02.24.2015

Otmj Thursday, February 26, 2015

spring fashion

summer camp guide

over the mountain journal â?– otmj.com

A Night in Wonderland Queen Caroline Nabers Gray Reigns Over a Very Merry Krewe Ball social page 14

Caroline Nabers Gray, a Vanderbilt University student, was chosen this year’s Beaux Arts Krewe Ball Queen. Accompanied by her trainbearers, the Mountain Brook High School graduate wore the same dress her mother wore when she was Krewe Ball Queen in 1982. Photo special to the Journal by Hank Spencer

inside film of dreams Vestavia native chronicles 44-day river journey. people page 8

Memory Mashup An encounter with Johnny Mack Brown, a football standout turned movie star, is one of the stories in a new book by Homewood seniors. life page 12

trail mix Annual V2V run takes a different path.

ABOUT TOWN page 4

2 • Thursday, February 26, 2015

Caps and Gowns

At St. Vincent’s, Babies Wear Red for Heart Disease Awareness

Many Birmingham area moms bring their bundles of joy home from St. Vincent’s hospitals.

Earlier this month, babies at those hospitals participated in a campaign aimed at helping moms – and all women.

On Feb. 6, St. Vincent’s Health System babies wore red caps as part of the American Heart Association’s 12th annual National Wear Red Day. The event was part of the “Go Red for Women” campaign to build awareness about heart disease, the No. 1 killer of women.

Babies at St. Vincent’s Birmingham and St. Vincent’s East sported the brightly-colored headgear for the event.

St. Vincent’s Health System partnered with the American Heart Association on the campaign to help educate women on the disease and its symptoms, which are often difficult to detect.

The event is one of many St. Vincent’s will be participating in over the next few months to share heart-healthy information with the community and to encourage early detection through heart screenings, health system officials said.

“St. Vincent’s is committed to making a difference in the lives of women, especially where their health is concerned,” said Neeysa Biddle, senior vice president, Ascension Health and Birmingham market executive. “Heart disease remains the No. 1 killer of women, and that is why St. Vincent’s is putting our vast resources and heart care experience to work to bring a better understanding of the disease to the community.”

For women affected by heart disease, the St. Vincent’s babies helped make Feb. 6 a real red-letter day.

in this issue About Town 4 8 people news 10 life 12 social 14 food 21

camp guide 24 shools 32 fashion 34 weddings 37 sports 40

On otmj.com

Opinion/Contents

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

murphy’s law

Basic Compliance Camp

T

I have been run off the sidewalk he sign on the hotel lobby more times than I can count or had to convention board said “Basic throw myself up against the wall in Compliance Academy.” There the hallway because a pack of people was no other information, so I have no refused to yield. I know that I am small idea what these conventioneers were of stature, but it’s like I wasn’t even being asked to comply to, but still, it visible. But I was. I checked. was an intriguing idea.

Basic Driving: Red means stop, Basic compliance. It sounds Big even if you are in a hurry, even if you Brother-ish, but we all know that rules are the last person in the turn lane and are necessary at some level and complihave to wait another go-round. Stop. In ance keeps us out of trouble. When you my neck of the woods, red has somewere little, you were directed to brush how come to mean “one more…or posyour teeth, say please and thank you, sibly two going really, really fast.” Like and not stay up late watching TV on if they speed on through, they become school nights. Noncompliance would invisible. But they aren’t. I checked. result in you becoming a thoughtless, Sue Murphy Running a red light is irksome toothless, bum…or so said your mom. to those compliantly waiting, not Once you got to school, your Part of growing up is to mention dangerous, as in, you teacher, Ms. Fitzwilliams, insisted run the risk of never getting to that you stay in your seat, raise realizing that, even Chattanooga…ever. your hand, and bring in a signed when Mom and Ms. If Basic Compliance Camp fails, permission slip for the class trip to Fitzwilliams aren’t look- my Basic Driving Plan B is to petiChattanooga. Noncompliance would result in you waving goodbye to ing, complying with rules tion the city council to install paint ball guns in every intersection that your Chattanooga-bound classmates and practicing good would fire as soon as the light turns from the window of the principal’s manners is a good idea, red, pelting offenders’ cars with a office.

Part of growing up is realizing because they help us all paint that could only be removed with a special solvent available at the that, even when Mom and Ms. Fitzwilliams aren’t looking, comply- live together in harmony. police department.

Cell Phone Usage: Never during ing with rules and practicing good dinner, never while driving. Never. manners is a good idea, because they One is rude and the other falls into the “never getting to help us all live together in harmony. It Takes a Village, Chattanooga” category. and all that. But, sometimes our It Takes a Village Also, no matter how tricked-out your phone is, be resolve loses out to “What’s it going to hurt?” and we aware that it does not come with a Cone of Silence app. start fudging a bit, which makes me think that we could If you find yourself having an intensely personal converall use a refresher course, maybe not an entire complisation, take it outside…on your half of the sidewalk. ance academy, just a long weekend of compliance camp.

Basic Compliance Camp. I think it could work. And Here’s where I would start: trust me, being a backsliding fudger myself, I’ll be the Basic Walking: You are entitled to exactly half the first to sign up. At the end of the camp, we’ll award BCC width of the thoroughfare. If two of you are walking Certified certificates, and we’ll return home to make our abreast, one of you must duck behind the other when a village a better place to live. Even if it’s Chattanooga. ❖ person walks toward you.

There’s so much happening in the Over the Mountain area, we can’t fit it all in the paper! Visit www.otmj.com for more stories and photos.

over the Mountain Views OVER THE MOUNTAIN

JOU RNAL

February 26, 2015

Publisher & Editor: Maury Wald Features Writer & Copy Editor: Donna Cornelius Staff Writer: Emily Williams Editorial Assistant: Stacie Galbraith Sports: Lee Davis Contributors: Susan Murphy, June Mathews, William C. Singleton III, Emil Wald, Marvin Gentry, Lee Walls Jr., Bryan Bunch Advertising Sales: Suzanne Wald, Julie Trammell Edwards, Tommy Wald Office Manager: Christy Wald Vol. 25, No. 4

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 ads@otmj.com. Find us on the Web at otmj.com.

Copyright 2015 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.

If you could go anywhere for spring break ...?

“If I could go anywhere, I would go back to London.”

Elizabeth Ann Naro Mountain Brook

“I want to go to Hawaii.”

Cortney Meacham Birmingham

“I would definitely go skiing in Deer Valley (Utah).”

Jennifer Cope Mountain Brook

“I would go to Bora Bora or Fiji. No, I change my answer. I would go to London.”

Alden Raulston Birmingham

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

About Town

Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 3

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4 • Thursday, February 26, 2015

Trail Mix

About Town

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

feb. 26 - mar. 11 Feb. 26-April 3

BIRMINGHAM Lenten Preaching Series The Cathedral Church of the Advent The series features 25-minute services in the Parish Hall and Dining Room at 12:05 p.m. with lunch served until 1 p.m. For more information, call 251-2324.

David Tosch Loves Nature Running

David Tosch has participated

in just about every type of running competition. He was a track and field athlete in high school and competed seriously in road runs and marathons for years.

Tosch said his love affair with long-distance running began when he was a young man watching the 1972 Olympics in Munich, when Frank Shorter became the first American to win the gold medal in the marathon.

“I remember when the German student ran out on the track, wanting people to think he was Shorter,” Tosch said. “The crowd started booing the imposter, but Shorter thought they were booing him. The whole thing was amazing to watch, and it made me think, ‘I want to run in marathons.’”

But as Tosch began to run marathons, he soon learned that there was nothing quite as good as going back to nature.

“Trail running is the best,” said Tosch, 65. “Where else can you be out running and almost get knocked over by a deer?”

Tosch, who lives in the Cahaba Valley area, is the founder of the Southeastern Trail Series, which organizes and promotes trail running events from March through November. Many of the events will take place at Oak Mountain State Park. The first will be the Village 2 Village Trail Race in Mountain Brook March 7, and while the distance will be only 8.6 miles, Tosch said it will be a great preparation for the future events.

“They’ve had the Village 2 Village Run for a number of years, but this is the first year they’ve added a trail run,” he said. “It’s going to be an exciting day because there are some great trails in Mountain Brook.”

Tosch’s first off-road event was the Azalea Trail run in Mobile in the late 1970s, and he became hooked, he said.

“It was just a lot of fun,” he said.

“Trail runners were a little more laid

back than road runners. There was competition, of course, but it was just much more enjoyable than what I had done before.”

Another year at the Azalea Run, Tosch met legendary runner Bill Rodgers, who would win the Boston Marathon four times.

“Bill came down and wanted to see the course,” Tosch said. “He could not have been any nicer. Then he decided to run 18 miles with us.

A bunch of us stayed close to him during the first lap, but by the third,

‘They’ve had the Village 2 Village Run for a number of years, but this is the first year they’ve added a trail run. It’s going to be an exciting day because there are some great trails in Mountain Brook.’

David Tosch

Rodgers really took off and left most of us. I had read his book on marathon running, so it was a real thrill to meet him.”

Soon afterward, Tosch gave up road running completely and devoted all his time to nature trails, even participating in the Pike’s Peak Marathon and the Hard Rock 100 Endurance Run in Colorado.

As time went by, Tosch’s love for trail running grew, particularly at Oak Mountain.

“It’s great to just run and watch nature,” he said. “You’re likely to see a lot of deer. I’ve even run in the snow.”

Trail running isn’t always as idyllic as it might sound.

“Once I got caught in a tornado at Oak Mountain – and there was a time that I actually liked to run during storms,” he said, laughing. “And there’s always the chance of stepping on snakes.”

Tosch said training for trails is different than preparing for road races in one important way.

Fri., Feb. 27

BIRMINGHAM Bunting Ceramics Symposium Birmingham Museum of Art The Second Bunting Biennial Ceramics Symposium will begin at 6 p.m. with a welcome and lecture from Gail C. Andrews. A reception for Frank Fleming will follow. This event is free. For more information, visit www. artsbma.org.

Feb. 27-28

Journal photo by Craig Robertson

By Lee Davis

HOMEWOOD Lil’ Lambs Spring Sale Trinity United Methodist Church This annual consignment sale offers gently worn clothing, toys and furniture.

The sale is open to the public from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 27 and from 9 a.m.noon Feb. 28. For more information, visit www.trinitybirmingham.com.

David Tosch is the founder of the Southeastern Trail Series and is race director for the Village 2 Village Trail Run in Mountain Brook March 7.

“You have to be very sensitive to the environment in which you are running,” he said. “A runner has to be aware of the dips on the trail and understand that every course is going to be different. No two steps are alike, and you’re not just pounding the pavement as is the case in road running.”

Trail running takes less of a physical toll on a runner, Tosch said.

“The running through differences in terrain is better than just constantly running on a straight, hard surface,” he said. “Some of the trails in the Northwest are similar to a soft cinder track.”

When not running, Tosch, a retired businessman, spends much of his time setting up and maintaining trails for races. He works closely with Steve Clones of Oak Mountain State Park to prepare the trails for competitive

Sat., Feb. 28

events as well as for casual runners.

“Steve does so much of the work on the trails on his own, I just help him where I can,” Tosch said. “People don’t realize how much is required to maintain these trails and to get them ready for the races.”

Oak Mountain will host the Tranquility Trail Run April 11, a Memorial Day run May 23, the Hotter N’ Hell race July 25, the Ridge to Ridge Race Sept. 5, the Birmingham Track Club race Oct. 17 and the Tranquility Lake 50K and 25K Nov. 21.

“Setting the atmosphere is so important in trail races,” Tosch said.

“It should be more than just a run. It should be an experience.”

And when it comes to experiences – whether on the road or on the nature trails – few have had more of them than David Tosch. ❖

MOUNTAIN BROOK Village 2 Village 10K and 8 Mile Trail Run Lane Park Road The annual run will include an additional 8 mile trail run along Jemison Trail. The entry fee for the 10K and 8 mile run is $35 per race or $50 for both. Registration will be available on race day at an increased price. Race day parking will be available at the Birmingham Zoo. The new Race Village After Party will take place on Canterbury Road in Mountain Brook Village. For more information and registration, visit www.welcometomountainbrook.com.

Sponsors of the 2015 Village 2 Village10K and 8 Mile Trail Run on March 7 are, from left: Maury Wald, Over The Mountain Journal; Dr. Cal Dodson, MDVIP; Dr. Kevin Alexander, Alexander Dentistry; Dr. Ruth Penton Polson, Over The Mountain Dentistry; John McGill, RealtySouth; David Tosch, Southeastern Trail Series and Christopher Groom, Mountain High Outfitters. Journal phtoo by Marvin Gentry

BIRMINGHAM Dinner and Diamonds Regions Field The Vestavia Hills City Schools Foundation will host its annual fundraiser at 7 p.m. The evening includes a silent auction and music by Creativity. Tickets are $80 and available at www.vestaviafoundation.org.

BIRMINGHAM Red Nose Ball Cahaba Grand Conference Center This Camp Smile-A-Mile fundraiser starts at 6 p.m. and includes silent and live auctions, dinner and dancing.

Tickets are $300. For more information, visit www.campsam.org or call 3238427.

March 1-12

MOUNTAIN BROOK Holocaust in Film Series Emmet O’Neal Library Presented by the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center, this fourpart film and discussion series will be March 1 at 2 p.m., March 5 at 6:30 p.m., March 8 at 2 p.m. and March 12 at 6:30 p.m. This free event is intended for adult audiences. For more information, visit www.eolib.org.

Wed., March 4

VESTAVIA HILLS Film-making in the Forest Vestavia Library Teens are invited to help create short films for the library, for fun and for national competitions, from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Snacks will be served. For more information, visit www.vestavialibrary. org.

Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 5

About Town

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Masterpiece Theater

March 5 & 6

BIRMINGHAM Italian History Day Vulcan Park Schools are invited to explore the religious and social history of Birmingham’s Italian community.

Artists will create works of art in the blink of an eye during the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center’s annual ArtBLINK Gala 2015.

The event is at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 28 at the Kirklin Clinic, 2000 Sixth Ave. S., Birmingham.

Eighteen Birmingham area artists will work with a variety of media to create works of art in 90 minutes. The pieces can be purchased during a silent auction.

Funds from the gala go to the center’s Fund for Excellence, which supports high-priority research efforts for specific projects, launching young investigators in cancer research, or recruiting new faculty. A percentage of the funds raised will support patient and family assistance efforts.

Edward Partridge, M.D., UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center director, said the center’s advisory board has been committed since it began in 1984 to raising funds for cancer research.

Many of the board members have been touched by cancer themselves, he said.

“They host this event annually, and it’s their time and generosity combined with the community effort that makes the gala a success,” Partridge said. “Philanthropic support from the community provides us with the critical

Thurs., March 5

HOOVER Concordia Choir Concert Shades Crest Baptist Church The Concordia Choir from Moorhead, Minn., will present a concert at 7 p.m. featuring spirituals, hymns, a cappella

Photos special to the Journal

Artists Will Work on Site at ArtBLINK Gala

seed money to investigate drugs and develop treatments that we can quickly and safely move to our patients.”

Participating artists are Thomas Andrew, Ahmad Austin, Melissa Payne Baker, David Boyd, Carol Carmichael, Amy Collins, Sam Collins, Amy Crews, Joan Curtis, Barbara Davis, Vicki Denaburg, Lila Graves, Mila Dreher Hirsch, Carol Misner, Sally Powell, Linda Ellen Price, Michael Swann and Robine Wright.

The event includes a cocktail dinner provided by IZ Catering and dancing to the sounds of the Rock Candy Band.

This year’s gala features an Artists Gallery, where guests can view and purchase additional artwork created by the ArtBLINK artists.

Admission is $150. To buy tickets, visit www.uab.edu/ artblink, email CCCEvents@uab.edu or call 934-0034.

Dress is black tie-optional. Valet and deck parking will be available for guests. ❖

and a performance by the Birmingham Boys Choir. For advance tickets, visit ConcordiaTickets.com or call 800-8383006. Tickets also will be available at the door.

BIRMINGHAM Alabama Childhood Food Solutions

Banquet Grandview Parkway Marriott Hotel Auburn University Athletic Director Jay Jacobs is the guest speaker for this 6 p.m. event, which includes music and a silent auction. For tickets, send an email to info@ alabamachildhoodfoodssolutions.com.

Participants can choose either March 5 or 6. The program is from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

The cost is $8 per student. For more information, email Maggie Johnson at mjohnson@visitvulcan.com.

about town continues on page 7

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At Over the Mountain This Dentistry we believe that you deserve dental is your ad proof from the over the mountain Journal for the february 26, 2015 issue. contactwe your sales soon as possible to care that meets YOUR needs.

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Cahaba Road in Mountain please Brookinitial Village.

Weback serve adults of all ages If we have not heard from you by 5 pm of the Friday before the press date, as well as children and teenagers. your ad will run as is. We print the paper Monday.

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2850 Cahaba Road, Suite 140 Mountain Brook, Al 35223

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Presents

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Register at www.welcometomountainbrook.com register at welcome to mountainBrook.com

Along for the Ride Cycling Event Raises Money for Fight against Ovarian Cancer

By June Mathews A group of cyclists will gather at Levite Jewish Community Center March 1 for a spin.

But it won’t be your average leisurely spin around the neighborhood. What it will be is an indoor cycling event with a cause: to combat ovarian cancer.

The eighth annual Ovarian Cycle Birmingham is a threehour ride in which riders and spectators will pedal, sweat and cheer to raise funds for ovarian cancer research.

“Not only does Ovarian Cycle raise money, but it also raises awareness about the disease,” said Susan Greene, executive director of the Norma Livingston Ovarian Cancer Foundation and Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. “Most women who have it aren’t even aware of it until it’s too late.

“The event is also a way to stay in shape. It’s fun, it’s inspiring, it’s motivational.”

Each year in the United States, more than 21,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Greene said, and about 13,000 women die of it.

With no early detection test for ovarian cancer available, only 19 percent of its victims are diagnosed in the initial stages of the disease.

Its symptoms are vague – abdominal bloating, epigastric complaints, constipation and fatigue – and often mimic physical discomfort women routinely experience during their monthly cycles.

Ovarian cancer is so sneaky, in fact, that it can take even a seasoned medical professional by surprise.

Bari Cotton, a research nurse coordinator at UAB, said she thought the overwhelming fatigue and other health issues she was experiencing in early 2007 were simply manifestations of age, stress and diet. By the time she realized something more serious was going on and saw her doctor, a large mass had developed on one of her ovaries.

“If something is different and it persists, see your doctor,” she now advises other women.

After a hysterectomy followed by chemo, Cotton went into remission and has been there ever since.

But she is all too aware that the kind of cancer that attacked her ovary is likely to return. In the meantime, she takes part in ovarian cancer research studies, mainly to stay abreast of new developments in treatment and detection.

“I don’t pretend that it can’t recur, and when this kind of cancer recurs, it’s very difficult to treat,” she said. “I know something is coming down the road, so I want the best treatment possible to be available when it gets here.”

That’s one reason why, Cotton said, she’s passionate about Ovarian Cycle and the role its success can play in her life as well the lives as other women dealing with ovarian cancer.

“I might benefit from the research supported by events like this, and if something does occur, I’ll be as prepared as I can be,” she said.

This year’s Ovarian Cycle, Greene said, is designed to engage and encourage more people in the community to participate, and the age range has been expanded to include teens. Each participant pays a tax deductible registration fee and pledges to raise a minimum donation for the ride.

“You don’t have to be a cyclist or athlete or an ovarian cancer survivor or family member to participate,” Greene said. “Each one of us can make a difference in the lives of many.”

‘The first year I rode in it was because a friend said, ‘Hey, let’s do this. Later that year, my sister was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. Now I do it to save my sister’s life.’ Susan Greene And that includes Greene. This will be her seventh Ovarian Cycle ride, and while she started out thinking of it as just another good cause, she now has more personal reasons for participating.

“The first year I rode in it was because a friend said, ‘Hey, let’s do this,’” she said. “Later that year, my sister was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. Now I do it to save my sister’s life.”

Ovarian Cycle was founded in Atlanta in 2004 with 40 cyclists. The event came to Birmingham four years later and has since spread to cities across the U.S. Every dollar raised goes to aid research and awareness of ovarian cancer.

