Vestavia Hills Magazine, June/July 2019

NEW YORK BUTCHER SHOPPE • A PHOTOGRAPHER’S JOURNEY TO GREECE • HEALTH SCIENCES AT VHHS

VESTAVIA HILLS’ BEST WINNERS THE RESULTS ARE IN

Happy Hues JUNE/JULY 2019 VestaviaHillsMagazine.com Volume Three | Issue Three $4.95

INSIDE EMMY GRIER’S STUDIO VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 1

We do a lot of things so he can breathe easier.

Day in and day out, without a break or a holiday, we do the things we do to ensure your wastewater treatment system works for you and for Alabama’s environment.

Things like keeping 273 miles of pipe working properly in Shelby County alone. And maintaining our capacity to return up to 7 million gallons of pure water a day to county rivers (enough to fill 318 Olympic swimming pools each month).

We even manage 4,800 manholes in the county needed to keep our systems running efficiently and safely.

If stacked end on end, they would reach the height of Mount Everest, plus 31 football fields.

And all the while we aren’t just meeting or surpassing all state and federal health standards. We’re also helping to lower the likelihood of algal blooms, which rob wildlife of life-giving oxygen in the water.

Our pledge to you: we’ll keep working for healthy rivers, and healthy communities. Which means we can all breathe a little easier.

To learn more, visit CleanerCahaba.info

2 June/July 2019

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 3

What happens during recovery is as important as what happens during delivery.

A COMMUNITY BUILT ON WARMTH We never forget that there’s more to care than medicine.

There’s compassion. Attentiveness. And a healthy dose of kindness. Which is why when it comes to your care, all of us are here to treat you well.

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FEATURES 56

NINETY YEARS YOUNG Polly Gilmore lives by a mantra of hard work—and fastidious yard work—from her Vestavia Hills home of 70-plus years.

64

VESTAVIA HILLS’ BEST WINNERS 2019 You voted. We tallied. See just who Vestavia Hills’ favorites are.

72

HELLENIC HEIGHTS

PHOTO BY MARY FEHR

Photographer Mary Fehr surprised her mom with a trip to Greece and documented the sights and scenes along the way.

6 June/July 2019

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72

PHOTO BY MARY FEHR

arts & culture

17 Bright ‘n Bold: Emmy Grier’s Vivid Hues on Canvas

schools & sports

25 Scrubbed In: A Look at VHHS’s Health Sciences Program

food

& drink

33 One Stop Shop: New York Butcher Shoppe Knows Its Meats 41 Five Questions For: Bendy’s Cookies & Cream Founders 42 Five Questions For: Nuzzi Gelato Founder Nick Ianuzzi

home

in every issue 6 Contributors 7 From the Editor 8 VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 10 The Question 11 The Guide 80 Out & About 86 Marketplace 88 My Vestavia Hills

& style

43 Something Old, Something New: Tour the Smiths’ Home 51 At Home: Quick Bookcase Styling 52 In Style: Stars & Straw Forever

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 7

contributors EDITORIAL

Graham Brooks Stephen Dawkins Alec Etheredge Briana Harris Madoline Markham Keith McCoy Emily Sparacino Neal Wagner

CONTRIBUTORS

Abby Adams Mallory Barry Jessica Clement James Culver Mary Fehr Brenda Ladun Harper Nichols Elizabeth Sturgeon Christiana Roussel Lauren Ustad

Abby Adams, Stylist

Abby Adams runs Peeptoes and Pineapples, a fashion and lifestyle blog.

She also works full time at ServisFirst Bank, and when she is not working, you’ll find her blogging at local coffee shops, eating tacos and traveling.

You can find her blogging at peeptoesandpineapples.com or on Instagram @peeptoesandpineapples.

Brenda Ladun, Writer

Brenda graduated University of South Florida in Tampa in mass communications and is a news anchor at ABC 3340. In two decades of television work in Birmingham, she has won the Alabama Associated Press Awards for Best Investigative Reporter, Best Specialized Reporter, and, most recently, the Best Anchor award. Her community involvement includes Grace House Christian Home and the American Cancer Society, an organization especially meaningful to her as a two-time breast cancer survivor.

DESIGN

Jamie Dawkins Kate Green Connor Martin-Lively

MARKETING

Kristy Brown Kari George Caroline Hairston Rachel Henderson Daniel Holmes Rhett McCreight Kim McCulla Jordan Price Viridiana Romero Kerrie Thompson

ADMINISTRATION Hailey Dolbare Mary Jo Eskridge Katie McDowell Stacey Meadows Tim Prince

Harper Nichols, Photographer

Harper Nichols is a sophomore at the University of Birmingham at Alabama studying art with a concentration on photography. She hopes to pursue a career as an editorial or travel photographer, taking photos all around the world.

Christiana Roussel, Writer

Christiana is a Birmingham-based food, travel and lifestyle writer who loves nothing more than meeting new people, discovering new things and finding ways they all work together. Sharing these stories with a wider audience through print feeds her passion. Recent stories have run the gamut from shotguns to flower arranging, and gallery openings to aquaculture.

Vestavia Hills Magazine is published bimonthly by Shelby County Newspapers Inc., P.O. Box 947, Columbiana, AL 35051. Vestavia Hills Magazine is a registered trademark. All contents herein are the sole property of Shelby County Newspapers Inc. [the Publisher]. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without written permission from the Publisher. Please address all correspondence (including but not limited to letters, story ideas and requests to reprint materials) to: Editor, Vestavia Hills Magazine, P.O. Box 947, Columbiana, AL 35051.

Vestavia Hills Magazine is mailed to select households throughout Vestavia Hills, and a limited number of free copies are available at local businesses. Please visit VestaviaHillsMagazine.com for a list of those locations. Subscriptions are available at a rate of $16.30 for one year by visiting VestaviaHillsMagazine.com or calling (205) 669-3131, ext. 532.

Advertising inquiries may be made by emailing advertise@vestaviahillsmagazine.com, or by calling (205) 669-3131, ext. 536.

8 June/July 2019

from the editor

I

ON THE COVER

I have a confession for y’all: I don’t know my neighbors. Sure, I chit chat with the couple to the left of me and have both their numbers and that of the neighbor on my right. As I type this from my front porch and look out at the homes I can see, though, I’m thinking about I can’t tell you the names of the people across the street, or too much of the back story of anyone—and what car they drive doesn’t count.

But that’s not what I wanted when I moved in. I’m essentially a professional at “tell me your life story” conversations, after all.

Why do I bring this up here? Because, you see, I am thinking about Polly Gilmore. I’d never have guessed she was 90 when I met her. She’s too spry, doing all her own yard work still, and as friendly and personable as a Southerner can come. Sure, our photographer Lauren Ustad and I had come to take her picture, but along the way we learned about how her yard had bloomed that spring and the stories behind the black and white photos she pulled out for us from over the years.

We learned about her parents and the way she and her siblings grew up eating only food that they had grown themselves, but since we had to cut our carport chat short to get to another appointment, I’m extra grateful that the story of Polly we share in this issue came from the hours and hours writer Brenda Ladun has spent getting to know Polly and the different chapters of her life.

Back to where I am sitting at this moment at my house, for all I know another Polly could be two doors down from me, but I have never stopped and introduced myself and seen where the conversations go. I have never asked my neighbors where they grew up and what they remember of it, how their life experiences have shaped who they are now. So that’s going to be my summer challenge—to change that. It’s the perfect season with long days and plenty of pleasant weather to get you on your porch and embarking on evening walks. And maybe I won’t just keep to myself this time.

Because there are stories right around us in every neighborhood, of artists with bright colored palettes, of budding health sciences professionals, of mother-daughter trips, of architectural and interior design, of artisans with a passion for frozen treats making a go at a business they’ve been dreaming of. Some of those tales lie in the pages ahead, and I’m sure there are just as many on my street and yours too.

And if you find any that might be good for our magazine pages, will you send them my way?

Thanks for reading, and happy get-out-in-the-neighborhood season!

Art by Emmy

Emmy Grier paints vivid hues on canvases in the studio of her Cahaba Heights home.

Photo by Mary Fehr Design by Connor Martin-Lively

madoline.markham@vestaviahillsmagazine.com

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#VestaviaHillsMag

Tag us in your Vestavia Hills photos on Instagram, and we’ll pick our favorites to regram and publish on this page in each issue.

@bradfordbillingsley prom ~in a Bradford Billingsley tux ;)~

@hotworxvestaviahills Having a ~wing dinging~ good time with the Chamber of Commerce today!!

@walkerburroughs @rebeccawaldenwrites This book, y’all. It is one of the most fulfilling projects I’ve completed to date, about a place I couldn’t love any more. Today, a lovely reminder arrived. It confirmed that even five years after the printing of Images of America: Vestavia Hills, this humble hometown book is still resonating with the very people for whom it was written.

10 June/July 2019

Well, I never believed Katy Perry when she called me top ten material. But now I am in the top 10. Thank you all for voting, I’m still in shock.

“ ” THE QUESTION

What one place in Vestavia Hills holds the most significant memories for you?

Mack’s Quik Sack. So much fun was had there.

-Linda Warren Griggs

VHHS. Randy started teaching there in 1974 before we were married.

Our children graduated from there. There are so many memories & “firsts” there.

-Carol Cornelius Faust

Woolworth’s! It was a “one stop shop” store complete with a pet shop that sold a variety of small pets including fish and Halloween costumes.

-Carol Christiansen

Buddy Anderson field on Friday nights! You can’t beat the lights, the track, the field, and the fans!

-Caroline Sumner

Wald Park playground! I played there as a child. My husband gave me his fraternity lavalier there in college. Now my son plays on that playground weekly.

-Casey Skewes O’Dell

Wald Park. My husband asked me to marry him while sitting on a bench there one night, and I took my children to play there all the time when they were little.

-Emily Bowdoin Powell

Vestavia Hills Baptist Church. I played inside and outside the temple and was baptized in what was the bar of the restaurant that was housed in the church before it was a church.

-Jan Burton Deagon

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My husband proposed to me in a gazebo on Vestavia Drive overlooking the city.

-Alieta Young Casey

THE GUIDE

VHUMC FARMERS MARKET WEDNESDAYS Scout Square 10 a.m.-1 p.m The farm is coming to you.

