12.12.19

OTMJ OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL u OTMJ.COM

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2019

2 • Thursday, December 12, 2019

Inside

Murphy’s Law

I ‘BOND AND LOVE’ Community Mourns Death of Aniah Blanchard PAGE 12

‘DOES GOD EXIST’ Rise of Atheism Prompts BestSelling Author to Publish Book on the Existence of God PAGE 14

IT’S THE HOLIDAY SEASON! Santa Sightings, Christmas Parades, Tree Lightings and More! PAGE 22

REMEMBERING PAT SULLIVAN Football Legend’s Battle with Cancer a ‘Profile in Courage’ PAGE 44

ABOUT TOWN 4 NEWS 12 LIFE 14 SOCIAL 20

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

OPINION/CONTENTS

SENIORS 30 HOLIDAY CARDS 34 SCHOOLS 40 SPORTS 44

otmj.com With everything that’s happening “Over the Mountain,” it can be difficult to keep up. That’s why we have launched the OTMJ newsletter.

Published every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday - we’ll give you a quick recap of the latest news, sports and social events as well as a heads up on upcoming events so you won’t miss any of the interesting and fun happenings in the Greater Birmingham metro area.

To sign up for our newsletter, visit otmj.com.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, @overthemountainjournal, for daily updates on what’s going on around town, too.

OVER THE MOUNTAIN

J O U R N A L December 12, 2019 Publisher & Editor: Maury Wald Copy Editor: Virginia Martin Features Writer: Donna Cornelius Staff Writers: Ingrid Schnader, Emily Williams Photographer: Jordan Wald Editorial Assistant: Stacie Galbraith Sports: Rubin E. Grant Contributors: Susan Murphy, June Mathews, Emil Wald, Marvin Gentry, Lee Walls, Bryan Bunch, Sam Prickett Advertising Sales: Julie Trammell Edwards, Tommy Wald, Gail Kidd Vol. 29, No. 9

Over The Mountain Journal is a suburban bi-weekly newspaper delivered to Mountain Brook, Homewood, Vestavia Hills, Hoover and North Shelby County areas. Subscriptions for The Journal are available for $24 yearly. Mail to: Over the Mountain Journal, P.O. Box 660502, Vestavia Hills, AL 35216. Phone: (205) 823-9646. E-mail the editorial department at editorial@otmj.com. E-mail our advertising department at mwald@otmj.com. Find us on the Web at otmj.com.

Copyright 2019 Over The Mountain Journal, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Journal is not responsible for return of photos, copy and other unsolicited materials submitted. To have materials returned, please specify when submitting and provide a stamped, self-addressed envelope. All materials submitted are subject to editorial review and may be edited or declined without notification.

The Moment

’ve been watching a lot of leave Christmas Town and return to Christmas movies. You could hardher former empty, downcast life. ly avoid them this year given that Five minutes left before the credits! three channels started running them There simply couldn’t be enough time back-to-back before Halloween. for things to work out. (Really? Are I know I’ve talked about this glut you new?) And then there comes a before, but I have to tell you, when the moment, “the moment” when our prinother channels are filled with fires and cipals are reunited and decide to let go treachery and crimes so horrible they of whatever has been standing between require a separate unit on the police them. They embrace, snow falls, and force, it’s comforting to know I can hit we can tell by the happy glow on their the remote and be transported to a faces that they know they are really place where the biggest problem is and truly loved.

Sue Murphy that they can’t find the star for the That’s what I wish for you this seatown Christmas tree. son. Not the first three quarters of the Oh sure, the plot in every one of movie. Seriously, skip all that. But these movies is pretty much the here’s the takeaway: If there’s same. Alas, our protagonist has lost ... “the moment,” that someone you think has wronged her emotional way. Through a series don’t let another commercial simultaneous embracing you, of half-baked events, she finds hergo by without at least an attempt at and letting go of all the a reconciliation. Then you can fastself back in her family home or in a strange town where people immediforward to the part where everyone right things. is happy. ately treat her like family. And none You don’t have to live in Santa of these towns are Scroogeville, Claus Town to experience “the either – unless the one who is lost is moment.” You don’t have to harbor a dream of ownthe town itself. If the entire populous does not have a ing a cupcake emporium or holiday ski lodge. It’s case of the Grinches (a Hallmark 911), each and every true. You, who bought your holiday cookies from house is decorated so intensely that it looks like a float someone else’s bakery and last-minute safety-pinned in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. a costume for your child’s Christmas pageant (Was No matter how lost our protagonist is, after the first that today?); you, who decided that putting up a tree commercial, Jennifer or Linda or Holly (spoiler alert: was just too much work this year; you, who are Holly is probably Santa’s long lost daughter) gets flawed and tired and can’t even find the remote to drawn into the town’s holiday festivities. They drink watch the Christmas movies; you, too, can have “the cocoa. They bake cookies. They gather to watch the moment,” that simultaneous embracing and letting go town’s Christmas pageant, which has somehow lost its singer/writer/costume designer, and guess who just hap- of all the right things. In fact, you might need it most pens to be a singer/writer/costume designer. of all.

Along the way, of course, our heroine meets a speSo, that is my wish for you this year. Poor creacial someone and seems safely on her way to holiday tures that we are, we all want to know – need to happiness, but as we still have 45 minutes of air time to know – that we are really and truly loved, loved fill, a misunderstanding arises that is so egregious that beyond time and space and measure. our heroine decides there is nothing more to do but Roll the credits. Merry Christmas!

OTM Students Send Their Holiday Wishes!

OTMJ OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL u OTMJ.COM

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2019

COVER CARDS, First row, from left: Corinne Erickson, 3rd, Edgewood Elementary; Addison Presley, 4th, Cherokee Bend; Caroline Carter, 5th, Greystone; Jack Walker, 5th, Crestline; Asa Thorntorn, 2nd,

Crestline. Second row: Millie Thompson, 2nd, Rocky Ridge; Olivia Davis, 2nd, Shades Cahaba; Amelia McGregor, 3rd, Cahaba Heights. Third row: Trent Difatta, 3rd, Dolly Ridge; Audrey Motyka, Kindergarten, OLS; Jake Falls, 3rd, Cahaba Heights; Elif Karaca, 3rd, Vestavia West; Reid Welo, 4th, Cherokee Bend.

Fourth row: Svetlana Fuller, 5th, McElwain Christian; Maggie Lee, 5th, Brookwood Forest; Spencer Brinkley, Kindergarten, Mountain Brook; Annabelle Smith, 3rd, Oak Mountain; Evelyn Kim, 1st, Advent.

Fifth row: Dominic Rey, 3rd, Gwin; Harper Boyd, 5th, Creative Montessori; Bennett Dyer-Smith, 1st, Crestline. Sixth row: Caroline Eldridge, 5th, Mountain Brook; Anisha Dubey, 5th, Deer Valley; Campbell Horne, 4th, Liberty Park; Julie Parks, 5th, Shades Mountain.

Sofia Izcaray Serafimou, 3rd, Edgewood Elementary See more HOLIDAY CARDS beginning on page 34

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We’ll see you again on Jan. 9th!!

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 3

ABOUT TOWN

The Shops of Canterbury Road

Hospitality and unique gifts found in the local shops of Canterbury Road in Mountain Brook Village

Antique French Jardiniers, various shapes and sizes to choose from.

Antiquites, 205-870-1030.

Beautiful knitted hand warmers and hats using fair trade principles. Made in Nepal.

Christine’s on Canterbury, (205) 871-8297.

Creamy fudge enrobed in dark or milk chocolate. A 5 star winner!

Christine’s on Canterbury, (205) 871-8297

Teri Bracelet & Necklace Combination, $309.

ExVoto Vintage Jewelry, 205-538-7301.

Four-piece feeding set, $48.

Christine’s Across-the-street, 205-871-6611.

Set of 3 bodywash infused body buffers, $29.

Marguerite’s Conceits, 205-879-2730.

Bourbon Balls by Pappy & Company, $18$34, made with Old rip Van Winkle 10 year.

The Dandé Lion, 205-879-0691.

Gel fuel tabletop fireplace, $195.

Patina, (205) 802-9805

Plaid beaded bags.

The Village Poodle, 205-423-5443.

4 • Thursday, December 12, 2019

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

ABOUT TOWN

LET THE HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS BEGIN.

Photo by Alisha Crossley Photography

CHRISTMAS EVE S P E C I A LT Y H O L I DAY À L A C A R T E M E N U 11am - 8pm

Adult $69 / Child (6-12) $29 Complimentary holiday inspired mimosa and live music

C H R I S T M A S DAY GRAND BUFFET 11am - 4pm

Adult $69 / Child (6-12) $29 Complimentary holiday inspired mimosa and live music

C H R I S T M A S DAY À LA CARTE DINNER 5:30pm - 8pm Complimentary glass of sparkling wine and live music

N E W Y E A R ’S E V E 4-COURSE DINNER 5pm - 9:30pm

Adult $89 / Child (6-12) $29 Complimentary glass of sparkling wine at midnight and live music

Annual IPC House Tour Takes Place Dec. 14 and 15 The Holiday House Tour is here again.

Independent Presbyterian Church’s 70th annual tour will be held Dec. 14 and 15, featuring three homes decked out with holiday decorations.

Homes featured on the tour will include Caroline Gidiere, 2932 Fairway Drive; Vawter Stratford, 2821 Stratford Road (above); and Doug Sutton and Andrew Nix, 2426 Henrietta Road.

In the past, tourgoers have been able to drive themselves to each house. This year, they are asked to park at Independent Presbyterian Church at 3100 Highland Ave.

Thurs., Dec. 12 Homewood Public Library Hosts Author Mary Johns

What: Johns, author of “100 Things to Do in Alabama Before you Die,” has traveled Alabama to find the most interesting itineraries. Books will be available for purchase.

When: 1-2 p.m. Where: Homewood Library Round Auditorium Website: homewood.libnet.info

in Birmingham and catch a shuttle to the houses. But don’t jump immediately on that shuttle. Step inside the church, first.

Architect William Warren of Warren, Knight & Davis designed the impressive structure, which was built in 1915. IPC members decorate the sanctuary and parlor for the tour, and tea is served in the Great Hall.

Hours will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 14; and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Dec. 15.

For more information, visit ipc-usa.

—Emily Williams

Dec. 12-15 Inspecting Carol

What: Get your holiday cheer on with this hilarious, madcap comedy. It’s a behind-the-scenes look when all goes wrong in a slapdash production of “A Christmas Carol.” When: Dec. 12-14., 7:30 p.m.; Dec. 15, 2:30 p.m.

Where: Homewood Theatre Website: homewoodtheatre.com

Dec. 12-22 MBAA Holiday Art Show

What: The Mountain Brook Art Association is hosting its Holiday Art Show benefiting local artists and this year’s charity, Studio by the Tracks. When: Mon.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Fri. and Sat., 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sun., noon-6 p.m.

Where: The Summit Website: mountainbrookartassociation.com

Tracy Arrington Designs exclusively at

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 5

ABOUT TOWN Dec. 13-15 and 20-22 George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker

Photo courtesy Samford University

What: Alabama Ballet presents this holiday masterpiece as one of only eight companies in the world licensed by The Balanchine Trust to perform it. When: Check the website for times. Where: Wright Fine Arts Center, Samford University Website: alabamaballet.org

Dec. 13,19 and 20 It’s a Wonderful Laugh! A PFI Holiday Show

Breakfast with Santa

What: Positively Funny Improv continues its celebration of the holidays in this fully-improvised comedy show. When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: Birmingham Improv Theatre Website: bhamimprovtheatre.com

What: Enjoy a breakfast of scrambled eggs, pancakes and sausage with orange juice and coffee followed by a visit from Ole Saint Nick. All children receive a special holiday gift upon arrival. When: 8-9:30 a.m. Where: Birmingham Zoo, Nourish Café Website: birminghamzoo.com

Sat., Dec. 14 Jingle Bell Run

What: Strut your stuff in your favorite holiday costume and feel good about raising money for the Arthritis Foundation. When: 7:30 a.m., registration; races start at 8:45 a.m., 9 a.m. and 9:05 a.m. Where: Railroad Park Website: events.arthritis.org

Alabama Wildlife Center Holiday Craft and Bake Sale What: Enjoy homemade treats, crafts, visits with Santa, and works of art available for purchase.

The educational raptors will be participating in the festivities all in

SAMFORD LEGACY LEAGUE’S CHRISTMAS HOME TOUR | DEC. 12

What: Guests will enjoy touring five unique and beautifully appointed homes, tasting delicious seasonal fare and shopping at the holiday gift market.

Proceeds provide scholarships for deserving students. When: 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.- 8 p.m. Where: Check the website Website: samford.edu

Holiday Film Series

What: The Alabama Theatre holiday film series continues with music performed on the Mighty Wurlitzer organ before each showing. Doors open 90 minutes before showtime.

When: Check the website for dates and times Where: The Alabama Theatre Website: alabamatheatre. com

Holiday Spectacular

What: Celebrate the holidays with a spectacular display of all your favorite music of the season as RMTC Conservatory students perform alongside Birmingham’s best local artists. When: Wed.-Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 2 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 22, 7:30 p.m. Where: RMTC Cabaret Theatre Website: redmountaintheatre.org

Dec. 12-29 It’s a Wonderful Life Live

What: Be a part of the studio audience as the theatre takes you back in time to the 1946 radio broadcast of this beloved story, with original music and live Foley sound effects that bring the town of Bedford Falls to life. When: Check the website for times Where: Terrific New Theatre Website: terrificnewtheatre.com

1931 29th Ave S Homewood, AL 35209 (205) 968. 1301 www.smartskinmedspa.com

Dec.12-Jan. 5

Monday-Saturday Located right across the street from Regions Bank in Homewood

Ice Skating at the Park

What: Take a spin on the ice and coast down the new 100-foot ice slide as Railroad Park continues its seasonal ice skating rink for the holidays. Open seven days a week with the exception of Christmas Day. When: Check the website for times Where: Railroad Park Website: “Railroad Park” Facebook page

Magic of Model Trains

What: McWane Science Center proceeds with its model train exhibit throughout the season. Discover trains of every shape and size inside this awe-inspiring exhibit of locomotive displays. When: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Where: McWane Science Center Website: mcwane.org

Dec. 12-Jan. 26 Barbie at the BMA

What: This exhibit takes a critical look at Barbie on the occasion of her 60th anniversary and offers an immersive experience where visitors can explore their relationship with Barbie through a reimagined modern dream house. When: Tues.-Sat., 10 a.m.5 p.m.; Sun., noon-5 p.m. Where: Birmingham Museum of Art, Arrington Gallery Website: artsbma.org

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6 • Thursday, December 12, 2019

The 26th annual ZooLight Safari at the Birmingham Zoo kicked off Dec. 6 with a tree lighting in Henley Park that featured characters from Birmingham Children’s Theatre’s productions. This seasonal event will continue Dec. 13-23 and Dec. 26-30 between the hours of 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Select evenings will feature special performances, educational activities, games and other activities. In addition, Santa Claus will be available for pictures in the Children’s Zoo each night until Dec. 23, taking a break at 6 p.m. for a musical performance. This event is free for members or $10 for non-members. For more information, visit birminghamzoo.com.