For more information on Ovarian Cycle Birmingham, visit www.nlovca.org/ovariancycle. ❖

Photo special to the Journal

1:01 PM

About Town

Village to Village 10K and 8 Mile trail run

/14/10

6 • Thursday, February 26, 2015

Fri., March 6

BIRMINGHAM Brenda Ladun Conquer Cancer Run St. Vincent’s One Nineteen This 5K run will begin at 7 a.m.

Participants will get free food and giveaways as well as free health screenings by St. Vincent’s One Nineteen. To register, visit main. acsevents.org.

BIRMINGHAM Schoolhouse Rock Iron City Cornerstone Schools of Alabama’s annual fundraiser will take place from 7-11 p.m. Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door. Tickets can be purchased online at www.csalabama. org. For more information, call India Bailey at 796-0035.

BIRMINGHAM Bards, Brews & Haiku Central Library This event features haiku and sake tasting as well as performance poetry and beer tasting, courtesy of Black Warrior Brewing Co., from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Guests must be 18 years of age to attend and 21 to sample beer and sake.

HOMEWOOD An Evening with Joshilyn Jackson Homewood Public Library New York Times bestselling author Joshilyn Jackson will present her newest book, “Someone Else’s Love Story,” from 6:30-7:30 p.m. A book signing will follow. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by calling 332-6625.

VESTAVIA HILLS ShowHouse First Look Party Upton Estate Guests at this 6:30 p.m. party will see the 2015 Decorators’ ShowHouse before decorators start their work. The event includes wine and dinner from B&A Warehouse and music by Puttin’ on the Ritz. The cost is $75. Parking

Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 7

About Town

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

and shuttle service is at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2780 Altadena Road. For more information, call Martha Black, 969-3556. The ShowHouse opens April 18.

Sat., March 7

BIRMINGHAM Holi: Indian Culture Festival Birmingham Museum of Art Celebrating one of the biggest Hindu holidays, the BMA will host a Holi festival from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. The event is free and includes music, dance, art activities and more. For more information, visit www.artsbma.org.

Wed., March 11

p.m. and feature a cocktail reception, formal seated dinner, live auction and music. Proceeds from the evening will benefit The Bell Center. For more information, contact Daley King at serviceguildgala@gmail.com

Sat., March 21

HOMEWOOD Steeple to Steeple 5K Trinity UMC This walk/run will begin at 8 a.m.

The course will take runners from

Homewood to Mountain Brook, finishing at Canterbury UMC. Registration starts at $35 and will increase after March 1.

For more information and registration, visit www.steeple2steeple.com BIRMINGHAM Tribe 5K and Bacon Cook-Off Sloss Furnace Lifeline Children’s Services and Iron Tribe will host a 5K run and Bacon Cook-off at 9 a.m. Online registration closes at noon on March 19. Late registration will be available on race day.

To register, visit tribe5k.com.

Fri., April 24

BIRMINGHAM Tails in the Trails Birmingham Zoo Guests are invited to celebrate the Hugh Kaul Children’s Zoo 60th anniversary from 6:30-10:30 p.m. This event is for ages 21 and up. Early bird tickets go on sale March 2 for $15. To purchase tickets, visit tickets. birminghamzoo.com. ❖

“We bought a house for our horse.”

MOUNTAIN BROOK Meet the Artist: Annie Morhauser Table Matters Arts Awards winner Annie Morhauser of Annieglass will host a trunk show from 12-3 p.m. She will introduce new designs and describe Annieglass’ sustainable practices. For more information, call Lindsey Perry at 831761-2041, extension 26.

save the date Fri., March 13

BIRMINGHAM Hear Me Roar 2015 Iron City The Charity League will host the Hear Me Roar! Silent and Live Auction from 6:30-10:30 p.m. at Iron City. Tickets are $50 and include food, beer/wine and entertainment. For more information, visit www.thecharityleague.org.

Sat., March 14

BIRMINGHAM Service Guild Gala The Club This black tie event will begin at 6

Apartment life didn’t work well for Ellie, the eighteen-month-old Great Dane of Jaclyn and Joerdan Simpson. The couple, both from Nashville, met in college at Samford. Their careers took them to Georgia, but an opportunity to move back to Birmingham allowed them to work with Michelle Creamer of ARC Realty to buy their first home. “Both our families came in to town to help shop,” says Jaclyn. “It was a whirlwind. Michelle did an awesome job managing our crowd.” Joerdan says buying a home was a great decision. “We plan to be here awhile, and this process has been a great experience.”

Michelle loves helping families settle in Birmingham. “The Simpsons have made wonderful updates to their first home together. With interest rates at historic lows, this is a great time to buy a house!”

A Relationship Company 4274 Cahaba Heights Court, Suite 200 Birmingham, AL 35243 • 205.969.8910

www.arcrealtyco.com Michelle Creamer • (205) 999-8164 • mcreamer@arcrealtyco.com

8 • Thursday, February 26, 2015

people

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Film of Dreams hunter nichols

Vestavia Hills Grad Hunter Nichols Chronicles His 44-day Journey along Alabama’s Rivers

By Cary Estes

1

There has always been a bit of wanderlust

coursing through Hunter Nichols’ veins. As a teenager growing up in the Vestavia Hills/ Cahaba Heights area, Nichols would often explore the nearby creeks and woods, alone, with only the fish and turtles as his companions.

One of Nichols’ favorite haunts was Little Shades Creek off Dolly Ridge Road. He soon discovered that if he walked along the bank far enough, he would arrive at the Cahaba River.

Nichols made this trip several times in his youth, adventures that inevitably ended with him calling his parents to come pick him up.

It didn’t take much research for Nichols to discover that the Cahaba River led to the Alabama River, which led to the Mobile Delta, which led to the Gulf of Mexico. An uninterrupted, 350-mile aqueous path.

And with that, a dream was born.

“I wanted to canoe from Birmingham all the way to the coast,” Nichols said. “It intrigued me. It fascinated me.”

Nichols attempted the journey not long after graduating from Vestavia Hills High School in 2003, but he barely made it halfway before being forced to halt the trip because of flooding along the Alabama River.

The dream didn’t die that day, however. It was just put on hold until 2011. During that time, Nichols graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor’s degree in radio, television and film and began working as a freelance filmmaker creating videos and photography projects for several environmental organizations.

So when Nichols pursued the endeavor again in 2011, he used his filmmaking experience to record the trip. He then produced a 72-minute documentary called “River Dreams,” which chronicles his 44-day solo sojourn along Alabama’s waterways.

“River Dreams” premiered last October at the Wild and Scenic Film Festival in Birmingham. It will be shown in March at the George Lindsey Film Festival in Huntsville and the Lookout Wild Film Festival in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Copies of the DVD and Blue Ray can be purchased through www.RiverDreamsFilm.com.

The film, which includes a musical score

by Nichols’ fiancée, Cat Porter, has been well received among the paddling community.

“River Dreams” will be shown in March at the George Lindsey Film Festival in Huntsville and the Lookout Wild Film Festival in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Andrew Stern with canoe manufacturer Bending Branches said, “The film is euphoric … one of the most enjoyable I’ve ever seen.” And Canoe & Kayak magazine called it “a 72-minute meditative window into the joys and difficulties of a solo river adventure.”

“The paddling community across the nation has really embraced this,” Nichols said. “I’ve

2

had a lot of outreach about it. It’s a niche film, like a surfing film. There’s a core demographic that really appreciates it.

“It’s a personal memoir of how much I love the rivers and these places, and what they do for me. I’m hoping it will inspire people to get out and experience these places and fall in love with them and help protect them. These places mean a whole lot to me and have changed my life.”

The photography includes numerous shots from within the canoe, giving viewers a fascinating firstperson view of what Nichols was experiencing.

“I tried to get people into those moments,” he said. “I used a custom monopod that I could attach to the stern or bow of the boat and adjust the height. That yielded some beautiful cinematography. I essentially turned the boat into a tool. It’s basically a dolly, gliding under the trees.”

Nichols began preparing for the trip more than a year in advance, saving up money to buy the needed equipment and provisions. The solar panel to charge his camera batteries costs $1,000 alone. He also needed cameras, food (60 pounds worth), a hammock (with a built-in mosquito net), a canopy and lots of odds and ends such as a small first-aid kit.

Nichols placed his 16-foot Wenonah canoe into the water on May 23, 2011, and set off for the Gulf Coast. There was no itinerary, no strict schedule to maintain. This was the adventure of a lifetime, and Nichols was determined to enjoy every minute of it.

“I took my time, which was the nicest freedom

3

4

1. The Upper Cahaba “Before dropping off the fall-line in Centerville, the river flows through deep pools surrounded by limestone.” 2. Exploring the Delta “A maze of creeks, rivers and lakes, with daily tidal flows in and out, it’s a pumping heart of biodiversity.”3. Hunter nichols 4. Horn Island “Finally reaching Horn Island and exhausted from paddling 16 hours in one day.”

Photos by Hunter Nichols

about it,” Nichols said. “I’d stop to look at things and explore what was around. That’s what it’s all about. It’s slowing down and spending time in those areas and getting to know them. It definitely wasn’t a race to get anywhere.”

Of course, spending six weeks alone in a canoe is not without its perils. In addition to the otters and eagles and birds and deer that gather along the rivers, these waters also are home to numerous alligators, some up to 13 feet long. And since Nichols often was floating silently along, he occasionally would stumble upon a slumbering gator without warning.

“They can hear a bass boat coming and will head toward the bank. But with a canoe, I’d literally wake them up,” Nichols said. “I’ve paddled up to some and their eyes would suddenly open.

Some are scared, some are curious.

“I’d bathe every day at the end of the day, and sometimes it could be real nerve-racking. I’d use binoculars to scan the surface and make sure there were no gator heads sitting around. I’d dip in and get out of there as quickly as I could.”

Heat was also a problem. Alabama suffered through a record-setting heat wave that June, and it was difficult for Nichols to find relief from the soaring temperature as he reached the southern

part of the state. The water temp was 90-plus degrees, and the heat index reached 110. Even at night, the air temperature remained in the 80s.

“So I’d just sit there and sweat all night,” Nichols said. “I kept getting dehydrated. The heat was the hardest thing to deal with.”

But such challenges were more than offset by the alluring landscape that constantly surrounded Nichols. He was alone, often without cell phone service, but never felt lonely, he said. Nichols calls it “solitary confinement in a beautiful place.” In the film, he says being on the water “felt amazing.

It always does.”

One of Nichols’ favorite moments occurred near the end of the trip when he reached Horn Island, a national park about 10 miles off the Mississippi coast near Pascagoula.

“It’s basically a small wilderness in the Gulf of Mexico,” Nichols said. “I camped on the ocean side where there are these large dunes that rise up.

One night there was a half-moon, and I was sitting on those dunes looking out over the ocean. It was just beautiful. Moments like that are special.”

It wasn’t long afterward, on July 5, that Nichols brought his excursion to an end, once again calling his parents to pick him up. The journey was over. The dream fulfilled. ❖

Bray Receives YWCA Woman of Valor Award The YWCA Central Alabama honored Charlena Bray of Homewood with the 2014 Jeana P. Hosch Woman of Valor award during the group’s annual meeting Jan. 22.

The award is presented each year to a YW woman who is an inspirational leader.

Bray is a former YWCA board president and a minister at the Guiding Light Church.

“Charlena is one of the most service-oriented people I have ever known,” said Jenny Gauld, a former board member who presented Bray with the award. “She is gracious, she is Charlena Bray a visionary and she is a leader.

She’s always had a clear understanding of what needs to be done. She’s just a woman who gets it.”

A former high school math teacher and higher education administrator, Bray is president of Human Resources Services, Inc., where one of her major focuses is leadership development. She joined the Guiding Light staff in 1989 and has been in full-time ministry since 2001, serving in the areas of health and healing and bereavement.

A member of the first class of Leadership Birmingham, she was part of the start-up team for Youth Leadership Forum. She is a graduate of Leadership Alabama and has served on the Brookwood Hospital board and Women’s Advisory Board, the Women’s Business Ownership Council and with the National Conference for Community and Justice.

Bray volunteered with the YWCA for 18 years, including four years as president. She was instrumental in bringing the Purse & Passion luncheon, the agency’s largest fundraiser, to Birmingham.

She also participated in a mission trip

Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 9

people

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

to Nairobi, Kenya, that was sponsored by the world YWCA and culminated with a meeting at the organization’s world headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

Girl Scouts Select Women of Distinction Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama will recognize outstanding women representing 36 Alabama counties at its annual Women of Distinction Awards Luncheon March 6.

The luncheon will be at the Harbert Center in downtown Birmingham.

The Women of Distinction program pays tribute to women who have made special contributions to their communities through civic, academic or professional involvement and are exemplary role models for today’s girls.

Gillian Goodrich from Mountain Brook will receive the Mildred Bell Johnson Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dr. Cathy Randall from Tuscaloosa will receive the Karen LaMoreaux Bryan Lifetime Achievement Award.

Each of these awards honors the memory of a beloved community leader whose contributions had farreaching impact in their communities.

These awards are given to women who have prior affiliations with Girl Scouting and have made lifelong contributions to their communities by distinguishing themselves through professional, community or humanitarian efforts.

This year’s Women of Distinction honorees also include Rebekah Elgin Council, Birmingham, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama vice president of marketing; Dr. Denise Jones Gregory, Birmingham, Samford University assistant professor/director of Diversity and Intercultural Initiatives; Dr. Doreen Harper, Birmingham, UAB School of Nursing dean; Jean Lynch, Birmingham, Alabama Power Co. human resources manager; Valerie Ramsbacher, Birmingham, Regions Bank vice president of Corporate Advocacy; Erica Sheffield, Lincoln, Honda Manufacturing of Alabama counsel; and Dr. Annette Shelby, Tuscaloosa, Georgetown University professor emerita.

Proceeds from the Women of Distinction Luncheon provide direct support to Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama, which serves more than 14,000 members in 36 counties.

For more information about reservations or sponsorships, contact Tonya Mines at 800-7344541, extension 1030, or tmines@ girlscoutsnca.org.

Tickets are $60 for general admission and $45 for Girl Scout members.

OTM Girl Scouts Earn Bronze Awards Several Over the Mountain Girl Scouts recently earned the highest award a Girl Scout Junior in the fourth and fifth grades can earn.

Girl Scout Troop 153 members Anna Kate Boles, Mary Claire Boughner, Maya Bridgwaters, Juliet Cabraja, Hayley Douthit, Sarah Katherine Gray, Valena Gutierrez, Maddie Harrigan, Kellyn Murch, Katherine Rohner and Alison Stubbs earned the Girl Scout Bronze Award.

The girls are students at Altamont and Liberty Park Elementary School.

Their Bronze Award-winning project was called “A Year of Helping the Elderly.” It involved the Girl Scouts developing friendships and brightening the lives of residents at Kirkwood by the River.

Throughout their year-long project, the girls visited the residents and created a friendship tree with seasonal ornaments for the residents to decorate throughout the year.

The Bronze Award recognizes that a Girl Scout Junior has gained the leadership and planning skills required to follow through with a project that makes a positive difference in her community.

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10 • Thursday, February 26, 2015

By Donna Cornelius

Jean Clayton and her staff have been busy preparing for Christine’s ‘Grand Finale Sale.’

The shop is closing after 42 years in Mountain Brook.

Journal photo by Maury Wald

Jean Clayton has seen exquisite linens being stitched in Portugal. She’s been lavishly entertained at the MacKenzie-Childs headquarters in New York. She’s traveled the United States to markets from east coast to west.

“I wouldn’t have had access to any of those places or experiences if not for the store,” Clayton said.

“The store,” Christine’s in Mountain Brook Village, will close this spring after more than four decades.

“My lease ends at the end of April,” Clayton said. “After 42 years, you know when the time is right.”

Since it opened, Christine’s has been a go-to source for discriminating shoppers in search of fine linens, tableware, decorative accessories and gifts.

But while the store’s standards have remained high over the years, its concept has changed, Clayton said.

“At first, we had antiques and a lot of furniture,” she said. “Most of our accessories came from Italy at one time.”

Christine’s, now at 2415 Montevallo Road, has moved several times, too, but has always remained on the same block, Clayton said.

Clayton’s career in decorating didn’t begin until after she’d spent a few years in another profession. She started her working life as a teacher, first teaching elementary school social studies and later history.

“I’d gone to college in New York, and four of us wanted to stay there and so took jobs teaching at private schools in New Jersey,” Clayton said. “I was in the New York area for five years, including my time in school there.”

Marriage to Bob Clayton, who was in the U.S. Air Force, took the couple west.

“We lived in Oklahoma, in the southwest corner,” she said. “You had to drive 60 miles to get a pizza.”

She continued to teach school in Oklahoma and then in Birmingham when she and her husband returned to her hometown in 1970.

Clayton said she was given confidence to go into the retail decorating business by another designer.

“My parents had a series of places in south Florida, and we were always out buying furniture, linens and accessories,” she said. “There was a wonderful gift shop in Ft. Lauderdale owned by Anita Kott. She had fabulous things. I remember she had a $600 acrylic ice bucket on a stand.

“Her designer encouraged me to go into the business. I was scared. I had no training. She said, ‘The hardest thing is getting your feet wet.’”

Clayton took the plunge and opened Christine’s, named for her mother.

One of the secrets to Clayton’s success has been her willingness to give untested products a

Style Sentinel u mountain brook

After 42 Years, Jean Clayton Is Closing up Shop – For Now, At Least

chance.

“In 1979, a friend of mine in Huntsville called and said, ‘You’ve got to get Godiva chocolate,’” Clayton said. “I said, ‘In this store?’”

The decision to carry the now-famous line of chocolates quickly paid off.

“If we hadn’t gotten the chocolate in that Christmas, I don’t know if we’d have made it,” Clayton said. “I would pick up the chocolate at the airport first thing in the morning and then take my kids to school.”

Nan Teninbaum, Clayton’s longtime friend and another former teacher, began working at Christine’s part time in the 1970s. Teninbaum was there for the great Godiva experiment, she said.

“We had Godiva’s Open Oysters, chocolate shells with a round hazelnut chocolate inside shaped like a pearl,” Teninbaum said. “Then, we could sell chocolates individually. If a customer wanted half a pound, we could select pieces and put them in boxes.”

Clayton said the chocolates became even more popular in February.

“For three days before Valentine’s Day, it was like we never left the store,” she said. “One person was behind the counter at all times packing chocolates.”

Clayton also took a chance on another company that’s now a familiar name. MacKenzie-

u vestavia hills

Council Resolution Supports UAB Football

By William C. Singleton III The city of Vestavia Hills has joined a list of cities seeking the return of UAB football.

The City Council on Feb. 9 unanimously approved a resolution urging the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees and UAB President

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Ray Watts to reconsider their decision to terminate UAB football. The resolution Vestavia Hills passed calls on the trustees and the president to become more transparent in how they conduct business.

Several UAB supporters who attended the meeting applauded the council’s decision.

Childs’ trademark black-and-white checked tableware was new on the market in 1985, when Christine’s began carrying the line.

“I’d looked at it and thought, ‘Oh my goodness! I don’t know if Birmingham is ready for this,’” Clayton said. “The pieces didn’t match up, and at that time, you just didn’t set your table with mismatched pieces. I bit my lip and ordered $1,000 worth.”

MacKenzie-Childs proved to be a hit, although it did have a few down years, Clayton said.

“I was about ready to call it quits, but it came back with a vengeance,” she said. “It appeals to all age groups, from brides to people in their 70s.”

The company chose Christine’s as one of 12 focus stores across the country and invited Clayton and other store owners to its headquarters in Aurora, N.Y. “We were entertained royally,” Clayton said.

Other suppliers were less high-profile but equally appealing.

“In the 1970s, I ordered these Russian boxes,” Clayton said. “At that time, there was only one lady going into Russia to buy them, and we had an exclusive in this area. This lady exported 75 percent of all the Russian painted boxes.

“They were pristine and painted on five sides.

Hoover and 20 other city councils and county commissions have passed similar resolutions to the one adopted by Vestavia Hills. Homewood and Mountain Brook have not passed such resolutions.

