Crenshaw’s home in Leeds.
Leeds trainers teaching dogs to herd sheep 8
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
Story and photos by Jim Smothers There’s a bond between people and their dogs like no other – a type of teamwork found in few other relationships. That’s what got Kim Crenshaw hooked on dog training, and what led her to Doyle Ivie. Together they are offering a new avenue for that type of teamwork in this part of the state. While Crenshaw is an experienced obedience and agility teacher and trainer, she wanted to see how her dogs would respond to the challenge of herding sheep. After a workshop with Ivie at his Farmington, Georgia, ranch she has brought him to her home and training center in Leeds to give more central Alabama dog owners a chance to introduce their pets to sheep herding. He is of the generation that doesn’t think about dogs as members of the family—they are tools, there to do a job, and he’s taken it on as his job to train them. “Most of the time, the dogs have never even seen a sheep before,” he said, “and some of the people haven’t either.” About a dozen people came out for Ivie’s latest workshop in Leeds. They got to see how their dogs would interact with the sheep and how well they would respond to new commands for moving the sheep to specific locations. “Everything out there can think, that’s the problem,” he said. The sheep, the dog and the person all have a mind of their own. “That’s where the dedicated training comes in. There are a lot of variables. Everything is moving here. With agility and obedience, everything is still.” Ivie says he’s been “cowboying” all of his life and started training dogs about 20 years ago. It was during that time, while learning to use dogs to help move livestock, that he got acquainted with the late Bob Vest. Vest’s career and training methods are legendary in the herding dog community, and are recounted in The Traveling Herding Teacher. “He was a good instructor,” Ivie said. “I learned a lot from him, and he insisted that I start helping people.” At his ranch Ivie has a herd of just over 100 sheep. Keeping them healthy can be a challenge, mainly due to feet problems and parasites. He said livestock have to be trained to the dogs, too, so that their reactions to the dogs can help move the herd and keep it together. “The entire herd doesn’t have to be trained, just enough to start the herd moving,” he said. It’s up to the shepherd and the dog to direct their movement, whether it’s to the “way side” (counterclockwise) or the “by side” (clockwise). He cautions that herding can be dangerous. “It’s a contact sport,” he said. It’s up to the shepherd to train his or her dog not only how to move the herd, but how to stop it. In training and competition, the herd is typically between the shepherd and the dog, with hand signals used for direction and to stop movement by having the dog lie down. “When you get tired of having your knees knocked off, you’ll learn to stop that dog!” he said. Crenshaw said there are some big misconceptions about herding. “It’s not chasing,” she said. “Some people say their dog would be good at herding because he likes to chase bicycles or something. It’s not about chasing or nipping at them (the sheep). It’s usually trying to push the sheep back to the person. When you see the dog get behind the sheep and push them
Crenshaw’s Border Collie Velocity
Willie Moore keeps an eye on his dog Gryf. toward the person, that’s instinct. It’s really cool to watch.” After the workshop, Crenshaw and Ivie took the summer off from working with the sheep. The summer heat is just too much for them. They plan to pick it back up in the early fall, but no date had been set as of this writing. “I think everyone had a good time,” she added. “The beginners got a good taste of it, and there is nothing else offered in the Birmingham area for herding dogs.” For dogs and handlers with herding experience, it’s a great opportunity to work with sheep. Some dogs pick up on the skills very quickly, with an intuitive sense of how to move with the sheep. Others need more time to catch on. “You can take five young dogs that have never seen sheep before, and some will turn on,” Crenshaw said. “Some don’t. Some seem confused. It can take a little bit of coaxing for them to know it’s okay to move them because they know they are not supposed to chase other animals.” Crenshaw and Ivie both have extensive resumés in the dog-training world. Ivie has a background as a competitor, trainer and judge in organizations including the AHBA,
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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WORKING BREEDS Ivie brought over a small number of sheep for the training.
Kathy Heath of Leeds with her German Shepherd Zenda
Crenshaw puts Velocity in a hold position.
Ivie cautions participants against overuse of the rod as a signalling tool.
AKC and ASCA among others. Crenshaw has been a professional trainer for more than 25 years and is a judge for agility, rally obedience and obedience competitions. “Really, it’s all based in obedience,” Crenshaw said. You have to have a good relationship with the dog, to be able to read the dog, tell what they’re thinking, and communicate what their role is. All the dogs have to be good at walking on leash and have a great recall in agility or sheep herding. “If the sheep are going where you don’t want them to go, you have to be able to call them off. They have to be able to go, come and stop. Those are skills you have to have with any of the sports. If you want to do hunting, a retriever has to have those skills, too. Those foundation skills of obedience are the foundation skills for all of the extra games you play with your dog.” She added that a number of games and activities have been developed to encourage owners to spend more recreational time with their dogs, whatever the breed or instincts. Any dog owner should be able to find some type of activity suitable for his or her dog. “Whatever dog a person has in their backyard, there’s something it can do and enjoy,” she said. “If it has a good nose for tracking, you can make a game out of finding lost things. There are so many dog sports that are so much fun and can get people and dogs off the couch. There are plenty of opportunities for physical and mental activities.” The dogs and handlers at the latest workshop demonstrated a wide range of abilities and aptitudes for herding during the two days of working with the sheep. “I think everyone had a good time,” Crenshaw said. For more about Crenshaw and Ivie, visit www.bhamdogtrainer.com and www.woodsendstockdog.com. l
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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Traveling the
BACKROADS
Locks of the Coosa
Steamboat Hill City in Lock 2
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Steamboat A-Comin’ Captain Lay raises the bar DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
Story by Jerry C. Smith Photos by Jerry C. Smith Submitted photos In the two years surrounding the end of the Civil War, Capt. Cummins Lay set a Coosa River record that remains unbroken today; he’s the only river pilot to navigate a steamboat over the Coosa’s entire length, in BOTH directions. Beginning at the confluence of three smaller streams near Rome, Ga., the Coosa was fairly easy to navigate in the 19th century, at least from Rome to a few miles south of Gadsden. Several rocky shoals and other obstacles had been deepened or cleared with explosives for steamboat traffic, and a thriving river commerce quickly developed between those cities. But from Greensport to Wetumpka, the Coosa presented a raging maelstrom of rocks and rapids, its bed littered with wreckage and cargo from innumerable keelboats, flatboats, rafts and other crude shallow-river craft of that era. Many who dared to brave the Coosa’s rocks and whitewater shoals never reached their destination. That section of the Coosa straddles a geological feature called the Fall Line, which separates Alabama’s mountainous northern regions from a much flatter coastal plain. The names of several shoals in that area describe their nature: the Narrows, Devil’s Race, Butting Ram Shoals, Hell’s Gap, and the infamous Devil’s Staircase, which is still a favorite canoeing spot at Wetumpka. Manufactured goods, agricultural products, timber and passengers flowed freely from northwest Georgia into Etowah, DeKalb, St. Clair, Jefferson and Talladega counties. But the Coosa’s hazardous shallows below Gadsden required unloading all cargo at Greensport, then hauling it by wagon, and later by train, for more than 140 miles before reloading onto other boats at Wetumpka, a costly and tedious detour for shippers. It was in this setting that Captain Lay made his two heroic, recordsetting steamboat runs on the Coosa. In 1864, according to Harvey Jackson’s Rivers of History, Lay escaped from a Union-besieged Rome with two steamboats, the Alpharetta and the Laura Moore. He extinguished their boilers and let them drift silently down river in the night until out of cannon range, then fired them up again and piloted them to Greensport. Vital ship parts and her crew were shielded from small-arms fire by bales of cotton stacked on deck. Jackson relates, “About the time (Lay) reached Greensport, a late spring storm had hit the valley, and the river was out of its banks. Fearing the Yankees would ... follow the Coosa into Alabama, he decided to take advantage of the high water and pilot (his two steamers) farther south, where they would be safe. He moved downstream, ‘high, wide and handsome over inundated cotton and corn fields’ as if the shoals and rapids never existed.” Lay moored the Alpharetta at Wilsonville, then prepared the Laura Moore for an epic voyage on to Wetumpka using the flooded river to navigate shoals usually floated by only the bravest of boatmen. Jackson continues, “Stripping the Laura Moore to make her light as possible, Lay took her into the most dangerous stretch of rapids on the river. Following ‘boat shoots’ (shallow channels) when he could see them and using his river sense when he could not, Cummins Lay guided the Laura Moore around rocks, through channels, and finally over the Devil’s Staircase, whose roar must have drowned out every sound
W.P. Lay supervises a new hydro dam on Wills Creek.
Lock 5 dam, with fishermen
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
13
Traveling the
BACKROADS
made on board by engines or men.” After resting in the river pool at Wetumpka, Lay then took his steamer on to Mobile, via the relatively placid Alabama River, where it forms at the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers, just south of Wetumpka. Captain Lay had acted wisely. General Rousseau’s raiders seized Greensport less than a month later, destroying a ferry that had been in service since 1832 and wreaking other wartime ravages that would surely have included Lay’s steamboats. But Lay was not a man to rest upon laurels. In 1866, after the war’s end, he decided to make the same trip, in the same boat, except traveling up river instead of down. Jackson’s narrative tells us, “... at the foot of Wetumpka Falls, (Lay) waited aboard the recently re-fitted Laura Moore, hoping for water high enough to carry his boat over the rapids to the flat water of the upper Coosa. In spring 1866, the rains came. The river rose and, when it crested, the Laura Moore steamed out into the channel. “Fighting the current and dodging debris, Lay made it to Greensport and from there had an easy run on into Georgia. ... Cummins Lay now held the distinction of being the only captain to make the return trip. Records are usually broken; this one still stands.” Captain Lay had proven that, given enough water, the Coosa could be navigated by larger commercial craft, rather than the customary flatboats and shallow-draft keelboats. He made it incumbent upon business interests and government to cooperate in making Coosa River navigation a reality.
Lock 1 under construction 1880s
Lock 3 recently
Army Corp of Engineers Camp at Ten Islands 1882
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Lay’s challenge is met In 1867, U.S. Army Maj. Thomas Pearsall was given the task of surveying the Coosa’s entire length for a navigational feasibility study. Operating on a generous (for that era) $3,000 budget, Pearsall quickly completed his work, although Jackson reports that the last 60 miles, which involved a total drop of more than 275 vertical feet, gave the major’s voyage an exciting white-water finale. Pearsall recommended no less than 25 locks, using dams to deepen the waters around them. Also proposed was a 50-mile long CoosaTennessee River canal from Gadsden to Guntersville. By 1871, this plan had been modified to 31 locks, but the Tennessee canal, which would have added $9.5 million in cost, was dropped. According to Jackson, “Someone estimated that all this lock and dam work could be accomplished for the sum of $2,340,746.75 – a figure impressive if for no other reason than the certainty of the cents.” If that seems small, consider that in modern money it would be more than $50 million, plus the fact that labor was cheap, plentiful and not subject to OSHA restrictions during those turbulent Reconstruction years. The first three locks were essentially completed in the 1880s. Lock 1 was about a mile downstream from today’s Greensport Marina. Lock 2 lay some three miles farther south, sharing a channel with Lock 3, which was at the south end of Ten Island Shoals, now just below Neely Henry Dam. These three locks, along with various improvements upstream, opened an additional 25 miles of the Coosa to commercial shipping, but various interests lobbied to halt further development in favor of other priorities. Jackson relates that in 1890, Captain Lay’s son, William Patrick Lay, formed a group of Gadsden businessmen into the CoosaAlabama River Improvement Association, to champion continuation of the project to its intended goal of a fully-navigable waterway
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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Traveling the
BACKROADS Coosa River: Birthplace of Popeye the Sailor Man Few realize that one of the most iconic cartoons of all time was created by a man who worked on a riverboat on the Coosa River. In Beverly Crider’s Legends and Lore of Birmingham & Central Alabama, cartoonist Tom Sims is quoted from a 1944 book interview: “Fantastic as ‘Popeye’ is, the whole story is based on facts. As a boy, I was raised on the Coosa River.” Crider writes, “Tom’s father was the captain of the Leota, formerly the steamboat Annie M., which was built by the River Iron Company to push barges to the furnace. After she was purchased by the federal government and re-named Leota, the steamboat was used to help rebuild low-lift dams on the Coosa River.” Sim’s narrative continues, “When I began writing the script for ‘Popeye,’ I put my characters back on the old Leota I knew as a boy, transformed it into a ship and made the Coosa River a salty sea.” According to Crider, Tom Sims and his wife lived in Ohatchee the entire time he wrote the strip. Many Ohatchee residents were modeled into characters for the strip. He submitted all his work to King Features by mail and “never considered the strip a big deal”. Sims also wrote segments for other cartoons, including “Tom & Jerry” and “Blondie,” and provided ideas for “Amos & Andy” radio shows.
from Rome to the Alabama River, thence to literally any port in the world via Mobile. Their efforts paid off, at least for a while, as work began on Lock 4 near present-day Lincoln and Riverside, Lock 5 just south of Pell City, and Lock 31 at the base of the rapids in Wetumpka. Using separate funding, dredges kept the channel reasonably clear while these projects were under way. A 1974 Birmingham News story by Jenna Whitehead describes how Lock 4 took shape: “Mrs. Alice Hudson sold five acres, 4 miles northwest of Lincoln, for the lockhouse and lock. … Barracks were built for some of the workers, some lived on the two (work) boats during the week, some lived at home, some built houses in the area, and others boarded with families in the community. “Mrs. ’Ma’ Hudson lived east of the dam site and kept a huge barn to board the mules in the wintertime and lean times when funding ran out on the construction. Each lock was equipped with a lockhouse for the keeper, whose job was to raise and lower boats, rafts of wood, launches and to check water levels and temperature. “Lock 4 was chosen to be the site of the headquarters for the Army Corps of Engineers and was completed in 1890. The building was used for office space and dining area for the workers, but in 1931, when the lock was no longer in use, the property was leased by individuals. In 1964, the lock house became the property of Mr. and Mrs. J.J. Monaghan, who used the building as a home.” William Tuck, who had married Ma Hudson’s daughter, was listed as a lockkeeper. Regarding construction, Whitehead’s story adds, “Rock for Lock 4 was quarried at Collins Springs, … hand-hewn by local laborers, and brought to the site on railroad cars. Log books at Lock 4 record that in 1892 Lock 4 was navigable but not completed until 1913. Lock 5 was completed and usable, but the dam broke in 1916 and work along the Coosa River ceased. “Construction of Lock 4 created a community in the area; … stores sprang up, and roads were alive with local wagons hired to bring in brick, wood and stone.”