—Emily Williams

FOR BIGGER ADVENTURES

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support of wildlife rehabilitation and education. When: 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Where: Veterans Park Website: alabamawildlifecenter.org

CahaBAZAAR: Bicentennial Holiday Market

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What: Cahaba Brewing Co. celebrates Alabama’s 200th birthday with 70+ local artists, makers and non-profits, visits with Santa, a free ornament making station, free caricature artist and a free hot chocolate bar. When: noon-6 p.m.; Santa, 12:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.; caricature artist, 1-4 p.m. Where: Cahaba Brewing Co. Website: “CahaBAZAAR: Bicentennial Holiday Market” Facebook page

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Dec. 14 and 15 Blue Light Special Art Show What: Over 50 artists present

Journal photo by Jordan Wald

ZooLight Safari Offers Lights, Santa and Holiday Festivities

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

ABOUT TOWN

Santa wants you to come see him at the Birmingham Zoo. their best pieces and seconds at a discount in this annual art show.

Enjoy hot soup and bread served in Earthborn bowls which you keep for a donation of $25. Proceeds benefit First Light Shelter. When: Dec. 14, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; Dec. 15, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Where: 7575 Parkway Dr., Leeds Website: earthbornpottery.net

Dec. 14, 15 and 21 A Year with Frog and Toad

What: Birmingham Children’s Theatre presents a play based on the books

by Arnold Lobel with music by Robert Reale and book and lyrics by Willie Reale. Part Vaudeville, part make believe… all charm. 8+. When: Dec. 14, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.; Dec. 15 and 21, 2:30 p.m. Where: Birmingham Children’s Theatre Website: bct123. org

Dec. 14 and 21 Santa’s Gingerbread Workshop

What: Join McWane Science Center in engineering your own edible masterpiece with gingerbread and sweet candy decorations. Take a break from decorating and enjoy a ride on the McWane Train.

When: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Where: McWane Science Center Website: mcwane.org

Sun., Dec. 15 Sounds of the Season

What: Drawing on the talent of The Opera Birmingham Chorus, this concert will feature a variety of ensemble performances by native Birmingham artists both sacred and secular. When: 2:30 p.m. Where: Samford University, Brock Recital Hall Website: operabirmingham.org

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7575 Parkway Drive, Leeds, AL 35094 205.702.7055

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 7

ABOUT TOWN

Does God Exist? “

Richard Simmons’ book is the fruit of many years of thoughtful reading about the relationship of theology to the issues of modern life. He brings the biblical doctrine of God into conversation with the most basic questions about meaning and morality, science and human reason. Chapter after chapter offer helpful insights.

”

—TIM KELLER, Redeemer City to City

“In this accessible read, Richard Simmons offers valuable insights for those grappling with life’s biggest questions.”

—ERIC METAXAS, New York Times bestselling author and host of the nationally syndicated radio Show

“This book is an essential primer for all who seek to effectively engage the skeptical culture in which we live.”

—CHRIS HODGES, Founding and Senior Pastor, Church of the Highlands

“Richard Simmons delivers a timely and valuable resource which is thoroughly researched, well organized and highly accessible. He provides believers with a solid foundation for a faith in God that is reasonable, resilient and resolute while giving skeptics much to consider.”

—-TIM KALLAM, Senior Pastor, Mountain Brook Community Church

“REALLY ENJOYED THE BOOK!!!

GREAT READ!!!”

—PAUL LAWLER, Senior Pastor, Christ Church United Methodist

“It is with great pleasure that I commend to you this book by Richard E. Simmons III. You will soon find that this highly accessible volume will become an invaluable asset to all readers who desire to be effective in their call to “defend the faith.”

—HARRY L. REEDER, Senior Pastor, Briarwood Presbyterian Church

“Richard Simmons masterfully guides us through this journey of meaning through his reflections.

Each essay stands alone, but in total, provide a comprehensive view of what the God-centered life looks like, as well as the alternative.”

—ANDREW C. PEARSON, JR. Dean and Rector Cathedral Church of the Advent

Richard E. Simmons is the founding director of The Center for Executive Leadership, a faith-based ministry he started in 2001 in Birmingham, Alabama, focused on counseling businessmen and professionals.

Visit us at www.richardesimmons3.com

Available on Amazon.com and at local retail stores.

Go to www.richardesimmons3.com for more information.

CTrinity 8 • Thursday, December 12, 2019

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

ABOUT TOWN

Tues., Dec. 17

hristmas at

The Santa Show

What: Join Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest as our favorite elf comes to visit with stories from the North Pole. When: Dinner, 6 p.m.; show, 6:30 p.m. Where: Vestavia Hills Library Community Room Website: vestavialibrary.org

Thurs., Dec. 19 Birmingham Boys Choir Christmas Concert

CHRISTMAS EVE, DECEMBER 24

for an intimate time of family or individual worship and communion.

• CHILDREN’S SERVICE 2:00 PM | Sanctuary

This interactive service is designed for families with young children.

Communion will be served.

• CANDLELIGHT COMMUNION 4:00*, 6:00* & 11:00 PM | Sanctuary

Trinity’s traditional services of Christmas with special music, word, candlelight and communion. *Nursery available

1400 Oxmoor Road, Homewood, AL • 205.879.1737

www.trinitybirmingham.com

Mountain Brook children were excited last week to see the city’s special mailboxes giving them direct access to Santa.

Santa’s Got Mail

Mountain Brook Sets Up Santa’s Mailboxes in Crestline, Mountain Brook Villages It’s the time of year when Santa Claus makes his list and checks it twice.

To help the big guy, Mountain Brook’s Public Works Department has set up Santa’s mailboxes in town so children can send letters directly to the North Pole.

The mailboxes are located in Mountain Brook and Crestline villages, including at Smith’s Variety, the Chamber of Commerce office at City Hall, Gilchrist and Swoop.

According to Public Works Director Ronnie Howard, the mailboxes have been a Mountain Brook holiday tradition for about 20 years.

“It seems there is always much excitement in the community concerning the special mailboxes for letters to Santa,” Howard said.

While the city is charged with posting them around town, the rest is up to the magic of Christmas.

“We are not sure how many letters

Fri, Dec. 20 Handel’s Messiah

What: Handel’s Messiah has become the world’s most popular choral work, delighting audiences every holiday season. When: 7 p.m. Where: Alys Stephens Center, Jemison Concert Hall Website: alabamasymphony.org

Sat., Dec. 21 The Reindeer Dash

What: Pure Fitness presents a Christmas-themed 5k and 1 mile fun run. Dress as your favorite holiday character and bring your family to support Grace Klien Community.

When: 7:30-9 a.m. Where: Pure Fitness in Vestavia Hills Website: runsignup.com

Journal photo by Jordan Wald

PERSONAL COMMUNION 12:00 - 1:00 PM | Mouat Chapel Come and go at any time during this hour

What: Free concert features some of the most beloved Christmas Carols of the season. In addition to the 150 choristers of the choir, a 45-voice group of dads and grand-dads will be singing with the boys. When: 7 p.m. Where: Briarwood Presbyterian Church Website: briarwood.org

are passed along to Santa,” he said.

“We’re not sure how he receives them. It could be an elf, we just don’t know.”

Letters will be collected through Dec. 23, and those who send a letter can expect a response from the big guy himself.

– Emily Williams

Meadow Brook Run

What: U.S. AmeriBank will host the race headquarters facilities for the 25th annual run. Entry fees are voluntary with a suggestion of $15-25. The run will include t-shirts, gift bags, prizes, food and more. When: Registration, 7:308:45 ; 5K, 9 a.m.; fun run, 10 a.m.

Holiday Sale!

November 23 - January 5 For a full schedule of events, visit us at www.mcwane.org Located in downtown Birmingham

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 9

ABOUT TOWN

GRAND MENORAH LIGHTING | SUN., DEC. 22

Where: US AmeriBank Website: meadowbrookruns.org

What: Enjoy Chanukah festivities to include music, a stilt walker, balloon artists, a graffiti wall, a bubble show and traditional Chanukah foods. This year Senator Doug Jones will be lighting the Shamash on the Menorah.

When: 4:30-6:30 p.m. Where: The Summit in Saks Plaza Website: thesummitbirmingham.com

Holiday With the Animals Enrichment Day

Journal file photo by Jordan Wald

What: Join the Birmingham Zoo in a day of holiday-themed enrichment.

Visit various decorated habitats while the animals discover, uncover, unwrap and sometimes smash creatively crafted holiday themed treats. When: 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Where: Birmingham Zoo Website: birminghamzoo.com

Home for the Holidays

What: Sing along to holiday favorites, hear timeless classics and enjoy the spirit of the season with the ASO and special guests Caleb Clark, Dolores Hydock and Three on a String. When: 7 p.m. Where: Alys Stephens Center, Jemison Concert Hall Website: alabamasymphony.org

Wed., Dec. 25

Merry Christmas!

Tues., Dec. 31 Noon Years Eve

What: Celebrate the New Year early at McWane Science Center. Included will be a spectacular science demonstration, dancing, sparkling juice, toast and a special surprise to welcome in the “noon” year. When: noon-5 p.m. Where: McWane Science Center Website: mcwane.org

YOU GO 24/7.

NOW, SO DO WE. INTRODUCING 24/7 SCHEDULING For those who go round the clock, we now offer anytime scheduling for most appointments.

Call us 24/7 at 205-939-3699 to schedule an appointment and to start making your comeback.

Cheers! The New Years Eve Concert

What: Dance into the New Year with waltzes, polkas and marches by Johann Strauss II, alongside danceinspired music from around the world When: 6 p.m. Where: Alys Stephens Center, Jemison Concert Hall Website: alabamasymphony.org

Wed., Jan. 1

Happy New Year!

Thurs., Jan. 9 National Blue Blood Drive

What: Honor those who would lay down their lives for us as National C.O.P.S. (Concern of Police Survivors) partners with the American Red Cross and community blood centers to donate blood. When: 1-5 p.m. Where: Crestline Elementary Website: mtnbrookchamber.org

Jan. 10 and 11 Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto What: Pianist Joyce Yang returns to Birmingham to celebrate Beethoven’s 250th birthday year with a rousing performance as well as the music of Finland with Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony.

When: 7 p.m. Where: Alys Stephens Center, Jemison Concert Hall Website: alabamasymphony.org

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

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For the past 60 years, local Boy Scouts of Troop 4 have sold holiday cheer and raised funds for their troops through an annual tree sale in Vestavia Hills.

Headquartered at Scout Square on U.S. 31 in Vestavia Hills, the Mountain Scout Tree Sale has grown to include two more locations and benefits 11 Over the Mountain scout troops.

“I believe the Hoover lot, which is currently located at Target at Interstate 459 and (Alabama) Highway 150, was added back in the ‘90s. The Homewood lot, located at Shades Cahaba Elementary and previously operated by the Optimist Club, was added in 2015,” said Mark McColl, tree sale treasurer.

“We currently sell over 4,700 trees at the three locations.”

Visiting the lot to pick out a tree is a holiday tradition for many community members. “We try to have an atmosphere (music, complimentary hot chocolate and candy canes) that fosters the creation of great family memories of coming to the lot to buy their tree,” McColl said.

The fundraiser was created in 1959

by Troop 4 of Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church founding Scoutmaster Jimmy W. Coleman Sr., an

Journal photo by Jordan Wald

By Emily Williams

Adam Grimes, Zachary Lachina, Aidan Lange, Trenton Thomas, Denton Russell, Joey Sousa, Donnelly Tighe and Harrison Balducci. Below, Matthew Kyle at the Mountain Scout Tree Sale on U.S. 31 in Vestavia Hills.

electrical engineer, to sustain the troop while the two oldest of his three sons worked toward the Eagle Scout rank.

Coleman’s own backyard on Mountain View Drive in Vestavia Hills was the first site of the tree sale. He traveled to wholesale grocers, farmers markets and other sites to obtain the trees and had them delivered to the house.

According to a 2004 interview with Coleman’s wife, compiled by then tree sale Chairman Loring S. Jones III, the sale was so popular that she could hardly take a bath at night between serving all of the customers. By 1960, the sale was moved to a lot on US. 31 and

jumped around the various locations before the city of Vestavia Hills approved the lot now known as Scout Square.

Each year, the massive undertaking requires 11,000 hours of work, voluntarily accomplished by Scouts and their parents. McColl noted that the hard work serves as a way for Boy Scouts to learn the value of a good work ethic, salesmanship and community relations, among other skills.

Funds raised in the first five years helped Troop 4 buy canoes, a trailer, tents, gear and even a used blue school bus, Vestavia Hills UMC’s first vehicle.

They continue to support the purchase of uniforms and equipment for participating troops.

Now, in addition to Troop 4, the funds pay for uniforms and equipment for Troop 1, Southminster Presbyterian Church; Troop 23, Discovery United Methodist Church; Troop 79, All Saints Episcopal; Troop 93, Oakmont Chapel Presbyterian Church; Troop 95, Shades Valley Lutheran Church; Troop 96, Cahaba Heights United Methodist Church; Troop 226, St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church; Troop 237, Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church; Troop 320, Mountain Brook Presbyterian Church; and Troop 367, Riverchase United Methodist Church.

“A few other troops that aren’t officially part of the sale also benefit by working some unfilled shifts,” McColl said.

The tree lots will be selling trees, garlands and wreaths until Dec. 22. Sale hours at the Hoover and Homewood lots are 12:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. every day. The Vestavia lot is open Sunday through Friday from 12:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

For more information, visit scouttreesale.com or call 205-538-1498.

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

Mountain Brook’s Hecker and Krueger Earn Eagle Rank

A Court of Honor ceremony was held Nov. 3 by Troop 320 at Mountain Brook Presbyterian Church for two of its newest Eagle Scouts, Zac Hecker and Nathan Krueger.

Friends since preschool, Hecker and Krueger began their scouting careers together as Cub Scouts in first grade and joined Troop 320 in fifth grade.

Both scouts have older brothers, Will Hecker and Will Krueger, who also are Eagle Scouts with Troop 320.

In Hecker’s scouting career, he has earned 35 merit badges and held such leadership positions as patrol leader, scribe, instructor and chaplain’s aid.

As a scout, Hecker has earned the Order of the Arrow, completing his Ordeal at Camp Comer.

He has hiked 89 miles, cycled 44 miles, paddled 25 miles and spent 57 nights camping.

Among Zac Hecker his favorite trips were the Pensacola Naval Station, where he toured the USS Independence, and a trip he took with the Southern Contingent of the Greater Alabama Council to the 2017 National Scout Jamboree in Bechtel, West Virginia.

For his Eagle Scout project, Hecker planned, raised funds and led 16 youth and four adults in the construction of

Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 11

PEOPLE three outdoor sensory play stations and a teacher’s bench for Mountain Brook Baptist Church Early Learning Center.

Hecker is a sophomore at Mountain Brook High School, where he plays the alto saxophone in the marching and concert bands. He is a member of the Beta Club and is a second-degree black belt.

Upon graduation, he plans to attend UAB and to study accounting.

