SPORTS, PAGE 10:
OPINION: HOT WEATHER IS UPON US, TAKE PRECAUTIONS
FRIDAY
THE
Reeltown track is back
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892
June 2, 2017 Vol. 125, No. 109 www.alexcityoutlook.com 75¢
City set to begin mosquito spraying By MITCH SNEED Editor
With an abundance of rain recently in the Lake Martin area, officials are aware that it can leave behind standing water – a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. That’s why Alexander City is gearing up to start its mosquito abatement program and plan to have the sprayer truck rolling next week. “We have been getting ready and we have all the chemicals in and ready to go,” Alexander City Public Works Director and City Engineer Gerard Brewer said. “Traditionally we start it the week after Memorial Day, so plans are to start hitting the neighborhoods Monday evening.”
Last summer after money for spraying was cut due to budget constraints, public outcry prompted the council that was in office at the time to restore $26,061 to get the program active. Since the city is still operating under that budget, the program is ready to begin. That is good news for area residents. According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, mosquitoes are vectors for diseases, which means they can transmit diseases from one human or animal to another. The mosquito population is hard to control, and they often develop resistance to insecticides,
TIMELY TRADITION
MainStreet thanks Wells Fargo for clock restoration By MITCH SNEED Editor
Earlier this spring work to make an Alexander City landmark operational again was completed and the massive 6-foot clock that adorns the front façade of the Wells Fargo Bank downtown is again keeping perfect time. On Thursday, the leaders of MainStreet Alexander City said thank you to a man who bird-dogged the project and made sure that it got done. MainStreet’s Larkin Radney, Stephanie Smith, Richard Wagoner, Breanna Smith and Larry Whatley presented Wells Fargo Area President Tommy Solomon and the staff at Wells Fargo a framed picture of the clock as a token of their appreciation. “We were glad to get it done,” Solomon said. “It took a little longer than expected but we’re a big company and with everything you do there is process it has to go through. “Alexander City is my hometown, so this was important to me.” The clock had been out of commission for almost three years. Rather than a simple process of repairing a gear or a spring or two, the entire mechanism See CLOCK • Page 3
File / The Outlook
Tommy ‘Bull’ Hardman checks on the sprayer last year as he got ready to See MOSQUITO • Page 3 begin last summer’s Alexander City mosiquito spraying program.
United Way is launching summer reading program By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
To help keep elementary-aged students active both mentally and physically during the month of June, the United Way is launching their annual summer reading initiative on Wednesday, June 7. The weekly program will be held at Stephens Elementary School every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon, and will be open to children from kindergarten to fifth grade. The theme for this year’s program is ‘Story Laboratory,’ with each week’s presentation focusing on various scientific aspects, according to Lake Martin Area United Way Executive Director Sharon Fuller. Special guests will include magician David See READING • Page 3
Miss Tallapoosa County pageant planned to raise funds for arts, scholarships By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
Main Street’s Breanna Smith, Richard Wagoner, Larry Tuggle and Larkin Radney talk with Wells Fargo Area President Tommy Solomon outside the downtown bank where a historic clock was refurbished earlier this spring. MainStreet officials officially thanked Wells Fargo for bringing the downtown landmark back to life Thursday morning.
The first annual Miss Tallapoosa County beauty pageant will be held on July 27 at the Dadeville High School auditorium. This event will be the initial fundraiser for a planned non-profit organization that is looking to provide scholarships to students interested in the fine arts. Growing up in the strong arts community of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, there was a program that assisted students in attending a summer arts camp or receiving private tutoring which she felt was highly beneficial, said Dadeville High School teacher Ashley Gresko, who has also been spearheading the planning for the pageant. See PAGEANT • Page 3
Forgotten Alabama photos an intriguing sight at Dadeville Kiwanis Meeting By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
Author and photographer Glenn Wills presented some of his work, Forgotten Alabama, during Thursday’s weekly meeting of the Dadeville Kiwanis Club. A handful of photos from locations all across the state that have been abandoned to the passage of time were displayed on screen as he told the story of many of these locations. The initial idea for this project began in 2007 as he was driving down Highway 280 between Childersburg
Today’s
Lake Levels
490.63
83 66 Low
Reported on 6/1/17 @ 4:00 p.m.
LACEY HOWELL 256.307.2443 6
54708 90050 USPS Permit # 013-080
locations going. In order to effectively map out interesting locations to photograph, he sat down in the summer of 2013, divided the state into 13 sections and examined each section on Google Maps, marking places he thought would be good to document. He pulled up the map he had made, showing the state covered in markers, with between 2,500 and 3,000 locations noted. In his two books, Forgotten Alabama and More Forgotten Alabama, Wills chronicled such diverse locations as a
garage with tri-fold doors in Dothan, the last remaining structure of the Camp Opelika prisoner of war camp from World War II, the childhood home of Rosa Parks, the Boaz Outlet Center, the railroad depot in Wadley and Tucker’s Pharmacy in Camp Hill. Several attendees purchased copies of his books he had brought with him, while others asked questions, wondering if Wills had heard of Donald Campbell / The Outlook or visited certain locations around the state. He was also Author and photographer Glenn Wills talks about his Forgottten Alabama project at Thursday’s See FORGOTTEN • Page 3 Dadeville Kiwanis Club meeting.
Lake Martin
Weather High
and Sylacauga. “I looked, and there was this rusted 1957 Chevy Bel Air on top of the hill,” he said. “I pulled over to take a look and there was about 30-40 acres of all these old, rusted cars.” Some of these cars dated back to the early 1920s, and none were newer than the late 1960s, according to Wills. However, it was not until he discovered an old Shell gas station in Chelsea that was demolished before he could photograph it that really got his desire to photograph these
8
laceyshowell@gmail.com 5295 Highway 280, Alex City, AL
Starting Friday:
Pirates of the Caribbean– PG-13 Wonder Woman – PG-13 Captain Underpants– PG