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The Golden Age With the completion of these dams and locks, the river was open for commerce and pleasure all the way from Rome to the shoals near present-day Logan Martin Dam. Steamboats plied the Coosa regularly, carrying everything from bales of cotton to affluent travelers. It was much like Twain’s Mississippi, except upon much narrower waters. A newspaper item of that era proclaimed, “The Magnolia is 161 feet long, 26 feet wide and can carry 225 tons of freight. There are 20 splendid staterooms, with new and comfortable bedding. Each berth is carpeted. Her cabin accommodations are superior to those of any boat ever on the Coosa. The bill of fare is not excelled by any hotel in the cities. ... The officers on the boat are all clever and affable gentlemen.” From a treatise, Our Coosa: Its Challenge and Promise: “On the passenger deck sleeping and eating, games and promendar (sic promenade) took place, and the calliope and bands made music for dancing. Goodbyes and welcomes, moonlight rides and romance, the heartbeat of the time was measured in steamboat time.” These boats’ names usually felt good to the ear; Clifford B. Seay, Magnolia, Alpharetta, Dixie, Cherokee, Hill City, City of Gadsden, Pennington, Coosa, Etowah, Endine, Sydney P. Smith, Dispatch, Clara Belle and Georgia. A steam work boat, originally the Annie M. but later renamed Leota, inspired the popular cartoon strip, “Popeye” (see side story for details). According to family genealogical data, Greensport had been founded by descendants of pioneer Jacob Green, born in 1767, who came to northern St. Clair around 1820, just after Alabama became a state. Several generations of Greens created a thriving settlement to take advantage of the necessity of off-loading of freight for land transport to Wetumpka. Eventually, the Evans family joined the Greens by marriage, and their Greensport Marina remains as a marker to a once vibrant village. It was a glamorous age that lasted some 50 years and involved more than 40 different steamboats, but change was again in the wind. It seems W.P. Lay had even bigger ideas for the Coosa.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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WITH THE COOL FALL WEATHER COMES HUNTING SEASON. LET KELL REALTY HELP YOU FIND YOUR PERFECT HUNTING TRACT! Several different ones to choose from in Kell listings. If we don’t have it we can find it for you. ASHVILLE – Great parcel of land full of deer and turkey. 112+/- acres, mostly hard wood with good timber value. Nice home sites in several locations and beautiful views of Neely Henry Lake. Good value as a possible future development or subdivision. Would also make a great estate for your own nature preserve. Public boat launch just a few miles away. $333,000. MLS 614048. ASHVILLE/HIGHWAY 11 – is 30+/- acres won’t last long on the market! All wooded except building site which has power, phone and well water. Private gated road leads to this property for approx. half mile. Very private with lots of wild game. Approx. 3 miles from Exit 166 on I-59. Call for appointment. Only $69,900. ASHVILLE – New Listing! Great tract of land for your own hunting retreat! 75 acres mostly level with a small creek that runs through part of the property. Lots of deer and turkey. ere is 30 acres of it planted in corn at this time. Has two pond sites. Great price in a great area, close to Birmingham just a short drive to Springville Walmart. Parts of the lower lying areas near creeks are flood plain, Buyer to verify to satisfy themselves. MLS 727812. GALLANT – Great Price! 60+/- acres. Great Investment! Timber Ground/Hunting Ground. Very convenient to I-59, Lots of hard woods, deer and turkey. Possible owner financing to qualified buyer. $89,900. MLS 612236. ODENVILLE – 130+/- acres that would make a great hunting tract. Lots of deer on property, and has a great lake site. Within 45 min of Birmingham, and would make a great investment. Could be future development property. $357,500.
Traveling the
BACKROADS
Putting the Coosa to work According to John Randolph Hornady’s book, Soldiers of Progress and Industry, John Hall Lipscomb Wood, the landowner at Lock 2, insisted on a permanent flume to provide water power for milling and other purposes. Legend has it that Mr. Lay was so impressed with the power of the water running through this chute that he conceived the idea of harnessing the whole river for hydroelectric power. Quoting again from Our Coosa, “(Lay) sold his steam plant in Gadsden and built a small hydroelectric plant on Wills Creek, a Coosa tributary near Attalla. In 1906, with capital stock of $5,000, he organized a small corporation, named it Alabama Power Company, and became its first president.” And the rest, as they say, is a whole ’nother story. Lay never saw his dream come to life. He died in 1940. Lay Dam, the first hydroelectric plant on the Coosa, is named for him. In a Birmingham News story, Robert Snetzer, of the Army Corps of Engineers and president of W.P. Lay’s CoosaAlabama Association, said, “… (The locks) were built with federal funding, and with the delays in funding, the riverboat traffic died out. Truck and railway transportation became more economical, thus the work halted between Greensport and the Alabama because it would not prove profitable.” Nevertheless, the lock system was still in occasional use until the early 1930s, mostly for rafting logs downriver. The last boat to officially pass through the locks was an Army Corps dredge. Many of these structures were dynamited or taken out of service prior to closing spillways on the new hydroelectric dams that formed lakes Logan Martin and Neely Henry. Among other rising water casualties was Dave Evans Sr.’s ferry at Greensport. Established in 1832 by Jacob Green and later captured by Rousseau’s raiders during the Civil War, Evans operated it until the waters began to rise, using a small skiff with 6 horsepower outboard motor to push the ferry across the river. He’s quoted in a 1954 Anniston Star story: “Me and my brother have twelve hundred acres here. We figure the whole place will be flooded, so we just plan to move to higher land and go into the fishing business.” Lock 1 and Lock 2 are now underwater. The sidewalls of Lock 3, just below Henry Dam, are still visible in a former lock channel beside Wood’s Island. Greensport Marina is a Neely Henry landmark. Evans’ son, Dave Evans Jr. is still among the living, strong and wise at age 85. Of Lock 4, nothing remains except a single wall from the old lock structure and a few hand-hewn rocks from its dam. Lock 5’s ruined dam was never rebuilt, but its remnants lie under 3 to 5 feet of water, near Choccolocco Creek. However, these abandoned stoneworks are not without their uses. New life on the river For many decades, fishermen have found those walls, both before and after impoundment, to be ideal for certain species, such as drum, northern pike and catfish. Pell City resident Fred Bunn tells of going with his father, Frelan “Shot” Bunn, to the old stoneworks at Lock 4, near Riverside. “Shot” was the manager of a local auto parts store which
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Jim Trott
always closed on Saturday afternoon. A pre-teen at the time, Fred treasures the memory of these father-son fishing trips to Lock 4 and occasionally other lakes, such as Guntersville. Fred says, “You could catch bream this big (with both hands put together) along with some really huge bass and all the drum you wanted. When the water was down, you could walk across the dam, but we mainly fished off the St. Clair-side bank, where water ran over the dam.” He adds that there was a bait shop with boat rentals beside the dam, but most folks just bank-fished in the turbulent waters among the rocks. Riverside resident Jim Trott, now 78, echoes Fred’s recollections, adding that there was once a man who, for 50 cents, would take you in his boat to a big rock near the middle of the dam. Jim also recalls riding across the river on both Dave Evans’ ferry at Greensport and another ferry near the Lock 3 site. Jim liked to use a long cane pole, baited with crawfish, river mussels, or hellgrammites (Dobson Fly larvae) they had caught in nearby ponds and shoals. He says, “You could literally fill the bed of a pickup truck with drum and catfish, and we did many a time. We hauled them to Gadsden to sell by the pound to people on the street.” Jim, originally from New Merkle (now Cahaba Heights), often visited the river as a boy, accompanied by an older brother-in-law. About 25 years ago, shortly before retirement, Jim bought a home just downriver from Lock 4. It’s as idyllic as it gets, sitting on a fine, grassy knoll overlooking one of the most scenic coves on the Coosa. He still frequents the waters around Lock 4, though nothing remains of that structure except a single long wall and a few prime fishing spots known only to Jim’s GPS. But he’s not sharing those with the general public. Alabama Power Company’s chain of mighty hydroelectric dams and powerhouses helped change the economy and lifestyle of an entire region, but the final Coosa plans did not include navigational locks. l
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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Tutwiler home a true
Masterpiece by the water 22
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
Amazing house stunning inside and out Story by Carol Pappas Photos by Michael Callahan Howard and Linda Tutwiler seem the perfect match. They like to create beauty around them. And a look inside and outside their Logan Martin Lake home reveals that together, they have a talent for doing just that. Howard, a designer by trade, calls the planning of their home a “dream come true” for him. “Seldom, do you get to start with a clean sheet of paper.” When they were selling their 90-acre “gentleman’s farm” in Talladega County, Howard said, they knew they wanted a view of the water and plenty of acreage for them and their three sons. The Tutwilers found both in property near the Pell City Civic Center, adjacent to Old US 231, which runs underneath Logan Martin Lake. They first bought five acres and then learned the property next door was for sale. In all, they now own 22 acres, which allowed them to move into the old house on the land and begin building their new one 28 years ago. The end result is a masterpiece for Tutwiler’s blank canvas. Taking into account their needs – and their desires – they certainly put their signature on it. They have a 1,000 year old Tai-tsung Dynasty scroll that is eight feet tall. Hence, the high ceilings in the living room, where this impressive work of art hangs perfectly above the fireplace. Windows all around bathe the entire home in natural light. During the day, they point out, there is no need to even turn on a light. The foyer is warm and inviting with a staircase leading you to the center of the home, as if you are walking into a perfectly framed painting. The interior of the house has the illusion of being in the round, employing what is known as a “cross hall plan” – no dedicated hallways, leaving no wasted space. From that vantage point, you simply turn to see the kitchen, dining room, living room and study, hardwood floors throughout bringing it all together. The eat-in kitchen is beautifully designed with antique white cabinets all around, granite countertops and a linear chandelier with five lights above an island. A glass-top dining table with a view of the water accents the open feel.