Hecker is the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Fulham Hecker Jr. He is the grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. J. Wayne White of Mountain Brook and the late Mr. and Mrs. William Fulham Hecker Sr. of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

In Krueger’s scouting career, he has earned 22 merit badges and held leadership positions including patrol leader, den chief, quartermaster, librarian and historian.

Krueger has earned the Order of the Arrow, completing his Ordeal at Camp Comer. As a scout, he has hiked 61 miles, paddled 145 miles and spent 55 nights camping. His favorite campout was attending the high adventure camp of Northern Tier in Minnesota, where he canoed more than 75 miles of the border waters in Quetico, Canada.

For his Eagle Service Project, Krueger planned, raised funds and led 19 youth and three adult volunteers in the building and installation of an outdoor chalkboard, bench and six planters as part of an outdoor classroom at Brookwood Forest Elementary.

The project, which took 327 hours of work to plan and complete, benefits students of all ages at the school and

honors the memory of Amy Sanders, who was a past president of the BWF PTO and a family friend.

A sophomore at Mountain Brook High School, Krueger Nathan Krueger is a member of the Beta Club and plays football as

an offensive lineman for the Spartans.

He also plays defense in lacrosse for Mountain Brook.

When Krueger graduates in 2022, he plans to study biology and computer science.

Krueger is the son of William and Janet Krueger. He is the grandson of Jack Howard Krueger and the late DelBondio Cabaniss Krueger of Mountain Brook and Marilyn Wike Williams and the late Nathaneal Dean Wike of Hoover.

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NEWS

12 • Thursday, December 12, 2019

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

‘Bond and Love’

By Ingrid Schnader

“You want to protect your children, and you tell them all the time to be safe and to be careful,” she said.

“It’s just the worst nightmare coming true for another family. It’s heartbreaking.”

After a month of searching for missing teen Aniah Blanchard, residents of Homewood and the surrounding communities were devastated to hear that Blanchard’s body had been found in Shorter on Nov. 25.

“Right now, nothing makes sense and I’m so lost,” Walt Harris, Blanchard’s stepfather, wrote in a Nov. 28 Instagram post. “I just want you back. I hope I made you proud. … My lil mighty mighty tiger is a angel now. I love you baby girl forever and ever!”

Blue bows had been hung throughout the Over the Mountain communities in support of the search for Blanchard and her safe return home.

Trinity United Methodist Church invited community members to write a prayer or message on their bows to be hung on a cross in front of the church.

Jane Lamb – whose son, Lucas Lamb, graduated from Homewood High School with Blanchard – said this tragedy makes her hold on to her own children tighter. Jane and Lucas were at Trinity on Nov. 26 to hang their bows onto the cross.

Angela Harris posted a save the date on Instagram for an event honoring the life of Blanchard to be held Dec. 21. The post said to wear baby blue and black to the event and that more details are to come.

It will be weird to see an end to the blue bows across the community now that the search is over, she said.

“I’m just so thankful that we’ve been able to see the bond and love of this community,” she said. “I think it’s made us all better people. If you put aside your differences and whether you know someone or not or

whether you’re the same or different or whatever you believe. For those 30 days, that was our one focus.”

Later that night, Angela Harris spoke at a vigil held for Blanchard, who was her daughter. The vigil was streamed live to Facebook by WBRC. “I always told Aniah, her whole life, don’t ever go anywhere alone,” Angela Harris said at the vigil. “Don’t go anywhere by yourself, not even to get gas. … Aniah was only going to the store to buy a bag of potato chips.

And if you know Aniah, you know how much she loved to eat. And that’s all she was doing, and she ran into some evil.”

Everyone – including men and boys – needs to be aware of their surroundings when getting in and out of their cars, Angela Harris said.

“You have got to pay attention,” she said. “This is coming from Aniah, OK? I have to say this for her to y’all because she would not want this to happen to anybody else.”

Angela Harris posted a save the date on Instagram for an event honoring the life of Blanchard to be held Dec. 21. The post said to wear baby blue and black to the event and that more details are to come.

Layers of Flour and Butter

New Bandit Patisserie, Coffee Shop and Café Opens in Homewood

According to Kristen Farmer Hall, “the Bandit journey” started in October 2013, when she and her daughters came up with the idea to bake and deliver pastries to their neighbors.

“We’d ring the doorbell and run away, so we became known as ‘the Baking Bandits,’” Hall said.

Now, with the just-opened Bandit Patisserie, Hall has brought her pastries out into the open. The coffee shop and café occupies the same Homewood storefront that once housed Octane and, later, Revelator’s Sweet Jon’s Café, at 2821 Central Ave., Suite 105.

While most of the space’s floor plan remains the same, give or take a cocktail bar and a standalone coffee station, one big change is a window that allows customers to watch their pastries being made.

“Obviously, this space has had a long history of coffee shops,” Hall said.

“This ended up being a perfect space for us because it had that history, but it also had this open kitchen concept for the bakery. We wanted to be able to showcase that all of our pastries are made from scratch and by hand and just to sort of really involve our guests with

Photo by Stacy Allen

By Sam Prickett

the experience of their pastry being made.”

That window into Bandit’s bakery is important, Hall said, because “how food is made can be lost a little bit in restaurants because things can happen behind closed doors. Plates of food come out, but you don’t really get to see the art and the passion that goes into the food

that you eat. I wanted people to be able to see that what we do is very classic … . We get to wave to people and people just get to see that we love what we do, and I think that would be lost if you couldn’t see it.”

Bandit is the latest in a series of eateries from Hall and co-owner Victor King. The duo previously had started Feast & Forest, a downtown Birmingham restaurant that opened in 2015 before “evolving” into the Essential, a new restaurant and larger space on Birmingham’s Morris Avenue, in 2018.

Hall and King said that their previous experiences opening restaurants meant that Bandit opened with a builtin infrastructure of employees and management. That’s a contrast from their time owning Feast & Forest, Hall said, when they worked “as the managers and the owners and the dishwashers and the plumbers.”

“As we’ve accumulated a really cool community of people that work for us and know us, we’ve really been able to start with a really strong management structure,” King said. “We’ve grown as owners, and opening here, we started with a lot of those bones in place. It’s made it really cool and easier to have a

Journal photo by Ingrid Schnader

Community Mourns Death of Aniah Blanchard

Trinity United Methodist Church invited community members to write a prayer or message on their bows to be hung on a cross in front of the church.

team of people working toward the same goal instead of two people trying to drag everyone else along.”

Culinarily, Bandit Patisserie serves as a continuation of what Hall and King developed with Feast & Forest and the Essential, King said, “very seasonal, simple café food … but then, we’ve got some new things here, too.”

Croissants are the Thing

Hall is quick to emphasize that Bandit “is a little bit different from the traditional bakery,” mostly due to its focus on croissants.

“You’re going to see a lot more lamination – basically how croissant dough is made with layers of butter and dough together – and there’s a lot more croissant work and a lot less icing,” Hall said. “Lamination is the foundation of probably 60% of our pastry cakes. We wanted this to be a place to gather to celebrate simple things in life, and that involves a lot of pastry.”

Bandit offers items from its breakfast menu from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m., which includes salmon toast, breakfast sandwiches and sweet and savory waffles.

“Breakfast is kind of our love language, and a lot of people’s, too, actually,” Hall said. “We knew that this was going to be a place where people were going to grab a morning pastry and coffee and then go to work. Or they were going to stay here and work and do freelance … . We’re really just interest-

ed in feeding people light, seasonal food.”

For the lunch menu, which is offered from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Bandit offers “very seasonal, simple café food,” King said, much of which is built around sourdough bread, which he said plays “a huge role.”

Bandit opened its doors on Nov. 1, and its reception by the Homewood community has been “so kind,” King said.

“Obviously, it’s a very welcoming community, and we went into a space that was already a coffee shop, so I think it’s been a natural progression,” Hall said. But there was also a customer base, she added, that wanted a followup to Feast & Forest. “Just over time, I think people knew Baking Bandits and knew my work,” she said. “When Feast closed, there was a hole left to fill … .

It’s been six years of investing in relationships specific to pastry and building those friendships along the way.”

The goal for Bandit Patisserie and the way it will differentiate itself from her previous restaurants, she said, is in its role as a neighborhood coffee shop.

“Our other projects have been downtown, and this is our first one that’s been embedded in a neighborhood,” she said. “I think we really wanted to honor the past that was here, but obviously this is a new era for this space and really a sort of revival for a space that had been much-loved and then kind of went away.”

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

Photos courtesy McWane Science Center

Newly Discovered Prehistoric Shark Species Named in Memory of McWane Volunteer

June Ebersole, director of collections at McWane Science Center, comparing the teeth of the Mancin shark to those of a modern bull shark.

Photograph courtesy of McWane Science Center.

A team of scientists, including McWane Science Center Director of Collections June Ebersole, announced on Dec. 6 that a new species of fossil shark had been found in South Alabama.

Officially named Carcharhinus macinae, the shark species lived during the Eocene Epoch, 40 million years ago. Its nickname will be the Mancin shark, named in honor of the late Lois N. Mancin of Vestavia Hills. Mancin had a love of educating the public and volunteered for the McWane Science Center, as well

as the Birmingham Zoo and The Red Barn.

She logged more than 6,100 hours during her 13 years volunteering at McWane, teaching at summer camps, delivering education programs and helping organize and identify artifacts for the collections department. She was twice named McWane’s docent of the year and was honored as McWane’s volunteer of the year at the state of Alabama’s 2016 National Philanthropy Day Luncheon.

The discovery of the Mancin shark was made as part of a larger study examining the diversity of fossil sharks and bony fish that lived in Alabama.

“This new species is a really early member of Carcharhinus, a genus of shark that is still alive today,” Ebersole said. “At least a dozen species of Carcharhinus are known to have a range in the Gulf of Mexico today, and this new species The late Lois N. Mancin of Vestavia Hills. logged more than 6,100 hours during her 13 years volunteering at McWane.

Homewood Council Debating Zoning Changes that Have Stirred Concerns

By Sam Prickett Homewood is debating a controversial zoning master plan change that would simplify the city’s rules on developments but that has drawn concerns about inadequate parking and possible endangerment of the city’s character.

The proposed revisions would change the number of categories of commercial zoning from 13 to three: low-, medium- and high-density. The high-density area would allow for buildings to be up to five stories tall; the medium-density area would limit buildings to two stories tall.

The City Council set a public hearing about the zoning changes for Dec. 9. The Over The Mountain Journal will be covering the meeting, which occurs after the paper goes to print. For the report, visit otmj.com.

Critics of the plan have argued that it does not allow enough room for parking. As proposed, developments would be required to provide one parking spot per residential unit

and two parking spaces for 3,000 square feet of retail space. At a Dec. 2 meeting of the City Council’s Planning and Development Committee, residents argued that this would not be adequate.

Councilors said they are addressing this plan by working to create offsite parking lots, such as one 64-space lot on 18th Street. Officials also said they are considering implementing paid parking.

Residents also have expressed concern that the proposed changes would negatively affect the downtown area’s character. A change.org petition arguing against the rezoning, which has gained more than 1,900 signatures, argues that the proposed changes “will irreparably damage the smallbusiness oriented, old town charm of Homewood.”

The proposed changes were recommended in the city’s Heart of Homewood Downtown Master Plan, which was created in partnership with the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham.

Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 13

NEWS was likely very similar to the modern bull shark or pigeye shark.”

Ebersole co-authored the study, published in the European Journal of Taxonomy, with David Cicimurri, curator of natural history for the South Carolina State Museum, and Gary L. Stringer, Ph.D., professor emeritus of geology at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

“During our study, we documented 115 unique species of sharks, rays and bony fishes. Although the

Mancin shark was the only new species we discovered, 12 others represent species that, until now, were not known to occur in North America,” Cicimurri said. “Among those 12 species are teeth from Stenoscyllium and Mennerotodus, two extinct sharks that were only known from Kazakhstan, Africa and Europe.”

McWane Science Center is planning to display teeth of the Mancin shark in early 2020.

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LIFE

14 • Thursday, December 12, 2019

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

‘Does God Exist’

Rise of Atheism Prompts Best-Selling Author to Publish Book on the Existence of God

By Rubin E. Grant

Easy to Read and Understand

Given what he had seen on television and read, Simmons, best-selling author of “The True Measure of a Man,” figured it was time for the publication of his next book.

“Reflections on the Existence of God: A Series of Essays” was released Dec. 5.

“I have been working on this book for over 25 years,” said Simmons, founder of The Center for Executive Leadership, a non-profit, faithbased ministry focused on advising businessmen and professionals. “What led me to come out with it now is the dramatic rise in atheism in our country.”

The book is a series of short essays seeking to answer the question, “Does God exist?”

“I wanted a book that is well researched and also easy to read and understand,” Simmons said. “A young person can grasp the concepts and be engaged in the arguments about the existence of God and find them compelling as well.

“Atheism is a massive part of the book. I had

‘In the end, it is important to know whether God exists or He does not exist.

There is no third option. What I am seeking to do in this book is to determine which of these beliefs is true and which one is not.’

RICHARD SIMMONS, FOUNDER OF THE CENTER FOR EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Journal photo by Ingrid Schnader

Richard Simmons couldn’t believe his eyes, or his ears.

During a Democratic presidential debate in October, the Freedom From Religion Foundation aired a 30-second commercial on CNN that featured Ron Reagan, the son of former President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan.

The ad begins: “Hi, I’m Ron Reagan, an unabashed atheist, and I’m alarmed by the intrusion of religion into our secular government.” It ends: “Ron Reagan, lifelong atheist, not afraid of burning in hell.”

Simmons was flabbergasted. “He said that on national TV, the son of President Reagan. I was shocked,” Simmons said.

Later, Simmons read two articles, one in the Wall Street Journal about how faith was decreasing that said 44 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds identified themselves as “Nones,” those with no religious affiliation. The other article was from Fuller Theological Seminary about why young people were leaving the church after they got to college or right after college.

“They had doubts that nobody could answer,” Simmons said.

The book is a collection of 57 short essays, which take approximately five to eight minutes to read. It’s similar in style to Simmons’ book “Wisdom: Life’s Great Treasure.”

an attorney read it and he said he really enjoyed the book and it dramatically increased his faith, which is another byproduct of it.”

The book is a collection of 57 short essays, which take approximately five to eight minutes to read. It’s similar in style to Simmons’ book “Wisdom: Life’s Great Treasure.”

“I want readers to reflect on what they read,” Simmons said.

The True Meaning of Life

Simmons’ new book has 10 sections with five or six essays each. It starts with the issue of evil and moves to the moral existence of God.

“I set in motion the questions about what is the true meaning of life, who we are and why are we here,” Simmons said. “Then there’s ethical things about love and beauty, and I write about psychological reasons that lead us to believe. We get into science and space and evolution.

“The final section is about the existence of God. God has a name and that’s when I introduce Jesus.”

“In the end, it is important to know whether God exists or He does not exist. There is no third option. What I am seeking to do in this book is to determine which of these beliefs is true and which one is not.”

“Reflections on the Existence of God: A Series of Essays” was released Dec. 5.

