Profile

2012

Profile

Person

of the

Year

James Spann talks about April 27

Note from the editor: As journalists, we cover many types of stories.

There are council meetings, events and disasters. My favorite type of story has always been the profile. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines profile, in this sense, as “a concise biographical sketch.”

In this issue of Profile, we’ve sketched out the lives and stories of people and places from across Shelby County. With some of the stories topping out at more than 2,000 words, they’re not necessarily concise. However, I am more than happy to argue that the words in this issue of Profile are very well spent.

One of our goals for Profile this year was to find stories that haven’t been told - or at least deserve a second look.

We wanted to find people and places that have been overlooked in the past, but whose contributions to this county are just as important as those who regularly appear in the pages of the Shelby County Reporter.

We found volunteers and lunch ladies, storm spotters and foster parents. These are the people who often keep the wheels turning in Shelby County, who make this a wonderful place to work, play, raise children, retire - simply to live. * Chris Penrose is a former sheriff ’s deputy who gave up his badge for a job as an elementary school teacher. * In the Deep South, football is king. But we found a Shelby County teen who is excelling at a different kind of sport. Alex Richmond, who has a degenerative eye disease, has found success playing goalball - which levels the playing field for the visually impaired by having everyone wear blindfolds.

Our person of the year is a face every Shelby County resident will recognize, but his story is one you probably haven’t heard. For the first time, meteorologist James Spann talks about his own experience on April 27, 2011 - and why it has changed the way he approaches his job.

We hope you’ll enjoy reading this issue as much as we enjoyed putting it together.

Profile

Shelby County 2012 Management

Tim Prince Publisher & President

Editorial

Jan Griffey Associate Publisher & Editor Amy Jones Associate Editor Wesley Hallman Sports Editor Katie McDowell Lifestyles Editor Neal Wagner City Editor Christine Boatwright Staff Writer Nicole Loggins Staff Writer Jon Goering Photographer

Marketing

Matthew Allen Marketing and Audience Development Alan Brown Advertising Director Melissa Clark Marketing Consultant Meagan Mims Marketing Consultant Thomas LaBoone Marketing Consultant

Classifieds

Diane Fant Classifieds Sales Consultant Tracy Jones Classifieds Sales Consultant LaShan Johnson Classifieds Sales Consultant

Customer Service

Mary Jo Eskridge Customer Service Annie McGilvray Administrative/Advertising Assistant

Production Daniel Holmes Design Jamie Sparacino Design

Shelby County Newspapers, Inc. P.O. Box 947 Columbiana, AL 35051 205.669.3131

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Profile 2012

inside...

Person of the year

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Man of the Valley 13 Richmond excels in goalball 17 The men behind the warnings 20 The heart of Calera Elementary 22 Montevallo’s influencial leader 24 First lady of Football 26 More than a game 28 Courthouse controversy 30 Shelby County Training School 35 Finding a way out 38 An office warrior 42 A joyful voice 47 130 kids and counting 52 Reaching out 54 52

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Profile 2012

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James Spann person of the year

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Profile 2012

By Katie mcdowell Images by JON GOERING

LEFT: James Spann talks with Elvin Hill third-graders about a Cordova family of 11 who lost their home in the April 27 tornadoes. Spann has been instrumental in helping get a home rebuilt for the family. ABOVE: Spann joined ABC 33/40 in 1996 as the lead anchor.

W

hen James Spann walked into the ABC 33/40 office off Valleydale Road in Hoover on the morning of April 27, 2011, he expected a long day.

The station’s meteorologists had known since at least April 22 – Good Friday – that a strong system would move through the area, and they had issued numerous warnings over the weekend. However, they had expected the brunt of the storms to be felt in the afternoon.

By the time James and meteorologist Jason Simpson went off the air at 9 a.m., the morning storms had killed five people and left more than a quarter of a million without power. Twelve hours later, the death toll would rise to 252 people with Tuscaloosa – the city where James grew up and held his first job in radio – bearing the brunt of the destruction.

That number has haunted James, a Shelby County resident, in the months following the worst natural disaster in the state’s history. Why didn’t more people seek cover? With an average lead time of 25 minutes, most had more than enough time. Did they not hear the warnings? Did they choose to ignore them? Did they not have a safe place to hide?

But the question that has tormented James most is, “How can he prevent it from happening again?” In the months following the tornadoes, he has made it his mission to discover the problems with the warning system and to fix it.

“THE CHILD OF THE SUPER OUTBREAK” James had a rocky childhood. Born in Huntsville in 1956, he lived in Greenville through the fourth grade. After his father, who sold lumber, abandoned James and his mother, they relocated to Tuscaloosa. His mother enrolled at the University of Alabama and majored in education. She later supported her son by teaching high school English.

“I’m emotionally tied to Tuscaloosa, as a lot of people are, I guess,” James said. “When we moved there, there were some wonderful people who helped us and took us in. I was a hurting child. It was just a very special place.”

He discovered three of the great loves of his life in Tuscaloosa: ham radio, weather reporting and his wife, Karen. He received his first amateur radio license at the age of 14.

That license came in use on May 27, 1973, when a storm outbreak hit the state. It’s now known as the “Brent tornado” because that’s where an F4 tornado landed that killed five people and nearly wiped the town off the map.

James arrived in the town hours after the tornado struck and spent days there volunteering as a radio operator.

“I was maybe one of the first ones in Brent from the outside world and I was shocked,” James said. “I was shocked, the darkness, the suffering, the strange odor that to this day, I don’t know what it is. The first responders called it the scent of death.”

That experience cemented his love of radio operating and the next year, James would find an inventive way to supplement his radio experience. He was the leader of a group of students that founded a campus radio station, WBBR, at Tuscaloosa High School. In a 1974 interview with WCFT, which can be viewed on You Tube, a 17-year-old James said – in a thick, Southern accent his viewers won’t recognize – that the station would play “mostly rock-n-roll music” and would reach only to the parking lot of the campus.

Soon after that, he was hired as a disc jockey for WTBC-AM, a local radio station that was located across from Forest Lake on 15th Street in Tuscaloosa. He would work there for five years, even after he enrolled at the University of Alabama as an electrical engineering student. He still remembers the first song he played on his first shift on a November night in 1973: “Jessica” by the Allman Brothers.

Five months later, James would find himself back in a weather war zone. When the April 27, 1974 super outbreak occurred, James offered his services again as a radio volunteer.

“I saw things that will stick with me forever,” he said. “I was an 18-year-old child. They let me off school for a few days to volunteer and they sent me to Jasper … For whatever

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reason, they put me and my radio gear in the emergency department and I’ve never talked about it. I have not talked to anybody.

“A lot of the stuff (last) year has kind of brought some of that back,” he added.

“The grotesque nature of those wounds, I lost my innocence. I tell people I’m the child of the super outbreak and I really am.”

THE MAKING OF A WEATHER MAN By this point, James was hooked on weather broadcasting, although he did not have any formal training at the time. His first weather job was in the summer of 1978 when he was hired by WCFT in Tuscaloosa. After college, he took a series of increasingly high-profile, on-air jobs starting at WSFA in Montgomery, where he was hired as a sports broadcaster.

James resigned from that job and returned to radio for a brief stint in 1979. He was soon offered the position – without applying for it – of the main weather anchor at Birmingham’s WAPI-TV. “I was 23 years old and had no business being on television,” James said. “To this day, I don’t know why they hired me.”

He stayed with WAPI for five years and met his wife, Karen O’Mary, during this time. Karen was an Army brat who spent her childhood traveling across the country with her family. They had settled in Tuscaloosa when her father became a professor of military science at the University of Alabama.

They were familiar with each other, but didn’t begin dating until 1981. Karen’s sorority sister needed a judge to help select the university’s homecoming queen.

Karen volunteered James and she called him to see if he was willing. He agreed to it, but backed out the next day because his contract wouldn’t allow it.

He offered to take her to dinner in Birmingham to make it up to her.

“We went to dinner and then three months later we were engaged and three

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TOP: James Spann reads through fan mail in his office at ABC 33/40 in Hoover.

ABOVE: James often receives letters from the schoolchildren he visits during the year. RIGHT: James Spann interacts with the Elvin Hill third-graders following his presentation on Dec. 5.

Profile 2012

“I don’t know a lot, but I know this state pretty well.” months after that we were married,” Karen said.

During the first years of their marriage, Karen quickly learned the ropes of a wife of a television weather anchor. James has always worked long hours and has kept the same schedule for years. On week days, he awakes at 4:52 a.m. and often works until midnight, seeing his family for an hour or two in the morning and the evening.

During severe weather events, he would often stay away for days, like the time a blizzard hit Birmingham soon after they were married and James was unable to leave the office because of the snow and ice.

“I remember looking up and he was walking down the stairs with suitcases,” she recalled. “That’s when I learned he would be gone for days.”

In 1984, Karen was almost full term with their first child when James came home with news on a Friday, the day before her birthday. He had been transferred to sister station KDFW in Dallas.

The transfer was a good move for James from a career standpoint. Dallas was one of the country’s largest markets and he would be the lead weather anchor. The only problem was he was expected to start in three days.

“I spent my birthday walking the floor,” Karen recalled. “That sort of threw me into early labor and I had our son on Saturday.”

James flew out on Sunday and every weekend he flew to Birmingham at the company’s expense to visit his wife and newborn son, J.P. They joined him in Dallas two months later.

The long hours continued in Dallas, but James’ career flourished. He won the Katy Award for the Best Weathercaster in Dallas/Fort Worth from the Dallas Press Club and worked with some of the greats in weather forecasting.

ALABAMA BECKONS The Spanns chose to return to Alabama after two years and James joined current colleague Dave Baird and Tom Stipe to open and run a radio station in Demopolis.

After three years, television beckoned again. This time, it was WBRC, Channel 6, in Birmingham, calling him back to the weather desk.

Channel 6 was his final stop before his current job. After WBRC switched affiliation from NBC to Fox, Spann joined about two dozen colleagues to form ABC 33/40 in 1996.

ABC 33/40 is owned by the Albritton family and is one of the last family-owned stations in the world. It was here that James developed the features that he’s best known for – long-form tornado coverage, weather tours and webcasts.

“I loved what they were doing and loved the (Albritton) family,” he said. “They

Profile 2012

gave me the freedom to be me for the first time. This long-form weather coverage that we do never started until this station began in ‘96. They gave me full control of the weather operation.”

The Spanns moved around a few times after returning to Alabama, but eventually settled in the Greystone area of Shelby County. Their second son, Ryan, was born in 1997, the year after ABC 33/40 was formed.

The Spanns settled into a routine that they would keep over the years. James continued his hectic work schedule, but made time to see his family in the morning and evening for meals. He also coached Ryan’s baseball team until 2009.

They became involved in the community. They were members of Hunter Street Baptist Church for years, but recently switched to Double Oak Community Church in Mt Laurel, where James leads the children’s worship. James is also president of the board of Trinity Medical Center.

James gives group presentations about the weather every single day. He mostly visits schools, although he also speaks at luncheons and meetings. Traveling to and from these presentations has given him an intimate knowledge of the state. He never takes the same route to a school or business, which helps him during tornado warnings.

“Going to these schools over 32-33 years has given me a unique understanding of the geography, the people and the culture of the state,” he said. “I don’t know a lot, but I know this state pretty well … When you’re on television, if you stand there and tell somebody a tornado is 14 miles south of Bessemer, they don’t know where that is. But you tell them it’s at Jim’s Pit Barbecue, they know where that is.”

It was during this time, especially those extended tornado warnings, that James became the face of weather forecasting in central Alabama. His habits and mannerisms have become famous over time. He is well-known for his suspenders, which he says he began wearing after he refused to buy new pants after gaining and losing weight in his late 30s.

Viewers also joke that they can judge the severity of a storm based on James’ appearance. He’ll shed his jacket and roll up his shirt sleeves when the weather gets bad. (What they don’t know is he usually isn’t wearing shoes, either.)

“We are in a small studio and it gets hot in there,” he explains. “It’s not a feature of my broadcast that’s supposed to signal death-producing tornadoes.”

James has been an early adopter of new technology. He credits that early start with his large followings on Facebook, almost 70,000 followers, and Twitter, 36,696 followers. He also produces regular webcasts and appears on the Rick and Bubba show each morning during the week.

“To do this job right, you don’t sleep a lot,” he said. “You’ve got to use a multitude

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the inaugural

red tie James Spann at ABC 33/40 in Hoover. of platforms … I saw these platforms early on as a great way to reach people who don’t watch television – young people.”

He credits the use of social media with helping save lives of young people on April 27.

APRIL 27,2011 By the time the first wave of tornadoes swept through Alabama on the morning of April 27, the ABC 33/40 newsroom was in shock. They had suffered a significant infrastructure hit with microwave paths and cameras down across the state.

They had also been unprepared for the strength of the storms that morning.

While their short-term warnings were good, James didn’t mention the possibility of severe tornadoes on his broadcast the night before.

“That is one of our greatest failures of that day and I’ve challenged our researchers to find out why the typical schemes we used failed us that day, the computer models and stuff,” he said. “We didn’t know we were going to have a morning batch of storms that would be that significant. The morning storms had a greater impact here than the inland effect of Katrina and Ivan, the hurricanes. We didn’t have that many power outages; we didn’t have that many deaths.”

Once the morning storms passed through the area, there was about a four-hour lull before the next tornado.

That was the tornado that landed in Cullman. When the station’s reporters called the local hospital, they discovered there hadn’t been any fatalities.

“We’re thinking OK, maybe we’ll get through this OK and within an hour it was like bullets from hell. It was horrible,” he said.

That evening brought what James would call his “worst moment on-air” as he watched a massive EF-4 tornado rip through Tuscaloosa, decimating huge sections of the city that he loved.

THE AFTERMATH James said he is still dealing with the aftermath of that day. What troubles him most is that 252 people died in Alabama. Some of the tornadoes were large enough and destructive enough there was nothing for people to do. However, he felt that in other cases, people had plenty of time to seek shelter. He thought the death toll should have been 30.

“I still don’t know why 252 people died,” he said. “There’s something wrong and all of my energy is focused on finding out what went wrong and fixing it.”

For months, he had trouble talking

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about the tornadoes. He declined interviews and public appearances about the event and even struggled to talk about it to his wife until he finally opened up to her about it.

“He’s really obsessed with this,” Karen said. “I think it’s just complicated.

He keeps asking ‘What went right, but what wrong? How can we do better?’

It haunts him.”

He’s focused on that final question – how can we do better. On June 8, 2011, he wrote a blog entry on his website detailing the problems he thought happened on April 27. He focused on the high number of false alarm tornado warnings and the public’s reliance on sirens to know when to take cover.

The essay attracted attention – he even had a link on The Drudge Report – and some meteorologists disagreed with his ideas. However, the essay served its purpose. It began a dialogue among weather professionals about the practices of the business and whether they can be improved.

“There were probably some people who took offense to it, but in my old age, I don’t have a lot of time left and I want this stuff fixed,” he said. “Too many people in this state have died and we’ve got to fix it.”

In October, a convention of operational meteorologists was held in Birmingham. They left with a solid idea of finding out what went wrong on April 27 and why so many people died.