Make a stop right off Highway 31 to shop seasonal vegetables, baked goods and fruits from local producers. It’s open May 15 through Aug. 28, except for July 3. For more information, check out facebook.com/ VestaviaFarmersMarket/.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 13

THE GUIDE

WHAT TO DO IN VESTAVIA

JULY 27

FRIDAYS IN JUNE AND JULY Movie Madness Kids/Library in the Forest 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

SATURDAYS TIL JULY 6 Trail Fit in the Forest Library in the Forest Trail Free/For Ages 18+ 9:30-10:30 a.m.

JUNE 11 Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce Monthly Luncheon Vestavia Country Club 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

JUNE 11 Chopped: Teen Edition Library in the Forest 5:30 p.m.

Iron City Chef Jefferson State Community College 6 p.m.

Bring your taste buds to the Vestavia Rotary’s version of Iron Chef, Iron City style, as Snapper Grabbers Land and Sea Chef Patrick McCown defends his title against three other chefs this year.

Each chef will prepare their menu for 300 guests to enjoy and vote on their favorite chef. The evening benefits local and international Rotary programs including Vestavia Hills Math and Debate Teams along with student scholarships.

For more information, visit vestaviarotary.org.

THURSDAYS

Library Kids Fun Bring your kids of all ages out to the library each week for a morning or afternoon of entertainment by musicians, animals, puppets and more.

June 20: Barry Mitchell’s Smilemakers Show: Magic + Ventriloquism + Comedy June 27: Skin and Bones Animal Show July 11: Lew-E’s U.F.O. Show: Juggling + Comedy + Magic + Puppetry July 18: Puppeteer Lee Bryan July 25: Ventriloquist Gene Cordova*

June 6: Magician Arthur Atsma* June 13: Didgeridoo Down Under Music+Storytelling

*The afternoon programs on June 6 and July 25 will be held at Liberty Park Elementary instead of the library.

10:30-11:15 a.m. & 3:30-4:15 p.m.

Library in the Forest Community Room

14 June/July 2019

JUNE 15 Father-Daughter Tea Library in the Forest Call 978-0158 to register 11 a.m.

JUNE 25 Harry Potter: Wizards of Azkaban Teens/Library in the Forest 5:30 p.m.

JUNE 13 Rock and Roll Bingo - Totally Tubular 80s Library in the Forest 6 p.m.

JUNE 22 Artist Michael Albert Library in the Forest Makerspace Kids/Registration Required 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

JUNE 26 Tom Mason, The Blue Buccaneer Library in the Forest Amphitheater 3:30-4:15 p.m.

JUNE 29 Movie Marathon Library in the Forest 10 am-5 p.m.

THE GUIDE JULY 12 Rock and Roll Bingo – We Love the 90s Library in the Forest 6 p.m.

JUNE 27

JULY 15 Birmingham Noir – Birmingham’s Notorious Historic Sites Library in the Forest 6:30-7:30 p.m.

JULY 16 Launch Vestavia Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Launch Celebration Sicard Hollow Athletic Complex 6 p.m. Festivities 7:30 p.m. Model Rocket Launch JULY 27 Movie Marathon Library in the Forest 10 am-5 p.m.

I Love America Night Vestavia Hills High School 6-10 p.m.

Our favorite night of the summer is back! Bring your family to the children’s area (open 6-8 p.m.), a Pops in the Park

concert by the Shades Mountain Baptist Church Orchestra at 7 p.m. and a movie at 8:15 p.m. Note that the location is different this year due to the construction at Wald Park. Best of all, it’s free.

Pelham Civic Complex and Ice Arena 500 Amphitheater Rd., Pelham, AL 35124 VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 15

THE GUIDE MUSIC

AROUND TOWN SELECT FRIDAYS & SUNDAYS Various Movies Alabama Theatre alabamatheatre.com for listings FRIDAYS Free Friday Flicks Veterans Park, Hoover facebook.com/ BackyardMovieParties/ SATURDAYS The Market at Pepper Place 8 a.m.-noon JUNE 7-9 Symphony in the Summer Railroad Park

Idol final When VHHS graduate Walker Burroughs auditioned for American Idol, judge Katy Perry told him he was “top 10 material”—and indeed he made it to the Top 8 round this spring. The Belmont University music education major sang “Have It All” with Jason Mraz and solos of songs like “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” the Jonas Brothers’ “Love Bug,” Toy Story 2’s ”When She Loved Me,” Elton John’s “Your Song” and more on the show—and he amassed more than 164,000 Instagram followers and his very own Bruster’s Ice Cream flavor “Good Heavens” along the way.

DINING

The Pizitz Pie It was time for a Slice Showdown this spring with The Search for the Vestavia Hills Pizza at Slice Pizza & Brewhouse.

Throughout the month of April, each grade at Pizitz Middle School had a Dough Raiser night to raise money for the school, and students submitted their ideas for the “Pizitz Pie” on an online form. The winner, now a menu item, was dreamed up by seventh grader Archana Rajasekaran and features alfredo sauce topped with spinach, chicken and mozzarella cheese.

16 June/July 2019

JUNE 2-6 Birmingham Barons vs. Jackson Regions Field JUNE 7-30 Red Mountain Theatre Company My Fair Lady Dorothy Jemison Day Theatre Alabama School of Fine Arts JUNE 12-16 Birmingham Barons vs.

Jacksonville Regions Field JUNE 13-30 Always…Patsy Cline Virginia Samford Theatre JUNE 15 American Heart Association Heart Walk Railroad Park JUNE 25-29 Birmingham Barons vs. Mobile Regions Field JULY 4 Thunder on the Mountain Fireworks Show Vulcan Park & Museum 9 p.m.

JULY 4-9 Birmingham Barons vs.

Pensacola Regions Field

THE GUIDE JULY 12-AUG. 4 Red Mountain Theatre Company Matilda the Musical Dorothy Jemison Day Theatre Alabama School of Fine Arts

SENIOR LIVING

JULY 17 Flicks Among the Flowers Field of Dreams Birmingham Botanical Gardens 6 p.m. Gates, 8 p.m. Film JULY 18-21 Birmingham Barons vs.

Tennessee Regions Field JULY 19-21 Disney’s Peter Pan Jr. Red Mountain Theatre Company Cabaret Theatre JULY 26-AUG. 4 Mary Poppins Jr. Virginia Samford Theatre

River View Residences Birmingham-based Greenbrier Senior Living is bringing a new Longleaf Liberty Park Senior Living Community to Liberty Parkway near the Cahaba River. Expected to open in August, it will offer 68 open floor plan assisted living apartments and 27 seniorcentric-designed memory care residences. The facility will feature a holistic wellness program as well as a sports lounge, outdoor patios with river views, dining venues, a fitness center, an art studio, a theater and a library for fireside reading.

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THE GUIDE NONPROFIT

Like a Vapor In 1995 Micah McElveen found himself a quadriplegic on life support after a surfing accident. That’s when he learned life is like a vapor—and he wanted to invest his. A few years later he found himself in a slum of over 300,000 people, inside the home of a woman named Velma. She and her husband shared a bed with three children, three slept on a table, and four more elsewhere in the tiny space. That’s when poverty became personal for him. Those moments became the groundwork for that “vapor” idea to become a ministry, one that now has 440 indigenous staff on the ground in Haiti and African countries, working to “meet needs, feed souls and elevate God.” Vapor Ministries now has a thrift store on Highway 31 right here in Vestavia Hills to support its work, and Micah shared his powerful story at the Vestavia Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast in April.

DINING

Mediterranean Please The decor is on point at the new Taziki’s now open on 31 in the Diplomat Deli shopping center.

Find it at 1425 Montgomery Highway, Suite 199.

Check out the new Quinoa Bowl while you are at it too— yum!

18 June/July 2019

&CULTURE

ARTS

BRIGHT ‘N BOLD

Emmy Grier transfers her own joy through the vivid hues on her paint brush.

BY ELIZABETH STURGEON PHOTOS BY MARY FEHR VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 19

20 June/July 2019

E

Emmy Grier feeds her heart and soul with bright color. She brushes sharp turquoise and teal onto canvas and pulls out an orange necklace or dress for the day ahead of her. Through the trends of neutrals and grays, she keeps people’s eyes wide open with brilliant glow. “Somebody, please come to me and say, ‘I love fuchsia,’” she asks.

Emmy composes female figures from wide brush strokes that move sharply across huge canvases. Though they’re abstract, formed with shapes and blocks of solid color, her subjects still beam with life.

Stretched skin becomes woven pinks and purples, and tensed muscles become squares of white paint. But this community of painted figures were strangers to her until a few years ago.

When she first began playing around with paint, Emmy just wanted a few pieces of art to put in her home. She began experimenting with watercolor while working at her mother’s store, The Nest in Homewood, and customers noticed the beauty of what she made. “I never intended on selling it. I just had something inside of me that just wanted to play around with painting,” she says. She did, and still does, finding the same joy of mixing colors in watercolor as she did in staining furniture.

As customers began to purchase what she made, Emmy soon made a business out of her painting. She got her work into galleries and shops around town, and her mediums evolved. Eventually, she took a VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 21

EMMY’S TECHNIQUE Two of the most fundamental parts of Emmy’s work are her love for color and for people. “I’m driven by color. So that always gets into whatever I paint,” she says. Although she can adapt her palette and style for the commissions she does, Emmy favors the brightest of colors and the wildest of combinations.

She’s also inspired by people and relationships, which makes her common subject of figures fitting. “The figures are something that everybody can look at and relate to.” And at the end of the day, Emmy is all about sharing her joy with others through a language of paint.

22 June/July 2019

leap of faith from watercolor to acrylic on canvas, which gave way to her even bolder, brighter palette. “I need the fuchsias and the greens and the purple.

People saw that and recognized it as happy and different,” she says.

Emmy reflects her enthusiasm through the layers of vivid paint. “I’ve always been able to put colors together, and that’s how I see the world. With art, you don’t really win or lose. You’re in it to express something inside you. It just brings me joy,” she says. “To transfer the joy I feel painting to anyone who sees it, that makes it all worth it.”

As her artistic curiosity grows, her Cahaba Heights home has also been transformed, both with the finished products on her walls and the heart of her creative space. “I kicked the kids out of the playroom,” Emmy jokes, explaining how her projects quickly outgrew the living room coffee table and demanded a new studio.