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Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 15

LIFE

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LIFE

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

O Christmas Trees

Ho-Ho-Hoover Randle Event Celebrates Holidays With Tree Decorating and Helping Hoover Children in Need

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www.ridoutsvalleychapel.com 1800 Oxmoor Road Homewood, Al 35209•205-879-3401

Ridouts/Dignity Over The Mountain Journal, PHONE: 205-823-9646 Nov. 2019

By Ingrid Schnader Thirteen organizations in Hoover were invited to the first-ever Ho-HoHoover Randle open house and tree decoration contest Sunday at the Hoover-Randle Home & Gardens.

The Hoover-Randle group provided the trees, and the only instruction to the area organizations that decorated the trees was that each tree should tell a story about those organizations.

The trees were then judged by a panel of local celebrity judges, and Mayor Frank Brocato announced the winners, with “Best All-Around” going to the Hoover Arts Council. .

Director Tahara Evans Wood said she is excited to bring the community into the venue.

“We always hear, ‘I pass by that house a million times, and I’ve never known that’s what it is,’” she said.

“Even though we’ve packed 200 events in the two years that we’ve been open, we still have a lot of people that haven’t been here.”

Tickets were $10 each, but the Hoover-Randle Home didn’t pocket any of the money. All of the ticket sales benefited the nonprofit Hoover Helps, which works with faith-based organizations and local companies to provide food and other items to

Jane Hoover Parrish with Joy Steele and Hudson Steele.

Hoover children in need.

Wood originally contacted Hoover Helps founders Donna and Greg Bishop to decorate a tree for the event. But when Wood began to learn about Hoover Helps’ involvement in the community, she decided to do more.

“I had actually helped foster three

family members this past year and walked the walk of the free lunch programs, the help that the schools give,” Wood said. “When (Donna Bishop) told me about what they do with the backpacks, sending home food for the insecure … it just hit home with me so much.”

Greg Bishop said the Hoover

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

LIFE

Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 17

Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato with his wife Francis.

Helps nonprofit is different because it has no paid employees.

“Everything that we take in in terms of donations from the community goes directly back to them to help people in the community,” he said.

His whole family is involved – including his daughters, nieces and nephews – and he said they all help pack bags, haul food and perform other tasks.

The Bishops created the nonprofit in 2015. Bishop had a gap in work, and he said this opened up the free time that starting a nonprofit requires.

“We knew all along that we wanted to do something to give back and to teach our girls the value of giving back to the community and helping your neighbor,” he said.

Bishop said he and his wife are honored to be chosen to benefit from Hoover-Randle’s first open house. The proceeds will help Hoover Helps fund

Donna and Chloe Bishop. The Bishop family created the nonprofit Hoover Helps in 2015. Below, Hoover Belles Samantha Gagliano and Loren Pate.

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

LIFE

Twist to the Revolution

Samford’s Production of ‘1776’ Casts 22 Women, Only Four Men

By Ingrid Schnader The original script for “1776: The Musical,” which was written in 1969, calls for a cast of two women and 24 men.

But when Samford University theater director Chelsea Nicholson got hold of the script, she decided to take a different artistic direction.

“Look at Congress today,” she said.

“It’s 80% men, 20% women in 2019.

And that’s only after that huge election last year where there was an influx of women in Congress. It was still only 20%. So, our cast was the flip of that – 80% women, 20% men.”

Samford’s production of 1776, which ran Nov. 21-24 at the Harrison Theatre, cast four men and 22 women.

“It’s set in the 18th century, when women didn’t have a voice outside of their households,” Nicholson said. “So, to get to hear them speak those words, when they weren’t given a voice at the time, was really important to me and something I was really interested in looking at.”

It’s all about representation, Nicholson said. For thousands of years in theater history, even going back to ancient Greece, women didn’t have any representation on stage; men played all of the roles.

“I’m kind of at a point in my career, both as an actor and a director, where I’m really interested in seeing how wide we can open up casting and getting people who wouldn’t normally get a chance to share their voice in certain stories on stage,” she said.

She asked the cast members to play the characters in an honest, human way.

She didn’t want it to be a joke; she

Anna Medley as Benjamin Franklin.

Photo courtesy Samford University

18 • Thursday, December 12, 2019

wanted them to treat it like any other part.

“Even (in) one of the very first rehearsals, I said, ‘I’m not looking for you to be more like a man. If I wanted these characters to be more manly, I would have cast 24 men and two women, as it’s called for,’” she said. “I wasn’t interested in that. I was interested in the human qualities of these historical figures who are dried up, dead and only living on textbook pages.”

For Kentucky native Anna Medley, this was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” She’s a theater major in her junior year at Samford, and she played Benjamin Franklin in the production.

“I have on my resume Benjamin Franklin, 1776,” she said. “And you would never think that I could do that.

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It’s such a cool opportunity to say I got to step into this historical figure’s shoes as a person and not as a man.”

Medley found out that she got the part in May. Then later that summer, she had the opportunity to visit the founding father’s hometown and museum in Pennsylvania. She spent her visit learning more about her character’s life.

“I found out that he’s just so optimistic,” she said. “He’s striving to want to learn everything, but he’s also very respectful in other people’s opinions.

He doesn’t think his opinion is the ‘right’ one; he’s open to everything. He just wants to learn and grow.”

She discovered that Franklin loved to read. He only had two years of formal schooling, but he constantly read books, stayed curious and kept an open mind. Despite being a woman born almost three centuries after Franklin, Medley saw a little bit of herself in his character.

“I’m a history nerd,” she said. “I love learning new things, and taking new opportunities, and taking classes I probably wouldn’t take in the real world and delving into everything I can.”

Overcoming Obstacles

Even though the original 1776 script was written only five decades ago, it contains some off-color and lewd remarks that would be taboo in a modern script.

Women are always the butt of the jokes in the production, Nicholson said.

She considered cutting out some of those lines.

“These are just so offensive,” she said. “They make me uncomfortable as a woman, as a director.

“But then I was like, no. I think if we’re twisting this show and putting women into these shoes, then it’s going to actually pump those statements up to the point that we’re all like, ‘Whoa, why did men talk like this? Why do they still talk like this sometimes?’”

Medley said she tried not to take those lines too seriously; otherwise, she would have been uncomfortable reading them. It helped her to remember that she is a woman talking to another woman.

“For me, saying those things, it brought to light how women were treated back then,” she said. “But they’re there, and that’s history, and we have to bring light to that.”

Finally, after spending three hours on stage trying to decide whether America should declare independence, the delegates come to a compromise and sign the Declaration of Independence at the end of the show.

Nicholson said she hopes the audience walked away from 1776 with a sense of compromise.

“That we were able to reach across the aisle and hold hands with people we didn’t agree with in 1776 – we need to do the same thing today,” she said.

“Hopefully, the show sparked conversations amongst friends and families, like ‘What can I do in my own circle, in my own community?’”

11/6/2019 10:44:36 AM

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 19

LIFE

Journal photo by Jordan Wald

The Reason for the Season

Vestavia Hills’ Waters Hosts Holiday Signings of ‘Twas the Night That Began Christmas’

As a former teacher and current assistant principal at Crestline Elementary School, Waters isn’t new to the artistry and impact of children’s books.

By Emily Williams In October of last year, Vestavia Hills’ Catherine Conrad Waters published her first children’s book ahead of the holiday season. “‘Twas the Night That Began Christmas” plays off the rhyme and verse of Clement Moore’s famous “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

Rather than focusing on Saint Nicholas or the promise of presents, Waters’ book focuses on the reason for the season: the birth and life of Jesus Christ.

The book has been published by SBA Books, based in Daphne, and fea-

When Christmas came around that year, she was out walking and talking with God, thinking about how great it would be if there was a children’s book like “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” but one about the birth and life of Jesus Christ. tures richly colored illustrations by Bill McCracken.

More than a year later, Waters can be found signing copies around town at events such as Vestavia Hills’ Deck the Heights or in local stores such as Smith’s Variety. The book also was released in Spanish in October.

For Waters, writing the book came easily. What has been the biggest challenge has been navigating the sales world.

“Just because a book is in a store doesn’t mean anyone is going to look at it,” she said, but prayer has been a constant form of support for her.

Sales might be a challenge, but Waters is up for it. She’s overcome much more over the past few years.

In 2015, Waters went in for a spinal fusion and woke up from surgery to find that she was paralyzed from the

waist down.

“There were unexpected complications and doctors did not know if I would walk again or not,” she said.

Through perseverance and prayer, Waters learned to walk again despite having no feeling in her legs or feet – a feat she said her doctors couldn’t explain.

When Christmas came around that year, she was out walking and talking with God, thinking about how great it would be if there was a children’s book like “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” but one about the birth and life of Jesus Christ.

“It could be a way for families to share the true meaning of Christmas together every year,” she said.

The more she thought about it, the more the words began to take form in her mind.

“Honestly, the writing part is the fun,” she said. “I enjoy playing with words in my mind and the challenge of selecting the best ones to use.”

As a former teacher and current assistant principal at Crestline Elementary School, Waters isn’t new to the artistry and impact of children’s books.

Before her career in school administration, she taught at Crestline, as well as schools in Maryland, Tennessee and Virginia, for grades from first to fifth.

“I personally love rhyme,” Waters said. “Research even shows that it is one of the most important skills for children as they learn to read.

“At the same time, books with an important message, strong characters and rich vocabulary provide children with more than just a story. Beautiful pictures draw children in and help them develop an appreciation for art.”

As the holiday season rolls along, Waters will continue to market her book, signing copies at Samford University’s Legacy League Christmas Home Tour on Dec. 12, and on Dec. 15 at Mountain Brook Community Church’s 2019 Christmas Piano Concert.

To purchase a copy of “‘Twas the Night That Began Christmas,” visit catherinewaters.com.

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20 • Thursday, December 12, 2019

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

A NIGHT AT STUDIO 54

Photos by Dee Moore

Debutante Club Celebrates 90th Annual Debutante Presentation

Louisa Bradford Collins, Elizabeth Jarrell Lindsey, Grace Wyman Lockett, Emily Catherine Johnson and Mary Ashton Ellis.

Virginia Walker Thornton, Catherine Morris Greene, Sara Chandler Mitchell, Adelaide Essick Kimberly and Virginia Murray Farley.

I

n its 90th year, the Debutante Club of Birmingham hosted an evening of disco elegance Nov. 29 at Mountain Brook Club. The black-tie affair culminated in the presentation of 14 young ladies.

The 2019 debutantes and their escorts were Louisa Collins and Nolan Stone, Anna Jackson Cooper and Duncan Manley, Carolyn Crommelin and Charlie Cope, Ashton Ellis and Griffin Riley, Virginia Farley and William Morris, Catherine Greene and Robert Denniston, Carson Hull and Reece O’Keefe, Emily Johnson and Frank Crockard, Adelaide Kimberly and David Favrot, Libby Lindsey and Bill Stewart, Grace Lockett and John Alston, Sara Chandler Mitchell and Marshall Wood, Margaret Pewitt and Matthew Davidson, and Virginia Thornton and Phillip Boyd.

The honorees wore long white gowns, while their guests wore black cocktail attire, reminiscent of the first Debutante Club party, a black and white ball hosted by the 1929 debutantes. Escorts and dads were recognized by the black and white striped bowties they wore.

The guests received elegant silver and white invitations with a festive mirrored globe expressive of the disco era theme, “A Night at Studio 54.” Robert Logan, of Backstage Designs, created an elaborate setting of silver and lights as a backdrop of discothèque glamour for the debutantes and their guests.

Mountain Brook Club’s front porch was transformed into the entrance to the famous New York nightclub “Studio 54,” complete with red carpet, velvet ropes, lights and stars, the Studio 54 logo and even the flashing camera lights of the paparazzi. A white horse stood on the front lawn, alluding to the nightclub’s historic stories of Bianca Jagger riding in on a white horse.

The debutantes and their escorts had dinner together before the party, dining on silver sequined tablecloths with mirrored globes and candlelight. Party guests arrived at 9 p.m. Music was provided by the Atlanta-based band The Maxx. ❖

Carson O’Neil Hull, Margaret Hanna Pewitt, Anna Jackson Cooper and Carolyn Cason Crommelin.

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Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 21

SOCIAL

Photos courtesy Kim Cochran

Front, from left: Kate Jessup, Caroline Billingsley and Ashton Henderson. Back: Barrett Murphy, Sophie Losole, Abbey Moss, Jordan Henderson, Olivia Brown and Marley Barnett.

Painting Pre-Party

Poinsettia Debs Gather for Pre-Presentation Party Members of the 2019 Poinsettia Debutantes recently gathered for a painting party at Studio in West Homewood.

The party was hosted by Kate Jessup, Barrett Murphy, Sophie Losole, Abbey Moss and Jordan Henderson.

During the event, the young women each painted the Birmingham skyline.

Debs will be presented on Dec. 19 at a private club in Vestavia Hills during the annual Poinsettia Debutante Ball, hosted by the Ballet Women’s Committee and the Poinsettia Men’s Club in support of the Alabama Ballet. ❖

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ENHANCING YOUR HOLIDAY SPARKLE

Are you a happy Holiday person? Relishing in seasonal food and fanfare? I admittedly turn into an over-caffeinated child around the middle of November, believing Thanksgiving marks the beginning of all things fun and festive for the next 6 weeks.

Even if you don’t share the same level of my seasonal sentiments, you can painlessly increase the wattage of Holiday glow by implementing any of these into your beauty routine.

Homewood Christmas Parade, Lighting of the Star

A double dose of seasonal festivities was served up Dec. 5 as the city of Homewood hosted its annual Lighting of the Star and Christmas Parade.

The evening kicked off with a parade from the Homewood Library down 18th Street to City Hall.

Special guests in attendance included none other than Santa Claus, who posed for pictures and listened to many Christmas wishes.

Santa’s enterance served as the grand finale to the parade. Riding a firetruck, he made his way to City Hall to announce announce the award-winning parade entries, before Mayor Scott McBrayer lit the star at the top of 18th Street.

It’s the Holiday Season!

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 23

SOCIAL

Vestavia Hills Tree Lighting The sound of local school choirs rang out from Vestavia Hills City Hall on Dec. 3 as the city hosted its annual Tree Lighting Festival.

A main stage in the amphitheater featured a concert of performances by Vestavia Hills Schools groups, with businesses set up inside offering crafts, give-aways and other activities. In addition, Santa was stationed on the second floor of City Hall, posing for pictures with children.

Performing groups included the East Elementary third and fifth grade choirs, Vestavia Hills High School Rockettes, Liberty Park Elementary Bell Ringers, Liberty Park Elementary Singers, Dolly Ridge Elementary Choir, Pizitz Middle School Girls’ Choir and Vestavia Hills High School Brass Band.

Sawyer and Abi Mullinax.

Santa Claus was in Homewood last week to participate in the city’s annual Christmas Parade and lighting of the star ceremony.

Journal photo by Jordan Wald

Carrie, Skyler, Jozy and Doug Hicks.

Dianne Small, Madison McGill and Alli and Steve Ammons.

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Cassidy Stogner with Emory, Cameron and Avery Bishop and Stella Errington.

