Cullman Good Life Magazine - Fall 2021

CULLMAN COUNTY

The Woottens’ house is designed to stand the test of time

Bill Butler of Fairview is the man to see about Japanese maple trees FALL 2021 | COMPLIMENTARY

How about trying some German family recipes for Oktoberfest?

Cosmetic and Family Dentistry Featuring: Porcelain Veneers, Dental Implants, Crowns, Bridges, Zoom Whitening, and Full Smile Rehabilitations.

Dental Arts has provided high-quality dental care to our area since 1981. In 2015, Dr. Kari Bartlett took over Dental Arts continuing the tradition of dental excellence.

With the old office on 2nd Avenue growing crowded, Dr. Bartlett built a state-of-the-art office on 4th Avenue to better serve her patients. She and her growing staff – complimented by her associate, Dr. Abby DiLuzio – remain committed to providing top-quality dentistry and friendly, personal service for you and your family.

We’d love to have you visit our new office and help you smile more!

Dr. Abby DiLuzio, associate Dr. Kari L. Bartlett, owner

Dental Arts is located in the new North Alabama Wellness Center on 4th Ave NE, across the street and a half block south of the Folsom Center.

205 4th Ave NE Suite 101 Cullman, AL 35055

256-739-5533 www.dentalartscullman.com

Expanding to meet your needs.

At Cullman Regional, our focus is on our community. That’s why we’re expanding our facilities, creating hundreds of new jobs, and continuing to add millions of dollars to our local economy.

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On-the-go banking is a snap with the Citizens Bank & Trust mobile app.

A concert, school ball games, shopping with friends…wherever life takes you, our mobile app* means banking convenience is right there, too. Need to check your balance? Check. Deposit that birthday check you just found in your wallet? Snap, click, done. With the mobile app from Citizens Bank & Trust there’s no need to miss anything. From the latest technology to friendly bankers, you can count on Citizens to be there in a big way.

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Juggling on the trampoline with no belt

Welcome

J

im Boone, owner of some 40 newspapers in 12 states, used to say editing a paper is like juggling on the trampoline.

Not to argue with my former boss, especially when he was offering empathy, but I corrected him: “It’s like juggling on the trampoline without wearing a belt and using one hand to hold up your pants.”

Magazines are pretty much the same, just not daily or weekly.

Just one example from this issue is the lady who’s graciously agreed to be our featured cook, a commitment requiring

an interview, providing us with a dozen recipes and preparing four of them for photos. Life had gotten in the way of my earlier attempts to find a cook, so further exemplifying her graciousness, she agreed with a narrow deadline window, even though she’d have a surgical procedure the week before the shoot and interview.

I felt terrible for her when, a few days post surgery, she said she simply didn’t feel up to an interview, cooking and photos, at least not for this issue. So with only a few days remaining, I jumped, juggled, gripped my pants and came up with a new plan.

I asked one of my Marshall County freelancers, Jacquelyn Hall, if she could cook some German recipes in conjunction with Oktoberfest, if I got her a German cookbook. She said she could top that ... her grandmother and granny-in-law are great German cooks and, albeit not from Cullman, she’d get family recipes to share.

So we pulled a stewed rabbit from the hat. Now, will someone please toss my shoe up here? It bounced off while I was juggling.

Contributors When not writing reviews, Deb Laslie makes lists of books to read while sipping coffee from her Shakespearean Insults Mug. Anyone who thinks the lady reads too much is a beetle-headed, flapear’d knave and light of brain. Verily.

David Myers contends there are many great dining establishments in the area. Be breakfast, lunch or dinner, he and Rose have a flair for finding and spreading the word on local eateries. Follow along for their latest recommendations.

Steve Maze writes in this issue about the “special inheritance” his grandfather left him. He’s says he’s willing to bet many others received similar inheritances from their grandparents. “If so,” he adds, “we are all fortunate.”

Seth Terrell loves writing and works hard to polish his craft “But I cannot draw or paint to save my life,” he says. “My wife can draw very well and has passed this onto my girls. They’re far better ‘artists’ at ages 6 and 8 than I was at 36.”

It was, quite literally, thousands of photos ago when Joppa photographer Liz Smith shot pictures at last year’s Oktoberfest to use in the magazine this year. She can’t wait to see this issue so she can remember what she shot.

Jacquelyn Hall enjoyed delving into her and her husband’s German heritage, collecting family recipes for this issue. They look forward to attending Oktoberfest to further celebrate their ancestral culture.

Anyone want to babysit four kids?

Ad/art director Sheila McAnear of Guntersville grew up in eastern Cullman County. But she’ll soon be moving back to her childhood home with her aging mom, who has dementia. “Change can be good,”she says. “Take me home, country roads.”

Mo Mc PUBLISHING LLC

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AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

Just after as publisher/editor David Moore finished the above column about editors juggling on trampolines – one of his last hurdles before going to press with this issue – ad manager Sheila McAnear phoned him: “We have a problem ...” Boing!