What has long been the house’s playroom now

houses her splashes of color and buckets of paint tubes, but her children, Mason, 10, and Mallie, 6, still make use of the room too. “They’re always with me in my studio,” she says. Mason even asked for clay for his birthday, inspired by Emmy’s recent adventure into clay bowls and flower pieces. “How cool is it that I’ve found something that makes me so happy and opens an avenue for my children?” she says.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 23

Emmy even bought her own kiln for her pottery, so her home studio really is a playground for curious artists. With a bowl she bought in mind, she knew she could make the same thing herself and began to purchase clay to recreate the flower petals. She’s always looking for a new medium to master—like her new joking-but-not-joking interest in welding. “As a creator, you’re always changing,” she says. “You’re always moving, so I don’t know what’s next.”

Along with her children’s shared joy in making art, Emmy’s family sprouted from a medley of creatives.

24 June/July 2019

When she and her mother moved their oriental rug business to a warehouse in Homewood, they shared the space with the Griers—antique dealers, furniture finishers, and the parents of Ned, who would later become Emmy’s husband. Everything—family, business, and inspiration—seemed to be perfectly laid out.

Her mother’s business space continues to hold inspiration for her, from the color mixing for finishing furniture that Emmy’s grown fond of, to the richness in rugs and antiques. While no one expected the

“I’ve always been able to put colors together, and that’s how I see the world...To transfer the joy I feel painting to anyone who sees it, that makes it all worth it.”

-Emmy Grier

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 25

Emmy stops for a photo with her dog in the studio of her Cahaba Heights home.

painter to emerge in Emmy, she can see now the curiosity she always had and the color that surrounded her. “Every day, it’s a surprise. I never knew I had a love for art,” she says. “I was doing a lot of things before, but never the thing I was supposed to.”

Looking back on her life, Emmy finds comfort in how her life was unexpected and excitement in what might be next. “Something everyone should know and

see from my very unglamorous story is that there is always a plan there for your life,” she says. “I did not know that this was going to be what it is.”

You can find Emmy’s work locally at Arceneaux Gallery, Trouve, Argent and The Nest. Learn more at emmygrier.com or follow her on social media @emmygrier.

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26 June/July 2019

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SCHOOL

&SPORTS

SCRUBBED IN

Real-world work experience is shaping their futures of VHHS health science students.

BY MADOLINE MARKHAM PHOTOS BY HARPER NICHOLS AND CONTRIBUTED VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 27

F

Health sciences teacher Hannah Peterson with the first three students to go through all three years of the program: Caroline Tinsley, Chris Novellino and Ian Schultz.

For most of us, thinking back on high school classrooms tends to evoke certain imagery: desks, textbooks, lectures, chalk or marker boards, Scantrons and the dreaded group project. But the classroom of Hannah Peterson, better known as Coach P., looks different.

In a room near the Vestavia Hills High School’s gym, you’ll find her sports medicine lab. One wall is setup like a physical therapy clinic with all the bands and balls and tables used for therapy, and one wall looks like a hospital room with two beds and medical equipment. In those beds sit two teaching manikins: Rescue Randy, who despite his small stature weighs 250 pounds, and Nursing Ann, who has vitals and a microphone so she acts as a “live” patient.

It’s all the stage of the sports medicine program Hannah started at the school three years ago—the space that is sparking passion in students like rising senior Luke Byrd.

28 June/July 2019

“I have seen his outlook on his future change drastically, and I think it has to do with credit to (Hannah) because she is involved in engaging the students,” Luke’s mom Donna says. “She has lit a fire for my son and helped him develop a love and an interest in the health sciences, and he’s interested in going to medical school. He would have never gone that route had he not taken classes with Coach Peterson.”

Rather than learning about just the academic side of biology or chemistry, students in this program see their applications in the real world. And that tends to breed excitement and motivation in this class and others since students realize they need to excel in school with a professional goal in mind. “It speaks a lot to them that they choose to fill their elective with something that is challenging and that they do have to study for,” Hannah says.

The program starts students’ sophomore year with a Foundations in Health Sciences course. From

Ian Schultz practices taping on fellow student Chris Novellino.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 29

HOSA STARS Many of the health sciences students participate in the Health Occupations Students of America, a student-led club at VHHS. In November nine students qualified for state competition in areas such as sports medicine, forensics, physical therapy and medical spelling.

Senior Ian Schultz placed first for sports medicine, and juniors Aaron Bard and Luke Byrd placed first for forensics. All three of them will compete at international level this summer, and Luke and Aaron are hoping to beat out their secondplace delete international finish from last year.

there they can focus on sports medicine the next two years, or soon there will be a nursing track for those two years that’s also an option. By the spring of their senior year, they are ready for a clinical internship.

That first year they learn the basics of body systems, the history of health care and information about health care career paths, along with plenty of games, activities and educational field trips. By their second year they are learning how to assess and evaluate injuries and to tape patients.

One day the second-year students’ assignment sent them out to the football field to find the Rescue Randy manikin laying on the field with a helmet and football pads just like an injured athlete. Given the scenario Randy was facing that Hannah read to them, the students had to create and implement an emergency action plan. Afterward they got in a circle and reflected on what went well and what they could do better in the future. The students immediately wanted to do another test case 30 June/July 2019

afterward. “It’s exciting to them, and it sticks,” Hannah says.

In their third year, students hone in on their professional skillset, reviewing injury evaluation and return-to-play decisions as well as therapy skills. Often Hannah plays the injured athlete and students have to treat her. “They were super excited when they got it right. You could see them wear it on their face for a few days,” Hannah says. They also got to examine some “real” patients who came into the lab, which ATI Physical Therapy also staffs parttime, thinking through, for example, what a patient did on a normal day that contributes to general knee pain from an IT band injury she had in college.

And then with their new Vestavia Hills scrubs ready to help them look and feel the part, the students embark on a clinical internship after the Christmas holidays, with 12 weeks of observation and interaction. This year, the first of the internship, those took place with two weeks each at two orthopedic clinics, one operative and one non-

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“

It’s preparing me for my future occupation and education from here on out. If I am spending time studying, I want it to mean something.

That’s what we do in here.

-Chris Novellino

”

operative, as well as two physical therapy clinics and a dentist’s office. It all allowed the students to get a better feel for the areas of medicine they like and are interested in pursuing a career in.

What stood out the most from the experience for the three students who pioneered it this year? For Ian Schultz it was performing speeds test for a form of tendinitis with a fellow at orthopedic clinic. For Chris Novellino it was seeing nonoperative ultrasounds on arthritic patients and how the doctor would shoot them with a “WD-40 shot” to lubricate their joints in their knees as he watched it appear on the ultrasound screen.

“It was gross and cool at the same time,” he says. And for Caroline Tinsley it was watching ACL reconstruction surgery. “It was really interesting,” she recalls. “I knew what parts they were talking about. It was cool to know what they were doing.”

And just like Hannah intended, the experiences helped them clarify their future career paths. “Seeing what you do in the internship firsthand you can’t get from just learning about it,” Ian says. Ian and Chris, who are heading to Auburn next year, now know they want to go to medical school, and Ian has the pediatric neurosurgery specifically in mind. Samford-bound Caroline sees herself going to nursing school.

The students also found that the professionals they interacted with said they wish THEY had had a hands-on health care experience like this in high school instead of waiting until late in their college careers to do so. Those professionals took note of

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VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 31

VHHS health science students practice emergency medicine on “Rescue Randy” on the school’s football field.

the students too. “The best feedback we have gotten is that our high school students are right on par with college students both in content knowledge and personal skills—being on time, communicating with patients, asking great questions,” Hannah says.

Jeff Dugas, an orthopedic surgeon at Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopedics Center at St. Vincent’s who hosted all three interns, is quick to sing the praises of this year’s students. “These are all really sharp kids with a reasonable sense of direction in where they want to be with medical 32 June/July 2019

professions,” Jeff says. “They asked good questions.

(It’s impressive for) a 17-year-old to speak a language they don’t know yet—the language of medicine. Several interacted with patients and talked with them about experiences. That’s a level of maturity you don’t often see in high school students.”

Jeff firmly supports student exposure to the ins and outs of medicine—dealing with patients, administrative matters and paperwork, delivery of good and bad news, work-life balance—at such a young age to help get a feel for if they want to start

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Students use a physical therapy “lab” for part of the school day, and ATI Physical Therapy operates a clinic in the space during other parts of the day.

on the long road to medical practice. “The more you get exposed to it if you realize it’s not for you, you save a lot of heartache and trouble, so the earlier you can expose yourself to it the better,” he says.

“Being a physician is a calling. You can’t do it for anything other than the love of the work.”

And the students don’t have to wait to apply their know-how either. Ian now enters a weight room with a different mindset know that he has an enhanced understanding of proper form and how injuries can happen. Caroline, who takes and teaches dance at Dale Serrano Dance Studios, says she now knows good ways to stretch certain muscles so she doesn’t get injured when she dances. Chris, who plays on the soccer team, has been called upon to tape his teammates’ ankles.

“You are in that doctor class,” they will remind 34 June/July 2019

him.

But more than anything the students who continue in the program tap an area of passion that they enjoy. “I like that it’s geared toward what I am going to be dedicating the next 10 or so years of my life learning,” Chris says. “It’s preparing me for my future occupation and education from here on out. If I am spending time studying, I want it to mean something. That’s what we do in here.”

And that’s a delight for Hannah too. “For me as a teacher and athletic trainer I feel blessed to get to teach what I am most passionate about it, and it’s exciting to teach classes that people want to take,” she says. “I can really push them and challenge them and stretch them in ways I couldn’t if they were forced to be there.”

&DRINK

FOOD

ONE STOP SHOP

New York Butcher Shoppe knows its meats—and its sides and prepared foods too.

BY CHRISTIANA ROUSSEL PHOTOS BY MARY FEHR VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 35

T

There’s a reason why the meat loaf is a best seller at New York Butcher Shoppe. It’s made from their house grind of prime tenderloin, prime rib-eye and New York strip—a far cry from your standard ground chuck or ground sirloin. And it’s ground right near where you’ll find a butcher trimming out a gorgeous prime beef tenderloin, trussing it perfectly to slice into filets.

Working with his ninja-sharp blade, the butcher expertly trims the loin and adds the excess to a bag he will grind later for that meatloaf. We all know how great filet mignon and rib-eyes taste, so

36 June/July 2019

imagine a meatloaf made from those same trimmings and you begin to get the idea of how the kind of attention to detail at this Heights Village Shopping Center shop.

Its staff prides itself of their smoked meats, with smoked wings and ribs available each Saturday, smoked prime rib on Fridays, and smoked beef tenderloins, briskets and pork butts whenever customers make the ask.

Owner Jim Moeller is especially proud of the quality of meats he is able to offer customers, “Our beef is Certified Angus, which people know is really

some of the best meat around. We sell a lot of Cheshire pork too, which is of a similar caliber to the Angus, but in pork.”