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Inviting kitchen with a view Living room style impressive
Guest bedroom features poster bed
Dining room bathed in natural light 24
Maloof-inspired rocker made by Tutwiler DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
Howard and Linda Tutwiler
Features of the pond
Masterpiece by the water The formal dining room is simple and elegant with high back chairs encircling a round table. Deep red walls and crown molding form angles of the room with side tables and accent pieces on facing walls. A draped, oversized window reaching almost to the ceiling ushers in plenty of natural light. There is a water view from every room in the house, Linda points out. The angular living room is open to the ceiling of the second level of the home, surrounded by windows and French doors allowing an abundance of natural light to envelop the room. A marble fireplace acts almost like a pedestal just beneath the 8-foot scroll. Four, low-sitting leather love seats – two on each side – face each other for ease of conversation across an intricately designed Oriental rug and small glass table. A cozy study with wood burning fireplace houses Howard’s most prized possession – a wooden rocking chair he made himself in his garage workshop as a Christmas gift for Linda. But this is not just any rocking chair. He used hand tools to make it in the technique of Sam Maloof, whose rocking chairs fetch a handsome $25,000 price and every president since Ronald Reagan has had one in the White House. In 1959, he had seen Maloof’s techniques in a craft magazine, and he incorporated them in his thesis at Auburn University. Years later, he spotted a book by Maloof in a bookstore, and he wrote him a letter about his inspirational work. In the return mail, Maloof sent him a three-page, handwritten letter and invited him to his California studio. While working on a country club project in North Carolina, Tutwiler learned Maloof was conducting a seminar in Atlanta. He drove there just to shake hands and meet him. Later, they crossed paths again in Carmel, California, when Tutwiler was there working on another project. “He spent the whole day with me. It is one of the highlights of my career.” The next year, Maloof passed away. After that, Tutwiler attended a class to teach young craftsmen how to make Maloof-inspired rockers – an arduous task of 10hour days. When he returned home with his creation, it was in pieces. “For two months, I worked on putting it back together and sanding it,” he recalls. Now, he’s making one for each of his three sons. Just like the rocker, there is an interesting feature around
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
Daffodils lead you to the house
Exotic plants a staple
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Masterpiece by the water Color and a hammock by the lake
Path next to the house Garden extends to deck
A whimsical garden feature 26
just about every corner of the Tutwiler house. The master bedroom, for instance, has a balcony overlooking the living room and across the way to a circular window with a bird’s eye view of the outdoors. Downstairs is a three-bedroom living area that accommodated the ‘growing up years’ of their sons – Adam, Aaron and Austin – referred to by Mom and Dad as “the A-Team.” Linda’s prized possession awaits just beyond the French doors and deck. Elaborate gardens, greenhouse and a huge pond and waterfall. The pond came about when Howard learned his view would be diminished each winter when the lake is lowered five feet as part of the hydroelectric power function of the lake. “We had to have a water feature,” he mused. The pond’s expanse is breathtaking with its flowers in bloom, plants of various varieties, paths that meander around it and its soothing waterfall that cascades into a lower pool. “I’ve had fun learning about all the different plants – what will survive here and what won’t,” Linda says. It is a place where she spends most of her time, keeping a watchful eye to ensure the beauty of it all. She points out the bird house she made at downtown Pell City’s Artscape Gallery, or she talks of the gatherings of fellow Pell City Garden Club members. It’s all about the aesthetics she and Howard created together. “It’s like living in a tropical resort,” she says. l
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
Waterfall from pond draws attention
High ceilings accommodate 8-foot tapestry
Paths meander through garden, around pond
Artist finds voice, future in his paintings
Farr with his works of art
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
Story by Linda Long Photos by Michael Callahan Jeff Farr was just 7 years old when he first picked up a pencil and began to draw. Since then, he has never looked back. “Art has always been my outlet,” said the Pell City artist. “It conveys what I want to say to people without using words. I’m better with a paintbrush than I am with words.” His art, however speaks with a powerful eloquence. Much like the young man himself, Farr’s paintings and sketches are a study in contrasts, ranging from a passionate portrayal of Christ on the road to Golgotha, to the whimsey of a starstudded Mickey Mouse, to a stern looking Bear Bryant leaning against that iconic goal post. “Not to sound prideful at all, but I kind’ve been my own teacher throughout my life,” said Farr. “I definitely get that from my PawPaw Lamont Rich. He can make anything work with his hands. I’ve just played around with many different styles and techniques to obtain a finished product that I was proud of.” Farr, the son of Paul and Becky Farr, is a self-proclaimed “die-hard” Alabama fan. He actually played for Mississippi State, but an injury sidelined him in 2005 and ended his football career. As the Pell City High School stand-out recalls, “I was recruited pretty heavily during the Dennis Franchione era, and I do believe I would have been offered a scholarship to The University of Alabama had he stayed there. After he left, the interest from Alabama kind of shifted, due to differences in their program, and numerous coaching changes. That’s when interest from Mississippi State came on pretty heavy. I went to one of their football camps the summer going into my senior year of high school and before I left that camp they had already offered me a full athletic scholarship. But, my love for Alabama has always been because that’s all I knew growing up.” That’s why this athlete with the soul of an artist has found a new way to show his love for the Crimson Tide. “I’ve always known I wanted to do something with my art geared toward the Alabama fan base, mused Farr. “Driving down the road one day, this image came into my head for a logo. The whole time I’m driving, I’m adding to it. So, As soon as I got home I sketched something out.” That sketch, a stylized elephant riding a crimson wave, is now the catalyst for Farr’s new business venture called Tidal Effects, an idea that’s already grabbed the attention of UA officials who have suggested that Farr submit his work o the College Licensing Company (CLC), a leading national entity that provides trademark licensing services to institutions, retailers, and consumers. Interestingly, according to the CLC website, The University of Alabama under Bear Bryant was CLC’s first client back in 1985 when the company was founded. With the application sent, Farr now plays a waiting game. “It can take from several months up to a year to get all the paper work signed -- all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed,” he said. “Once that’s done, we go back to the University for its approval. We’re real optimistic. After all,” smiled Farr, “they came to us and said ‘we think you’ve got something worthwhile.’ ” A CLC approval could be huge for this fledgling company. “It means our work would be sanctioned by the University,” explained Farr. “We’d be able to incorporate their trademarks, like the scripted A, and phrases like Roll Tide and Rammer Jammer into our work, and we could get into retail stores, opening up another avenue of getting our brand and logo out there. And, yes,” he says with a grin, “it could be very profitable.”
Farr works from a home studio located at the end of a treelined road in Pell City. Predictably his pictures and sketches fill the walls. Many are Disney characters like The Lion King, his very first drawing, and the more vintage Mickey Mouse and Cinderella. Roll Tide themed products are also in abundance. In the center of all this whirl of creativity sits an old photograph of a smiling dark haired woman. “That’s Nana (Susie Rich), my grandmother,” said Farr in a quiet voice. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her. She was the most influential person in my life. She believed in me and was proud of everything I did. If I kicked a rock,” she’d be proud,” he said. “She always encouraged me and never tried to stifle my creativity. She ran a day care center, and she loved kids. I guess in a way, she was everybody’s Nana.” The death of his grandmother in 2006 sent the young artist into a downward spiral. Sitting in his studio which once housed his grandmother’s daycare center with an ever present Alabama baseball cap pulled down on his forehead, Farr looks almost like a kid as he remembers the dark days. “When grandmother died, my art pretty much dropped out of my life. I didn’t pick up a paintbrush. I didn’t pick up a sketch book because it just didn’t feel right. When she was alive she was the first person I would show my work to. And I just didn’t have it anymore. Art just didn’t seem important, I guess. It was two years before I picked up a pencil again. Then I did so out of curiosity. I guess, for lack of a better phrase, to see if I’ve still had it.” It took an overwhelming response to his work from Facebook followers to convince the struggling artist that he did indeed still have it. “I was bored one day, so I decided to put some of my work on Facebook. Suddenly, I started hearing from all these people. They liked what they saw,” he said shaking his head. “I wasn’t looking for all this response. It’s been kind of bittersweet. Like I said, my grandmother isn’t here anymore, and she was always the first person I would show my art work to. In fact, she would kind of demand that I show her first. So, in my way of thinking, it’s like she’s still seeing my art work and speaking through these people.” Farr says while at one time his painting was “just a hobby,” he now finds it takes up most of his time, with commissions coming in for him to create art for weddings, baby nurseries, birthday parties, even tattoos. He’s especially fond of a project he’s working on now for the Children’s Hospital of Alabama inspired by a child he doesn’t even know. “I saw this little girl at the beach. She was in a wheelchair, and her Dad had to lift her up and carry her down to the water. I noticed her wheelchair, and it was decked out in all these Disney decals. So, when I returned home, I called the hospital to see if there was anything I could do art-wise for the children. I can only I imagine what those kids go through every day, and I just wanted to do something, to give back.” With an OK from the hospital administration, “once they were convinced I wasn’t looking for compensation,” the artist went to work. When finished, he will deliver a series of large Disney oil paintings depicting beloved Disney favorites for display at the hospital. “Art is the most powerful thing,” he said. “It can change emotions. A person can be going through something unpleasant, then see a piece of art, and it can change their outlook for the whole day. At least that’s what it does for me, and I hope it will do the same for these children. Besides, I love kids and I love Disney,” laughed Farr. “Always have, just ask anybody.” l
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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Ashville Archives
If it’s history, just go ask Charlene Simpson Story by Elaine Miller Photos by Michael Callahan The first court records from St. Clair County are in this book.
Walls are lined with photos, glass cases of memorabilia and bookshelves. 30
Charlene Simpson picks up a well-worn volume of Ashville deeds with the tenderness of a mother picking up her newborn baby. Opening the book, her hand glides across page 371, as if her fingertips could soak up its information. “This is my favorite record,” she says, with the reverence Bible scholars might exhibit when reading the original Dead Sea Scrolls. “It’s in Deed Book A: 1823-1832. It records the transfer of a tract of land on Kelly Creek in New London by an American Indian named John O. Kelly to his widow. The deed says he had owned that land ‘since the beginning of time.’ It’s that wording that makes the deed so interesting.” And it’s that reverence for the records at the Ashville Museum and Archives that makes Simpson so good at her job. The archivist there since 1987, she oversees a treasure trove of information about the history of Ashville and its oldest families, as well as wall-to-wall historical memorabilia. “Records are what this is all about,” she says, showing a visitor the stacks of St. Clair County deed books, marriage and death records, census records, cemetery surveys, and file cabinets full of genealogies and newspaper and magazine clippings. “When records start in 1819, you have so much information.” A white-haired woman who looks like everybody’s grandmother, Simpson took the archivist job when her children grew up and she wanted part-time work. She began with 18 hours per week, when the archives were in the back of the Ashville Library. Mattie Lou Teague Crow, the St. Clair County historian and genealogist who started the Archives in 1980, told her it would be so easy she could bring her needlework. ”I knew nothing,” she says. “Mrs. Crow told me all I had to do was make sure nothing went out except copies. She said I could bring my cross-stitching. I never did that because I never had time.” The Archives started with Mrs. Crow’s own formidable collection of genealogical and historical records. As the information grew, so did Simpson’s knowledge base and love of her job. Her mind works like the computers that often befuddle her, spitting out dates, grave locations and names of by-gone towns at the push of a mental button. She credits knowing who
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Ashville Archives to call as the basis for that knowledge. “In each town, I could call for information,” she says. “That way, if I didn’t know something, I knew who to call.” If she wanted information about Ashville, she called Mrs. Crow. If she needed to know something about Ragland, she called Charlie Brannon or Rubye Sisson. It was Sisson who gathered all the St. Clair County marriage records from 1818 to 1899 and put them in a book. “She typed them, added additional information she knew about the families, such as where they are buried,” Simpson says. “She did cemetery surveys, went to Kilgroe Funeral Home and copied all their records from 1929-1940, and gave us a copy.” Simpson also had contacts in Steele, Moody, Odenville-Branchville, Springville, many of whom have died, forcing her to develop new contacts. “I’ve done very little,” she claims. “Other people have a lot more knowledge about St. Clair than I do. It’s a matter of finding those people.” That’s a bit modest for a woman who told a guy from Atlanta regarding the burial place of his St. Clair relatives, “Go down Highway 411, turn into the Friendship Baptist Church, go half way back, they’re on the right.” After twice outgrowing its space at the Ashville Library, the Archives moved to the courthouse in 1996, then to its present location in the old Ashville Savings Bank building in 2007. “The rooms we occupied at the library were funded by donations,” she says. “A majority of the things here were donated. We started with 150 family genealogies, and now we have 2,500, and funding from the city and county.” When the Archives made its last move, Simpson personally walked each deed book across the street with the movers who had loaded them on dollies. While checking the shelves in the new location, she noticed a county record book was missing. “At nine that night I told my husband, ‘I’ve got to go look again.’ He came with me. He looked down the shelves and said, ‘Do you have two #98s?’ I said, ‘No,’ and he said, ‘You might want to turn that one around. It’s #86, the missing one.’” Her dedication to her job causes her husband, Buddy, to joke that he never knows what time he’ll get his supper. “What’s another 15 minutes when a researcher has driven all the way from Texas?” she responds. She has even been known to answer her home telephone with, “Ashville Museum and Archives.” Researchers have given as much material to the museum as they have received, including a wealth of artifacts and memorabilia. Glass cases display china from the Inzer house, antique dental, medical and barber equipment, relics from the War Between the States and each World War, along with the brick molds used by Littleton Yarbrough while building the Ashville courthouse. At the end of the building’s entrance hall, a spinning wheel from the Beason family, a dough bowl from the Prickett family and a rocking chair from the Teagues reside behind glass fronts. Walls are covered with photos of pioneer families, old homes and buildings that no longer exist, and needlework, such as the 100-year-old needlepoint, antique wedding dress and 1925 tatting. Each item tells a story, like the September 7, 1897,
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A former bank vault houses stacks of St. Clair County court records.
Local churches used to baptize new believers in creeks, as this early photo shows.
Brenda Haynie (left), of Northport, Alabama, and Derek and David Galbreath, of Frankston, Texas, peruse records in search of their St. Clair County roots.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
entry in the account book of Ashville blacksmith W.D. Prickett, which lists the cost to repair two buggy wheels as 90 cents, and 50 cents to shoe two horses. The latter would cost $150-$175 today. “We have a desk belonging to Dr. Finis Perkins, a 19thcentury Ashville dentist who recommended chewing your food 32 times before swallowing,” Simpson points out. The Archives has physical custody of circuit court and probate records, which list marriages and divorces, deeds, estate transfers and wills. It houses the original leather-bound record books, while the probate office has copies printed from microfiche versions. Volunteers have helped Simpson make indexes of the books, some of which have been used so much their pages are frayed, and their backs have fallen off. The records actually belong to the offices that created them, which are working on getting all of them scanned. Mortgage records of St. Clair County start in 1880, but the Archives has deed books that start in 1823. In fact, some of the books go back to the time when town lots were laid out. It also has histories of churches and local communities, high school annuals and class reunion books. The Archives has a microfiche reader and a printer for use by researchers. “The Archives is not about books and records, but the people who put them there,” Simpson says. “My memories are of the joys of working with the people compiling the records, and the friendships I’ve formed, such as with Shirley Watson Bain, the first person I helped do research for a genealogy book.” With 250 to 300 out-of-town visitors a year, not to mention local folks and the letters, phone calls and emails, Simpson’s days are hectic. But they are rewarding, especially when she can help someone locate an ancestor he just couldn’t seem to find or a school child complete a history project. “If a child, or any age student, is studying the Civil War or Revolutionary War and finds records of an ancestor that served in that war, it begins to make that history come alive,” she says. “They may find letters or documents signed by their family member. They learn how somebody personally felt about the issues involved.” The visitors come from several states and foreign countries to learn more about their St. Clair County roots. “People return. Some come back each year. I keep in touch with many, and if I find something they might like, I send it to them.” Joe Whitten, a member of the Archives board of directors, calls the Archives one of the unsung treasures of St. Clair County. He feels the same way about Simpson. “She’s a treasure, too,” he says. “She’s a storehouse of knowledge and help in family research and local history in general, and she has the information at her fingertips and knows where to suggest someone look or search if we don’t have the information he needs.” In 2013, the board hired Yvonne Davis to work with Simpson for six hours a week. She also pitches in when Simpson has to be out of the office. “Charlene’s considered the expert in the documentation of the history of St. Clair,” she says. “People in surrounding towns that run libraries and museums consider her top-notch. It’s incredible to watch her work, and she’s so patient. She makes it exciting for the school children who do research.” Simpson says research is much different now than when she started, due to the vast amount of genealogical information available on the internet via sites like ancestry.com and findagrave.com. “In the future, most of the information we have in the Archives will be available on the internet, but it will take a while to get it all online,” she says. “I’m not a technical person, though. I’m not the person to put it there.” l
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At Faith Chapel Christian Center: Inger Triggs – Director of Accounting and Finance (left) Jermaine Spann – Executive Director of Ministry Services (center) Curtis Anthony – USAmeriBank Business Banker (right)
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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Veterans monument outside St. Clair Courthouse in Pell City 34
For our
Veterans
A tribute to those who serve
Pell Citian a part of history in Iwo Jima Story by Jim Smothers Photos by Jim Smothers and Michael Callahan Contributed photos You’ve probably seen the famous photo of the five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising the flag on Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi. It’s one of the most famous photos ever taken, and is a reminder of some of the deadliest fighting in any battle ever fought. Retired Sgt. Major George Boutwell of Pell City knows the photo well, but before he saw the picture, he saw the flag in person from his ship. That happened on the fourth day of the battle, the day he left his naval transport ship to help establish the Marines Fifth Division Medical Battalion’s hospital on the island. Boutwell returned to the island earlier this year as part of the 70th anniversary of the battle. It’s not
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George Boutwell’s home is filled with reminders of his career in the Marines, including a tapestry with Admiral Chester Nimitz’s observation that at Iwo Jima, “Uncommon valor was a common virtue.”