Hoover Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

Mountain Brook Christmas Parade

Hoover was full of holiday cheer Dec. 3 as members of the community gathered for the annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at City Hall.

Festivities included holiday-themed music performed by students, refreshments and a special visit from Santa Claus, who arrived on a firetruck.

After the lighting of the tree, children took trips through Santa’s workshop to pose for photos with the big guy and Mrs. Claus.

Santa Claus came to town Dec. 8, riding into Mountain Brook Village on a firetruck as the grand finale of the city’s annual Christmas Parade.

Following the parade, Emmet O’Neal Library hosted a pop-up story time by the Bromberg’s tree, and then children were treated to pictures with Santa Clause.

In addition, a stage featured performances by local school groups, including Mountain Brook High School’s A Bunch of Guys a cappella group.

Left, Olivia, Mark, Danielle and Laura Williams.

Below left, Kasey with Yannick and Finnian Reuter. Below right, Caitlyn McTier and Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato.

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Marla Morris, Henry Propst and Chelsea Couturier.

Robert and Casey Howard with Eva, Ella and Preston Howard.

Katie, Reynolds, Graham, Matthew and Parker Elliott.

Clockwise from above: Micah Hendricks, Jennifer Houser and Brody Hendricks; Rebecca Nesbitt and Maryam Azam; Josh, Gwyneth and Amanda Beshears; Lucy Manary, Anna Kate Russom and Marcella Morgan; and Merrie and Kip Walker with Hudson, Britta and Mick Edmonds.

Journal photos by Jordan Wald

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Members of the Birmingham Belles marched in the Christmas Parade.

Journal photos by Ingrid Schnader

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Journal photos by Jordan Wald

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Rehab Reality...

By Judy Butler

Happy Holiday and Blessings for the New Year

Journal photos by Jordan Wald

Salon Summit

SOCIAL

Willa Grace, William, Virginia and Margaret McClendon.

As we reach the end of this year and soon begin the New Year, I can’t help but reflect on the years since Jeff and I created Bayshore Retreat and the many blessings we were granted throughout this time.

When he asked me “Mom, can we do this and do it right?” I knew exactly what he meant.

We had been on a journey with his adventures and experiences that all came into focus with that question. Sure there were obstacles along the way and there will be issues to deal with going forward, but the one thing I know is, it was meant to be.

I am blessed to have a wonderful staff who manage the daily responsibilities of preparing wonderful meals, counseling clients on the issues in their lives and seeing to their needs.

Jeff once told a client that he should have never met him – which is true in the general scheme of things. So many times when people reach out to us they make similar comments to me, such as “I don’t know how I managed to find you, but I feel good about it”.

And if you think about the thousands of rehab centers out there, it is a miracle that they do find us. One little dot in a sea of competition!

But there’s something unique about Bayshore Retreat. Maybe it’s the home atmosphere, or maybe it’s only having six clients at a time, or maybe it’s been blessed since Jeff first uttered those words, “Can we do this and do it right?”

Here’s wishing you a safe Holiday and Happy New Year!

24 • Thursday, December 12, 2019

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

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Back in Action

Photo courtesy Birmingham Music Club

Cha Cha Dance Club Hosts Autumn Gathering After Summer Hiatus

Ron Bourdages, Won Cho, Kyoung Cho, Carolyn Violi and Margery Whatley.

An Evening Serenade

Birmingham Music Club Gathers for Membership and Musical Performance The Guild of the Birmingham Music Club recently hosted a Coffee and Membership Meeting at the home of Margery Whatley.

The program featured Won Cho, bass; Kyoung Cho, soprano; and Carolyn Violi, piano playing a selection of favorites, including

Pride and responsibility drive us to be the best in everything we do.

As a life-long Over-the-Mountain resident and a third generation working at Guin, I feel great pride and responsibility in carrying on the legacy of honesty and hard work that my grandfather began 60 years ago. Family is very important to us, and we treat our customers with the same care and respect as members of our own family. It Joseph Braswell would be a privilege to serve you.

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“The Prayer,” “Summertime,” “Some Enchanted Evening” and “Old Man River.”

Won Cho is an associate professor of music at UAB, and Kyoung Cho is on the music faculty of the University of South Florida.

Carolyn Violi is the musical director and accompanist for the Department of Theater at UAB. The Guild was organized in 1988 to foster appreciation of music and the performing arts by supporting the club’s annual concert series.

Since 2004, the Guild has funded and administered a prestigious scholarship program for young musicians in college. ❖

The Gardens Café, in the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, was dressed in fall finery for the Cha Cha Dance Club’s first gathering of the 2019-20 year.

Held Oct. 22, the event offered hors d’oeuvres and beverages. The tabletop centerpieces were rustic twig baskets, which held brilliant orange and yellow zinnias and were designed

by President Vicki Lukens.

Lively conversations ensued throughout the evening, including discussions about the coming year’s activities and plans.

The following members were in attendance: Blair Agricola, Olivia Allison, Diane Beck, Janet Book, Gina Boyd, Jane Brakefield, Fran Cade, Barbara Cartledge, Pam Cezayirli, Debbie Chandler, Kay Clark, Sara Clemmer, Beverly Crawford, Connie Crutchfield, Sandy Deaton, Torrey DeKeyser, Lois Dye, Gin Echols, Elizabeth Ezell, Pat Grant, Pam Grayson, Karla Hardy, Debbie Holder, Glynis Jones, Carla Kent, Tricia Kirk, Joy Kloess, Jeannie Krumdieck, Ann Lee, Susan Lester, Vicki Lukens, Koko Mackin, Carroll Magro, Cindy McDougald, Susan Miller, Margaret Murdock, Kathy O’Rear, Mary Owen, Connie Reich, Cindy Shearer, Holly Sibley, Melinda Smith, Linda Stone, Trisha Stovall, Deanna Sumner, Marty Torsch, Libba Williams, Margaret Winge and Pat Woolverton. ❖

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Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 25

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Journal photos by Jordan Wald

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

Jean Boller and Carol Sosnin.

Susan Sheppard, Nancy Miller-Borg, Debbie Wood, Bobbie Schlueter and Joan Cardwell.

109 Hilltop Business Drive Pelham www.GriffithArtGallery.com 205.985.7969

A Century of Service

Zonta Club of Birmingham Celebrates 100th, Unveils I-65 Billboard Members of the Zonta Club gathered at the YWCA of Birmingham on Nov. 11 for a luncheon and meeting.

The organization is celebrating its 100th anniversary, serving the Birmingham community with a mission to protect the human rights of women and young girls.

Carolyn Foster of the Alabama Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival was featured speaker. Foster discussed the campaign’s efforts to battle systematic racism, poverty, ecological devastation and the war economy.

Zonta on Nov. 13 unveiled a billboard, on Interstate 65 North at the Oxmoor exit, that displays the National Domestic Violence hotline number, which offers help to victims of domestic violence.

Since its founding in 1919, Zonta International has provided more than $40.9 million to empower women and expand their access to education, health care, economic opportunity and safe living conditions. ❖

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26 • Thursday, December 12, 2019

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

Journal photos by Jordan Wald

R&R CRestline

Kathryn Newell, Auston Sullivan, William Marinos, Michael Wade, Cody Jackson, Audrey Pannell and Gracie McGuire.

Denim Dynamic

Firehouse Ministries Hosts Annual Blue Jean Bash for Shelter

81 Church Street, Suite 102

205.848.2080 • RNRcrestline@gmail.com

Santa's Helpers' Helpers R&R Crestline Wine & Liquor was established over two years ago with a desire to be a simple outpost for rest and refreshment, serving as a neighborhood resource for high quality experiences in a low-key environment. R&R Crestline is the sister store to R&R Calera, which was established a couple of years before.

"When it comes to planning a party, beverages are key," said Major Colbert, pictured above with co-manager Josh Grace. "Sometimes our customers know exactly what they need, and sometimes they want help. Balancing quantity, quality, time and budget can be tricky when planning for a party, and our team specializes in helping clients do just that. We like to make happy purchases easy.

"New Year's Eve is a big party night. When buying champagne, buy more than you think you need, keep it cold and share as much as possible. May we remember what Napoleon Bonaparte said: 'In victory, you deserve champagne; in

defeat, you need it.' Every year has its own portions of victories and defeats, so as we approach the edge of this one, let's raise a glass to one another, take a breath and offer a healthy, happy 'Cheers!' as we step into 2020. Also, stay hydrated, of course!

"We often do special orders for customers, which is one of the ways we have been able to discover and source so many products.

Certain bottles take a couple of days, others can take a month. Customers can come in or call at any time to get the ball rolling.

"R&R is a bottle shop, an entity that is like a blend of hotel concierge, jewelry boutique and surf supply joint. The products we offer reflect a blend of the city's palate and curated discoveries that we believe in. We don't have all the options in the world, just a whole lot of the good ones. We wouldn't be here without the neighborhood that supports us. Thank you to our customers. We respect and appreciate all of you. Happy New Year!"

Bob and Patsy Straka.

Don Lupo, Anne Rygiel and Will Lochamy.

Brittany Szalankiewicz, Elisa Smith, Morgan Harris and Alexandra Reynolds.

JaWanda's Sweet Potato Pies JaWanda's Crusty Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Denim-clad guests filled Iron City on Nov. 22 as the Firehouse Ministries hosted its annual Blue Jeans and Baskets Bash.

Those who brought a pair of men’s blue jeans to donate had a chance to spin the “Wheel of Good Fortune” and win free tickets to the gift basket drawing.

About 40 gift baskets were included in the drawing, featuring themes ranging from health and wellness merchandise to sports teams.

In addition, a live and silent auction featured big-ticket items including a Tiger Woods golf flag, a signed “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” poster and a signed Aerosmith guitar.

Emceed by Will Lochamy of Birmingham Mountain Radio, the fundraiser benefited the Firehouse Shelter and housing programs that serve more than 3,000 homeless men, women and children annually. ❖

Serving 16 flavors of sweet potato pies, pound cakes, cobblers, and more!

Call or stop by today and place your order: 205-874-9880 5291 Valleydale Road Suite 111, Hoover, AL 35242 www.JaWandasweetpotatopie.com “A Taste of Heaven”

Steve Rygiel and Hunter Forsythe.

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 27

Journal photos by Jordan Wald

SOCIAL

Sims, Hunter, Martin, Tom and Winn Chapman.

Coty, Jackson and Sara Beth Schneider.

Guiding Lights

Zoo Hosts Media Night to Celebrate 2019 ZooLight Safari served at Nourish 205.

Throughout the evening, folks flew down the Yuletide Slide, rode the Candy Cane Train and spun on the Jingle Bell Carousel.

After the 30-foot tall tree was lit, Old Saint Nick starred in a performance of the Singing Santa Show. ❖ Julia Mather and Lulu Gribbon.

Anders and Rachel Wolnski.

More than one million lights will continue to brighten up the night sky at the Birmingham Zoo as the 2019 ZooLight Safari continues.

To kick off the annual holiday event series, guests gathered for a special preview night on Dec. 5 to experience the lighting of the tree in Henley Park.

Holiday tunes welcomed attendees as they passed through the new front entrance and Hugh Kaul Plaza, and cookies and hot chocolate were

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

Floats, golf carts and other vehicles decked out in holiday decor wound their way from Liberty Park Sports Complex to Alston Meadows on Dec. 8 as the city of Vestavia Hills hosted its annual Christmas Parade and Celebration.

Following the parade, celebrations continued at Alston Meadows, with inflatables, games, crafts, musical performances and pictures with Santa. ❖

Journal photos by Ingrid Schnader

28 • Thursday, December 12, 2019

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30 • Thursday, December 12, 2019

Just Around the Bend Mountain Brook’s Stevenson Publishes New History of Cherokee Bend

By Emily Williams

Stevenson wrote.

Researching the history of the area was a multi-faceted operation, with Stevenson relying on written sources from The Birmingham News archives and books regarding the history of Shades Valley.

Since published sources were few, Stevenson relied partially on his conversations with the late Ham Perkins, as well as interviews with relatives of Cherokee Bend founders. For the first version, he spoke with Ham Perkins’ wife, Marge; his sister, Carol Perkins Poyner; and his son, Charles Perkins. He also spoke with Betty Drennan, wife of the late Jerry Drennen.

Close-Knit Beginnings

Journal photo by Jordan Wald

Retired otolaryngologist Dr. Ed Stevenson spent about 40 years practicing medicine, serving as a naval medical officer and a head and neck surgeon and operating a private practice.

His hobby of aerobatic aviation and involvement with The Southern Museum of Flight has garnered much acclaim over the years, including his receiving the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award in 2016 by the Federal Aviation Administration. But it is his love of history that continues to keep him active in his 90s.

He recently published the Jefferson County Historical Society’s first historical article specifically on the history of Mountain Brook’s Cherokee Bend neighborhood.

“They used to tell us, if you ever have to make a speech, be sure to know your subject.

So, I knew my subject before I even started,” Stevenson said.

He already had an extensive knowledge of the region through his participation in the Jefferson County Historical Society, including serving as president for three years. There was also ample opportunity to write articles for the society’s quarterly journal.

“So, I was used to writing, and I like to,” he said. “I realized I was probably the only one left in the world who knew the history of Cherokee Bend.”

Stevenson also knew the history because he had lived it, residing on Antietam Drive from 1965 until 2008.

During that time, Stevenson developed a close friendship with one of the area’s leading developers, John Hamilton “Ham” Perkins Jr. “We watched it develop from the very beginning,” he said. “Cherokee Bend never had a boundary. It just grew until it hit Irondale. Then, past Old Leeds Road, New Cherokee Bend grew.”

Stevenson also felt it was important to write the history because the definition of Cherokee

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

Dr. Ed Stevenson’s hobby of aerobatic aviation has garnered much acclaim over the years, including his receiving the FAA’s 2016 Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. But it is his love of history that continues to keep him active in his 90s.

for an equestrian recreational area and then a hardwood reserve for a lumber company.

In 1963, Ham Perkins and Mel Davis helped spark interest in developing the area as a residential neighborhood, forming The Cherokee Bend Corporation. The corporation was composed of Perkins Realty, Davis and Majors Realty, Johnson Rast & Hayes and Jerry and Allen Drennan.

“Ham Perkins, with agreement and approval of Robert Jemison Jr. and the other developers, gave the development its name, ‘Cherokee Bend,’ referring to the location of the ‘bend’ in Old Leeds Road at the end of Cherokee Road,”

Bend has changed over the past few decades.

“Most of the people that have come along since only have a vague notion of the area.

That’s why they associate the term Cherokee Bend with the school,” Stevenson said.

From a Forest It Grew

Before its development, the area that would become Cherokee Bend was a dense forest in Shades Valley. Then Wallace S. McElwain of Jones, McElwain and Company Iron Foundry built the Irondale Furnace to supply pig iron to Confederate forces during the Civil War. Stevenson wrote that the land was later used

In the early years of the neighborhood, Stevenson recalls a highly close-knit community, much like a small town.

Neighbors would come together for parties, they would go sledding together in the winter, and they would pay Christmas day visits to each other’s houses.

“The time was right for Cherokee Bend to grow,” he said.