And so when the opportunity arose to open a second location in Greystone, Moeller jumped at the chance, knowing he could exceed customers’ expectations in that part of town as well. Each location offers the same quality cuts of meat and will always offer to season your selection, at no extra cost. There is something to be said for bringing home a few New York strips that are all ready to go once you get the grill fired up. Your only responsibility is not overcook them!

Offering specialty meats is only part of the equation at New York Butcher Shoppe since the experienced staff is crucial to the success of the

operation. General Manager Phillip Baio has more than 25 years in the food-service business, honing his meat-cutting skills while working the woodgrilling station at Arman’s at Park Lane decades ago. When asked what the secret is to making the perfect brisket, he is quick to respond, “Patience.

You have to cook it low and slow. You cannot rush something like that.”

Of course, you’d expect to find house-made brats, double-cut pork chops and hand-tied beef tenderloin at a local butcher shop, but this 1,750-square-foot spot offers more too. The cold case is always packed out with plenty of mains and sides made in-house and ready to take to your house. The broccoli slaw will have your pickiest eater demanding seconds, while the twice-baked VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 37

Frank Saletta is one of the butchers on staff at the Cahaba Heights shop.

38 June/July 2019

potatoes are generous enough for two to share. A selection of meats and cheeses stand ready for your next charcuterie board while the salads offer some much-needed greens to the diet.

The freezer cases are also teeming with customer favorites: grilled vegetable or jumbo meat-filled raviolis, cannolis and pasta sauces.

There are packs of ground wild boar meat, Millie Ray’s Orange Rolls and loads of casseroles to take to the lake, beach or Saturday night potluck. Moeller says the family-sized lasagnas are his biggest seller in the freezer case, and with one look at the ingredients it is not hard to see why. Layers of fresh pasta sandwich in a house-made tomato-meat sauce and savory ricotta and mozzarella cheeses.

New York Butcher Shoppe may be a franchise (the company is headquartered in Greenville, South

Carolina), but with a local owner like Jim Moeller, extra care is taken to round out the cases with plenty of local goods. Here you will find T. Lish dressings and marinades, Merry Crisps cheese crisps, Alecia’s chutneys and Bronnie’s Brittle.

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In addition to its meat selection, New York Butcher Shoppe offers sandwiches, frozen prepared foods, local beers and more.

40 June/July 2019

GROWNUPS WERE STUNNED AS HE CHARMED THE SERVER INTO GIVING HIM ICE CREAM WITH SPRINKLES AND HOT FUDGE, ON THE HOUSE!

available! Birmingham is blessed to have so many great local brews and you can find most of them here in Cahaba Heights: Good People, Avondale Brewing Company, Monday Night Brewing, Ghost Train and Cahaba Brewing Company can all be found in cans.

Speaking of imbibing, the shop offers a wine-of-the-month program for their customers. For $30 a month, customers receive two bottles of each month’s selection, with tips on enjoying and pairing. They also receive a 10 percent discount on any additional wine purchases. Moeller makes sure everyone on staff has had a chance to try the wines of the month and can speak to their flavor profile. “Wines, like most things,” he says. “(They) should just be enjoyed for how YOU like it, so we encourage our staff to find something they genuinely like so they can recommend it from a

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place of personal enjoyment instead of selling something at a particular price point.”

Fridays and Saturdays are by far the busiest at the shop. The crew is cranking out handmade sandwiches all day while customers load up the counter with choice grilling selections. Since there’s a seafood shop just next door, Moeller is quick to

point out the advantages of this similar retail operation.

“I think it’s great because people can come in and grab a couple of meals from us, then go next door and pick up some fish,” he says. “Or they’ll come here to get sides that go with what they buy next door. We have so many customers– especially on Saturdays–who will go to Sexton’s and then also come here to knock out a couple of meals for the week. They are great neighbors and it gives us more neighborhood pull. And when you throw in Murphree’s Market down the street—you can get all your produce there— it is a great Saturday morning ritual for folks.” And that sounds like the perfect Cahaba Heights tradition in the making, something to be enjoyed by generations of neighbors.

New York Butcher Shoppe is located at 3158 Heights Village. You can reach them at (205) 9707300.

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FOOD & DRINK

5

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR

Ben & Wendy Treadwell

Bendy’s Cookies & Cream Founders PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint has a new neighbor in Cahaba Heights: a cookies and cream shop.

To get the scoop (pun intended) on what the storefront will offer, we chatted with the couple behind it about the truck where it all began. As of printing time, they were planning to open at 3029 Pump House Road by early June.

How do you describe the Bendy’s concept?

It’s is a combination between an ice cream shop and a bakery. Our cookies and ice cream are all made from scratch in-house.

Guests can choose any combination of ice cream and/or cookies. Our signature treat is a made-to-order ice cream sandwich with any two freshly baked cookies and a scoop of any ice cream. Our storefront will feature a few more items that our food truck does not offer, like milkshakes and sundaes.

Why did you decide to open a brick and mortar location in Cahaba Heights?

When we started the truck in spring 2016, we always had the goal of opening a storefront. We thought the food truck would be a great start for our business, and fortunately we have grown each year and can now open a storefront. We are happy to finally have a location to call home in Cahaba Heights. We love the community there and feel the location is central to the Greater Birmingham area.

What will the inside look like and what will it feature?

Our storefront will feature many of the same aesthetics from the Bendy’s food truck.

We will feature barn wood on the counters and string lights hanging above. Guests will have a front-row seat to our kitchen when they sit at the counter. For those looking for the perfect post on social media, we will have a wall painted with our “Scoop. Eat. Repeat.” slogan, so guests can get a photo of their ice cream and cookies. We will also have a back entrance leading to the Martin’s patio, so we hope everyone can come enjoy their barbecue and grab some ice cream and cookies for dessert.

finds that the cinnamon from the Snickerdoodle balances perfectly with the Sweet Cream ice cream. Wendy loves chocolate, and the Double Chocolate cookie delivers a brownie-like texture and flavor.

The Cookies & Cream pairs perfectly and balances out the rich chocolate flavor.

What’s the short version of how Bendy’s got started?

Wendy has always enjoyed cooking and baking. In fact, before they started the food truck, she worked for Oxmoor House testing and developing recipes for cookbooks, like Cooking Light and Southern Living. Wendy saw a concept similar to Bendy’s in LA while visiting her cousin at UCLA and thought it What are some of the most popular would be a great idea to start in Birmingham Bendy’s flavors and some of your one day. Once we got married in 2014, the dream started to become a reality. We favorites?

Our most popular ice cream flavors are experimented with ice cream and cookie Sweet Cream (similar to vanilla), Cookie flavors at home and tested them out on Butter and Strawberry Buttermilk. Our most friends. Eventually, we drove to Charleston popular cookies are Chocolate Chip, to purchase their truck. Ben gradually Snickerdoodle and Pretzel Toffee. Ben likes worked on the truck with the help of friends, to keep it simple with his flavor choices and and in 2016 Bendy’s was born.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 43

FOOD & DRINK

5

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR

Nick Ianuzzi

Nuzzi Gelato Founder PHOTO BY HANNAH BEASLEY

Growing up, Nick Ianuzzi’s name wasn’t an easy one for his friends to pronounce, so he’d often get called simply “Nuzzi.” The name had immigrated with his grandfather from Southern Italy and now it’s the name on the artisan gelato that Nick, a Vestavia Hills resident, has made his trade. You can find Nuzzi Gelato at Pepper Place Market on Saturday mornings this summer and their new truck at lots of other spots and events around town all week long. Follow them on social media @nuzzigelato for updates on their stops.

How did you get into gelato making?

I am from an Italian family, but I actually didn’t have gelato until my brother and I studied abroad in Italy. We would have it almost every day and walk a long way to get good gelato. When I got back to Birmingham, I couldn’t find the same quality of product I had over in Italy, so I wanted to share that with people here and be able to have the opportunity to make it myself.

At first I tried to make it myself, but it wouldn’t turn out right. So I went and studied under an Italian gelateria in New York. I learned the production equipment, the techniques and the ingredients to make a good authentic Italian gelato.

What makes Nuzzi Gelato unique in the market?

A lot of times people will buy a premade base and add flavorings for gelato, but we are starting from scratch, making everything 44 June/July 2019

like a Nutella. Mixed Berry is a dairy-free sorbetto. We use strawberries, blackberries and raspberries and a little bit of lemon juice to give it a tartness and bring out the flavors.

We do a Stracciatella, which is a sweet cream ice cream with chocolate drizzled in it. It’s a traditional flavor in Italy. The Chocolate Hazelnut is my favorite, but I like to pair it What’s the difference between gelato with other things like Mixed Berry where you get a chocolate-covered berry flavor, or a and ice cream?

Gelato has less fat in it because it has a Cappuccino for a mocha flavor. I have some higher percentage of milk and less cream. go-to flavors people expect me to have, but It’s served at a warmer temperature, and it’s then others I switch up as the seasons change also got less air in it. When you are churning or with fruit availability. it, the church speed is slower than American ice cream, so you get a denser product. More Can you talk about how you developed taste comes through because less fat on your the branding on your logos and on your tongue, and the warmer temperature helps truck?

We were going for a vintage Italian feel. A you to taste the flavors more. lot of it was inspired by the look and feel and colors of Italy, especially the Vespas and What flavors do customers like best?

Some of the most popular ones so far have automobiles over there. I am passionate been the Chocolate Hazelnut, which tastes about cars, and the Vespa is so iconic. from fresh milk and cream. We heat it up and cool it back down, which gives it better flavor and texture. I think people can tell a difference that I am using real fruit too.

People say it reminds them of Italy when they were there. That’s the goal—I’m trying to make it as good as it is over there.

&STYLE

HOME

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

Blair G. Smith’s style is a fresh twist on classic—reupholstering, refinishing and custom designing required.

BY MADOLINE MARKHAM PHOTOS BY LAUREN USTAD VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 45

H

Home building runs in the Smith family. Taylor and Blair built their first home on Vestavia Place on one of four lots his grandfather purchased from the Wald family in the 1970s and later gave to his grandchildren. But then Taylor found a vacant large lot on Shades Crest Road ripe for a new build— and decided to subdivide the lot with his parents Phyl and Bubba Smith. With a set of old-school blueprints the couple had a retired fireman/draftsman work up in hand, their home took shape.