The group has engaged social scientists from the University of Alabama and Mississippi State University to conduct a study to find out how people reacted to the storm. They are questioning people of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds and James hopes the study will help create new warnings and safety practices.

If there’s any other good that comes out of the April 27 disaster, it’s that there may be a new “child of the super outbreak.” Spann believes there will be a few in this generation of students that are as awed by weather, in all of its beautiful and destructive power, as he was growing up in Tuscaloosa.

“What’s cool is there’s going to be a lot of children from this year’s outbreak that will go on to be scientists, meteorologists, researchers,” he said.

“They’re the best ones, the best ones that come out of these things. I can’t wait to see the crop of kids that get into science because of this.”

But Alabama’s favorite suspendered weatherman isn’t going anywhere for a while. He plans to stay on the air for at least another 10 years and his wife believes he’ll stay on the radio after that.

“I know God has put him in this job for a reason,” she said. “I think he is a superhero or something.”

Affair

May 5, 2012 7pm

Inverness Country Club • Hoover Join us as we honor our Shelby County heroes, those who have gone above and beyond to serve victims of local disasters.

Enjoy live entertainment, food and drinks, all for a good cause...and don’t forget to wear your red tie or red shoes!

For information, call (205) 987-2792, or email herbert.orise@redcrossal.org.

alabamaredcross.org • 205.987.2792

You Can Get This All in One Place!

Profile 2012

Man of the

Valley By amy jones

C

Images by JON GOERING

hris Penrose had seen all he needed to see of the worst side of life.

After years away in Nashville, the Birmingham native was finally back home in late 2006. His new job with the Jefferson County Sheriff ’s Department had provided him with a path, one for which he was grateful.

However, after months of work at the Jefferson County Jail booking countless

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Valley Intermediate School teacher Chris Penrose shows off his Indian outfit before the start of the International Bread Festival parade.

young men — some as young as 16 — who had thrown their lives away by committing violent crimes such as rape, murder or robbery, Penrose knew law enforcement wasn’t for him. He didn’t want to be an onlooker for these lives after they were ruined; rather, he wanted to help be a guide, leading young people down the right path.

“I quickly knew I wanted to go back to school,” Penrose said.

“It sounds negative, but it’s not. It’s a great job. My father has been a police officer for 28 years. It’s just not where my heart was.”

Penrose’s heart was in education. After he graduated from the sheriff ’s academy, he decided to stay at the jail rather than work on patrol. He worked evening shifts

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so he could take elementary education classes at UAB starting in summer 2007.

Finally, in September 2009, he completed his classes and took a leave of absence so he could carry out his required internship. He was placed at Valley Intermediate. After a semester’s internship, Penrose resigned from the Jefferson County Sheriff ’s Office in December 2009.

“Sheriff (Mike) Hale quickly approved. Everyone was very supportive. I think they kind of knew I wasn’t coming back,” he said. “I still have a lot of people I still contact. You expect that out of any job where it’s men bonding with men under stress.”

But his three years with the sheriff ’s department had opened his eyes to what could be in store for some of his future students.

“With law enforcement, you see the worst in people all the time, in the worst places, like prison,” Penrose said. “Here with education, I believe I have a better chance of keeping kids out of that. Law enforcement is very reactive; I believe this job is proactive.”

After his internship, he told his superiors at Valley Intermediate he knew he belonged there.

“I said, ‘Whatever it takes, whatever you can give me, I want to be here in this building,’” he said.

He substitute taught, took over for a teacher on maternity leave and was soon hired at Valley Intermediate for the fall of 2010. More than a year later, Penrose had never taught at another school.

A ROLE MODEL At the Valley Intermediate Bread Festival, a day of learning about various cultures around the world, Penrose keeps one eye on a presentation on the

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Philippines and the other eye on his fifth-grade students.

Penrose, whose class worked on a presentation about India in homage to a student with native Indian grandparents, is dressed in a brightly colored kurta, a long shirt commonly seen in India. His outfit is complete with white pants and dark shoes.

In fact, Penrose’s kurta is so long many of the students mistake it for a dress.

While Penrose’s students file into another classroom to see a presentation on Venezuela, another boy runs up and asks about his outfit. With the air of one who is repeating himself for the 100th time, Penrose says, “It’s not a dress, it’s a kurta.”

Despite the silly jokes and hyperactive kids, Penrose is serious about his place in the lives of his students — especially the boys. His time spent watching boys just a little older waste their lives in prison ensures his attention to his students and their choices.

“Never underestimate people’s potential, whether it’s good or bad. Whenever I think back on my old job, it really encourages me to push these boys to make better choices. I say, ‘Think about how your actions will impact your future,” he said. “My parents separated when I was 4 years old, but thankfully, my dad was involved. We’re raising multiple generations of men who don’t know how to be men because they never had one to look up to.”

Dana Payne, the principal at Valley Intermediate, said Penrose inspires tremendous respect, almost reverence, in his students.

“We’re always lacking male positive role models, especially in early elementary education, so to have someone who has that positive integrity is just incredible for us,” Payne said. “I think he’s such a novelty that it’s almost like he’s a superhero.

It’s almost an awe in their eyes. It’s a parallel with a professional athlete, that kind of awe, for the kids.”

What the kids may not realize, however, is that they shape Penrose’s world just

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Valley Intermediate School teacher Chris Penrose snaps a photo of his class before the start of the International Bread Festival parade.

as much as he influences theirs.

“Being in law enforcement can negatively affect how you view life. This job is the exact opposite,” Penrose said. “My wife says this all the time: ‘The Chris I started dating is different than the Chris I’m married to now.’ This job changes everything. These kids change everything.”

HIS OTHER HALF Penrose’s wife, Kimberly, doesn’t just understand him from a wife’s perspective.

She’s also a colleague.

Kimberly Penrose is an educator — a kindergarten teacher at Calera Elementary — and the two met in education classes at UAB. She understands the pressures on her husband and the high expectations he places on himself.

“As a female, some students see me as the mother role or even a big sister,” Kimberly Penrose said. “For Chris, having that role as a father or a big brother has a huge impact, especially for children with families where the father is absent.

When students do not have the opportunities to learn behavior and discipline from a male student, it shakes the balance off their ideas of solid family values, treatment of others and respect towards women.”

She said her husband is special because he is always willing to work extra hard and put in the time necessary to change a child’s life.

“As a second-year teacher, Chris has perseverance like no other,” she said. “He will go above and beyond to help one student, because he knows with just one he can make a huge difference.”

The couple’s shared bond through education has only helped their relationship, Kimberly Penrose said.

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“There is no limit to what we learn from each other’s experiences, and we are lucky to be able to share these experiences every day,” she said. “I’m a lucky girl to be loved by a teacher.”

NO LOOKING BACK In a short time of teaching, Penrose has already seen the effect he can have on a child.

Last year as a first-year educator teaching fourth grade, he had a student who had shown aggressive tendencies from kindergarten through third grade. This student had been physically aggressive toward other students, had been sent to the office numerous times and even suspended.

Under Penrose’s watch, however, the student showed a huge turnaround in his fourth grade year. He wasn’t physically aggressive, did not make one trip to the office and made the A/B honor roll. Seeing these concrete examples of his influence keeps Penrose working hard.

“If I do what I think is right in here, maybe it’ll rub off on them, then maybe they’ll do what they think is right down the road,” Penrose said.

Payne said that attitude and ability to care for children make Penrose an exceptional teacher.

“You can teach a teacher how to teach, but you can’t teach them to have a heart for children,” Payne said. “It is so apparent he has the biggest heart for kids.”

Penrose doesn’t plan on going anywhere.

“My last job — no more of that stuff,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand, sitting behind his desk. “This is where I want to be.”

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Profile 2012

Richmond excels in goalball By brad gaskins

Images by JON GOERING

A

lex Richmond loved playing sports as a child.

Flag football, soccer, basketball, baseball - he loved them all.

At age 7, though, his vision problems could no longer be ignored. He briefly tried prescription glasses until a doctor diagnosed the real problem: Cone-rod Dystrophy, a retinal degenerative disease that causes the cones and rods in the retina to deteriorate. It often leads to blindness.

“It was actually just a slow deterioration from when I was born,” said Alex, now a 15-yearold sophomore at Oak Mountain High School. “I’ve just dealt with it and not actually known that I don’t actually see as well as you do.”

He continued playing the sports he loved for as long as his vision would allow.

In basketball and football, Alex couldn’t catch an unexpected pass. Other players had to tell him the ball was coming his way.

In soccer, he always played on the right side of his field because he could see better out of his left eye.

In baseball, within a couple years of the diagnosis, he couldn’t see the pitches coming at all when he stood in the batter’s box.

Just when it looked as though his athletic days were finished, Alex discovered goalball, a sport designed for the visually impaired.

Instead of seeing the ball, players hear the ball through metal bells inside it. Reaction is based on sound, not sight.

In goalball, participants compete in teams of three, trying to throw a ball into the opponents’ goal. Teams alternate throwing or rolling the ball from one end of the playing area to the other. Players use the sound of the bells inside the ball to determine the position and movement of the ball. They cannot see anything, because they wear blindfolds.

Alex started playing goalball at age 10. He learned from one of the best in the sport.

Jen Armbruster, a five-time Paralympian regarded as one of the greatest goalball players in the world, taught him how to play the sport at the Lakeshore Foundation. Alex still remembers some advice Armbruster gave him years ago.

“A visually impaired kid can stop the bleeding just as fast as a kid who isn’t visually impaired,” Alex recalled his former coach saying.

It took a while for Alex to adjust to wearing the blindfold for goalball.

“It was very interesting when I first started playing,” he said. “I did like it from the start, and started loving it more.”

Alex’s team finished third at last year’s Florida National High

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ABOVE: Alex Richmond plays goalball in the fall of 2011. Richmond is wearing a blindfold, which all players are required to wear during the game.

School Championships. Made up mostly of 12- and 13-year-olds, Alex’s team competed against teams made up mostly of 17-19 year olds. Alex’s team was made up of players from Alabama.

“Even though it was just third, we kind of felt good about it,” Alex said. “It was third out of about 15 to 20 teams.”

In September 2011, Alex went to the International Paralympics Youth Camp in the Netherlands.

The athletes stayed a half-hour outside of Amsterdam and participated in a slew of cultural activities, from touring cities to interacting with athletes of various backgrounds.

“That was awesome,” Alex said. “It was an all-expenses paid trip to the Netherlands.”

In addition to goalball, Alex also excels in cycling, swimming and track and field.

He made the All-American Paralympic High School team for the long jump in 2010 and the shot put in 2011.

He also competes with the Oak Mountain High School track and field team.

Shot put is his strongest event, followed by the discus throw and sprints.

Paralympic sports have allowed Alex to travel across the country. He’s competed in Arizona, Oregon, Florida, Texas, Virginia, Colorado, Missouri and Illinois. The more he travels, the more he appreciates the activities and facilities at Lakeshore.

“Traveling around and going to other places, you kind of realize that ‘wow, everybody else doesn’t have a place they can just go to and do all these different sports and things like that,’” he said. “It’s real awesome for everybody in Alabama.

I know people who drive two hours to come to Lakeshore.”

Richard Richmond, Alex’s dad, has seen first-hand the benefits of all the travel.

“He’s always been a shy, homebody-type person,” Richard said. “But over time, as he goes to these different meets, he’s enjoying meeting all these different people. He’s blossomed more.”

Still, Richard initially worried when his son was diagnosed.

“As a parent, you’re like ‘oh man, my son!’ It really strikes you,” Richard said.

“You think of all the things you can’t do. All these thoughts go through your head

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and you get this down feeling. But then, we look back, and you say, you know, if it wasn’t for your visual impairment, he wouldn’t have gotten to do all the travels and have all the opportunities he has had.”

Richard caught some flak from some parents of other players in a local flag football league. He coached his son’s team, even though Alex couldn’t see the ball until it was a split-second from smashing into his face. Isn’t it dangerous, other parents would ask, for a visually impaired kid to play flag football?

Alex continued playing flag football until he reached the league’s age limit of 12 years old. He once got an interception in a game, and his dad couldn’t have been prouder.

“It was a very, very special time for me to be able to coach him and watch him achieve,” Richard said.

Alex also excels in the classroom. He’s a straight-A student, enjoys math and science and often tutors his older brother in math.

His mom, Cindy Richmond, said the Shelby County School System has been a blessing for her son.

“The Shelby County School System has done every accommodation that we have ever asked,” Cindy said. “All the teachers are very accommodating. That is not true at other places across the state. To have a vision impaired child, Shelby County is the place to be. We’ve been blessed with everything they have helped us with.”

Cindy enjoys watching her son succeed, despite what some might perceive as limitations.

“As parents, we’re just proud of what he has done,” she said. “We don’t let the vision impairment stop him.

This summer, Alex plans to conquer yet another mountain in his life - literally.

He’s traveling to Peru for a highlands expedition led by a renowned visually impaired hiker. Like with everything else in his life, Alex isn’t going to let his impairment stop him.”

“Don’t be ashamed of it,” he said. “Be fine telling people that you’re visually impaired. Just do what you want to do, don’t let people say, ‘oh, no, you’re doing that - you’re visually impaired.’”

Profile 2012

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Profile 2012

19

The men behind the warnings

R

ussell Thomas remembers the storm like it was yesterday.

As a student at the University of Alabama in 2000, Thomas was heavily involved in the amateur radio community, but had not put much thought into using his hobby to relay severe weather

information.

But when an EF-4 tornado began tearing through the city on Dec. 16, 2000, everything changed.

“When that storm came through, I had no experience storm spotting, but I did have my amateur radio license,” Thomas said.

“The TV had gone out, but I knew what radio frequencies to tune into to pick up the local amateur radio clubs.

“After listening to them talk about where the damage was and where the tornado was heading, I felt I was in a pretty good location,” Thomas said. “The folks in my apartment complex weren’t sure what was going on, so I let them know what I heard. That was a good feeling.”

Thomas’ part of town was spared the most violent parts of the storm, but it could have easily been much worse. In other parts of Tuscaloosa County, 11 people died in the same tornado outbreak.

After getting a firsthand taste of the sometimes high-stress, adrenaline-filled world of gathering and relaying information in a severe weather event, Thomas was hooked. After taking storm spotter training classes with the National Weather Service, Thomas moved to Shelby County and began networking with other amateur radio enthusiasts and severe weather spotters.

Shortly after Thomas moved to Chelsea, he became involved in the ALERT amateur radio organization, which has been involved with the National Weather Service in Calera since 1996.

Through ALERT, local storm spotters and amateur radio operators spring into action during a significant severe weather event and help NWS meteorologists get a better idea of what is happening in the communities they are covering.

For NWS Warning Coordination Meteorologist John DeBlock, the information gathered by ALERT is as crucial to the Weather Service as the most expensive high-end radar equipment.

“When we receive signs of severe weather, we really need

something to support our radar images,” DeBlock said. “The simple fact is that we don’t know what is happening on the ground below our radar images. We need ground truth.

“We are trained on interpreting radar signals, but we need realtime verification,” DeBlock said.

