Mountain Brook Magazine, September/October 2020

KARI KAMPAKIS’ BOOK FOR MOMS • STUDENT ARTISTS IN ACTION • VAUGHAN & CO. CATERING & BEYOND

WITNESSING THE BEAST

COVID-19 TALES THAT HIT CLOSE TO HOME

THE SWAN HOUSE

CALIFORNIA VIBES ON OVERTON ROAD September/October 2020 MountainBrookMagazine.com Volume Four | Issue Five $4.95

Next Generation

SABAN

KRISTEN SABAN-SETAS TALKS FOOTBALL & FAMILY

FEATURES

40

NEXT GENERATION SABAN Kristen Saban-Setas talks Alabama football and what it’s like to be a new mom in a pandemic.

46

WITNESSING THE BEAST Here’s how COVID-19’s trail of devastation creeped into homes around us, wreaking havoc in some and lightly touching others.

52 FALL TRAVEL Cooler temperatures make a great excuse to get out of town and explore everything from beaches to canyons.

4 September/October 2020

PHOTO BY LAUREN USTAD

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

31

25 arts & culture

11 The Depth of Love: Kari Kampakis’ Book for Moms of Teen Girls 18 Read This Book: Books on Raising Teenagers

schools & sports

19 Never Too Young: Meet Student Drawers, Painters & Craftsmen

food

& drink

25 An Open Door: Vaughan McGehee’s Journey into Catering 30 Five Questions For: Porch Owner Frank Alverson

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

in every issue 4 Contributors 5 From the Editor 6 The Question 7 The Guide 56 Chamber Connections 58 Out & About 62 Marketplace 64 My Mountain Brook

home & style

31 The Swan House: California Vibes on Overton Road 38 In Style: Flirty for Fall

MountainBrookMagazine.com 5

MOUNTAIN BROOK

contributors

MAGAZINE

EDITORIAL

Alec Etheredge Madoline Markham Keith McCoy Scott Mims Emily Sparacino

CONTRIBUTORS

Abby Adams Aliza Baker James Culver Hays Edmunds Rick Lewis Christiana Roussel Lauren Ustad Fraley Williams Rebecca Wise

DESIGN

Jamie Dawkins Kate Sullivan Green Connor Martin-Lively

Aliza Baker, Intern

Aliza was born and raised in a small town in Georgia, but she currently lives in Birmingham where she attends Samford University. Her lifelong interest in human psychology grew into a love for hearing people’s stories and getting to tell them in her own words. In her free time, you might find her reading a mystery novel in a local coffee shop or going on a spontaneous road trip with friends.

Hays Edmunds, Writer

Hays is a 2020 Mountain Brook High School graduate and current freshman at the University of Alabama, where he is studying engineering and journalism. When not in school, he loves playing guitar and bass with his friends, experiencing the outdoors through rock climbing or mountain biking, or enjoying a silly cartoon alone.

MARKETING

Kristy Brown Parker Bryan Darniqua Bowen Kari George Caroline Hairston Rachel Henderson Rhett McCreight Viridiana Romero Lisa Shapiro Kerrie Thompson

ADMINISTRATION Hailey Dolbare Mary Jo Eskridge Daniel Holmes Stacey Meadows Tim Prince

Rick Lewis, Writer

A native of Mountain Brook, Rick studied English literature at the University of Alabama and was a 2019 Fulbright grantee in Malaysia.

When not talking tea-sweetness particulars, he’s likely podcasting or reading secondhand short story anthologies.

Fraley Williams, Photographer

Fraley recently graduated from Mountain Brook High School and will be attending Washington and Lee University this fall. She has always had an interest in photography and has taken all the classes in it that Mountain Brook has to offer, as well as pursued it in her free time. She plans to major in journalism and possibly art as well.

Mountain Brook Magazine is published bimonthly by Shelby County Newspapers Inc., P.O. Box 947, Columbiana, AL 35051.

Mountain Brook 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, Mountain Brook Magazine, P.O. Box 947, Columbiana, AL 35051.

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

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

6 September/October 2020

from the editor

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ON THE COVER

Next Generation Saban

Kristen Saban-Setas shared with us about life with the University of Alabama football coach as your dad from her Mountain Brook home.

Photo by Rebecca Wise Design by Connor Martin-Lively

This spring in the midst of the COVID-crazy, Rick Lewis came recommended to me as a writer by his Sword & Shield newspaper coeditor from back in their years at Mountain Brook High School, so I chatted with him on the phone (aka a COVID coffee meeting) and got him working on a couple of story ideas he had for our magazines. Just before the deadline on the first one in late June though, I got an email from him asking for an extension—and for good reason. His mom had been put into the ICU at UAB for severe COVID-related respiratory symptoms, and he had come down with the virus after helping to care for her.

I replied and gave him more time to write, but his email hit me hard.

I’d been keeping social distance from people I usually invite into my home, and I’d accepted the fact that masks would always feel weird but should be worn in public places for who knows how long. But the stories of ICU patients, severe symptoms and loss of loved ones hadn’t touched my circles of people. The virus was here, of course. Life had been disrupted in ways we’d never imagined. But I hadn’t truly felt its effects yet.

A few weeks later, Rick’s mom was thankfully recovering and he had gotten over his mild case when an idea dawned on me: Might he be willing to share his family’s story? Their lived experience was still fresh, and writing about it would require a lot of vulnerability, I acknowledged when I asked him. But he, his mom and a couple of other Mountain Brook residents who had had COVID were on board to give those of us who hadn’t yet been touched by the virus first-hand a better idea of just how cruel—or how anticlimactic, if you get a mild case—it can be. The result is raw, it’s real and it’s compelling. All the more so coming from neighbors in our community. Be sure to give it a read starting on page 46.

And that’s just one piece of this issue I’m excited to share with you. As I write this, the fate of college football season is still up in the air, but that didn’t stop us from talking with Nick Saban’s daughter Kristen SabanSetas about her game day memories and more. In another longer Q&A, I asked author and blogger Kari Kampakis questions about her new book for moms of teen girls, and what she had to say gives great insight into not just those teens and moms but other relationships too.

Elsewhere be sure to check out our profiles of student artists written and photographed by 2020 MBHS graduates, Christiana Roussel’s account of Vaughan McGehee’s journey from catering to opening a Crestline storefront that serves up gourmet to-go meals, and a radical renovation on Overton Road full of California vibes.

Thanks for reading! And as always, feel free to email me any time with ideas for future issues.

madoline.markham@mountainbrookmagazine.com MountainBrookMagazine.com 7

“ ” THE QUESTION

What do you/did you miss most during the COVID-19 quarantine?

Hugging my students and friends at Crestline Elementary!

- Jennifer Busby Preston

TRAVEL! At least 3 trips were cancelled this year including our 20th anniversary trip! But we are just grateful to be healthy & live in this wonderful community.

- Beth Oliver Ballentine

- Cindy Hamilton McRee

I missed the feeling of not worrying over getting sick or possibly sick, wondering would food be available or not or bare essentials rapidly becoming short in supply?

- Brent Cooper

Teachers and friends. For the record, these were my kids’ answers, I agree!

Civility. Respect for others’ viewpoints. Thoughtful debate. The best economy of our lifetime. You know, things like that.

Being able to take my mom/ family to eat at Bongiorno, Ollie Irene and Dyron’s.

Being unable to HUG my family and friends and not being able to GO to church!

- Joan McCalla

- Randy Yarbrough

8 September/October 2020

A Saturday stroll through Beverly Ruff’s and Christine’s, followed by lunch at Olexa’s.

- Bill Johnson

-Warren B. Cain

THE GUIDE

FALL PLANT SALE SEPT. 12 Birmingham Botanical Gardens 8 a.m.-Noon Find everything you need for your yard heading into colder weather with herbs, sustainable trees, fall annuals, shrubs, natives, perennials and more for sale. Plus, all the trees are natives selected especially for Birmingham’s climate and condition.

Photo by Ben Breland

MountainBrookMagazine.com 9

THE GUIDE AROUND TOWN OCT. 1-31

SEPT. 4 Will Kimbrough with Guest Dean Owens Shelby County Arts Council, Columbiana SEPT. 10 Virtual ZooRendezvous Hosted by the Birmingham Zoo SEPT. 12 11th Annual Bob Sykes BBQ & BLUES Festival DeBardeleben Park, Bessemer

Virtual Pink Up the Pace 2020 You can support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama’s breast cancer research by running during the month of October. You can sign up for a time challenge, a distance challenge, or a 1-mile bike and scooter fun run, all offered virtually. The registration fee also includes a T-shirt. Tickets are $30 for adults (ages 13+) and $20 for children (ages 4-12), and children 3 and under are free. Get tickets at bcrfa.org/upcoming-events/.

LIBRARY

LIBRARY TIME PLEASE The fall kicks off with Labor Day holiday (the O’Neal Library will be closed Saturday through Monday, Sept. 5-7). After that you can head over to their registration calendar at eolib. org to sign up for any of their virtual programs. If you’re looking for your next great read, check out monthly book clubs The Bookies, Great Short Stories, the Genre Reading Group, and Lost & Found: 20th Century Classics. You can also chat with your neighbors and friends at Coffee Klatch,

10 September/October 2020

Wednesdays at 11 a.m. October means Nightmare on Oak Street, and this year it’s teaming up with Winecraft. Be sure to sign up for a creepy craft and a thrilling horror movie and book conversation. Over in the Teen Department, you can join the Teen Advisory Board, sign up for ACT/SAT prep facilitated by representatives from Princeton Prep, look for a new penpal program, and chat with friends in out YA book clubs just to name a few. Register online at eolib.org.