In December, Watts announced that UAB would disband its football program, igniting protests that have rippled throughout the campus, the community and the country. Critics of the decision say UA’s trustees and Watts weren’t transparent with their decision to end the football program.

UAB falls under the UA System.

“When you have a new football coach come in one year and

A small one cost $3,500.”

Despite the high prices, “I couldn’t keep them in the store,” Clayton said. “And did I buy one for myself? No. I sometimes think of all the prizes I let go.”

Clayton has been a key supporter of the Mountain Brook Village business community.

She served as president of a merchants association, making sure to visit each member business at least once a year, she said.

“When I started my business, Dick Howell had Richard’s, a men’s store,” Clayton said. “He worked so hard to build up the village. Banks Robertson made a major contribution through the years to this village. He and his sister, Beth, owned Pappagallo. There was Rosenberger’s and Browdy’s, which had a grocery store and a dining room in the back.

“Gilchrist was here. We called it the drugstore.

One of the employees had a baby, and they had a baby bed in back of the store so the baby could come to work.

“Katherine McTyeire had Iron Art. Maloy Love had the flower shop. And of course there was Bromberg’s, which has been here for so long.

Who’s going to break that record?”

Clayton said the thing she’ll most miss about her store is “the people.”

“I’ve had so much contact with the public, and 99.9 percent of my experiences have been good,” she said. “Through the years, there have been three people who said they’d never come back to the store – and all three of them did.”

Having her customers’ trust has meant a lot to Clayton, she said.

“It’s been important to me for the customer to be happy with what they’re buying,” she said.

“We’ve never been ones to push a sale.”

Teninbaum said that when Christine’s had a corner store at the intersection of Petticoat Lane and Canterbury Road, one feature of the store was an unexpected attraction.

“We had a banquette there, and we had some ladies who would come in, give us their purses to put behind the counter and stay for hours to visit,” Teninbaum said.

Clayton, Teninbaum and other employees will be busy a while longer while Christine’s holds an extensive sale.

“Some of customers have cried about our closing,” Teninbaum said. “We’ll miss them, too, the people and the friendships.”

While Clayton has done lots of traveling to carefully choose merchandise for Christine’s, she doesn’t plan to be stationary once the store closes.

“I have one daughter who lives in Alaska and another who lives in Vermont,” she said. “I’d like to see them more, and I’d like to travel.”

But she isn’t closing the door on future professional ventures.

“I’m sure I’ll be into something,” she said.

“I’m keeping my options open.” ❖

you’re now telling him he doesn’t have a job and he left a great job at Jacksonville State University, I don’t think it’s fair to him, the athletic department or the athletes that you’re cutting sports without giving a little forewarning that this is fixing to happen,” Vestavia Hills Mayor Alberto “Butch” Zaragoza said. “It was handled very poorly.”

Bill Clark left Jacksonville State University in January 2014 to become UAB’s head football coach.

Councilman Steve Ammons said UAB is a public university operating with public funds and should be more transparent with its decision-

making.

“If you can’t be more transparent with your decision-making, then you need to relook at who’s at the top and who handles the finances,” he said.

State Rep. Jack Williams, who represents Hoover and Vestavia Hills, thanked Vestavia city officials for supporting the resolution.

Williams plans to introduce a bill in the upcoming legislative session to reinstate UAB’s football program.

“I think this sends a message to the folks who are in decision-making positions,” Williams said. “We’re going to win, and I hope we get to tailgate together in 2016.” ❖

Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 11

news

u hoover

Survey Reveals Most-wanted Qualities for New School Superintendent

By William C. Singleton III Hoover residents and school system employees say they want an experienced superintendent who has integrity and honesty.

Those are the results of a survey conducted by the Alabama Association of School Boards, which is helping the Hoover school system find a new superintendent following the resignation of Andy Craig in December.

Kendy Behrends, a consultant with the AASB, shared the results of the survey with school board meetings at a Feb. 10 meeting.

About 930 parents, school system employees and residents participated in the survey either online or by phone. The survey records the responses of three separate groups – community, parents, and Hoover school system employees -- as well as their overall response.

Based on the survey, the top quality the community, parents and employees want the next superintendent to have is integrity.

They also say they want a superintendent who is honest, experienced/ qualified, a leader and a successful educator.

When asked the most desired attribute in a new superintendent, “student-focused” topped the list. The survey also revealed “ensuring student safety” and “challenging students

to achieve academic success” as areas of expertise the community, parents and employees want most in a new superintendent.

The survey also revealed that most want the superintendent to have experience as an executive leader, and more gave weight to the next superintendent having served as a teacher in the classroom than the next superintendent having served as a principal.

Behrends said she wasn’t surprised

‘It told me they’re looking for a leader who will take them to great heights, who people want to follow and who will do what’s right for children.’ by the survey results.

“It told me they’re looking for a leader who will take them to great heights, who people want to follow and who will do what’s right for children,” she said.

School Board President Donna Frazier said the community was pretty clear on what it wants from a new superintendent.

“I really was not surprised at the survey, because many of the people who come to the board meetings all the time, they’ve been saying all this for the last few months,” she said.

Hoover School System Won’t Change Bus Service, Zoning for 2015-2016 The Hoover city school system won’t be making any changes to its bus service or its zones for the 2015-2016 academic year.

The school board’s attorney announced that Hoover would maintain the status quo on both bus service and zoning at least for another year. Donald Sweeney, the board’s attorney, said the decision to delay any changes is the result of an ongoing review by a federal judge on whether Hoover and Jefferson County school systems should remain under a 1970s federal desegregation order.

The review by U.S. District Judge Madeline Haikala could take several months and will include examining the systems’ racial compositions both in their teacher faculties and within their school zones, school officials say.

During former Hoover School Superintendent Andy Craig’s tenure, the board considered two proposals that sent shockwaves through the community.

Hoover’s school board voted in July 2013 to eliminate bus service except for special students for the 2014-2015 school year. Following community backlash, the school board in December 2013 rescinded its decision, giving school officials time to investigate a fee-based system.

Also, in August 2014, Craig unveiled a proposed rezoning plan that would impact most of the system’s elementary schools, particularly Trace Crossings Elementary and students living in the Lake Cyrus community who would be bussed from Deer Valley Elementary to Trace Crossings.

The school board hadn’t taken a vote on the rezoning plan. Craig was in the process of meeting with members of the community who would be affected by the rezoning when he resigned to take an administrative-finance position with the Alabama Department of Education.

Hoover School Board President Donna Frazier said Craig’s resignation had nothing to do with school officials changing course on rezoning and the bus issue.

“Everything’s in the courts now, and I think that’s what became very apparent to us,” she said. “We could not move forward without the court’s ruling. And one thing I felt strongly about is if we were not going to charge bus fees, and if we were not going to rezone for the 2015-2016 school year, we needed to go ahead and announce that to the community.”

— William C. Singleton III

“There were no surprises up there.

We know what we’re looking for in a superintendent, and I think everybody, for the most part, is on the same page.”

Arnold Singer, a Hoover resident, said he is pleased that the board is conducting a transparent process in selecting a new superintendent. He noted that even though the board wasn’t taking questions from the audience, Frazier allowed residents to address the board.

“They’ve been very, very open,” he said. “That’s not what happened previously. Previously, people wanted pretty much these same things, and we wound up with a business person.”

Craig was Hoover’s chief financial officer before he became superintendent.

After Behrends’ presentation, the board addressed written questions submitted by the public. Board members said the next superintendent should live in Hoover and encourage his or her children, if they are schoolaged students, to attend Hoover schools. However, the board stopped short of mandating this because there could be an acceptable reason why the superintendent may have his or To: her children in another school system, From: they said.

Date: The board also set criteria to include in postings for its superintendent position. The board agreed to set a minimum salary of $185,000 but added salary as negotiable. Board members say they would be willing to pay more for the right candidate.

“I don’t think money is an issue within reason as long as performance is justified,” said school board member Earl Cooper.

Behrends also recommended the board state that a doctorate is preferred, although it’s not required.

The school system officially posted the superintendent position on Feb. 17. Behrends said the position will remain open for about two months.

During that time, Behrends and her colleagues assisting with the search will screen the applications and recommend five candidates to the board.

“We will look long and hard at those candidates to find the best match,” she said.

The board will conduct public interviews with the candidates.

The board hopes to hire a new superintendent by July 1. ❖

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life

12 • Thursday, February 26, 2015

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Memory Mashup Homewood Seniors Pen and Peddle a New Book

The stories tend to fall into two categories, historically accurate retellings, such as Frances Carter’s World War II account of modifying B-29 fuselages for the home front in “Rosie the Riveter,” or personal narratives about childhood and teen years.

In “The King and I,” member Bennie Charles recalls being drafted in 1958 and completing basic training in the Second Armor Division at Ft. Hood, Texas, with fellow inductee Elvis Presley.

Members of the Homewood Senior Center gathered last week for a reading of their book “Proceeding Over the Mountain.”

Clockwise from top left: Aimee Thornton, Senior Center Director; Betty Mann and William F. Kelly; Betty Mull; Joie Culp and Fran Carter. Journal photos by Emily Williams

By Liz Ellaby His film career would descend to low-bud-

Proceeding Over The Mountain For more information or to purchase a copy, call the Homewood Senior Center at 3326500. The paperback books are $14.

This story originally ran on the Birmingham History Center blog.

get westerns in the 1950s, but Dothan’s Crimson Tide running back Johnny Mack Brown was a Hollywood leading man for decades.

His dashing good looks led him in 1927 to a role opposite Mary Pickford in her first “talkie” and on to major studio contracts and roles alongside John Wayne, Joan Crawford and Clark Gable.

Some time after his 1969 Alabama Sports Hall of Fame induction, Brown picked up the phone to call a fan seeking his autograph. Forty-five years later, Bob Nelson remembers that call in a chapter of “Proceeding Over the Mountain,” a collection of personal memories by members of the Homewood Senior Center.

“I saw him on TV giving the acceptance speech, one of the finest I’d ever heard…his eloquence and genuineness struck me,” Nelson writes.

Nelson is one of 40 authors who have contributed 88 stories, most of them less than 1,000 words, which capture emotional and sometimes historically significant memories from their personal pasts. What started as an extracurricular activity soon spawned a writing class, editorial debates, and new perspectives into each other’s lives, said Center Director Aimee Thornton.

“I was amazed by the variety of stories and the topics,” she said. “People were willing to talk about things I wouldn’t think they’d even be involved in.”

In “The King and I,” member Bennie Charles

recalls being drafted in 1958 and completing basic training in the Second Armor Division at Ft. Hood, Texas, with fellow inductee Elvis Presley. Charles said Presley hung out with the regular guys, using his special allowance of a personal car to take them on weekend day trips, and once to Tijuana.

Presley -- who had just finished filming the movie “King Creole” -- was frequently recognized and would perform songs just for the asking.

The famously generous singer “always insisted on picking up the tab,” Charles writes. “I never had to pay for anything.”

Charles, who is black, tells in another story how he traveled from Pittsburgh to Ft. Hood by bus with 12 white inductees, who elected him “captain” to shield him from any racial incidents in the Deep South. Presley, he said, also showed no signs of racial or social prejudice.

“I was proud to call him a friend -- he was almost like a brother; he never showed any sign of prejudice toward anyone,” he said.

Overhearing so many stories -- some of them startling -- during the course of her work gave Thornton the idea for the book. The stories tend to fall into two categories, historically accurate retellings, such as Frances Carter’s World War II account of modifying B-29 fuselages for the home front in “Rosie the Riveter,” or personal narratives about childhood and teen years.

Many hark back to rural and austere scenes of the Depression: sewing flour-sack dresses, snaring rabbits and fish for food, wearing a “fat back” poultice, and preparing hominy from corn washed with lye.

In contrast, author Jackie Hoffman recounts the national treasures she passed on her way to grade school in Newport, R.I.: the first United States lending library, the Touro Synagogue, oldest in the nation, and St. Mary’s church, where JFK in 1958 married Jackie.

Others tell about a first kiss, a stint at reform school, forbidden honky tonks, and a missionary’s tale of remaining pure (with difficulty) during a cross-country trip with a beautiful female colleague.

In one expertly-told story well under 300 words, Betty Mann tells how her husband, who is deaf and was signing a Sunday school lesson one warm morning, reached in his jacket for a handkerchief and pulled out a pair of her panties instead.

“Most of the stories were written, but many others were dictated,” said Thornton, who contributed her own stories, one about her grandfather. “I take after my granddaddy, who was gregarious. I like to hear stories and tell them.”

Member and contributor Carolyn Roberson collected the stories, and Thornton was editor.

The project took nearly three years, in which Bobbie Hunt, 89, the writing instructor and the book’s most prolific contributor, said she didn’t think she’d live to see it published.

That day arrived. The Homewood Public Library hosted a signing event for the book Feb. 20.

The paperback books are $14. For more information or to purchase a copy, call the Homewood Senior Center at 332-6500. ❖

life

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Front: Ann Chandler Hassett. From left, middle row: Kirsten Francisco, Suzanne Page, Paige Drummond and Leigh Moore.

Back: Christina Zabala, Danielle Decker, Aidan Craft, Mary Browning and Amy Hudson.

Photo special to the Journal by Scott Butler

Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 13

BLOCK PARTY Join us for Dawson’s

Relaying the Message

Event Kicks off Homewood Cancer Society Fundraiser The American Cancer Society Relay for Life of Homewood held its kickoff Jan. 29 at 18th Street Orientals.

Hap Williams provided the entertainment. Chicken Salad Chick and Dave’s Pizza supplied the food.

The Homewood Relay for Life event will be April 24 from 4-11 p.m. at Homewood Central Park.

For information about becoming

a volunteer or team participant, call Relay for Life Specialist Christina Zabala, 930-8868, or visit www.

RelayForLife.org/HomewoodAL. Other upcoming events include:

bRelay For Life of Hoover City Spain Park High School Jaguar Stadium, Fri., April 10. bRelay For Life of Vestavia Hills High School, Sat., April 18, 2:00p.m.

- 12:00a.m.

bRelay For Life of Mountain Brook Mountain Brook High School, Fri., May 1. bRelay For Life of John Carroll John Carroll Catholic High School, Fri., May 1. bRelay For Life of BHAM Oak Mountain, Heardmont Park Fri., May 1. bRelay For Life of Briarwood Christian, Briarwood Christian South Campus Sat., May 9. ❖

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14 • Thursday, February 26, 2015

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A Night in Wonderland Queen Caroline Gray, King Foots Parnell Reign at Krewe Ball

T

he Queen of Hearts, Alice and other characters from Wonderland opened the festivities with lively performances at the 48th annual Beaux Arts Krewe Ball.

The ball was held Feb. 13 at Birmingham’s Boutwell Auditorium.

Twenty-nine young women were presented at the event, which raises money for the Birmingham Museum of Art. King Leighton “Foots” Parnell and Queen Caroline Nabers Gray made grand entrances accompanied by their attendants.

Gray is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Samuel Eugene Gray of Birmingham. She is a Mountain Brook High School graduate and a junior at Vanderbilt University, where she plans to major in European history.

She wore the dress her mother wore when she was Krewe Ball Queen in 1982.

Gray’s escort was William Wade Bramlett of Birmingham.

The Queen’s Guards included William Selden Dodson Jr., William Anderson Legg Jr., William Dean Nix, Gene Ruffner Page, William Henry Pitts, James Louis Priester, George Malcolm Taylor III and Allen Lynwood Yeilding.

Her trainbearers were Frances Adeline Cobbs, Woodward Reeves Gachet, Nancy Ryals Little, Peter Alden McGriff, William Featheringill Pharo, Anne Dixon Veenstra and Marguerite Anne Walters.

Parnell, there with his wife, Allene, was attended by Dukes Walter McFarland Beale Jr., Hubert Wesley Goings Jr., Thomas Michael Goodrich, James Fletcher Hughey Jr., Richard John Hydinger, Alexander Montgomery Nading Jr., Murray Wilson Smith and William Stancil Starnes.

His trainbearers were Frances Parker Faulconer, Gillian Palmer Goodrich, Braxton Comer Goodrich II, Frances Feagin Sandner, Joseph Edward Welden IV, Michael Riley White, Mary Russell Wood and Madeline Grey Woods.

Ladies in Waiting were Virginia Hagood Drennen, Mary Virginia Grisham, Mary Elizabeth Hobbs and Virginia Gilder Smith.

Princesses were Anne Fairly Alison, Ann Floyd Stevens Ashton, Helen Cumbee Corey, Victoria Jane Crenshaw, Sarah Elizabeth Dodson, Virginia Lockett Farlow, Emily Irene Gardner, Eulalie Crommelin Draper Given, Grace Evelyn Hawkins, Adelaide Harling King, Katie Lane Wynne Kirkland, Mary Aileen Mackin, Hallie Preuit Mauldin, Elizabeth Lee Miller, Anna Anglin Patterson, Anderson McGuire Pearce, Anne Sloan Pell, Addison McKay Pollard, Sadler Ross Sanders, Sarah Grace Sparks, Katherine Shields Tynes, Mary Harmon Bryant Tyson, Lela Ellen Welden and Emily Fallon Wilson.

Pages were Helen Caroline Abele, Julia Fletcher Abele, Margaret Anne Abele, Carolanne Hodge Berte, Eloise Katherine Berte, Sara Frances Berte, Katherine Elizabeth Brennan, Alice Caldwell Byars, Rosemary Casey Cabaniss, Gilder Scout Carruthers, Neely Key Carruthers, Carole Elizabeth Clegg, Ella Cobbs Cook, Mary Jackson Darnall, Thomas Steele Darnall, III, Catherine Edith Driscoll, Sarah Welles Edwards, Payton Elizabeth Flynn, Halli Francis Hollingsworth, Caroline Bishop Hornsby, Sarah Coleman Hornsby, Sarah McCarty Huddle, Ellison Bay Matthews, Sarah Bibb Petznick, Gray Margaret Katherine Powell, Anne Ellen Reynolds, Robert Louis Robinson III, Elizabeth Everett Sandner and Madeline Fay Stephens. ❖ Leigh and Forest Whatley

King Leighton “Foots” Parnell, second from right, with his Dukes. Among his attendants were friends, family members and hunting buddies. Photo special to the Journal by Hank Spencer

Richard and Helen Drennen, Virginia Drennen, Charles Hill and Evelyn Drennen.

Krewe Ball pages joined Alice, the White Rabbit and other Wonderland characters in a colorful pageant.

Above: Collier, DA, Katie and Ingram Tynes. left: Sarah Dodson, Mary Harmon Tyson, Libby Hobbs, Virginia Farlow and Lela Welden. Photos special to the Journal

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Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 15

storewide & warehouse clearance Photos special to the Journal

sale

all merchandise included in this sale with mark-downs From left: Christy Baynes, Bob Straka and Anne Warren.

Valerie Boyd, Kristen Snell and Jennifer Mancuso.

Garden Art Start

ACA Supporters Plan Annual Fundraiser Anne and Mike Warren hosted a wine and cheese celebration Feb. 5 to kick off Alzheimer’s of Central Alabama’s annual Garden Art Party.

The Warrens’ view of the Birmingham skyline served as inspiration as ACA supporters planned this year’s event. The theme, “ACA is LocAL,” focuses on the organization’s local roots and will feature icons from Birmingham and Alabama.

Over the past 20 years, ACA’s Garden Art Party has raised more than $2.1 million for local programs and services benefiting Alzheimer’s

patients and their families. All of the money raised will stay in Alabama and provide services like scholarships for patients to attend adult day care centers and continence supplies.

The Garden Art Party will be May 9 at Iron City.

Bob Straka will be the auctioneer for the live auction, which will feature trips, entertainment and dining packages, artwork and jewelry.

Each year artwork created by Alzheimer’s patients from assisted living facilities and adult day care centers is featured in the auction.

Local artist Darrell Ezekiel and residents from St. Martin’s-in-the Pines will create the invitation artwork.

Enjoying the sunset views from the Warrens’ balcony were Pam Arenberg, Christy Baynes, Terri Platt, Ellen Burton, Jennifer Mancuso, Chris Blackerby, Julie Bryant and Lindy Harrell, Valerie Boyd, Starla Marbury, Kristen Snell and Mel York.