ABC 33/40 meteorologist James Spann also depends on reports of certified storm spotters when he spends sometimes several consecutive hours on-air providing coverage of tornado outbreaks in central Alabama.

During tornado outbreaks, Spann’s firsthand knowledge of the event usually is confined to his studio in the 33/40 headquarters off Valleydale Road in Hoover. As a result, firsthand accounts from spotters near the storm, or ground truth, is important, he said.

“Ground truth from trained spotters is critical. The radar beam travels in a straight line, so due to the curvature of the Earth, the beam gets higher and higher as it moves away from the radar antenna,” Spann said. “We might see intense rotation a few thousand feet off the ground, but we don’t know if a tornado is down until we hear from a spotter, or see their live video stream.”

For Spann, a Hoover resident who, along with former 33/40 meteorologist John Oldshue, won an Emmy Award for their coverage of the Dec. 16, 2000, Tuscaloosa tornado, the impact of accurate storm spotter reports hit home during the deadly April 27, 2011 outbreak.

By neal wagner Image by JON GOERING

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Profile 2012

“I think John Oldshue’s live stream of the Tuscaloosa tornado April 27 saved many lives,” Spann said. “People will respond when they actually see a large tornado on TV, as opposed to just radar images.”

DeBlock said he and other meteorologists at the NWS walk a thin line when deciding when to issue severe weather warnings, and like to base as many warnings as possible off eyewitness accounts from storm spotters.

“We don’t want to warn people too much, because the warnings start to lose impact. But we do want to let them know when something major is happening,” DeBlock said. “If we get feedback from trained storm spotters, it sets the tone for all other storms that day.

“If we get multiple reports of tornadoes on the ground, we calibrate the words we use when issuing a warning,” DeBlock added.

“If we can include that a storm spotter saw a tornado on the ground, it definitely adds emphasis to that warning.”

Montevallo resident Ron Arant frequently is the source of eyewitness storm accounts in Shelby and its surrounding counties.

Because he travels frequently for his job with a cellular phone company, Arant often finds himself in the middle of severe weather situations.

“I have helped to relay a lot of information lately because I’ve been in the field so much for work,” Arant said. “I am probably in the field at least 70 or 75 percent of the time.”

When he suspects a severe weather outbreak, Arant typically keeps his eyes toward the sky and is ever-watchful for telltale signs of a storm, such as hail or damage.

“The thing is, you can be a storm spotter anywhere you are. You just have to know what to look for and who to call when you see it,”

Profile 2012

Arant said. “If you call and tell the weather service that you have spotted hail, that may be the last piece of information they need to issue a warning.”

Over the years, Arant and the other local storm spotters have honed their skills by attending classes held by NWS meteorologists such as DeBlock.

During the classes, DeBlock trains amateur and seasoned storm spotters on what to look for when the skies turn angry. But DeBlock said many are surprised to learn storm spotting differs greatly from the storm chasing frequently depicted on television.

“Storm spotting is not storm chasing. All of my classes focus on personal safety first,” DeBlock said.

Many popular storm shows and movies typically depict storm chasers in the American Midwest, where many areas are sparsely populated and flat.

In states such as Kansas and Oklahoma, storm chasers are able to see a tornado approaching for many miles. Not so in Alabama, DeBlock said.

“We challenge people to not chase tornadoes. It’s not a good idea here in Central Alabama,” DeBlock said, noting the high visibility of the April 27, 2011 tornadoes is uncommon in the South. “The terrain around here is very hilly, and the tornadoes are often rain-wrapped and difficult to see.

“You could come over a mountain and be right in the middle of a tornado before you even figured out what was going on,” DeBlock said. “I’d rather have a spotter call and say ‘I just got out of my basement. Here’s what I witnessed,’ than have to read about them getting injured or killed.”

21

Liz theSwindle “heart” of Calera Elementary W

hen Liz Swindle thought of lunchroom ladies, she thought of twisted hairnets and sour attitudes, but when she donned a hairnet of her own at Calera Elementary School, she learned the truth behind the school lunchroom counter.

“Really, it did take me to get to this field to understand. We ain’t bad people. We’re just normal, everyday people. We take our hairnets off at night,” she said, laughing.

Swindle spent many years as a receptionist at a doctor’s office, and then as a unit secretary at a hospital. She left her desk job behind, though, when she lost something precious.

“I had two sons to get killed,” she said. “That’s part of the reason why I made the big career change because I lost them and lost out on a lot of their lives because of working.

“I just want you to understand exactly why I made this career change. The time with children, as much time as you can spend with your children, you do it, because those are important years,” she added. “You don’t know how long you have with them.”

Swindle lost two of her three sons in 1994. One of her sons was killed in a drive-by shooting near

Calera Elementary School while playing basketball, and her oldest son passed away five months later.

“I guess that’s why I love these kids so much,” she said. “They can come up with stuff that is just precious. Time with your children is important.

Swindle began her culinary career at Oak Mountain High School for one year while she lived in Calera. As a Clanton native, however, she returned to her hometown and transferred to Calera Elementary 11 years ago to make the commute shorter.

“I was used to the high school kids, but man, when I got here and started with the elementary kids, I loved it,” she said. “They’re just so open, still wide open to learning, you know.”

Swindle had numerous examples of the children’s frankness when they pass through her lunch line.

“This year, for example, a little girl was going through the line. This is her first time doing this exchange, and she had chocolate milk on her tray.

She said, ‘Did you drink a lot of chocolate milk when you were growing up, or did God make you that way?’ I said, ‘God made me that way.’ I mean, you cannot buy this,” Swindle said, laughing.

Linda Chesler, Calera Elementary’s principal, said the Children Nutrition Program workers are integral to the school.

“They touch every child every day,” she said.

“Because of that, it’s really important to get to know the children, and they do a fantastic job of doing that. By now, they can call almost every child by name because they become important. They’re like the heart of our school.”

Instead of the generic term of “lunch lady,” the lunchroom workers now hold the title of Child Nutrition Program workers or “CNPs.” Swindle recalled a trip to Walmart when one of the elementary school students saw her and yelled, “Miss Liz! That’s my lunchroom lady,” to Swindle.

“We went to this big name change a few years ago. We’re not lunchroom ladies. We are CNP workers. I don’t care what we’re called. CNP – Child Nutrition Program Worker. I don’t care what you call yourself, you get in Walmart, you are a lunchroom lady!” Swindle said, laughing.

Chesler said Swindle makes an effort to form a relationship with every child who comes through the lunch line.

“She (Swindle) is just a sweetheart. And what she does literally is she forms a relationship with each child,” Chesler said. “That lasts — they’ll come from middle school and high school to say hello to Miss Liz. She is a sweetheart.”

Tina Minor has been a school counselor at CES

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22

Profile 2012

By Christine boatwright Images by JON GOERING

for eight years, and said the lunchroom staff makes certain the children eat the correct foods.

“She (Swindle), as well as all the CNP staff, is very phenomenal at making sure children with allergies, peanuts or something like that (eat the correct foods). They check to see the children have food from the various food groups, a balanced lunch, not just cheese and apples,” Minor said, laughing.

Minor said Swindle “cuts up” with the children in her lunch line.

“She’s very interactive with the students here,” Minor said. “When they come on her line, she cuts up with them and puts a smile on their face. When she notices they don’t have that smile, she’ll ask what’s wrong. She’s always in a happy mood.

“I can remember in the early years when I first started, if someone came through the line and said it was their birthday, she’d sing ‘Happy Birthday,’ and the whole lunchroom would join in and help out,” she added.

CES currently has 758 students, and Swindle estimated the lunchroom serves about 600 kids per day, as many children bring their own lunches.

“I’m glad I changed careers. I love the people here. I love the atmosphere. Some days are not my best days, but ... if you come in not feeling good, oh, by the time you get in the door and one of those little, smiling faces hits you, your day is made. It’s priceless,” Swindle said.

Swindle said with the healthier food in the school

FAR LEFT: Swindle said she loves serving elementary-age children because they are “so wide open to learning.” LEFT: Calera Elementary’s principal, Linda Chesler, called Liz Swindle and the other CNPs the “heart” of the school because they care enough to know the children’s names and interact with them. ABOVE: Calera Elementary School’s child nutrition program workers use fresh ingredients to give students a healthy boost.

cafeterias, children are learning to eat healthier and are taking those lessons into their homes.

“When you talk about working in a cafeteria, you’re supposed to know about healthy cooking,” she said. “We went to whole-wheat bread, brown rice, stuff like that. It’s just what you get used to.

“The little ones here, they get used to the wheat bread and tell their mom, ‘I like that brown bread they got at school. It’s good.’ They take it home.

Maybe they got a little bitty baby brother or sister, and they’ll start them on it. That’s where it starts, and it continues.”

Since becoming a CNP worker, Swindle has taken healthy techniques into her own home.

“See, I came from the lard stage. When I was growing up, my mama cooked with lard and bacon fat,” she said. “It just wasn’t food unless you used lard and bacon fat. Well, you don’t use that any more.”

When she’s not cooking for 600-plus elementary school children, Swindle spends her nights and weekends watching the Food Network and cooking for her husband of 25 years, her family, including three grandchildren, and neighbors.

“My husband, he’s the grill master. I call him the grill master. When we grill, we don’t just grill a hamburger. He made this big huge grill that he can get all his food on,” she said. “We don’t have everybody at home, but we’ll feed our whole neighborhood, just start sending out plates.

“I can’t make a little bit. I don’t know how to

cook a small amount,” she added. “I’ll go home and cook today and cook tomorrow, somebody’s going to come by. There’ll be one less hungry person in Clanton that day.”

Swindle said she’s learned that while high schoolage teenagers and 5-year-old kindergarteners differ in a lot of ways, they’re similar in many ways, too.

“From high school to here, they’re still babies to me,” she said. “High schoolers all have their problems, but kindergarteners have problems too.

“I learned everybody needs somebody to talk to, from kindergarten to 12th grade. Sometimes, just listen to somebody,” she said. “Through all my tragedy, I’ve had people talk to me. They didn’t know what was wrong, but they talked to me, and that helped me make it through the day.”

Swindle said she intends to continue her job serving the children of Calera for future years.

“I don’t plan on changing anytime soon. My kids tell me all the time, ‘Ma, why don’t you go back to school?’ I don’t want to,” she said. “For a long time, I used to do stuff that other people wanted me to do because I wanted to satisfy other people, but I’m satisfying myself, and I’m happy. I’m going to do what I’m going to do.

“Coming in here, just to hear some of the things the kids say, and they are just so honest. It’s just so funny how honest they are. You can’t have a bad day. They won’t let you have a bad day,” she added.

“Let them see you with a sad face on. You can’t help but smile.”

Dr. Stancil Handley “Cares for Eyes” Profile 2012

23

Montevallo’s

influential leader By wesley hallman Images CONTRIBUTED

L

ike many Alabama towns in the middle of the 20th century, Montevallo had its struggles during the civil rights movement.

The late Richard Gilliam had a unique perspective on the town’s past as the Montevallo High School head football coach.

“There had been a lot of racial violence,” Gilliam, who passed away in a vehicle accident in April 2010, recalled in an interview in 2006.

“The school had to be closed for four days, and there was a lack of trust between everybody. The white parents accused me of favoring the black kids, and the black parents accused me of favoring the white kids.”

Gilliam didn’t paint a pretty picture, but the town eventually had its climactic moment in the civil rights movement. In the same way one influential person in the community helped towns, schools, restaurants and businesses across the state become racially integrated, Gilliam stood at the forefront of the movement in Montevallo.

His status as the Bulldogs’ head football coach in the early 1970s lent Gilliam an authority few possessed. Gilliam said it took a high school football game to bring fruit from his labor in the civil rights movement in the southern Shelby County town.

The Bulldogs’ 30-28 upset win over Class 5A Thompson in 1974, his second season at the helm, changed the Montevallo community forever, Gilliam said.

“For the first time, I saw white kids and black kids hugging each other,” Gilliam said. “That night

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Profile 2012

LEFT: Former Montevallo High School football coach Richard Gilliam coaches his team during a game in 1984. ABOVE LEFT: Gilliam speaks at a team banquet. TOP RIGHT: Gilliam leads his team at a practice from a golf cart after suffering an injury while coaching a game. BOTTOM RIGHT: Gilliam was honored before a football game in 2006 when the school named the football field at Theron Fisher Stadium in his name.

we turned the corner.”

Thomas Brown, a former black football player who played for Gilliam at Montevallo, said the coach had an ability to bring the black and white athletes closer together because he cared about all of his studentathletes on a personal level.

“He was more like a father figure to me,” Brown said. “He was a big mentor. He was a real genuine guy. I loved that man to death.”

Gilliam meant so much to the Montevallo community that the school named the playing field at Theron Fisher Stadium after him in a ceremony in 2006. Gilliam’s impact went far beyond integrating the community. Gilliam is remembered for changing the lives of his student-athletes at Montevallo, and his words still carry weight today with several of his former players now coaching at the school.

Tena Niven was a student-athlete at the school during Gilliam’s tenure at Montevallo.

Niven, who is now the Bulldogs’ head coach in volleyball and girls’ basketball, said Gilliam won’t ever be forgotten by the Montevallo community. Niven said she makes an effort to pass down the life lessons Gilliam taught her to her own players.

“I never heard one person say anything bad about him,” Niven said. “His players adored him even after he punished them.”

Niven said Gilliam’s quiet resolve and a commitment to do the right thing made him a leader within the

Profile 2012

community. Niven recalled a time when Gilliam benched his two best running backs before a playoff game after his players were caught stealing candy out of a machine on campus.

Brown said today’s student-athletes could benefit from having a coach like Gilliam.

“He believed in doing the right thing,” Brown said.

“He also believed in us doing the right thing.”

At the same time, Niven said, Gilliam had a way of making all of his players feel important regardless of athletic ability. Niven remembers her freshman season with Gilliam as her girls’ basketball coach, when she wasn’t good enough to be on the starting five.

Gilliam still made his bench players feel like an important part of the team, Niven said.

“I was a member of his ‘fighting five,’” Niven said. “I was very shy at the time. He made us all feel confident in ourselves.”

Niven said the biggest compliment she’s received as a coach was when the parent of a student-athlete compared her to her mentor.

“I think as a coach, that is one of the nicest things anyone could say to me personally,” Niven said. “I just wanted to be like Coach Gilliam.”

Niven said she pauses for a moment to reflect back to Gilliam’s teachings when she’s faced with a tough decision as a teacher and a coach.

“I often ask myself, ‘What would (Gilliam) do,’” Niven said. “He would have wanted me to ask, ‘What

would Jesus do?’”

Ronnie Holsombeck was also a student-athlete at Montevallo during Gilliam’s tenure and played football for the legend. Holsombeck, an assistant coach for the volleyball, girls’ basketball and softball teams at Montevallo, said Gilliam captivated all of his players.

Everyone who knew Gilliam was blessed to have such a strong leader to admire, Holsombeck said. “(Gilliam) has been without question the most influential man in my life,” Holsombeck said. “I would not be a coach, a teacher or even a decent human being without the lessons in courage, hard work and Christian love that Richard Gilliam taught me.”