SEPT. 14-20 Lift Your Spirits … While Lifting Your Feet Up! Virtual Fundraiser Benefiting Community Grief Support communitygriefsupport.org SEPT. 18-27 Alabama State Fair Birmingham Race Course SEPT. 19 St. Jude Walk/Run Birmingham Railroad Park SEPT. 23-27 Regions Tradition Greystone Golf and Country Club SEPT. 25-27 Homestead Hollow Arts & Crafts Festival Springville SEPT. 26 Red Shoe Run Virtual 5K Benefitting Ronald McDonald House Charities of Alabama SEPT. 26 Head Over Teal 5K/10K Benefitting Laura Crandall Brown Foundation Any Virtual Location SEPT. 27 Revvin’ 4 Research Benefitting Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama

Heart of Dixie Harley-Davidson, Pelham

THE GUIDE RETAIL

SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS IN OCTOBER The Patch Helena Hollow OCT. 3-4 Cotton Pickin’ Celebration Old Baker Farm OCT. 4 BHM 26.2 Marathon, Half Marathon, Marathon Relay, 5K & Fun Run Railroad Park OCT. 4 8th Annual CahabaQue Benefitting Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama Cahaba Brewing Company OCT. 10 Running for the Bulls 5K & Fun Run Benefitting Bama Bully Rescue Red Mountain Park OCT. 10 Jimmie Hale Mission Rescue Run 5K & Fun Run Downtown Homewood OCT. 16 Babypalooza Virtual Baby Expo babypalooza.com 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

OCT. 18 Handmade Art Show + Pickin’ in the Park Homewood Central Park 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

OCT. 23-24 Buck Creek Festival Helena OCT. 24 Paws for the Cause 5K Benefitting Shelby Humane Veterans Park, Hoover OCT. 24 BOO Run for Down Syndrome 10K, 5K & 1-mile Fun Run Red Mountain Park

THANKS, ARRELIA We all know Arrelia Callins is deserving of much accolade for her 35 years of service at the Piggly Wiggly in Crestline,

but on Aug. 5 Mountain Brook Mayor Stuart Welch issued her an official proclamation in her honor from the city.

COMMUNITY

PAY IT FORWARD In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, Mountain Brook resident Brandon Stewart developed the Pay It Forward Alabama initiative in partnership with the Phoenix Club of Birmingham. As a local Jimmy John’s franchisee and COO of Kensington Hill Capital, he started it as a way to donate boxed Jimmy John’s lunches to area hospitals, as well as offer healthcare

workers who come into the restaurant a full boxed lunch at cost. Today it continues to raise funds for healthcare workers and beyond and has fed over 1,500 medical personnel in just a few months of operating, and it offers a free lunch to any child who comes into select Jimmy John’s locations in Birmingham during the current crisis.

RETAIL

SHOP ENGLISH VILLAGE If you haven’t shopped in English Village in a while, it’s time to mask up and check out its new stores. Amparo Fine Living is now open and offering furnishings and home décor

store in former Jordan Alexander space. Just up the street, Prints Charming will soon be selling fine art and antiques in the former Bearden Designs space.

MountainBrookMagazine.com 11

IN AN EMERGENCY,

A COMMUNITY BUILT ON RESPONSIVENESS In an emergency, you have the power to choose where to receive expert care. Insist on going to Brookwood Baptist Medical Center. As your community of care, take comfort in knowing we’ll always be here when you need it the most.

For more information, visit BrookwoodBaptistMedicalCenter.com For life-threatening emergencies, call 9-1-1

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“ TAKE ME TO BROOKWOOD BAPTIST.”

A PL AL IC ED

DR ZA

BROOKWOOD BAPTIST MEDICAL CENTER: EMERGENCY ROOM

O WO OK BRO

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DR ER NT CE AL C I ED

Brookwood Baptist Medical Center 2010 Brookwood Medical Center Dr. Birmingham, AL 35209 PENDENCE CT INDE

&CULTURE

ARTS

THE DEPTH OF LOVE Kari Kampakis shares about the heart behind her new book for moms of teenage girls.

BY MADOLINE MARKHAM PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED MountainBrookMagazine.com 13

Much of Kari Kampakis’s insight for her new book came from raising four daughters.

T

The biggest thing Kari Kampakis remembers about her mom is how she loved her children well.

And though her mom passed away earlier this year, her legacy lives on through her grandchildren and children, and now in Kari’s new book on parenting teenage girls. Love Her Well: 10 Ways to Find Joy and Connection with Your Teenage Daughter made its debut in August and is now available everywhere books are sold. To learn more about the heart behind it, we chatted with Kari this summer.

epiphany since I am a lifelong Bama fan. I had been giving this talk for years called “10 Ways to Love a Teenager” where I shared some personal mom fails that always led to good conversations. Afterward this woman walked up and told me, “That needs to be your next book!” She was so certain, and it was definitely a lightbulb moment, a topic I knew I could write about and talk about all day.

What did you think this book would offer that wasn’t in the market?

It’s positive yet realistic. There are a lot of books Can you recap the story of how this book about raising teenagers, especially teenage girls, and on the covers the girls have their arms crossed came to be?

In the summer of 2018, I had a mother-daughter and look angsty, which feeds into a stereotype. I speaking event in Opelika—which is Auburn knew there was a market for a book like this, a book territory, and the last place I expected to have an to help moms finish strong in their daughters’ final 14 September/October 2020

Kari with her mom, who passed away earlier this year

years at home, and I felt so strongly about the message that I decided I would self-publish if there wasn’t publisher interest.

best five years since then. I am so glad I did not stay in that place of thinking the teenage years are just a season to “survive.”

And then what happened?

I spent eight months writing the manuscript, and then in the summer of 2019 my agent pitched the book proposal to publishers. Thankfully, we had a very enthusiastic response, and I found it interesting that every interested publisher said, “I have a daughter, and this book not only speaks to me professionally but also personally.” We chose a boutique publisher within Thomas Nelson called W Publishing, and they are launching the book as my oldest daughter starts her senior year of high school.

She was in seventh grade in the opening story of the book where we are fighting, and we have had the

How did the name and cover come about?

The publishing team suggested Love Her Now, and then I suggested Love Her Well. Since then I have gone back to speeches and articles I have written over time and realized how I’ve used that phrase repeatedly. For the cover we went through several rounds, until my daughter Ella suggested a sunset color scheme. I woke up one morning to a mockup cover she’d drawn on Canva, and the marketing team took that and made this cover. I wanted something with the visual and emotional appeal to meet moms where they are.

MountainBrookMagazine.com 15

Kari and her four daughters hold copies of her book for moms of teen girls that came out in August.

How did your other books for girls lay a foundation for this one for moms?

I am so glad I wrote books for teenagers first because it forced me to remember myself at that age, and doing that gave me empathy for teenage girls. I want to help moms put themselves in their daughters’ shoes and have empathy for them. We can still give our teens advice and rules, but it’s better if we understand where they are coming from.

How do you decide when to share vulnerable stories and when to protect your family’s privacy?

If there is a story that is embarrassing, I try to make it about me and my reactions and not about my daughters. I try to share what I am learning in my journey. If there’s something I have a question about, I ask for their permission. One thing I have learned, especially with teenagers, is the importance of protecting and respecting their privacy. You don’t want to share anything with another mom or online that might make them shut down. Having to be 16 September/October 2020

selective with who we confide in can make parenting teenagers a lonely season, and that’s one reason why I felt called to write this book. I am pretty connected, yet some days I feel lonely and am not sure who can help me. Moms can read this book with a small group of moms and use my stories to start conversations that allow them to protect their teenagers’ privacy and not share their personal stories.

What did you learn from the research you pair with your personal experience in the book?

One of the best resources was The Teenage Brain, which says a teenage brain is 80 percent developed, and we parents have to fill in that 20 percent gap to help them think long-term. Books by Sissy Goff and David Thomas do a great job of challenging parents while also offering a sense of hope. It’s hard to be a parent, but having research that backs up why teenagers need parental guidance helps us stay the course.

Kari says her new book was largely shaped by her understanding of teens and girls that came in part from writing her first two books. The second, Liked, was published in 2016.

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What parts of the book do you think specifically speak to this time?

Our teenagers are dealing with a darker and more complex world than what we knew as teenagers.

They are juggling so much – from impossibly high expectations to a global pandemic and online learning – and this book can help moms provide the emotional and mental support that offers calm and a sense of normalcy.

What do you see that’s good in teenagers today?

They are funny and fun and have so much energy.

They can change course easily, and they are not set in their ways. They are smarter and more creative than we give them credit for, and I also love their optimism and ability to find joy in the little things of life.

Can you talk some about your new Girl Mom podcast?

I love listening to podcasts, and many of my writer friends have ventured into podcasting. A good friend, Monica Swanson, started the Boy Mom podcast and suggested that I start the Girl Mom podcast. My husband agreed to handle the technical

18 September/October 2020

She’s taking on

life

Brooke, pediatric cancer survivor

Kari and her husband record her Girl Mom podcast from their Mountain Brook home.

Because they’re taking on cancer

side, so we started recording last fall and launched during the quarantine. It’s been fun, and since I can’t do speaking events right now, it’s a good alternative.

This is the first of two books for moms you have signed on. Any thoughts on what the next one will be?

I’m not sure yet. My editor wants to see what resonates with readers. With my first book it was the friendship chapter that everyone found most helpful, so the following book dove into that. Something similar could happen here as well.