According to his research, an estimated 400 houses were built in Cherokee Bend within its first 10 years. Original residents jokingly referred to their community as the Telephone Company Ghetto, because so many South Central Bell employees based in downtown Birmingham had built homes.

“The social and economic timing turned out to be nearly perfect in the mid 1960’s,” Stevenson wrote. “There were many young professionals and business executives already living in Birmingham or the suburbs, some of whom were war veterans and had completed their educations.”

Growing families needed more room, and soon, Ham Perkins donated land to the city that became the site of Cherokee Bend Elementary School.

The school opened its doors in 1969 and recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Though his two oldest children were out of elementary school by that time, Stevenson’s two youngest daughters attended.

Nowadays, he has found that the school’s name has caused a disambiguation of the origiSee STEVENSON, page 31

Lending a Helping Hand

Seniors Have Spent Decades Volunteering at Brookwood Hospital

By Ingrid Schnader

Journal photo by Ingrid Schnader

Mary Ann Goodson, left, a Vestavia resident has been volunteering at Brookwood Hospital for the past 39 years.

Hoover resident Janet Christman, right, began volunteering 24 years ago.

Behind the daily operations at Brookwood Baptist Health, there is a team of about 70 volunteers who help put a smile on each patient’s face.

Denise Lambert, who took over as volunteer coordinator last year, said she is amazed by the work the volunteers do each day.

“They are phenomenal,” Lambert said. “I didn’t even know some of the stuff they do every day that impacts us.”

The volunteers plan three uniform sales and one jewelry sale each year, which helps fund the many projects they do.

They prepare about 100 birthday boxes for the newborn babies each week. They make baby hats and onesies to include in the boxes.

They crochet cancer hats for each of the hospital’s cancer patients, and Lambert said some volunteers even take those home to finish them.

They also stuff and sew pillows for the cardiac patients.

Other volunteers work at the information desk, give directions, help with medical records and perform other helpful tasks each day.

“It’s been so nice to work with them,” Lambert said. “They come into work every day and will do whatever you ask them to do. They have a heart of gold, and they want to serve and be helpful.”

Building Another ‘Family’

Mary Ann Goodson, a Vestavia Hills resident, has been volunteering at Brookwood every

See VOLUNTEERS, page 33

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

STEVENSON

Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 31

SENIORS some of the things I wrote in (the original version),” Stevenson said. When it comes to memory, everyone has their own version.

He said that one of the biggest issues his fellow original Cherokee Bend residents had was regarding the

He has since revised his original article, settling the battle by stating clearly that Perkins named the streets, From page 30 with evidence to back it up. nal Cherokee Bend neighborhood.

After the first version was pub“People seem to think that if you lished, the late Dr. Joseph Appleton, go to Cherokee Bend School, you live a former head of the engineering in Cherokee Bend. … department at UAB and In my article, I tried Cherokee Bend resident, to make it clear that reached out to there was a differStevenson. The two sat ence,” he said. down for an interview The Cherokee and Appleton gave Bend neighborhood Stevenson an original rests on about 200 blueprint of the development. acres in the immediIn studying the blueate area surrounding print, Stevenson found the property where that the only two streets Irondale Furnace Ham did not name are once stood. There the two that are not was a complete defornamed after Civil War estation of the area battles – Old Leeds Road after the furnace was destroyed in 1865. already had been named “Therefore, all of before development, and the trees in Cherokee In 1963, Ham Perkins and Mel Davis helped spark interest in Stone River Road was Bend after 1873 and developing the Cherokee Bend area as a residential neighbororiginally supposed to be Board-Certified in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Specializing in Non-Surgical Spine Care & Interventional Spine hood. According to Stevenson’s research, an estimated 400 housprior to 1963 were a an extension of Monarch Avenue. maximum of 90 years es were built in Cherokee Bend within its first 10 years.

Alabama’s first and only Spine Center of Excellence Stevenson supposes old; and, in 2019, the with our new state of the art Pain Injection suites and naming of Cherokee Bend’s streets. that someone other than Ham named larger and oldest ones are now 146 Stevenson was swayed at first by that street. years old,” wrote Stevenson.

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and leisure to help patients regain independence,” said Michael Bartell, Encompass Health Lakeshore CEO. “We also work with patients to help them regain the skills to do the activities they love the most.”

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Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 33

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Town Village Vestavia Hills

Town Village residents beat the traffic again this holiday season by hosting their annual Holiday Market on Dec. 6. The market gives residents and the local community a chance to shop early while enjoying the warm atmosphere of their community. Over 40 local vendors participated in this years’ event. It is a wonderful time to visit with friends old and new. Enjoying this year’s event above are, from left, Joyce Thomas and Juanita Schropp.

Town Village Vestavia Hills is an independent living community for seniors. The community has recently been renovated and offers a wide variety of apartment style choices with full kitchens.

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Thursday morning for the past 39 years, ever since her children left for college. She works at the information desk and answers visitors’ questions.

“I help people find places that they need to go,” she said. “I always try to smile, be happy and encourage them.”

Goodson comes from a medical family. Her father was a doctor, one brother was a veterinarian, one brother was a doctor, another brother was a hospital administrator and her sister was a nurse. So when she decided to take up volunteering, Brookwood was a natural fit.

“I love doing it,” she said. “I don’t want to sit at home. My husband and my children are all gone, so I love coming up here … . It’s just a good place to be. I’m always glad to help people, and I’m glad to be here.”

Janet Christman, a Hoover resident who started volunteering at Brookwood 24 years ago, also stepped into her role after becoming an empty nester. She said she wanted a closeknit community, and she found that in her role at Brookwood.

“I thought, how am I going to meet people?” she said. “I decided I would look around.

I came to Brookwood, and they said, ‘Oh yeah, we could use you.’”

She also volunteers every Tuesday, and she said the volunteers she works with are like her family.

“We go out the first Monday of every month for breakfast,” she said. “When one of us doesn’t feel good, we always call each other.

“I’ve met some wonderful people. And of course, you feel like you’re doing a lot of good.”

Christman has worn a lot of different hats since she started volunteering there. She started in physical therapy, helping people get in wheelchairs and taking them where they needed to go within the hospital.

“When I was in therapy, a lot of those people had aches and pains,” she said. “It seemed as though, after they were done with their therapy, they really hurt. They would sit and talk with you. Several of them said, ‘Just talking to you, my pain has gone away because I forgot about it.’”

Then she worked in medical records, and now she works in the office helping out wherever she’s needed.

‘I’ve met some wonderful people. And of course, you feel like you’re doing a lot of good.’

JANET CHRISTMAN

“I want to volunteer until I can’t,” she said.

“It’s rewarding when you know that you’re helping somebody.”

In addition to Goodson and Christman, Lambert said there are several volunteers who have been coming in each week for decades.

“It just amazes me that they still want to come and do that because they love it so much,” she said. “They’re just a joy to be around. Everybody loves them.”

Adults who are interested in volunteering are asked to commit to four hours a week and a minimum of 100 hours a year. There are also volunteer opportunities for college students, teens and pet therapy partners. To fill out an application, visit BrookwoodBaptistHealth. com.

Thank you to our

Town Village Vestavia Hills Over The Mountain Journal, PHONE: 205-823-9646 FAX: 205-824-1246 October

2019 Corporate Friends

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34 • Thursday, December 12, 2019

Merry Christmas!

HOLIDAY CARDS

For almost 30 years, we’ve enjoyed sharing the art of the talented Over the Mountain students in our annual Holiday Cards issue. All of the schools in our area were invited to participate again this year and the schools that did are represented.

TOP ROW, FROM LEFT: Homewood schools, EDGEWOOD ELEMENTARY: Ellis Strickland, 3rd; Embry McGarrah, 3rd. SECOND ROW: Elizabeth Finney, 3rd; Britton Thames, 4th; Annie Holmes, 4th; Charlotte Waters, 4th; Allie Jane Stuman, 5th. THIRD ROW: Julia Elizabeth Peterson, 1st; Emma Gilpin, 3rd; Helen Stewart, 3rd; Isla Stewart, 3rd; Laney Petrella, 5th. FOURTH ROW: Reece Rodwell, 2nd; Jane Siegel, 4th; John Brewer Dudgeon, 3rd; Kate Herring, 3rd; Harper Warren, 4th.

FIFTH ROW: Wynn Lane, 3rd; Max Eiland, 3rd.

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

TOP ROW, FROM LEFT: Homewood Schools, SHADES CAHABA ELEMENTARY: Caroline Baggs, 4th; Charles Stone, 4th; Penelope Harris, 3rd; Denise Hernandez-Garcia, 2nd; Elizabeth Chappell, 2nd.

SECOND ROW: Hoover Schools, DEER VALLEY ELEMENTARY: Alex Ramos, 3rd; Mary Florence Humphries, 5th; Samaira Jeewani, 5th; GREEN VALLEY ELEMENTARY: Ava Atkinson, 4th; Brooke Shelton, 3rd.

THIRD ROW: Maxwell Donnelly, 5th; Brielle Werts, 4th; Caeleigh McCormick, 4th; Margot Beukelman, 5th; GREYSTONE ELEMENTARY: Aubrey Payton, 3rd. FOURTH ROW: Caroline Williams, 2nd; Carmie Curtis, 5th; Madelyn Saunders, 1st; Brynleigh Carns, 2nd; Kate Bradley, 5th. FIFTH ROW: Dylan Shively, 4th; GWIN ELEMENTARY: Evie Riethmaier, 4th; Angela Guadalupe, 3rd; Emlyn Green, 3rd. SIXTH ROW: Cameron Russell, 3rd; Adelyn Sandford, 2nd.

HOLIDAY CARDS

Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 35

36 • Thursday, December 12, 2019

HOLIDAY CARDS

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

TOP ROW, FROM LEFT: Hoover Schools, ROCKY RIDGE ELEMENTARY: Keely Weeks, 4th; Angela Wang, 3rd; SHADES MOUNTAIN ELEMENTARY: Julie Parks, 5th; Lucy Prince, 4th. SECOND ROW: Reese Gonzalez, 2nd; Mountain Brook Schools, BROOKWOOD FOREST: Caroline Dye, Kindergarten; CHEROKEE BEND: Luke Flack, 4th; Bennett Holmes, 4th. THIRD ROW: Katherine Grey Wellman, Kindergarten; Annie Oser, 2nd; Rachel Avant, 4th; Sydney Paulk, 4th; Katy Gillespie, 2nd. FOURTH ROW: Alden Johnson, 4th; Kate Anderson, 4th; Annabelle Roberson, 4th; Charlotte Carns, 4th. FIFTH ROW: Claudia Nagi, 4th; CRESTLINE: Anne McLeod Turner, 4th; Carleton Neighbors, Kindergarten; Drew Pharo, 1st; Bess Forrester, 4th.

Wise Men Still Seek Him and Shop at 2700 19th Place South, Homewood • 871-9779 • Tue.-Fri. 10:30-5:30 Sat. 11:00-4:30

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

HOLIDAY CARDS

TOP ROW, FROM LEFT: Mountain Brook Schools, CRESTLINE: Kathryn Baker, 5th; Leila Malatesta McKerly, 4th; Jennie Ruth, 3rd; Sam Downard, 4th; Lucy Simon, 4th. SECOND ROW: Lily Sullivan, 5th; Ann Caldwell Monk, 4th; MOUNTAIN BROOK ELEMENTARY: Julia Mather, 5th; Caroline McLean, 5th; Miller Teague, 4th. THIRD ROW: Gray Warburton, 4th; Slade Wood, 3rd; Caldwell Henderson, 3rd; Katherine Miles, 3rd; North Shelby Schools, OAK MOUNTAIN ELEMENTARY: Liam McDow, Kindergarten. FOURTH ROW: Zoey Lin, 1st; Maggie Riley, 3rd; Chloe Slaughter, 1st; Sadie Hammett, 2nd; Layney Leone, 3rd. FIFTH ROW: Bromleigh Warren, 2nd; Zoey Torrez, 2nd; Lacy Elliott, Kindergarten; Vestavia Hills Schools, CAHABA HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY: Austin Aki, 5th; Vanessa Hooks,1st.

Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 37

38 • Thursday, December 12, 2019

HOLIDAY CARDS

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

TOP ROW, FROM LEFT: Vestavia Hills Schools, CAHABA HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY: Mallie Grier, 1st; Ellie Quattlebaum, 1st; Clara Kate Brooks, Kindergarten; Vivienne Hamachek, 3rd; Juliet Nesmith, 3rd; DOLLY RIDGE ELEMENTARY: Andrew Coshatt, 3rd. SECOND ROW: Lucy Brazeal, Kindergarten; Pace Russell, Kindergarten; Riddhi Dangle, 3rd; Will Randle, 3rd; Sophie Kirklin, 3rd. THIRD ROW: Elin Barrett, 3rd; VESTAVIA EAST ELEMENTARY: Hawkins McCain, Kindergarten; Mary Hayden Goldman, Kindergarten; Kennedy Crowson, Kindergarten; Bo Buck, Kindergarten; FOURTH ROW: Barton Cearlock, Kindergarten; Colley Waltchack, Kindergarten; Luna Capote, Kindergarten; Mary Everett Cearlock, Kindergarten; LIBERTY PARK ELEMENTARY: Jake Cockrell, 4th. FIFTH ROW: Abby McConnell, 4th; VESTAVIA WEST ELEMENTARY: Jenny Bae, 3rd; Kaitlin Colleen Norris, 3rd; Private Schools: ADVENT EPISCOPAL SCHOOL: DaLilian Pate, 2nd; Anaïs Zimmerman, Kindergarten.

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

HOLIDAY CARDS

Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 39

TOP ROW, FROM LEFT: Private Schools: ADVENT EPISCOPAL SCHOOL: Ayaan Bhamani, 3rd; CREATIVE MONTESSORI SCHOOL: Eli Berry, 5th; Charlotte Taylor, 4th; HERITAGE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY: Peter Nichols, 5th; Reed Walker, 4th. SECOND ROW: Sadia Lewis, 4th; HILLTOP MONTESSORI: Arnav Kumar, 4th; Arya Calhoun, 3rd; Ellie Martin, 4th. THIRD ROW: Georgia Dunbar, 6th; JOSEPH S BRUNO MONTESSORI ACADEMY: Leilah Kooshiar, 5th; Vedika Sharma, 4th; Kayla Traylor, 5th; MCELWAIN CHRISTIAN ACADEMY: Selah Carter, 3rd. FOURTH ROW: Paige Crawford, 5th; Zaria Winrow, 5th; OUR LADY OF SORROWS: Ella McMillan, 2nd; Abigail Matyka, 3rd. FIFTH ROW: Hannah Ferino, 2nd; Jemma Douglas, 3rd; Alexander Johnson, 3rd; Sofia Moody, 1st; PRINCE OF PEACE: Leon Kubik, 3rd. SIXTH ROW: Sophia Barber, 5th; Coryn Gonzalez, 4th.