Miller Piggott, ACA’s executive director, shared the history of the organization. Board President Nicole Crawford and Catherine Cato, who are co-chairing the event, discussed details of the auction. Vance Holder told the group about sponsor opportunities.

For more information about the Garden Art Party, call ACA at 8717970. ❖

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annieglass signing event! meet the artist, annie morhauser This is your aD prOOF from the Over The MOunTain JOurnal for the May 15, 2014 issue. please fax approval or changes 11to,824-1246.

12 - 4 p.m. wednesday, march please make sure all information is correct, including address and phone number! please initial and fax back within 24 hours.

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

All That Jazz

Ball Raises Money for Humane Society The Greater Birmingham Humane Society Auxiliary hosted the fourth annual Jazz Cat Ball Feb. 7 at Old Car Heaven.

The money raised will help homeless pets under the care of the Greater Birmingham Humane Society and increase awareness of the many programs offered by the GBHS. The Jazz Cat Ball is the GBHSA’s largest fundraising event. This year’s event was named in memory of Carolyn King, a longtime GBHS supporter and board member.

The event included a Cajun cookoff that featured 12 local restaurants, with Spoon & Ladle Soup Co. winning the competition.

The 1,200 guests enjoyed dancing to the live music of The Voltage Brothers, casino games, a VIP lounge catered by Kathy G, a live auction, a silent auction with over 250 items, and complimentary Deep Eddy vodka, beer and wine.

Allison Black Cornelius, GBHS president and CEO, led the FUNDA-NEED segment of the event.

Ball chairmen were Missy Ellis and Charlene Frechette.

Jay Reed was the emcee. Kenwyn Alexander was the event photogra-

From left: Jay Reed, Donna Hightower and Steve Anderson.

pher.

Committee chairmen included Celeste David, Sara Ann Polhemus, Bubba and Liz Holland, Bob and Jennifer Alden, Allen and Cele Montgomery, Tricia Preston, Donna McCain O’Brien, Paula Radmard, Carol Coppock, Sharon Jackson, Shelia Portman, Christy King,

Karen Wood, Ashley Halford, Lauren Moore, Cindy Shellum and Mary Hayes.

Tim Hightower, the Jazz Cat Ball 2015 King, was crowned by Scott Register, last year’s king. Karen Church, this year’s queen, was crowned by Karen Wood, the 2014 Queen. ❖

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Jazz Cat Ball King Tim Hightower with Beverly and Randy Masters.

Kevin Burke and JCB Queen Karen Church.

Photos special to the Journal

New Leaders, New Members Go-Gos Dance Club Has Annual Meeting

The Go-Gos Dance Club held its annual meeting recently at The Country Club of Birmingham. Members approved the slate of new officers, and outgoing president Mitzi Davis turned over the gavel to the newly-elected president, Cindy Crowther.

The group’s first action of the new year was to elect several new members, Jane Christopher, Robin Davis, Terri Lorant, Linda Mason and Terry McBride.

The group also discussed its social events for the upcoming year and enjoyed hors d’oeuvres prepared by the CCB staff. ❖

From left: Frances Mulkin, Celeste Grenier, Mary Joyce Lynch, Kathy Duggan, Leah Hazzard, Melinda Shallcross and Carrie Coons. Photo special to the Journal

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From left: Former Indianapolis Colts and Ole Miss player Jeff Herrod, The Arc of Jefferson County’s Scarlet Thompson, Children’s Village’s Sharon Bolden, YWCA Central Alabama’s Yolanda Sullivan and former Indianapolis Colts and University of Alabama player Chris Goode enjoy the Super Bowl.

Photo special to the Journal

Partying with the Pros

Players Association Chapter Has Super Bowl Event More than 20 members of the NFL Players Association Birmingham Former Players chapter were on hand for the Party with the Pros Super Bowl event Feb. 1.

The event at the Southern Kitchen and Bar in Uptown supported YWCA Central Alabama, The Arc of Jefferson County and Children’s Village.

Guests watched the big game with some of their favorite former NFL players, many of whom played for the University of Alabama or Auburn University.

Door prizes, a silent auction and a photo booth were also part of the lineup.

The NFLPA has more than 30

local chapters around the country, but Birmingham is the only city without an NFL team nearby to have a chapter.

The group has more than 70 members, including Joe Cribbs, Bobby Humphrey, Lionel James and Antonio Langham.

“This is the only chapter in the state, and we have a lot of guys here in Birmingham, Mobile and Huntsville,” former Indianapolis Colts and University of Alabama player Chris Goode said. “The Players Association really stresses community involvement, and this is something a lot of the guys want to do anyway.” ❖

To: From: Date:

Mary Charles’ Doll House New, Collectible Antique Dolls 2820 Petticoat Lane Mtn. Brook Village 870-5544

Open Thur. - Sat. 10am - 4:30pm

Mary Charles Robbins Over The Mountain Journal, 205-823-9646 ph., 205-824-1246, fax May 2010 This is your AD PROOF from the OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL for the June 3, 2010 issue. Please fax approval or changes to 824-1246.

Please make sure all information is correct, including address and phone number!

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.

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18 • Thursday, February 26, 2015 •

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Alabama Ballet Supporters Attend Annual Ball The Alabama Ballet hosted an evening of dinner and dancing Feb. 6 at the 15th annual Pointe Ball.

Proceeds from the Pointe Ball, the organization’s largest fundraiser, underwrite approximately 10 percent of the ballet’s operating budget and make extensive education and scholarship programs possible.

Courtney Stephens and Ensley Darnall co-chaired the ball. Honorary chairman was Betty Brice. Corporate chairman was Danny Markstein.

The event began with an intimate performance by Alabama Ballet’s professional company members.

Following the performance, guests along with Artistic Director Tracey Alvey and members of the company enjoyed a gourmet dinner. As dessert was served, the Negotiators took the stage to provide dance music. ❖

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Making a Pointe

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From left: Pointe Ball co-chairs, Ensley Darnall and Courtney Stephens. Photo courtesy Arden Photography

Literary Subject

Junior League Club Hosts Book Signing

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Anna/Linda Over The Mountain Journal, 205-823-9646 ph., 205-824-1246, fax February 2015

From left: Woody Norman, Catherine Cabaniss, Bill Cabaniss, Judy Bewley and Adrian Bewley.

The Junior League of Birmingham’s Sustainer Book Club offered a Valentine’s event for the JLB sustainers when the group hosted a biograThis is your AD prOOF from the Over The MOunTAin JOurnAL for the pher and the subject of his book.

February 2015 issue. please fax approval or changes to 824-1246.

The event featured Bill Cabaniss and his wife, Catherine, with Woody please make sure all information is correct, Norman, author of “William Jelks

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Cabaniss Jr., Crossing Lines in His Business, Political and Diplomatic Life.”

The event, held at the JLB headquarters, included a book signing, lunch and a question and answer discussion with the speakers and guests.

Organizing the gathering was

Photo special to the Journal

Book Club Chairman Nancy Canada along with past chairmen JuJu Beale and Margaret Harper.

The Book Club, which has been in existence 12 years, has approximately 100 members divided into four groups which meet at different times and venues once a month. ❖

Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 19

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Funny Valentines

Left: From left: Barbara Clemon, Carol Ann Hobby, Mark White, Hugo Marx, III, and Judge U.W. Clemon. below: Rubicon Producers Robert Kaplan, Dogh McKay and Josh Dietz.

Metropolitan Dinner Club Has February Gathering The Metropolitan Dinner Club of Greater Birmingham met for dinner at The Club Feb. 10. Guests enjoyed a Valentine-themed evening with “A Funny Thing about Love,” presented

by Dr. Joseph Hopkins and Suzanne Hopkins. The JRobinson Trio Plus provided music.

The menu included a fresh spinach salad, chicken saltimbocca, herb roasted potatoes and julienne vegetables. The Club offered chocolate roulage for dessert along with its signature orange rolls.

The Metropolitan Dinner Club’s nominating committee presented a slate of officers and directors for election and 72 new members. ❖

by Jeff (Bonzo)

Photos special to the Journal

Is Rehab the Only Answer to Addicton?

A Night 2 Remember

Lovelady Center Spotlights Hollywood The Lovelady Center hosted its second annual Lovelady Gala – Love You 2 Feb. 7 at The Club.

The event’s Old Hollywood theme was carried out with larger-than-life depictions of Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Clark Gable, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, all designed by Robert Logan.

The evening celebrated the current movie production based on the book

authored by Lovelady Center founder Brenda Lovelady Spahn, “Miss Brenda and the Loveladies.”

Special guests from Los Angeles included Robert Kaplan, Dogh McKay and Josh Dietz, executives and principals of Rubicon Production Co., which is producing the major motion picture.

A touching moment in the evening came when Kaplan told guests that

he came to Birmingham to produce a movie but that now it is a passion for him.

Rubicon Production Co. offered for auction a once-in-a-lifetime experience to attend the Hollywood premiere of the movie, complete with a stay at the Four Seasons and first class airfare for two.

Other auction items included the Frank Stitt Experience: dinner at Bottega and lunch at Chez Fon Fon for four; vacation trips to Antigua, Tuscany, Henderson Park Inn and Smith Lake; and an original piece of art by local artist Joseph Longoria exhibiting the mission and hope of the Lovelady Center. The winning bidder donated the piece to the Lovelady Center as its permanent home. ❖

Cheree and Eric Carlton.

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Nelda and Barry Holsombeck.

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These aren’t solutions that we recommend for obvious reasons, but honestly a lot of rehabs aren’t much more than that and you actually have to pay to get that sort of treatment.

Bayshore Retreat takes pride in knowing that we are different. We know that by having a home environment clients are able to heal quicker with a feeling of being loved enough to be given this gift. Our clients keep their cell phone. They bring their laptops and they’re given respect. At the same time it’s all about getting to the root of the problems.

With about 30 hours a week of counseling from Life Skills, to group, to individual counseling the real person is revealed. His or her problems are discussed and dealt with as never before. Sometimes it’s family issues, business issues, medical issues, but ultimately it’s how that person processes and deals with the challenges from past to present that governs his or her addictive behavior.

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20 • Thursday, February 26, 2015

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Stage Presence

© 2015 Alabama Power Company

What is it that makes us different here?

Cumberland Donor Appreciation Weekend Spotlights Shakespeare

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

who performed all of the music live during the show and at a pre-show musical performance before each play.

Also during the weekend, a continuing legal education workshop on Shakespeare and the Law was held in the John Carroll Moot Court Room. ❖

How does a law school celebrate a successful capital campaign? According to Kim West and John Haley, you bring in the Shakespearian actors.

Cumberland School of Law at Samford University recently celebrated its successful capital campaign with a Donor Appreciation Weekend Feb. 14-15.

As part of the event, West’s law firm, Wallace Jordan Ratliff & Brandt, and Haley’s firm, Hare Wynn Newell & Newton, sponsored the American Shakespeare Center performing “Doctor Faustus,” “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Hamlet.”

The law school’s Great Room was transformed into an Elizabethan theater for the event.

The American Shakespeare Center gave its audiences experiences that Elizabethan playgoers would have enjoyed. All plays were performed with the lights on, and actors could see and engage with the audiences.

The ensemble included singers, musicians and dancers Above: From left: John Haley, Kim West and Dean Henry Strickland at intermission during “Much Ado About Nothing.” left: Josh Innerst leads a Talk Back session with the American Shakespeare Center Actors at Cumberland School of Law’s Donor Appreciation Weekend.

Maybe it’s just knowing when to help. Here in Alabama, some people are having trouble paying their bills. You can help us help them. Just make a small donation to Project SHARE on your next Alabama Power bill. Or give online at AlabamaPower.com/ProjectSHARE. Together with the American Red Cross we can show everyone what makes us different here.

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Food

Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 21

The Milkman Cometh

In Mountain Brook, Dairy -- and More -- Can Come Right to Your Door

Photo courtesy of Katie Bird Photography

By Donna Cornelius

An abandoned warehouse in downtown Los Angeles was the site for Chef Mario Rodriguez’ Dinner Lab event, From Grandma to Grandeur.

Food Find

Francisco “Paco” Robert, a Vestavia Hills High School graduate, is bringing a members-only supper club to Birmingham. Photo special to the Journal

Dinner Lab Showcases Up-and-coming Chefs at Secret Sites

ing chefs opportunities to showcase their food.

Francisco “Paco” Robert, a Vestavia Hills High School graduate, is one of the co-founders of the social dining network.

Robert said Dinner Lab memberships are $125 for Birmingham diners.

“That’s a membership for you and a plus one, and it gives you access to our calendar and other perks,” he said. “Then you pay for your ticket.”

Dinner Lab events are held in 25 markets across the U.S., Robert said.

For the April 18 Birmingham event, tickets will be in the $55 price range, he said. The price includes a fivecourse meal, drinks and taxes.

“No money changes hands at the table,” Robert

By Donna Cornelius If you want to experience Dinner Lab’s first

Birmingham event, you can mark your calendar for April 18.

You can also prepare your taste buds for an intriguing multicourse meal from a chef who may be a rising star in the culinary world.

What you can’t do is load the dinner’s location into your GPS – at least, not yet.

Dinner Lab is a membership-based organization that gives diners pop-up restaurant experiences and promis-

See dinner lab, page 23

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Like elevator operators and file clerks, milkmen aren’t folks you often run into these days.

Except in Mountain Brook.

Colby White, the owner of Colby’s Creamery, has been delivering milk and other products door to door in Mountain Brook for almost two years. He offers Barber’s Dairy products and Royal Foods meats.

White started his delivery service in Pell City, where he and his family live. He thought Mountain Brook would be a good place to expand his business, he said.

“Mountain Brook was Barber’s biggest home delivery route about 18 years ago,” he said.

While the duties of a milkman may be unfamiliar to young people, White got his first taste of home delivery when he was a child, he said.

“We lived in California, and I delivered milk with friends of our family,” he said. “I was delivering when I was 10. As a senior in high school, I had my own business.”

Once he and his family moved to Alabama, White worked for seven years in the Barber’s Dairy butter plant in downtown Birmingham, he said.

Home delivery is a convenience for most of his customers, White said.

“People will say, ‘Oh, this would be nice for my parents’ or for another elderly couple, but most of my customers are busy families with kids in junior high or high school,” he said.

White’s Mountain Brook deliveries are once a week. There’s a $3 delivery fee per order, no minimum purchase, and all orders are put together especially for his customers,

See Milk Man, page 23

22 • Thursday, February 26, 2015

From page 21

he said.

“At 12:30 a.m., I’m loading my truck,” he said. “At 2:30, I deliver the first products. Sometimes I leave them on the doorstep or in an icebox outside, and sometimes I put them in people’s refrigerators – whatever the customer wants me to do.”

In addition to milk, Colby’s Creamery offers yogurt, sour cream, eggs and butter. Other items on his order form are sausage, bacon, pork chops and chicken tenders. He even has Costa Rican coffee and flavored coffee creamers.

He said he hopes to soon offer organic milk along with his Borden’s Dairy products.

“I have a verbal agreement with an Alabama organic dairy, and we hope to have a deal worked out soon,” he said. “We’ll try to offer that milk in

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

glass bottles.”

White has three sons, the oldest in college.

“I wanted to start something they could get into later if they want to,” he said.” One of my sons, a middle school student, runs the route with me.”

White said he can add routes in other communities “if I can get 10 customers in a particular area.”

“I’m trying to get Mountain Brook built up now,” he said. “I’d like to have several people working for me.”

White makes sure his service is reliable as well as convenient, he said.

“I delivered during the big snowstorm last year,” he said. “I’ve never missed a day.”

Another time, he said, “A customer texted me at 2:20 a.m. to say their road was flooded. I texted back, ‘I’m at your front door right now.’”

For more information, visit Colby Creamery’s Facebook page or call White at 362-6841. ❖

Journal file photo by Tommy Wald

Milk man,

food

The 11th Annual Chili Cook-­Off features more than 100 teams competing for prizes such as People’s Choice, Most Team Spirit and Best Chili. The public is invited to taste every chili and vote for their personal favorite.

Hot Number: Exceptional Foundation Plans Chili Cook-off in Homewood

Journal photo by Craig Robertson

Colby White

Take it easy.

Use easypay and skip the paper bill.

Chili cooks and connoisseurs are expected to turn out for the Exceptional Foundation’s largest fundraiser of the year.

The foundation’s annual Chili Cook-off will be March 7 from 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. in the Brookwood Village parking lot.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the event entrance. Children 12 and under enter for free.

For more information, visit www. exceptionalfoundation.org.

Home Cooking: ‘Sandy’s Dandies’ Includes Favorite Family Recipes

When Sandra Neville Shell was a child, she loved visiting her grandmother in Homewood, she said – especially since the visits included baking lessons.

Shell has compiled recipes she’s collected for more than 50 years into “Sandy’s Dandies Southern Cooking Cookbook.” It’s a project she started when she was in the ninth grade, she said.

The book has sold more than 350 copies since it was published last July, said the cookbook author’s daughter, Rebecca Shell, who lives in Homewood.

“Sandy’s Dandies” is available in Homewood at Alabama Goods, Hidden Treasures, Little Professor Bookstore and Homewood Pharmacy and in Birmingham at the Vulcan Museum gift shop. You can also order the book

10% Off

Last Pair of Plots in the

Enroll at bwwb.org.

R.E. LEE Section Southern Heritage Cemetery in Pelham Call David

205-991-7319

through Amazon or send a check for $18 to P.O. Box 19143, Birmingham, AL 35210.

For more information – and for new recipes -- visit www. sandysdandiescookbook.com or check out www.facebook.com/sandra.shell.7.

The Art of Food: Museum Plan ‘Salvador’s Deli’ Fundraiser

Birmingham area artists and art students will create art from food at Salvador’s Deli March 8 from 4-6 p.m. at the Birmingham Museum of Art. The event will raise money for art materials for Birmingham area visual arts teachers and students who need the supplies for their classrooms.

Celebrity judges will choose the winners of the event, and guests can cast votes for a people’s choice award.

Tickets are $10.

For more information, email Kristen Greenwood at kpgreenwood@ artsbma.org or visit www. artsbma.org.

Attic Antiques • Antiques • Vintage • Industrial

Tue.-Sat. 10-4:30 5620 Cahaba Valley Road

991-6887

Taste of Italy: Vulcan Event Features Sicilian Cooking

Wake up your taste buds with authentic Italian dishes at Southern Italian – An Evening in a Sicilian Kitchen March 12 at Vulcan Park and Museum.

Culinary Community Mary Jo News and Gagliano and Events Chef Chris Vizzina will demonstrate techniques of Sicilian cooking at the event. The cooking demonstration will focus on cooking secrets and tips as well as the origin of spices and herbs used in Sicilian recipes.

Tickets are $8 for Vulcan members and $10 for nonmembers. Admission includes museum entrance as well as special entrance into the exhibition “La Storia: Birmingham’s Italian Community.”

For tickets or more information, go to visitvulcan.com.

Team Effort: Competitors Invited to Vie in Gumbo Gala

Think you make the best gumbo this side of NOLA? Episcopal Place is seeking teams to participate in its Gumbo Gala April 18.

The cook-off event is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year at a new venue, Regions Field.

Teams prepare gumbo for judging and provide samples for guests.

For more information about team registration or tickets, visit www. gumbogala.com.

Lake Martin Lake House FSBO $649,000 Same owner for 30 years.

It’s time for another family to sail, ski and stargaze together.

For an online video tour go to http://vimeo.com/78076306 Call Luke 334-301-1638

dinner lab, From page 21

said.

Ticket-holders will get an email disclosing the dinner’s location 24 hours before the event, he said.

While the destination may be unknown, it’s likely to be unexpected.

Dinner Lab events typically are held at cool venues such an old churches or on rooftops.

“The first time we did an event, we were doing a pop-up in a restaurant during its off hours,” Robert said.

“That fell through, and we were scurrying for a place.”

They ended up hosting the dinner in an old mill.

“It was cool and interesting, so we stuck to this model” of nontraditional dining places, Robert said. “We set up the kitchen at the site.”