Gilliam, who came to Montevallo in 1972 as an assistant coach, started out his coaching career with stops at Calera and Verbena. Gilliam took over as the Bulldogs’ head coach in 1973 and finished with an 8475-1 record in 15 years as a head coach. Gilliam led the Bulldogs to a 10-2 record in two different seasons, 1976 and 1983.

Gilliam retired from coaching in 1988, but stayed at the school for an additional five years as a teacher. Gilliam also spent 10 years helping coach the Briarwood Christian School junior high football and girls’ basketball teams after retiring at Montevallo.

Despite his success on the field, Gilliam said the most memorable part of his coaching career was bringing the Bulldogs’ black and white players closer together.

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Profile 2012

First lady of football By wesley hallman Images CONTRIBUTED

C

onversations in the Rettig household don’t quite go like one would expect on Saturday mornings after a Hope Christian School football game.

With husband Mark coaching the Eagles, and son Caleb a former Eagle linebacker, many might expect wife and mother Shari to be tired of pigskin phrases being tossed around the living room.

Not so, said Shari. Instead, it’s usually the exact opposite.

“Do we have to discuss football today?” Mark has asked his wife many times, Shari said. “I would have to keep myself from talking about it.”

It’s the life of a devoted high school football coach’s wife, said Shari Rettig. With a family centered around the gridiron, Shari couldn’t help but become an integral part of the team. Especially when her husband is a fulltime industrial contractor coaching a program designed for home-school students, Shari said.

“Everything is on a volunteer basis,” Shari said. “Naturally, I was going to do what Mark needed me to do. I was going to help him out.”

Shari was unexpectedly called into action before her husband even became a coach at the school. When former coach John Gordon needed help with statistics for the final game against Flint Hill Christian in his final season in 2008, he asked Mark to record the game, play-by-play, on the sideline.

“Mark asked me to stand with him,” Sheri said.

Mark’s coaching ability shined with him also helping out the defensive coaches, which led to a victory against Flint Hill. Gordon and Hope Christian athletic director Tony Nafe asked Mark to take over the program after the season.

Shari’s commitment rose to another level when Mark became the head coach, she said. Shari became the full-time statistics keeper and has provided words of encouragement from the sideline the past three seasons with her husband coaching the team.

The opportunity gave her a chance to be closer to her son, Caleb, a 2010 Hope Christian School graduate who currently plays linebacker at Faulkner University. It also gave her a better appreciation of the father-son relationship between the two most important men in her life.

“I felt blessed to be involved at the level I was,” Shari said. “To watch a new dynamic in their relationship was neat to see.”

Mark said he couldn’t be the Hope Christian football coach without his wife’s help.

“I couldn’t do it without her,” Mark said. “It would take two people to do the job she does. She would get my vote for ‘Coach’s Wife of the Year.’”

Shari said it didn’t take her husband and son being involved with football for her to gain an appreciation for the sport. She’s had that since her days as a cheerleader and color guard member at Mobile County High School in Grand Bay. Shari said she met Mark, a member of the Coosa Valley Academy championship team in 1984, through family members in Grand Bay, which is near Mobile. The two had a conversation starter — football — immediately, Shari said.

“Friday night football games are the best thing in the world,” Shari said. “I really like football. I’m probably more into it than Mark.”

LEFT: Shari Rettig, the wife of Hope Christian School football coach Mark Rettig, has been an important part of the Eagles’ program the past three years. ABOVE: Rettig, keeps statistics during the Eagles’ playoff game in the National Association of Christian Athletes tournament Nov. 11 in Dayton, Tenn.

Despite Caleb’s graduation in 2010, Rettig said she and her husband weren’t ready to end their association with the Eagles’ football program. Their daughter, Rachel, is in her senior year. She plays girls’ basketball for Hope Christian and takes photos on the sideline during football games.

“We stuck around because we love these guys and love what we can do through football,” Shari said. “It’s cool to watch Mark minister to these kids.

It’s made all the time and effort worth it.”

As for Mark, he’s ready to let Shari take on even more responsibilities within the program.

“I think she needs to be wearing a coach’s shirt,” Mark said.

Judge Jim FUHRMEISTER PROBATE JUDGE LEADERSHIP

• Presides over Mental Health Court as specially appointed Circuit Judge; only an attorney can preside over this court • Earned his law degree by working a full time job and going to school at night • Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America • Chairman of State of Ala. Electronic Recording Commission • Leadership Shelby County, Class of 2010

EXPERIENCE

• The only candidate who is an attorney; over 30 years experience • Appointed Probate Judge by Gov. Bob Riley in March, 2008 • Serves on Ala. Law Institute committees studying new legislation

SOUND JUDGMENT • Has ruled on hundreds of cases in estates, adoptions, guardianships, conservatorships and Mental Health Court and has never been reversed on an appeal • Chairman of Shelby County RSVP Advisory Board • Serves on Harrison Regional Library Board and Shelby County Historical Society Advisory Board • Serves on Smith Scholarship Foundation Board awarding college scholarships Paid for by the Jim Fuhrmeister for Probate Judge Campaign, 5561 Afton Drive, Birmingham, AL 35242

Profile 2012

Judge Jim Fuhrmeister

@jimfuhr

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By Kala bolton Images by JON GOERING

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Profile 2012

More than a game

T

o David Sharp, soccer is much more than a game.

It’s a tool, one he has used nearly every day for the past 30 years to teach boys and girls, men and women about respect, sportsmanship and the beauty of hard work.

“Any sport would be fun for me to coach,” Sharp said, “as many life lessons are represented in all of them. The many permutations available to a player on the ball at any given time is staggering in soccer.

It’s the culmination of physical brutality, agility, speed and balance together with the highest level of chess-like intelligence that makes one a great player.”

Sharp, 50, owns and operates DSLD Land Management Company, but it’s clear that his true passion lies in his coaching. While Sharp holds a National Coaching License with the U.S. Soccer Federation, which qualifies him to coach at the professional level, is a National Scout for U.S. Club Soccer and has coached numerous competitive teams, he continues to dedicate countless hours to youth soccer.

While studying at Ohio State University in 1981, Sharp began coaching an afterschool soccer program on the side at a local YMCA. Sharp, who had no intentions of continuing coaching after this job, said the experience and the children captured him.

“Most of the children had never played before, and it was as much about teaching them to respect others as it was soccer,” he said. “I remember driving several of them home each afternoon because their parents would forget them or just not have transportation. I guess that is when I knew that coaching was for me.”

Since then, Sharp said he has coached youth soccer every year, serving as the Director of Coaching for 10 years at the Chelsea Soccer Club as well as competitive soccer with Briarwood, Hoover and Vestavia soccer clubs. He is currently the head coach of the Westminster School at Oak Mountain boy’s varsity soccer team.

Sharp’s dedication is obvious, as he said he spends at least 12 hours per week in season on each team he is coaching with little or no financial compensation. But to him, that’s not what matters.

“He loves the game, loves working with the kids,” said Luke Whittle, director of coaching at Vestavia Hills Soccer Club who has coached alongside Sharp for six years. “At the higher level, there’s not that much development, and it becomes more

Profile 2012

about work and business and scholarships and jobs, whereas at the younger level, the kids still have fun, and I think he enjoys that aspect.”

It’s not all about fun for Sharp or his players, however. He is serious about his work and expects just as much from his players.

“I think when you look at the players he has coached, they all have a very high level of technical development,” said James Riner, who coached U11 soccer with Sharp at Chelsea Soccer Club and whose son was on Sharp’s team. “You can see that even in my son today. He’s one of the highest jugglers of his entire age group.

Because I still coach, a lot of what I do today, I’ve learned from David.”

While Sharp strives for superior performance on the field, he expects no less when his players walk off of it.

“I hope the players that I have coached have learned the importance of playing as a fully integrated team player who respects and protects their teammates between the whistles,” Sharp said. “Regardless of age, I try to help my players understand the importance of discipline and obedience. Obedience walks through the door ahead of discipline, but the two cannot be confused at home or in the pitch.”

This drive to teach and help kids form these core values stems from Sharp’s own experiences growing up. Sports were always an integral part of his life, and Sharp makes no hesitations in crediting those who guided him.

“I was so influenced by the great and talented men that coached me along the way that, when I was old enough, I wanted to follow in their footsteps,” he said.

“For many, the boys especially, it’s a time where they can shine regardless of their scholastic abilities, and for some, the ‘coach’ may be the first adult to recognize their achievements outside of the classroom and thereby have a positive affect on them by building their confidence.”

A family man, Sharp said he tries to incorporate his wife, Helen, and three sons, Cole, Zachary and Miles, into his work as much as possible.

“I have loved being in a position to coach my own sons and watch them grow up from the bench instead of the bleachers,” he said.

Although he has spent 30 years in the game, Sharp said he is still enjoying coaching and, as long as people want Coach Sharp to stick around, he doesn’t see himself quitting any time soon.

“I am still very new to the game — by Joe Paterno standards,” he said.

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Courthouse Controversy:

Columbiana vs. Calera

By Brad gaskins Images CONTRIBUTED

I

t’s a fascinating historical tale, and usually elicits the same response from all who hear it.

David Nolen tells the story to community groups and Leadership Shelby County classes.

From 1894 to 1904, Columbiana and Calera engaged in a heated battle to be the county seat for Shelby County. Two countywide elections were held to settle the issue. In between, a secret bill passed through the legislature moving the county seat from Columbiana to Calera.

“Their reaction is that politics can get awfully funny sometimes. Crazy things happen,” Nolen said. “It’s amusing to a lot of folks that you would have this type of controversy.”

Columbiana has something no other city in the county has.

“There’s not a whole lot else in Columbiana,” said Nolen, who grew up in Columbiana, “but we do have the courthouse.”

And in that 10-year period, Columbiana fought hard to keep it.

THE VOTE OF 1894 When the county seat first moved to Columbiana in 1826, the residents celebrated by drilling holes in a pine tree, filling it with gunpowder and setting it ablaze. A new courthouse opened in Columbiana in 1854, and is the current home of the Shelby County Historical Society.

Newspapers from the era, housed inside what is now known as the “old

30

courthouse,” reveal the intensity of Columbiana’s fight to keep its courthouse.

In her 1976 book “Early History of Calera, Alabama,” the late Barbara Baker Roberts, a former president of the historical society, writes that leading Calera citizens in the 1880s first began circulating a petition around the county concerning the courthouse removal.

And, in February 1893, the state legislature passed an act “to provide for the permanent location of the county site of Shelby County by the vote of the people.” If Columbiana won, then the county seat would stay there. But if Calera won, the act stated, then Calera would pay the costs of erecting a courthouse and government offices there.

Calera claimed it would issue bonds and build a $30,000 courthouse at no cost to county taxpayers, but its main claim to the county seat was location, location, location.

Lawyers from Birmingham and Montgomery undoubtedly preferred Calera to Columbiana, according to Nolen.

“Whenever they had to transact any sort of business in the county seat, they had to take a train from Birmingham to Calera, and then change trains in Calera and go to Columbiana,” Nolen said. “There was no direct train route from Birmingham (or Montgomery) to Columbiana.”

Calera, with its location as a railroad hub, was “destined to become the most important town in the county,” the Calera-based Shelby Sentinel wrote in 1894. “Columbiana can only be reached by one road, and that road hasn’t a habit of running passenger trains to suit the convenience of court goers in these parts.”

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LEFT: This advertisement for Columbiana as the county seat appeared on the front page of a January 1894 edition of the Columbiana-based Shelby Chronicle. ABOVE LEFT: This map from an 1894 edition of the Calera-based Shelby Sentinel shows Calera’s location as a railroad center for the county. TOP RIGHT: An artist’s rendering of what the Calera courthouse would look like, as published in an 1894 edition of the Calera-based Shelby Sentinel.

The Columbiana-based Shelby Chronicle took a different view, asking if county voters would “allow a crowd of Montgomery capitalists to dictate to them where they shall have their county seat, so they can speculate on us?” The Chronicle also asked, “Isn’t it ridiculous that such a little railroad-crossing should try to put on city airs?”

Columbiana also didn’t buy Calera’s claim that it could build a courthouse at no expense to county taxpayers. Besides, Columbiana argued, the county already had a courthouse in Columbiana. The existing courthouse, a front page ad in the Shelby Chronicle noted, is “built of brick and mortar and not on paper” and is “good for fifty years.”

The papers bickered back and forth in the months leading up to the election on Feb. 4, 1894.

One week, for example, the Chronicle mocked Calera by listing what it said were seven “advantages” Calera had for the county seat. They were: “1. Frogs; 2. Saloons; 3. Unhealthy matter; 4. Lime rock; 5. One drug store sold $7,000 worth of drugs in 1893 (so the Sentinel claims); 6. She wants the courthouse; 7. She won’t get it.”

Another week, the Chronicle reported that a large force of men spent a day fixing up the area around the Columbiana train station. The Sentinel took notice and said Columbiana made the improvements “so that her citizens will not have the delightful pleasure of walking through mud and crossing ditches on single planks when they go to the depot to come to court at Calera.”

Columbiana won the election by a vote of 1,969 to 1,143.

“There were charges of fraud,” Nolen said. “Apparently charges that a lot of people may have voted more than once in the election. There were charges that coal miners in the mines in Aldridge went into Montevallo and voted, and then were taken over to Columbiana and voted again.”

The Chronicle, nevertheless, claimed victory for Columbiana, writing in its Feb. 15 edition, “After the smoke of the last gun has cleared away, and we see our fallen foe lying bleeding at our feet, our better nature asserts itself, and we are ready to render any assistance in our power.”

According to Nolen, Calera citizens “felt like they’d been cheated out of becoming the county seat for Shelby County.”

But Calera wasn’t down for the count.

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First election results Monday, Feb. 4, 1894

Final results – Columbiana: 1,969 votes; Calera: 1,143 Voting by beat:

Columbiana: Columbiana 597-22 Shelby: Columbiana 304-21 Spring Creek: Columbiana 101-16 Calera: Calera 417-2 Montevallo: Columbiana 48-0 Gurnee: Calera 46-21 Tylers: Calera 32-3 Helena: Calera 136-13 Elliotsville: Calera 172-38 Yellowleaf: Columbiana 178-2 Wilsonville: Columbiana 256-9 Harpersville: Columbiana 193-22 Weldon: Columbiana 63-1 Highland: Calera 51-7 Bold Springs: Columbiana 33-19 Bear Creek: Calera 57-46 Vincent: Columbiana 58-39 Pelham: Calera 81-5 Source: The Shelby Chronicle, Feb. 15, 1894

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‘THE COURTHOUSE REMOVAL SCANDAL’ The state legislature passed a bill March 5, 1901 to move the county seat from Columbiana to Calera. The act established a Calera courthouse committee, and gave the committee the authority to “use any material from the existing courthouse and jail or any property belonging to the county for the purpose of building the new courthouse,” Roberts writes.

The bill had been, by all accounts, secretly passed through the legislature. The watchdog newspapers weighed in.

In first reporting news of the passage, Chronicle editor Nelson C. White termed it “The Courthouse Removal Scandal.”

