Opinion Outlook The
Our
Opinion
Christmas parade is a must see event
W
e encourage local residents often to get out and enjoy many of the activities different groups have planned in our community. One of the best events that occurs annually in our area is scheduled here in Alexander City Monday night as the Alexander City Chamber of Commerce hosts the Hometown Christmas Parade at 6 p.m. We may say it a lot, but don’t miss out on this parade. The theme for this year’s parade is Christmas Carols. “We try to pick a theme that everyone will enjoy,” the Alexander City Chamber of Commerce’s Kim Dunn said. “We think that the Christmas Carol theme will draw both the religious and non secular groups.” The theme choice has drawn some new participants to the parade and the parade is shaping up to be as large or larger than in years past. This year’s parade will follow a familiar route, with staging of floats and the line up starting on Comer Street. The parade will progress up Cherokee Road to Church Street, then make a turn down Tallapoosa Street to the end near Strand Park. There are just certain traditions and things that make a city special and unique. In Alexander City we have July 4th Fireworks over Lake Martin, the pimento cheese from Carlisle’s, the Friday night Jazz Fest concert at Strand Park and the Hometown Christmas Parade. Those are things that you just have to do when you are in Alexander City. Whether you are in the Christmas mood or not, this is an event that everyone will be talking about Tuesday and all week. So come out Monday night at 6 p.m. and stand shoulder to shoulder with your friends and neighbors along the route and see the bands, the floats and the sights and sounds of Christmas. Bring your family and friends. You may just make memories that will stick with you for a lifetime.
Know Your
MITCH SNEED EDITOR (256) 234-4281 X213 editor@alexcityoutlook.com
Weekend Edition, December 3-4, 2016
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FRIENDLY LESSON: Giving is the greatest gift
I
have been blessed with some incredible friends who have come into my life. I have friends that I have known since grade school and neighbors who have become life-long friends. There are also the kind of friends that I met through work who became much, much more than a source for a story. That is exactly what Rodney Elrod is. Rodney owns Super Quick Towing and Recovery in Douglasville, Georgia and I met him after hearing that he felt so sorry for an elderly man who had totaled his car in an accident that he was repairing it and getting ready to give it back to the man as good as new. I went over to see the reveal and watch as the old man was moved to tears as Rodney handed over the keys and title to that old Ford Crown Victoria back to him. He did it all at no charge, simply because he knew how much his late wife’s car meant to him. That’s the kind of guy Rodney is. But as I see houses being decorated as Christmas is on the way, I always think of Rodney. He loves Christmas so much that he decorated his house with every inflatable known to exist, enough lights to have his yard mistaken for a landing strip at the airport and then invited the entire town to come out and sit on Santa’s lap, drink homemade hot chocolate and hear carolers sing Christmas songs. Hundreds showed up. As an illustration of what kind of heart Elrod has, he also let me be a part of one of the coolest examples of Christmas giving that you can imagine. After hearing a story
MITCH SNEED Editor
about a young woman who was working hard at two jobs, going to school and trying her best to get ahead without the benefit of transportation, Elrod decided to help. He was able to transform a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix that had been abandoned after it was in an accident into a dream car for the young lady. “You hear a lot of stories, but when someone is trying so hard, those are the kind of people you want to help,” Elrod said. “She had saved up a little money and was trying to find something, but when I heard that I said I know we can do something.” Elrod had one of his drivers Josh Cochran load the car that Frankie Bell had worked to get back in shape on his rollback wrecker. Cochran drove to Lott’s home and set up just down the street from her house, while they knocked on her door. That’s when a reveal that Ty Pennington would have applauded or one Oprah Winfrey would have pulled off back in the day. “They said that they knew I had been hoping and praying for something good to happen and that I needed a way to get to school and work so let’s just pray for something good to happen,” the woman said. “Then I looked up and saw the flashing lights and the truck and I couldn’t believe it.” Taken totally by surprise, an overwhelmed young lady let the tears of joy flow.
“I just can’t believe that someone I had never even met would do something like this for me,” she said. Elrod downplayed what he did, just saying he was glad she would get good use out of it. It hasn’t been proven by cardiologists, but Elrod may have one of the biggest hearts of anyone I have ever met. I can’t count the number of times he has helped me, my family and just random people who were in a pinch. He even held a benefit concert one year at Christmas to raise money for toys for a local civic club. He rented the venue, had his friends Ronnie McDowell and T. Graham Brown come down and do a show. He gave every penny made to charity. “It’s Christmas time and no kid should be without something under the tree,” Elrod said. His wife Carolyn said he loves Christmas and loves to help people. “If his wallet was a big as his heart there is no telling what all he would do,” she said. “One year he said ‘instead of you and me buying each other stuff why don’t we go out and buy Christmas for some kids who need it.’ So that’s what we did. You know we had more fun doing that than any gift we would have gotten. That’s the way he is.” I have learned so much from Rodney, but most of all I think that he has shown me that helping others and giving can be the greatest gift of all. That’s a perfect lesson to remember this time of year. Mitch Sneed is the editor of the newspapers of Tallapoosa Publishers.