What feedback have you gotten from people who have read it?

The first chapter about choosing your words and timing carefully has struck a chord with early readers. A friend told me that her daughter made her dinner one night and put the forks in the wrong place. She was about to correct her daughter, but then she stopped herself and thought, “Don’t do that now. Just enjoy that she made this dinner for you.” My hope is that by sharing my mistakes and realizations, other moms will reflect on theirs and make more intentional choices.

A lot of people locally have followed your writing for the past decade. How do you think your writing and perspective have evolved over that time?

Ten years ago my oldest daughter was 7, and now she’s almost 18. I’ve had more experiences as a mom and a woman, met more people, and heard more stories that have grown my empathy and compassion. Every family is unique and has a backstory I don’t know, so I’ve learned to make fewer assumptions and give more grace. I hope that 10 years from now, I will say the same thing and be further along in this direction.

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MountainBrookMagazine.com 19

ARTS & CULTURE

READ THIS BOOK

Books on Raising Teenagers Recommendations from

Kari Kampakis Local Author

After her second book written for girls was published in 2016, Kari Kampakis took a break from writing for a while. Over the next two years, she didn’t know what her next book would be, but she read a lot of titles about parenting her daughters in their teen years.

Along the way, they shaped her philosophy on how she wanted to parent her teenagers, and eventually she’d end up using them as research for her own book on parenting teen girls that came out this summer.

Here’s five of them she recommends.

The 5 Love Languages of Teenagers

By Dr. Gary Chapman This book is a game-changer. It will help you tap into the heart and the mind of your teenager and show love in a way that speaks to them. My favorite quote is, “Show them love, and they will listen to your words of wisdom.”

Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions in Adulthood

By Dr. Lisa Damour

This book is a must-read for girl moms. It’s full of insight, research and stories to help you unpack the mystery of your teenage daughter and be the strong adult she needs.

The Teenage Brain

By Dr. Frances Jensen Neuroscience has revealed a lot about the brain, including the difference between an adult brain and a teenage brain, which is only 80 percent developed. This book empowers parents with facts and helps discern the role you’re meant to play in your teen’s life.

The Back Door to Your Teen’s Heart

By Melissa Trevathan and Sissy Goff Any resource written by Melissa, Sissy, and David Thomas (all part of DayStar Counseling Ministries in Nashville) is gold. They approach parenting from a faith-based perspective and make you feel encouraged and challenged as you become the parent God made you to be.

Parenting Teens with Love & Logic

By Foster Cline and Jim Fay A school principal recommended this book and said it was very helpful when raising his five kids. It’s a terrific resource that helps you parent and set boundaries for your teen while also supporting them as they walk out the consequences of their mistakes.

20 September/October 2020

SCHOOL

&SPORTS

NEVER TOO YOUNG

These drawers, painters and craftsmen are bursting with creative talent—and just so happen to be students too.

BY HAYS EDMUNDS PHOTOS BY FRALEY WILLIAMS MountainBrookMagazine.com 21

Surreal + Dreamlike Walden Knott

Over time, Walden Knott has gone through different phases of materials and methods to create “surreal and dreamlike” paintings and drawings, but recently she has been particularly fond of the unpredictability and colorful freedom of watercolors and the precise, intentional nature of pen and ink.

The Mountain Brook High School senior loves the idea of taking a natural, everyday object or form and altering it to create an uncomfortable or startling image. “I might draw a body but in an unusual position or with unusual colors, or I might draw a familiar object but include some dreamlike features,” she explains. “I want (my viewers) to question the things that they see in everyday life.”

Creating art for her also looks like putting her pain on paper and aiming to help others with their own internal quarrels. With her modes of expression, she not only hopes to free her own mind, but also to inspire new ideas in those who see.

22 September/October 2020

Creature Designs Jeff Schultz

Jeff Schultz turns real life ideas into fantasy pieces, yielding colorful “creature-designs.” Take for example “Pica Day.” The piece features portraits of many of his own friends as make-believe characters to match their personalities, all in a yearbook-style layout. When you see one, look for hidden details ripe with emotional expression that’s sure to entertain.

The MBHS senior focuses on color wheel interaction and precise geometrical formations, arranging different sized circles to create a shape or image. A more free-flowing element of his art—scribbling sporadically on a piece of paper until he finds a shape that he can turn into something bigger—has also played a large part in his signature creature-designs.

You’ll find Jeff’s artistry on posters he makes for MBHS theater productions (he’s an actor too) like last year’s Chicago and The Other Other Woman. As Jeff continues to hone his art in school and on his own, he hopes of one day working as an artist in animation, entertainment or “anything for the people.”

MountainBrookMagazine.com 23

Making Meaning Emma Fooshee

For Emma Fooshee, art requires getting mad. “Get angry at the painting, and then— WAPAPAPAPOW, you have an awesome painting,” she says.

Although her talent showed back in elementary school, the abstract realist painter, punk rock guitarist and Alabama School of Fine Art senior was not always the outspoken personality that she is today.

“Junior high sucked. Nobody cares about you; you’re weird,’” she says, recalling how she grew into her now unapologetic beliefs.

“Nobody’s going to remember you in 10 years. Be whoever you want to be. That’s what I sort of realized in high school.”

Since starting at ASFA her junior year, she has struggled to create drawings and paintings to please her mentors and that also cements her own style: simple, precise and personal. Now Emma has more pride than ever in her work and has begun to see a legitimate future for herself as an artist.

Currently, she creates works of art daily, practicing figurative art and abstract realism, typically in drawings or oil paintings and commissioning her work to anyone who will appreciate it. “My big thing is to make it meaningful for another person,” she says.

From making portraits for sports teams to painting custom designs on Vans shoes, she just wants to see a reaction. “It’s the best feeling in the world to cause someone else joy and know that you caused that joy,” she says.

24 September/October 2020

Working in Wood Rocky Kimble

Rocky Kimble believes that an artist is the most selfish person there is. “I do it for myself, and I do it because it completes me in a sort of way,” he says. “It’s just so nice that you get something beautiful after indulging.”

Originally an early 2000s-inspired digital artist, the MBHS senior now focuses his time on his spiritually motivated woodturning. He drew on any material he could as a child, filling his iPad storage with digital art and his room with bowls and wooden figures. YouTube also shaped him as creator both drawing and later woodworking.

Make no mistake, woodworking is hard work from start to finish. It requires collecting and transporting heavy pieces of fallen trees, planning the final piece, and using heavy machinery to execute the design, with inevitable cuts and bruises along the way. And it might or might not end up successful. Rocky wouldn’t have it any other way though. For him, it’s a personal duty to “give that tree a second life.”

For the Love of Color Libby Hunt

Libby Hunt creates art to add vibrancy and color to her own life, and there’s no doubt it does for others too. Cartoon-style fruit and other objects are as signature to her work as exaggerated figures—all beginning as colorful images in her head.

Inspired by fashion, photography and the emotional signals they send, the 2020 MBHS graduate and incoming Auburn University freshman makes art for her own sanity and fulfilment. “Some of my happiest memories are from sitting down with my friends and drawing and making art,” she says. “It fills me with so much joy to be able to just sit down and create stuff.”

Whether she’s drawing, painting, sculpting, sewing or taking photos, Libby’s creations are all an extension of her vivid self. “I try to put my personality into my artwork, and I want [people] to feel that when they’re looking at it,” she says. “I couldn’t imagine my life without making art.”

MountainBrookMagazine.com 25

The Power of a Pen Trenton Stewart

For Trenton Stewart LEGOs were more than just toys— they were an opportunity to get creative and a bridge into the world of art. His love of drawing as a child led him to building unique LEGO designs in middle school. Every year, he shared his innovative and intricate designs through annual LEGO conventions in Birmingham and Chicago, where he has received accolades for his LEGO guns that can fire small objects across a room.

Trenton’s perception of himself and his future turned, however, when he received an advertising booklet in the mail from the Ringling College of Art and Design during his sophomore year of high school. He was amazed at the experiences and occupations that hardworking artists could have.

Right away, he picked up drawing again. He drew on receipts at his job at a local pizza joint, woke up early to paint on his days off, and recreated cartoon characters on school whiteboards for people to enjoy. Any opportunity he got, he was drawing, striving to enhance his skills and his portfolio. After graduating MBHS this year, he is starting at Savannah College of Art and Design this fall with a merit scholarship in his field of illustration and animation.

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26 September/October 2020

&DRINK

FOOD

AN OPEN DOOR

How Vaughan McGehee’s journey led her to help get dinner on countless tables, and a whole lot more.

BY CHRISTIANA ROUSSEL PHOTOS BY REBECCA WISE & CONTRIBUTED MountainBrookMagazine.com 27

Imagine the fear and trepidation of opening a new business. Now multiply that tenfold, and you might have an idea of what it was like to open a new business in the midst of a pandemic. But with a strong customer base and an ability to “give the people what they want,” Vaughan McGehee has the recipe for success.

You don’t have to spend much time around Vaughan to know that she smiles a lot. Her resting face is literally one that glows. But if you really want to see her get happy, start talking to her about food and the power it has to bring people joy. Fortunately for all of us, she now has the opportunity to bring that joy to many more people.

When Carey and Dan Thomasson, owners of dinner. closed their storefront prepared-meal business earlier this spring, it left a bit of a hole in the community. Customers had come to rely upon having a place to pop in and buy something delicious 28 September/October 2020

for dinner, at a moment’s notice. But as the saying goes, “When one door closes, another one opens,” and that has been more than true for this Church Street location that is now the home of Vaughan & Company.