David F. Moore Publisher/editor | 256-293-0888 david.goodlifemagazine@gmail.com

Vol. 8 No. 1 Copyright 2021 Published quarterly

Sheila T. McAnear Advertising/art director | 256-640-3973 sheila.goodlifemagazine@gmail.com

MoMc Publishing LLC P.O. Box 28, Arab, Al 35016 www.good-life-magazine.net

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Inside 11 | Good Fun

It’s time –high time, we hope – to “fall back” into some fun

16 | Good People

At 96, Inez McDonald still serves on the Dodge City Council

22 | Good Reads

‘The Evening and the Morning,’ and ‘Emory’s Gift’ – must reads

25 | Good Cooking

Just in time for Oktoberfest ... family heirloom German recipes

34 | Good Getaways

Snoopers Rock is the pinnacle of this mountain/river adventure

38 | A test of time

The Woottens built a house that could have been there for years

46 | Special inheritance Steve Maze paints his grandfather with word pictures

48 | Good Eats

Busy Bee, feeding Cullman now for 102 years, diner style

53 | The beer

People move their families here for many reasons – his is unique

60 | Japanese maples Bill Butler is the go-to guy for these elegantly beautiful trees

67 | Dot Graf

Her art still speaks volumes for old walls around Cullman

74 | Out ‘n’ About

Celebrate our German heritage the first weekend in October On the cover | Otherwise green, Bill Butler’s Coral Bark turns yellow in the fall. Photo

by David Moore.

This page | The suns sets over the backyard fields of the Woottens’ house. Photo by Sadie Wootten.

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Old faves, such as shrimp, above, and salmon, right ...

... remain on the menu at Augusta’s Sports Grill.

New chips and homemade salsa, only $6.49, are an appetizer for four.

Fight inflation ... a delicious bite at a time!

Crispy onions with homemade remoulade sauce are delicious! An appetizer for four is only $5.99.

A big side order, above, is only $1.99.

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AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

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Augusta’s is on your side. Owner Deb Veres and her staff fully understand.

After the worst of Covid, everyone was so ready for a taste of normalcy.

“Now we’re all open but we have to deal with workforce, pricing, availability and quality of things …

“I don’t have a problem here with employees,” Deb continues, “but look at how many restaurants had to close or cut staff. I have just enough people, and they work very, very hard. I think most of them enjoy it here because it’s a lot easier to be a family-oriented business when you are a family-owned business.”

Customers who grocery shop know fully how inflation is hitting the cost of food.

“Still,” Deb says, “it breaks my heart to have to go up on our prices. I want people to be able to afford to eat here – and still get the same quality meal.”

So she’s taking steps. She’s added new, economical items to menu, like chips with

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homemade salsa. In fact, if any dish uses red or green tomatoes, they came from Miss Deb’s garden, further helping her fight inflation for her customers.

Also new is a marinated, 8-ounce sirloin for $17. “People can still come out and get a steak without having to pay the $27.99 market price for a ribeye,” Deb says.

Deviled eggs are an inexpensive oldie that’s returned to the appetizer menu. And Augusta’s continues to offer family-priced specials from time to time, such as their homemade meatloaf, which made a big hit.

“I am sorry our prices are up, but we are trying our best to find things you can still afford, so you can come out and eat with us.”

That’s because people everywhere need Augusta’s motto – Food for the body. Good times for the soul.

“We are very glad to be open again,” Deb says. “One hundred percent.”

One hundred percent open or one hundred percent glad? “Both!”

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• Through August – “Country Legends Rediscovered” A slice of Americana at the Evelyn Burrow Museum includes stage wear, costumes and memorabilia from the private collection of country singer and North Alabama native Coby Greer. The collection spans the 50s to the 80s and some of the biggest names in country music history – George Jones, Buck Owens, Faron Young, Charlie Daniels, The Statler Brothers and many more. Accompanying the

Good Fun • Aug. 10 – Brew beer At 6 pm, this Heritage Skills Class is taught for beginners by the Cullman Brewers Guild. Learn the process and science of brewing, see the equipment and how to brew homemade beer. All adult programs at the North Alabama Agriplex are $5.

For more programs, visit: agriplex.org.

• Aug 13-14 – Rock the South The party with Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Lynyrd Skynyrd and many more will be held on the 140-acre field at 1872 County Road 469. Two-day tickets start at $99.99.

Buy them online at: rockthesouth. com.

stage wear are photographs, album covers and vintage instruments that belonged to these timeless legends.

Display labels feature QR codes so you can see videos of the artists featured. Country Legends Rediscovered will be on display through the end of August. The museum is open 9 am-5 pm, Tuesday-Friday and 2-4 p.m. Saturday.

Admission is free. For more information: 256-352-8457; or www.burrowmuseum.org.

Fall back ... into fun

• Sept. 5-6 – Sweet Tater Festival & Car Show Get ready to love yourself some sweet taters … and fun. The 25nd Annual Sweet Tater Festival returns to Smith Lake Park to extend Labor Day weekend for thousands of your closest friends. Hours are 9 am-6 pm Sunday; 9 am-4 pm Monday. Admission is $5 for the weekend.

Vendors will be selling arts, crafts and food. There will be music both days, fun for the kiddies and the pool will be opened for its last hurrah of the season.

The Cruise Fest and Swap Meet will be held 9 am-2 pm Monday. Cruise Fest registration is 7-11 am and $15.