Officials
Jim Nabors is mayor of Alexander City. His phone number at city hall is 256-329-6701 and his home number is 256329-1320 His address at city hall is 4 Court Square; Alexander City, AL, 35010. His home address is 1695 Magnolia Street Alexander City, AL, 35010.
The top 10 comedic news stories of 2016
Jim Nabors
Bobby Tapley represents District 1. His phone number is 256329-9671. His address is 1821 LaVista Road, Alexander City, AL 35010. Chairman of the Public Safety committee.
Buffy Colvin represents District 2. Her phone number is 256-750-0663. Her address is 786 I Street, Alexander City, AL 35010. Chairman of the Buildings and Property committee. Scott Hardy represents District 3. His phone number is 256-4962450. His address is 549 Sleepy Hollow Drive, Alexander City, AL 35010. Chairman of the Parks and Recreation committee. Eric Brown represents District 4. His phone number is 256-3972011. His address is 1421 Parrish Drive, Alexander City, AL 35010. Chairman of the Public Works committee.
Bobby Tapley
Buffy Colvin
Scott Hardy
Eric Brown
Tommy Spraggins represents District 5. His phone number is 256-329-7111. His address is 1539 College Street, Alexander City, AL 35010. Chairman of Finance committee.
Tommy Spraggins
Tim Funderburk represents District 6. His phone number is 256-825-2993. His address is 1431 River Oaks, Alexander City, AL 35010. Chairman of Utilities committee.
Tim Funderburk
I
t’s the first week of December, and all over the nation children dance while grandparents twitch with anticipation. Which, admittedly, isn’t that out of the ordinary. During this festive season rife with traditions, none is more hal-lowed than that magical moment when the Top Ten Comedic News Stories of the year are unveiled. Truly this is the most wonderful time of the year. Please be advised that the Top Ten Comedic News Stories of 2016 are not in any way, shape or form to be confused with the Top Ten Legitimate News Stories of 2016. No. No. No. They are as different as cute kitten videos and stainless steel collar stays. Petroleum jelly and the cobblestones outside 10 Downing Street. Corn chowder and Mi-chelangelo’s David. Trope and tripe. Sure, the year was littered with serious misadventures involving terrorism, deadly viruses, the Kardashians and all sorts of other natural disasters, including, but not limited to: Zika infested Oregon Militia Occupiers in driverless cars being forced to platform dive into Flint, Michigan tap water while Ryan Lochte threw Brazilian gas station bathroom keys at them. But here at Durstco we try to concentrate more on the lighter side of the vast dark spooky chasms of
WILL DURST Columnist
reality. So here they are, the stories from the first eleven- twelfths of 2016 that most lent themselves to the humorous, amus-ing and comedic. 10. Fidel Castro finally dies but at least was able to hang around long enough to see the beginning of the end of American Democracy. 9. The GOP Primaries, an eight- month long circus that featured 16 different novelty acts pummeled into submission by a lion tamer who used whips and chains and insults variously questioning their energy, heritage, wife’s attractiveness and size of their genitals. 8. Brexit. Turns out most Brits consider “xenophobe” to be a musical instrument. 7. The Chicago Cubs win the World Series, which by many has been taken as a sign that the end of the world is near. Some historians claim Nostradamus predicted this would immediately precede the Apocalypse. 6. Bob Dylan wins Nobel Prize for Literature. And next year, Stockholm is going to give the Peace Prize to Paris Hilton for her delightful tweets.
5. Melania Trump’s GOP Convention speech. Every time Michele Obama talks now, the world waits for Melania’s spin on it. 4. Hillary Clinton’s email problems. Claimed she was only following precedents set by other Secretary of States. And she’s right. In 1790, Thomas Jefferson had server problems as well. The difference wasJefferson’s server was pregnant. 3. Bernie Sanders. Who almost beat Hillary Clinton and came close to debating Donald Trump. Would have been fun to see the Vermont Senator chew up the New York Real Estate Developer but then be forced to spit him out to due to religious dietary laws. 2. The Galaxy Note 7, which was promoted as being water resistant. What they didn’t bother to mention was that underwater was the safest place to use the thing. 1. Donald Trump. Bombastic, brutish, boorish, blustering, barbarous, bungling bully wins US Presidential election with a little help from his friends: the FBI, Vladimir Putin, the mob, fake news sites, Anthony Wiener, Bill Clinton, Rosie O’Donnell, white supremacists and Alec Baldwin. ——Will Durst is a syndicated columnist distributed by CagleCartoons.
Today’s
Quote
“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” – Joseph Campbell
Today’s
Scripture “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! his faithful love endures forever. – Psalm 118:1
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