“Of course this is as surprising to the people of Columbiana and Shelby County generally as it is outrageous and absurd,” the Columbiana-based Chronicle wrote, adding that, “We would remind our friends in Calera that the best laid plains ‘o mice and men of times gang aglee.”

It was a “silent bill,” the Centerville Press noted.

The bill was “very bad, very wrong,” The Montgomery Journal noted. Still, the Journal wrote, the courthouse should be in Calera, and the bill putting it there was “a good deed done in a dark way.”

The Democratic County Convention met March 14 in Columbiana and voted 44-5 to adopt a resolution condemning the courthouse removal bill. Calera’s S.H. Gist had moved to have the resolution tabled. The Calera delegation charged that county commissioners were working to build a new courthouse and jail in Columbiana, even as they claimed the courthouse there was good for another 50 years.

For its part, the Shelby County Commission adopted a resolution refusing to pay the bonds or interests, referring to the removal as an “outrageous fraud” by an “infamous measure.”

It would not stand. The bill was eventually annulled.

According to Nolen, the cover letter for another bill was placed on top of the courthouse removal bill. Only a handful of legislators knew they were actually approving the removal of the courthouse to Calera. The governor, Nolen said, fell for the trick also, signing the bill into law without realizing what he was signing.

Roberts writes that “proof of fraud in the Shelby County courthouse removal bill passage was not conclusive.”

THE FINAL VOTE Throughout the courthouse removal scandal and leading up to the second election Feb. 1, 1904, reports continued to surface from Calera that Columbiana agents were planning to build a new courthouse and jail. Columbiana, throughout its battle with Calera, had maintained there was no need to build a new courthouse, because it already had one that could be used for another 50 years.

The rumors were strong enough to compel Probate Judge A.P. Longshore to issue a denial through a letter to the editor four days before the second and final vote between Columbiana and Calera. In the letter, Longshore wrote that “anyone who circulates these rumors after the publication of this letter is guilty of circulating malicious lies.”

Columbiana won the second election Feb. 1, 1904. Columbiana received 1,304 votes to Calera’s 456 votes, a difference of 826.

Montevallo sided with Columbiana, as Montevallo Sentinel editor H.E. White wrote that “there is no justice in the tearing down and destroying one town to build up another.” Moving the county seat to Calera would have a “devastating impact” on Montevallo, the Montevallo Sentinel wrote. It would “destroy” city business and decrease property values by 50 percent.

The People’s Advocate, based in Columbiana, stated in the same edition that Columbiana would win the election and “start on a career of prosperity.” Calera, when it loses the election, “can retire from public life, and go into innocuous destitute.”

The Shelby Chronicle published the results in its Feb. 4 edition, adding that Columbiana had the “kindest feelings for the people of Calera, and will ever rejoice at the prosperity and growth of her sister city.”

“We would however, drop out the gentle and kindly admonition to our sister town that she never again allow the land companies make her a cat’s paw with which rake out her chestnuts,” the Chronicle wrote.

Columbiana had won the vote. It moved quickly to secure its position.

Within months of winning the election a new jail was under construction. The following year, construction began on the new courthouse, and Probate Judge Longshore was the first probate judge to serve there.

An addition to the courthouse was built in 1953, and the courthouse received a multimillion dollar renovation in the early 1990s.

And so Columbiana remains the government and judicial hub of a growing county of 195,000 residents. And, with it, the heartbeat of Alabama’s wealthiest and fastest-growing county.

Second election results Monday, Feb. 1, 1904

Final results – Columbiana: 1,304 votes; Calera: 456 votes Voting by beat: Columbiana: Columbiana 210-3 Shelby: Columbiana 80-3 Spring Creek: Columbiana 79-0 Calera: Calera 128-4 Montevallo: Columbiana 83-44 Tylers: Calera 16-4 Helena: Calera 59-4 Longview: Calera 53-51 Yellow Leaf: Columbiana 125-2 Wilsonville: Columbiana 181-4 Harpersville: Columbiana 57-14 Crosswell: Columbiana 43-0 Weldon: Columbiana 72-0 Highland: Columbiana 21-13 Bridgeton: Columbiana 25-6 Vandiver: Columbiana 47-4 Sterrett: Columbiana 71-11 Vincent: Columbiana: 93-43 Pelham: Calera 41-8 Dunnavant: Columbiana 20-1 Maylene: Columbiana 26-17 Source: The Shelby Chronicle, Feb. 4, 1904

RIGHT: A photograph of the construction of the Columbiana courthouse.

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The Shelby Chronicle

Feb. 1, 1894 edition

file

The Shelby County Courthouse, as pictured when it opened in 1908.

After the Election’s Over

B

right lights were flashing in a bad bar-room, Whiskey and pool-balls giving men their doom.

High hopes were throbbing in the rum-seller’s breast.

I’ll get the money, they can have the rest.

Calera wants the court house, but she’s too bad.

Temptations on every side to drive people mad.

We’ll keep our county site in a moral town.

Drink pure water and keep our taxes down.

After the election’s over, after the fifth has passed.

After the vote’s are counted, after the number is fast.

Many a heart will be aching, if

we could read them all.

Calera will be down-hearted over her great fall.

Calera wants the court house, she wants it bad indeed; To send for a thousand choppers, that she don’t really need.

She can hire her voters, pay them by the day.

But that won’t get the court house, so the taxpayers say.

Shelby’s filled with noble men, both true and wise; Who understand Calera and know she’s telling lies.

Let her spend her money, and do her scheming to.

She cannot fool the people, as she tries to do.

Columbiana will conquer, right never fails: Then hurrah for our High

School, Court House and Jail!

We’ll boom our city, spread it far and wide; How she won the victory on every side.

We’ll give a welcome to every one – And teach truth and justice to each living son – Come and join our big school, in Old Coon Town For her good morals the world renowned.

After the election’s over – after the fifth has passed; After the votes are counted, after the number is fast; Many a heart will be aching, if we could read them all.

Calera will be dead and buried, after her great fall.

S.E.

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By Christine boatwright Images by JON GOERING & CONTRIBUTED

Shelby County Training School:

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Black heritage meets community of the past

n 1964, Barbara Belisle took her first teaching assignment at the Shelby County Training School in Columbiana.

Belisle faced unusual challenges for a first-time teacher. The school’s books were secondhand, and opportunities were limited for students and teachers alike.

The Shelby County Training School was the only all-black high school in the county in the mid-1960s, when the Civil Rights Movement had

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burst onto the national stage with neighboring Birmingham often at its center.

“We were accustomed to living separately,” Belisle recalled of relations between blacks and whites at the time. “It was a way of life. People knew black schools didn’t have what white schools had.”

However, the training school’s days as an all-black school were numbered. It would be only three years before black teachers would integrate white schools, and five years before the first white teachers joined the school, with white students

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PREVIOUS PAGE: Barbara Belisle, a resident of Montevallo, taught at the Shelby County Training School for three years before becoming the first black teacher to integrate a white school in the county. ABOVE: Principal J.H. Campbell led the school and taught classes until he became ill and W. E. Jones became the school’s second and last principal. ABOVE RIGHT: Tommie Head attended the training school beginning her first grade year through graduation. NEXT PAGE: In 2001, alumni of the training school held a benefit to raise money to preserve the school building, the Wallace Campbell Community Center. following a year later.

Today, more than four decades after the school closed, the legacy of the Shelby County Training School lives on. Graduates still gather regularly to remember the school – and the people – that served generations of black Shelby County residents.

A secondary education close to home Prior to the construction of the Shelby County Training School in the early 1920s, black students in the area were forced to travel to the Normal School in Tuskegee for an education beyond the sixth grade, according to Irene Montgomery Sims’ “History of Black Families in Shelby, Alabama.”

The Shelby County Training School was built in Hilldale, an area south of the heart of Columbiana on Shelby County 47. Children who lived farther than two miles from the school rode privately-owned school buses from across the county, according to “The Heritage of Shelby County, Alabama.”

When a philanthropic organization, the Rosenwald Fund, allocated money for a high school, the all-black elementary school at the Congregational Church moved to the new school, Sims wrote. J.H. Campbell served as the school’s first principal until 1945.

The interior of the original school building featured six classrooms. Four of the rooms had partitions so the rooms could be used as an auditorium.

According to Sims, eight faculty members taught first through 12th grades.

“In the elementary department, each teacher taught two grades,” she wrote. “In the high school section, each teacher was homeroom for two grades, but the pupils passed class for the various subjects.

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“The school plant did not have electricity or indoor plumbing,” Sims also wrote.

“In later years, the school was wired for electricity, but indoor plumbing was never installed. Drinking water came from a well and later from an electric pump faucet.”

Finding community in education In 1961, a new school was built for the training school across town. At the time, the building offered a haven for students.

“It was a neat, close school where everyone loved one another,” said Tommie Head, who attended the school from first grade in 1956 through 12th grade. “We had strict teachers, and the principal was very strict. They did everything they could to give us a good education and heap us in love.”

Belisle, who was one of Head’s teachers, began her tenure with the Shelby County Training School by teaching social studies, including American and world history, economics and government. During her second year, however, she taught English, which was her major at Miles College.

“They were typical kids, but during a time when changes were taking place,” Belisle said. “They wanted to get ahead. I could tell that and sense that in them.”

Head said the purple-and-gold school spirit of the Shelby County Rams was always high in the training school classrooms. She said some teachers lived in Montgomery but stayed in Columbiana during the week to teach at the school.

“It was one of the places to get a job. It was cheaper to live in town during the week and go home on the weekends,” Belisle said.

Head said there were paddlings as punishments, but “you just took it,” she said.

“It didn’t kill none of us, and it made us better people.”

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“Teachers gave the best education they had,” Head said. “We got books after white people were done with them, but the teachers did a good job with what they had.

“When I was in high school, we couldn’t even stand around and watch a fight,” she said. “After I watched a fight, I had to wash walls for a week while keeping up with my school work. From then on, when I heard a fight, I was gone. I wasn’t going to wash walls!”

Belisle was the junior class sponsor, and her class put together the school’s prom while she taught at the school.

“That was fabulous,” she said. “We would turn the auditorium into a wonderland.

The kids enjoyed dressing up and being pretty. It took them to another place and time where they weren’t at the school anymore. It was special.”

After J.H. Campbell stepped down as principal, W.E. Jones became the second and final principal of the school.

“Principal Jones, who was also a minister, was a man we looked up to because he was righteous and wanted the kids to be,” Belisle said. “But kids will be kids, and instead of punishing them, he would speak to them. He would listen to the teachers and make things better when he could.”

Change comes to Shelby County Head said she didn’t pay attention to the social differences between blacks and whites when she was young.

“I grew up going in back doors of stores here,” she said, “especially restaurants.

We also had separate faucets. To me, it was common knowledge.”

Belisle agreed that the blacks and whites were used to living separate lives in response to segregation.

She said students would question why they didn’t have better resources.

“I told them, ‘I can give you education; I can give you what you need. We don’t have to be in the newest building,’” she said.

Montevallo...

City Hall

A City on the Move!

“I always told them if they worked, they could be anything,” Belisle added. “I didn’t want my kids blaming other people. Economically, a lot of those kids couldn’t do what they wanted. A lot went to the military because they needed income.

Some went off to school. I had to let them know they could if they wanted to. The door was open.”

Change was “in the air,” said Belisle, who was arrested a few times while demonstrating.

“A lot of times, in small counties, they keep the status quo. You know your place,” she said. “The kids knew what was going on. They accepted where they were, but what could they do? Integration was in the air.”

After teaching at the Training School for three years, Belisle received a call from then-Superintendent Elvin Hill and the Shelby County School Board in the spring of 1967. The board asked if she would be willing to teach at Montevallo High School, if she would be willing to be the only black teacher in the county in a white school.

“People didn’t want integration, but the federal government was on their backs,” she said. “I was nervous, but I had to because I wanted to work. I had to work; I was married with three children.

“When I first started, parents would keep their students home because of me,” she added. “It was tense a lot of times, but people started realizing we’re all about the same. The majority won out positively.”

Head said in 1969, white teachers came to teach at the training school, and in 1970, white children joined the black children. The training school became Columbiana Middle School.

The legacy of the Shelby County Training School continues through class reunions every other year. The reunions began in 1975 and take the former classmates on cruises and trips across the country. The legacy also includes a scholarship fund for the children and grandchildren of former training school students.

“Kids nowadays have never known segregation,” Belisle said. “There are always people who won’t like you for your color; it’s how they’ve been taught.

“Enjoy life together,” she added. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Local Service Statewide

Strength Argos USA is proud to be a part of the Shelby County community.

545 Main Street Montevallo, AL 35115 205-665-2555 Ben W. McCrory Mayor

www.cityofmontevallo.com 720 Middle Street • Montevallo • 205-665-1519 Email: montevallocc@bellsouth.net www.montevallocc.com

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www.argos-us.com

Roberta Cement Plant in Calera, AL

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ABOVE: SafeHouse Shelby County cares for men, women and children affected by domestic abuse. RIGHT: SafeHouse Shelby County Executive Director Kathy Wells has dedicated her life to helping men and women protect themselves from domestic abuse.

Finding a way out

By JAN GRIFFEY

Images by JON GOERING In 1969, after six weeks of marriage to her high school sweetheart, Kathy Wells rushed home from work in Waukegan, Ill., to cook a special anniversary dinner.

She made her husband’s favorite meal. Lit candles. Had for him a romantic card.

She was so happy about the life they were beginning together.

But when he didn’t show up after work at his usual time, she began to worry.

Three hours later, she heard a key in the door. He was home.

“I rushed to him and said, ‘Thank God you are OK. I was so worried,’ ” Wells said.

He told her he had gone out after work with some buddies for drinks. He was drunk.

“I wish you would have called me to tell me you were going to be late,” she told him.

Next thing she knew, she was on the floor — stunned, nose broken, blood streaming down her face. He had hit her for the first time but not the last.

He punched her with a closed fist full in the face with such force she was thrown into a wall. As she tried to pick herself up, he came to her and began the first of what would be many apologies during their marriage. “ ‘I’m so sorry,’ he told me. ‘I don’t know why I did that. I won’t ever do it again.

Please forgive me,’ he said. And I did forgive him. He was saying what I wanted to hear. I was so relieved that he was sorry. I believed him,” Wells said.

Six weeks later, he hit her again.

Years would pass before Wells would find the courage to leave her husband for good. Today, more than 40 years after she was hit for the first time, Wells dedicates her life to helping women and men protect themselves and their families from domestic abuse.

As executive director of SafeHouse Shelby County, she oversees an organization that offers shelter each night to dozens of women and their families. Wells also offers her own story of abuse as a powerful testimony of how to rebuild a shattered life.

The violence escalates At first he was always sorry. Later, the beatings becoming more frequent, he decided they were her fault. He told her she was stupid, could do nothing right, was an embarrassment to him.

He was very controlling about every aspect of their life, she said. For instance, the moment the dryer cycle came to an end, she immediately would have to remove the clothing, fold and put them away, regardless of what else she was doing.

“He could not stand for anything to be in that dryer after it stopped,” she said.

If she didn’t move quickly enough to suit him, she was beaten.