an easy place to get to, and no civilians live there today. It’s an isolated Japanese military outpost with few amenities and few visitors. But veterans and family members of both nations have been having annual observances there for the last 30 years. A monument on the beach was erected in 1985, written in Japanese on one side and English on the other. “On the 40th anniversary of the battle of Iwo Jima, American and Japanese veterans met again on these same sands, this time in peace and friendship. We commemorate our comrades, living and dead, who fought here with bravery and honor, and we pray together that our sacrifices on Iwo Jima will always be remembered and never be repeated.” The order of the day was, “We met once as enemies, now as friends.” Boutwell said he made the return trip thanks to the non-profit organization The Greatest Generation Foundation. Since 2004, the group has offered the opportunity for war veterans to return to their battlefields at no cost to them. The TGGF programs back to the battlefields are often emotional, but provide veterans a measure of closure from their war experiences, the chance to share in the gratitude for their service, and a venue to educate others. Boutwell had returned to the island once before, in 1970, when he was stationed in Okinawa. The commanding general of his Marines division at that time authorized all personnel who had been there in 1945 to fly in for a one-day visit. There was a very small group there then, nothing like what he experienced this time. In addition to his TGGF group of about 25 veterans, other groups also made the trip. The Japanese Cabinet came to this year’s observance for the first time. Vehicles took visitors to the top of Suribachi to see monuments erected there, and for ceremonies marking the occasion. This was quite unlike his previous two visits to the eight square mile island. Reflecting back on the invasion of the island, Boutwell said he was ready
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
Boutwell watched the flag go up on Mount Suribachi from his troop transport ship.
Bowutwell is pictured with other sergeants at Camp Pendleton.
Boutwell with his late wife Lorena.
Boutwell and other veterans revisit the scene of the battle. 38
to get off of the transport ship, which had been home for more than two months. While in Hawaii, his group had practiced beach landings, but it wasn’t until they went to sea that they were told where they were going. He was ready. “Back then, I was nothing but a 20-year-old kid that was just like all the military personnel in the service now, 18-19-20-year-old kids. They know that nothing is ever going to happen to them,” he said. “And that’s what makes a good military force – you’ve got kids like that who think nothing’s ever going to happen to them. “I could see the shore, and boats and amtraks (amphibious tracked personnel carriers) that had been destroyed, and some of them floating out there because the Japanese had hit some of them. We knew there are people who had been wounded and killed on the island there,” he said. “We had heard that John Basilone, who had won the Medal of Honor at Guadalcanal in 1942, had been killed on the first day.” Basilone had been sent back home as a hero after Guadalcanal to help raise money for bonds, but after a few months wanted to get back into action. When Boutwell went to the island on a landing craft mechanized (LCM), he drove a Jeep with a trailer off of a ramp where he found himself sitting still with all four wheels on the Jeep spinning in the volcanic ash. Tractors pulled vehicles onto metal strips put into place by engineers to create a drivable road. His battalion moved to the other side of the island to help set up the hospital where he subsequently served as a guard. He recalled an incident when an unarmed Japanese soldier walked down a dirt road into their area smoking a cigarette. He was quickly taken prisoner and held for questioning. Boutwell saw some of the tunnels on the island, which were part of an elaborate defense system designed to help the Japanese fight against an expected invasion. Three days of shelling that took place before the Marines went on shore did some damage to Japanese defenses, but still the Marines took heavy casualties. Most of the 21,000 Japanese troops fought to the death or took their own lives during the battle. The American force of 60,000 Marines and a few thousand Navy Seabees on the island suffered 26,000 casualties, including 6,800 dead in the 36 days of fighting. Boutwell was unaware if there were any surviving Japanese soldiers from the battle at the ceremony, but the widow of one of the soldiers sent him a gift of “peace beads.” At age 97, she makes the gifts to American veterans every year at the memorial ceremonies. Boutwell said Iwo Jima was important because of its impact on the air war. Japanese forces there were detecting U.S. bombers flying from Guam to Japan. They in turned alerted Japan, and fighters were scrambled to meet the bombers before they arrived. Iwo Jima was also needed as an emergency landing area for aircraft returning from Japan that had either been damaged on the mission or had other problems. While the focal point of the trip was the visit to Iwo Jima, most of his time was spent on other islands. Guam was home base. Boutwell was taken by surprise by the public outpouring of appreciation by the people of Guam toward the veterans for freeing them or their ancestors from Japanese oppression during the war. His group also stayed on Saipan, and traveled from there the short distance to Tinian. There, they saw where the atomic bombs that ended the war were stored and loaded, and the runway from which the Enola Gay took off to make its historic flight. Boutwell and his family have enjoyed attending service reunions in different cities over the years. He served in the Marines for 28 years, including time during the Korean Conflict and service in Vietnam. He also served as a drill sergeant at Camp Pendleton near San Diego, a job he said was probably the toughest in the Marines as far as the hours and intensity involved. These days, he is an avid golfer, with a goal of walking 18 holes two or three times per week.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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KEEPING DAD’S LEGACY ALIVE
Clyde Adams with the book he wrote chronicling his father’s memories of the Second World War. He is standing in front of the old Ragland depot, where his father left for war.
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
Son pens book about father’s World War II experiences Story by Jane Newton Henry Photos by Jim Smothers Submitted photos “The last few years of Dad’s life found the two of us, most every weekday afternoon, sitting on his back deck drinking Buffalo Rock ginger ale, eating peanuts and talking about life,” wrote Clyde Adams of Leeds. “Usually his life.” Clyde took notes from those father-son chats and spent three years gathering information about the time his father spent in the South Pacific during World War II. He then pulled it all together in a book titled, Always a Marine: PFC George Adams, from South Pacific Jungles to Sands of Iwo Jima. One look at the book — published earlier this year — and you’ll know it was a labor of love. “The stories in the book came from those conversations on the back porch — once it dawned on me that I probably ought to write them down,” Clyde said. “By the time I did, Dad could remember the stories he had repeated often, but had trouble remembering the order of things and some of the detail. The only thing he remembered for sure what that he was in the South Pacific on his first tour of duty and on Iwo Jima on his second tour.” A native of Ragland, George enlisted with the Marine Corp in 1942 after graduating from high school. He completed paratrooper training in California before heading to the Pacific. With a little digging, Clyde learned that George’s first tour took him to the Solomon Islands, including Guadalcanal, Vella LaVella and Choiseul. On Choiseul, his patrol was marooned while crossing a river, until two PT boats, one commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy, arrived on the scene and took the men aboard that boat. “George often shared memories of his rescue,” Clyde wrote. The book also explores George’s personal relationships during that time. In 1944, when he was home on furlough, he married his first wife,
Photos of George Adams in uniform; middle, seated front row, second from right; bottom, a spread from the book.
Juanita Ogletree of Enterprise. George and Juanita had one son, John. Clyde remembers learning about his half-brother John many years ago during a car trip to visit relatives in Ragland. “He kind of told me about him out of the blue. He said I might be interested in contacting John one day,” he said. “I don’t think I even knew he’d been married before.” He tried unsuccessfully to communicate with Juanita and John when he was researching the book. “I would have loved to have talked to Dad’s ex-wife, but it didn’t happen, and she has since passed away,” Clyde said. “I was fascinated by the whole dynamic of life during that era and how Dad’s story was relatively common.” It was not uncommon for soldiers to go overseas, come back and marry, and then go overseas again. George’s second tour took him to Hawaii for training and then on to Iwo Jima. “I knew how long he was on Iwo Jima, but nothing about his unit or what they did, Clyde said. “So I had to find notes from his unit that showed how they walked across the island.” “Clyde did additional research and used it along with the notes and maps that recorded the movements of George’s unit to piece together a detailed timeline. He learned the details of his father’s being wounded when a shell landed near his foxhole on March 4, 1945 – his 16th day on the island. “I came away with a greater appreciation for what that particular battle did to people,” he said. “They never dropped their guard. They were literally fighting for their lives around the clock with an enemy they barely saw. “ Clyde said that one of the things he didn’t expect to learn was the way that Iwo Jima affected George, mentally and emotionally. “He received a Purple Heart because he was evacuated with wounds and a diagnosis of ‘war fatigue.’ ” After he returned stateside and recuperated from his injuries, he attempted to contact Juanita, who was living in Enterprise with her parents. He finally caught up with her during a brief furlough. “But the war had taken its toll on the young marriage,” Clyde wrote. “Several attempts were made to rekindle the relationship, but to no avail...” The two were separated in August 1945, not long before Juanita gave birth to John. Still a Marine, George worked as a guard at various locations along the East Coast, and at one point, he guarded Pres. Harry S. Truman at Camp David. In 1946, he received an honorable discharge from the Marine Corp. The following year, he enlisted in the reserves and began training at Quantico, Va. He met his second wife, Nettie, in Washington D.C. In 1947, George and Nettie moved back south, and George took a job in Fairfield with Tennessee Coal and Iron. He was then sent back to California with his reserve unit to train for Korea, and Nettie went with him. He was promoted to corporal but didn’t go overseas. He received his final discharge from the Marines in 1952. “But once again,” Clyde wrote, “a lasting relationship eluded George.” After George and Hettie returned to Fairfield, they divorced in 1954. George then met Charlotte Blalock, a native of Fairfield who was working in the steel mills during a semester off from the University of Alabama. “The old saying ‘third time’s a charm’
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Adams during a visit to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. proved to be true for George.” After a “whirlwind romance,” they were married in May. “He loved working in the steel mills.” Clyde said. “He never complained, and he worked there until he retired.” In March 2005, George’s family traveled with him to visit the World War II memorial in Washington D.C. George passed away on Memorial Day in 2007. Clyde said he originally put the book together for the family, “out of respect for Dad.” Clyde’s children, nieces and nephews received copies. “It was a hardback book and pretty expensive,” he said. “So when the 70th anniversary of Iwo Jima was coming around, I reworked it so it was more affordable — to keep Dad’s legacy alive.” You can find the book online for purchase at: www.amazon.com/gp/product/1939554993
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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For our
Veterans
COMING TOGETHER Story and photos by Jim Smothers
Community, veterans join hands through veterans’ home
The St. Clair County community welcomed Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home with open arms when operations began there in November of 2012, and the continuing outpouring of generosity continues to help make life better for the 254 residents who live there. The newest of four centers in Alabama, it is a partnership between the state, the federal government and private industry that offers a special home to state residents who served in any branch of the armed forces during a time of war. It truly is a home. Quilts found throughout its quarters are but a small testament to that. When the home opened, each of the initial residents were presented with handmade patriotic quilts, made for the occasion by quilters from throughout the area. But the community’s touch doesn’t stop there. Volunteers continue to help enrich the daily lives of residents. “Volunteers come almost every day,” said Hillary
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Hardwick, the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs onsite director at the facility. “You almost instantly see the camaraderie,” Hardwick said. “They are very protective of each other, and it is really more like a family than a nursing home. They are so much more comfortable living in a place like this.” And that is understandable. It has the look and feel of a lodge, a home that most would envy. It’s not surprising that it has become a model for the nation to take care of those who valiantly served their country. Its presence has not escaped the community’s notice nor its desire to get involved. Several church groups regularly come to the home to meet with the residents. Almost every day, someone comes to play music and sing in the large common area. The home organizes a few events, including dances. Family members can bring pets for a visit when they come, and a canine therapy group brings friendly dogs in to meet veterans on a regular basis.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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One donor gave money for an organ for the chapel, and others have given cash to help fund events and activities. One woman had a bumper crop of figs, and brought them to share with the veterans at the home. “We try to provide a great quality of life for whatever time they have with us,” Hardwick said. HMR Veterans Services, Inc., administrator Derrick Williams came to the home six months before it opened to help get things ready for a high quality experience for the residents from opening day forward. He oversees the work of 300 employees to make that happen, and he has been very pleased with the support he has received from the community. “It has been a warm, welcoming outpouring of support that’s been almost overwhelming,” he said. “And when the vets roll in and look down that grand hallway, the Hall of Honor, we honor them, and they feel honored to be here. “The state did a great job with the amenities and details here. The veterans deserve it, and they enjoy it.” Several officials from other states planning new homes have come to Pell City to see the Howard Veterans Home to get ideas for designing their new facilities at home. Williams said events like trick-or-treating and participating each year in Pell City’s Christmas parade help strengthen bonds with the community. Red Cross volunteer Rodney Gilbert spends 60-80 hours per month at the home, helping residents with daily tasks, or just taking part in conversations. As a veteran with 26 years of service, he finds himself right at home in the fellowship enjoyed by the residents. “I couldn’t see myself just sitting at home. There’s nothing better than veterans helping veterans. Really, this is my second home.” There is also a Residents’ Council that works with administrators to solve any problems that might arise, and helps organize an off-campus activity each month. Kenny “Cap” Scoggins is the president of the council, and he is very happy to be at the home. “I was in another nursing home in Bessemer before I came here, and when I got here and looked around, I told them I thought I had died and gone to nursing home heaven,” he said. He has taken it on himself to fund the filling of the bird feeders on campus, buying about 50 pounds of seeds per week, and relying on Gilbert to make the rounds with him to do the work. His group has also made it a point to plan something each year for POW MIA day, the third Friday of each September. But what he takes most seriously is recognition of the residents who pass away at the home. Word gets around the home quickly, and practically every other resident there comes to the Hall of Honor to honor the deceased resident as his or her flag-draped remains are taken from the building. Scoggins and Gilbert conduct a brief ceremony, calling the name of the veteran, their rank, branch of service and years served. The other veterans who are physically able – and even a few that aren’t – stand at attention and salute their comrade one final time. The home is licensed both as an 80-bed nursing home and as a 174bed assisted living facility. Every room is a private room, and there are a number of common areas for residents to get to know each other and share their lives’ experiences. There is a waiting list of about 300. HMR Veterans Services, Inc., based in Anderson, South Carolina, was established solely to operate state veterans’ homes, and operates all four of Alabama’s homes in addition to homes in South Carolina and Maryland. Fourteen months after the Pell City home opened, it earned a deficiency-free health survey from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. l
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The Veteran’s Home is a thriving community where residents live their lives, gather together, and enjoy each other’s company.