40 • Thursday, December 12, 2019

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

HOLIDAY CARDS/SCHOOLS

TOP ROW, FROM LEFT: Private Schools, SOUTHMINSTER DAY SCHOOL: Gracelyn Kau, 3rd; Twarita Ayyappa, 3rd; Alexa Alford, 4th; Madeline Davidson, 5th; SPRING VALLEY SCHOOL: Max Glups, 4th. SECOND ROW: Max Ryan, 4th; ST. ROSE ACADEMY: Max Reaves, 4th; Liza Zarzaur, 3rd; Anne Casey, 5th; Audrey Nolan, 5th. THIRD ROW: Joe Dillard, 5th; THE ALTAMONT SCHOOL: Alexa Lyles, 5th; Will Long, 5th.

Hoover Marching Band Takes 7A Title at State

Photo courtesy Hoover City Schools

Photo courtesy the Tanner Foundation

The competition marching band at Hoover High School recently competed in the Alabama State Marching Band Championship, earning the title of class 7A champions.

Composed of 190 students, the marching band is led by drum majors Bailey Flores, Nolan Rose and Harry Tidwell.

Hoover was one of five schools competing in the Class 7A section of the competition, held Nov. 2 at the Hoover Met. Its performance, dubbed “The Gates,” was inspired by Jean Claude Cristo’s 2005 environmental art installation that included thousands of gates at Central Park in New York City.

MBHS Cheerleaders Create Ornaments for Tanner Foundation Fundraiser Members of the Mountain Brook High School varsity cheerleading squad recently spent a day creating holiday ornaments for a cause.

This new fundraiser has served as a way for the squad to give back to the Tanner Foundation, which provides support to people living with neurological diseases, such as ALS, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

The foundation has placed Christmas trees in various locations throughout the state, each decorated with the with

hand-decorated ornaments.

“These ornaments will then be ‘sold’ for a donation and then the person donating can write on the back with the name of the honoree or in memory of someone with one of those diseases,” said Tanner Foundation Executive Director Mary T. Miller.

The foundation’s cause is one quite close to the MBHS squad. Board member Ashley Powell’s daughter Sibley is a former MBHS cheerleader.

Powell has multiple sclerosis and is a patient of Tanner Foundation founder

Dr. Emily Riser of Alabama Neurology Associates.

“Sibley worked for (Alabama Neurology Associates) last summer, shadowing in all areas of neurologic care and treatment to include MD, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, cognitive testing, as well as swallowing and cognitive therapy for patients with MS, Parkinson’s and ALS,” Powell said.

When the foundation was created in 2003, it initially served persons with multiple sclerosis. The foundation now

serves individuals with any neurological disease, seeking to provide emotional and financial support when needed.

“Being involved over the last few years has allowed us to feel like we are a part of the process that this wonderful organization brings to the people it works with,” said MBHS cheer sponsor

Shane Martin. “If we can be a part of bringing hope and happiness to these folks, it is our honor to do so.”

Ornaments are available locally at Alabama Neurology & Associates and Holland & Birch in Homewood, as well as ALKMY in Crestline Village.

– Emily Williams

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

Hoover Superintendent Named Associations Administrator of the Year Hoover City Schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy was named the Alabama State Association for Physical Education, Recreation and Dance’s Administrator of the Year for 2019 at the association’s annual fall conference.

A former physical education educator, Murphy appeared before a crowd dotted with familiar faces from her past and present at the event, held Nov. 17-18, at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham-The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover.

Murphy presented the Mabel C. Robinson Lecture at the association’s conference and recounted her lifelong love of physical activity.

“The most important subject taught at our schools is physical education,” Murphy said. “And all of the auxiliary and ancillary courses that go along

SULLIVAN From page 44

the college football universe, and he did it without pretense and with genuine humility.”

I asked a few others who knew Sullivan to give their reflections. Here is what they had to say:

Bob Lochamy, lifelong friend and former radio broadcaster:

“When I think about Pat Sullivan, I think about his compassion, his sincerity, his integrity and his perspective. Those were his most powerful characteristics for his players, his coaches and the community.

“We grew up together on Mims Avenue in West End. When he was announced at his press conference at Samford, somebody said to me, how long have you known coach Sullivan.

I looked around and saw his family members, and other than them, I’d known him longer than anyone in the room.”

Lochamy told a story about how Sullivan interacted with a friend of his, Barton Long, a former Samford player, at the end of a press conference.

“Barton has had MS (multiple sclerosis) for 25 years. He’s gone from not being able to drive or work to being relegated to a walker and now a motorized chair. After the press conference, Pat came over and said, ‘Bob, thank you for coming.’ He reached out to shake Barton’s hand and he noticed the walker leaning next to the chair and then Pat kneeled down in the coaching position to get eye-to-eye with Barton. And Barton said, ‘Coach I never thought we’d have a Heisman Trophy winner at Samford.’ Pat blushed and said, ‘I’m honored to be at Samford. It’s an

Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 41

SCHOOLS/SPORTS

with that: health, wellness, fitness, Auburn University at Montgomery. She dance and all the stuff we do within then completed a master’s degree at recreation.”

Auburn University.

From an early age, Murphy loved Her teaching career began at Vestavia VestaviaHills HillsRotary RotaryClub Club sports and would often create games Auburn Junior High School, teaching her younger to play by herself, as physical education, followed by sister did not like sports.

Judson College.

“Any time After Judson, she moved on to Thanks to the generosity of these Participants, Community Partners and Corporate/Individual Spons Thanks to the generosity of these Participants, Community Partners and Corporate/Individual Spo we would go University of West Georgia and worked Thanks to the generosity of these to the fivethroughout the metropolitansupporting Vestavia Hills Rotary Club and our programs to improve our community and world.

Atlanta supporting Vestavia Hills Rotary Club and our programs to improve our community and world.

Vestavia Hills Rotary Club and-ten store, area supervising and mentoring Participants, Community Partners and my absolute student teachers.

Corporate/Individual Sponsors for supporting favorite things At the end of her speech, Murphy Vestavia Hills Rotary Club and our programs to to buy with addressed the crowd of physical Thanks to the generosity of these Participants, Community Partners and Corporate/Individual Sponsors for improve our community and world. what little education teachers in attendance at Vestavia Hills Rotary Club supporting Vestavia Hills Rotary Club and our programs to improve our community and world. money I had her lecture.

PARTICIPATING CHEFS was a red “There are some days that I’d love Thanks to the generosity of these Participants, Community Partners and Corporate/Individual rubber softball,” to go back to physical education, supporting Vestavia Hills Rotary Club and our programs to improve our community and wor Vecchia / Chef Benard Tamburello Murphy said. and I’d love to get out in my schools Hoover City Schools Particpating Chefs o Jim ‘N Nicks Bar-B-Q o Jim ‘N Nicks Bar-B-Q She would more and be in those PE classrooms; Superintendent Snapper Grabbers Land & Sea / Chef Patrick McCown oo Original Bar BB Que Original Bar Que throw the ball because what you doMoe’s isMoe’s important,” Kathy Murphy.

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not healthy don’t learn well. Children catch. o Jim ‘N Nicks Bar-B-Q Congratulations to Chef Andrea Griffith don’t eat well don’t perform well.

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PARTNERS

cant contribution in the community. incredible opportunity.”

Partners “I’m so thankful we were able to Months later, Sullivan invited name that award before both of them Long to speak to his Samford players passed. There on a Friday before a game the next are not two finer men

than those two.” day. Lochamy said, “Pat was so

moved by what Barton said he was in o Culotta, Scoggins, Hendricks & Gi Corporate Sponsors o o Culotta, Scoggins, Hendricks && Gillespi Culotta, Scoggins, Hendricks Gilles Corporate Sponsors Corporate Sponsors David Housel, former Auburn sports tears and I had a lump in my throat.”

CPAs and Consultants o Allstate Benefits information director and athletics “There’s no way you can measure o Dan Moran Rocky Ridge Hardwar CPAs and Consultants CPAs and o America’s First Federal Credit Union Consultants o o Allstate Benefits Allstate Benefits o David Martin what impact that had o Angelica Rohner, D.M.D, Pediatric Dentistry on Barton director: o Dan Moran Rocky Ridge Hardware o Dan Moran Rocky Ridge Hardware o o America’s Credit Union America’s Federal Credit Union o Doodle's Sorbets and Ices “I think you can look First atFirst PatFederal Long’s life. I could see the gleam in o Bradley, Arant, Boult, Cummings, LLP, o Don Wiginton

CORPORATE SPONSORS o o David Martin David Martin Rohner, Pediatric Dentistry o Angelica Angelica Rohner, D.M.D, Pediatric Dentistry Sullivano in many different ways. IfD.M.D, his eyes, the smile on his face and Attorneys o First Partners Bank o Culotta, Scoggins, Hendricks & Gillespie, PC, Corporate Sponsors o BBVA Compass Bank o o Doodle's Sorbets and Ices Doodle's Sorbets and Ices you look at him in terms of Auburn, strength in his voice as he spoke to o George Gammill • 18th Street Orientals • IRA Innovtions oLLP, Beach Shaggers of Birmingham he was otheo Moses the players. That the world to CPAs and Consultants Bradley, Arant, Boult, Cummings, o o Don Wiginton Bradley, Arant, Boult, Cummings, LLP, Don Wigintono graylillies Floral Design o meant Allstate Benefits o BlackRock Financial Advisors o Greenhalgh Insurance Agency, In •La Paz • James Anthony of the football proBarton, and it’s all because of Pat Attorneys Attorneys o Dan Moran Rocky Ridge Hardware o Partners Bank o First Partners o Bresco Restaurant Equipment &First Supplies o America’s First Federal Credit Union o Bank Highland Bar and Grill Allstate Agency gram, how he Sullivan’s compassion, sincerity, • Dr. Chris Harrison o Bromberg’s o o BBVA Compass Bank BBVA Compass Banko David Martin o Hoar Construction o George Gammill o George Gammill o Angelica Rohner, D.M.D, Pediatric Dentistry brought them out integrity and perspective.” o Brookdale Senior Living Solutions • Allstate Benefits o John Saddler Allstate Agency • Hoar Construction o o Beach Shaggers of of Birmingham Beach Shaggers Birmingham o Doodle's and Iceso o graylillies o Sorbets Champion Cleaners Floral graylillies Floral Design “Another thing is how Pat and (his of the desert. o Design John Wright • Bradley, Arant, Boult, o Chuck Conyers • Hot and Hot Fish ClubOlson o Dr. Kenneth owasn’t Advisors Arant, Cummings, LLP, Financial o Don Wiginton o BlackRock BlackRock Financial Advisors Auburn wife) Jean andotheirBradley, family became anBoult, o Greenhalgh Insurance Agency, Inc. o Greenhalgh Insurance Agency, Inc. o Coca-Cola Cummings, LLP, Attorneys o Langley Systems, Inc., Environme winningo for a long inspiration to so many families, husAttorneys • Kampakis Insurance o First & Partners Bank Restaurant Equipment Supplies o Bresco Bresco Restaurant Equipment & o Supplies Collier’s Nursery o Highland Bar and Grill o Highland Bar and Grill Conservation & Ecological Servic • Bresco time, and could bands and wives, how toCompass deal with Bank o inBBVA Services o oheBromberg’s Bromberg’s o George Gammill o Hoar Construction o Hoar Construction taken the their own trialsoandBeach tribulations, with ofhave • Lee Bendall & Jack Monroe Shaggers Birmingham • Kelan & Dylan Enterprises o oout Brookdale Senior Living Brookdale Senior Living Solutions oSolutions graylillies Floral Design o o John easy way and the way they dealt with Pat’s cancer.”

Saddler Allstate Agency John Saddler Allstate Agency • Bob Bradley & Neal Carroll o BlackRock Financial Advisors • Mallory Smith Farmers o Champion Champion Cleaners o Greenhalgh Insurance Agency, Inc.

gone tooAlabama, but he Cleaners came to o John Wright o John Wright Insurance Agency Bottega Restaurant & Cafe o Bresco Restaurant Equipment & Scott Myers, executive director of the Auburn forSupplies coach (Ralph otooplay Chuck Conyers Chuck Conyers o •Highland Bar and Grill o o Dr.Dr. Kenneth Olson Kenneth Olson Alabama Sports Hall of Fame: “Shug”)oJordan.

He gave Auburn o Bromberg’s • Merrill Lynch Financial • BVA Compass Bank o Coca-Cola Coca-Cola o Hoar Construction o o Langley Systems, Inc., Environmental Langley Systems, Inc., Environmenta “Coach Sullivan was so humble, hope. The first game he played, he Advisors/ Fran Buchan o Brookdale Senior Living • John Harper oSolutions o Collier’s Collier’s Nursery o John Saddler Allstate AgencyConservation such a thoughtful person on all reared back and threw Nursery a long pass to & Ecological Services Conservation & Ecological Services • Milo’s Famous Tea o Champion Cleaners • BlackRock accounts, and such a fine man. We got Terry Beasley. It was incomplete, but o John Wright Financial o Chuck Conyers you knew this was a different time • Marcus Allstate Agency Advisors to know each other o Dr. Kenneth Olson o Coca-Cola more after I started for Auburn football.

• Olson Nutrition, • Bromberg’s o Langley Systems, Inc., Environmental working for theo Collier’s Nursery “In terms of a man, he was a Ken Olson, M.D., Ph.D. • Bryan Sheffield Allstate Services Conservation & Ecological Alabama Sports quality man, a humble man, a quiet • Over the Mountain Journal Agency Hall of Fame. man. As Shakespeare said, the ‘ele• Passion HR Consulting • Chuck Conyers, Before that I was ments so mixed in him that Nature & Paul Edfeldt affiliated with might stand up and say to the world, • PMB Catering Samford with the ‘This was a Man!’ • Ray Hester, Gary Jordan • Progress Bank business school “Pat had more accolades than you & Ron Musgrove • Standifer Insurance Group and the athletic can name, but his finest hour was the • Collier’s Nursery • Your Choice Senior Care department when he got the head way he battled cancer toe to toe for • Donato’s Pizza coaching job there. I was ecstatic that all those years. In his fight, he taught • Bryan Sheffield someone of his influence, caliber of others how to fight. He was a profile • Doug & Anita Wilson Allstate Agency character and integrity was coming to in courage. That dwarfs everything • Doodle's Sorbets and Ices • Sarver Orthodontics Samford. I think it was a perfect fit. else he ever did.”

• Don Wiginton • Steed's Jewelers “He loved the game so much, and of course he was an Auburn icon. He • Greenhalgh Insurance • Steve Odle & Jim Carlile was a unique individual.”

Agency, Inc. • Scott Selman Rubin E. Grant Early this year, the ASHOF named • Gloor, Strickland & • Ted's Restaurant is a sportswriter an award for Sullivan and former Haggerty Attorneys at Law for Over The Alabama quarterback Bart Starr, who • Ted Strong Law Firm Mountain Journal.

• Georgia Medoria & died in May. The Starr-Sullivan • Wild Birds Unlimited Stan Sims Achievement Award will recognize a Nature Store former collegiate quarterback who • Ghost Train Brewery • Vulcan Materials Company exhibits exemplary character, integrity and leadership while making a signifi-

42 • Thursday, December 12, 2019

SPORTS

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

Young Hoover Girls Basketball Team Rewarding Coach’s Patience

Members of Lions’ winning 200-yard medley relay team, from left, Mason Mathias, Andrew Groves, Holden Patterson and Nathan Watkins.