The worst beating came when she was eight and a half months pregnant with her daughter, Stacy, who would be her only child. The fact that she was pregnant, Wells considered a miracle in itself because she had suffered four previous miscarriages, which she blames on his beatings.

She and her husband had gone to a party and he had gotten drunk. When she

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was driving him home, he began to punch her.

“I was driving down the highway and he was punching me in the face and the stomach. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore, so I stopped the car, got out and started screaming for help.”

Her husband got out of the car, too, and to her surprise, began walking away. She got back in the car and drove home.

Eventually, he made his way back to his house and passed out.

“When he woke up and saw me, I think he was really surprised. I don’t think he realized how badly he had beaten me,” she said. “I was black and blue from my face on down.”

But, as always, the beating hiatus didn’t last for long.

“I came from a very Catholic family and was the oldest of seven brothers and sisters,” Wells said. “No one on either side of my family had ever been divorced. It was just something you didn’t do.”

She said no one talked about domestic violence at that time. There were few if any resources or support for those suffering a life of domestic violence.

To make matters worse, Wells’ husband was in the Navy and immediately after marrying, they began moving from Naval assignment to assignment – from Illinois to California, Washington State and even Rhode Island before his enlistment ended and they returned to Alabama.

“When our friends, who were mostly other members of the Navy and their wives, found out he was beating me, they didn’t want anything to do with us anymore. That means I lost the only friends I had.”

Finding a way out She tried to leave her husband several times, but for a variety of reasons – not the least of which was having heard for years how stupid she was and that she could never make it without him – she always went back to him.

“In the fall of 1974, we went to an Alabama football game in Tuscaloosa and stayed with my sister and brother-in-law, who lived in married student housing,” with their toddler-age son.

Wells’ husband got “very drunk” before and during the ballgame and stood up in the bleachers and began yelling at her.

“He called me all kinds of names. Everyone there heard, including my sister and brother-in-law. I didn’t know back then, but that is very typical of batterers. They are very jealous, have very low self esteem and are paranoid,” she said. “He was yelling for everyone in the stadium to hear how I was a whore and a slut, and no one else had ever touched me.”

Back at her sister and brother-in-law’s home, he continued to drink. Their son toddled up to him and placed his hands on Wells’ husband’s knees. With no warning, he swiped at the child with an arm and threw him into a wall.

“My brother-in-law told him to get out and I left him then and stayed gone a couple of weeks,” she said.

But again he came begging for forgiveness, reminding her that she needed him.

“I didn’t believe in divorce and he was saying he didn’t want his daughter to grow up without a father, “ so she reunited with him, Wells said.

But it wasn’t long after that he wanted to go out and demanded that Wells give

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him money.

Having finished with his Naval enlistment, he was not working. Wells had worked all through their marriage.

“I wouldn’t give him money and he dragged me out of the house in front of my mother and beat me,” she said.

After witnessing the abuse, “my mother told me, ‘whatever decision you make, I will support you.’ That was a huge weight lifted from my shoulders.”

In March 1975, she filed for divorce.

Her life’s work Back in the early 1970s, when she was regularly being battered by her husband, Wells didn’t know she was being trained for a job that would become her mission in life.

“There were many times when he would be out drinking that I would almost pray for him not to make it home.

That is horrible, I know,” Wells said.

After the incident in front of her mother, Wells went to a priest she had been seeing for counseling. Her husband had agreed to go with her for counseling, but lasted only a couple of sessions.

“I consider that priest to this day to be my guardian angel. He said to me, ‘Kathy, God doesn’t expect you to stay in a relationship that is going to destroy you physically, emotionally and spiritually.’ Between that and what my mom had said to me, I was able to leave him,” Wells said.

Despite being told for years how stupid she was, Wells made a life for herself and her daughter. She continued to work, and went to back to school.

In 1988, Wells earned her bachelor’s degree in communications arts from the University of Alabama at Huntsville.

Later, she earned her master’s in public administration from the University of Denver in a program that focuses on the administration of programs to help domestic violence victims.

Soon after her divorce, Wells began trying to find ways to help others who were victims of domestic violence. She was invited to an American Association of University Women conference to hear someone from UAB talk about what domestic violence victims go through.

“That was my ‘ah ha’ moment.

I was stunned because everything she was talking about sounded like what happened to me. I came to the realization then that I was not alone. So many others had been through or were going through what I had,” Wells said.

Wells went to work in a law firm, but in 1983, Hope Place, which was a shelter for domestic violence victims, opened in Huntsville. Wells served on its board of directors for nine and a half years, ultimately becoming its director.

She has been working as an advocate for domestic violence victims ever since.

For the last three years, Wells has worked as executive director of Safe House Shelby County, which offers shelter, counseling and a variety of services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Safe House, which has an annual budget of about $1.2 million and is funded from a number of grants and private donations, operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

“We have 26 staff members, both full and part time. Fourteen of those work

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Artwork by SafeHouse residents decorate the walls of the shelter. in the shelter,” she said.

The location of the Safe House shelter is kept secret in an effort to protect violence victims and their children.

“The shelter has 54 beds. Sixteen of those beds are for emergency shelter.

Thirty are for transitional housing and eight of those beds are handicapped accessible. We also have several hidea-beds and couches. We don’t turn people away. We make room,” Wells said. “Generally, we house between 32 and 45 women and children a night. The average stay is 43 days long. Some are there for just a few hours, until they can make other arrangements and some are there for up to two years.”

Services, in addition to shelter,

include counseling and education and legal advocacy.

“Our counselors are focused on the victim survivors, and we are heavily focused on the kids. We strongly believe that’s where we’ll make a big difference.

Children who have witnessed domestic violence have seen a lot and they feel responsible. They don’t understand you can be angry without hurting someone.

We work with children to identify and talk about their emotions, to help them learn how to manage their anger and to make sure they know the domestic violence they’ve experienced and witnessed was not their fault. It’s never their fault,” she said.

Wells found the love of her life and has been married now to “a wonderful

man” for 33 years and happily reports she has never again had to suffer domestic violence. Her husband adopted her daughter, Stacy, and they are the grandparents of “three of the most beautiful, talented grandchildren ever,” she said.

Despite the services available, four domestic violence victims were murdered by their batterers this year in Shelby County.

“I spend a lot of my time in the community, seeking support for what we do. We can’t do what we do without community support. Ultimately, it’s the community that holds batterers accountable.”

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r o i r r a ew

c fi f o An

I

t begins every morning before 7 a.m. in the glass-and-brick-walled confines of the Thompson High School front office. Office manager Peggy Kent arrives at her desk and begins the routine she has been perfecting every day for the past three decades.

Before the buses roll in, before the upperclassmen begin filling the student parking lot and before parents line the school’s student drop-off line, Kent begins completing the tasks necessary for the school to successfully operate until the afternoon dismissal bell rings.

Kent’s first task of the day involves firing up a type of computer only found in science fiction movies on her first day at THS in 1981, and using it to secure

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AGNER W L A

By NE G OERIN

Images

by JON

G

substitutes for the teachers who called in at the last minute.

She then proceeds to send daily class rosters to the school’s dozens of teachers, sign in the substitutes she helped schedule earlier and then record the names of students who arrived after the 7:45 a.m. tardy bell.

The rest of the day is filled with helping the school’s principal, processing enrollment forms for incoming and outgoing students and filling out work permits for 14- and 15-year-olds.

“It’s just busy,” Kent said with a healthy laugh. “What I do hasn’t changed that much over the years, but the way I do it has.”

For generations, Kent has been keeping order and making life easier for school

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administrators in the THS main office. In her 30 years at the school, Kent has seen tens of thousands of students progress from freshman year to graduation, two school buildings and six principals.

“Let’s see, I’ve been here through Allen Fulton, Larry Simmons, Jim Elliott, Ron Griggs, Robin Thomas and now Dr. (Danny) Steele,” Kent said after pausing for a minute to complete a mental rundown of her tenure at THS. “We have had a few principals who have served for one or two days on an interim basis, but it’s hard to remember every person,” she added.

Kent’s service at the school originally was intended as a way for her to spend more time around her children, who were preparing to enter the city’s schools.

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When Fulton, a longtime friend, mentioned an open position at the school, Kent knew it was a perfect opportunity for her to work closer to home.

“Before I started at the school, I worked with Moore-Handley in Pelham during the day,” Kent said. “I had just graduated from the University of Montevallo, and I went to the same church as Allen Fulton.

“He said he was looking for a 12-month secretary, and I thought it was a great opportunity,” Kent said.

Fulton, who served as the Shelby County School District superintendent for several years after holding the top spot at THS, said he had “known Peggy forever,” and sought her out for the secretary position because of her calm demeanor.

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PREVIOUS PAGE: Thompson High School secretary Peggy Kent works at her desk in the school’s main office. Kent has worked at the school for almost 30 years.

ABOVE: Pictures of family and friends sit on Peggy Kent’s desk.

“We needed someone who was good with people,” Fulton said, noting the high school was then in the building currently occupied by Thompson Intermediate School. “On any given day, you’ve got to deal with kids, irate parents, nice parents, grandparents and so forth.

“To be in that position, you’ve got to be someone who is even-tempered enough to deal with all types of folks,” Fulton added. “Back then, the only thing separating you from the public was a desk. Everyone has their own offices at the new school.”

While he was at THS, Fulton said he witnessed Kent deal with a wide range of potentially stressful situations - both from parents and students.

“A kid would come in squalling or crying because they got a bad grade, or because they didn’t get a date to a dance, and Peggy never got frustrated or short with anyone. She never lost her temper,” Fulton said.

Fulton said, although he was looking for a secretary to help keep the school in order all year, he never imagined Kent would still be at the school well into the next millennium.

“Turns out, hiring her worked out great. I knew she would be someone who could help us out for the long term, but I never thought she would still be there today,” Fulton said with a laugh. “She has been a mainstay there.”

Fulton said Kent’s decades of service have provided a familiar feeling for THS alumni who later send their children to school.

“You may not know who the principal will be next week, or who the bookkeeper is now. But everyone knows who Mrs. Kent is,” Fulton said. “It’s getting to the point now to where she is seeing kids at the school today who are the children of the students that were there in 1981.

“The same ones she helped out when they were 15 or 16 in the ‘80s, she is helping their kids now,” Fulton added. “The parents remember (Kent) was someone who

helped them out when they were at Thompson. Now, she is the one they can call on for their own children.”

For Scott Brakefield, a 1993 graduate of THS, Kent’s longtime presence at the school has had a lasting impact on his life. Though initially unpopular with Kent, a dating relationship between Brakefield and Kent’s daughter, Michelle, has allowed Brakefield to know Kent in a way most former THS students do not.

During his senior year at Thompson, Brakefield spent time every day serving as Kent’s office aide.

After Brakefield broke the news he was dating Michelle, who then was a sophomore at the University of Montevallo, Kent wasn’t immediately supportive of the idea, Brakefield admitted.

“Mrs. Kent wasn’t too fired up about me dating her daughter,” Brakefield said with a laugh. “But I think everything is OK now, since Michelle and I have been married for 13 years. (Kent) has been a great mother-in-law. She has always been good to me and Michelle and our kids.”

Brakefield, who still lives in Alabaster, said he was impressed with how Kent has handled the explosive growth in Alabaster during her tenure in the office.

“When you think about what Alabaster was back then compared to what it is now, it’s amazing,” Brakefield said. “She started out in a little building on 119, and now she’s in a school with 1,800-plus kids. I’ll be surprised if she ever retires.”

With three decades under her belt at the county’s largest school, Kent admitted she has entertained the idea of moving on one day.

“I’m in the DROP (retirement) program, so I will be here at least two more years,” Kent said. “I guess we will see how the economy is at that time.

“My grandkids have teased me and said ‘Nana, will you be (at THS) when we get there?” Kent added. “I tell them ‘I sure hope not.’ But you just never know.”

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A joyful voice

By Katie mcdowell

T

Images by JON GOERING

wenty-seven years ago, Victoria Tanniehill set her infant son in his crib for a nap.

When he failed to wake up at the regular time, she went to check on him and found him with purple lips. She picked him up, called the hospital and rushed him to a pediatric clinic in Alabaster, where he was then taken to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham.

Her 6-week-old son, Sanchez, had spina meningitis and had suffered a stroke. He stayed in the hospital for three months and doctors told Victoria that if her son lived, he would be severely disabled and likely unable to walk or talk.

Victoria disagreed.

“I basically said it like this: ‘I think you’re a liar. You don’t know my Jesus,’” Victoria recalled of her reaction to the doctors’ prognosis.

Twenty-seven years later, Sanchez Tanniehill can walk and talk, although he prefers to sing. While he is disabled and living with his parents in Alabaser, he recently completed his third gospel album and performs around the Southeast regularly.

A love of music Music has always been an important aspect of Sanchez’s life. It’s a way for him to worship God, inspire others and a source of enjoyment.

“I like to show my talent,” he said. “I like to show my gifts and talent that the Lord has given me.”

Victoria Tanniehill said her son loved to sing as a toddler and joined the church choir at the age of 6. Sanchez grew up in Alabaster and attended Thompson schools all of his life.

“The kids were real good to him,” Victoria said. “They didn’t make fun of him for his illness or anything.”

Victoria said her son was a jokester and made many friends during school.

For a long time, he didn’t know the details of the stroke that changed his life.

At 8 years old, he went to his mother OPPOSITE PAGE: Sanchez often performs at local events. ABOVE: Sanchez Tanniehill greets fans during the and began to question her.

Alabaster Christmas Parade on Dec. 3.

“He was a really smart little fellow,” Victoria said. “He knew he’d been through something.”

Sanchez continued to nurture his love He also teamed up with Willie Prince, a fellow singer and Alabaster resident of music and performing in school. He competed in talent shows in elementary whom he met at summer day camp in 2007. school and was the mascot of Thompson High School.

The two founded a ministry called SWAGG - Sincerely Worshipping a Great After high school, he began to seriously contemplate a career in music. He God. recorded his first CD in 2003, a collection of gospel songs. He also sang at the Through SWAGG, the men want to minister to youth through music. The opening of the Special Olympics in Auburn. men hope one day to open a local venue where youth can gather safely.

Three years later, he made it to the second round at American Idol auditions In 2011, Sanchez, Willie and other singers traveled to several local rehabilitation in Birmingham. Over the last five years, he has become a well-known voice in centers on the One True Thing tour. the Birmingham area. He has sung on several local radio stations in the area, “He’s using his gifts to glorify God,” Willie said. “He’s always a fan favorite.”

Alabaster City Fest and the Alabaster Christmas parade, in addition to releasing Sanchez said he often emphasizes his own history when speaking or singing to two more CDs. While Sanchez loves the limelight - he breaks into a wide grin at groups. the thought of performing - he has used his vocal talent as a ministry in recent “After I do my first song, I tell my testimony and how God had blessed me,” years. He regularly sings at his church in Helena, New Vision Christian Church. Sanchez said.

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Victoria Tanniehill, right, always believed her son, Sanchez, would walk and talk after suffering a stroke at six-weeks-old.