Headlining Dinner Lab’s first Birmingham event is Chef Kwame Onwuachi, who grew up in the Bronx, studied at the Culinary Institute of America, and worked at highprofile restaurants like Per Se, Eleven Madison Park, and Craft.

After he competed in the Dinner Lab’s Chef Tour, members approached him with an offer to back his first restaurant. It’s expected to open this summer in Washington, D.C. Onwuachi’s Birmingham menu includes beet-cured Hamachi with avocado puree and charred Romaine; split pea veloute with spring peas, smoked ham hocks and chicharon noodles; quail confit with black currant vinaigrette, pumpernickel crisp and turnip greens; a steak-and-eggs twist with dry aged sirloin, sauce Soubise, pickled quail egg and Marsala jus; and beet butter cake, cream cheese semifreddo, chocolate meringue and malt snow.

Robert said he and his Dinner Lab co-owners like giving undiscovered

Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 23

food

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

chefs a chance to serve their food in a restaurant-like setting.

“There’s no place in the restaurant industry for up-and-coming chefs to prototype their food and get feedback,” he said. “If I’m a Puerto Rican chef working for, say, Frank Stitt, I can’t just put a Puerto Rican dish on his menu. We provide a chef with a platform.”

Dinner Lab started in the summer of 2012 in New Orleans, where Robert now lives with his family.

“A couple of the co-founders and I had lived in large cities and were used to having a diversity of choices,” he said. “New Orleans is the culinary Mecca of the U.S., but you have a lot of the same choices – Creole, Southern. We found that if you wanted Thai or Russian food, the choices were limited to zero.

“We wondered, how do we inject NOLA with some diversity?”

To that end, Dinner Lab often sends chefs cross-country.

“We might bring a chef from New England to Alabama to do clam chowder or Korean food, and we might send a Birmingham chef to bring the best of Birmingham to New Orleans, Portland or New York,” Robert said.

Robert said his father, Francisco Robert, did his medical residency at UAB in the 1960s.

“I wasn’t born then, but my brother and sister went to middle school at Our Lady of Sorrows,” he said.

The family later moved back to Puerto Rico.

“I was born there in 1980,” Robert said. “We lived there until I was 9, and then my dad went back to UAB.” The family lived in Homewood and then Vestavia. Robert’s parents – his mother is Maria Robert -- returned to Homewood and live there now.

His father is a UAB professor in the division of hematology/oncology and chief of the medical staff at the Birmingham VA Medical Center.

Center and participating in the center’s gala.

“We feel that our missions are very closely aligned,” Robert said.

Dinner Lab, he said, nurtures young chefs and gives them the opportunity to grow, and the research center does the same thing for researchers dedicated to reducing health disparities.

The April 18 Dinner Lab event in Birmingham won’t be a one-time thing.

“We will plan to do one to two events for the first four to six months and then ramp up to two to three events for the remainder of the year,” Robert said. “We ramp up operations as the market grows.”

To buy Dinner Lab memberships and tickets, visit dinnerlab.com.

If you do buy a ticket, you may be surprised where you end up eating.

“You have a rich history in downtown Birmingham,” Robert said.

“There may be a building you’ve passed a hundred times, and you don’t know what’s inside it.”

On April 18, it may just be dinner. ❖

‘We will plan to do one to two events for the first four to six months and then ramp up to two to three events for the remainder of the year. We ramp up operations as the market grows.’

After graduating from Vestavia Hills High School, Robert went to the University of Virginia “intending to follow in the footsteps of my father,” he said. “Shortly before being accepted into medical school, I decided I wanted to be in the food business.”

Robert worked at restaurants in Spain, Vietnam, New York, Chicago and Boston as a chef de partie, sous chef and head chef.

“I had some managerial duties, too,” he said. “I moved to NOLA to go to business school. I became an operations consultant and met my Dinner Lab business partners. We

April 4, 2015 6pm

Doors open at 5:30pm

ETS ICK IS IS T Y BU LY, TH UT O R EA SELL T! A VEN E

started the business in 2012, and I went full time with it in 2013.”

Robert said his first restaurant job was a stint at Standard Bistro in Mt Laurel, where he worked for Alan Martin and Chris Hastings.

“After that summer, I knew I wanted a culinary career,” Robert said.

He and wife Lauren, a Texas native, have two children, Sebastian, who’s 2 ½ years old, and 3-month-old Penélope.

On April 17, Dinner Lab is partnering with the UAB Minority Health and Health Disparities Research

CommUNITY Passover Seder

Birmingham A Messianic Jewish Congregation

Share in the Messiah’s Last Supper.

Enjoy your rich Jewish Roots and heritage.

All are Welcome!

Bringing the body of the Messiah together in Unity.

♪ Praise & Worship with Messianic Recording Artist and Cantor ♫

Join Rabbi David & Rebbetzin Leslye Schneier as they lead our Passover Seder.

A full banquet meal will be served with a Seder plate at every table.

♫ Marty Goetz ♫

Messianic Rabbi David & Rebbetzin Leslye Schneier

Cahaba Grand Conference Center 3660 Grandview Parkway Birmingham, AL 35243

Best Option:

Buy a table of 10 tickets in the reserved section to share with your friends for the best seat options at the event!

Vestavia's Award Winning Restaurant

NOW OPEN MONDAYS! LOcATED AT THE TOP OF SHADES MOuNTAIN ON HWy 31, NEXT TO VESTAVIA HILLS cITy HALL, BISTrO V OFFErS ONE OF THE FINEST cuLINAry EXPErIENcES IN BIrMINgHAM!

Open Monday-Saturday 11am-2pm & 5pm-9pm 521 Montgomery Hwy, Vestavia Hills, AL 35216 • (205) 823-1505

Ticket Information:

$55 per ticket Two Ticket Purchase Options available:

Option 2: Open Seating tickets are available for individual ticket purchase in general admission section.

BUY TICKETS ONLINE: www.shalombirmingham.com For Questions: 205-822-2510 register@shalombirmingham.com

Erev Shabbat Service Friday at 7:30pm Torah Study Saturday at 10:30am 2230 Sumpter Street Birmingham, AL 35226

Camp Guide OTmj • Feb. 26, 2015

By June Mathews

Journal camp art by Craig Robertson Camp photos special to the Journal

W

hether your young camper is interested in a traditional camp or a special interest program this summer, you’ll likely find something to suit in the 2015 edition of OTMJ’s Camp Guide. But as you browse through our listings, please be aware that dates and other details are subject to change, and enrollment is often limited. So we hope you’ll take advantage of the contact information provided to verify the exact options available. We also encourage you to register your child early.

ACADEMICS/ENRICHMENT CAMPS Alabama School of Fine Arts Adventures in Learning Summer Camps (day) Telephone: 252-9241 Address: 1800 Reverend Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd., Birmingham 35203 Email: jlittle@asfa.k12.al.us Website: www.asfa.k12.al.us Ages: Grades 5-10 Dates: June 1-July 17 Camps are available in writing, dance, music, math, chemistry, computer programming, robotics, engineering, theater arts and visual arts.

See the website for specific descriptions, fees, dates and registration forms. Camps are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Altamont Summer 2015 (day) Telephone: 879-2006 Address: The Altamont School, 4801 Altamont Road, Birmingham 35222 Email: jbarnard@altamontschool.org Website: www.altamontschool.org/ summertolearnmore Ages: Grades 3-12, rising Dates: June 1-July 10 Courses at Altamont this summer offer exciting options for acceleration, enrichment and credit.

The summer session, open to boys and girls, will feature for-credit courses in speech, lab tech, health and geometry as well as camps combining mathematics, English, photography, theater and sports. See website for details.

Baylor School Summer Programs (day or residential) Telephone: 423-757-2616 Address: 171 Baylor School Road, Chattanooga, TN 37405 Email: carol_huckaby@baylorschool.org Website: www.baylorschool.org/summer Overnight and day camp options are available.

Programs include lacrosse, distance running, Walkabout Camp (see separate listing in Traditional Camps), enrichment camps and more. Camps take place on the 200-acre campus of Baylor School, situated on the banks of the Tennessee River. See website for more information.

Horsing Around Equestrian Camps Can Give Kids Unbridled Fun

To say Ellen Walker loves horses would likely be an

Summer at Highlands (day) Telephone: 956-9731 Address: Highlands School, 4901 Old Leeds Road, Birmingham 35213 Email: gmccool@highlandsschool.org

understatement.

She’s ridden since she was 6 years old and now owns multiple horses as well as a sprawling barn on Blackjack Ridge near Trussville. From there, she runs a nationally-recognized hunter jumper training center and a full-service boarding facility.

So not only does Walker love horses, much of her life revolves around the animals. And never is her affinity for them more apparent than when she’s sharing her horse-related skills and knowledge with kids at Summer Horsemanship Camp at Blackjack Farms.

Along with barn manager Ellen Blalock and instructors Eleanor Nielsen and Evelyn Lewis, Walker annually plans and supervises a series of three-day camp sessions where kids, ages 6 to early teens, come to learn about horses in the guise of play.

“In the past, we’ve had three sessions, but we had such success last year that we’ve added a fourth,” Walker said. “The interest has gotten bigger, and we’re happy about that.”

Stressing individualized attention, safety and family-friendliness, the Blackjack sessions offer campers the opportunity to learn basic riding and horsemanship skills. But the kids also enjoy traditional camp activities such as games, horse-related

camp guide continues on page 26

See equestrian camps, page 31

Hilltop Montessori School (day) Telephone: 437-9343 Address: 6 Abbott Square, Birmingham 35242 (Mt Laurel) Email: hms@hilltopmontessori.com Website: www.hilltopmontessori.com Ages: 18 months-6 Dates: Two-week sessions June 8-July 31 This camp utilizes the Montessori philosophy in an accredited school with a trained and certified Montessori staff. It features hands-on learning and fun topics of interest to kids, including space exploration, insects, music, cooking and more.

See website for details.

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 25

Camp Guide

Why your child belongs at the Y

Our core values We make our core values - caring, honesty, respect and responsibility—part of everything we do.

Our commitment We plan our programs around essential elements to help kids grow up caring and responsible.

We call these elements “Developmental Assets.”

Our staff We are caring, competent and experienced.

Our training includes camp safety, activity planning, CPR, First Aid, and more, making your child’s experience both safe and fun. Low camp staff/child ratios. 1:10 entering grades K-3 1:12 entering grades 4-9.

Our promise No child is denied access due to inability to pay.

Our pledge We are dedicated to making you and your child’s experiences at the Y extraordinary. At the end of the day, your child will come home with stories of a fun-filled and fabulous day.

Camp On!

ymcabham.org/summerdaycamp2015

campcosby.org.

Learn about sleepaway camp at YMCA Camp Cosby online at

MISSION To put Judeo-Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all. A United Way Partner.

26 • Thursday, February 26, 2015

Camp Guide

Your child can experience up-close animal encounters, train and carousel rides, fun in the splash fountains, zipline and guided tours of the Zoo. The best place for summer fun is at a Birmingham Zoo Camp! The Zoo has exciting full-day camps for children going into 4K through 8th grade. Register today!

BRAND NEW CAMPS! • Adventures in Art Camp • Zoo Career Camp

• Pirates of the Zooribbean Camp • Wildlife Trek Camp

For more information and to register

visit www.birminghamzoo.com/education/ or call 205.879.0409. *Before Care, After Care and Lunch are available at an additional cost.

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Website: www.highlandsschool.org Ages: Grades K-8 Dates: June 1-July 31 Kids can choose from a variety of camps, including arts, sports, science and more.

Highlands strives to offer camps and activities that will enable children to continue learning while having a great time. Traditional day camps, as well as morning and afternoon extended care, are available.

Summer @ Springs (day) Telephone: 532-1806 Address: Indian Springs School, 190 Woodward Drive, Indian Springs 35214-3272 Email: dray@indiansprings.org Website: www.indiansprings.org/summer Ages: Grades 4-12, rising Dates: June 8-Aug. 7 This summer program offers a series of academic enrichment camps, including SAT/ PSAT prep, science, grammar and writing, wetlands ecology, photography and much more. Before care, after care and lunch options are available. See website for details.

UAB Children’s Creative Learning Center (day) Telephone: 996-3540 Address: Vestavia Central and Liberty Park Elementary Schools Email: uabsummerprogram@gmail.com Website: www.uab.edu/cclc Ages: Grades K-6 rising Dates: June 1-July 31 (one-week sessions) Campers will work with highly-qualified elementary teachers to improve their reading and math skills in an interactive and creative environment. Activities include building, sewing, cooking and crafting.

ART CAMPS Art Camp with Jayne Morgan (day) Telephone: 902-5226 Address: Artists on the Bluff Studio 5, 571 Park Ave., Hoover 35226 Email: jayne@jaynemorgan.com Website: www.jaynemorgan.com Ages: 6-12 Dates: Two sessions: June 8-11 and July 13-18 This is a fun summer art camp in which students will create art using paint, paper collage and clay. Cost is $175 per week.

Dawson BIG Art Camps (day) Telephone: 879-1758 Address: 1114 Oxmoor Road, Birmingham 35209 Email: lcuenin@dawsonchurch.org Website: www.dawsonchurch.org Ages: Grade 1-5 completed Dates: Session I – June 15-18; Session II – July 6-9 This art camp for all skill levels includes fun projects involving drawing, painting and threedimensional art.

BaseBall

casey dunn summer camps 2015

YouTh BaseBall Camps

June 22-25, June 29-July 2, July 20-23 and July 27-30 Grades K-7, $175, 9 a.m.-noon

Fundamentals, including hitting, fielding, throwing, running bases, and game simulations.

A.C.E. Tennis Academy at Highland Park will be offering weekly summer camps for children of all ages and abilities beginning in June 2015. Our objective is to provide participants with an organized agenda of opportunities for a quality tennis experience. Campers will learn that their attitude and effort are everything when trying to accomplish goals both on and off the court.

—QuiCk STArT—Ages: 4-7—

hiGh sChool spoTliGhT Camp

Your child will learn basic tennis skills, while building a foundation for future development.

This camp is designed for players to receive instruction and showcase their talent for college coaches throughout the state

This is for the player who is new to the game. We will learn all basic fundamentals, tennis rules, etiquette and more.

July 13-15 • Grades 8 - 2015 Graduates • $335 Day 1 - 2:30-9 p.m., Day 2 - 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Day 3 - 9 am-noon

Benefits

• one-on-one instruction • daily games • instruction in all areas of baseball • exposure to many different coaches • Samford Baseball Camp t-shirt

Bring

• baseball glove and hat • baseball cleats and tennis shoes • baseball pants and shorts • a willingness to work hard and get better

Check in starts 30 minutes prior to first day of camp!

The camp is open to any and all registrants.

Registration information can be obtained online at www.subaseballcamps.com or call 205-726-4294

—FuTurES—Ages: 8 & up—

—CHAllEngEr—

This is for the player who has had some instruction and has played team tennis and/or tournaments.

—TOp Gun—

These players already have a State, Sectional and/or a National ranking.

Highland Park Tennis Center.

3300 Highland Ave. S. B'ham, AL 35205

205.251.1965

Samford Middle School Art Camp (day) Telephone: 726-2739 Address: Samford University Academy of the Arts, Birmingham 35209 Email: lrooker@samford.edu Website: www.samford.edu/academy-of-the-arts Ages: Grade 6-8, completed Dates: June 8-12 Students will build and stretch their own canvases, create acrylic paintings and learn about the vocabulary of art by using numerous mediums.

Samford Bulldog Art Camp (day) Telephone: 726-2739 Address: Samford University Academy of the Arts, Birmingham 35209 Email: lrooker@samford.edu Website: www.samford.edu/academy-of-the-arts Ages: Grade 1-5, completed Dates: June 22-26 Students will see, touch, hear and feel the vocabulary of art by incorporating color, line, shape, texture, space, value, form, balance and rhythm.

Yellow Barn Art (day) Telephone: 834-1923 Address: 2405 Tyler Road, Birmingham 35216 Website: www.yellowbarnart.com or www. facebook.com/yellowbarnstudio Dates: Spring break; June 2- Aug. 8 At these fun and funky fashion camps, kids will

Camp Guide

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

design T-shirts, bracelets and headbands with recycled textiles or “found” materials to create one-of-a-kind treasures. For more information, visit the website or Facebook page.

DANCE CAMPS Alabama Ballet (day) Telephone: 322-1874 Address: 2726 First Ave. S., Birmingham 35233 Email: libbaowen@alabamaballet.org Website: www.alabamaballet.org Ages: Summer Program (ages 11-20, by audition); Junior Camp (ages 8-12); Tutus & Tiaras (ages 4-7) With its state-of-the-art studios and superb instructors, the Alabama Ballet seeks to promote and foster the development of classical and contemporary ballet through high-quality performances, dance education and community outreach.

Children’s Dance Foundation (day) Telephone: 870-0073 Address: 1715 27th Court South, Homewood 35209 Website: www.childrensdancefoundation.org/ summer-classes/ Ages: Grades K-12 Dates: June 1-Aug. 1 (weeklong sessions) This camp offers dance camps led by a caring and enthusiastic professional staff. Early dropoff is available. Full-day camps will culminate with a brief sharing for family and friends.

Themes include Fairy Tales, Around the World, Imagination Lab, Dance for the Camera and more.

UAB Emerald Auxiliary Camp (day and residential) Telephone: 975-2263 Address: 208 Hulsey Center, 950 13th St. S., Birmingham 35294 Website: www.uabbands.org Ages: 8 and up Dates: June 24-26

Fun as big as all outdoors!

This summer why not try something fun and adventurous, like climbing, camping, canoeing, kayaking, paddle boarding, caving, hiking, camping and more? No outdoor experience necessary, just an adventurous spirit, an enthusiastic attitude, and a willingness to try new things and make new friends!

Session 1: June 14 - 26, 2015 Session 2: July 5 -17, 2015

Reserve your spot in the great outdoors! >> (423) 267-8506, ext. 412 | tmoore@baylorschool.org | baylorschool.org

Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 27

28 • Thursday, February 26, 2015

Camp Guide

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

This camp offers opportunities for majorettes, dance teams and color guards to learn fundamentals and routines.

DRAMA CAMPS

Anytown Alabama is a wonderful opportunity for high school students to develop leadership skills that they bring back to their school and community.

Red Mountain Theatre Company’s Bootcamps (day) Telephone: 324-2424 Address: 3028 7th Ave. S., Birmingham 35233 Email: education@redmountaintheatre.org Website: www.redmountaintheatre.org/ workshops Ages: 4-18 Dates: Basic Bootcamp (ages 4-6) - June 1-5, June 8-12; Blast Bootcamp (ages 7-18) - June 1-5, June 8-12; Recruit Bootcamp (ages 7-18) – June 1-5, June 8-12; Intermediate Bootcamp (ages 9-15) – June 1-5, June 8-12 and June 15-19; Advanced Bootcamp (ages 13-18) – June 1-5, June 8-12 and June 15-19

May 31-June 6 We recruit student “delegates” from all over Birmingham so that every race, gender, religion, school, neighborhood, immigration status and ability is represented. Delegates are encouraged to participate in honest dialogue and interactive learning about social justice issues. Students learn how to respond to difficult real-life situations with kindness, courage and respect.

For Delegate and Staff Information: www.ywcabham.org/anytownalabama 205.322.9922 ext. 180 • anytown@ywcabham.org

** * *

* * **

Spring Break Camps Fashion Camps Art Camps Birthday Parties

Bootcamp offers acting, singing and dancing instruction taught by Birmingham’s best, as well as seasoned professionals. This is the perfect opportunity for students who love to perform to take their creative skills to the next level.

Virginia Samford Theatre’s Camp VST (day) Telephone: 251-1228 Address: Virginia Samford Theatre, 1116 26th St. S., Birmingham 35205 Website: www.virginiasamfordtheatre.org Dates: June 15-19, June 22-26 Kids explore all aspects of working in live theater, including working behind the scenes.

In addition to vocal and dance instruction with onstage performances, students will participate in classes that will provide hands-

Camp Guide

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

on experience in set building, sound design, makeup, costume design and working within a limited budget.