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“Yes, some kids are popping prescription drugs like candy. They think they’re safe because they’re used by adults. Join us in protecting our children from this danger. Secure your prescription medications.” -- Richard J. Minor District Attorney Teens abuse prescription drugs more than any other illict drug
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ILLEGAL PRESCRIPTION DRUG USE CAN BE DEADLY
Elena M.Llivina, MD
Lines of Communication
Tom Randle and the “Porcupine” truck covered with antennas.
Radio operators stayed on the air for 24 four hours as part of the field day .
Field day highlights importance of amateur radio 48
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
Story by Graham Hadley Photos by Mike Callahan and Graham Hadley On a Saturday afternoon this summer, a group of people sat gathered under a tent at Lakeside Landing in Pell City discussing the weather and other things. Which is not so unusual, except the people they were talking to were miles, sometimes hundreds of miles, away. Every year, amateur radio operators, often referred to as Ham Radio operators, gather in every county in the nation to conduct field exercises where each group stays on the air for 24 hours. The field days serve an important function for these essential groups of people because they act as training exercise and help them prepare for their real purpose — supplementing official communication networks in times of emergency. Members of the St. Clair Amateur Radio Emergency Service - Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service, or ARES -RACES, are on call for everything from helping track severe weather to providing emergency communications around the county when phone lines and other infrastructure have been disrupted. Though it is a vital test of their abilities, the St. Clair amateur radio operators also use the field day, held June 27 this year, as a way to reach out to the public and demonstrate their skills. They network with other radio operators, some of whom they have not met in person. They often introduce each other by name and their call signs — groups of letters and numbers, each of which is absolutely unique to that operator. “We are anticipating 30 to 40 participants this year and will be doing demonstrations for the community,� said field day co-chairman Nick O’Rear. Pam Ayers, the other co-chair, said they expect more than a hundred visitors on top of that during the course of the event, people just stopping by to learn about what they do. She said Lakeside Landing was the perfect spot for the group to hold its exercise because they had plenty of space to set up equipment, but also had facilities for people to bring their campers a couple of days early and just enjoy some time together. Amateur radio technology has come a long way from the early days. Large, bulky tube radio sets have been replaced by everything from vehicle-mounted, powerful mobile setups to simple walkie-talkie, hand-held radios little larger than cell phones. And the requirements for operators have changed as well. For years, learning Morse code was required for Ham radio enthusiasts to get their first license. Though the government still regulates the licensing and there are different tiers of licensing, the More Code is no longer a requirement.“They used to make people do Morse code but dropped it now. Not everyone agrees with that decision, but it opened the door for amateur radio to people who had trouble learning that,� said Tom Randle, one of the radio operators at the field day. But no license was needed for visitors to talk on the radio sets that day. The various amateur radio enthusiasts were more than willing to let visitors have a turn on the air. Supplementing their radio equipment was a wide array of other technology — cutting-edge computers, tablets, mobile wifi hotspots and routers. All of the technology is used to do their job — something that is especially handy when it comes to tracking severe weather events. They are quick to point out they are not storm chasers — all of the storm spotters are trained by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Weather Service, and a key part of that is staying safe. “We are told to find a safe spot to transmit from and stay there,� Randle said. The radio operators work closely with the local NOAA office, the Emergency Management Agency, Red Cross and local emergency responders to help keep everyone apprised of developing situations, whether it is a tornado or a neighborhood isolated by downed trees. Their role as a supplementary communications network came into play on April 27, 2011 when Alabama, and St. Clair County, experienced one of the worst tornado outbreaks in history. The main antenna for the EMA was blown down during the storm, cutting off radio communication for many essential county services when they were needed most.
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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Lines of Communication
Randle arrived at the communication center with his truck and was able to set up a communication network, relayed from a large antenna on his vehicle to another unit in the building, enabling emergency responders to coordinate their efforts across St. Clair. Randle had the same truck at the field day, and he pointed to all the different antennas covering it. “People make fun of me for all the antennas on the truck, but when the tornados came, we were able to relay the communications through the ‘Porcupine’” as he refers to his vehicle. But the St. Clair ARES group’s work goes far beyond emergency and weather communications; they also help out at public events across the state. Thanks to amateur radio operators, cyclists on the Cheaha Challenge and participants in similar events are that much safer. Regardless of cell phone service availability, there are people watching out for them who are always in touch with event officials and, when needed, paramedics and other help. “We go all over the state providing communications for events like the Cheaha Challenge,” O’Rear said. “There is a big bike riding event coming up at Orange Beach. We will partner with people down there to help provide coverage for that event.” O’Rear and Ayers are quick to point out that their organization is a loosely affiliated group of people who are united by common interests. It is not a non-profit and has no official organizational structure — which eliminates any drama or politics. “Which is exactly the way we like it,” one of the radio operators called out from where she was sitting in the tent. Ayers says that makes it easy for everyone to work together, but it also means they depend a lot on support from the community and the agencies they serve. All of the amateur radio operators are responsible for purchasing and maintaining their own equipment — which can start out at less than $100 for a simple hand held set and run to more than $1,000 for larger setups, and that does not include special antennas and computers, tablets and other electronics they use. Randle said they welcome new people to join in, either participating in the group or who just want to become amateur radio enthusiasts. They hold testing the third Saturday of every month at Heritage Baptist Church. People can follow the St. Clair ARES -RACES on Facebook. Anyone with questions about the group or testing can call Steven Ayers, 205-368-8153. l
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CQ Field Day, CQ Field Day, CQ Field Day As Discover St. Clair Managing Editor Graham Hadley and I parked our cars and walked up to this year’s Amateur Radio Day field event, I could hear that familiar call ringing in my ears. Seeing the Dipole wire antennas strung up all around the operating Ham Radio stations positioned under the tents brought back many years of memories. I was first licensed as WA4ZLB, or in Ham Radio speak “Whiskey Alpha 4 Zulu Lima Bravo” some 38 years ago. Each year Ham radio operators from all over the United States, set up portable operating stations. They do this to test their ability to maintain orderly emergency preparedness protocols for the Amateur Radio Service. This is an important event and graphically demonstrates that even in our current day of satellite and cell-phone communications, Hams still play a very vital role for our counties, states and regions in emergency communications. Just a note, ABC 33/40 meteorologist Mr. James Spann, has brought you many a report through information he received via his Ham radio. Yes, James Spann is a Ham radio operator. While observing all of this year’s Hams operating in Field Day, better known as making contacts, the crackling of the voices coming in through the radio transceivers brought back so many contacts I had experienced down through the years. There was the instance where a local Pell City dentist’s son was caught up in a military coup d’etat in an African nation so many years ago. I was called to see if I could make any contact with other Ham radio operators in that nation. Thanks be to the Lord, I was able to make contact with an amateur radio station in that country and be able to tell that family their loved one was safe and out of harm’s way. Early on, I joined what was known then as Navy MARS. This was short for Military Amateur Radio System. The military had set up stations all over the world, where our soldiers would go and be assisted in contacting American Ham radio operators, who would then run a phone patch to the person they were trying to contact here in the States. I vividly remember running a “phone patch,” where a young sailor had me call his fiancée. It was necessary in those days for me to be able to hear both parties, in order to switch between transmitting and receiving. She gave him a Dear John that night and I had to struggle to keep from crying for the brave young sailor, after he got the news. Many a night after work and well into the wee hours of the morning, my great thrill was to work “DX”. DX is ham term for working distant nations around the world. So many come to mind, but several will forever be in my memory. There was the night I spoke with King Hussein of Jordan’s station in the Royal Palace, Iran before they were our enemies, The island of Tonga in the South Pacific and the list could go on. Looking back, I think making contact with Tom Christian on Pitcairn Island was the most intriguing. Tom is a direct descendent of Fletcher Christian of “Mutiny on the Bounty” fame. All that being said, untold good deeds and so many lives have been saved down through the decades by a group of dedicated folks called Hams. From storm to disaster reporting, often down through the years it was a lone Ham Radio operator who transmitted stories that TV and Radio stations brought to you and perhaps even saved your life or that of a loved one.
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Dwight Rogers holds grape tomatoes.
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Fresh Produce Central Chandler Mountain: The tomato capital of Alabama Story Leigh Prtichett Photos by Michael Callahan Two pieces of white bread glazed with mayonnaise. Slices of a fat, juicy, vine-ripened tomato still warm from the sun. A sprinkling of salt and pepper. A good ole tomato sandwich is a summertime delicacy. And St. Clair County’s Chandler Mountain just happens to be known near and far as the place to get tomatoes. Alabama Farmers Federation, in a 2007 publication, calls Chandler Mountain “The Tomato Capital of Alabama” because truckloads are transported from there on a daily basis during the months of harvest.* In fact, “Alabama ranks … 12th in (production of) fresh-market tomatoes,” notes another federation publication.* St. Clair County leads the state in vegetable and melon production, reveals a 2013 report of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Alabama Agribusiness Council.* Those statistics are not difficult to believe when considering that Smith Tomato, LLC – just one of a number of tomato farms on Chandler Mountain – annually cultivates 100 acres, producing about 200,000 boxes of tomatoes. Each box contains between 25 and 30 pounds of tomatoes. That amounts to at least five-million pounds of tomatoes a year from a single farm. Chad Smith – the 26-year-old farmer who runs Smith Tomato with his brother, Phillip, and father, Leroy — said their tomatoes are shipped to wholesalers within a 15-hour driving radius.
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Fresh Produce Central Chad Smith
Fresh Chandler Mountain tomatoes.
From left, Kathy Smith, Kista Lowe and Esther Smith
Dwight Rogers inspects peppers. 54
The tomatoes travel as far as Miami, Fla.; Washington, D.C., and Dallas, Texas. Smith said their Mountain Fresh, Roma, yellow, grape and cherry tomatoes end up in restaurants, stores and large farmer’s markets. Not far from Smith Tomato is Rogers Farm, operated by Dwight Rogers. Rogers, a tomato farmer for nearly five decades, sows approximately 15 acres of them each year. Among the kinds he offers this year are Mountain Fresh, Florida 47 and grape tomatoes. A “truck farmer,” Rogers grows peanuts, peppers, squash, cucumbers, corn, pole beans and cantaloupe on another 15 acres of his farm. Tomatoes, though, constitute 70 percent of his business, he said. Rogers’ tomatoes and other produce are sold at his shed and through a farmers’ market in Birmingham. From the farmer’s market, Rogers’ tomatoes ultimately end up in produce stands all over North Alabama, he said. Tomatoes’ paradise found Chandler Mountain is situated in northern St. Clair near Ashville and Steele. “(It) is quite unlike any other in the Appalachian Range,” explains Mattie Lou Teague Crow in her book History of St. Clair County (Alabama). “It is a small, rock-rimmed, boat-shaped mountain, 1500 feet above sea level, and it is approximately seven miles long and one and a half miles wide. Its summit is a plateau of silky loam which grows tomatoes and beans to perfection.”* Mike Reeves, regional extension agent in commercial horticulture for Alabama Cooperative Extension System, said Chandler Mountain offers farmers good soil, an ample water supply and the advantages of elevation. Because of elevation, there are fewer incidents of frost on the mountain than in the valley. That permits farmers to plant earlier in the spring and harvest later into the fall. Jamie Burton, who retired after more than 60 years of growing tomatoes, said the altitude promotes cooler temperatures. “In hot summertime, it is about five degrees cooler on the mountain” than in the valley, said Burton, who cultivated 75-100 acres in tomatoes on Burton Farm. Tomatoes, he continued, do not fare as well in temperatures greater than 95 degrees. Rogers said air circulation on the mountain also benefits tomatoes. “Feel the breeze,” Rogers said. “We have a breeze almost all the time.” That, he said, helps to keep the tomato vines dry. A way of life The tomato farmer does the bulk of his work in 10 months each year, but gets paid during the four months of harvesting and selling, said Smith. The days spent preparing, sowing and reaping, though, are frequently quite long, Smith said. A farmer might work more than 10 hours during daylight and then commence spraying after dark when it is better for the plants. Before the night ends, he may be loading a wholesale truck until 1 a.m. Four hours later, he is back in a field spraying until sunrise. Rogers said there are times when he is up at 2:30 a.m. to get his tomatoes to market in Birmingham and may not finish his day
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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Work being done in one of the fields of Smith Tomato LLC
A farm with a view on Chandler Mountain
Chad Smith shows off some of their crop.