Apart from Taylor’s prized elk and “smart” all-in-one security/HVA/camera system installed by Wright Innovations, though, most of the interior selections were in Blair’s court, and he took over more the building process since her father was ill at the time. Her vision? An updated French look that incorporated her grandmother and motherin-law’s antiques with a fresh twist. Mixing old with new is the name of her décor game, you’ll see in any room in her home—and many she designs through her business, Blair G. Smith Interiors, too.

“Your home is your sanctuary,” she says. “You go to work all day, and I think you should invest in your home. Your home should be a place where you feel relaxed and safe, where you look around and enjoy beautiful things. It’s an investment in your life and your happiness.”

Throughout the home, you’ll find reupholstered and

46 June/July 2019

refinished furniture passed down from generation to generation paired with custom furniture pieces Blair commissioned that add a more youthful flair to the overall look. Likewise some walls hold custom framed antique ledgers or other family treasures while others boast more abstract pieces commissioned from local artists Claire Cormany and Ashley McCullars.

As Blair tours us through the space, she lists off design tips along the way. “You have to look at fabric morning noon and night because it changes with the light,” she says. And when it comes to making a big purchase like drapes, “live without it and wait until you find the right fabric or can afford a thoughtout purchase. Don’t throw away money on something temporary.”

Blair started her design business in 2014, but she’d been working in the industry for years before that, starting with jobs at King Cotton in high school and college and giving way to sales jobs for Ferguson, Kenny & Company (now Fixtures & Finishes) and plumbing companies.

Today Blair and Taylor’s two children and dog love to run their Shades Crest property, not too far from where both their parents grew up (although they didn’t start dating until college). Time will tell whether the building itch will strike again, but for now the family is more than content to stop and admire their view—and their completed project.

Master Bathroom This bathtub from Fixtures & Finishes is the star of this white marble bathroom space. Jerry the hippo (named by Blair’s kids), sitting next to the tub, was Blair’s grandmother’s.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 47

Kitchen Cyprus display cabinets with chicken wire door faces show off wedding gifts, baby gifts, family silver and other kitchen ware the family has collected over the years. “I tell people to shine it, display it, use it,” Blair says of silver and other china. Adjacent to the Carrera marbletopped space sits Blair’s French kitchen table passed down by her mother-in-law paired with lucite chairs and a church pew Blair and her sister bought from one of their grandmother’s many yard sales.

Pet Portraits In the Smiths’ breakfast nook hang portraits of their past and present dogs by Donna Chieves, whose art is showcased at Arceneaux Gallery in Homewood.

48 June/July 2019

Living Room Floor-to-ceiling Magnolia damask fabric custom drapes with a velvet overlay play up the drama of this two-story den, pulling similar colors from the leopard printneedlepoint combination pillows Blair had made for the space. Like the rest of the house, the room also shows off pieces passed down to Blair from family members and of course her husband’s prize elk. To the left of the drapes hangs a painting by local artist Ashley McCullars that, upon Blair’s request after the passing of her father, was her interpretation of what heaven looks like.

Dining Room Blair had pieces of an old botanical calendar that was her grandmother’s framed as wall art in this room, across from a wall that boasts portraits of her two children by Leon Loard. She also had the antiqued mirror custom made for this space and added white drapes to both entryways that add another layer of warmth.

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Master Bedroom The master space shows off Blair’s “antique with a twist” look. The custom headboard she designed delivers a modern feel, while the tables that were her mother-in-law’s add a classic touch. Blair likes that the white coverlet from Ballard Designs can easily be washed too.

Boy’s Room Blair and Taylor’s son’s room is full of memorabilia that show the love of the outdoors he shares with his dad. Blair had the leather headboards custom made with bridle pieces that hang at their tops.

50 June/July 2019

Girl’s Room Since Blair’s daughter loves birds, Blair designed her room around a colorful bird fabric from King Cotton, and she commissioned local artist Ashley McCullars to create matching colorful canvases behind the bedside table. You can spot birds in the light fixture too.

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BB&T Scott & Stringfellow is pleased to announce

Ryan M. Parks Managing Director, Financial Advisor Joseph D. DuMontier Managing Director, Financial Advisor Drew Weil, IV Assistant Vice President, Financial Advisor Kristina A. Palangi, CFP®, ChFC® Business Development Officer Paige W. Harris Business Development Officer have joined our Birmingham office

Entryway One of Blair’s favorite ways to add a pop of color to a space is with a rug like the one here from Old World Acquisitions in Homewood that welcomes guests who come in their front door.

BEHIND THE SCENES Parks-DuMontier Financial Group of BB&T Scott & Stringfellow 2501 20th Place South, Suite110 Birmingham, AL 35223 205-445-2202 BB&T Scott & Stringfellow is a division of BB&T Securities, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. BB&T Securities, LLC, is a wholly owned nonbank subsidiary of BB&T Corporation, is not a bank, and is separate from any BB&T bank or nonbank subsidiary. Securities and insurance products or annuities sold, offered, or recommended by BB&T Scott & Stringfellow are not a deposit, not FDIC insured, not guaranteed by a bank, not guaranteed by any federal government agency and may lose value.

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Interior Design: Blair G. Smith Interiors Hardware: Brandino Brass Appliances: Ferguson

Select Lighting: Gabby

Select Furniture: Birmingham Wholesale Furniture, Gabby, Lee Industries

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AT HOME

Quick Bookcase Styling A bookshelf is no longer just for books, it’s the perfect place to showcase style and accessories. When it comes to styling shelves it’s all about balance, layering and editing. Start off by stacking and placing coffee table books, and keep the bindings neutral. Next, incorporate accessories. Blend textured items, like embossed wooden boxes and a crystal votive, with modern and antique pieces. Lastly, a bookcase is the perfect spot to showcase art and a fun table lamp.

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Jessica Clement is an interior designer and stylist who believes that welldesigned interiors should tell the story about the people who live there.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 53

IN STYLE

STARS & STRAW FOREVER

BY ABBY ADAMS PHOTOS BY LAUREN USTAD

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1. LAVENDER DRESS WITH RUFFLES Lavender is the IT color this summer.

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LOOK 2

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1. ANGEL MARA STAR TOP Stars are trending this season, and always for July 4.

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ACCESSORIZE 1. HELLO SUNSHINE STRAW HAT Mia Moda | $29

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58 June/July 2019

Ninety Years Young Polly Gilmore lives by a mantra of hard work—and fastidious yard work—from her Vestavia Hills home of 70-plus years.

By Brenda Ladun Photos by Lauren Ustad

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 59

60 June/July 2019

On a bright sunny morning, Polly Gilmore puts on her straw hat and heads to the shed to spring her 25-year-old riding mower from hiding.

Because of the mower’s age, she jiggles this and that to get it started—she doesn’t see the sense in buying a new mower while this one is still working just fine.

With the engine cranked, Polly draws a linear pattern with her mower blades back and forth across her lawn. First she will tackle the front yard, then the backyard, and then an adjacent patch of land owned by the city, trimming and blowing leaves off of all of it. And it’s no surprise her wellmanicured lawn and knock-out rose bushes won her the 2015 the Vestavia Hills Beautification Award.

Oh, and did we mention Polly is 90 years old—or rather 90 years young?

When asked her secret to the fountain of youth, Polly laughs. “It’s hard work, not giving up staying

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busy, and spending time with friends and family,” she says. “If all I did was sit down and watch television, I think it would be over.”

On another day you might find Polly driving her car to get pine straw and spreading it herself. “I’ve learned the secret to spreading pine straw is that you grab small clumps and drop it,” she says. “It makes it fluffy. And to get the professional edge I learned from the pine straw seller that you use a blower to even it up. Even at 90 I learn something new every day—it’s amazing!”

One of Polly’s favorite things to do is to stand back and enjoy looking at the job she completed.

After all, she likes to accomplish something every day, she’ll tell you with a smile.

Polly is a living example that at any age anything

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These black and white photos show scenes of Polly’s life. On the far left she stands with her husband, Clyde. To the right of it, she is pictured with coworkers at Brookwood Hospital where she was a greeter.

is possible. Her zest for life is contagious. Her wit, mind and memory are sharper than her mower blades. Her blue eyes sparkle with laughter, and her smile is as warm as the sun as she talks about working in her yard.

Her penchant for hard work began when she was a child. Polly grew up with seven brothers and sisters in the Overton community near Cahaba Heights, and her dad was a coal miner. “Everyone had a job back then,” she recounts. She and her sister were in charge of indoor cleaning but also learned about farming and raising animals. Then, like today, hard work wasn’t a chore. She enjoyed being busy.

Her family had chickens and cows and grew much of their own vegetables and fruit. “The only thing Momma would have to buy was flour and sugar,” she says. “In fact Momma would make our clothes out of the flour sacks. The sacks came in floral patterns for just that purpose.” In the early days their family had a horse but no car.

Polly gleaned some of her mental toughness and 62 June/July 2019

never-give-up attitude from her late husband, Clyde Gilmore, too. At 18 she met the love of her life, a war hero and former prisoner of war returning from World War II. Clyde was taken prisoner by the Japanese while serving in the Philippines. The day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941, he was one of the 60,000 to 80,000 U.S. and Philippine soldiers taken prisoner by the Japanese and forced on the Bataan Death March. He and the rest were tortured and barely had enough to eat.

Conditions were filthy, degrading and dangerous, and they basically were treated worse than animals.

Many of the men died.

Sometimes Clyde would have to sleep next to a dead body until the morning came, he later told his wife. Those who did survive these treacherous conditions came back to the U.S. plagued with health issues. Clyde was no exception. He returned with tuberculosis, dysentery and beriberi (a thiamine deficiency) but still went to school to become an electrician.

The couple found a tiny house on a small patch of land in Vestavia Hills in 1947. At the time there were only six small houses on the street, but today you’ll find a couple dozen. Quickly they realized the three-room home with no indoor plumbing would not be suitable for a family, so while Clyde went to school to become an electrician, Polly and her brother Warren Patterson worked on building the home most of the week. When Clyde came home from school and work, he would also help build their new home.

“Yes, I held the main beam while my brother nailed it in place,” Polly recalls. “And there were no power tools back them. My brother handpicked each piece of wood.”

That same house is very sturdy to this day, and Polly makes sure it is painted and that windows caulked and generally kept in good condition.

It’s as if the sun is always shining inside Polly’s home, no matter what

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 63

Polly stands with her signature smile in the backyard of the home that she still proudly cares for herself .

64 June/July 2019

“

Even at 90 I learn something new every day—it’s amazing!