For more information, call: David Speegle, 256-385-1401. Expect nearly 200 vehicles.

And of course there will be lots of sweet taters donated by the Cullman County Sweet Potato Growers. More info? Call: Smith Lake Park, 256-739-2916; or visit: www. cullmancountyparks.com.

• Sept. 9 – Cowboy Cooking Local ranchers Greg and Emily Anderson from Sullivan Creek Ranch will demonstrate at this 6 pm program how to cook over an open fire and use a Dutch oven. All adult programs at the North Alabama Agriplex are $5. For more programs, visit: agriplex.org.

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the Downtown Entertainment District along First Street from Depot Park to the Busy Bee. Second Fridays are sponsored by Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce and Cullman Parks, Recreation, & Sports Tourism. For more info: see 2ndFridaysCullman on Facebook.

Sept. 13-17 – Visit Branson, Mo. Tuesday, Aug. 2, is the deadline to sign up for the Branson trip.

“We’re excited to get back on the road,” said LaDonna Allen, coordinator of the Wallace State Alumni Association, which has several new trips lined up for alumni and nonalumni. The Autumn in Branson deluxe motorcoach trip includes four nights’ accommodations, 11 meals and five shows, including one featuring The Oak Ridge Boys. Luncheon tours are scheduled for the College of the Ozarks and Dogwood Canyon National Park.

The cost, based on occupancy and Alumni membership status, ranges from $925 to $1,335 per person and includes lodging, tour guide, luggage

There are always fun cars to see at 2nd Friday • Sept. 10 – 2nd Friday Shop late, eat great and have a blast as this popular event continues its Covid comeback. Enjoy a diverse range of activities, including discounts and specials at area boutiques and

restaurants, lots of live entertainment, an antique and classic car cruisein, extended hours at the Festhalle Farmers Market, inflatables and other kid fun and loads of food trucks and beverages. It all happens 5-10 pm at in

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handling, taxes and meal gratuities.

For more info call: LaDonna Allen, 256-352-8071; additional information and registration is available at: www. wsccalumni.org/Branson21.

• Sept. 18 – Hanceville Summer Concert Series Rescheduled by the city from a Covid cancellation in 2020, Confederate Railroad is set to play at Veterans Memorial Park, 503 Park Street. Gates open at 5 pm, Willie Underwood starts at 6:30, Tommy Crowder Band plays at 7:30 and Confederate Railroad goes on at 9 pm.

Alcoholic Beverages will be sold at the event. V.I.P. tickets are being pre-sold for $40; general admission for $20; visit Eventbrite.com to order. Any remaining general admission tickets not sold online will be sold at the gate for $30.

• Sept. 30-Oct. 2 – Oktoberfest Celebrate Cullman’s German heritage – and have a blast – at this big, annual event. For more info, please see page 74.

• Oct. 2 – Catch a $10K stringer Go fishin’ and festin’ at Smith Lake Park’s Sixth Annual Bass Fest. Expect a crowd of anglers who think they’re better than you and who are out to catch the top prize of a guaranteed $10,000. Big fish nets $500, as does the top parent-child team. Top 40 anglers qualify for a payout.

During the day, 9 am-6 pm there’ll be music, vendors and other fun activities at the park beach area where weigh-in will be held.

Deadline for the $150 online registration fee is Sept. 24, and a mandatory meeting will be held at 6 pm Oct. 1 at the Agriculture Trade Center. (You can sign up then for $175 cash.)

Fish Life will be there selling apparel at the pre-tournament meeting and everyone that buys something will receive a ticket for a drawing to win $250 on tournament day (must be present to win).

For details and registration visit: http: www.smithlakeparkbassfest.com; or call: Doug Davenport, 256-5902667; or Sara Morgan, 256-347-8334.

• Oct. 2 – Pumpkin Patch At this 9 am Farm Kids Club event, youngsters can pick a pumpkin from the North Alabama Agriplex Center and join in the fall-themed fun, including games, snacks and carving a pumpkin. All Farm Kids events are open to kids ages 5 and up accompanied by an adult; fees $5 per child, with a maximum of $10 per family. Adults are free, and registration is required. For more info: agriplex.org.

• Oct. 2 – Fair Parade The annual parade starts at 2 pm and runs along US 31 from Cullman First Baptist Church to McGriff Tire and Service. Cost to enter is $20.

Registration is from at 9 am, Sept.

22, to noon Sept. 29 at the fair office at Sportsman Lake Park.

• Oct. 5 – Little Pink Dress Put on your little pink dress and enjoy a ladies night out to benefit the Cullman County Bosom Buddies Foundation. The dinner and program – 5:30- 9 pm – will be at Loft 212

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and feature a three-course meal by • Oct. 18 – Caring for Cullman Concert • Oct. 23 – Peinhardt Farm Day Custom Catering. Bid on silent auction Award-winning Triumphant Quartet Some 2,000 school students visit items, receive a complimentary photo and Christian comedian and author Peinhardt Farm throughout October, and a gift bag containing coupons Mickey Bell will entertain again at the leading up to Saturday at the historic, provided by sponsors. family-owned farm.