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A bright future It’s that giving spirit and eagerness to connect with others that first caught the eye of Sanchez’s former boss, Michael Musolino.

Michael was once district manager of about 11 stores, including the one in Alabaster where Sanchez has worked for years.

“He was an associate for me when I worked at Publix,” Michael recalled. “Every time I went to visit that store I had such a bond with him. He was such a positive role model and a good associate.”

Michael said Sanchez eventually became part of his own family, which includes a wife and children. Even after Michael left Publix after a debilitating car wreck, he remained close to Sanchez and his family.

Michael said he enjoyed Sanchez’s smile and positive personality. He and his wife often watch Sanchez perform, but he felt like he should do something more, so he built his website, Justmesanchez.com.

“I felt directed, honestly by God, to help this guy out,” Michael said. “He is a person who’s disabled ... but nothing holds him back.”

Victoria credits these friendships and others, as well as the support of his community, with helping her son flourish.

For Sanchez, this year brings new opportunities to further his musical career and his ministry. He has been asked to partner with the Spinal Meningitis Foundation in an awareness campaign. He also has numerous concerts and radio performances lined up.

He continues to dream big. He would like to move to Atlanta, get married and start his own children’s ministry, beginning in Alabaster.

He also wants other people who have faced obstacles, whether they are physical, mental, emotional or spiritual, to have the fortitude to stay positive.

Tanniehill’s third album cover.

“Don’t give up,” he said. “It might seem rough, but you’re going to come out on top.”

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130

kids and counting

By Kala bolton Images by JON GOERING

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S

cott and Kim Thomas would call their family a normal one. The couple carries on a simple life, going about each day in their Wilsonville home as any other family. Yet, their situation is a unique one, as the Thomases are proud parents of more than 130 children.

The Lexington, Ky., natives have been part of the foster care system since 1998.

While balancing three biological children of their own, they take in foster children, up to seven at a time.

The Thomases seem to have it down, taking in and raising children of different backgrounds, ethnicities and cultures, teaching them values and manners just as they would their own children. But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for these two foster parents.

The pair, who had both worked with children through church youth groups, always wanted to extend their work with children but never found the right niche.

More than 15 years ago, they turned to the foster care system, exploring each option as it came up, but most organizations wouldn’t allow a family with three biological children to bring even more into the home.

So they went on with life until Scott Thomas stumbled upon an ad in a newspaper for what is now known as King’s Home (formerly King’s Ranch and Hannah’s Home). Headquartered in Shelby County, King’s Home serves youth, women, mothers and children who are victims of abuse, neglect, abandonment, homelessness and other difficult situations, according to its website. Its youth program gives youths between the ages of 10 to 21 a residential home on one of the organization’s two campuses, as well as support and education.

“It didn’t seem institutional, it seemed like home,” Scott said. “We still had one kid too many, but they said ‘We’d like to meet you.’”

Thinking they had found what they were searching for, the Thomases traveled to Alabama for a weeklong training session, which opened their eyes to the challenges they would face as foster parents.

“We role-played different scenarios in this weeklong training, and it was bad,” Kim Thomas said. “It was people yelling and screaming and cussing and flipping out, and that’s what they’re trying to prepare you for. They called us and offered us the job, and we said, ‘Yeah, no thanks.’”

But that wasn’t the end of their ties with King’s Home. Not long after they turned down the original offer, King’s Home presented them with another — a sibling group. They were to take care of two young boys and their two older sisters, and it seemed to be just what the Thomases were looking for. They took the offer and moved from Kentucky to Alabama, only for the deal to fall through.

They waited two months and watched sibling group after sibling group fall through.

Finally, they received an assignment. The couple moved into a house with seven boys who had been without house parents for four months.

“It was kind of like moving into a bachelor pad with mad kids,” Kim said. “They had run off the last couple that had been here, and they knew it and were proud of it and ready to do it to us too.”

Initially, the Thomases imagined being foster parents much longer than the national average of one year, but their first experience as foster parents made them rethink that dream of longevity.

“These kids are savvy,” Scott said. “They’re street-wise, and they’re savvy, and they’re kids that have been in the foster system for a while. They’re just surviving, and they’ll take you to task, and you better know what you’re doing like we didn’t when we first came here. But by God’s grace, we hung in there.”

The Thomases survived those first weeks, and they were given their first foster child in July of 1998.

“We cut our teeth on him,” Kim said. “He had been in the system since he was 5, and he is also one of our most beloved. He lived with us for four years, all through high school. We got him one day and (our second child) the next day, and those two were the best of friends.”

Both boys stayed in the house for four years before leaving the home upon high school graduation. Since then, it has been a non-stop flow of children in and out of their home, which is paid for by King’s Home and located on its campus for boys in Wilsonville.

“We lost count at about 100,” Kim said, who estimates that the couple has fostered more than 130 children, most of whom stay for at least a year but some for only days.

The Thomases receive a salary and budget for their expenses. The foster children attend Shelby County High School during the day while the Thomases home school their biological children. With their oldest two - Stephanie, 23, and Jacob, 20 - out of the house, Nate, 15, is their only remaining biological child living at home.

“They don’t always get the best of us, but we home school our kids, so they’ve got quality time with us while the other kids are at school,” Scott Thomas said.

“When the other kids get home, they’re kind of on the front burner and they get the best of us. So it’s kind of a give and take, and it just works well.”

Stephanie was only 9 years old when they made the move to Wilsonville, and,

while she said the situation was frustrating at times, she wouldn’t trade in her upbringing.

“Of course there were times like when I was shopping for a prom dress with Mom, and she got a call from the high school saying one of the boys had been suspended from school, and we had to stop shopping to go pick him up,” Stephanie said. “I had to share my parents with seven other teenage boys, so it had its downside, but I love the unique situation I had growing up. My parents are super heroes. They manage to make my brothers, every kid that has ever lived in our house and myself all feel special and loved.”

The Thomases said the work continues to strengthen their marriage, as they are forced to work as team at all times. While they aren’t a typical family, they try to make it feel like one for the children.

“We may spend more time in the principal’s office, but we do for these kids everything that a regular parent does for their kids,” Kim said. “Every once in a while, you get a kid that just wants a family and just wants a mom and a dad, and that’s what we are.”

“You may not ever get the

satisfaction of seeing all your hard work and love and sweat and tears come to fruition, but you’re planting that seed that, in God’s time, will take root

”

somewhere down the road.

-Scott Thomas

Profile 2012

The Thomases said they love watching each child’s unique character blossom as he becomes more comfortable in the house, and the two do their best to make their home a safe-zone for each boy. They don’t make rules about phones or other things throughout the house and won’t get involved unless absolutely necessary in an attempt to cultivate an environment as normal as the next home atmosphere.

“They’re so used to this idea that the strong one survives, the biggest, the toughest attitude,” Scott said. “Then they come here, and it takes a while, but they realize they can let their guard down. We make it OK to be different. It’s kind of neat to be able to foster individual personalities and know that’s the way God made them.”

This stable environment adds an element of normalcy that was, for the most part, absent from each foster child’s past.

“They are the perfect role models for the home,” said Lew Burdette, president of King’s Home, who has worked with the Thomases since his start with the organization nine years ago. “They are what a loving mother and father should be for their children, what a loving husband and wife should be for each other. These kids have never seen how a loving mom and dad parent or how a loving husband and wife treat each other with love and respect. They’ve never seen what that looks like, so that’s what the Thomases provide.”

Although the Thomases do their best to make it feel like a normal home for the boys, it can never truly be. The day will always come when a boy has to leave, and the couple said that those can be the toughest days. Because they foster many children at a time, Kim said that as soon as one boy leaves, it is not long after that another boy is put in his place.

While some of the foster children call and visit the home long after they are gone, the last time the Thomases see others is on their way out the door. Either way, the couple knows they have served their purpose in each child’s life and hope to have made a difference.

“There’s an illustration that even a change in direction of one degree puts you in someplace totally different 10 years down the road, and so I think that’s what we’re doing,” Kim said. “We’re making little changes in kids’ lives that impact their adulthood in ways that we will probably never even know.”

With 13 years of experience under their belts, one could argue that the Thomases are professionals, and they have advice for other foster parents struggling to make their mark on these children.

“Some good advice to other foster parents: You may not ever get the satisfaction of seeing all your hard work and love and sweat and tears come to fruition, but you’re planting that seed that, in God’s time, will take root somewhere down the road,” Scott said. “That keeps you going.”

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By jon goering Images by JON GOERING

Reaching out Bill Phillips drove his 18-wheeler through eastern Alabama in late March of 1976. He loved watching the changing of the seasons from high in his cab while the semi he drove for Pittsburgh Des-Moines Steel meandered slowly along the winding roads.

The then 35-year-old farm boy from rural Mississippi was entering a new season of his life. His boys, David and Chris, were getting older, just old enough to become involved in activities such as the Boy Scouts. Phillips himself had been a Boy Scout, and he looked forward to the opportunity to teach his young boys how to take care of themselves. He had just bought his first real house, an almost brand-new one in a new subdivision in Alabaster.

Although he didn’t know it at the time, this trip would be his last. He would never again gaze out at the open road from a perch in the captain’s chair of a semi cab.

To this day, Phillips has never gotten an explanation why his trailer overtook the cab as he braked to stay back from the traffic in front of him at a light on Old Highway 78 in Edwardsville, Ala. “It was night, it was midnight,” he said. “And I just know the trailer came around me and rolled me down the bank sideways, and it carried the truck with it when the trailer went down the bank. And we don’t know really what caused the trailer to do that.”

The mystery doesn’t even nag at him anymore.

“Cause they said there was nothing wrong with the brakes,” he says, “and it was a dry road, it wasn’t wet. Driving along and the next thing I know I am rolling down the bank.”

Phillips remained conscious as the emergency responders took him from the wreckage into the ambulance, in which he finally blacked out. Two weeks later, he woke up in a hospital in Anniston, his back broken and paralyzed from the waist down.

Months passed before Phillips rejoined his family at their home in Alabaster. But during that time something changed on the home front, said Phillips. Shortly after, his wife left.

“She decided she wanted to go another way after the accident,” Phillips said, quickly changing the subject.

Paralyzed and knowing he would never drive an 18-wheeler again – then left to cope with his two young sons and his daughter – Phillips had been knocked down and then kicked.

“A lot of people sit around and get depressed that something’s happened, but all you do is bring yourself down,” Phillips says. “You just gotta learn to go on.”

LEARNING TO GO ON More than 600 miles to the southwest, in a Texas town in the Gulf, a young waitress named Berta at a local seafood place was looking for some place to go on to. She had moved from Washington to Seabrook with her husband and son for the seascape and the sailing. But the relationship had become abusive.

“It’s another case of a young girl who thought she knew it all and ran off and got married at 16,” Berta said. “And I paid for it. I didn’t know as much as I thought I knew.”

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Profile 2012

TOP LEFT: Bill Phillips works on a lawnmower in the garage behind his Alabaster home. TOP: Phillips hoists himself into his van before dragging his wheelchair in behind him while heading out for a bread pickup run for Manna Charities. ABOVE: Phillips works on a piece of lawnmower equipment at the desk in his garage. LEFT: Phillips drives along U.S. 31 in the van he has been driving since the late 70s on his way through Pelham for a bread pickup.

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Berta knew she had one friend, and this friend was in need. She had recently received a call from a group of PDM-Steel workers who had been regulars at the restaurant when they were in town building water tanks. One of their drivers, a good friend of hers, had been injured in an accident and was paralyzed and then left by his wife to care for his kids alone. So in July 1977, Berta packed up with her youngest son, Mark, and moved to Alabaster to help her friend as a housekeeper and help raise the kids. “He got the boat,” Berta said of her first husband. “I got my freedom. And I’ve been here ever since.”

She smiles as she sits outside, keeping Bill company while he works on a lawnmower.

“My kids idolize (Billy) because they had such a cruel daddy,” she said. “They think that he is the greatest thing that ever walked. Or rolled or whatever.”

After PDM-Steel closed down its fabrication plant in Birmingham and Phillips lost his job, he looked for work in lawn care. Using a riding lawn mower, Phillips was able to cut the grass. When it came time to tackle the weeds, he rode the riding mower to where he could use the weed-whacker.

“I reckon I’m different,” he says. “I never did get down. After something happened, you had to deal with it. You just had to learn to do stuff a different way.”

A DIFFERENT WAY Perched in the driver’s seat of his multicolored van on a crisp fall afternoon, Phillips cruises up U.S. 31 toward Pelham. Now 71 years old, Phillips has spent more years of his life without the use of his legs than with them, and he knows how to go about his business. With his wheelchair secured in the back of his van, he uses the vehicle’s hand controls to get to his destination: a supermarket in the north part of Pelham where some bread has been left out to be picked up by

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volunteers for the food bank. After pulling up behind the store, he uses his arms to lift his body over to the front passenger seat, which swivels around to face the back of the van. From there Phillips is able to ease himself down onto the floor of the van and unhook his chair and lower it to the ground out of the van. Once the chair is on the ground, Phillips is able to ease himself down into the chair from the inside of the van. Phillips is careful to organize the bread by type as he takes it from the vendor’s racks, thoughtfully planning out every step for maximum efficiency. Once all the bread is packed away inside the Alabaster Scout Troop 548 trailer Phillips uses for pickups, he reverses the process and makes his way into the driver’s seat of his old van, which he bought nearly new in the late 1970s.

“A lot of people just find excuses, a reason they can’t,” Phillips said. “ They don’t put their priorities right, but this is something we believe in.”

His involvement with Manna Charities, the organization he volunteers for, started one day about two years ago as Phillips was sitting in church at the First United Methodist Church of Alabaster. He heard a call for help for a small food bank that was working to provide food for Alabaster residents in need. His own boys had grown up, but Bill had remained involved with their troop. His children, once Boy Scouts, now had children of their own, and Phillips again had members of his own family in 548. Phillips decided to bring the Scouts down to the site, and from this first visit with his Scouts, the still-ongoing relationship with Manna Charities was born.

A ROCK FOR THOSE IN NEED Rows of people begin to file through the Manna Charities warehouse in southern Alabaster following the organization’s church service on Saturday morning, and the volunteers, most of whom have already been working for hours to get the food ready to give out, spring into action. As customers push metal shopping carts, circling around the tables stacked with the food the drivers

Profile 2012

OPPOSITE PAGE: Phillips stocks his Troop 548 trailer with the bread that a vendor left out behind a Pelham supermarket. LEFT: Phillips reaches for a box of sweets while Manna Charities customers circle through the food bank.

collected, volunteers busily restock.

“Quit digging!” shouts Bill from behind the row of volunteers where he has been helping keep things running smoothly, trying to keep the line moving but also making sure the food is evenly distributed for all of the customers. “You didn’t stack it, Granny!” Phillips shouts at volunteer Nettie Conlon moments later. “You didn’t get it stacked! Bread’s all getting squished!”

Conlon smiles and nods, fixes the plastic trays, and keeps chugging along with the morning’s work.

“I love Billy, that’s my friend. I tell them all that I love them. But Billy, Billy’s our rock,” Conlon said.