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
Fresh Produce Central
of farming until 10 or 11 p.m. Added to the long hours are other necessary aspects of the business, such as USDA inspections and new regulations to learn and follow, Smith said. During the growing season, a tomato farmer really cannot take a vacation because of all that must be done, Burton said. Nonetheless, “You don’t get bored of it,” Smith responded. “You get to do a little bit of everything.” The growing season spans from April until the first frost (generally October). During that time, 50,000 to 80,000 tomato plants are sown every three weeks on the Smith farm. There are a total of seven planting cycles or “settings.” This staggered schedule produces a crop of mature tomatoes almost constantly. “Most of the time, we can plant (a setting) in a day,” Smith said. However, staking the plants in order to tie them and hold them upright takes longer. “That, right there, really is work,” Smith said. In a day’s time, it is possible to stake about 40,000 plants — or 10 acres, he said. The cost to sow 100 acres — including expenses for plants, equipment, supplies and labor – would be at least $1 million, Smith said. Because of all the time, effort and financial resources required to be a tomato farmer, Smith said a person has to be completely devoted to it. It has to become “a way of life. You’ve got to have the will to want to do it.” Added Esther Smith, his wife, “Then, you pray you come out (well) in the end.” One hailstorm, Chad Smith said, could doom a whole crop. “Weather’s the biggest factor” that the farmers face, Smith said. “The next biggest thing is the market.” Market prices for tomatoes fluctuate frequently, which means farmers could experience either “feast or famine” at harvest, Reeves said. Last year, for example, the market price was low much of the season. Smith said 85 percent of the tomatoes reaped on his farm last year brought a price that was either below cost or at cost. As the last 15 percent was being harvested, the market price rose significantly, which balanced the equation. A changing legacy Eighty-six-year-old Hoover Rogers of Chandler Mountain retired from tomato farming only four years ago. He farmed for years and years, even while he was an educator and principal. “It was hard work,” Rogers said, “but it was enjoyable.” He said he has seen many changes occur in the science of producing tomatoes — from cultivating with mules to using tractors, from dealing with drought conditions to providing irrigation, from sowing on the ground to planting on raised, plastic-covered rows. “The way of fertilizing, the way of spraying has really changed the last 15 years,” added Dwight Rogers, Hoover’s nephew. Even the number and size of the farms have changed. Burton said there were more farms when he began tomato farming. Although fewer in number now, the farms tend to be larger. Smith explained that the current method of planting on raised, plastic-covered rows is called “plasticulture.” Creating “plasticulture” rows is done with a special
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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Fresh Produce Central attachment for a tractor. That attachment gathers soil into raised rows, lays irrigation line and spreads plastic over the rows, while directing more soil onto the edges of the plastic to secure it. All these tasks are done simultaneously. Then, another tractor attachment punches holes through the plastic and into the soil. Finally, a tomato plant is placed by hand into each hole. Smith said the plastic inhibits weed growth, holds moisture close to the roots and keeps the plants off the soil, which decreases the risk of disease and damage. Yes, tomato farming requires an enormous amount of work. But “when this gets in your blood, you like it,” Dwight Rogers said. “Just the smell of the dirt when you start tilling the ground” keeps him farming year after year. Tomato farming on Chandler Mountain has a legacy of being a family tradition. Hoover and Dwight Rogers’ family, for instance, has been farming the same land more than 100 years. This past summer saw three generations working at Smith Tomato. “Now, we’re getting grandkids involved in it,” said Kathy Smith, Chad’s mother. Kista Lowe was reared in the tomato farming business like her brother, Chad Smith. As an adult, Lowe worked elsewhere for 15 years. Yet, her heart kept recalling the excitement she felt when heavy picking commenced and all those boxes of tomatoes started arriving at the packinghouse. She missed it so much that she returned to the business three years ago. Esther Smith understands why that would be the case. She grew up in tomato farming in Florida and enjoys everything about the process. “You look forward to it in the winter.” Although Burton retired from tomato farming 10 years ago, and the farm responsibilities have passed to subsequent generations, the desire has not subsided. Even now, Burton still gets the urge to go out and grow tomatoes. A tasty attraction Growing tomatoes for wholesale distribution is certainly a major part of Smith Tomato’s business. Yet, the farm is actually a multifaceted undertaking. While wholesale shipping is being handled at one end of the farm’s packinghouse, there is laughter and lively conversation in the tidy produce stand at the other end. Seven days a week from July to October, Kathy and Esther Smith and Kista Lowe can be found at the produce stand, which is open to everyone. In addition to tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers grown on the Smith farm, the stand sells produce from neighboring farms. The three ladies spend their days handling phone calls and attending to customers from many counties and numerous states. “They’re either coming or calling all day long,” Kathy Smith said of the patrons. Some are new customers and some have come back year after year. On one August morning, H.J. Hamilton of Sylacauga explained why he travels to Chandler Mountain to get tomatoes. “I come up here because they have such fine tomatoes and such friendly people.” Robert Bowman of Hiram, Ga., said he has been purchasing from Smith Tomato for years. This was his second buying trip
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Dwight Rogers and Wendell Parrish
in a week. It was the first visit for Glenda Karr of Ashland, and she liked what she saw. A relative’s comments about Smith Tomato had awakened the interest of Eunice Bowden of Anniston, and she had to check it out. James Campbell of Argo had the bed of his truck loaded with tomatoes that he and others in his group had gathered from one of the fields. “They’re the sweetest tomatoes I’ve ever tasted,” Campbell said. For about 15 years, Campbell has gone there to take advantage of “u-pick,” which is Smith Tomato’s invitation for people to gather tomatoes for themselves. The cost to do so is nominal. “All our fields get turned out to the public to pick their own when (we) get finished shipping them,” said Kathy Smith. “U-pick,” for some customers, is a fun activity and is treated almost like a vacation. It is not unusual for individuals to drive as many as three hours for the chance to glean because they enjoy going into the fields so much, Chad Smith said. For those who may have limited financial resources, it is an opportunity to get fresh produce for a small amount of money, Lowe said. Then, there are people who minister through “u-pick.” Kathy Smith said missionary groups gather the tomatoes to help feed people in need. And after they finish gleaning, group members seek blessings for the farm. “They pray over our fields for a good crop next season,” Lowe said. l For more information about Smith Tomato, LLC, visit its Facebook page or call 256-538-3116. Dwight Rogers may be reached at 256-490-4535. *Information used with permission.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
CEPA — The Place for Entertainment This Season Dinner Theater is back!
Peter Boyle & “Sunset Rizing”
Don’t miss Peter and this all star band! Good times! Great Music!
Sat, Jan. 30, 2016, 7:00 pm Tickets: $15.00 The World Premiere Of
Pell City Players in
“Rehearsal for Murder”
Oct. 22*, 23**, 24*, 2015 - 7:00 pm Oct 25**, 2015 - 2:00 pm Tickets: *Performance W/Optional Meal Adults - $37.50, Seniors & Students - $27.00 **Performance Only Adults - $22.50, Seniors & Students - $15.00 Friday night performance will be held at the First United Methodist Church in the Beacon Fellowship Hall, 2200 3rd Ave. N. Pell City
“Hiram – The story of a young Hank Williams” Never before seen story of Hank as a boy! Jett Williams will be attending on Opening Night
Feb, 26, 27, 2016 - 7:00 pm Feb, 28, 2016 - 2:00 pm Tickets: Adults - $22.50, Seniors & Students - $15.00
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with
“3 on a String”
Pack the house for bluegrass and comedy at its best!
March 19, 2016 - 7:00 pm Tickets: Adults - $22.50, Seniors & Students - $15.00
St. Clair County’s “Got Talent”
Show your talent. Win cash prizes!
April 16, 2016 - 7:00 pm Tickets: $10.00
Pell City Center for Education and Performing Arts Tickets available online at pellcitycenter.com
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Private Bible study leads to book What people are saying “Any Bible study that Brenda does, you know going in that you are going to learn many things. … She is very deep in her studies and is dedicated to her life as a Christian.” — Debbie Smith, Pell City “She and I talked numerous times about her thoughts about this challenging story and its implications for us today. She entered into this writing with much deep care, struggle and thought; she didn’t write hurriedly; rather she pondered, wrote, rewrote and wrestled with the deep theological issues this story raises. She challenged me to dig deep in my own faith and to struggle with how the story of Lazarus applied to my faith journey today.” — Virginia D. “Jenny” Gauld, Ph.D., Pell City “Brenda Wyatt is one of the most natural storytellers I’ve ever met. … She writes thoughtfully, but retains a genuine element of spontaneity. She laughs when she writes, she prays when she writes and, I imagine, she has wept while writing. Her stories are rich with study made relative to the reader through her style and generosity of emotion.” Tim Denny, Birmingham
Brenda Wyatt
“(It is) amazing the work Brenda put into this. … I learned so much and read the book with faith and eagerness. I hope people will read and learn as I have.” — Cathy Echols, Birmingham “I was blessed to be a co-worker of Brenda’s as she was leading the Bible study and later finalizing the book, and what a blessing that has been for me! Brenda shared several parts of the study with me, and I read the book soon after it was published. From gaining a much greater love and appreciation for the story of Jesus and Lazarus, to learning more about how God uses my struggles and heartaches to further His plan for me, Brenda’s book was life-changing. The lesson of Lazarus is one of great hope, and Brenda’s book communicates that message in a fresh way that has stayed with me.” — Shirley,* Birmingham *Last name withheld by request
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
Story by Leigh Pritchett Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr. The sunny, morning glow inside Brenda Wyatt’s living room seemed diametrically opposed to a discussion on loss. And yet, it also seemed appropriate, for it is in sorrowful times that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (from Psalm 30:5 of the Holy Bible). That very detail is depicted as a green sprout emerging from a dark, desolate background on the cover of the Pell City woman’s book, Four Days – The Lazarus Principle: Finding God’s Love When You Don’t Understand Him. This book — self-published through Trafford Publishing, a division of Random House — was actually a private email Bible study that Wyatt wrote for just two people. “I started the Bible study between my sister (Cathy Echols of Birmingham) and myself,” Wyatt said. “We felt like we were in a season of loss.” Eventually, though, the study group grew to include eight or nine people from three counties. It lasted 48 months. “It was very casual how (the study) came together,” Wyatt continued. “It began to feel like a cohesive study with a purpose.” Those four years – 2007 to 2011 – were marked by all manner of grief for so many people — from foreclosure, job loss and vanishing retirement accounts to devastating illness and heartbreaking family circumstances, Wyatt said. In April 2011, deadly tornadoes ripped through St. Clair County’s Shoal Creek and many other parts of Alabama. Wyatt does not elaborate on her “season of loss.” Rather, she turns the focus toward growing and learning through struggles and understanding that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (from Psalm 46:1 of the Holy Bible). During that time, she found herself drawn to the 11th chapter in the book of John. In that chapter of the Bible is the account of Mary, Martha and their brother, Lazarus, who was dead four days when Jesus Christ brought him back to life. “There was a driving desire to determine what that particular miracle meant,” said Wyatt. “I had a growing fascination of their relationship with the Son of God. Beyond His disciples, this family was perhaps His closest personal relationship during His earthly ministry. I think it is a very personal story of how Jesus reacted to people close to Him.” For Reva Dorough of Pell City, the Bible study was timely. “You have to have faith to grow closer to God and what better way to do that than study the word of God. … Brenda’s study came at a time in my life when I really needed to hear it and study it.” Teresa Jones Noell of Anniston said that delving into the Lazarus account had a freeing, releasing effect. “When Brenda brings us to the tomb to witness Jesus’ command, ‘Lazarus come forth!,’ it is as if Jesus is giving readers the command and permission to ‘come forth’ from calamity, heartaches or circumstances which have prevented us from wholehearted living – to come out of our own tombs of darkness,” she said. It made a similar impression on Connie Hollis of Pell City. “My greatest appreciation is that we really don’t have to remain in any of the grave clothes! In this life, we do have ‘tests,’ but they don’t define us, the real us. It is as this book tells us: we tune our senses to Jesus, our Light, our Restorer,” Hollis said. “He orders our steps, even the rocky ones, in order to refine (polish) us for our next assignment.” As for her own season of loss, Wyatt said, “I would like to say I breezed through it with grace and good humor. But I did not. I think the Bible study kept me focused. While I might not have understood what He was doing, finding the great love of God was a huge benefit to me.”