-Polly Gilmore

the weather outside with the pride she takes in her home she helped build.

When Polly was 45, Clyde died after a long battle with cancer, and she was left with four children to care for, the youngest ages 12 and 14. She knew there was no such thing as giving up, so in order to pay bills and keep food on the table, Polly worked as a greeter at Brookwood Hospital. There she made lifelong friends just as she continues to do today on her daily walks (yes, she walks every day) and wherever she goes.

Polly never meets a stranger and has a good word for those she meets. Her smile is teasing, and her sense of humor never quits. “Imagine me making some of the best friends I’ve ever had in my 80s,” she says, again laughing as her crystal blue eyes sparkle with delight.

She lovingly listens as her friends share about their lives—domestic violence, health issues, deaths in the

”

family—and offers her own stories of loss. She often shares that she knows God has each of us here and now for a reason, lending a sympathetic ear and offering advice to stay strong.

Just as Polly keeps her yard and her mower in tip top shape, with a tune-up every six months, she keeps her own check-ups at her doctor regularly.

She’ll readily advise others to get rid of junk in your life and take care of what God gave you. In fact, she drives from Vestavia Hills two hours north to take her sister who is living in a nursing home to doctor’s appointments. If one of her sisters needs her help, she hits the road and drives an hour to an hour and a half to help.

Hard work and caring for others—that’s Polly’s her secret to the fountain of youth. “Life is too short,” she says. “Enjoy your life. Don’t waste your days worrying, and if you are in a dire dangerous situation, the quickest way out is too slow.”

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201 Racquet Club Parkway Pelham AL 35124 VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 65

VESTAVIA HILLS’ BEST WINNERS 2019 You voted. We tallied. See just who Vestavia Hills’ favorites are.

Photos by James Culver & Contributed

66 June/July 2019

FOOD & DRINK MOST FRIENDLY SERVICE THREE-WAY TIE Chick-Fil-A 513 Montgomery Highway (205)824-3540 chick-fil-a.com/locations/al/ vestavia-hills Snapper Grabbers Land & Sea 521 Montgomery Highway, Suites 101 & 109 (205)824-9799 snappergrabbers.com The Ridge Eat & Drink 3325 Rocky Ridge Plaza (205)917-5080 theridgealabama.com Runner Up: Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint

Best Ethnic Dining The Olive Branch 3236 Cahaba Heights Road (205)967-4600 theolivebranchbham.com Runners Up: The Pita Stop, El Poblano Mexican Restaurant, Pappas’ Grill BEST DATE NIGHT Bistro V 521 Montgomery Highway (205)823-1505 bistro-v.com Runners Up: Satterfield’s, Slice Pizza BEST SWEET TREATS Bruster’s Real Ice Cream 1008 Vestavia Parkway (205)978-2347 brusters.com/vestaviahills/

DINING

Runners Up: Doodles Sorbets and Ices, Ashley Mac’s, Iz Cafe

TWO-WAY TIE: Twisted Root Burger Co. 2501 Rocky Ridge Road (205)874-9293 twistedrootburgerco.com/ locations/birmingham

BEST DRINKS/COCKTAILS Bistro V 521 Montgomery Highway (205)823-1505 bistro-v.com

MOST KID FRIENDLY

Doodles Sorbets and Ices 3238 Cahaba Heights Road (205) 527-1022 doodlesbham.com Runners Up: The Ridge Eat & Drink, Ashley Mac’s BEST CASUAL DINING The Ridge Eat & Drink 3325 Rocky Ridge Plaza (205)917-5080 theridgealabama.com Runners Up: Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint, Diplomat Delicatessen & Spirits

BEST SWEET TREATS Bruster’s Real Ice Cream

Runners Up: The Ridge, Bar 31 BEST CHEF Patrick McCown/Snapper Grabbers 521 Montgomery Highway, Suites 101 & 109 (205)824-9799 snappergrabbers.com Runners Up: George McMillan III/FoodBar, Jeremy Downey/Bistro V

COMMUNITY

BEST CHEF Snapper Grabbers Photo by Mary Fehr

BEST COMMUNITY EVENT VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 67

Andy's Creekside Nursery

Birmingham's Premier Garden Center, Landscaping Service, and Farmer's Market

3351 Morgan Dr, Vestavia Hills, AL 35216

(205) 824-0233

Monograms Plus

BEST COMMUNITY EVENT Christmas Tree Lighting Festival Photo by Jackson Ross

Christmas Tree Lighting Festival This night of lights, music and festivities kicks off the season with cheer.

Runners Up: I Love America Day, Taste of the Heights, Wing Ding

Serving Birmingham for 29 years!

BEST NEIGHBORHOOD Cahaba Heights Lots of locally owned shops and restaurants are just a short walk or drive away.

Runners Up: Countrywood, Liberty Park, Tanglewood

1360 Montgomery Hwy, Vestavia Hills, AL 35216 (205) 822-3353 www.facebook.com/monogramsplusbirmingham 68 June/July 2019

BEST LOCAL CAUSE KultureCity National efforts for kids with sensory disorders got their start right here. kulturecity.org Runners Up: Vestavia Hills

City Schools Foundation, Vestavia Library PALS BEST OUTDOOR SPOT McCallum Park Whether you come to picnic or to play, you’re sure to stay.

Runners Up: Wald Park, Library in the Forest BEST CHURCH CHOIR Shades Mountain Baptist Church Voices fill this Columbiana road sanctuary in worship each Sunday morning. shades.org Runner Up: Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church BEST LOCAL PERSONALITY Rick & Bubba

BEST LOCAL CAUSE KultureCity

VESTAVIA HILLS’

BEST 2019 VE ST M A .CO HO VIAH ILLSMAGAZINE OV ERSM

Thanks For Your Vote!

Friendliest Casual Dining & Best ChefChef Patrick McCown

521 Montgomery Hwy (next to Chic-Fil-A) Vestavia Hills, AL 35216 • 205.824.9799 Seafood Market / Butcher Shop Tues-Fri 10-6 Sat 10-5 Cafe' LUNCH ONLY Tues- Sat 11-2 VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 69

tavia Hills, AL 35216

vestavia

Tangles Vestavia

BEST STORE FOR HOME FURNISHINGS/DÉCOR Chickadee Interiors

NEW CUSTOMERS Receive a FREE haircut with the purchase of any color service over $60 now through July 15th.*

EXISTING CUSTOMERS Receive a FREE Davines Spotlight Mask to take home with any color service now though July 15th while supplies last.* *This ad must be mentioned when pre-booking your appointment.

VESTAVIA HILLS’

BEST 2019 VE ST OM A H O V I AH E. C I LL A ZI N OV ER S M S MAG

Tangles 3386 Morgan Drive Vestavia Hills, AL 35216 205-823-7376 Check us out on Facebook and Instagram at TanglesVestavia!

The laughter from these two personalities spreads all over the Southeast from their Highway 31 studio. rickandbubba.com

THANK YOU FOR VOTING US

BEST CASUAL DINING AND FRIENDLY SERVICE VESTAVIA HILLS’

BEST 2019 VE ST OM A HO V I AH E. C I LL A ZI N OV ER S M S MAG

VISIT US TODAY! 3325 Rocky Ridge Plz, Vestavia Hills, AL 35243

205.917.5080 NOW OPEN ON SUNDAY

70 June/July 2019

Runners Up: Walker Burroughs, Scott Register, Jackèe the Mannequin

HEALTH & BEAUTY BEST MEDICAL PRACTICE Vestavia Pediatrics 1936 Old Orchard Road (205)978-3200 childrensal.org/vestaviapediatrics Runners Up: Dermatology & Skin Care Center of

Birmingham, Brookwood Baptist Health Primary Care Network - Cahaba Heights BEST DENTAL OR ORTHODONTICS PRACTICE Fulton Dental 1000 Chestnut Street, Suite 100 (205)822-3838 vestaviadentist.com Runners Up: Norris Orthodontics, Sarver Orthodontics BEST ANIMAL CLINIC Vestavia Animal Clinic 1471 Montgomery Highway (205)823-7485 vestaviaanimalclinic.com

Runners Up: Cahaba Mountain Brook Animal Clinic, Pet Vet Animal Hospital, Inc. BEST SALON OR SPA Tangles Vestavia 3386 Morgan Drive (205)823-7376 facebook.com/TanglesVestavia/ Runners Up: Glam Beauty Boutique, Vestavia Nails BEST FITNESS CENTER Lifetime Fitness 3051 Healthy Way (205)547-3100 www.lifetime.life Runners Up: YMCA, Planet Fitness, CrossFit Mudtown

SHOPPING & SERVICES

BEST NEW BUSINESS La Bella Skin & Wellness 8000 Liberty Parkway, Suite 120 (205)994-8906 labellabirmingham.com Runners Up: Martin’s Bar-BQue, Roll Up Ice Cream BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE La Bella Skin & Wellness 8000 Liberty Parkway, Suite 120 (205)994-8906 labellabirmingham.com Runners Up: Cahaba Pharmacy, Issis & Sons BEST BOUTIQUE/CLOTHING Serendipity Boutique 3124 Heights Village (205)970-2398 serendipityofbham.com

BEST ANIMAL CLINIC Vestavia Animal Clinic

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Thank you for voting me 2019’s Best Real Estate Agent in Vestavia Hills.

Proudly serving my hometown.