HEALTH/SPECIAL NEEDS CAMPS Camp Seale Harris Senior & Junior Camps (residential) Telephone: 402-0415 Address: Southeastern Diabetes Education Services, 500 Chase Park S., Suite 104, Hoover 35244 Email: info@southeasterndiabetes.org Website: www.southeasterndiabetes.org Ages: 12-18 (senior camp); 6-13 (junior camp) Dates: May 31-June 5 (senior camp); June 7-12 (junior camp) Camp is held on Lake Martin near Alexander City. Kids with diabetes learn how to manage blood sugar levels and medication, make healthy food choices and remain physically active. Trained adult counselors, physicians and nurses provide safe supervision and fun activities such as swimming, tubing, canoeing, fishing, archery and more.

Camp Wheezeaway (residential) Telephone: 334-799-3449 or 334-229-0035 Address: P.O. Box 2336, Montgomery 36102 Email: brendabasnight@yahoo.com Website: ymcamontgomery.org/camp (click on Camp Wheezeaway) Ages: 8-12 Dates: June 28-July 3 This is a free camp for kids with moderate to severe asthma that includes asthma education and optimal care by medical staff and volunteers. Campers enjoy traditional camp activities while learning to manage asthma without it managing them.

Mitchell’s Place Summer Camps (day) Telephone: 957-0294 Address: TBA Email: snaramore@mitchells-place.com Website: www.mitchells-place.com Ages: 6-18 (5-year-olds who have completed K5 are accepted) Dates: June 2-July 31 (three 10-day sessions) This camp is designed to address the basic skills of teamwork, self-esteem and selfregulation. Activities include indoor/outdoor games, educational activities and social skills for children on the autism spectrum.

Participants receive weekly reports describing specific activities and skill performance.

Individual goals are created on an as-needed basis.

The Exceptional Foundation (day) Telephone: 870-0776 Address: 1616 Oxmoor Road, Birmingham 35209 Email: gbastar@exceptionalfoundation.org Ages: 5 and up Website: www.exceptionalfoundation.org Dates: June 8-July 31 The Exceptional Foundation strives to meet the social and recreational needs of individuals with special needs through art, sports, music and more. Contact Ginny Bastar, program director, for more information.

LANGUAGE/WRITING CAMPS Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop (day) Telephone: 934-8583 Address: UAB Department of English, Humanities Building 205, Birmingham 35294 Email: tmharris@uab.edu Website: www.uab.edu/cas/english/about-us/ events-and-series/ada-long-creative-writingworkshop Ages: Grades 9-12, rising Dates: June 1-19

Every student in this workshop will earn experience and knowledge vital to success in high school, college and any career. The program will benefit students exploring creative writing careers, those preparing for university work and others who enjoy writing for personal enrichment.

MUSIC CAMPS Adventures in Music Camp at Samford (day) Telephone: 726-4049 Address: Samford University, 800 Lakeshore Drive, Birmingham 35229 Email: kshaw1@samford.edu Website: www.samford.edu/academy-of-the-arts Ages: Grades 1-12 Dates: June 15-19 (piano only); July 6-10 (piano or voice) These one-week intensive music camps include private lessons, ensemble, theory, literature classes, games and recreation as well as solo and ensemble recitals. Piano participants must have completed first grade and had at least three months of instruction.

Voice students must be at least 10 years old.

All Aboard for Music Camp at Samford (day) Telephone: 726-4049; 726-2810 Address: Samford University, 800 Lakeshore Drive, Birmingham 35229 Email: kshaw1@samford.edu Website: www.samford.edu/academy-of-the-arts Ages: 3-6 Dates: July 13-17 This camp offers a fabulous learning experience for preschoolers. Activities include singing, movement, listening activities, crafts, instruments of the orchestra, learning centers, guest artists, a daily snack and more.

Birmingham-Southern College Conservatory Music and Theatre Camp (day) Telephone: 226-4960 Address: 900 Arkadelphia Road, Birmingham 35254 Email: lvictory@bsc.edu Website: www.bsc.edu/academics/music/ conservatory/index.cfm Ages: K5-Grade 5 Dates: June 15-19 This camp included classes in piano, choir, hand bells, music history and theory, dramatic games, improvisation and storytelling.

Students bring their lunches. A camp presentation will take place at 2 p.m. Friday.

Dawson Music Academy Summer Music Camp: Instruments of Praise (day) Telephone: 871-7324 Address: 1114 Oxmoor Road, Birmingham 35209 Email: kjones@dawsonchurch.org Website: www.dawsonmusicacademy.org Ages: Grades K-5, completed Dates: June 22-26

Campers will explore the instrument of their choice (piano, violin, voice, guitar, harp, percussion) during camp classes. They will experience the joy of music through a variety of fun learning activities throughout the day.

Mason Music Camps (day) Telephone: 871-7324 Address: 1114 Oxmoor Road, Birmingham 35209 Email: nicole@masonmusicstudios.com Website: www.masonmusicstudios.com/ summer-camps/ Ages: 3-18 Dates: May 18-Aug. 7 Camps include Mason Music Stars Preschool Music Camp for ages 3-6, Mason Music Camp for Beginners for ages 6-9 and Mason Music Rock Band Camp for ages 10-18. See website for details.

Woodlawn Music Tech Summer Camp 2015 (day) Telephone: 592-2222 Address: Audiostate 55 Recording Studios, 4 South 55th Place, Birmingham 35212 Email: info@audiostate55.com Website: www.woodlawnmusictech.org Ages: Middle through high school, rising Dates: Weeklong sessions June 15-July 24 This camp is designed to build awareness of college and career opportunities in the field of music production and recording engineering.

Students are exposed to the latest music and video production tools, including GarageBand, Pro Tools, Reason and iMovie while learning how to compose and record their own songs.

UAB Beginners Percussion Camp (day) Telephone: 975-5823 Address: 203 Hulsey Center, Birmingham 35294 Email: gfambro@uab.edu Website: www.uabpercussion.org/summerpercussion-camps.htm.

Ages: Grades 6-8, rising Dates: June 1-5 This camp provides instruction for beginning students; no experience is needed. School band or private lesson experience up to one year is acceptable.

UAB Drumline Clinic (day) Telephone: 975-5823 Address: 203 Hulsey Center, Birmingham 35294 Email: gfambro@uab.edu Website: www.uabpercussion.org/summerpercussion-camps.htm.

Ages: Grades 9-12, rising Dates: June 22-26 This camp provides instruction for all levels of percussion students interested in marching percussion; no experience is needed. School band or private lesson experience of at least one year is preferred but not necessary.

UAB Summer Music Camp (day or residential) Telephone: 975-2263

Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 29 Address: 950 13th St. S., Hulsey Center 208, Birmingham 35294 Website: www.uabbands.org Ages: Grades 6-12 Dates: June 7-13 This is a weeklong band camp for instrumental music students. Residential and commuter options are available.

SCIENCE/NATURE/ TECHNOLOGY CAMPS Aldridge Botanical Gardens Summer Camps (day) Telephone: 682-8019 Address: 3530 Lorna Road, Hoover 35216 Website: www.aldridgegardens.com Ages: K5-Grade 4, rising Dates: One-week sessions in June Aldridge Gardens offers an exciting variety of camps for kids, including American Girls, Find Hidden Treasures, Chemistry and Construction, and more. See website for more details and registration information.

Southern Museum of Flight (day) Telephone: 833-8226 Address: 4343 73rd St. N., Birmingham 35206 Website: www.southernmuseumofflight.org Ages: 7-15 Dates: TBA Campers will learn fundamentals of flight and aviation history as well as perfect their skills as virtual pilots in the museum’s Flight Simulator Lab. Early drop-off and late pickup options are available. Lunch, snack and T-shirt are included. Enrollment is limited.

Birmingham Botanical Gardens (day) Telephone: 414-3953 Address: 2612 Lane Park Road, Birmingham 35223 Email: ehardy@bbgardens.org Website: www.bbgardens.org/summercamps Ages: K4-Grade 6, rising Dates: June 1-Aug. 31 (one-week sessions) This camp offers age-appropriate summer programs designed to actively promote children’s natural sense of creativity and discovery with fun learning experiences in The Gardens. A new full-day, four-day program, Urban Farm Camp, gives kids in grades 4-6 a chance to grow fresh food for themselves and others. A full listing of camp offerings is on the website.

Birmingham Zoo 2014 Zoofari Summer Camp (day) Telephone: 397-3877 Address: 2630 Cahaba Road, Birmingham 35223 Email: education@birminghamzoo.com Website: www.birminghamzoo.com/summercamps Ages: K4-Grade 8 Dates: May 26-July 31 (weeklong session) The Birmingham Zoo has a variety of unforgettable Zoofari camps where children can experience up-close-and-personal interaction with animals, have fun and learn.

Themes include Pirates of the Zooribbean Camp, Wildlife Trek Camp, Adventures at Art Camp, Zoomazing Zookeeper Camp as well as a Zoo Career Camp.

Kids’ Night @ the Museum (one evening only) Telephone: 256-237-6766 Address: 800 Museum Drive, Anniston 36206 Email: gmorey@annistonmuseum.org Website: www.annistonmuseum.org Ages: 7-12 years Dates: July 9, 5-9 p.m.

The museum will come to life during this special night focusing on environmental conservation. Activities include dinner, a recycled puppet workshop and puppet show,

30 • Thursday, February 26, 2015

Camp Guide

and climbing.

flashlights provided, and an exploration of the habitats of animals that make their home in Alabama.

Camp Fletcher (day or residential) Telephone: 428-1059 Address: 5150 Fletcher Road, Bessemer 35022 Email: campfletcher@campfire-al.org Website: www.campfire-al.org Ages: Grades 1-12 Dates: June 1-July 31 Located on a quiet and secluded 300-acre site five miles from Exit 1 on Interstate 459, Camp Fletcher offers traditional resident and day camp programs, facility rentals and outdoor educational and leadership experiences that help youth and families develop a strong connection to nature and healthy, active habits to last a lifetime.

Material Camp at UAB (day) Telephone: 934-3271 Address: 1150 10th Ave. S., (BEC 254), Birmingham 35294 Email: genau@uab.edu Website: www.uab.edu/matcamp Ages: Grades 9-11, completed Dates: July 6-10 For students interested in engineering or applied science, Materials Camp provides an opportunity to explore the world of engineering materials by building stuff, breaking stuff and much more. Highlights include working in labs with UAB faculty and students, field trips and a design competition. The program is free.

McWane Science Center Summer Camps (day) Address: 200 19th St. N., Birmingham 35203 Website: www.mcwane.org McWane Science Center Camps make learning an unforgettable adventure.

Various themes and activities allow kids to experience something new each day. Flexible programming gives parents options ranging from an afternoon of exploration to full weeks of learning fun. Check website for details and scheduling.

SPORTS CAMPS Alabama’s Court Elite at Highland Park Tennis Center (day) Telephone: 251-1965 Address: 3300 Highland Ave. S., Birmingham 35205 Email: academytennis@gmail.com Website: www.academytennis.com Dates: Beginning in June Ages: 4 and up (boys and girls) A.C.E. Tennis Academy camps provide participants of varying ages and skill levels with an organized agenda of opportunities for a quality tennis experience. Campers learn that attitude and effort are everything when trying to accomplish goals both on and off the court.

Ambassador Soccer Camp and Jr. Ambassador Soccer Camp at Briarwood (day) Telephone: 776-5114 Address: 2200 Briarwood Way, Birmingham 35243 Email: rleib@briarwood.org Website: www.briarwoodsoccer.com Dates: Jr. Ambassador – June 22-26 (great for beginners, ages 4-10); Ambassador -- July 6-10 (competitive and rec players, age 7-14) These camps help develop and improve soccer skills, and test kids’ abilities against others of the same age and skill level. Allow your kids to learn how to be “undefeated” in life as they learn the game the Briarwood Soccer Club way.

Blackjack Farms Summer Horsemanship Camp (day) Telephone: 956-8532 or 901-8261 Address: 2420 Burns Lane, Birmingham 35210 Email: ellen.blalock@gmail.com Website: www.blackjackfarms.net Ages: 6 and up Dates: June 9-11, June 23-25, July 14-16, July 21-23 Blackjack Farms is a day camp for young beginner and intermediate riders. The threeday camps offer instruction in riding as well as horse care and other fun activities.

Dawson Basketball Camp (day) Telephone: 879-1758 Address: 1114 Oxmoor Road, Birmingham 35209 Email: lcuenin@dawsonchurch.org Website: www.dawsonchurch.org/recreation

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Ages: Grades 1-5, completed Dates: May 26-29 Camp includes drills, fun games and scrimmages. No basketball experience is required.

Mike Getman Soccer Camp (day or residential) Telephone: 870-0194 Email: info@uabsoccercamp.com Website: www.uabsoccercamp.com Ages: 5-12 (day); 10-18 (residential/commuter) Dates: Day camps: June 8-12, July 6-10; residential/commuter camps: June 21-25, June 28-July 2 and July 31-Aug. 2 Skill development and training, small and large group tactics and 11 v. 11 games provide opportunities for players to learn and improve every aspect of their game. Some of the best coaches and players in the country are eager to share their knowledge and skills.

Preston Goldfarb’s Excellence through Fundamentals Soccer Camp (day or residential) Telephone: 226-4895 (office) or 602-3505 (cell) Address: Birmingham-Southern College, 900 Arkadelphia Road, Birmingham 35254 Email: pgoldfar@bsc.edu Website: www.bscsports.net/camps/soccer Ages: 7-18, boys and girls Dates: June 7-11, June 14-18 and June 21-25 (Sunday-Thursday schedule) This camp is focused on developing the player through intense training designed to increase technical ability and tactical awareness. Its goal is to teach the game through an emphasis on limiting numbers in groups and maximizing touches in training.

Samford University Baseball Camps (day and residential) Telephone: 726-4294 Address: Samford University, 800 Lakeshore Drive, Birmingham Website: www.samfordbaseballcamps.com Ages: Grades K-12 Dates: Youth camps – June 22-25, June 29-July 2, July 20-23 and July 27-30; High School Spotlight Camp – July 13-15 These age-appropriate baseball camps are designed to maximize the camp experience so that campers enjoy the game and become better players. Sessions are led by the Samford baseball staff and current and former Samford players as well as other college players, college coaches and high school coaches.

TRADITIONAL CAMPS Alpine Camp for Boys (residential) Telephone: 256-634-4404 Address: 138 County Road 619 (P.O. Box 297), Mentone 35984

Email: summer@alpinecamp.com Website: www.alpinecamp.com Ages: Grades 1-9, completed Dates: May 25-July 28 (two-week and four-week options available) Situated on the crest of Lookout Mountain, Alpine provides the perfect setting for a summer at camp. On any given day, campers can ride horseback, play tennis, or climb a ropes course. Events include a Fourth of July celebration, a Mountain Day celebration and a Trip Day. Each night concludes with activities ranging from cabin campout to slaughterball in the gym.

Camp Cottaquilla (day or residential) Telephone: 490-2252 Address: 2508 Cottaquilla Road, Anniston 36207 Email: jpaullin@girlscoutsnca.org Website: www.girlscoutsnca.org/camps/campcottaquilla/ Ages: Grades 1-12, rising Dates: May 31-June 12 Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains near the highest point in Alabama, this camp is the ideal place for hiking, canoeing, pedal boating, kayaking, fishing, swimming, archery, low ropes and the nature nook.

Camp Coleman (day or residential) Telephone: 490-2252 Address: 4010 Camp Coleman Road, Trussville 35173 Email: jpaullin@girlscoutsnca.org Website: www.girlscoutsnca.org/camps/campcoleman/ Ages: Grades 1-12, rising Dates: May 26-June 26 Located just off Interstate 59 near Trussville, this camp features 140 acres of woods, meadows, creeks and trails. Activities include low and high ropes course, river stomp, hiking, swimming and traditional camp programs. The campsite also includes a spacious dining hall and a large open-air gym for activities and rainy day events.

YMCA Camp Cosby (residential) Telephone: 256-268-2007 OR 1-800-85COSBY Address: 2290 Paul Bear Bryant Road, Alpine 35014 Email: info@campcosby.org Website: www.campcosby.org Ages: 6-16 Dates: June 7-Aug. 1 (one-week sessions) At Camp Cosby, boys and girls have the opportunity to build self-esteem, grow, learn and challenge themselves during weeklong overnight sessions. Campers enjoy a mixture of cabin activities and hour-long free choice activities such as arts and crafts, swimming, canoeing, archery, horseback riding, dirt biking

Camp Mac (residential) Telephone: 256-362-7449 Address: 2671 Cheaha Road, Munford 36268 Email: office@campmac.com Website: www.campmac.com Ages: Grades 2-9 Dates: June 1-Aug. 8 Owned and operated by the McBride family since 1948, Camp Mac is located on the shores of two lakes in the Talladega National Forest, one hour from Birmingham. There are separate programs for boys and girls. Activities include horseback riding, zip lining, banana boating, cookouts, campfires and more. Space is limited.

Camp Trico (day or residential) Telephone: 490-2252 Address: 315 Trico Drive, Guntersville, 35976 Email: jpaullin@girlscoutsnca.org Website: www.girlscoutsnca.org/camps/campcottaquilla/ Ages: Grades 1-12, rising Dates: July 10-24 This camp consists of more than100 scenic acres on a wooded peninsula on Lake Guntersville. Features include picturesque waterfront views, an aquatic recreation area, a swimming pool and miles of hiking trails.

Activities include canoeing, archery, campfires and water games.

Camp Walkabout at Baylor School (residential) Telephone: 423-267-8506, extension 412 Address: 171 Baylor School Road, Chattanooga, TN 37405 Email: tmoore@baylorschool.org Website: www.baylorschool.org/summer/ overnight-camps/summer-walkabout-camp/index. asp Ages: 11-14 Dates: Session 1: June 14-26; Session 2: July 5-17 This camp is for any boy or girl with an adventurous spirit and a craving for fun.

Using the great outdoors as their playground, campers will climb, cave, hike and camp as well as paddle board, kayak, canoe and swim.

No experience is necessary.

Camp Woodmont on Lookout Mountain (residential) Telephone: 423-472-6070 Address: 381 Moonlight Drive, Cloudland, GA 30731 Email: alyson@campwoodmont.com Website: www.campwoodmont.com Ages: 6-14 (boys and girls) Dates: May 31-July 24 This camp features traditional activities, including a climbing wall with zip line and high ropes course, archery, canoeing, hiking, horseback riding, noncompetitive sports, arts, crafts and more. Caring counselors and a warm Christian atmosphere make campers feel secure, welcome and reassured. Open house is May 17.

Camp Guide

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

equestrian, From page 24

arts and crafts, swimming, picnics, and fishing, forming new interests and friendships along the way.

“One of the neat things we do is taking the kids on field trips,” Blalock said. “Last year we started going out to The Red Barn in Leeds where they do therapeutic riding, and the kids got to experience things from a special needs person’s point of view. They learn that it’s not all fun and games, that horses can actually help people.”

Another excursion is to a Pell City veterinary clinic that treats horses. A vet tech gives the campers a tour and explains the different aspects of the work at the clinic.

“This gives the kids an idea of the medical end of things,” Walker said.

“We also have a veterinarian that comes to the barn to give a demonstration on equine dentistry.”

But probably the most fun, and perhaps most unusual, activity the camp offers is painting a horse. Not painting a picture of a horse -- painting the parts of a horse on an actual horse.

“We’ve got lesson ponies with temperaments that are just right for

Kanawahala Program Center (day or residential) Telephone: 490-2252 Address: 831 Girl Scout Road, Chelsea 35043 Email: jpaullin@girlscoutsnca.org Website: www.girlscoutsnca.org/ camps/camp-cottaquilla/ Ages: Grades 1-12, rising Dates: June 28-July 17 KPC encompasses approximately 600 acres of wooded hills and valleys with hiking and biking trails. With its 40-acre private lake and junior Olympic-size swimming pool, it’s perfect for campers who love water activities. Other activities include mountain biking and a 35-foot climbing tower with attached high and low ropes course elements.

YMCA Hargis Retreat (day) Telephone: 678-6512 Address: 928 Hargis Drive, Chelsea 35043 Email: cshores@ymcabham.org Website: www.ymcabham.org/ hrdaycamp Hargis offers a traditional camp experience for ages 5-15 featuring activities including canoeing, fishing and archery. One-week sessions begin May 26 and end Aug. 1.