Entertainment will Experience hands-on be by locally-grown demonstrations on the 40comedian Nick Canaday. acre spread where old and Emcee is Cullman native young can see and enjoy Christina Chambers, a antique farm and home Fox6 sportscaster. items in the well-stocked Tickets are $75 and museums. Learn how to go on sale Aug. 1 at: make quilt samplers, how Options (2201 2nd turpentine is made, and Ave. NW) and online at: watch cotton being ginned. cullmanbosombuddies.

Hear old-time music, plow com. with a mule, compete in a Cullman County sack race and more.

Bosom Buddies Families come Foundation is an allaway with armloads of volunteer, non-profit remembrances including that assists area pumpkins, cotton, sweet residents in cancer potatoes, blue bird houses, treatment programs apple pigs, cotton boll with day-to-day living ornaments, wooden pegs, expenses. For more crosscut saw rounds, and info about the event or more. sponsorships call: Louise The event – 9 am -3 Cole, ccbbfinc@gmail. pm – is free for ages 4 and com; or Judy Grissom, under, $5 for kids 5-11; $7 options5993@gmail.com. for 13 and up. The farm is The fair will be in full swing Oct. 7-16. (File photo.) located at 1711 Talley Ho • Oct. 7-16 – 67th Street, Cullman. For more Cullman County Fair info: www.peinhardtfarm.

The gates open and the fun begins 6th Annual Caring for Cullman Concert, org; or FB Peinhardt Living History at 5 pm, Thursday. Before the fair but the show is an hour earlier. Doors Farm. closes, some 40,000 people on average to Cullman’s Northbrook Baptist Church will have attended. Sponsored by the open at 5 pm and the show starts at 6.

• Dec. 7-10 – Holly Jolly Holiday Tour Cullman Lions Club, there will be nightly All proceeds go to support Cullman’s Register now for this trip to the pageants or entertainment at 7 pm and free, non-profit Good Samaritan Health Smoky Mountains where Dollywood and tons of exhibits, prizes and rides on the Clinic, which provides free medical care its 7 million-plus lights, numerous shows big midway. to hundreds of qualified, uninsured, and rides and other attractions will Fairgrounds admission is free for kids low-income residents of Cullman help you celebrate Christmas. Package 9 and under and $7 for all others. Buy a County. includes three nights lodging at the $22 megapass armband (starting after The clinic recently began filling Mainstay Suites at Ogle Farm in Pigeon Labor Day at Peoples Bank branches) another community need by offering Forge, seven meals, deluxe motorcoach for admission and unlimited rides. mental health counseling services for transportation, baggage and handling, Admission and individual ride tickets are patients. That’s been made possible taxes and most gratuities. available at the fair. through a partnership with the Stephen The trip is sponsored by the Senior Citizens Day is Wednesday, K. Griffith Memorial Fund and Haven WSCC Alumni Association but is open Oct. 13 from 10 am-12:30 pm. The Miss Counseling Services. to non-members. Depending on Cullman County Fair pageant will be Tickets at the door are $15 and also occupancy, cost per person ranges Thursday, Oct. 14, at 7 pm. available at The Good Samaritan Health from $575 to $799 ($675-$899 for Gates open at 5 pm weeknights Clinic, Yates Chance Christian Bookstore non-members). Deadline to register and 2 pm both Saturdays and Sunday. and Borden Family Pharmacy; and can and make a final payment is Oct. 20.

For more info on rides, entertainment, be purchased for $18 online: www.

Register online under events at: /www. exhibits and pageants call or visit: www. goodsamaritancullman.com. Visit the wsccfuturefoundation.org. For more cullmanfair.org; or call: 256-734-0661. website for more about the free clinic. info: 256-352-8071.

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Good People

5questions Story and photo

by David Moore

I

f Inez McDonald keeps up her current level of spunky charm – exercising daily, baking banana bread for folks, perhaps even “fixing’ someone’s hair – she will still be serving on the Dodge City Council when she celebrates her 100th birthday.

Although Covid-19 concerns slowed down her baking, and she doesn’t drive as much as she once did – partly because the transmission is going out on her late husband, David’s truck – she’s still an active lady.

“And my mind’s as sharp as a tack,” 96-year-old Inez will let you know.

And, says Dodge City Mayor Tawana Canada, Inez isn’t shy about sharing what’s on that sharp mind.

“She speaks her mind and doesn’t mind doing it,” Tawana laughs. “She lets us know when she feels we are wrong … and she is usually right.”

First elected in 2008, Inez was urged to run for the council by the late Mayor Perry Ray. Mayor since Dodge City’s incorporation in 1993, he died in 2009, and Tawana, mayor pro tem, took his place.

The legislature this year passed a law that adds an extra year to most municipal elections so they coincide with the presidential election cycles. This means that Inez, now in her fourth term, along with the rest of the Dodge City Council, will serve a five-year term.

“Do you think we’ll make it that long,” she joked at the time with Tawana.

“I hope she does, and I hope I do, too,” Tawana later says.

Tawana is one of numerous people over the years to benefit from Inez’s gift of banana bread.

“Why don’t you give that baking a rest?” a concerned person once told Inez about her baking.