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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Brenda Wyatt The Lazarus Principle, which Wyatt explains in about 25 statements early in the book, calls readers to understand that God is in control, even when what is happening does not make sense to human reasoning. Into the study, Wyatt interweaves many more of Jesus’ miracles that are recorded in the book of John. She divides the study into four parts, reflecting the number of days Lazarus was dead, and correlates them with the first four days of the Creation account in the book of Genesis. During the four-year span of exploring the Lazarus Principle, it seemed that almost everything – her garden, sights she saw on family trips, stories she read, etc. – held lessons in them that directly related to the Bible study. Even the natural disasters of 2011, she said, showed her that her problems, her sorrows, her heartbreaks were small in comparison. Making of an author A native of Birmingham, Wyatt came to St. Clair County as a young bride. In fact, she turned 21 in the county and registered to vote. Though Wyatt considers herself to be a low-profile person in nature, she led somewhat of a high-profile life during the 20 years her husband, Wallace Wyatt, Jr., was St. Clair’s probate judge. Through the years, Brenda Wyatt was employed in retail at what was then Parisians; served in the area as a fragrance and cosmetic representative for Oscar de la Renta, Chanel and other European entities; taught in the day care program at First Baptist Church in Pell City and was an associate at Leaf & Petal, working mostly at the Botanical Gardens location. All along the way, she was writing. “I write almost every day,” she said, adding that her compositions generally are “funny, goofy stories.” Paula Hereford of Pell City has enjoyed reading those accounts. “For years, I have looked forward to emails from my good friend, Brenda Wyatt — presenting tales of family, travels, friends and adventures, and all told with her original sense of Southern humor and style,” Hereford said. Writing a Bible study – a serious look at loss — was not something Wyatt intentionally set out to do. “I’m not a grief counselor. I’m not a teacher. I have no formal training. I’m a storyteller and fellow struggler. I don’t have all the answers,” Wyatt said. Nonetheless, different events in her life prepared her for writing the Bible study. At age 15, Wyatt heard evangelist Wales Goebel say, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” Wyatt knew that was what she wanted for the rest of her life and eternity, and she became a Christian. Assisting Goebel in his revival ministry, teaching a women’s Sunday school class for years at First Baptist Church in Pell City, and facilitating “Experiencing God” Bible studies at various churches brought more of the instruction she would later need. Then, serving on the advisory committee of the annual Purse and Passion fundraiser for YWCA St. Clair/Pell City Domestic Violence Center allowed her to help others through their brokenness as she navigated her own season of loss. “In the midst of two sisters’ own crisis and heartache, Jesus invited those who were there to join Him in His work,” Wyatt said. “He asked human beings to participate when He told them to roll away the gravestone and to free Lazarus of his grave clothes. “Helping others in greater and more difficult circumstances than myself, to love others as God would have us do, to have the opportunity to help women and children come out of dark circumstances and begin new lives was a tremendous help to me,”
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Brenda Wyatt holds her Bible.
Wyatt continued. Since she was 15, there has not been a time when she did not need her Bible and the instruction in it on a daily basis, she said. The user-worn King James and Amplified Bibles that she keeps by her computer would seem to attest to that. The fact that Four Days became a book is a story in itself. Wyatt said she was simply researching self-publishing options for someone else who was interested. However, when the information arrived, Wyatt’s husband urged her to go forward with a book. If not for his encouragement, Brenda Wyatt said, Four Days would have remained “only a Bible study among friends.” She dedicated the book to her “four treasures” – her husband; their two daughters, Sunni Wyatt and Ginny Perkins, and son-inlaw, Deke Perkins. The next step in publishing the book was the challenge of paring the manuscript’s 500 pages to 230 in 90 days. “I had to reduce it by one half,” she said. Even that process had a purpose and brought about a completely unexpected realization. “It distilled the lessons I had learned from the Lazarus Principle. I was astounded that four years had gone by, and I had not lost my thirst or passion of the lessons of Four Days,” Wyatt said. “As it became a book, those lessons were fresh again.” In November 2012, the book was released. Even before Wyatt received her copy of it, the book became available on Amazon. Subsequently, it was offered as well by Barnes & Noble. It is sold in paperback and ebook format. It is Wyatt’s desire for the book to be a “tool for anyone who is struggling, who questions God, who finds himself in some hopeless place.” She wants readers to “find the great love of God. For myself, to be loved by God in such a way is life-changing.” l For information about the book, Four Days, contact Brenda Wyatt at sunnigin@aol.com.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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GARDENS GALORE
A special Lakeside Park project Story and photos by Carol Pappas
Garden Club member Fran Wilson 64
There is a saying about growing a good garden. It requires a lot of water – most of it in the form of perspiration. And at Pell City’s Lakeside Park, the sweat equity being invested by the Pell City Garden Club should grow plenty of them. At least that’s the aim as the club leads the way in developing a series of gardens or “rooms” that will make a stroll through these woods a delight to the senses and a living, growing lesson. Already, you can see the beginnings of their handiwork. Nine rooms are available for sponsorship by clubs, companies and organizations. Pell City Garden Club has two, Master Gardeners has one, and Metro Bank has a fourth. Seventy different varieties of native Alabama plants have been introduced to the park, and the Garden Club is encouraging other groups to step forward and ‘adopt’ the remaining one third-acre plots. “This fall would be a wonderful time to start up,” said Garden Club President Liz Starnes. “A year ago, it was just a vision,” she added. “I can’t believe it’s gotten this far.” Those who want to join the effort can submit a plan of what they want to plant, and it is approved by an oversight committee. Advice is readily available on types of plants and where the best locations are for them. This is hardly an overnight success story. It took a year just to develop the guidelines. And it will be a few more years before the gardens are in full bloom and all the pieces, like a planned butterfly garden, are in place. “In six years from now, we’ll have a nice little park that people can walk through and enjoy forever,”added Paul Webb, a garden club member and volunteer with Classroom in the Forest.. It is Webb, who leads the tour on this sizzling summer day, naming each plant and the lore behind it as he makes his way through the gardens. “That’s a blood root,” he said, noting that Native Americans used it as war paint. Others have names like Hearts a Bustin, St. John Wort, Huckleberry, Leatherwood and Spider Lily. They are accompanied by Jack in the Pulpit, Coneflower, Native Azaleas, Oakleaf Hydrangeas, Sweet Shrub, Dogwood, Pipe Vine and Passion Flower. All the trees and plants are identified with common names and botanical names so that it will always be a learning opportunity. It will be a native plant classroom so children can see firsthand what has taken root in Alabama. More than 1,000 feet of trails wind their way through the gardens that already have more than 500 plants growing. And all of it is handicapped accessible so that everyone can enjoy the scenery. The city stepped in to help with extending water to the rooms, and other outside sources have helped nurture it along. The Alabama Croton was given to the Garden Club by the state Wildflower Society. “Only four other counties have one,” Webb said. According to Encyclopedia of Alabama, it is a semievergreen woodland shrub discovered in 1877. Until the St. Clair County addition, it was found only in places like Bibb and Tuscaloosa, where it grows in bluffs of the Cahaba and Black Warrior rivers. Birmingham Botanical Gardens has shared rare, native plants as well. With the wetlands just across the walking trail and the small amphitheater nearby, that entire section of the park is shaping up to be quite a comprehensive outdoor classroom. All the plants are identified and labeled in the gardens and in the wetlands. Progress has been helped along with donations from individuals and organizations that want to see these gardens come to fruition. LakeFest, the popular in-water boat show and
Near the arbor are Liz Starnes, front, Linda Tutwiler, Paul Webb, Liz Webb and Annette Haynes
festival held at the park each year, made a $2,000 donation to help with paving the trails. The paving project is made possible through a grant of the St. Clair Soil and Water Conservation Service.Garden Club member Dana Ellison and husband, Bill, have donated construction of an arbor that serves as the entrance to a memorial garden, where plants can be donated for $100 in memory or honor of a loved one. The garden club members take care of getting the plant, placing it in the ground and having a permanent marker designed with the name of the honoree and who made the donation (if desired). “The birth of the arbor developed after we realized a bridge could no longer go in its place, due to the drainage pipe resting too high that was installed in the low area,” Dana Ellison said . “Still, our concern was to keep wheelchairs from running over the elevated edge and to create an area of interest with climbing vines, etc. Darren Hallman, his sons and Al Smith were so patient in working with my ideas, which led to them designing and constructing the arbor. It turned out better than I had imagined.” It now has a passion flower that is slowing creeping up the corners. “Our Memorial Garden was created from the idea of giving loved ones a place to visit the gardens and see a plant donated in memory or in honor of a family member or friend. Instead
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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GARDENS GALORE
of sending flowers to a funeral, they can watch the plant prosper in that loved one’s memory, she said. The Judge Charles Robinson family were some of the first to be present on the afternoon a Dogwood tree was planted in memory of “the forever loved, Mary Anne,” Robinson’s wife who passed away this year, Ellison said. From that memorial event, it led to Robinson’s donating an old family bench to be placed near Mary Anne’s tree. Their grandchildren, Chase and Brooke, picked it up and delivered it to the Native Plant Walking trail. “It will take years to have the gardens fully established, but it is off to an amazing start, and we encourage the citizens to visit, volunteer or make monetary donations to keep it going,” Ellison said. l Editor’s Note: Pell City Garden Club meets the first Monday of the month at the Pell City Recreation Center on 19th Street South, and all interested are encouraged to attend.
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Alabama Croton
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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Good food, good friends and The Kitchen, a winning trio
Thursday morning regulars 68
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
Story by Carol Pappas Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.
The Kitchen’s royalty, Kat Tucker
It’s Thursday morning in Pell City, the sun barely peeking over the horizon to usher in another day. Inside the restaurant just off Alabama 34, Kat Tucker scurries in and out of the tiny kitchen, making sure everything is just right. It has to be, Kat insists. After all, it’s breakfast time at The Kitchen, and she won’t have it any other way. Step inside, where they not only know your name, your order already could be on the grill. “Want some more, Mr. Bob?” server Deb Horn asks a customer at a nearby table, as she pours another cup of some of the richest coffee around. Conversations abound, whether its server to customer, table to table or Kat just sharing an anecdote to which the entire restaurant is privy. “Here you go, honey,” Kat says as she sets a picture perfect plate of scrambled eggs, crispy bacon and toast in front of a regular at another table. Her daughter, Sara Tucker, and Sara’s fiancée, Justin Peacock, who help out, add to the family atmosphere that defines The Kitchen. There’s no white tablecloth at this restaurant, but be assured that the Eggs Benedict at The Kitchen rivals any at fancier establishments – even with stars following their name. Quality is her specialty, whether it’s the name-brand products she uses or the fresh produce she selects herself. “Kerry Joe (Foster) knows how particular I am about my tomatoes,” she says, referring to the fresh produce stand he runs just up the road. “I want you to have the very best I can give you. I search out quality.” In Pell City, a stone’s throw from Logan Martin Lake, you’ll find Kat and her crew serving up that quality with some of the best breakfasts (and lunches) Tuesday through Sunday, a tradition that started 15 years ago this month. She even has special dinners featuring steaks fresh from an outdoor grill on selected Saturday nights during warmer weather, which draw crowds from near and far. A storied history Her foray into the restaurant business was quite by accident. Her sister and her sister’s husband were interested in buying the popular Pine Harbor community eatery from Rita Engelbrecht, when it was known as Rita’s Kitchen. Before that, the late Pop Wyatt had a successful run there as Pop’s Barbecue. Turns out, her sister really didn’t want the restaurant, and the option fell to Kat, who had been helping “Miss Rita.” The late Ray Cox, who was president of Metro Bank, was eating in the restaurant one morning, and Kat asked him about the prospect of her buying the restaurant. “From a business standpoint, you tell me,” she recalls her request of his expertise. “ ‘I think you can do this,’ ” Cox told her. He cited her military background – 11 years of it – as a plus. And, she took to heart this bit of sage advice from him: ‘Whether it’s a good day or not, give it 110 percent. As long as you can do that, you’ll keep it viable.’ There’s no mistaking the extra percentage of effort on her part, no matter any day you walk in the door. And the viability part? Well, 15 years should put an exclamation point on that goal. “If I feed you more than one time a week, you’re a regular,” she proclaims. “It’s not just about people walking through
Deb Horn shares a moment with customers, friends
the door. I know their family, significant others and friends. They’re like family. Everybody knows everybody.” Newcomers? Not for long. “By the time they leave, we will know their name. They will feel comfortable, like sitting down at the table at their house. They’ll talk just like we’ve know them all their lives.” That concept is key not only to the restaurant’s success story but its name as well, Kat explains. “If you’re going to someone’s house, people always migrate to the kitchen. That’s the atmosphere I wanted to create.” Hence, the name: The Kitchen. Perhaps that’s why you’ll see a coffee mug tree attached to a wall with her regulars’ own coffee cups hanging nearby. It’s a symbol of the ‘make yourself at home’ atmosphere that abounds in this place. Her customers seem to have a sense of ownership, even if their investment is only the price of a meal. A table in the corner is evidence of that. It sports a napkin holder with a photo of a group of men, who grab a seat there every Thursday morning to share laughs, swap stories and, of
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
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The Kitchen Amber’s doggie treat from The Kitchen
Sara shows off the Eggs Benedict and ‘home fries’ course, dine on ‘the usual’ at where else, ‘our table.’ And ‘the usual’ even extends to Amber, the Labradoodle that sits in a truck outside, not so much awaiting the return of her owner as the treat Kat takes to her every Thursday. “Today is bacon day,” Kat says, as she heads out to the truck, Amber’s aromatic treasure in her hand. “It belongs more to my customers than to me,” Kat says. “Without them, I don’t need to be here.” “It mirrors the lake community,” said Dr. Randal Robertson, noting the diverse backgrounds that come together there for a morning of fellowship, good food and outstanding service. Ed Tyler, whose ham radio group meets, eats and greets there weekly, calls it “a neighborhood restaurant, where they not only know my name, my coffee is here before I ever get into the chair. When you think of a restaurant, you think of a building. It’s the people, the owner and the staff that make it what it is.” And that’s what makes this kitchen, “The Kitchen.”. l
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Regulars share company, swap stories
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
Where Your Hometown Doctor Is Always In.