Vaughan fell in love with all the ingredients required for this line of work studying restaurant hospitality at the University of Alabama. “I changed majors so many times,” she says. “First I thought I wanted to be an interior designer or go into fashion retailing. I got into classes where you had to know the ins-and-outs of thread count, and I just did not

Vaughan McGehee pulls a salad out of a refrigerated case in her new catering and to-go meal storefront on Church Street.

care about those things. My parents got a little frustrated and said, ‘You HAVE to find a major and stick to it.’ When I got into classes like food science and wine tasting, they were so much fun, and I really enjoyed the subject matter. I enjoyed that curriculum and all the teachers.”

After graduation, Vaughan moved into her parents’ Lake Martin home and began work with Chef Rob McDaniel at SpringHouse Restaurant. As a pastry chef in one of the most tranquil spots in the state, McGehee was finding her groove. “I never wanted to come home!” she notes. “But, my parents finally ‘encouraged’ me to leave the lake house and move back home with them. I got another job at Standard Bistro in Mt Laurel and learned a lot there too.”

But restaurant kitchens can be notoriously brutal, and she soon found she needed a break. “I nannied

for families for six years—three sets of twins, from newborn to age two. I loved that but then, it was time to get back into the kitchen.” About that time, a dear friend of hers told her how much her parents were wanting easy, freshly prepared meals and wondered if Vaughan was interested in cooking for them.

From there she started doing five meals a week and then slowly added in catering events and desserts for friends and weddings before streamlining the process with a weekly menu.

Vaughan is being modest here when she talks about that email list: more than 600 customers received that weekly email and were placing orders like crazy. The table had been set for the next stage.

When asked if she knew she wanted to open up shop in Crestline, the Mountain Brook native really lights up. “My dad is in commercial real estate, and MountainBrookMagazine.com 29

Q&A WITH VAUGHAN What is your favorite Mountain Brook eatery, when you are not at work?

Dyron’s Lowcountry, hands down. I live nearby, so I love being able to meet friends or family there for a bite.

Do you have a mentor?

My dad, Charles McGehee. He is a great sounding board for everything. In the food world, chefs Chris Hastings and Rob McDaniel.

Who is the “and Company” part of Vaughan & Co.?

In the kitchen, that would be Matt and Kisa—they are awesome. I have some great dishwasher help, and my mom and dad (Vicki and Charles) assist with deliveries and packaging.

Did you grow up cooking a lot?

Not really, but my grandmother was an amazing cook and taught me so much about figuring things out on my own. She lived in Elba, Alabama, and we would visit her on our way to the beach. It didn’t matter if we were just stopping in for a quick visit, she always put out a spread — fried okra, toad-in-the-hole, turkey, chicken, ham – everything we wanted. She never used a recipe, just cooked by taste and feel.

What desserts are you known for?

My chocolate chess squares fly out of the case. I also make cake balls that are really popular but are pretty time-consuming to make. Those usually happen on Tuesday nights, and I’ll stay up all night making them. It’s exhausting but worth it!

30 September/October 2020

we had been looking at various sites for about three years—The Shops at Montevallo, downtown, Avondale—but just to get in a space and do a build-out is really expensive. I always dreamed of having a space like this but never thought it would be possible!” She closed on the dinner. space on March 9, just days before the world ground to a halt with COVID-19 fears.

After a brief period of angst, fear and more than a little bit of worry, Vaughan and her team set about converting the former dinner. spot into the home of Vaughan & Company. She papered the windows, and they gave the space a thorough cleaning. Other than that, everything else was already in place for her business.

With approval from the health inspector, Vaughan decided to make her Crestline debut at Easter and sent a menu to that coveted email list. “Easter was wild! It was all hands-on deck – my staff and my best friend and my parents,” she says. “I had all 62 orders ready to go for 6 o’clock pick up except for the pecan pies. So, I was out delivering pecan pies myself until midnight. I learned a lot that weekend and promised my staff I would never do that to them again!”

Day-to-day operations are much more even-keeled now. Customers can place dinner orders before 10 a.m. for a same day 5 p.m. pick-up or delivery. Other diners choose to pop in for a healthy salad at lunch and

grab dinner at the same time. Her case stays full of favorites like fresh salads, chicken salad, pimiento cheese, and casserole-style family meal options that folks like to buy and freeze. Kids love her chicken and white bean enchiladas while grown-ups favor her beef tenderloin filet with caramelized onions, mushrooms and horseradish sauce.

Vaughan & Company still offers catering options too. “The catering business has really changed for me so much,” she says. “I was used to doing all these fun engagement parties and showers, full-service events with rentals and the whole shebang. And now it has gone to all COVID-friendly boxed meals. We do a lot of boxed breakfasts, lunches and dinners.” One thing that will never change is the need for great grab-and-go meal options, and luckily for the community Vaughan is filling that need here in Crestline.

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FOOD & DRINK

5

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR

Frank Alverson Porch Owner

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

The former Mafiaoza’s space in Crestline Village won’t be quiet much longer. Mountain Brook native Frank Alverson has moved back close to his roots and is opening a new restaurant in the space with a casual vibe evident in its name, Porch—also a shout out to the outdoor space where he will soon be welcoming the community to sit and stay a while.

Frank is planning to open for lunch and dinner early this fall and work toward being open seven days a week. But first, we chatted with him to learn more about what’s in store at Porch.

Can you tell us about your background in restaurants?

I was raised in Mountain Brook and recently moved back after living in Charleston, South Carolina, for six years.

I’ve worked in restaurants since I was 14.

My first job was actually at Crestline Bagel right across the street. After college, I started working at Daniel George in Mountain Brook Village and learned the nuances of upscale dining. After spending a couple of seasons working in Montana resort restaurants, I moved to Charleston with my now-wife Katherine and immersed myself in the city’s booming culinary scene.

Can you describe the concept you envision for us?

I want this to be a space for everyone.

From old to young and everyone in between,

32 September/October 2020

plus dogs on the porch. We have large TVs throughout the interior and also on the porch. We want this to be a place where you can come and hang out, hopefully watch football and have a good time. The food will be fresh, and the drinks will be cold.

Why did you choose this location, and what changes are you making to the interior?

The Crestline location was an easy decision. Having grown up in this area, it truly feels like home. We have so many friends and family members that live close by, and serving them will make it even more fun. We enlisted the help of friends and family to make the space our own. With the design of Marianne Gilchrist and construction by Rader McCary, we were able to really bring our vision to life.

What will the menu be like?

The menu will have something for everyone. We will source much of our product from local purveyors and buy directly from Alabama farmers. We have several clean veggie dishes, salads, sandwiches, a burger and a few surprises.

Which dish do you recommend trying first?

The Oko. My wife and I fell in love with this dish in Charleston and had to bring it to Porch. The full name is Okonomiyaki, and it’s essentially a cabbage pancake that tastes like hash browns. The name loosely translated to “as you like it,” and it lends well to various toppings. Add a sunny side up egg and add bacon to really seal the deal—you won’t regret it.

&STYLE

HOME

THE SWAN HOUSE

Here’s how California-Mediterranean vibes brought new life to an Overton Road home.

BY MADOLINE MARKHAM PHOTOS BY LAUREN USTAD MountainBrookMagazine.com 33

T

There was no doubt that the home on Overton Road was a diamond in the rough—emphasis on the rough— when it caught Wellon Bridgers and Ashley Brigham’s eyes.

It was a head scratcher—what could it be? To both of them it was like a stubborn child. “We had to study it to learn what it wanted to be,” Ashley says.

Built in 1950, the home had many characteristics of a rancher, but its lines and inches-thick concrete walls weren’t standard. In the end, Ashley and Wellon decided to channel a California-meets-Mediterranean feel for the design of its renovation with emphasis on its outdoor terraces and new curves on staircases, archways and more.

What wouldn’t be changed was its position perched atop a ridge overlooking Overton Road. As you round the curve, stately homes sit along the road, and they wanted to restore its true nature in keeping with the street. After all that’s just what the two friends with a shared passion for design like to do as Ndéké (Congolese for “nest”) Homes, bringing something forgotten back to life as a nest for someone else.

With skill sets in art (Wellon) and real estate (Ashley), the duo enjoys collaborating on both big picture design vision and picking out unexpected light

34 September/October 2020

fixtures—what Wellon calls “the jewelry of the house.”

To start with they knocked down walls off the living room to open it up to the kitchen and vaulted the ceiling. In the bedrooms, they created nooks with shelves anywhere they saw fit. Downstairs, they finished off what was originally a two-car garage to add a fourth bedroom and extra living space, and then created a terrace in front to marry it with the rest of the exterior design.

Wellon likens her artwork that was displayed throughout the home when they staged it—with both landscapes with an ethereal feel and contemporary pieces with abstract elements—to the house’s final design that has a simultaneous antique feel and contemporary California vibes. “It’s unassuming but still in a stately way,” she says.

In the end, its soft white feminine curves and industrial elements combine to create a serene feel for anyone who walks in. And her name? The Swan House, drawing from both her conversion from an “ugly duckling” and the swan figurine andirons in the fireplace that were the only object that remained from the previous owners and now have been cleaned and will be left for its future owners.

Kitchen Custom iron work adds dark, industrial detail to the light walls in this open entertaining space. Wellon and Ashley designed the iron light above the island with inspiration from another light fixture they had seen, and iron brackets line the shelf at the top of the vaulted ceiling as well as hooks on the ladder that can be used to access it. There are also iron shelves above the cabinets and on the cap of the dark leathered granite island. These dark elements contrast with the Desert Grey modern beadboard cabinets with brass pulls, and Bianca white marble on the back counter flows up to the curved backsplash as well.