VES TA HIL VIA LS’

NICOLE THOMASON HARDEKOPF

BES

VESTAVIA REAL ESTATE SPECIALIST

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201

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9 VI VE AHI RS LLS MAG M AZINE.COM

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NHARDEKOPF@ARCREALTYCO.COM 205-835-4667

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4274 CAHABA HEIGHTS COURT, SUITE 200 | 205-969-8910

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 71

La Bella SKIN & WELLNESS

Thank you Vestavia for voting us the the "Best New Business" and for having the "Best Customer Service"

Gift Certificates Available VESTAVIA HILLS’

BEST

BEST REAL ESTATE AGENT Nicole Hardekopf/ARC Realty

2019 VE ST OM A HO VIAH E.C ILL OV AZIN ERSM SMAG

205.994.8906 8000 Liberty Pkwy Suite 120 Vestavia Hills, AL 35242T

Runners Up: Dirty Hippie, Mia Moda Boutique, The Clotheshorse BEST STORE FOR GIFTS Monograms Plus 1360 Montgomery Highway, Suite 122 (205) 822-3353 shopmonogramsplus.com Runners Up: Darnell’s Fun Stuff, The Blue Willow, Mark’s Outdoor Sports Inc. BEST STORE FOR HOME FURNISHINGS/DÉCOR Chickadee Interiors 3138 Cahaba Heights Road (205)969-3138 chickadeeinteriors.com

Thank you Vestavia Hills for voting us "The Best Children's Store”

VESTAVIA HILLS’

BEST 2019 VE ST OM A HO VIAH E.C ILL OV AZIN ERSM SMAG

TWEEN TWEEN CLOTHING GIFTS ACCESSORIES

3138 Heights Village 72 June/July 2019

205-298-1811

Runners Up: Issis Furniture Gallery, Interiors & Antiques, Interiors by Kathy Harris BEST JEWELRY Steed’s Jewelers 1425 Montgomery Highway, Suite 111 (205)822.9173 steedsjewelers.com Runners Up: Cummings Jewelry Design, Alan & Co. Jewelry & Express Repair

BEST STORE FOR KIDS/TEENS The Lili Pad 3138 Heights Village (205)298-1811 Facebook.com/thelilipad Runners Up: GiGi’s Teen, Learning Express Toys BEST FLORIST/NURSERY Andy’s Creekside Nursery 2489 Rocky Ridge Road (205)824-0300 andysgardencenter.com Runners Up: Leaf N Petal, Continental Florist

HOME, FINANCE, & AUTO BEST REAL ESTATE AGENT Nicole Hardekopf/ARC Realty (205)835-4667 nhardekopf@arcrealtyco.com nhardekopf.arcrealtyco.com Runner Up: Manda Luccasen/Re/Max

Best Dental Practice

Fulton Dental www.vestaviadentist.com

BEST INSURANCE AGENT John Henley/State Farm 2118 Columbiana Road (205)823-1343 statefarm.com Runner Up: Jack Traffanstedt/State Farm BEST BANK Regions Bank 520 Montgomery Highway// 529 Montgomery Highway regions.com (800)734-4667 Runners Up: IberiaBank, BBVA Compass BEST AUTO SERVICE Express Oil Change 1479 Montgomery Hwy (205)823-0466// 3940 Crosshaven Drive (205)969-5596 expressoil.com Runners Up: Anthony’s Car Wash & Detail, Royal Automotive VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 73

Hellenic

Photographer Mary Fehr surprised her mom with a trip to Greece and documented the sights and scenes along the way.

Photos & Text by Mary Fehr

74 June/July 2019

Heights

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 75

Any gift my mom gave me growing up was thoughtful and came with a beautiful handwritten card - something that mattered and that I would always cherish.

76 June/July 2019

My mom, Cathy, has always been like that. She’s always taking care of other people, putting others’ needs before her own. I’m not sure that she has a day to herself during the week. If it’s not taking care of one of her own kids, it’s taking care of their kids, going to work, helping at the church. She doesn’t get a break.

This year I knew it was time to give my mom a gift she really deserved: a really great destination trip to Greece. I found a great deal on flights and booked our Airbnbs, tacking on a few more days in Paris at the end.

When Christmas came, I gave my mom a dictionary of Greek phrases. She was really confused and didn’t know what was going on. That’s when I told her that I have booked us this trip, and she could barely believe it.

For eight days we wandered streets, met wonderful people, enjoyed delicious food and saw the most beautiful sights. I love art and history, and my mom is a very devout Catholic and loves churches and architecture. We stayed in a great little neighborhood in Athens and visited the Acropolis and Parthenon there, and then in Santorini we made our temporary home in an incredible cave house in the town of Oia with the best sunset view.

I was quite worried that by the end of the first few days we would be at each other’s throats because our similarities can create tension. But we came out of this trip closer than ever. She really is my best friend. She understands that not every day will be a good day with me even in a beautiful place on a relaxing vacation. She lets me have my bad days. She is always there for me, and she loves with the deepest love that you could ever know.

Mary’s mom and dad raised her and her three older sisters in Vestavia Hills and continue to call it home.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 77

ABOVE: Visiting the ruins of the Parthenon, a temple to the goddess Athena.

TOP LEFT: You can find cats and dogs on about every corner in Oia. Here’s one

78 June/July 2019

of my favorites napping in a tree.

MIDDLE: It’s easy to get lost in the streets of Santorini, so these signs were helpful for us to find our way .

BOTTOM: Church bells in Santorini.

LEFT: A cafe overlooking the Aegean Sea was a great spot for sunset views.

TOP RIGHT: Roasted eggplant with tomato and feta.

BOTTOM: Baked feta with honey and sesame.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 79

RIGHT: Exterior of Notre Dame Cathedral.

ABOVE LEFT: A view of the Eiffel Tower from the Trocadero.

ABOVE RIGHT: Busy streets outside of Le Tartempion.

OPPOSITE: The stained glass of Sainte-Chapelle.

With the recent burning of Notre Dame Cathedral, I’ve been really reflecting on this trip and my mom and I seeing Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle and Sacre Coeur.

Just as it’s not guaranteed that these beautiful iconic places and buildings will be around forever, there’s no guarantee that any of us will be either. While my peers and I are busy starting our own adult lives, we often forget that as we get older our parents are getting older too. I’m realizing we can’t take this time for granted. I only hope that my mom knows how much she means to me and how much I love her.

80 June/July 2019

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1561 Montgomery Highway, Hoover, AL 35216 VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 81

OUT & ABOUT

1

RISE DAY

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3

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PHOTOS BY MALLORY BARRY

Vestavia Hills High School students raised $250,678 for the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB, one of the nation’s leading research and treatment centers, through its RISE Day festivities on April 12 and other fundraisers.

1. Eigen Escario, Rohma Naim and Nikhita Chintareddy 2. Courtney and Eleanor Farley

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3. Olivia Breedlove and Anna Deering 4. Kelly Lao and Courtney Milner 5. Izzy Hicks, Caroline Cox and Riley Richardson 6. Kylan Powell and Riya Parikh 7. William Seitz 8. Hailey Mao and Brittney Xu 9. Grace Uldrich, Rachel Morris and Eden Roberson 10. Katy Lambert and Emma Grace Nix 11. Melissa and Nina Hall 12. Kellyn Murch and Katie Kimbrough

82 June/July 2019

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OUT & ABOUT

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Wine Wednesday's Join us for a cheese board and a bottle of wine

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$

95

SUNDAY SPECIAL CHOOSE A BOTTLE OF WINE FOR 1/2 PRICE FROM 4PM -9PM 270 Rele St. Mountain Brook

205-677-8235

Mon-Thurs 11-10. Fri-Sat 11-11. Sun 11-9 VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 83

OUT & ABOUT

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1

EGG HUNT IN THE HILLS

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PHOTOS BY MALLORY BARRY

Children hunted for eggs at this annual event on April 13.

1. Patty and Joe Donnelly, and Beckham Mote 2. Barnes Barganier 3. Lochlan and KK Harlow Barmlett 4. Mayuri Okutsu 5. Brandy, Anna Brittan and Beckett Bradford 6. Elliot Reese 7. Triston and Jordan Pearson 8. William Smith 9. Jeff and Abigail Phillips 10. Bailey, Heather and Alexandria Irvin 11. Sophie and Joel Thorn 12. Sarah and Heather Black

84 June/July 2019

OUT & ABOUT

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BARIATRIC HEALTH & WELLNESS

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• Online protocol available • Appetite Suppressants If you are ready for a healthier body and mind, Bariatric Health and Wellness is for you!

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2017 Canyon Rd #17 Vestavia Hills 205-397-8856 bariatricdirect.com VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 85

OUT & ABOUT

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HEIGHTS HANGOUT

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PHOTOS BY MALLORY BARRY

Heights Village in Cahaba Heights was filled with live music, food from area restaurants, a kids zone and more on May 4..

1. Kelly Falls and Adam Plant 2. Amanda Harris and Amy Fuqua 3. Will and Bonnie Coleman 4. Inge, Nicole and Addie Tingle 5. Jim and Akash Parekh 6. Courtney and Nikki Crawford 7. Antenor Lodewyck and Julie Maeseele 8. Lucy Chen and Victor Gomez 9. Jennifer and Luke Champion 10. Kendra and Jack Carney 11. Haley Bush and Tiffany DeLuca 12. Maggie Hillhouse and Maria Carlile 13. Vestavia Hills Fire Department firefighters

86 June/July 2019

OUT & ABOUT

10

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE CONSULTATION TODAY!

205.988.9678

info@samuelsonorthodontics.com 5336 Stadium Trace Parkway, Ste 112, Hoover, AL 35244 www.samuelsonorthodontics.com

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Find pottery by Becky Bolton, beautiful oil paintings

by Sonia Summers, and other unique gifts when you visit our gallery on Main Street in Montevallo

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VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 87

MARKETPLACE

Marketplace Vestavia Hills Magazine • 205.669.3131

Acceptance Loan Company. Personal Loans! Let us pay off your title loan! 224 Cahaba Valley Road, Pelham. 205-663-5821 Need appliance or air conditioner parts? How about a water filter for your refrigerator? We have it all at A-1 Appliance Parts! Call 1-800841-0312 www.A1Appliance.com

Looking For A New Career As A CNA? AHAVA Healthcare of Alabaster is hiring Apply in Person: 850 9th Street NW Alabaster,AL-35007 Call:205-663-3859 Linda White,Ext:2817 Tracy Golden,Ext:2821 INDUSTRIAL ATHLETES $17.68 hour + production & safety $$$ incentives.

Grocery order selection using electric pallet jacks & voice activated headsets.

Apply online at AGSOUTH.COM or call Charlie Seagle at (205) 808-4833 Preemployment drug test required.

Automation Personnel Services Hiring IMMEDIATELY For: Automotive Assembly, General Labor, Production, Clerical, Machine Operator, Quality, Carpentry, Welder, 88 June/July 2019

Foundry. Positions In: Calera, Clanton, Pelham, Bessemer, McCalla. Walk-in applications accepted.

Clanton (205)2800002. Pelham (205)444-9774.

Bama Concrete Now Hiring: Diesel Mechanic 4 Years Minimum Experience.

CDL Preferred.

Competitive Pay. Great Benefits. Apply in person: 2180 Hwy 87 Alabaster, 35007 Bent Creek Apartments.

Affordable 1 and 2 Bedroom. On-site Manager. On-site Maintenance. 3001 7th Street. North Clanton, AL 35045.

TDD#s: 800-5482547(V) 800-5482546(T/A) bentcreek@ morrowapts.com Office Hours: MonFri, 8am-4pm. Equal Opportunity Provider/ Employer Boise Cascade Now Hiring for Utility Positions. Starting pay $13.33/hour.