All of the food bank’s customers come and go, and Bill sits in the back chatting with the warehouse manager, Wayne Blankenship. Blankenship coordinates the drivers to make pickups quick and efficient, since drivers are not reimbursed for gas. “(Bill) tries to talk like a bear, but he’s really a kitty cat,” Blankenship said.

On the way out the door, Blankenship added, “He’s a blessing to me. I don’t know

what I would do without Bill, really. Who do you know with no legs that will get up at five in the morning to pick up bread? I can’t barely get anybody with two good legs to do that.”

HE KNOWS ONE: BILL PHILLIPS

The seasons still change but Phillips knows he will never enjoy them in the way he used to while navigating his 18-wheeler along the country’s roads. But he remains determined to keep looking forward to what still could be, rather than back at what could have been.

“That’s happened and it’s in the past, now you’ve got to look ahead,” he said.

The roads that Phillips is looking down may have changed, but he’s determined to keep on trucking. Or rolling or whatever.

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Telling your stories is our pleasure.

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Vehicle pursuit becomes two-car wreck

NEWS

Outs

By AMY JONES Associate Editor

HOOVER — A driver attempting to escape a possible traffic violation ticket may end up facing more serious charges after causing a two-car wreck on Old Montgomery Highway on Dec. 30.

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Police arrest Texas child molestation suspect

2010

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Profile 2012

REPORTER PHOTO/JON GOERING

load a victim of a crash near the intersection of Old Montgomery Highway

M Se and Riverchase Parkway in Hoover into an ambulance on Dec. 30.

Fe is s Co the said lik h fo celo sses mill tax gt ing ons, len e a Mar pa t 30 , the mad 30 reas rman x issue rren ently ai ‘ s for gha Ch the ta ’s cu Curr ard taxes is su t ty s.

If GNER ist WA r coun year ars. the bo the ody s, bu activents the for 30 six ye ink NEAL ito ing “Nob hool

By City Ed ical sid x n in t th tend id. the sc polit ty re electio ty ta pire don’ r ex oz sa nd un exVisit ShelbyCountyReporter. l e fo ed er “Wforcase Mun n’t fu -bas y Co specia prop com a recap of elb s,” do am 8 of g tournament we good e year Pelh ng Sha Feb. mills action. at isin few e aski ring ’s 30 mor ng th t Ra elby A ar du unty ains e Sh rty gesti ps FROM STAFF REPORTS o” Ag th Libe e grou te “n the co r d th hers t of n fo to vo tend 41.

Mot ppor paig ots an GNER 20 ex We continue our look back through the WA r to until elby e su Cam Patri e biggest storylines and biggest names of 2010.

NEAL ito uit tax e Sh th th of Th y Day

By City Ed Th wi ter Circiner in ty Jo te xes, chap the Ra un Ta ty JUNE Co ichael al da

By NEAL WAGNER un ama, Co M 4 tri elby e Alab City Editor Sh Judg April in BROOKWOOD EMERGENCY ROOM d urt t an un Co se an ON U.S. 280 APPROVED so A Christmas Eve misdemeanhas a m of ders xes ns or theft arrest by the Alabaster r BRAD d foBy g se n Rea on ta re their opirennioewal.

GASK Brookwood Medical Center moved one t i ll-INS Police Department led to indeaccu Staff o o Write ki r off readers shaperty tax step closer to building a freestanding emersh cency with a child charges were arre pro shopliftin an d PelhamfiOnline posed gency room at the intersection of AU.S. 280 ery. All sted in connectioand an extrag callg Alabaster of on pro earli three and Alabama 119 June 30. The announcee n with of a led to in lic dition ilipthis 4A “one the disco thepodiscoPher week in n manufacturin were charged ment came after administrative law-pot” very of Pelham resi- v- accordin so traffickin g of a with unla vehiclejudgemethampheta cer s. y g to a pres wful James Wilson recommended the hospital in the vi be rl an activ g in meth controlle John e book dent. parkingDa mine lab said. l s relea ampheta d substance and the Shelby n t inside Ki m move forward with building the emergency lot, se County pita ed into the mine d e ne a cabein A l a. bThey local aster Shelby Officers Sheriff’s issued by from s i ayauth lly g held on G of y Will room, which would be the first of Rick RIN re Office.

W o n oriti located its kind P ty o Jail l i c were in iam e tses ionaoffibonds of Coun a vehicle GOE Penn rt s un tent eChan three and y Octo TO/JON East $1.6 milli erlin Ba Alabama.

Radio personality, Bill individu responded g, 34, h n o co for in posion lic ion- dler also was on each toare descripti in the parking Christop ER PHOber Chan burn als in tw Verb dler, J o s of Diane Seales ons give ORT t“Bubba” Bussey, starts FCA tentofoodrug Walmart .in uty one ena, parapher charged ofce REP her Way al Aune Head31, fa Pratr, n by an lot matching While sh tvilleon-d r for in Alab . poss of organization’takes home one nalia. the with tennis in Shelby County. 5C emp the t riv investiga JULY ley, m by hiaster cle urde an , and Coloniales- shop police 33, he athMar ting the loyee. ains of lifting, Online exclus top awards. were calle t at the ngClanot ve ilty Colo ton, trio P rdoto officers menade killi and anin g de Jan. es ag sive at pied t gu nial Alabaste BENTLEY the Wal- belie ved to discovere for alleged Eulogio gam occu d no 17, regardin Promenad rReporter WINSe RUNOFF shopping cer caus be an cend wha e on Mon ampheta an de g susp .comthre t they d on s mine lab. active “one day, ally from plea ected ter shop on Dec. of s.

-pot” meth The Shel reste hour has arge lifte ing ar Columbianafirst native to rs, Dr. Robert by l 24 Bentley after store officials called to sh County He ch was ra theopponent Bradley Byrne fall Drug defeatedinhis e ru e seve both n report a theft at the store. When durLocal CPAs offer assistance g Th r th , on hnso 09, ers psont. ge 3A inJuly See fo ls. ing a th or Pa 20 13 Republican Jo ty gubernatorial on MET tax returns. officers tes run7C te arrived, om they arrested S, 4, H, Page 2A ho r sc sealing his spot sure e ci Pan l Th area con c. on the November genafte off, 35-year-old Pelham resident DAVI De and expo d th . e ts riva drops key See an ates n. 14eral election ballot. With about 97 an Th ided Mario Roberto Eulogio on one percent lebr us. eat,” taur prov mplex Pelham INSIDE dner ce ex on Ja of the state reporting, Bentley count of third-degree theft to had Co56 id. helped s gr 7A alsoabout pl..........8C c sa ly ing a 44 percent of the vote tordByrne’s wa m Bo vi of percent.

Faith...... rd property, a t Classifieds.....3B misdemeanor 2A Ci Co m Ev on t of ge acco ephe no effec In Shelby County, Bentley s Sa Civic Business.........7A had Sh ctor charge. about 52t a lo to ty, re Education.......8A Y, Pa “It down e civote, e ama’Lifestyles........1C percent of th have go ll the mhad g Diand Byrne OM lham about Records...........5A “He was buying something 44 leAlab e Pe g to ed to anda g le ca ex’s hout ketin trick percent.

ECON After winning runoff, Bentley ne at Walmart, and I believe he Cr rin goin peopthe roug Mar at th Opinion..........4A Sports.............1B See mpl ral th e 00 are that om,” l du went am on to. face5,0 Co Democratic gubernatorial stole a pack of batteries,” said “W ci ro c augu Pelh herd y as ich kids bath coun ting. ing candidate Civi e in wh sRon Sparks. tic hing Alabaster Police Department Shep man the the the re th end, mee met prac tionAs h ea so 17 GNER ld nc on n WA r ug during week for ar 3A Deputy Chief Curtis Rigney. do begi ry, fu ll so , to Jan. g wlYES s to thro s SAYS NEAL ito to its wi ssity tin VINCENT Page “They arrested him and ran his ua Bo sines TO THE QUARRY

By City Ed set Febr oms mee tter ce door Iron NK, need bu name through the computer, ne ro bi g TA t ey en th bi gh TheiceVincent we ost pson See Town Council approved ’t be w in g ba e a . nt and it turned out he was on theBy STEP hock e mThom 5, boys’ baske brou am in fe HEN DAW sn mea Quarries’ m and team said ry ts wins Rock tball plans to build a limefirsto of th or KINS run from Texas.”

Special PelhWhite beco dall brua ball s ha past lham close ses sp bigge e to the Repo es d we thest rival. stone game quarry Th n tw llege to withwithin Pe tion ke town limits. th m When officers ran Eulogio’s the The room counCran n Fet base e, an its rter All classified ads areiknow e lha r busin cil8A co “O ar er ba thefomintweeforinindividuals.

A Jem - Pe passed an ordinance approving said crea ll. to taunge sp and FREE st name through the national be t th rd ison ty als omic ex high ths, d Re anda it h (Some affo apply). will all ou ing company’s request to Ci riv restrictions pare r pl in the Jefferesident is rezone on crime database, theyheld w of lly Cr an . St discovecon mpl am ptic 886 m acres Pre pola nge ben- Visit softb after he rson Coun being B.M an c Co Bi , land to accommodate rks the base ered the man was wanted Pelh the d sequarry to during e Submit vi . or your ad online at by was arre Pa es ty Plu ile h ics ct er ty th Polar l Olymp m.

Ci Shelby faHunci re alsoev yout leagu council’s July sted Jan. Jail ShelbyCountyReporter.com dred s at15 ameeting.

Thes council Harris County, Texas, County 29 on two of Di om after am the 7 in loca s H low or call 205.669.3133 Jan. Specia orter.co on crim ’s ftball plaints passedroanrkordinance resid . annex tothe all of White indecency ptic Pelh ttes with a child charges am of entic inal ll. It’end ents rced as so e se wn efiting mRep Kids lh com ca Pa fo lined the ing reFirst Th here thdothe etown of PeAwa Rock’s property sp into and ll’s related to a case underCam eron Lee minors for sex.th Pelha invesbefo Vincent. streets 20of09 — Pa nt tank them on y’a nt to GNER six l res ball reness Com e She was born Emerick WA ortlylby tigation by the its e Al “It’s u wa CONTRI Houston Police enty 11 28, olAlab ratuCou shut causMar mun aste e ice AL itor n sh in , th th r’s Janu n. th ity pe yo d ns NE at msv w .”

BUTED/SHELIA m edly arra Do in Alabaste Be SOLDIER Sim Cen ho host ALABAMA ary 1990 who tinm Luth wi at

By City Ed KILLED forer IN lha end or YATES th e faile te  Ja Scter ho oney Department. illee mcom nged to le tition , allegPe att r. Follo phy King nk nter mand gh team te tited thou Mayindecency a Martin mun meet who Jr. taAFGHANISTAN of uncil you at the wing Hi th Mur ? with aght ity wi e thesta child amThe were mpe de Jan. Luth l e Did am lex lh nc , walk wl Co he a Co, er King 15, and an Pe charges came da ght % mp vera g th rived be rs ty sity. First Pelh g8-year11-year-ol 14-year-old girl n Bo 25 — Jr. Co ate erKids ai peace walk afteratan Iro Ci ar — aven dedi g se in iv str s St d girl on a hospital M em Civic old Texas girl told police the in ar rd Un 2001 am ss to cated Mt. Oliv erin return tham Jan. See St id REVIEW, Shel te Page 2A instead ba 7 fo e Road to % 31, ball on lo g the Pelh cons of es was arre by County but 75 Sam Jan. ir of et in as withPage sted by See CHILD, are hods a pa U.S.2A duat tin  ’ baskrly se by beat agents

By NEAL Security Department met ice to gra trick Marhanie boysan ea ain Homelan WAGNER Inve serv d ount .

As of Jan. stigations unit City Edito vallo ts Pa , Step hell, es -47 CentM kM .

N. 20, auth eritcinrAlab nrte residenDawson unable Oa es 48 orities L. nnife s aster to veri The Kids Mo were . gl Ea am ha J. ica Mor fy the which gree .

Je e than hospital <HV Commun24 FirsPe the es Jess ages t lh and ed de vallo 50 people Awa First’s 1R at Alabaste arrest occu A y, Al rene e y, ss racesokfilled on earnand te of all n. itybeCent weekend...4 Comm r Mar rred r Poli erte celeb gym thro tin Luth Ba Ja tion mps ly sp .......... .5A unity colum Jollerated Mon ugho long celeb the cent played ce Depa . The am eresKing ’ nist Sandr ceer’s 15, of King’s birth ..... es docum J. Si recentas y of kwell day Jan. no role DEic Records..............Tham Ch di enut raLeeJr.’s rtment a unch the m sit A seve SI ah y in ac ents the day. after y depa s La the arre center boy’s L Bl ,ral IN nion/Publ ............... .....battle noon er rtme ie’ ........6 with cance comfive-mem a 17 by -iverplay Mic dbbirth with organize On Jan. A Shelbcom walk 10 st Chris -1mixing ade ed ..... ber team r. 3Aies’ Rigney. nt Deputy Chie st, said ...7 Opi e Un .......... .......... , 20 round after on at Woo unit ion yn. Slketb ter ll ho t atpetit s thro down Shelby d a prayer .......... ...7A f Curtis kids no m the Se ..... round of ty Instr c. 17 all. wi A-Z Lad e Greace Coun ugh Alab m uctio the County .......... .......... fro Shel Emerick ieds.... baseven fro e De y. t Stat by aster 11 nal .......... .......... commun ac Classif Th mmer arn Serv 24 g th monThe bask as a Chil , who was ar....... .......... ices ity befo ’s Simmsville etball cont employe Co and Le Jan. Calend ..........

Mt. Oliv durint cere was the tournam re dedi n, d patcher ton County of rts. final even e Road ent atio 5.

E-911 disat the time nch ns on Spo men to King cating rm Were you 04 Lu t in Kids is bein . of the info 914-1 g held in off workCreatio Martin for . ore s at Jefferson arrest, Jail with Luther See KING p.m re m wkin no bond King Jr.’s County Fo , Page 2A . The susp birthday? ie Ha ect is By ris AMY Ch JONES now See ARR Associate s are . ) EST, Page tive prog Editor 7% d ad duals ply43%

LIFESTYLES

Shelby County Newspapers, Inc.

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3A Shelby ram for at-ri When sk County Mike Blac who need students One day with walked acad Program the DAY into the kwell beha of the vioral coun emic or offices DAY ago chan three decades kids that are selin Blackwe years ago, Program ged ever given a Yes, thes 28 ll, now g. shot. ything.

“I imm e found whe he knew he’d DAY Prog in a scho ediately ble read kids have trou ram dire the love ol to re fell in ing, but - Blac with the ctor, The DAYhe belonged. had been a chance kwell said graduate,” there’s conc he teac said they a a ept,” her and . “We have retail of is a long Program ’ll mak a succ man Much e it.” ess plan ence withhis first expe -term put in alterna- hadn’t found ager, but that the prog ri- the thre has changed in Janu satisfacti in dent place for each we in his e deca ram ary 1983 on career that stu. “There’s but the DAY des since, choices. people that academic comes in, with Program goal rema care ab these and ’s

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Profile 2012

Profile 2012

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Profile 2012