Breakfast Nook With lower ceilings than the adjacent kitchen, this cozy eating area is flanked by contemporary-style barn doors that open to the pantry on the left and laundry room on the right.

MountainBrookMagazine.com 35

Master Reading Nook What were originally two small closets are now a reading nook in the master bedroom. Bookshelves are built into the sides of it and leather pulls add flair to the drawers.

The arch at its top echoes other design elements in the house too.

The Nest In each home Wellon and Ashley work on they display a bird’s nest they found in their first project in a cloche in keeping with both the name Ndéké (Congolese for “nest”) and their vision to bring a home back to life as a nest for someone else.

36 September/October 2020

Bedroom Entry Wellon and Ashley reworked the entry stairs to this bedroom on the front of the house to echo the curves in the house in stairs leading into the room.

Master Bathroom Wellon and Ashley had this bathroom taken down to its studs to rework and expand it and the master closet with borrowed space from the closets in another bedroom too.

The spacious shower showcases both a circular window and a bathtub, and a white wall of vertical tile contrasts with the hardwoods and vanity.

MountainBrookMagazine.com 37

Living Room In this room that now opens to the kitchen and sunroom, Wellon and Ashley reworked the original floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and built a new stucco-feeling mantle around the existing marble fireplace.

38 September/October 2020

Front Terrace The California vibes of this outdoor space as you enter the home set the tone for the design inside.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Staircase To better integrate the new basement space into the rest of this house, they added a curved molded look to the staircase leading to it from the main floor.

Design & Floorplan: Ndéké Homes Artwork: Wellon Bridgers

Select Staging: Spiffy Staging & Design

Iron Light and Hanging Shelf: Jeremy Roegner Iron Shelving Units: Toro-Cordes Iron Arts

205-447-3275 • cezelle@realtysouth.com

MountainBrookMagazine.com 39

IN STYLE

FLIRTY FOR FALL 6

By Abby Adams Photos by Lauren Ustad

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Abby Adams is a fashion and lifestyle blogger at peeptoesandpineapples. com who loves all things fashion and has a slight obsession with pineapples.

40 September/October 2020

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42 September/October 2020

Next Generation

Saban Kristen Saban-Setas talks Alabama football and what it’s like to be a new mom in a pandemic.

By Madoline Markham | Photos by Rebecca Wise & Contributed How was your life different growing up with a dad with that job?

We moved a couple of times when I was really young, but it didn’t start to affect me until I was in high school. We moved from Fort Lauderdale to Tuscaloosa in the middle of my sophomore year, and that was a hard transition leaving my friends. Luckily, everyone was so welcoming, and I had a great experience being a cheerleader and making new friends. I feel like college was a bit more difficult for me though. College students are more vocal about their opinions, and I felt I had to defend my dad’s What are your earliest memories of having a dad decisions. I have kept many of my high school and who was a coach? college relationships to this day.

In middle school, I was more aware of what my father did for a living and why we were going to a How did Tuscaloosa start to feel like home after football game every Saturday. I recall being really proud you moved there in 2007? that my dad was the coach who was so successful even The greeting we received at the local regional if it meant being away from home a lot. airport really showed me just how happy and excited As we write this in August, there are still a lot of unknowns about this year’s football season, but that doesn’t mean this state isn’t saturated with years of game day memories and traditions. Those etched in Kristen Saban-Setas’s mind come from an angle not many can claim though, with University of Alabama football head coach Nick Saban as her dad. To learn more about Kristen’s ties to the sport and her other passions, we chatted with her this summer from her and her husband’s Mountain Brook home where she is busy caring for their infant son James.

people were for our family to become a part of the MountainBrookMagazine.com 43

Kristen Saban-Setas with her parents Nick and Terry Saban

community. I was blown away by the southern hospitality, as it wasn’t something I was used to.

Everyone I came in contact with was so kind and made me feel like family. I always tell people I meet for the first time that “I’m FROM Tuscaloosa,” if they ask. I did the most growing up in that town. I graduated high school and college there, and I got married there. It feels like home more than any place I’ve ever lived. Alabama is home to me and always will be.

the Human Environmental Sciences program. In that program, I was able to travel to the south of France and intern with a major independent film studio at the Cannes Film Festival.

What are some of your favorite Alabama football memories?

Every season since we have been here has always been a great one, no matter how it ended. I am just so thankful to be a part of the crowd and get to witness history in every game. I will always remember the What was it like to be a student at a school where 2018 SEC Championship game when Jalen Hurts your dad is the coach, and what you were you took over in the fourth quarter for Tua Tagovailoa in a comeback win against the Georgia Bulldogs. That is a involved with?

It was a really fun four years at the university. I down-to-the-wire moment I don’t think any of us really cherish being able to see first-hand what all my Alabama fans will forget! dad accomplished while I was a student. I have some really great memories from games sitting in the What are your favorite parts of a fall game student section watching amazing plays and moments. day?

I just love being in the stadium. Our family usually I was a member of Phi Mu sorority, and I studied hospitality management and event planning, a part of arrives two hours before kickoff, and it always amazes 44 September/October 2020

Kristen and her husband, Adam, named their son James Nickolas after both of his grandfathers.

me watching the fans fill Bryant-Denny. We truly have How does your family like to spend time with the most incredible fans in all of college football. each other?

Lake Burton is our family’s sanctuary. We have How would you describe your dad? owned a summer home there for almost 20 years now, My dad is just my dad. To everyone else he’s a and it is our favorite place. It’s quiet and has the most coach. He is the hardest working person I know and beautiful mountains and scenery. Every summer, we has instilled some really great values into our family. reunite at the lake with my mom’s sisters and my He has a great sense of humor and of course is cousins from West Virginia for the 4th of July holiday. competitive even off of the field! I don’t think a lot of It is so fun to see how much everyone’s children have people realize, or even want to believe, that he is just a grown, and we really enjoy the quality time we get normal man who loves his family, The Eagles band together. and playing golf any chance he gets!

What do you admire most about your mom?

I could go on and on. My mom is truly my best friend. It wasn’t until high school when I really started to appreciate the discipline and expectations she instilled in me. She has always been my cheerleader, and I admire everything that she does for our family and for the community.

How did you and your husband, Adam, meet and start dating?

When we were 5 years old, our parents were neighbors in East Lansing when my dad was head coach at Michigan State University. We rode to preschool together every morning, and after we moved for another coaching position, our families remained close. Adam came to Tuscaloosa our senior year of high school to tour Alabama before deciding where to MountainBrookMagazine.com 45

KRISTEN’S TOP PICKS Where to eat in Tuscaloosa?

Chuck’s Fish, FIVE, Depalma’s Italian Cafe and Evangeline’s for dinner; Babe’s Doughnuts for game day breakfast; and Heat Pizza Bar or Buffalo Phil’s for Sunday lunch Where to eat in Birmingham?

Davenport’s

Pizza

Palace,

FIVE,

Pappas’ Grill, Gianmarco’s, Bongiorno, Rojo,

Full

Moon

Bar-B-Que

and

Salem’s Diner Where to shop for game day?

Beverly’s

Decor

and

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in

Tuscaloosa, Mobley and Sons for my husband, and Chico’s for my mom

apply for freshman year in the fall. We went to a movie and dinner. To this day he swears it was a date, but I didn’t think of it like that. And he decided then he wanted to attend school there. We didn’t really cross paths again until our last semester at Alabama, and he asked me to dinner one night and the rest is history!

It’s nice to marry someone who has been your friend for years.

GYN informed us then that only the two of us were allowed in the hospital room, and we weren’t allowed to have any guests. Not having my mom there for the birth of my first child really broke both of our hearts.

Our amazing doctors allowed us to FaceTime her for the delivery. We actually ended up enjoying our time together with me, Adam and the baby, in the hospital.

How did you decide on his name, James Nickolas?

James is my father-in-law’s name, and Nick is my What Alabama football ties were a part of your father. We made Nick into Nickolas to sound more wedding?

We had our reception in The Zone at Bryant Denny formal but to honor both of our dads.

Stadium. It was actually the only venue that would hold all of our guests, so it really was our only option When you and Adam moved to Birmingham from despite the Alabama factor of our family! It ended up Nashville, how did you decide to live in Mountain being beautiful inside, and while other people have Brook?

Birmingham was always the end goal, and here we draped off the large windows that look down onto the field, we kept it visible as it was a part of who we were are! Living in Mountain Brook was the first thing on our list. The schools are fantastic, the people are and added a really cool view for our guests. friendly, and the neighborhoods are stunning with Your son was born this spring. What was it like to young families and children playing on just about every corner. We knew this is where we wanted to experience that during a pandemic?

Having a baby during a global pandemic was not settle and start a family. what we had planned, of course! It was scary because there were and so are so many unknowns to this virus. Can you talk about the Rose Tide Roll podcast I was still pregnant and due to have James in three you co-host?

My co-host came up with the name. The “rose” in weeks when we were put in quarantine. Our OB/ 46 September/October 2020

the title refers to The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, as that is the topic we cover the most, and “Tide Roll” obviously follows Roll Tide Roll. I love doing it because it gives me an hour every week to cut up with my two friends and co-hosts. We have a really good time covering the TV shows, and sometimes will get into sports or other funny things that may have occurred during the week.

What is your role with your family’s charity Nick’s Kids Foundation, and what are some of your favorite memories and projects tied to it?

I am the newest member of the Board of Directors.