16

Inez McDonald

“I don’t tell myself I’m old,” laughs the 96-year-old Dodge City councilwoman “Oh, honey,” Inez replied, “someone might be hungry.”

Tawana boils it down to this: “Inez has a servant’s heart. She’s happy serving her God.”

A

child of The Depression, Inez grew up in a hard, alien world compared to today. Nonetheless, she says she was happy.

“I remember kerosene lamps and electric lights hanging by a cord in the middle of a room,” she says.

“We didn’t feel like we were poor.

Everybody else was poor, too.”

Her father, Albert Smith, a truck farmer, would drive to Birmingham to sell the vegetables he and others grew.

Inez says her father dug the first hole for a power line pole in Hanceville.

In her early years the family lived on a hill overlooking a covered bridge on what’s now Ala. 91. She attended first grade at the old Center Hill School.

“I remember rub boards and boiling pots of water to wash with. Mother made lye soap using fat cooked out of our meat,” she says. “They’d hang meat in the smokehouse and pack it down with salt.”

Her mother, Valera, cooked homegrown turnips and potatoes, along with poke salat they picked in the spring.

Albert shot squirrels and rabbits to supplement the menu. They made cane syrup for consumption and to sell in Cullman. Trips were by mule-pulled wagon.

Water was hauled uphill in containers riding on a mule-pulled “sled.” Inez says Valera scrubbed the rough slat floors of their rental house every Saturday using a mop made of corn shucks.

“I could count the chickens under the house through the cracks in the floor,” she laughs.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

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ntertainment was simple back then. At school, big girls climbed limber trees, bending the tops to the ground so small girls, like Inez, could climb on. The big girl would get off, and the youngster would get a wild ride when the tree sprang straight again.

“I got caught once and stayed up in the tree until they pulled it down again,” Inez recalls.

She was 7 when her twin sisters, Vera and Era were born. They fought as youngsters.

“If you tried to separate them, they both turned on you,” Inez says.

That phase probably didn’t last long with Albert and Valera around.

“We were taught manners – please, thank you,” Inez says. “And, ‘I love you.’ You loved everyone the same as you loved yourself. You divided what you had.”

The family moved around, living at times in rental houses in Gold Ridge and on Eva Road.

“My daddy had a grist meal,” Inez recalls. “I’ve seen wagons lined up to grind their meal on Saturday for as far as you could see.”

Albert wasn’t paid money for milling; instead he got a percentage of the meal. He’d hook up the wagon and mule and sell the meal to stores in Cullman, an all day trip.

Inez was 15 when Albert got the mumps. His cute, petite, brunette daughter quit school and stepped in to shoulder his load.

“I plowed cotton with a mule,” Inez says. “That mule minded me.”

A

year or so later the door opened to Inez’s eventual career. Their landlord suggested to his brother – Jessie Mayo, who owned a beauty shop in Cullman – that Inez would make a good employee. So Jessie hired her, gave her one lesson on operating the

SNAPSHOT: Inez McDonald

EARLY LIFE: Born May 11, 1925, in the old Cullman Hospital, first child of Valera and James “Albert” Smith. Albert,

who was half Native American, farmed, ran a grist mill and did odd labor. Valera’s ancestors knew Cullman

founder Col. John Cullmann from Frankweiler, Germany.

Inez had twin sisters, Vera Brown, who’s 90 and lives in Cullman, and Era Bowling, who died September 2020.

EDUCATION: Center Hill and Gold Ridge schools.

FAMILY: Married the late David McDonald, Oct. 6, 1958. One

son: Dr. Marty McDonald, formerly a Cullman paramedic

for 14 years and now a doctor in Mobile; he and his wife,

Lynn, have three grown children: Brett, an RN at Cullman Regional Medical Center; Derek, who lives in Dodge City;

and Ben, also a medical doctor in Mobile. Inez has two great grandchildren, Mattie McDonald and Banks McDonald.

CAREER: A hair stylist since her teens, Inez owned and operated the former My Lady Beauty Shop on First Avenue East for

40 years and continued working another 30 years at home.

OTHER: Elected at age 83 to Dodge City Council; now serving her fourth term.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021 17

octopus-like permanent wave machine, and she worked Saturdays at his shop.

She loved it.

That led to a job at the former Boody Beauty Shop.

“I worked there for a while and studied everything I could,” Inez says.

“Back then, cosmetologists were not even licensed. I was in business before I ever got a license.”

At age 20 or 21, she borrowed money from a bank and started My Lady Beauty Shop. It was located on First Avenue East above a restaurant she fondly refers to as “the greasy spoon.”

“We did a hairdo for a dollar,” Inez says. “We stayed busy most of the time.”

She roomed with a girlfriend at a house on U.S. 31 North. She bought her own clothes and, after several years, a black, 1955 Ford.

“How about that?” Inez twinkles. “I have always been independent.”

Prior to Wallace State Community College, the vocational courses at Cullman High included cosmetology, and, over the years, dozens of students trained under Inez.

M

eanwhile, another long-time chapter of her life was about to open.