Adventure Sports Camp June 1-5 and 15-19 allows kids ages 9-15 the chance to sample sports like mountain biking, trail running, rock climbing, paddle boarding and kayaking. In Mountain Biking Camp, July 7-11 and 21-25, campers ages 9-15 learn general biking safety and proper mountain biking techniques over obstacles and trails.

VARIETY/SPECIALTY CAMPS All Saints’ Episcopal Preschool (day) Telephone: 879-1095

this,” Walker said. “There are certain horses that would not do well with the painting, so we choose ones that we know are sweet animals.”

When all is said and done, though, no one is quite sure who enjoys the painting sessions more: the kids or the horses.

“The horses love the attention, and they know they’ll get a bath afterward,” Blalock said.

As with all of the camp activities, the Blackjack Farms staff oversees the horse painting, and teen counselors, most of whom are former campers themselves, act as hands-on supervisors. And while the advantages of such fun horse-related activities are many, campers also benefit in other ways as they interact with the animals.

“For a timid child, getting on a horse can be a confidence builder, and a hyperactive or over-confident child will learn control,” Walker said. “You have to partner with the animal, and you can’t be all over the place. You have to concentrate. It’s a skill.”

Campers, said Blalock, can learn things at a horse camp that can’t be learned anywhere else. Not only do they experience the enjoyable aspects of horses, they get a fair taste of the work involved, too.

“They learn about feeding, cleaning out stalls, identifying parts of the horse and parts of the tack, everything that goes into riding,” she said. “It’s more than just going to camp. They learn respect for an animal as well.”

The land on which the barn at Blackjack Farms sits was purchased in 1942 by Walker’s grandfather, M.J. Gorrie, and a Mountain Brook neighbor, W.E. Armstrong, as a place for family getaways. Gorrie gradually acquired several surrounding parcels of land.

In 1977, Walker’s father, Miller Gorrie, purchased Armstrong’s interests and eventually added more land to the family holding, bringing the size of Blackjack Farms to 800-plus acres.

A small three-stall barn was built on the property near Queenstown Road in 1969. The current barn, located atop Blackjack Ridge, was built in 1993 and originally included 12 stalls.

“As we grew, we added on, and we’re in the process of adding on again,” Walker said. “When we finish this addition, we’ll have 40 stalls in all.”

For more information on Blackjack Farms and its summer camp program, visit www.blackjackfarms.net/camp.html or call 956-8532.

Address: 112 West Hawthorne Road, Homewood 35209 Email: preschool@ allsaintsbirmingham.org Website: www.allsaintsbirmingham. org Ages: 12 months-K5 Dates: June 1-July 24, two 3-week sessions This program features a fun and active curriculum centered on summer themes. Music, creative movement, chapel and art are included.

Levite Jewish Community Center (day) Telephone: 879-0411 Address: 3960 Montclair Road, Birmingham 35213 Email: jklein@bhamjcc.org Website: www.bhamjcc.org LJCC Summer Day Camps, offered by the week, are open to everyone.

Parents can mix and match traditional day camp with specialty camps and sports to provide a summer experience tailored to their children’s interests and needs.

Bruno Montessori Academy (day) Telephone: 995-8709 Address: 5509 Timber Hill Road, Birmingham 35242 Email: Rebecca@jbma.org Website: www.jbma.org Ages: 3 years-Grade 8 Dates: June 1-July 24 From practical skills to sports, Bruno Montessori will offer an exciting variety of camps this summer with full-day and half-day options available. Preschool activities include art, nature walks, cooking and Legobuilding. Elementary options include sports, outdoor exploration, science, photography and creative writing.

St. Peter’s Child Development Center (day) Telephone: 822-9461 Address: 2061 Patton Chapel Road, Hoover 35216 Email: stpeterscdc@gmail.com Website: www.stperterscdc.com Ages: K5-Grade 3 Dates: May 26-July 31 This is a fun-filled summer camp featuring art, sports, science projects, creative writing, water play and ice cream truck visits every week and teachers who are certified in education for the optimal learning environment.

Dawson Day Camps (day) Telephone: 879-1758 Address: 1114 Oxmoor Road, Birmingham 35209 Email: lcuenin@dawsonchurch.org Website: www.dawsonchurch.org/ recreation Ages: Grades 1-5, completed Dates: Session I – June 8-12; Session II – June 22-26; Session III– July 13-17 Campers meet and travel by bus each day to Camp Dawson near Calera. Activities include archery, swimming, BB guns, crafts, climbing wall and Bible study.

Summer Camps at the Y (day) Telephone: 801-YMCA Address: 2101 Fourth Ave. N., Birmingham 35203 Website: ymcabham.org Ages: 5-18 Programs are planned around essential elements to help kids grow up caring and responsible.

Staff training includes camp safety, activity planning, CPR, first aid and more, making children’s experiences both safe and fun. There is a low camp staff/child ratio, and no child is denied access due to inability to pay.

For details, visit the website or call your local YMCA.

Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 31

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32 • Thursday, February 26, 2015

schools

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Taking Part in Art OTM Schools Encourage Students with Creative Classes

By Emily Williams While school districts across the United States begin to phase out fine arts requirements, Over the Mountain high schools continue to offer and create fine arts courses.

At Homewood High School, creative writing teacher Amy Marchino uses her course to invite students to find their own voices by putting pen to paper and writing.

Marchino said she is fortunate enough to have full authority about the organization of her course.

“It’s not an English class, so it gets to go a little off-grid as far as the curriculum is concerned,” she said. “It takes (the students) a minute to adjust to the freedom.”

In her classroom, Marchino said, she doesn’t focus solely on short stories or journal entries, and she invites her students to study writing as it is presented in film, advertising and even music.

She said she also invites students to bring their own materials to the lessons, creating an exchange of knowledge between teacher and student.

“It forces kids to have to look at things that ordinarily they would never have seen,” Marchino said.

During this exchange of knowledge, Marchino said, students are exposed to a form of discussion that they may not encounter in stricter courses like math or science.

“It is a chance to expose them to people sitting side-by-side that don’t agree with them,” she said.

Through the freedom they have to create their own stories, her students become more comfortable with their own voice and opinions, Marchino said.

“The class sometimes turns into a ‘life’ class,” she said about her students’ ability to discuss personal issues like bullying through writing.

“If I want them to have a voice, then they need to be heard.”

Mountain Brook High School’s Becton Morgan said she has a few regulations for the curriculum for her photography classes but provides free

activities along with the scheduled coursework.

“It gives them an outlet for expression,” Morgan said. “They are at an age where they are learning who they are.”

Morgan said she sees her students gain self-confidence as they create art through photography. In her own high school experience, she said, her first

er going into a fine arts career, so this is their first real taste of it,” Morgan said. “I want to make sure that they are happy and that they enjoy doing it and it’s not a chore for them.”

Both Marchino and Morgan said they see a sense of confidence in their students that can only be found in the freedom of a fine arts course.

Vestavia Hills High School art

photography course changed her life.

“I can’t imagine where I would be without those art classes when I was in high school, so I try to just instill that in these kids,” Morgan said.

Even if her students don’t continue their photography studies, she said, their sense of accomplishment will stay with them throughout their lives, giving them the knowledge that they have the ability to create a work of art.

“Some of them don’t even consid-

teacher Timarie Fisk said she and her fellow fine arts teachers felt the call to create additional art courses for next year’s curriculum.

Because VHHS does not have an extended school day, students have little time available for the arts, Fisk said. In order to combat the time constraint, Fisk and her colleagues have created a collection of semesterlong arts courses, giving students the option to spend half of their school year on a fine art of their choosing and the next half on required electives.

One of the new courses offered will be “Let’s Get Crafty,” taught by Fisk. The class is geared toward the production of “utilitarian and handmade things,” said Fisk, who uses the popular website Pinterest as an example of what students can expect from the semester-long course.

“This gives (students) the chance to really connect with that rightbrained activity that they don’t normally use in other classes,” she said.

Homewood, Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills High School each offer a wide selection of general and focused fine art courses -- as do many private and public schools in the Over the Mountain area -- keeping fine and performing arts courses available to interested students. ❖

Mountain Brook High School photography students use their cameras to capture a variety of subjects. From top to bottom are photos by Leo Styslinger, Claire Norris and Mary Lee Livingston.

‘It’s not an English class, so it gets to go a little off-grid as far as the curriculum is concerned.

It takes (the students) a minute to adjust to the freedom.’

Homewood High School, creative writing teacher Amy Marchino

Martin Wins Hoover High Good Citizen Award

compass.”

Martin is involved in See You around the Pole and Leader Undivided at Hoover High School. He has lived in India and Israel.

He hopes to double major in religion and international business in college next year, he said.

Shades Cahaba Holds Academic Expo Shades Cahaba Elementary School held its annual Academic Expo Jan. 29.

Students and classes from kindergarten through fifth grade created projects for the event.

The projects could be submitted in the areas of social studies, math, art, science, language arts, technology or the performing arts as long as they answered the question “I wonder why?”

Through this activity, teachers encouraged students to become more proficient in researching and communicating, school officials said.

Photos special to the Journal

Colbry (Cole) Hunter Martin has been selected as the Good Citizen Award winner at Hoover High School.

The award, presented by the Cahawba Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, honors students who show Colbry (Cole) dependability, Hunter Martin service, leadership and patriotism.

In a letter nominating him for the award, his pastor said that Martin’s positive attitude inspires and motivates the best in others.

Cindy Bond, Martin’s college counselor, said he has a “strong moral

Homewood Assistant Superintendent Dr. Kevin Maddox with Shades Cahaba Elementary student Ruby Raines at the school’s annual Academic Expo.

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2715 Culver Rd. 871-0841 Mon. - Sat. 8:30am - 5:30pm Since 1950

Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 33

schools

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Judges were Susan Knox, Homewood School Superintendent Dr. Bill Cleveland, Suzie Watterson, Chase McClain, Gary Grogan, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Kevin Maddox, Jeff Loper and Paul DeMarco.

There were 292 students who participated in the expo, and 78 Gold Scholar ribbons were awarded.

Liberty Park Students Learn about CSI Third grade-enrichment students at Liberty Park Elementary were part of a recent Crime Scene Investigation unit.

Two officers from the Vestavia Hills Police Department visited the school to present real life information on CSI. They also shared special equipment used in solving cases.

During this unit of study, students observed and analyzed a crime scene set up in the classroom.

Students made observations, gathered evidence and examined the evidence using forensic lab tests. Tests

included chromatography, fingerprinting, and testing liquids on a PH scale.

Students combined their evidence to identify the suspects.

34 • Thursday, February 26, 2015

Spring Fashion

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Journal fashion photos by Marsha Perry

Chelsea Cornelius is wearing a lightweight tunic dress, $42, layered over an ivory slip extender, $42, and a pink cardigan with lace details, $45. Paulina Watts is wearing boyfriend jeans, $62, with a sheer yellow paisley print blouse, $39, layered over a white tank with ruffled details, $32, for extra length. Her outfit is accessorized with a lightweight spring scarf, $22. The Pink Tulip, Homewood, 870-7258, Cahaba Village, 637-5390, Patton Creek, 560-0355.

Josie Slaughter is wearing a New Englander rain jacket, shown in pink, available in ten color options and sizes ranging form XS-3XL, $62.95, plus $10 for monograming. The Blue Willow, 968-0909.

Misty Cooper is wearing a short tunic dress by Veronica M, $124, over-the-knee socks, $24, and a fringe vest by Ocean Drive, $79. Beverly Maples is in Beija Flor ankle length jeans, $179, a sheer sleeve blouse by Lauren Vidal, $98, and a long kimono by Veronica M, $82. Her look is complete with a tassel necklace by Meme & Co., $49, and mixed metal earrings by Envy Jewelry, $49. a.k.a Girl Stuff, 802-7735.

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Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 35

fashion

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

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36 • Thursday, February 26, 2015

fashion

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Girl Guide Vestavia Senior Shares Fashion, Lifestyle Tips on Her Own YouTube Channel YouTube sensation Meredith

Edwards harnessed the entrepreneurial opportunities of online video-blogging and created a career through her YouTube channel Southernbelle606.

Edwards, a senior at Vestavia Hills High School, operates a fashion, beauty and lifestyle channel geared towards guiding young women and promoting self-confidence.

“I just want to help inspire girls,” Edwards said. “The majority of my viewers are probably middle schoolaged and up into high school.”

Edwards said she finds her own inspiration in celebrities like Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez but also in seasoned YouTube stars and Alabama’s own Eleventh Gorgeous.

“It’s nice to see other people from Alabama,” said Edwards. “The majority of YouTubers, I’ve noticed, are from California.”

Though Edwards has established her Southernbelle606 brand, she said she plans on expanding her business in the future. When she heads off to college in the fall, she plans on studying social entrepreneurship at Belmont University in Nashville.

“It sounds like it would have

2814 18th St. South Homewood, AL 35209 205.703.8596

something to do with social media, but it doesn’t,” said Edwards, who attended a class that explained the major.

Social entrepreneurship is akin to learning how to run a nonprofit organization such as the Tom’s shoe company and the popular thrift store Goodwill. Edwards said she believes the major will help teach her how to turn her personal brand into a thriving business.

With or without schooling, Edwards is already profiting from Southernbelle606. She has partnered with a company called Style Haul that places ads before her videos and pays her a certain amount of money for every 1,000 views her video receives.

And it’s not only money that she makes; being a member of Style Haul provides a lot of advantages, she said.

“There is a YouTube event coming up in Dallas. It’s called BeautyCon, and I’m going with my mom,” Edwards said. “At lots of YouTube events, Style Haul will have before and after parties where they’ll give away prizes and have photo booths.”

Edwards said she also receives free products from online companies.

In return, she tests the items and features them on her show.

Meredith Edwards, a senior at Vestavia Hills High School, operates a fashion, beauty and lifestyle channel geared towards guiding young women and promoting selfconfidence.

Journal photo by Emily Williams

By Emily Williams

“I’m currently finishing up a video that I’m doing for Proactive,” she said. “They contacted me and wanted me to try out their new system.”

She receives so many packages a week that she has created a “Mail with Mere” segment on her show where she unboxes the products she receives during the week. Over time she has picked out a few favorites.

“One time I got one of those facial brushes,” she said. “Also, the purse I use right now, I got that from a website, and so many people have asked me where it’s from.”

While Edwards enjoys the perks of her job, her favorite thing about Southernbelle606 is not a material object.

“I love just sitting down and being able to talk,” she said. “A lot of people put a lot of time into editing videos, but I like when I’m just sitting and talking and being myself.”

Edward’s personal style 15_Layout has led 1 AKA Girl Stuff OMJ Spring

her to Internet fame with more than 40,000 subscribers and over 1.6 million viewers from around the world tuning in to watch and learn.

“I love monograms, and I talk about them on my show,” she said. “I can always tell people are from other countries when they ask, ‘What is a monogram?’”

Edwards’ mother said she’s proud of her daughter.

“We think it’s such an amazing thing that our child has done this all on her own,” Jill Edwards said. “She is not the same person. It’s amazing, the confidence that has come from all of this.”

As stated in the “about” section of her channel, Edwards hopes to evoke that same sense of self-confidence in her viewers as they watch her videos.

Even though her channel reflects her personal style, she said her best advice to viewers is to “wear what makes you 2/20/15 1:20feel PMbest.”

Page 1

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As the seasons change, Edwards said she is looking forward to lots of color this spring.

“My favorite colors are any kind of pastels,” she said, adding that her favorite designer is Lilly Pulitzer, known for vibrant printed patterns.

Edwards also loves to accessorize her outfits with statement necklaces, she said while wearing a large gold necklace featuring a cluster of pearls in various sizes.

“I also like dainty jewelry. I have a necklace from Kendra Scott right now that I really like,” she said.

As for hair, Edwards said she tends to wear her hair down most of the time and is always searching for the quickest way to achieve the perfect curl.

“I love loose waves,” she said. “I have a few different tutorials on curling your hair. One of my most popular videos was a no-heat hair tutorial where you pin your hair up and let it dry overnight.”

In her free time, when she isn’t posting a video or working her retail job, Edwards said she loves to shop and considers herself a bargain hunter.

“I like the Salvation Army in Homewood,” she said. “That is my favorite one to go to. You can find some good stuff there. I’ve found J. Crew, Patagonia and Lilly Pulitzer.”

Edwards’ biggest plan for the future is her move to Nashville for college, but she said she has a few plans before she leaves.

“I’m planning on doing a meet and greet sometime this summer before I leave for college,” she said.

She met a few of her fans in Atlanta last year and said she hopes to do something similar here in Birmingham.

“It won’t be anything formal, just sitting down and meeting new friends,” she said.

For more about Meredith Edwards, visit www.youtube.com/user/southernbelle606. ❖

weddings & engagements

Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 37

Birmingham. She is the granddaughter of Mrs. Joe Friend and the late Mr. Friend of Birmingham and Mrs. Tim B. Wyatt and the late Mr. Wyatt of Birmingham.

The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Paul Lewis Sr. of Knoxville, Tenn. He is the grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. Hector Slaughter of Alexandria, La., and the late Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Lewis Sr. of New Orleans.

Honorary grandparents were John and Sharyn Slaughter of Nashville.

Escorted by her father, the bride wore a Monique Lhuillier gown of re-embroidered lace and her mother’s veil of silk tulle.

Maid of honor was her sister, Mallory Brynn Wyatt, of Green Bay, Wis. Bridesmaids were Cassie Lewis Hassold, sister of the groom, of Charlotte, N.C.; Katherine Baker, Rebekah Cowart, Katie Hardekopf and Betsy Davis Hill, all of Birmingham; Abby Basinger of Montgomery; Emily Crane of Franklin, Tenn.; Kaki Lupas of Atlanta; Laurin Sanders of

Washington, D.C.; and Kaitlin Barton of Nashville. Flower girls were Lola and Ivey McElroy of Birmingham.

Best man was Michael Paul Lewis Sr., father of the groom. Groomsmen were Zac Wyatt, brother of the bride, and Caleb Babington, both of Birmingham; Tee Hassold, brotherin-law of the groom, of Charlotte, N.C.; Jake Slaughter, cousin of the groom, of Nashville; Ben Dorton, Elliott Jessup, Will McWhorter and Michael Vekasi of Knoxville; and Daane Blocksma and Bennett Brock of Atlanta. Ring bearer was Ben Rodgers of Birmingham.

Program and guest book attendants were Leigh Ellen Black and Claire Lewallyn Rhyne of Birmingham.

Scripture was read by Hannah Yon of Washington, D.C. The Corwin Trio of Nashville provided instrumental music. Worship song was led by Bennett Brock and Kaki Lupas.

After a honeymoon trip to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, the couple lives in Nashville.

Hutto-Rasberry

bachelor’s degree in business. She is a member of Delta Gamma sorority. Miss Hutto is a sales consultant in Birmingham.

The prospective groom is the grandson of Johnnie Lee Corretti and the late Iva Parsons Corretti of Vestavia Hills.

Mr. Rasberry is a 2005 graduate of Vestavia Hills High School and attended Birmingham-Southern College, where he studied business.

Mr. Rasberry is a corporate salesperson in Birmingham.

The wedding will be April 25 in Homewood.

mother. The Dupioni silk gown featured a gathered bodice and a crystal and pearl sash with covered buttons down the back of the cathedrallength train. Her cathedral-length veil belonged to a family friend. She carried a bouquet of English garden roses, freesia, hypericum berries and lemon leaf.

Megan Noel Burcham, sister of the bride, of Martin, Tenn., attended the bride as maid of honor.

Laura Ogard Edwards, sister of the groom, of Boston was the matron of honor. Bridesmaids were Jordan Stewart Aldrich of Madison, Miss.; Katie Allison Compton and Rebecca Keaton Hinds of Memphis, Tenn.; Lesley Williams Anderson of Union City, Tenn.; LeAnna Victoria Bennett of Richland, Miss.; Ashley Christine Bridges of Jackson, Miss.; and Addison Ayers Dower of Nashville, Tenn. Josie Joy Burcham, cousin of the bride, of Russellville was the flower girl.