My mom and I had always talked about when the right time for me to be more involved would be, and now is the time. I have always loved the building of homes with Habitat for Humanity, the annual Nick’s Kids Golf Tournament and recently, the involvement with the Tuscaloosa Juvenile Detention Center where Nick’s Kids funded the classrooms for the career tech program. This program gives the young residents an opportunity to succeed in welding, plumbing and carpentry. It also gives them the opportunity to earn their GED. We have built numerous playgrounds and donated over $8 million to children’s organizations in Tuscaloosa. Most

recently, we have partnered to kick off the Saban Center, which will be an elite learning center in Tuscaloosa and have the children’s museum, theater and library. They will continue to make a difference in children’s and teachers’ lives.

MountainBrookMagazine.com 47

Rufie Lewis walks out of her Brookwood Forest home after recovering from COVID-19.

48 September/October 2020

Witnessing the Beast Here’s how COVID-19’s trail of devastation creeped into homes around us, wreaking havoc in some and lightly touching others.

By Rick Lewis | Photos by Mary Fehr & Contributed

Coming out of sedation after six days on a ventilator, my mother saw a demon. A horned, ugly thing, it sneered at her as she struggled to open her eyes and rid herself of it. In her weakness, and under the lingering influence of a potent cocktail of sedatives and pain relievers, all she could do was repeat to herself again and again: “I am marked as Christ’s own forever. You cannot touch me. I am marked as Christ’s own forever.”

The COVID-19 virus is, put simply, a beast. It has shown itself to operate in unpredictable ways from patient to patient—lightly touching some while others it takes to the mat with swift ferocity. We have all witnessed the withering trail of physical devastation it has wrought throughout the country, essentially carving absence into communities of previous abundance (as of writing in late July, the U.S. death toll stands at just over 150,000). But, perhaps most troubling, it remains incompletely understood. And, trust me, uncertainty tries the mind in uniquely twisted ways. I should know. In June, everyone in my immediate family, excluding my father, contracted the virus.

I will be the first to say that we did what we could to protect ourselves: staying home as much as possible,

wearing masks while out, obsessively washing our hands and so on. However, you are only as strong as your weakest link, and when others fail to be as vigilant...well, snap.

It was on June 18 that my mom, Rufie Lewis, first came down with a fever, two days after her 60th birthday. For several days, there was only miserable sickness for her: all-day fevers, chills, nausea and debilitating fatigue. I remember her calling out for help one day and entering her room to see her shaking so violently from a fever I thought she may have been having a stroke.

That Sunday, we took her to the ER. A chest X-ray showed a small spot of pneumonia in her left lung, and a rapid COVID test came back positive. She was MountainBrookMagazine.com 49

Dr. Michael Saag first felt COVID symptoms after visiting New York City.

Photo by Art Meripol

50 September/October 2020

“It’s a scary experience mostly because it’s an unknown. It’s unknown what’s going to happen next,” Saag explains. “For me as a physician, I knew what I was facing if I ended up in the hospital. It was not just some amorphous, ‘I’ve got to go to the hospital, and I don’t know what’s going to happen there.’ If I went to the hospital, I knew precisely what was going to happen.”

Namely, being put on oxygen, or worse, a ventilator.

With a ventilator, there would be a total loss of When I dropped mom off at the clinic, one of the control, usually sedation, and the knowledge that nurses told her that she was in good hands and that perhaps weeks of your life would be willed away to one of the doctors at UAB had gone through a bout the siphon of medically induced memory loss. with the disease himself.

When my mom was taken into UAB’s COVID Dr. Michael Saag, M.D. is no stranger to uncertainty.

He has dedicated much of his career at UAB to the Respiratory Clinic on her sixth day with the virus, the research of infectious diseases; in particular, he has clinic took a new chest X-ray. In just four days’ time, worked extensively on AIDS/HIV research and saw her earlier “spot” of pneumonia had progressed to what it was like for a new disease to create a similar advanced pneumonia in both of her lungs. A nurse matrix of fear, hesitation and destruction like came outside and told me through the car window COVID-19. But that didn’t mean he was mentally that she was put on oxygen and would need to be admitted to the hospital immediately. Of course, as prepared to get this coronavirus himself.

After a road trip in early March, coming back from was and is operating procedure, no family would be New York City with his son, Saag and his son (who is allowed in with her or allowed to visit her.

About an hour later, in a tellingly grim call, a doctor also a physician) began to feel unwell—fevers, chills and body aches. They self-quarantined in their rooms would inform me that the ward was currently full and when they got home to Mountain Brook and stayed that Mom would have to stay in the ER until a bed aware of their symptoms. His son’s case was mild and opened up. I would receive another call that night went away in a few days, and until the sixth day, the from mom as she sat in the ER waiting room. “Rick, same seemed to be true for Saag: “I thought, well this I’m going to die here,” she said. is over. And then that night was the beginning of what A key aspect of this coronavirus, and arguably one I call the Twilight Zone meets Groundhog’s Day.” The “Twilight Zone” would start at night, around of the main reasons for its continued community six in the evening, and his symptoms, including a new spread, is its unique interaction with each individual mental haziness and shortness of breath, would who contracts it. More explicitly, many people won’t “crescendo” until midnight or 2 a.m. He would ever get symptoms, and many others may only get the experience an “eerie feeling ... of impending doom” mildest of symptoms.

Banks Henderson, a 2017 Mountain Brook High that lingered in his thoughts, not knowing whether or not he’d make it through the night without needing to School graduate, is now a student at Auburn University and a youth minister at Holy Trinity go to the hospital.

“The next morning, I would feel pretty good and Episcopal Church in Auburn. Toward the middle of say, ‘Okay, maybe that was it,’” he says. “And then, March, he returned from Florida from a spring break sure enough, the next night, it would all return... So trip with friends.

“About a week and a half after that, I just started the Twilight Zone was that feeling of unknown, not knowing what was gonna happen next. And feeling tired, not really up to do anything,” he explains.

Groundhog Day went on every day for eight days in a “I remember sitting there, and my family was having drinks out on the back porch, and they’re like, ‘You row.”

Finally, after nine or so days of having the virus, wanna have a drink?’ And I said, ‘No, I’m gonna Saag’s condition seemed to improve. But it took actually go lay down.’”

When he took his temperature, he had developed a several weeks for him to feel “right.” The physical effects of the virus are not to be trifled with, especially fever. The fever would come up and down throughout for those that are older or have pre-existing health the day, as would the fatigue. This continued on for conditions, but the mental anguish of the disease can about a week before Henderson noticed a little difficulty breathing: “It wasn’t bad. I would just get be just as potent. sent home with a Z-Pak and told to monitor her symptoms.

On Wednesday of that week, at the recommendation of a doctor in the family and after no improvement of her symptoms, I drove her to UAB’s COVID Respiratory Clinic, a downtown operation run out of the shell of a deceased bank. When they took her in on a wheelchair, I had no idea I wouldn’t see her again until the Fourth of July.

MountainBrookMagazine.com 51

Banks Henderson says he felt much worse with the flu this year than with the coronavirus.

52 September/October 2020

out of breath while walking up the stairs.”

After that, he went in to get tested and got a positive result for COVID. But almost as soon as he’d seen a doctor, the symptoms essentially disappeared.

“The next day after I went to the doctor, I was symptom-free,” he says. “So it did not last long for me whatsoever. It was about maybe a week and a half of feeling cruddy. I had the flu last year and felt 1,000 times worse with that than I did with Corona.”

And, frankly, the same was true for me. While helping to take care of my mom at home before she was admitted to the hospital, I also contracted the disease. It amounted to a night of intense chills and a low-grade fever and body aches for about three or four more days. A test on the fifth day proved I had it. All of those days I spent cloistered away in my room, as well as the following two weeks for good measure.

Because, while I (and my brother, for that matter) was blessed with a mild case, my dad, Charles, who also lives in the house, was a prime target for a serious reaction. Miraculously, he has thus far avoided it.

However, I can say that the weeks that I was either sick or still contagious were not easy ones. The spectre of COVID was always present on my mind, and I was fearful to even momentarily exhale when I was near my doorway. It was like living in a house filled with haints I could not afford to disturb.

Anyone who knows or has met my mom can attest to her ability to captivate anyone with her smile or unabashed laughter. She radiates sunlight from her very pores and has the personal spirit to boot. That’s what makes the idea of her very being alienated by tubing and IV drips so difficult to imagine, especially with the speed at which she declined. It was not unlike watching a video of a building demolition: there’s a loud explosion and, many times, a pause before the structure fully buckles onto itself.

One moment a COVID patient can be doing okay— Mom was on a simple oxygen tube for about three

days—before they take a meteoric dive or make a stunning recovery. On her fourth or so day at UAB, she was told she was being taken to the ICU to be put on a ventilator for her worsening oxygen saturation, and she only had time to make a quick call to Dad before being put under.

For her, the rest is a grey wash of fluorescent light, the ever-present white noise of hospital sound, and the memory of the nurses’ motivation board across from her glass-boxed room: “Be Strong, Be Happy.”

What she does not remember is the video call we had with her, the almost hourly phone conversations we had with the nurses to get updates on her condition, or the faces of the patients around her. The swoosh, click, push, swoosh, click, push of her external lungs.

In the end though, Mom came home to our perch in Brookwood Forest. After roughly two weeks in the hospital, Dad drove her into the driveway on the afternoon of Independence Day. It was likely the combination of dexamethasone, remdesivir, prone therapy, and amazing nurses and doctors who helped her recover in such a short period of time compared to many of the earlier cases in the pandemic.