The charismatic David McDonald grew up in a logging family north of what would become Dodge City. In Cullman one day, he spotted Inez – whom he’d never met – and told his buddy he would marry her one day.

Not long after that, while at a dance with a girlfriend, Inez spotted David, whom she’d never seen before.

“That’s the guy I’m going to marry,” she told her friend. “Of course she laughed. Then he walked over and asked me to dance. It was love at first sight, buddy.”

They dated two years and married in October 1958.

David, who drove a log truck, grew up on County Road 216 with three sisters and five brothers.

“I didn’t have a brother,” Inez says.

“I always wanted one. So then I had plenty of them.”

They soon bought acreage adjoining his family land David already owned, and built a house next to Bethlehem Methodist Church.

18

“That first Sunday, 100 people were there. David taught Sunday school,” Inez says. “Right away we decided to borrow money and build a new church there. We borrowed it from Cullman Savings. I don’t remember now how much, but it seemed like a lot. We had the land bulldozed off and started building a new church.”

Their new preacher, however, did not connect with the congregation, and attendance at the new church dropped.

Finally, one bleak Sunday, a friend and member, Louise Tubbs, let it rip.

“David,” she said, “if you don’t start preaching, this church is dead.”

And Inez’s prayers were answered.

“He started preaching and people came back,” she says, with crowds up to 120. “I have seen times when they had to bring chairs in to line the aisles.

The church really did good.”

Inez McDonald in her early 20s In 1959, their son Marty was born.

He was a month old when they moved into their new house.

“Marty was raised in the beauty shop. I tried to be the kind of mother to him that my mother was to me.” Inez adds that Marty, now a physician in Mobile, calls her several times a day.

T

he McDonalds attended a Baptist church, where David was saved. Inez was quietly touched.

“I knew he would become a preacher, but I didn’t tell him that,” she says. “I don’t like to promote things. I would rather people come to it themselves.”

Later, congregational dissension led the couple to leave. Meanwhile, their neighbor, Bethlehem Methodist, had become a dilapidated and abandoned building.

“I prayed God would put it on David to build a new church,” Inez said. “But I didn’t see how God could possible fix up that place. It was bad.”

David agreed to clean it up, and the couple set to work. Their activity attracted attention in the community, and the week before they finished, the McDonalds went door to door inviting people to come.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

L

ife rocked along. David, who continued logging, preached 38 years at Bethlehem United Methodist Church.

Meanwhile about 1985, after 40 years in town, a fire basically destroyed the building housing My Lady. Seemingly undaunted, with the help of nephews, Inez cleaned her smoke damaged equipment and moved her business into their home.

She continued to style hair on a regular basis for 30 more years until David encountered serious health problems, including blindness, COPD and seizures. He died April 17, 2020.

“He never complained about being blind or sick,” Inez says. “David was the perfect man. We danced a lot. He told me every day he loved me. We never got mad.”

1.

To what do you attribute your longevity and sharp, 96-year-old mind?

A: My mother lived to be 96 and a half. I guess I have that going for me.

But I think most of it is just meeting people and trying to stay busy. A lot of times people just think themselves into being old. Crazy, too.

I also try to exercise every day.

Back when we had the tornadoes in 2011, I fell and broke my back and my hip. We had no electricity for days, and

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19

the washing piled up. That’s how I tripped and fell.

They fixed my hip but didn’t know about my back. I knew something was bad wrong.

They sent me to the nursing home for 21 days for my hip. I told the doctor I’d go if they’d give me all the therapy I could stand, and they did.

I kept telling them my back was killing me, but the doctor wouldn’t listen. When I went back to the doctor, I said, “I want my back x-rayed today. I am dying. You got to do something.”

He finally did an x-ray and said did I know my back had been broken.

It was already healing, but he told me he could break it again and set it back right. I said, “You aren’t going to break my back. Let it heal the best it can.”

So he sent me back home. I walked on a walker, but I put it down and did laps [around the pool table and furniture in their large glassed in porch room]. I did that for three weeks, I believe, and it got better.

Back when David had home healthcare, I learned a lot of the exercises they gave him. Now I exercise almost every day. I hold the corner of the pool table and do leg lifts 15 times with my right leg, then 15 with my left leg. Then I exercise my arms holding them out.

I’ve seen people who are 70 act like they were a 100. I think “feeling old” is just a matter of speech. You are as old as you think you are, well, mostly. But a lot of it is mental.

I don’t tell myself I’m old.

2.

You and your husband rebuilt Bethlehem United Methodist Church.

What do you think that church is a testament to?

A: God. I will tell you this … there was a guy who drank a lot and who came to our church every once in a while. He went to the altar one night, and when he got up, do you know, he was as sober as a judge.

That church is also a testament to people who are of one accord. Too often you see people who bicker. I found out this congregation really 20

wanted a church built here, and there was no malice or anything negative.

Nothing negative at all.

But I’ve found as time went on that a lot of people want to cause trouble. We were raised as kids to love everybody.

You don’t call anybody who doesn’t live like you bad things, because you have not walked in their shoes.

Some church people find fault with others. That’s not what the Bible says.

It says you love everybody. I think our church is a testament to that love.

That’s the way it’s supposed to be.