Briarwood’s Mathias Takes Home the Gold X3 from State Swim Meet

Briarwood Christian junior Mason Mathias claimed three gold medals in the 54th AHSAA State Swimming & Diving Championships Saturday at Auburn University’s James E. Martin Aquatics Center.

Mathias won the Class 1A-5A boys 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:41.26 and won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:36.34.

He also was part of the Lions’ winning 200-yard medley relay that clocked 1:44.06. The other three swimmers on the team were freshman Nathan Watkins, seventh grader Andrew Groves and sophomore Holden Patterson.

T.R. Miller of Brewton registered 215 points to repeat as the boys Class 1A-5A team champions.

Briarwood was fourth with 180 pounds.

In the girls Class 6A-7A competition, Hoover sophomore Caroline

Hoover sophomore Caroline Lawrence won the Class 200-yard IM.

Lawrence had a solid meet. She won the Class 200-yard IM with a time of 2:06.87 and finished third in the 500yard freestyle with a time of 5:06.16.

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Hoover girls basketball coach Krystle Johnson was more than a little cranky after the Bucs’ first loss of the season.

After opening the season with three double-digit victories, the Bucs suffered a humiliating 42-29 setback at Ramsay.

“I don’t think (Ramsay) was that good,” Johnson grumbled. “We just played that bad.”

Hoover was without its leading scorer, sophomore Aniya Hubbard, who had scored 17 points against Huffman and 25 against Madison Academy in the first two games. She missed the game because of a concussion.

But Johnson wasn’t buying Hubbard’s absence as an excuse for the Bucs’ effort against the Rams.

“She didn’t play against Anniston and we still won (51-38),” Johnson snapped.

Then she added, “Regardless of who plays, we have to play a certain way, up to a certain standard.”

Johnson expects championship caliber play whenever her team steps on the court. That’s just her way after guiding Hoover to Class 7A state championships in two of the past three seasons, including 2018-2019 when the Bucs finished with a 34-1 record.

Even so, Johnson knows this team will have some growing pains.

“I think we’ll win some games, but some nights we will be inconsistent, like against Ramsay,” Johnson said.

“That’s the nature of a young team.”

Since the loss to Ramsay, the Bucs (9-1) have reeled off six consecutive victories. They went 3-0 in the BallN Prep Thanksgiving Bash in Huntsville, beating James Clemens 68-32, St. Francis (GA) 84-69 and Maynard Jackson (GA) 57-24. Last week, they overwhelmed Shades Valley 72-10 and routed crosstown rival Spain Park 56-32 behind freshman Reniya Kelly’s 17 points.

On Saturday, the Bucs edged Houston, Tenn., 47-45 on Kelly’s clutch fourth-quarter free throws in the Heels 2 Hoopers Hoopfest at Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis. Hubbard led Hoover with 19 points.

Johnson earned her 200th career win with the victory.

Vestavia Hills’ Strand Headed to Cross-Country National Finals Jim Vestavia Hills junior distance runner Over The Mountain Journal, PHONE: 205-823-9646 Ethan Strand will have a chance to FAX: 205-824-1246 become a national champion.

May 2015 Strand finished in sixth place with This is your AD PrOOF from the OvEr THE MOuNTAiN JOurNAl for the a time of 15:07 at the Foot Locker Nov. 4 2010 issue. Please fax approval or changes to 824-1246.

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Cross Country Championship South Regionals on Nov. 30 in Charlotte, North Carolina, earning an automatic invitation to compete in the National Finals on Dec. 14 in San Diego at Balboa Park.

The top 10 finishers advanced to

6402 Tattersall Park Dr, Hoover, AL 35242 including address phone Sun-Thursday 11-11• Friday &and Saturday 11-12number!

205-538-2700

Please initial and fax back within 24 hours.

if we have not heard from you by 5 pm of the Friday before the press date, your ad will run as is. We print the paper Monday.

Journal photo by Jordan Wald

Journal photos by Jordan Wald

By Rubin E. Grant

Junior Jada Knight is one of only four players from last year’s state championship team that received any significant playing time.

The Bucs graduated four players off their 2019 championship team who are now college athletes. Joiya Maddox (Rutgers), Skyla Knight (University of Arkansas at Little Rock), and Miya Kimber (West Alabama) are all playing college basketball, while Melanie Hall is a track and field athlete at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa.

The Bucs returned six players from last season, but only four who received significant playing time — senior Madison Adamson, junior Jada Knight, Kelly and Hubbard. The 6-foot-2 Adamson and guard Janae Hubbard are the Bucs’ only two seniors.

“We’re not as deep as we were last year,” Johnson said. “We have some height, but we’re inexperienced in some spots.”

Johnson hopes 6-2 junior Rachel Hager will give the Bucs some valuable minutes. She was pulled up to the varsity as an eighth-grader and played some as a freshman and sophomore, although she was beset by injuries for part of last season.

“She should step up as long as she’s been around the program,” Johnson said.

Kristen McMillan, a 6-2 freshman transfer from Spain Park, also has some varsity experience.

Sophomore guards Devon Davidson and Campbell Hecklinski and freshman post players, 6-1 Olivia Johnigan and 5-11 Haleigh Cephus, round out the roster.

The Bucs have a demanding early season schedule that continued this week with home games against Wenonah on Tuesday and HewittTrussville on Friday. Hoover beat Hewitt 47-33 in the Class 7A championship game last season.

“We’ve got a lot of young players,” Johnson said. “That’s why I made our schedule so difficult. I want them to understand they cannot take a single game off.”

Johnson also hopes the tough competition will help the Bucs when Class 7A, Area 5 play starts in January. Oak Mountain, Thompson and Tuscaloosa County are Hoover’s area foes.

“I’m waiting for January to see what kind of team we are,” Johnson said. “I definitely think we have a team capable of winning another state championship. It’s going to take some time. I’m kind of impatient, but I don’t have a choice.”

nationals.

Strand is the first Alabamian to qualify for the boys championship race since Hoover’s Robert Bedsole in 2004. Strand also is the first Ethan Strand Vestavia Hills runner to advance to nationals.

Strand will compete against 39 other runners from across the country who qualified at the South, Northeast, Midwest and West regional Foot Locker meets.

Strand has won the past two Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 7A state crosscountry titles, including this fall when he completed the 5K race in 15:18.58.

A live webcast of the national race can be viewed at footlockercc.com at noon CST Saturday.

SPORTS

OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

Vestavia Hills Falls in Special HOBBS Olympics Alabama Unified Game

Journal photo by Jordan Wald

From page 44

Vestavia struck early when Austin Ballard threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Graham Duncan on the first play of the game.

Vestavia Hills came up short in its bid to win the Special Olympics Alabama Unified Flag Football Game last Wednesday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Baldwin County Schools’ Unified football team downed Vestavia Hills 27-20, giving the Bandits, coached by Mike Conner, their third consecutive title.

Baldwin County beat Vestavia Hills 26-18 in 2018 but lost to the Rebels 27-26 in overtime in the qualifying competition at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery in November.

Vestavia Hills, coached by Terry Tingle and appearing in its fourth consecutive title game, took a quick 7-0 lead when Austin Ballard threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Graham Duncan on the first play of the game. Ballard passed to

Zulanas Carter for the extra point.

Baldwin County tied the score when Hamilton Baker completed a 4-yard TD pass to Trey Morrisette with 13:24 remaining in the half. Isaiah Featherston scored the PAT. Baker then found himself on the receiving end of a 25-yard TD pass from Brian Talley at 8:42 of the first half for a 13-7 lead.

The Rebels scored three minutes later on Duncan’s 38-yard run. He also scored the PAT, giving Vestavia Hills a 14-13 lead.

With one second remaining in the half, the Bandits scored when Talley hauled in a 5-yard pass from Baker. Baker then connected with Featherston on the two-point conversion to make it 21-14 at halftime.

Baldwin County increased its lead to 27-14 early in the second half when Morrisette caught his second 4-yard TD pass from Hamilton. The extra point failed.

The Rebels closed the scoring when Duncan caught a 38-yard touchdown toss from Ballard.

Duncan led the Rebels with 41 yards rushing on two carries and 83 yards receiving on three receptions. Ballard was 4 of 14 passing for 79 yards and two TDs. Baker was 10 of 18 passing for 69 yards and three touchdowns for Baldwin County. Talley was 6 of 10 for 92 yards and a score for the Bandits.

Featherston had five catches for 48 yards, Talley had five for 30 and Baker had four for 75 yards for Baldwin County. Mack Brock finished with a team-high 31 yards rushing on six carries.

to be out there with my sisters one last time.

(The game) didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but we can’t let the outcome overshadow this whole season and the work we’ve put in for years to make this happen.

“As seniors, we could not be more grateful for a season like we had. We opened a lot of doors for this program, and we know that we are so proud of each other and of the team. To get to come back to the NCAA Tournament is such a blessing, and we realize that.”

Hobbs was at the forefront of all the Bulldogs accomplished this season. She led them to the regular-season Southern Conference championship with a 15-1 record in league matches, the best record in conference play in school history.

Hobbs also led the SoCon in both total kills (397) and kills per set (3.89). She had doubledigit kills in all but one of Samford’s regularseason games. She posted double-doubles, with double digits in both kills and digs, 10 times.

Her dominance earned her the 2019 Southern Conference Player of the Year award, but she considered it a team achievement.

“That was so awesome,” Hobbs said. “Since my freshman year, I’ve played with some amazing players and had some amazing coaches.

They have pushed me to be my best.

“This year is so special. It’s not an individual thing. It’s an award for the team. I got the award and had good stats, but if it wasn’t for the passers getting the ball to the setters and other hitters, I couldn’t do what I did without any of them. It’s not just one girl who played well.”

Hobbs continued her brilliance in the postseason, leading the Bulldogs to three wins and

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Thursday, December 12, 2019 • 43

the SoCon tournament title as Samford earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

In the Bulldogs’ 3-0 first-round win against The Citadel, Hobbs posted 10 kills and six digs.

She had 23 kills and seven digs in a 3-2 win against Furman in the semifinals. In the championship match against East Tennessee State University, Hobbs recorded a career-high 26 kills and 12 digs in the Bulldogs’ 3-2 victory.

For her efforts, Hobbs was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament and later was named the Sports Imports/American Volleyball Coaches Association Player of the Week.

Success in the Legacy Department

Samford coach Keylor Chan praised Hobbs for the impact she had on the Bulldogs’ volleyball program during her career.

“Kelsi has an amazing story in collegiate volleyball,” Chan said. “She is a hometown kid who has helped build an amazing culture and legacy at Samford.

“Kelsi’s dedication to learning and growing in the craft of volleyball has laid the foundation for future generations of Bulldogs. It has been a blessing to coach and lead Kelsi these past four years.”

Hobbs is on track to graduate in the spring as a sports administration major and marketing minor. She eventually would like to work in sports marketing for a team, but she hopes that will be a while.

“In the near future, I don’t think I am finished with volleyball,” she said. “I am thinking about going to graduate school at a school that has a beach volleyball program.”

She mentioned UAB, Mercer and Chattanooga as possibilities. Another option is going overseas.

“I want to keep playing,” Hobbs said.

SPORTS

Thursday, December 12, 2019 ❖ OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL

REMEMBERING PAT SULLIVAN 1950 — 2019

Football Legend’s Battle with Cancer a ‘Profile in Courage’

By Rubin E. Grant

Photo courtesy AU Photographic Services.

Growing up as a University of Alabama college football fan, I wasn’t a fan of Pat Sullivan when he played quarterback for Auburn. But I was glad to see Sullivan win the 1971 Heisman Trophy because no player in the history of the state had won the prestigious award.

When I came to Birmingham in 1979 and started my sports writing career, I interviewed Sullivan on many occasions while he was Samford’s football coach, from 2007 to 2014, and during his previous coaching stops at Texas Christian University as head coach, from 1992 to 1997, and at UAB as offensive coordinator, from 1999 to 2006. I grew to respect and admire him because of his honesty and dignity.

The relationship between coaches and the media used to be one of mutual respect and sometimes friendships developed, but during my 40-year plus career, it’s become more adversarial and sometimes downright hostile.

But it’s hard for me to see how anyone could have had a contentious relationship with Sullivan. He was a gentleman in a sport that doesn’t always lend itself to such noble character.

Sullivan, 69, died Dec. 1 after a lengthy battle with cancer. The Sullivan family had a

celebration of his life service Dec. 6 at the Grants Mill Campus of Church of the Highlands.

I remember my last sit-down interview with Sullivan, in April of 2018. He had been named as the honoree for the American Cancer Society’s Tee It Up Fore Life 2018 golf tournament at Old Overton Club.

We met at his office on the third floor of the Samford football building that bears his name, the Sullivan-Cooney Family Field House.

His personal assistant, Darryl DuBose, was right by his side.

“He’s my brother,” Sullivan said fondly.

Sullivan was being nourished through a feeding tube and had an oxygen tank to help him breathe.

“I’m doing all right,” he said. “I have my issues to fight every day, but the good Lord has been good to me.”

And the good Lord has been good to me by allowing me the privilege of knowing Pat Sullivan.

During Sullivan’s memorial service, Samford University President Andrew Westmoreland, who hired Sullivan to be the Bulldogs’ head coach in 2006, said, “We all thought he belonged to all of us. He lived as a Heisman Trophy winner here at the center of

See SULLIVAN, page 41

Briarwood’s Mathias Takes Home the Gold X3 from State Swim Meet. Page 42

Hobbs led the SoCon in both total kills (397) and kills per set (3.89).

Photo courtesy Samford University Athletics

Vestavia Hills Falls in Special Olympics Alabama Unified Game. Page 43

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Hobbs Leaves a Legacy for Future Samford Volleyball Players

By Rubin E. Grant From the moment Kelsi Hobbs arrived at Samford University from John Carroll Catholic High School, she had one goal in mind: leave her mark on the Bulldogs’ volleyball program.

“The seniors on the team when I was a freshman left a legacy,” Hobbs said. “We weren’t the best team going into the season, but we were all-in and they taught us what we needed to do to succeed. The culture was amazing.”

The seniors led Samford to the 2016 NCAA Tournament and left an indelible impression on the freshman Hobbs.

“I decided my senior year I wanted to leave the same legacy,” Hobbs said.

Hobbs accomplished her mission as a senior this fall, even though her career didn’t

end the way she wanted.

The Bulldogs reached the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year and the third time with Hobbs as part of the program. But their bid to advance beyond the first round for the first time didn’t happened.

Last Thursday in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Samford dropped a 3-0 (21-25, 12-25, 22-25) decision to Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Samford finished the season with a 24-6 record.

The 6-foot-1 Hobbs, an outside hitter, had 10 kills and seven digs in defeat, but she relished the opportunity to compete in the tournament even if the Bulldogs’ stay was brief.

“It was a great experience,” Hobbs said.

“It’s an exclusive tournament, with only 64 teams, and everyone wants to win. It was fun

See HOBBS, page 43

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