When I asked her how the knowledge of her neardeath has modified her ability to get bogged down in the worries of each day, she explained that she is “just so thankful to be alive. I don’t want to focus on negativity or little things that could distract me from what I have to live for, my faith and my family.”

My mom is a deeply religious person and finds both comfort and solace in times of prayer and reflection.

And so, whether or not the “demon” she faced in the hospital was a shockingly common COVIDhallucination or a spiritual manifestation of her struggle, I have to imagine that her will to persevere and be whole again had a lot to do with where she is now: home and on the mend.

But the experience also made her more aware of the fragility of our time here and the potency of this disease: “It’s real,” she says. “It’s real.”

I strive to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.

Animal Hospital, Veterinary Care, Boarding & Grooming 2810 19th Place South, Homewood, AL 35209 StandiferAnimalClinic.com MountainBrookMagazine.com 53

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

fall travel Anyone else extra craving a getaway with all that 2020 has thrown our way? As temperatures start to cool, there are plenty of places you can venture just a safe car drive away from home. Be sure to make plans to explore the beauty of beaches, mountains and canyons, and to find a hotel to pamper you with culinary offerings nearby too.

Photos by Ryan Carlson

54 September/October 2020

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

The 7 Natural Wonders of Alabama

1. MOUNT CHEAHA

The highest point in Alabama offers breathtaking views and is surrounded by the Talladega National Forest.

2. DISMALS CANYON Waterfalls, deep caverns and moss-covered rocks foster plant life, and you can also see the Dismalites, a glowworm that emits a blue-green light.

3. LITTLE RIVER CANYON The Little River has sculpted a spectacular canyon reaching depths of up to 600 feet southeast of Fort Payne.

4. CATHEDRAL CAVERNS You’ll see rock formations and one of the largest stalagmites in the world once after you enter inside its grand entrance.

5. MOBILE-TENSAW DELTA These bottomland hardwoods, cypress/tupelo swamps, bogs and marshes are home to 1,071 flora and fauna species.

6. CAHABA RIVER Between May and June, you can find the Cahaba lily’s large white blossoms in the longest stretch of free-flowing river in the state.

7. GULF COAST BEACHES Of courses our sugar white sand beaches and turquoise waters made the list!

Cheaha State Park OPPOSITE: Dismals Canyon

MountainBrookMagazine.com 55

WA LT O N A LEGACY O F LE I SU R E South Walton’s 26-mile stretch of sugar-white sand beaches in Northwest Florida offers an all-natural escape, yet perfectly blends modern amenities, world-class cuisine and small town charm into an unforge able experience.

The days move a bit slower here, perfectly timed with the laid-back lifestyle found along the coast. It’s this simplicity – a day spent creating memories at the beach – that draws generations of families back to South Walton.

FIND YOUR

PERFECT BEACH

®

South Walton’s sugar-white sand and turquoise water set a stunning backdrop for our 16 vibrant beach neighborhoods.

Find your perfect beach at VisitSouthWalton.com.

MIRAMAR BEACH • SEASCAPE • SANDESTIN • DUNE ALLEN • GULF PLACE • SANTA ROSA BEACH • BLUE MOUNTAIN BEACH GRAYTON BEACH • WATERCOLOR • SEASIDE • SEAGROVE • WATERSOUND • SEACREST • ALYS BEACH • ROSEMARY BEACH • INLET BEACH

Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce C O N N E C T I O N S

New Member Spotlight Alabama Education Association

Mountain Brook Merchant Emergency Relief Fund Our merchants are the heartbeat of our community, and every single one of us is being affected by COVID-19. Help us help our merchants by donating to https://onemb.swell.gives/!

Alisha Crossley Photography Amparo Fine Living Atomic Birmingham Works Sarah Burkhart, Realty South

Welcome New Gold Member Tonya Jones!

Billy Pritchard, City Council member, is seen here with Chamber President Tonya Jones, Mayor Stewart Welch, and City Council President Virginia Smith as he hands over his donation to the Mountain Brook Merchant Emergency Relief Fund.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the relief fund!

101 HOYT LANE 58 September/October 2020

MTN. BROOK, ALABAMA 35213

F i n d U s O n l i ne

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What’s Happening in the City

It’s time to use your Village Gold!

Representative David Faulkner is seen here presenting a check for $5,000 to City Council President Virginia Smith, Council Member Phil Black, Mayor Stewart Welch, Chamber President Tonya Jones and City Manager Sam Gaston for the creation of a water fountain at the Irondale Furnace Trail.

Welcome to English Village, Amparo Fine Living!

The cardstock versions are expiring September 30th.

Village Gold is all digital now and you can visit our website to purchase!

Eat Out to Help Out! Coming Soon Check mtnbrookchamber.org for updates.

205 - 871 - 3779

WWW.MTNBROOKCHAMBER.ORG MountainBrookMagazine.com 59

OUT & ABOUT

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REOPEN MOUNTAIN BROOK WEEK

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PHOTOS BY ALIZA BAKER

To celebrate the reopening of Mountain Brook after the COVID-19 quarantine, merchants safely held sales, drawings and specials June 1-6.

1. Bezhan Dolatabadi and Simin Regina, B. Prince 2. Jean Clayton, Christine’s on Canterbury 3. Joann Long, The Dande Lion 4. Leslie Pittman, Elle 5. Christina Smith, The Happy Olive 6. Ann Mcqueen Whatley, Little Lavender 7. Aja Powanda, Mon Ami 8. Lillian Falkenburg, George Jones and Lucy Marks at Snoozy’s 9. A’vian Reeves in front of Bromberg’s 10. April Kirby, The Impeccable Pig 11. Bailey Everett and Lauralee Benson The Pants Store 12. Cathy Kelley and Payton Darnell, The White Room 13. Laurel Bassett, Town & Country 14. Seth Adams and Jenny Gaiser, Village Sportswear

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MountainBrookMagazine.com 61

OUT & ABOUT

1

MARKET DAY

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PHOTOS BY JAMES CULVER

This annual day of sales in Mountain Brook Village this year was marked by masks and social distancing, but the savings were still great.

1. Beth and Lindsey Scott 2. Kim Ratier and Lauren Hofheins 3. Ashley Simpson and Felicia Smith 4. Emily Issa and Catherine Egeland 5. Fernanda and Sammy Spieler 6. Carrie Smith and Tommy Morris 7. Elise and Lindy Walker 8. Lauren Latham, Sena Harris, Sheri leonelli, Agatha Pihakis, Jennifer Pihakis and Nancy Byers 9. Tyler Perry, Michelle Garcia, Nevaeh Perry, Treshon Perry and lani Perry 10. Maura McCarrick, Debbie Watson and Pam Clark 11. Mary Margaret Chambliss, Louis Rogoff, Alligood Rogoff and Ann Chambliss 12. Sandra Ash and Nancy Walton

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MountainBrookMagazine.com 63

MARKETPLACE

Marketplace Mountain Brook Magazine • 205.669.3131

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

Avanti Polar Lipids is looking for full and part time employees.

Submit resume to jobs@avantilipids. com •Highly proficient math skills required.

•High school diploma required.

Mechanic needed.

Must have own tools and five years experience. Apply in person: 1105 7th St N, Clanton. Or call for appointment 205-7554570

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

CDL Preferred.

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

HIRING EXPERIENCED FULL CASE ORDER SELECTORS $19.03 per hour plus production $$$ incentives. Grocery order selection using electric pallet jacks & voice activated headsets. Great benefits including Blue Cross health & dental insurance & matching 401k. Pre-employment drug test required.

Apply Online: WWW. AGSOUTH.COM Automation Personnel Services Hiring IMMEDIATELY For: Automotive Assembly, General Labor, Production, Clerical, Machine Operator, Quality, Carpentry, Welder, Foundry. Positions In: Calera, Clanton, Pelham, Bessemer, McCalla. Walk-in applications accepted.

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

64 September/October 2020

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 Immediate need for LPN’s. Full time LPN Position with sign on bonus. BMC Nursing Home. Responsible for patient care and supervision of CNA staff. Will also provide treatment and meds for residents. Apply online or call Human Resources at 205-9263363 bibbmedical center.com Boise Cascade Now Hiring for Utility Positions. Starting pay $13.66/hour.

MountainBrookMagazine.com

Must be able to pass background screen.

Please apply at www. bc.com Core Focus Personnel 205-826-3088 • Now Hiring Production Mill Worker, Jemison.

12hrs (days/nights), ability to pass drug test, background check, physical.

Positions working in outside temperature conditions. Previous manufacturing experience required. $11.75/hr to start.

Owner Operators Wanting Dedicated Year Round Anniston, AL www.pull4klb.com Lancaster Place Apartments.

Location, community & quality living in Calera, AL. 1, 2, & 3 bedroom apartments available. Call today for specials!! 205668-6871. Or visit hpilancasterplace.com

Marble Valley Manor.

Affordable 1 and 2 Bedroom Apartments for Elderly & Disabled. $2000 SIGN ON Many on-site services!

BONUS NEW 2115 Motes Rd, PAY SCALE TO Sylacauga. 256QUALIFYING DRIVERS EVERGREEN 245-6500 •TDD#s: 800-548-2547(V) TRANSPORT, is accepting applications •800-548-2546(T/A).

Office Hours: Monfor local drivers in the Fri, 8am-4pm. Equal Calera and Leeds, Opportunity Provider/ AL, area. Must have Employer Class A CDL, good driving record, 1 yr verifiable tractor trailer Are you a motivated experience. Good pay professional? Are and benefits. Apply in you looking for a dynamic career? Are person at 8278 Hwy you ready to control 25 South, Calera, AL, your own level of or call for info 205success? See why 668-3316.