Must be able to pass background screen.

Please apply at www. bc.com Carroll Fulmer Now Hiring Class-A CDL Drivers. Overthe-road positions available. Dry vans.

No hazmat. Must have one year over-

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com

the-road. Experience and a clean MVR. Competitive pay and bonus package. Good home time. Call 800633-9710 ext. 2 DCH Health System Caring. For Life. $5,000 *Sign-on Bonus for full time RNs *For More Info Contact Annie.Miller@ dchsystem.com.

Apply online at: www. dchsystem.com SEEKING MACHINIST OR MACHINIST HELPER WITH KNOWLEDGE OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF HEAVY MACHINERY. CALL TO APPLY: 205-2436661 NOW HIRING!!!

•CDL DRIVERS •ASPHALT EQUIPMENT OPERATORS Apply Online Today! www. dunnconstruction. com •Bright Future•Great Pay• •Unheard of Benefits• HOME EVERY DAY! #DunnTheRightWay EOE/Minorities/ Females/Disabled/ Veterans $2000 SIGN ON BONUS NEW PAY SCALE TO QUALIFYING DRIVERS EVERGREEN TRANSPORT, is accepting applications for local drivers in the Calera and Leeds,

AL, area. Must have Class A CDL, good driving record, 1 yr verifiable tractor trailer experience. Good pay and benefits. Apply in person at 8278 Hwy 25 South, Calera, AL, or call for info 205668-3316.

Now Hiring Heavy Equipment Operators and CDL Drivers Competitive pay and benefits.

Pre-employment drug test required Equal Employment Opportunity Employer Call: 205-298-6799 or email us at: jtate@ forestryenv.com Franklin Iron Works Now Hiring. Grinders & Laborers. Must apply in person: 146 Tommie Drive, Thorsby. Mon-Fri. 10am-3pm.

DRIVERS Hanna Truck Lines is seeking Professional Flatbed Drivers. 53 cpm No surprises: Starting pay (all miles): 51 cpm, 52 cpm at 6 months, 53 cpm at 1 year. 100% Outbounds loads Preloaded & Tarped. 75% Inbound No Tarp. Late Model Peterbilt Trucks.

Air Ride Trailers. Home weekends. Low cost BCBS Health & Dental Ins. Matching 401K. Qualifications: 18 months Class A CDL driving experience with 6 months

flatbed; Applicants must meet all D.O.T. requirements. Contact recruiting at 1-800634-7315 or come

by HTL office at 1700 Boone Blvd, Northport. EOE Housing Authority of the Birmingham District Hiring: Homeownership Lease-Purchase Facilitator Resident Services Coordinator-ROSS Human Resources Specialist Compliance Data Analysis Application Data Entry Clerk Assistant Vice President of Housing Operations Director of Public Safety Custodian View complete description and apply at www. habd.org or 1826 3rdAvenueSouth Birmingham, Al 35233 NOW AVAILABLE LPN’s, RN’s 12 HOUR SHIFTS CNA’s Full-time & part-time Apply in person: Hatley Health Care 300 Medical Center Drive Clanton, AL 35045 Health Services, Inc. Clanton Family Health 107 Medical Center Dr Clanton,AL 35045 Current Opening: •Patient Account Representative •Medical Assistant •LPN Unit Coordinator

MARKETPLACE

Industrial Coatings Group, Inc. is hiring experienced -Sandblasters -Industrial Painters Helpers. Must be able to pass drug test and e-verify check. Must be willing to travel.

Professional references required. Please send resume to: icgsecretary@hotmail. com or call (205)6889004 Owner Operators Wanting Dedicated Year Round Anniston, AL www.pull4klb.com SHEETMETAL & MANUFACTURING HELP WANTED •Sheetmetal/Layout, •Manufacturing Helpers, •Sheetmetal Machinery Operators, Multiple positions Paid holidays, typical shifts are 6:00am-2:30pm Must be reliable & on-time Call RICK: 205-761-3975 Need FREE help with your Medicare?

Call your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) today at (800)AGE-LINE (800)-243-5463.

Marble Valley Manor.

Affordable 1 and 2 Bedroom Apartments for Elderly & Disabled.

Many on-site services!

2115 Motes Rd, Sylacauga. 256245-6500 •TDD#s: 800-548-2547(V) •800-548-2546(T/A).

Office Hours: MonFri, 8am-4pm. Equal Opportunity Provider/ Employer Are you a motivated professional? Are you looking for a dynamic career? Are you ready to control your own level of success? See why McKinnons’ is an exciting place to work and grow. Now accepting applications for Sales, Service, and Detail Shop. Apply with the receptionist.

205-755-3430 Shake up your career!!! Are you looking for something new and FUN? Milo’s is always looking for great managers to come join our growing and dynamic team. Apply online at miloshamburgers.com

Montgomery Stockyard Drop Station at Gray & Now Hiring!!

Son’s in Clanton. Call •Caregivers-ADL’s, Lane at 205-389-4530. assist with medications For other hauling and some lifting 7am- arrangements, contact 3pm, 3pm-11pm, Wes in Harpersville 11pm-7pm •Activity 205-965-8657 Director Part-Time •Cooks-some 12/ MOUNT HOME hr shifts Call Shay BUILDERS, INC. Build McNeal 205-620-2905 on your lot custom homes! Our plans or yours! Visit www. mounthomebuilder. com for price quotes

and to see completed homes & homes under construction! 205-2990114

Worker Apply in person or email: ken. holmes@nhsmgt.com

Southeastern Food Merchandisers NOW HIRING Class-A CDL Food Service Delivery Drivers with 1 year experience!!! Pay & Benefits •Home daily •Schedules allow you to depart and return to same terminal daily •Dispatches are single day routes, nothing runs overnight or multi-day! •Paid by weight delivered, NOW HIRING Class-A miles, and stops CDL Driver Must have •Drivers running clean driving record, single driver routes two years experience are earning $75,000Will train drivers on $100,000 yearly! tank Drivers home •Team and Helper nightly Contact Keith routes are earning at: 205-438-4959 $65,000+ yearly What we offer in Oxford Healthcare addition to route pay! in Montgomery •Attendance/Accuracy currently hiring bonuses •Wkly-pay w/ certified CNA’s and/or direct deposit •401(k) Home Health aides in w/company match, the Clanton, Marbury eligible after 6-months and Maplesville areas. with quarterly Must be able to pass enrollment •Blue complete background Cross of AL health check, have reliable & dental insurance, transportation company subsidized and have a strong •Two different work ethic. Serious medical plans for Blue inquires only. Call Cross depending on 334-409-0035 or your needs •Vision apply on-line at www.

Insurance, company Oxfordhealthcare.com subsidized •Basic Life and AD&D Looking for a house 100% employer paid to rent in Shelby •Company paid County? We can Short-Term Disability help. Call for available •Voluntary Life & rentals and specials AD&D also provided (205)433-9811 on post-tax basis for you, and your family South Haven Health Email resume: ofrye@ & Rehab, Hoover southeasternfood.com NOW-HIRING!!!

Call:205-685-4534 •LPN’s & RN’s -Day & Night Shift -Shift Differential •Laundry Mundo’s Masonry & More “Quality Guaranteed” •Brickwork•Stonework •Concrete•Fireplaces •Retaining Walls •Patio/Pathways •Driveways•Much More Serving Jefferson, Shelby & Chilton Counties FREE ESTIMATE! Call: 205434-5783

CLOCK REPAIR SVS. * Setup * Repair * Maintenance. I can fix your Mother’s clock.

Alabaster/Pelham. Call Stephen (205)6632822 Electrician - FT Supreme Electric, local-based company in Pelham. Must be willing to learn & work hard. Go to: supremeelectric-al. com Print employment application under Contact Us. Mail to: Supreme Electric 231 Commerce Pkwy Pelham, AL 35124 or call 205-453-9327.

TaylorMade Transportation Hiring CDL Drivers for Flatbed Regional Division! BCBS Insurance After 30 Days. To apply call: (334)366-2269 or email: s.smith@ taylormadeinc.com Become a Dental Assistant in ONLY 8 WEEKS! Please visit our website capstone dentalassisting.com or call (205)561-8118 and get your career started!

White Oak Transportation is hiring CDL-A drivers in your area. Great Pay! Excellent Benefits!

Visit our website www. whiteoaktrans.com for more information EOE-M/F/D/V

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 89

MY VESTAVIA HILLS Julia Stewart

2018-19 Vestavia Hills High School SGA President

In the Middle

Wald Park Baseball Fields My family always jokes that I get the best of both worlds being the only girl in the middle of two brothers. I’ve spent every spring of my life here at the Wald Park baseball fields. I’m especially excited about the new upcoming addition of the Miracle Field at Wald Park that will enable kids no matter what their abilities to participate in the game of baseball!

For Book Worms

Vestavia Library Kids Section I spent every summer doing the Children’s Summer Reading program, and now I volunteer there during the summer. You can definitely call me a book worm. I am thankful for the instrumental role these programs played in fostering my love of reading.

Gyros Please

Pappas’ Mediterranean Grill This restaurant is my favorite take-out spot. I am always up for Greek cuisine, and I especially love the Gyro salad!

Rebel Edge

Vestavia Hills High School I spend more time at the high school than I do my own house.

Truly, VHHS is my home away from home. From all sporting events, to the classroom, and everything in between, I am so thankful for my time being a rebel. My favorite trait of our students is the Rebel Edge. Excellence. Determination. Grit. Elevation.

Dance On

VHUMC Lighthouse I have taken ballet, lyrical and jazz at Vestavia Dance since I was little. I love the opportunities that it has given me to pursue dance in every form imaginable! I’ve even danced every year in the Magic City Nutcracker.

Mrs. Angel, Mrs. Kelly and Mrs. Jamie have poured into me as both a dancer and as a person. I am so thankful that they have been constants in my life.

90 June/July 2019

M O D E R N N E W B O R N + C H I L D + FA M I LY P O R T R A I T U R E INFOAPEPPERMINTPHOTO.COM | 205.807.6431 H E I R LO O M A L B U M S | A R C H I VA L Q UA L I T Y P O R T R A I T S

W W W . A P E P P E R M I N T P H O T O . C O M VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 91

Come visit our new facility, including the new Spa Cahaba

2279 VALLEYDALE RD. SUITE 100 HOOVER, AL 35244

92 June/July 2019

Holly Gunn MD, FAAD