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205-884-9000
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St. Clair Alabama
Business Review Louis
The staff are already at work in the new office
72 • DISCOVER The EssenceDISCOVER Essence of St.ofClair • August && September of St. Clair •The Business Review DISCOVER The Essence St. Clair • June July 20152013
Story by Graham Hadley Photos by Michael Callahan
Pell City Internal and Family Medicine Opens Satellite Office In an effort to expand its medical services to people in Pell City and surrounding communities, Pell City Internal and Family Medicine has opened a satellite office in the Publix Shopping Center. PCIFM, currently located in the new professional building next to St. Vincent’s St. Clair Hospital, has continually added physicians and nurse practitioners to meet the growing demand for health care in the region. “We decided to proceed with opening up a satellite location of Pell City Internal and Family Medicine next to Publix in order to expand our office. We have hired Dr. Ilinica Prisacaru, who will be at our home office at St. Vincent’s St Clair Hospital with Dr. Barry Collins,” said Dr. Rick Jotani. “In order to make room for Dr. Prisacaru I have decided to move my practice over to our new location near Publix.” That move not only makes room for the new staff at the primary location, it also makes it easier for PCIFM to offer extended hours. “We love our office here at the professional building. It is very convenient for the doctors to see patients in house, but we were feeling a need for after-hours service, for patients who come in after work,” said practice manager Lea Ann Howard. “The building space became available and Dr. Jotani and Dr. Collins were very interested.” The store-front location, outside an enclosed professional building, suited their desire to offer after-hours services perfectly, she said. The satellite office will be open Monday through Friday and Sundays. Dr. Jotani will hold office hours from Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Fridays during the school year and peak flu and cold season from 9 a.m. until noon. One of the nurse practitioners — they will rotate schedules — will be available from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. Fridays, and from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Howard said the nurse practitioners have responsibilities very similar to those of a doctor, working as “physician extenders.” They can do almost everything a physician can do. “They will have to collaborate with a physician, with a doctor. Each patient they see, the physician will look over their labs and the results from their appointment. Patients may not see the physician during their visit, but a doctor will still be involved in the care they receive.” In addition to expanding their hours and adding more medical staff, PCIFM also hired an additional front-office coordinator, medical assistant, lab technician and X-ray technician for the new location. Those additional staff members are needed because the satellite office is a fully functional medical facility, complete with x-ray, lab equipment and everything else you would expect to find at a cuttingedge doctor’s office. “All the equipment is there. Everything we do in the main office, we wanted to offer it there. It is just better medicine if you can have X-ray and a lab on site and are able to see those results at the time of service,” Howard said. One area Howard particularly expects the new office to help with is sports medicine for local youth activities — especially since many of those activities, and related injuries, take place after normal hours. “Dr. Jotani has a real passion for sports medicine and treating youths. He has been the team physician for Pell City High School and Victory Christian. Our new office will be ideally suited for seeing
Special attention was given to the furnishings and decorations.
The new office has all the equipment found in the main office. after-hours bumps during athletic activities.” The extended hours mean many people who would normally have to go to the emergency room have the option to go to the doctor’s office instead. Of course, if someone is in need of emergency medical care, the hospital is still the place to go, but for non-emergency medical needs, after-hours clinics may be a better option, particularly when you take medical bills into consideration. “There is no doubt, extended-hours clinics are definitely a great resource for people who have injuries or illnesses that don’t warrant a hospital visit. You don’t have those high deductibles and copays you have with an emergency-room visit. Having the clinic can help people save some of those expenses,” Howard said. The Pell City Internal and Family Medicine satellite office opened in mid September and began seeing patients. A grand opening is scheduled for some time in October. The office is located at 2048 Martin Street South in Pell City in the Publix Shopping Center. Same-day appointments are available. l
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Business Review
City Market Grill & Buffet
A dream come true for owners
Story by Graham Hadley Photos by Michael Callahan When co-operating partners Bill Folsom and Kenneth Phillips opened the City Market Grill & Buffet in Pell City, it was a dream come true for both of them. The new restaurant, located in the Walmart Shopping Center, marks their return to working together in the Pell City area after many years. Folsom was one of the original partners who opened Western Sizzlin at the location 14 years ago. In his early days in the restaurant business, he hired then teen-age Phillips as a dishwasher. Folsom moved on from that venture to open other restaurants around the region, but always wanted to start up another restaurant in Pell City. Phillips had worked his way up in the business, eventually managing other restaurants. So when El Cazador moved out of the building, it was the perfect time for Folsom and Phillips to fulfill their dream. “I was here 14 years ago. Opened the Western Sizzlin in that building. I always said, if I could get back in this building, I would,” Folsom said. “And I always promised Kenneth that I would get him back in this market one day. “The building became available at a time we could make something happen with it. … I thought Pell City was the perfect place for a Market Grill.” And he was right — business has been monumental from the very beginning, the largest opening day Folsom has seen. “I opened a restaurant in Boaz. That is a big market and thought nothing would beat that opening. This did. It’s the strongest opening I have ever seen, and I have opened a lot of restaurants,” he said, adding that customer response to their business model has been tremendous. That is largely in part to the fact that everything is cooked fresh from scratch — some of it, like steaks, omelets, eggs and baked goods, are prepared in the dining area where patrons can watch their meals
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Customers can find anything they want in the many buffets.
Prepping the salad bar is an all-day job.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
The exterior got a makeover as well.
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The large building has plenty of room for all the restaurant’s customers
made to order. It is also due to the popularity of the large and diverse buffets available, some with special pricing for senior citizens or with all sorts of specialty items, like the weekend breakfast buffets. Folsom said it took a tremendous amount of hard work by Phillips, their staff and him to get the City Market Grill open.“We have redone the whole building,” he said, adding that finding the right employees for the job, people who understand how to cook from scratch and the importance of serving fresh food is essential to their operation. “We have between 75 to 80 employees at this location,” he said, “and the funny thing is, we could hire 20 more part-timers. … Because we make everything from scratch, we are prepping and cooking in here all day.” Folsom tries to buy as much produce and food as he can from local farms, but because of the high volume of business he does, they do supplement their stock from national vendors. “This has all been pretty incredible for us. We love this market. It is a dream come true,” Folsom said. City Market Grill and Buffett in Pell City is open every day from 10:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. They do a huge breakfast buffet from 7 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, switching over to lunch at 10:30 a.m. those days. They stay open an hour later Friday and Saturday nights. l
Sharon Thomas, Broker 205.365.8875 www.SharonThomas.net www.SharonsDreamHomes.net Sharon@sharonthomas.net NEW LOCATION 30 Comer Avenue Pell City, AL 35125
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Keith
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Business Review
A focus on fresh
Specialty restaurants open in St. Clair Jason Dodd stirs some of their chicken and dumplings.
Dodd says he had been interested in the building for years
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You can buy fresh produce at the stand outside Giagatt’s
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • October & November 2015
Story by Graham Hadley Photos by Graham Hadley Two very different restaurants opened their doors in St. Clair County recently with very similar goals in mind — to serve farm-fresh, made-from-scratch food. In fact, though one is a vegan restaurant and the other serves a full range of food, both owners used the exact same line during their interviews: “Bringing the farm back to the table.” And whether they are growing the food themselves or buying from local farmers in places like Chandler Mountain, that is exactly what Breaking Bread in Steele and Giagatt’s in Pell City are doing. Breaking Bread For years, Breaking Bread owner and chief chef Jason Dodd had run restaurants, particularly in Montgomery. But because of the demand, inevitably those businesses gradually catered more and more to the bar crowd. Business was good, but it was not where Dodd says he was supposed to be. “I have been in the restaurant business for 19 years. I always loved to cook. But my last restaurants became more of a bartype atmosphere,” he said. That all changed with Breaking Bread, located on Steele Station Road just off Interstate 59. “God spoke to me and I changed directions with the Lord — and along came Breaking Bread.” Dodd had always liked the building, which used to house a steak house, and one day, he and his wife were driving by and she pointed out that it was vacant. He tracked down the building’s owner, sold off his other businesses and Breaking Bread — a name inspired from Biblical verse — was born. “Our focus was on wanting to bring the farm back to the table, to give people fresh, quality food,” Dodd said. That business plan is proving to be one of the keys to the new restaurant’s success. “People are coming in. They love the difference. They are getting fresh food. I have nothing frozen and nothing canned.” Dodd said some people did not recognize fresh lima beans at first, being used to the canned variety. Dodd also runs a catering business based on the same philosophy. “Our catering also is all about freshness. And we can make natural meals to suit our client’s needs.” The food for the restaurant and catering business all meets Dodd’s rigorous standards for quality. “All our produce comes from local vendors and places like Chandler Mountain,” he said. Even their meat comes from local meat processors. “Everything is hand made — mashed potatoes, casseroles, desserts. Our breakfast items are made from scratch.” Dodd hopes those breakfast items help turn Breaking Bread into something of an old-fashioned pancake house, one of those restaurants that were gathering places for friends and family to relax. “We want people to come in, enjoy fresh homemade food, just like what they would have at their house, talk and relax,” he said.
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Business Review
MOODY
Breaking Bread has four full-time employees, and Dodd is getting plenty of help from family and friends. “God has blessed us with those ladies who are helping us in the kitchen,” he said. The restaurant has a wide variety of food on the menu, and Dodd strives to have something for everyone, with a focus on home-style cooking. Organizations and groups, like Bible Study Classes, are welcome — several of which are already regulars of the new restaurant. They are open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m. and on Sundays from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. You can find Breaking Bread on Facebook and Google Maps. A website is in the works. Giagatt’s Old Country Store and Country Kitchen Pell City, Alabama, might be one of the last places you might expect to find a vegan restaurant. Vegan goes beyond vegetarian cuisine in that it uses no food from animals at all — dairy, animal fats and the like – not what people usually expect from Southern cuisine. Not what people usually expect from Southern cuisine. But Giagatt’s vegan restaurant, located on U.S. 231 south of Pell City, will surprise even the most skeptical diner. At the restaurant run by Tangela and John Harmon and their children, Jon and Angel, the only deviation from the vegan cookbook is the honey they use for sweetener. But from looking at their menu, you might never know you are in a different kind of restaurant. In addition to a wide variety of breads, casseroles, vegetable dishes, there are also things like meatloaf and hamburgers (made with nuts and other natural ingredients). They even serve some of the finest nondairy ice-cream around. And like Breaking Bread, all of their food is either grown on their own property — which includes a bee apiary, or bought locally from farms — they also mentioned Chandler Mountain as a big source for good produce locally. The Harmons say the vegan lifestyle is healthier than alternative diets, pointing out that their decision to give up animal products was driven by Tangela’s health problems — a change that produced spectacular results for her and her family. “My family has been vegan for 18 years, so I have been working on these recipes for 18 years,” she said. “I was having health issues.” After much research and taking their cue from the Book of Genesis in the Bible, the Harmons made the switch. “I lost 40 pounds when we quit eating meat and animal products,” John said. Now they want to share their incredible cuisine with people. But their mission does not stop there. They not only run a vegan restaurant, they teach classes in part of the building in everything from vegan cooking to how to do crafts and old farming skills, like canning fruits and vegetables or making soaps and candles. Tangela says she grew up with very little — no running water, electricity or other modern conveniences and learned to cook from family members. “Where I was raised … My aunt taught me to cook.
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John and Tangela Harmon at their new vegan restaurant, Giagatt’s We cooked over an open fire. Light came from candles or homemade oil lamps. My grandmother also loved to cook. I did not realize we were so different until I grew up,” she says. But now she is putting those hard-learned skills to work in the restaurant. Like his wife, John is good at making things from scratch. In his case, he focuses on home remodeling and cabinet and furniture making, running T&H Construction. And like his wife, he wants to share those skills with everyone, teaching classes in the same building that houses the restaurant and other family businesses. “We originally wanted to train people with these different skills. Now we are getting to do that, teaching these classes,” John said. The restaurant is already drawing a local following, and the Harmons say their customers who are new to vegan food are pleasantly surprised. The vegan meatloaf is popular, but Giagatt’s cornbread — especially the spicy kind — is becoming something of a regional favorite, Tangela said. And because they are already set up to specially prepare food for a vegan diet, Tangela said they can readily accommodate people with other specialty dietary needs — gluten free, diabetic, lactose intolerant, low fat and others. In addition to the restaurant, the Harmons run a produce stand in a small building next door where people can buy fresh vegetables and similar products. Given the growing popularity, they are already looking at expanding the footprint of the restaurant part of the building, enlarging the kitchen and dining areas and adding a front porch for outdoor eating — a project John is particularly excited about. Giagatt’s is open Tuesday through Saturday 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. You can follow them on Facebook and find them online at www.giagatts.com
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