McKinnons’ is an exciting place to Industrial Coatings work and grow. Now Group, Inc. is accepting applications hiring experienced for Sales, Service, and -Sandblasters Detail Shop. Apply -Industrial Painters Helpers. Must be able with the receptionist.

205-755-3430 to pass drug test and e-verify check. Must Shake up your be willing to travel.

Professional references career!!! Are you looking for something required. Please new and FUN? Milo’s send resume to: icgsecretary@hotmail. is always looking for great managers com or call (205)688to come join our 9004 growing and dynamic

team. Apply online at miloshamburgers.com Oxford Healthcare in Montgomery currently hiring certified CNA’s and/or Home Health aides in the Clanton, Marbury and Maplesville areas.

Must be able to pass complete background check, have reliable transportation and have a strong work ethic. Serious inquiries only. Call 334-409-0035 or apply on-line at www.

Oxfordhealthcare.com Specializing in all your hair care needs SERENITY SALON Barber/Stylist Chairs Available for Rent 2 Convenient Locations •2005 Valleydale Rd. •Pelham •3000 Meadow Lake Dr. Suite 107 Call Nichole 205-240-5428 South Haven Health & Rehab NOW HIRING!!! •LPN’s & RN’s -$5,000 Sign-on Bonus for Full-Time shift •CNA’s Apply in person: 3141 Old Columbiana Rd Birmingham, AL-35266 Nursing assistant to care for high functioning quadriplegic home health patient in Jemison. Must have valid drivers license.

Part-time. Call Mr. Wilbanks 205-9083333

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

Alabaster/Pelham. Call Stephen (205)6632822

Alabama Air Power Inc Now Hiring Industrial Air Compressor Technician Will cross train person with mechanical skills, Electrical and/or HVAC knowledge Blue Cross Health and Dental Paid Vacation Paid Holidays Apply In Person 1293 Hwy 87, Alabaster

Pop & Sons Demolition & Junk Removal (205)9488494 junkguys2014@ gmail.com •Junk Removal Services •Demolition•More!!

FREE QUOTES!! ALSO WITH THE MENTION OF THIS AD GET $20 OFF!!!

Exp•Pass D.O.T Physical/Background Check •Hazmat Endorsement Apply Online: www. drive4western.com EOE

Experienced Termite Technician or someone experienced in route-service work and wants to learn Service Tech, Inc. new profession. WorkHeating & Air Conditioning AL Cert# vehicle/equipment provided. Must 89282 Now Hiring drive straight-shift, Full-Time Certified Technician •Minimum have clean driving record/be 21/pass 5 years experience Acceptance Loan background/drug test.

•Residential, Company, Inc. Training provided.

Commercial and Personal loans! Let Insurance/401K Refrigeration •Ipad us pay off your title offered. M-F 7:00-4:30 Experience •On-Call loans! 224 Cahaba + 1 Saturday/month.

Rotation Apply at: Valley Rd, Pelham Become a Dental www.servicetechhvac. Pay $13hr. Send 205-663-5821 Assistant in ONLY resume to facsmith@ com 8 WEEKS! Please charter.net Pharmaceutical visit our website Grade Pharmaceutical Sitting Angels Home capstonedental University Baptist Care, LLC NOW Grade CBD Oil, a assisting.com or call Child Development ACCEPTING NEW (205)561-8118 and get unique concept for Center is pleased to sublingual absorption. PATIENTS Doctor your career started! announce that our Appointments, Helps pain, anxiety, First Class Preschool Bathing/Dressing energy & more.

Popeyes Seeking program was awarded Meal Preparation, Order from home friendly, motivated, Errands, Laundry,Light a New Classroom 205-276-7778. www. dependable Crew Grant by Governor House Keeping and CiliByDesign.com/ Members. OPEN Ivey and the State More. Lenette Walls, BrendaGlaze INTERVIEWS DAILY Department of Early Owner 205-405-6991 2:00pm-5:00pm 3300 Childhood Education. $Cash Paid For Used Pelham Parkway.

Our second classroom Immediate Openings! RV's!$ Motor Homes, The Harvest Place Christian Church Join will house up to 18 Travel/Enclosed Start work this preschoolers who us for worship every trailers, consignment week! Apply online: SUNDAY The Harvest are 4 years old by welcome, Cars and work4popeyes September 1, 2020.

Place Christian Trucks, Pick up kitchen.com Tuition is incomeChurch 14 Westside available, Mccluskey based and we provide Ln, Columbiana, AL Auto and RV Sales, GENERAL LAWN meals at no additional 35051 Bishop Wales LLC 205-833-4575 CARE Specialist in charge. Register Williams, Jr Chief large yards 2+ acres. at http://alprek.

Apostle •Morning Serving Chilton, Coosa Construction Worship Sunday 11am asapconnected.com Workers Needed for & many more areas.

•Life Enrichment Local Construction Bi-weekly, weekly or WE ARE NOW Classes Sunday Company. Must be one-time services HIRING Lead and 10:15am •Join experienced and available. SPRING Auxiliary teachers for Us Every Tuesday dependable. Job CLEANUP SPECIALS! First Class 4-yearNight at JOYFEST is five days a week.

Call Alex today for old Pre-K programs.

Salary based on skills. •Midweek Worshipdetails: 1-205-955School year positions Must have remodeling Begins at 6:30pm 3439 ~Military & with competitive pay. www.getyourharvest. experience. Call Senior Discounts~ Lead teachers must org Adam 205-863-9059 have degree in Early Childhood Education/ Western Development.

International Gas & Auxiliary teachers Cylinders, Inc Signmust have Child On-Bonus! Hiring Development SOLO & TEAM Associate (CDA) CDL Drivers •2yrs 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.

or 9hrs Early Childhood Education/ Development.

Experience in First Class program & bilingual skills a plus. For questions about registration or to apply for a teaching position, contact Lorrie Ozley: universitybaptistcdc@ gmail.com 205-6654039 HVAC Company with 43 years in business NOW HIRING EXPERIENCED TECHNICIAN Will train! Drug test required. Mon-Fri 8:00am-5:00pm Call 205-663-2199 BIRMINGHAM AREA HEAT & FROST INSULATORS LOCAL 78 Accepting applications for 4-year Apprenticeship Program. Applications will be accepted Tuesdays only, 8:30am-2:00pm at 2653 Ruffner Road Birmingham, AL 35210. 205-956-2866 205-956-8101 etx.3 craig@insulators78. org Applicants must be 18+, drug free, have dependable transportation, ID & proof of age, high school diploma/ GED. Applicants will be required to take math test & English comprehension test.

The Local 78 Joint Apprenticeship & Training Committee is registered with The State of Alabama Office of Apprenticeship and is an equal opportunity employer.

MountainBrookMagazine.com 65

MY MOUNTAIN BROOK NICKY BARNES

Mountain Brook Schools Board of Education President

Coffee Therapy

Church Street Coffee & Books A group of friends and I have met for coffee about five days a week for the last 10+ years! We have supported each other through parenting teens, divorces, job losses and successes. Plus, the staff—Cal, Sri, Sky, Rachel and Brett—are like a family to us.

For Our Kids

Mountain Brook Schools My four children went through Mountain Brook Schools from kindergarten to 12th grade. Each one had a different personality and different learning styles, and each one had their needs met and went to college prepared. The last five years as a Board of Education member, I have seen that it would be an understatement to say that NO decision is made without incredible scrutiny and the unwavering intent for the best interests of our children.

Health + Wellness

Villager Yoga Unfortunately, I am not a huge fan of working out and exercising, but this was the first place where I felt like I was actually honoring my body and caring for it in a way that would make me healthier without pushing through some sort of pain or discomfort.

Books Galore

Friends of the Library Book Sale I worked many years on this annual event in February at the O’Neal Library, and more than that, I have filled many bookshelves in my home, as well as filling my mind with wonderful stories and knowledge.

Some of the books they sell are even treasures with considerable value.

66 September/October 2020

The “Cult-De-Sac”

Nash Circle This is the street I live on, but it’s so much more than that. We have a group of neighbors who congregate in the circle on the regular, usually with a glass of wine. We have watched our kids grow up together, with front yard football, whiffle ball, kid-produced concerts, Halloween parties, annual shrimp boils, family Olympics and tree climbing contests, and we’ve had broken bones, stitches, torn ACLs and every day boo boos.

Fall is right around the corner

and now is the perfect time to purchase your next adventure. Fishing, hunting, or just enjoying the outdoors, Russell Marine is here for you.

Fishing boats from Bass Cat, SeaArk, Key West and Crevalle Boats. Off-road vehicles from BRP Can-Am. We also over Nautique, Godfrey Pontoon Boats, Scarab, Supreme, Sea Ray, Bryant and personal watercraft from Sea-Doo.

Industry leader when it comes to ATVs and Side-by-Sides.

Longest operating bass boat builder in the industry.

View all of our inventory from the comfort of your home at RussellMarine.net or visit any one of our 6 locations. Financing is available.

RUSSELL MARINE BOATING & OUTDOORS 256-397-1700 RIVER NORTH MARINA 256-397-1500 l THE RIDGE MARINA 256-397-1300 l SMITH LAKE 256-841-6365 KOWALIGA MARINA 256-397-1210 l REAL ISLAND MARINA 256-397-1200 MountainBrookMagazine.com 67

68 September/October 2020