David and I borrowed money to rebuild that church. We paid it off right before David retired after 38 years. That was a testament to love.

There was woman in Cullman we used to pick up and bring to church.

When she died, she left $1,000 to us.

That almost paid off the church.

Then, Anthony Allison who builds houses, called and asked how much more we needed to pay it off. David said $900, and Anthony wrote me a check for $900.

3.

You give banana bread to people at church and elsewhere. Tell when and why you started baking bread for people.

A: My daddy was half Indian and my mother was half German. She was a great cook. Daddy grew peanuts, and Mother always made peanut brittle. If she met somebody, she gave them peanut brittle. I have an idea it might have influenced me.

I give people banana bread, because I found out that’s what I could make. I used to make cheese balls and sour dough bread, too.

I guess I did that for 40 years.

I’d take it to church on Sunday. If someone new came, or if anybody had a problem or illness in their home, I usually carried them a loaf. I gave the people on the council a loaf for Christmas.

When people need food, you do it.

I used to make six loaves at a time and several batches a week. I am not able to do that much cooking now. I used to bake six loaves every week, but I usually keep some made ahead anyway.

It’s not a ministry. I just like

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

people to be happy. People love the bread, so I do it.

But when the virus was full last summer, I was afraid to get out too much. My son Marty would have died if I had gotten out. I’m ready for normal.

4.

Talk about your political career. Did you ever imagine you’d be on the city council? Why did you run?

A: I guess I went to my first council meeting in 2008. I went just to see how the council worked.

I wasn’t happy with what I saw. I couldn’t imagine anyone being in public and acting like that. Some of them didn’t want to see the town grow and prosper.

After the meeting, Mayor Perry Ray begged me to run.

I loved people and knew how to treat people. And I guess I knew just about everybody, so I ran.

This last election I did not campaign because of the virus. I had some old signs I was going to put out again, but I couldn’t find them.

The guy who ran against me … I told Debra Ergle – my neighbor who carries me different places, she’s a wonderful girl … I said, “If he beats me, I need to be beat.”

It just comes naturally as it can be –I love Dodge City and want to see it grow. But I don’t guess I’ll run again.

5.

What’s something most people don’t know about Inez McDonald.

A: Mother had to wash clothes at the spring when I was little. She would carry me with her when she walked to the spring.

Coming back the clothes were so heavy from being wet that she could not carry them and me back to the house. So she’d leave me on the top of the hill.

But I was OK. We had a dog we called Charlie. She told that dog to stay there and watch me. I was maybe 2.

I guess it was when I worked for Jessie Mayo that I decided to be a beautician. I really wanted to be a doctor but we couldn’t afford it, so I settled for beautician. I was good at it.

Good Life Magazine

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Good Reads

Follett writes the must-read prequel to his ‘Pillars’ series

Cameron makes you ask questions ... then gives a gift

n 1989, Ken Follett began the Kingsbridge series with “Pillars of the Earth,” followed by “World Without End” in 2007 and “Column of Fire in 2017.” Now (yippee!) comes the prequel to the Kingsbridge series “The Evening and the Morning.”

If you held me down and threatened me to When the Roman Empire disclose my top 10 favorite books, “Pillars” would declined, Britain went surely be on the list and Mr. backward. As the Roman Follett definitely appears villas crumbled, the in my top 10 authors list. It people built one-room may be trite to say, but his wooden dwellings without books get better and better. chimneys. The technology He writes about real people, his characters of Roman pottery – richly drawn. His storylines important for storing food are all you want – action, – was mostly lost. Literacy suspense, a smidge of declined. This period romance, history writ well. is sometimes called the “The Evening and Dark Ages, and progress the Morning” begins in 997 AD, drawing you was painfully slow for into the lives of a young five hundred years. Then, boat builder, a Norman at last, things started to noblewoman, a humble change. . . monk, a power-mad church aristocracy and Vikings.

Intrigue, danger, fierce rivalries, love and hate, make this book unputdownable. It simply must be on the top of your to-read book stack.

– Deb Laslie

very once in a while you need to read something uplifting, and thoughtful. Something that causes you to pause with the book in your lap, ponder what you’ve read, read that part again and wonder, “Is this about me?”

“What do I believe?”

“Emory’s Gift” by That day in the woods W. Bruce Cameron (“A Dog’s Purpose”) is a it seemed as if the birds book about a boy and and all other creatures his bear – and more. For went quiet at the sight some, it’s the place a of a thirteen-year-old miracle happened; for boy walking alongside a others it confirms we grizzly bear. The breeze don’t know everything.

Charlie Hall and his died down, even, as if father George are reeling stilled in awe. I couldn’t from the loss of their keep the grin off my face mother/wife. Adrift and at the sheer mass of him bereft, they find their moving next to me. way to each other with Emory the bear. the help of Emory a grizzly. But is Emory real? Is Charlie simply making all this up?

Charlie doesn’t understand the nuance of adult perceptions about life. He has no past grounding in “spin” or the foundations of religious faith. He only knows that Emory is his friend, so he does what 13-year-old boys do.

He protects his friend, believes in him. And Emory’s gift?

It’s what you receive when you finished the book.

