YOUR SOURCE OF NEWS IN SELMA AND DALLAS COUNTY, ALABAMA March 14, 2019 | Volume 4, Issue 8
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Pilgrims flock to Selma this weekend Organizers add Orville to the tour this year BY TODD PRATER
Special to the Selma Sun For the 200th anniversary of Alabama becoming a state, the leaders of the Historic Selma Pilgrimage have a few new stops on the 44th annual tour. This year, historic homes in Orville will be spotlighted and pilgrims will be routed to travel just a couple miles down Cahaba Road from Orville and visit Old Cahawba Archeological Park, which was the site of the first Alabama State Capitol 200 years ago. The homes on the Pilgrimage in Selma are scheduled for the mornings, and the Orville homes for the afternoon, said Candi Duncan, treasurer of the Selma Dallas County Historical Preservation Society. The Historic Selma Pilgrimage started in 1975 by Christine Vaughn and Andrea Frost as a celebration of the Bicentennial of the United States, and this Friday and Saturday will be the 44th annual installment of the during the bicentennial of the State of Alabama.
The Pilgrimage is a fundraiser for the Selma Dallas County Historical Preservation Society, which uses the funds for education, preservation and restoration of historically significant buildings in Dallas County. Duncan said there have been years that they did not make any money and there have been years when they did, but the Society continues the Pilgrimage each year not just because it is the main fundraiser but because it is something good for the community. It is a chance to see beautiful historic homes and buildings and learn about the history and heritage of Dallas County. Duncan said one of the highlights of the Orville portion of the tour is the Orville Farmer’s Market which specializes in locally made products and locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables. The Orville Farmer’s Market also serves hot meals made from the fresh produce. Because of the addition of Orville, the tour will not include Live Oak Cemetery this year.
See PILGRIMS FLOCK, Page 3 A Junior Hostess dressed in period costume welcomes visitors to each home on the Historic Selma Pilgrimage. Photo provided.
Selma Food Bank plots expansion BY CINDY FISHER Selma Sun Staff
Selma Food Bank has big expansion plans and a capital campaign on the horizon to add onto their ability to feed those in need in Dallas and surrounding counties. CEO Jeff Harrison said the Food Bank is in discussions with their neighboring landowner to obtain an acre of land next to their warehouse on Oak Street to build a loading dock for storing the large truck they use that was donated by Walmart and improve their distribution system. The nonprofit has been building reserves each month
in anticipation of expansion and plan to start a capital campaign to cover costs of construction by 2020. “The Lord has tended to everything we’ve needed before, so there’s no doubt He will come through again for our next endeavor,” Harrison said. Adding a loading dock would free up the retail area to be larger, with more racks in rows like a grocery store, he said. Right now, it is split into two sides of the loading area to fit the large truck parked in the middle at the end of each day. Selma Food Bank has been providing food to residents in Perry, Cox, Marengo and
Jeff Harrison went from a broker of money to a broker of food when he retired from banking to become Selma Food Bank’s executive director.
The former Budweiser warehouse on Oak Street has room for pallets of food but needs more space for a loading dock.
Dallas counties through 65 distribution agencies such as churches with food pantries. A group of citizens concerned about those in need in Dallas County started the food bank and have operated out of a former Budweiser warehouse since the beer company outgrew it in 1993. Budweiser built a larger facility by Craig Field and rented their old building to the Selma Food Bank until Harrison persuaded them to donate the building to the nonprofit after he became executive director in 2015. Selma Food Bank is a partner distributor of the larger Montgomery food bank, where they get donations once a week. Selma’s Food Bank also gets donations from Walmart and Winn Dixie of food that has been set aside for pickup. Many donations are dented cans or packages of multiples that are missing one can, or cans with a spilled spot on the
lid that is otherwise unblemished. They don’t just get food donations. After holidays, they get many festive items, so they set it aside until the following year and put those items out for sale in the retail area. Right now, it’s Easter goodies and St. Patrick’s Day items. When shopping the food bank, the deal is 19 cents a pound, which Harrison says goes toward offsetting expenses. So a 50lb box of potatoes is $9.50. They have coolers and freezers with milk donated by the USDA and rolls from Sister Shubert’s. “We have the least amount of resources, but the largest need here in Dallas County,” Harrison said. Selma Food Bank has many large corporate donors and partners from Dallas County, including International Paper that stores donated paper at the warehouse before it
is transported to the United Way for its agencies. Partners include local organizations like Dallas County native and NFL star Michael Johnson’s foundation. Johnson’s father, Sam, is on the food bank’s board. Pepsi donates drinks, but many are diet sodas that Harrison said they have a hard time giving away. Dallas County, like many lower-income areas, have issues with residents who have poor eating habits. The Food Bank wants to show residents there are inexpensive ways to eat healthier through the foods they make available. Senior citizens on fixed incomes are challenged with decisions such as paying for medications instead of good food, and often eat bologna, canned sausages and other unhealthy options that are left to choose from. They have outreach programs that target senior cit-
izens and children in the Dallas County schools. Volunteers fill food bags once a month for both groups. The “brown bags” for kids go to Salem Elementary in Orville, which is the food bank’s partner school. The key donation times are before Christmas break and spring break to make sure they have enough food when school lunch is unavailable. For Harrison, a retired banker, running this nonprofit has been life-changing. It’s similar to what he was doing in banking, he said. “They’re both about relationships and helping people, at the end of the day.” And he’s using what he learned in retail banking to become a “broker of food instead of money.” Harrison turned his volunteerism on the board into a second career that he says is “very rewarding” and has plans to grow the nonprofit to fit the area’s growing need.