OPINION: GET TO KNOW CANDIDATES BEFORE CASTING VOTES
FRIDAY
THE WHAT’S UP?
STARTING STRONG
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892 February 19, 2016 Vol. 124, No. 36 www.alexcityoutlook.com
See all local events in the calendar, page 7.
BRHS wins season opener. Sports, Page 8.
Group eager to learn more about city manager By MIA OSBORN Staff Writer
Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a five-part series on the citymanager form of government. A petition is now active asking for the people to be allowed to vote on a possible change in Alexander City. The petition can be signed each day at the offices of The Outlook. Mia Osborn / The Outlook
Residents sign the petition calling for a vote on whether a city manager-council form of government is wanted following a meeting with the Young Professionals Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the Lake Martin Young Professionals group gathered in the chapel of First Baptist
Church in downtown Alexander City to hear more details about the recently proposed switch to a council-city manager form of government. The Young Professionals’ own Jacob Meacham welcomed the group of about 20 listeners. Then Kenneth Boone, incoming board chairman of the Alexander City Chamber of Commerce and owner of Tallapoosa Publishers, joined Alexander City Outlook editor Mitch Sneed to explain why they support the change of government
Local chef receives fourth Beard nod
Nursing home hosts Music and Memory Program training By MIA OSBORN Staff Writer
The lives of seniors at one local nursing home are about to get a lot more musical. This week, Adams Nursing Home hosted a three-day training course to introduce volunteers and caregivers to the basics of the Music and Memory program. Music and Memory is designed to give elderly patients with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia access to music they once loved. Donated iPod Shuffles are loaded with music and given to patients, often with remarkable results. “We don’t think about how important music is to our lives. The last part of the brain to quit recognizing things is the one that responds to music,” said Debbie Stalnaker, administrator of Adams. Stalnaker was first contacted by PATH FINDERS – an initiative of Alexander City’s Council for Prosperity See MUSIC • Page 3
Lake Martin
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Springhouse’s McDaniel nominated for Best Chef of the South for 2016 Cliff Williams / The Outlook
Mandi Durr helps Jytarius Harvey in her classroom Tuesday as Georganna Hamby works on a text document. Durr was leading a session on business documents.
ON THE MARKET
BRHS golf coach means business in classroom By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
Mandi Durr isn’t all about crushing drives and draining putts. She’s also about teaching Benjamin Russell students the basics of business, including classes in entrepreneurship, marketing and business technology applications. “This is just my second year in the classroom,” Durr said. “I spent the first
part of my career after college in business. I was in real estate with Russell Lands for 10 years and in mortgages for three years at Renasant and Aliant banks. I had the opportunity last year to come on board at Benjamin Russell in this capacity and I just felt led to come and share from my experience what business is like in the real world.” Durr was already a part of the Benjamin Russell team as coach of the girls’ golf
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The James Beard Foundation has selected Rob McDaniel, general manager and executive chef of Springhouse, located at Russell Crossroads, among 20 semifinalists for Best Chef of the South for 2016. This is the fourth consecutive year McDaniel has been nominated for the award. He is one of 20 nominees and one of only three from Alabama. “I hope that this is maybe the McDaniel year that I get a nod into the Top 5,” said McDaniel. “But of all the chefs in the South, to be one of 20 is pretty awesome to me. “But I don’t come to work every day to win a James Beard Award. We come to work every day here at Springhouse to do the best we can do to put out the best food possible for our customers. It takes the people in the front of the house and those in the back of the house to make it all work.” The two other chefs that received Beard nominations for Best Chef in the South for 2016 were See CHEF • Page 3
By CLIFF WILLIAMS Staff Writer
Linda Shaffer, REALTOR® C: 256.794.4641 • W: 256.329.5253 shaffer@lakemartin.net 5295 Highway 280, Alexander City, AL
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See BRHS • Page 3
By DAVID GRANGER Staff Writer
Lion’s make donation to Wildcats’ band program
Reported on 2/18/16 @ 4 p.m.
High
and to answer questions about how the new form of government would work. Boone was careful to explain that the addition of a city manager was not meant as an insult to elected officials. “This push to change the government has nothing to do with current folks in office. Our city council does the best they can,” he said. “They love this city and they give a lot to represent the people who elected them. The thought See MANAGER • Page 3
BRHS Band Director Dale Bloodworth shows off a sample of the new band uniform that is about to be purchased.
Annual Kiwanis
Pancake Breakfast Tickets available at door
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$ 00 All You Can Eat
This Saturday 6:00 - 10:00 a.m. ••• BRHS Cafeteria
For 73 years the Alexander City Lions Club has been manning the concession stands at Benjamin Russell High School football games. For all of those 73 years, the profits from the effort have gone back to Alexander City Schools and Tuesday the club presented its latest installment to the school’s band program. “The total this year is $13,051.94,” Lions Club president Billy Ray Wall said. The money could not come at a better time for the band program as it is about to order new uniforms in the next couple weeks. “Thank you very much for the donation,” BRHS band director Dale Bloodworth said. “It has been a wonderful relationship.” Bloodworth had a uniform sample for the club to see and talked about the next steps in the process. “The total project is going to cost about
$42,000,” Bloodworth said. “We are about two thirds of the way there right now. All of our students have been measured and we should be able to place the order in the coming weeks.” With this donation, the Alexander City Lions Club involvement in the concession stands is coming to an end. “Our club membership is getting a little older,” Wall said. “We are giving it back to the band boosters but we still hope to be involved and hope to maybe take it on fully again someday once we can recruit some younger members.” Bloodworth said the band boosters are up to the task. “I can assure you that the band boosters will do everything they can to honor the history that this club has put into these concession stands and this community,” Bloodworth said. “We are grateful for the support that we have gotten over the years, not only from the Lions but from the community also.”
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