Kyle Fitz-Stephens Ogard, brother of the groom, of Birmingham was the best man. Groomsmen were Travis Hunter Barrow, Elliott John Cook, Jeremy Hunter Hall, Brandon Daniel Pennington and Eric Dean Sitzler of Birmingham; Vincent John Guerrasio of Winter Garden, Fla.; Stephen Chandler Harris of Nashville; and Anthony Robert LaScalea of Dallas.

Program attendants were Sydney Belle Burcham and Ella Bree Burcham, cousins of the bride of Russellville.

After a wedding trip skiing in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada in February, the couple lives in Birmingham.

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Wyatt-Lewis

Lauren Elizabeth Wyatt and Michael Paul Lewis Jr. were married Nov. 1, 2014 at The Wightman Chapel in Nashville, Tenn. The Rev. Ken Leggett of Christ Presbyterian Church officiated the ceremony.

A reception followed at Ruby of Nashville.

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Tim Wyatt of

Mr. and Mrs. William Porter Hutto Jr. of Homewood announce the engagement of their daughter, Courtney Wright Hutto, to Tucker LeGrande Rasberry, son of Kim Corretti and Robert Randall Rasberry of Vestavia Hills.

The bride-elect is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Porter Hutto of Homewood and Dorothy Krueger Wright of Hoover.

Miss Hutto is a 2007 graduate of Homewood High School and a 2011 graduate of Auburn University, where she received a

Childs-Howard

Mr. and Mrs. Larry Brittain Childs of Birmingham announce the engagement of their daughter, Elizabeth Ann, to The Reverend the Honorable Bernard Nicholas Howard, son of Lord and Lady Michael Howard of Lympne, England.

The bride-elect is the granddaughter of the late Dr. and Mrs. Orian Truss of Birmingham and the late Mr. and Mrs. Don Childs of Tuscaloosa.

Miss Childs is a graduate of Briarwood Christian High School and Wheaton College. She is pursuing a master’s degree in theology at

Burcham-Ogard

Hannah Shea Burcham and Robert Tyler Ogard were married Aug. 23 at Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham. The Reverend Canon Joseph A. Gibbes and Pastor Olan Clyde Burcham, grandfather of the bride, officiated the ceremony. A reception followed at BridgeStreet Gallery & Loft.

The bride is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Timothy Nolan Burcham of Jonesboro, Ark. She is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Akillis Moorman Lawler Jr. of Hamilton and Mr. and Mrs. Olan Clyde Burcham of Phil Campbell.

The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Craig Tyler Ogard of Birmingham. He is the grandson of Mrs. Robert T. Fitz-Stephens and the late Mr. Robert T. Fitz-Stephens of Walnut Creek, Calif., and Mr. and Mrs. Wendell Leroy Ogard of Redding, Calif.

Given in marriage by her father, the bride wore a gown made by her

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Beeson Divinity School, where she is employed as publications editor.

Rev. Howard is the grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Howard of Llanelli, Wales, and Dr. and Mrs. Saville Paul of London.

Rev. Howard is a graduate of Eton College and St. Catherine’s College of Oxford University. He has a theology degree from Cranmer Hall, University of Durham. Rev. Howard is assistant pastor of Christ Church NYC, an Anglican church in New York City.

The wedding is planned for May 23 at the Cathedral Church of the Advent.

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38 • Thursday, February 26, 2015

Barber’s Shop

sports

OTM Athletes Make their Comitments

Confident Freshman Guard Keys Lady Pats

By Lee Davis Hannah Barber doesn’t want to sound cocky, but she’s not surprised that her Homewood Patriots are playing in the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s basketball Class 6A Final Four at the BJCC this week.

“This was our goal from the very beginning,” the freshman point guard said just hours after Homewood defeated Selma 67-46 to win the Central Regional at Alabama State University and punch its ticket to the championship round.

“It’s something we worked for, prepared for, and we’re ready.”

If Barber has the sound of a young woman on a mission, she certainly played like one against the Saints. Barber scored 19 points with three assists in pacing the Patriot victory. The point total included connecting on three of four shots from the three-point arc and nailing eight of 10 free throw attempts. For her efforts, Barber was named tournament MVP. “Beating Selma to win the regional was the highlight of the season so far,” Barber said. “But it’s something we had to do if we are going to reach our goal of winning the state championship.”

When fans look at the Homewood roster, the first thing they might notice – besides the obviously high talent level – is the team’s youth. The Lady Patriots spent most of the season ranked No. 1 in the Class 6A polls despite featuring a starting lineup often made up of four freshmen and a sophomore.

“Our girls are so young that maybe they don’t realize how good they can be if they continue to work hard,” Coach JoVanka Ward said early in the season.

While some might see that situation as a liability, Barber sees it as a positive.

“We’re so young, we don’t really let things we can’t control bother us much,” she said. “We just go out and play basketball. That mindset, along with preparation, is why we have come this far.”

Barber’s across-the-board consistency is another reason for Homewood’s success. As the Lady Patriots entered the Final Four with a 28-4 record, Barber was averaging 12 points, five assists and two rebounds per contest, despite the fact that she and the other starters were often taken out early in the third quarter of one-sided

hoop heaven, From page 40

rival Spain Park’s flashy record and big name stars. The Bucs quietly put together a 25-9 record, which included a late season win over Mountain Brook, and earned a fifth-place rating in the final polls.

And while Spain Park’s season ended with a surprising upset at the hands of unheralded Vestavia in the first round of its area tournament, Hoover peaked late in the year, climaxed by its win over Sparkman in the Northwest finals. Dylan Smith’s clutch three-point shooting was the key factor in the defeat of the Senators.

If the Bucs can stop Robert E. Lee of Montgomery Thursday morning, they could spend Saturday night playing Mountain Brook for the big blue

Homewood victories.

As is the case with many clutch players, Barber is at her best when the stakes are highest.

In the crucial month of February, she averaged nearly 16 points and six assists against Area 9 and Central Regional opponents.

In addition to being MVP of the Central Regional, she was also named top player in the Walker County Christmas Classic and was a member of the All-Area 9 team. Last season, she was one of the few eighth-graders ever to earn a spot on the Over The Mountain Journal’s AllOver the Mountain team.

“I feel like I’m shooting well from the three-point line and getting good penetration on the basket,” she said, assessing her own game. “But the greatest thing we do as a team is play defense. We want to make things really uncomfortable for the team we’re playing. Again, it all goes back to preparation.”

In addition to carrying her share of the load in scoring, Barber’s position at point guard requires her to have the vision and instincts to know where her teammates are at all times on the court.

“They make it easy for me,” she said. “We worked hard in the preseason, and now with the goal of winning the state right in front of us, we want to continue to improve.”

The Lady Patriots won’t be the only representatives of their city playing in the Final Four this week. The Homewood boys’ team is also playing for a Class 6A state championship.

Barber said the success of the boys’ team stirred an enthusiasm for basketball in the school hallways that has carried over to the girls’ team.

“We can feel the excitement now,” she said.

“Early in the season, there were very few students at any of our games until maybe the third or fourth quarter, when they were coming to see the boys play their game after us. Once the students realized how good we are, their section started to be packed for our games, too.”

And while Barber is focused on the task at hand with laser-like intensity, she also senses that her class could be part of something special even past 2015.

“We have our goals for this season, and next year we’ll have goals, too,” she said.

Hannah Barber may be young, but she knows exactly where she wants to go. One state championship trophy may not be enough.

trophy.

This assumes, of course, that the Spartans hold up their end of the deal by defeating Theodore on Thursday afternoon. Mountain Brook’s twoyear hold on the basketball championship of the state’s large-school class is a testament to the power of a teamoriented approach that puts quality defense ahead of everything else.

Many thought the Spartans wouldn’t be the same after the graduation of Patrick Keim, their spunky leader. But while the players may change, McMillan’s system doesn’t seem to notice the difference.

Mountain Brook may not have the most talent at the BJCC this week, but the Spartans have an uncanny knack for winning. Who would dare pick against them?

Meanwhile, there may not be a more basketball-crazed school than Homewood, as both the boys’ and

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Briarwood: Madison Chambers, Softball, Southern Union State; John Hayden, Golf, UAB; Dylan Rizzo, Football, Southeastern; Nelson Salem, Lacrosse, BSC Hoover: Zyggy Arledge, Football, Northern Michigan; R.J. Arnold, Football, Mississippi College; Micah Bagley, Football, Mississippi College; Alandrea Barnett, Track, Alabama; Christian Bell, Football, Alabama; Jonah Brody, Baseball, Roanoke; Kathryn Cather, Volleyball, Ole Miss; Jaysen Cook-Calhoun, Football, Carson Newman; Malcolm Cox, Football, Stillman; Trey Davis, Baseball, Southern Union; Alex Elam, Football, Shorter; Zachery Eldridge, Football, Cumberland; Caleb Gilbert, Baseball, LSU; Jackson Hoesley, Soccer, Spring Hill; Addison Hoven, Volleyball, LSU; Taylor Holmberg, Soccer, UAH; Alex Horn, Football, University of the Cumberlands; Justin Johnson, Football, Mississippi State; Kaila Mathews, Volleyball, Asbury KY; Mary Catherine Nichols, Softball, South Alabama; Kris Parker, Football, Cumberland; Madison Pegouske, Track, UAH; Bradrick Shaw, Football, Wisconsin; Emily Simpson, Golf, Berry; Jada Smith, Basketball, Union - TN; Abby Solomon, Softball, Spring Hill; Jon Michael Stern, Soccer, UAH; Carson Tullo, Track, UAH; Marcus Webb, Football, Valdosta State; Darrell Williams, Football, Auburn; Jeremy Williams, Football, Cumberland; Leonard Wood, Football, Georgia Military College Mountain Brook High School: Maggie Clemmons, Soccer, Vanderbilt; Leigh Haynes, Soccer, Wake Forest; Sarah Grace Linsay, Soccer, Wofford; AJ Peacock, Soccer, Auburn Spain Park High School: Mary Kathryn Bonamy, Softball, Notre Dame; Mason Duke, Baseball, Shelton State; Erik Henze, Soccer, UAB; Trent Harper, Lacrosse, US Air Force Academy; Rondaius Johnson, Football, Mississippi College; Benjamin Lapinski, Lacrosse, Young Harris; Patrick Martin, Golf, Vanderbilt; Mallory McCarty, Softball, Alabama Southern; Colton Nall, Lacrosse, UA Huntsville; Sam Prater, Golf, Troy; A.J. Smiley, Football, Troy; Karilyn White, Softball, West Alabama Vestavia Hills High School: Landon Crowder, Baseball, Darton College; JD Gann, Baseball, Meridian Community College; Caroline Hardy, Softball, Alabama; Kaitlin Hogan, Basketball, BSC; Rebekah Pfitzer, Pole Vault, Samford; Margaret Swain, Soccer, Furman; Watterson Young, Soccer, Louisville

girls’ editions of the Patriots are playing for a shot at the Class 6A title.

Coach Tim Shepler’s Homewood boys’ team needs only a win over No. 1-ranked Robert E. Lee of Huntsville on Wednesday to reach Saturday’s championship game.

Led by the solid Malik Cook, the Patriots put together a 29-6 record and earned a ticket to Birmingham with a win over Paul Bryant in the Central Regional finals. Accurate free throw shooting was a big factor in Homewood’s win over the Titans and symbolizes what might give the underdog Patriots an edge over the Generals: Shepler’s teams always do the basic things, like shooting free throws, better than most of their opponents.

If Homewood wins, it would face the Carver of Montgomery-Woodlawn winner for the championship on Saturday. But even if Homewood falls

Homewood: Adam Stewart, Lipscomb; Alex Hammond, Shelton; Brett White, Marion and William Gibbons, Berry baseball.

Homewood: Ryder Andrews, BSC; Morris Scott, Faulkner; John Yarbrough, Richmond and Lawton Dorough, Jacksonville State football.

Shades Mountain Christian School: Robert “Brock” Belcher, Soccer, Wofford.

Shades Mountain Christian School: Jaylin Kemp, Football, BSC.

William “Jordan” Rockett, Golf, Blue Mountain

short, 2014-15 has been a memorable season for fans of the Red, White and Blue.

The achievements of the Homewood girls have been just as extraordinary as they have compiled a 28-4 record despite the fact that most of the girls on the team are too young to have driver’s licenses. Led by fiery freshman guard Hannah Barber, the Patriots have made no secret of the fact that their goal is a state championship – anything less will be a disappointment.

It’s clear that pressure doesn’t bother this team. Homewood has been ranked No. 1 in Class 6A for most of the season.

But the Patriots must still prove that they can get it done in Alabama’s biggest high school basketball showcase. They were impressive in their Central Regional championship win over Selma, and if they can carry

that momentum into this week, there could be a new blue trophy going to Lakeshore Drive.

Homewood will get a strong test from second-ranked Austin on Wednesday morning and if it survives will face the Blount-Shades Valley winner on Saturday for the big prize.

As young and talented as the Patriots are, they could easily be spending the next few Februarys in the Final Four, regardless of what happens this week.

But regardless of who claims the championship trophies, the biggest winners are the people in this community who support basketball at all levels. The accomplishments of Mountain Brook, Hoover and Homewood – as well as past successes of other Over the Mountain schools – prove that while basketball may play second fiddle some places, that’s definitely not true around here.

Thursday, February 26, 2015 • 39

sports

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

“I’ll miss wrestling for sure,” he said. “But I’ll always know that I won the state championship in my last match. That was a good one to go out on.”

Kevin McClure’s triumphant third shot at glory made him a champion for life.

Class 7A Results

In Class 7A Thompson out-pointed runner-up Vestavia Hills (111) by 29 points.

Championship match results involving Over the Mountain schools:

106-pounds: Gabe Hixenbaugh (Thompson) 27-1 won by decision over Alex Thomas (Oak Mountain) 53-5 (Dec 9-2) 126-pounds: Camden Funkhouser (Prattville) 43-9 won in sudden victory - 1 over Drew Reed (Mountain Brook) 31-3 (SV-1 11-7) 132-pounds: Matthew Paugh (Vestavia Hills) 43-7 won by decision over Michael John Harris (Oak Mountain) 58-6 (Dec 8-4) 145-pounds: Hayden Hill (Vestavia Hills) 39-4 won by decision over

Spain Park’s Kevin McClure, competing in the 220-pound class, claimed wins in all the preliminary matches and faced an old friend and rival, Hoover’s Bret Winters, in the championship final. Journal photo by Marvin Gentry

Title Claim

Spain Park’s McClure Claims Title in Third Try

By Lee Davis Kevin McClure enjoyed much success in his four-year career as a Spain Park wrestler but found the sport’s biggest showcase – the state meet – to be a source of frustration.

As a sophomore in 2013, McClure reached the finals of the 182-pound classification, only to be pinned by highly-regarded Marcus Elkins of Hewitt-Trussville.

The following season, McClure fell just short of the final, finishing a respectable but disappointing third in his weight class. He wasn’t discouraged.

“I wasn’t happy about losing,” McClure said. “But I always hoped for the best. I wanted to win the next one.”

So since McClure is a senior, the 2015 Alabama High School Athletic Association state wrestling tournament at Huntsville’s Von Braun Center would be his last chance to earn a prize he had dreamed of since his elementary school years.

McClure, who was competing in the 220-pound class, claimed wins in all the preliminary matches and faced an old friend and rival, Hoover’s Bret Winters, in the championship final.

“I had mixed emotions as I went into that last match,” McClure said. “I knew it was my final chance to win a state championship, but I had to think of it as just another opportunity. It was important to concentrate on what needed to be done to win. I couldn’t get caught up in the emotional part.”

McClure said he had no special strategy for what was arguably the most important match of his life.

“I’d wrestled Bret before, so I knew all about him just like he knew about me,” he said. “I wanted to go out and concentrate and do my best.”

McClure took control of the match early, building up a 5-0 advantage after two periods. The margin turned out to be enough, as he earned a 7-1 decision to win the Class 7A title.

“It took four years, but I finally got one,” said McClure, who was eager to share credit with others. “This was the culmination of a lot of hard work and more importantly a lot of help from my family, teammates and coaches.

I wouldn’t be a champion without them.”

McClure’s championship win

climaxed a historic season and recordbreaking career. He compiled a 55-3 record in 2014-15 and brought his career win total to 194 – the most victories any Jaguar wrestler has ever achieved.

While McClure is proud of the record, he’s not particularly interested in holding it for very long.

“I hope somebody else comes along and breaks it, because that would be good for wrestling at Spain Park,” he said. “If they do, I’ll be cheering for them.”

A turning point for McClure’s senior season may have come in early January at the Scott Rohrer Invitational Meet at Hoover, where he dominated the 222-pound class by pinning every opponent, including Winters in the final.

“In some ways the Hoover invitational is tougher than the state meet because you face the top wrestlers from all the classifications – not just Class 7A,” McClure said. “The fact I was able to do well at Hoover gave me confidence for the state meet.”

Another example of McClure’s strength came in the Hewitt Invitational in December, where he placed first in the 195-pound division and scored 19.5 team points for Spain Park.

McClure began wrestling in fourth grade, but another sport might easily have taken its place as his favorite.

“I started in football, but I wasn’t very good at it because my eyesight isn’t too good,” he said. “I couldn’t see the ball very well. So I tried wrestling instead.”

The decision paid off. McClure became active with the Alabama Wrestling Club and became an elite competitor by the time he reached middle school.

When he enrolled at Spain Park, his path to 194 victories began in earnest.

“There’s nothing easy about wrestling, and nobody can have success without help,” McClure said. “You have to be pushed by your coaches and teammates, and the lessons that come from it are great. A wrestler gets a work ethic that will be helpful later in life.”

McClure said he will not pursue wrestling in college. Instead, he will attend Auburn University and major in civil engineering.

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Dalton Meadows (Hewitt-Trussville) 39-6 (Dec 10-8) 152-pounds: Brooks Schrimsher (Huntsville) 52-4 won by decision over Austin Gandler (Mountain Brook) 37-6 (Dec 11-4) 160-pounds: Davis Perry (HewittTrussville) 35-2 won by decision over Morgan Paugh (Vestavia Hills) 26-3 (Dec 6-1) 170-pounds: Caden McWhirter (Prattville) 47-0 won by tech fall over George Dazzio (Vestavia Hills) 47-12 (TF-1.5 5:17 (16-1)

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Sports

Cherry, Barber and Collins Journal file photos by Marvin Gentry. xxx photo special to the Journal by Scott Butler

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Title Claim: Spain Park’s McClure Claims Title in Third Try Page 39

Austin Cherry

Lee Davis

Hoop Heaven

Is This the Best Basketball Week in OTM History?

Hannah Barber

Clay Collins If you’re an Over the Mountain basketball fan, enjoy this week.

And that should be the case even if your favorite team isn’t Mountain Brook, Hoover or Homewood.

That’s because as the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Final Four gets underway, our area has rarely had a better opportunity to showcase its basketball talents to the extent we will see in the next few days. And from a journalistic standpoint, it’s really hard to say which team is offering the most compelling story.

Let’s start with Class 7A boys as two area teams reached the Final Four in the AHSAA’s newest classification. Mountain Brook’s victory in the Northeast Regional and Hoover’s win in the Northwest bracket put a pair of Over the Mountain schools in the big-school championship round for the first time since the present format was introduced in 1994.

While many expected Bucky McMillan’s Spartans to make a strong run for an unprecedented third consecutive state championship, the Bucs’ entry is a bit of a surprise for some observers.

Perhaps Hoover’s success during the regular season was overshadowed by crosstown

See hoop heaven, page 38

Luke Touliatos

semifinals

Wednesday 6A Girls: Homewood (28-4) vs Austin (27-4), 9a.m.

6A Boys: Homewood (28-7) vs Lee-Huntsville (25-6), 10:30a.m.

Thursday 7A Boys: Lee-Montgomery (29-3) vs Hoover (25-9), 10:30a.m.

7A Boys: Theodore (28-4) vs Mountain Brook (25-7), 1:30p.m.

finals

saturday 6A Girls, 1p.m.; 6A Boys, 3p.m.

7A Boys, 7p.m.

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