– Deb Laslie

I

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Good Cooking Recipes for potato dumplings and beef rouladen, pictured here, can be found on pages 26 and 28.

The beer is a König Ludwig Weissbier, which you can buy at Werner’s Trading Company in Cullman. You know where the stein came from ...

Cook up a taste of the old country as a salute to Cullman during Oktoberfest

Cooking by Jacquelyn Hall Photos by David Moore

“G

rüße von Ursula Hall! Ich hoffe, ihr geniesst meine Rezepte und dass sie gut schmecken!”

Translated: “Greetings from Ursula Hall! I hope you enjoy my recipes and that they taste good!”

Ursula provided the German recipes on the following pages to her granddaughter-in-law, Jacquelyn Hall, who usually writes for Marshall County Good Life Magazine. But when we got in a last-minute pinch with a guest cook for Cullman GLM, she stepped in to help.

(See page 6.)

A native German, Ursula married an American GI stationed there and moved to Huntsville with him in the 1950s.

The family returned to Germany for a few years, then moved to Huntsville permanently in 1961.

“Being a fairly typical housewife of the era, she cooked nearly every meal,”Jacquelyn says. “She shows her love by cooking and feeding everyone she can, and so sharing her recipes this way is her way of sharing affection with her German ‘neighbors’ in Cullman.”

POTATO PANCAKES (KARTOFFELPUFFER) 2½ lbs. russet or yellow potatoes 1 small yellow onion, very finely minced 2 large eggs ¼ cup all-purpose flour 1 tsp. salt Canola or vegetable oil for frying Peel and very finely grate raw potatoes.

Thoroughly wring out the liquid in the grated potatoes by placing them in a colander and pressing them with your hands or by placing them in a clean

dish towel and wringing out the liquid.

Place the drained potatoes in a medium-sized bowl with the grated onion, eggs, flour and salt and use your hands to work it into a tacky mixture.

Add a little more flour if needed. Do not let the mixture sit long; use it immediately.

Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat and place ⅓ to ½ cup of the mixture (depending on size preference) in the hot pan and flatten into pancakes with

the back of a spoon. Fry on both sides for 3-5 minutes until the Kartoffelpuffer are golden. Using paper towels, carefully wipe out pan in between sets of pancakes. Place them briefly on paper towels. Keep warm on baking sheets in oven while making remaining pancakes.

Serve immediately while hot with applesauce, fruit compote or powdered sugar; or with dinner serve with herbed yogurt, sour cream topped with dill or with meat and gravy as part of a meal.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

25

PORK SCHNITZEL 4 boneless pork chops Salt and freshly ground black pepper ½ cup all-purpose flour 1 tsp. salt ½ tsp. pepper 2 large eggs, lightly beaten ¾ cup plain breadcrumbs Oil for frying (use a neutraltasting oil with a high smoke point, such as canola)

POTATO DUMPLINGS 2¼ lbs. yellow or russet potatoes, peeled and cut to even sizes 1⅓ cups corn or potato starch ¾ cup all-purpose flour (more or less to make the dough) 2 large eggs 1 tsp. salt Cook the potatoes until very tender. Rice the potatoes (or mash if you don’t have a ricer).

26

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

Let them cool.

Mix into potatoes: 1 cup potato starch, eggs, flour and salt to make a dough that holds together when formed into dumplings. If the mixture is too moist, add a bit more starch.

Form 1 -14 dumplings, approximately 2-inches in diameter. Gently drop into pot of boiling salted water. Simmer uncovered, about 20 minutes.

Place the pork chops between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound them until just ¼ inch thick with the flat side of a meat tenderizer.

Lightly season both sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

In 3 separate shallow bowls put the flour and measured salt and pepper; the eggs; and the breadcrumbs. Dip the chops in the flour, the egg, then the breadcrumbs, coating both sides and all edges at each stage. Be careful not to press the breadcrumbs into the meat. Gently shake off the excess crumbs. Fry immediately. (Don’t let the schnitzel sit in the coating or they will not be as crispy once fried.)

Make sure the cooking oil is about 330 degrees before placing the schnitzel in the pan. Use enough oil so that the schnitzels “swim” in it.

Fry the schnitzel for about 2-3 minutes on both sides until a deep golden brown. Transfer briefly to a plate lined with paper towels, remove them once mostly drained and replace the paper towels to prevent sogginess.

Serve immediately with warm potato salad or potato dumplings and peas.

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BEEF ROULADEN 8 slices top round beef ¼ cup Dijon mustard ¾ cup yellow onion, minced 2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 8 slices bacon 8 medium dill pickles, sliced lengthwise 3 Tbsp. canola oil 1 can beef broth (12 oz.)

1¼ cups water 2 Tbsp. cornstarch 1 cup warm water ¼ cup sour cream

Gently pound meat slices with a mallet until they’re about 4x6” and a little thinner than ¼ inch (be careful not to pound holes into them).

Spread ½ tablespoon mustard over one side of each piece of meat. Sprinkle the onion, salt, and pepper evenly over the steaks. Lay one slice of bacon on each piece, then pickles to an evenly spaced coverage. Roll the steaks jelly-roll style and secure with toothpicks.

Heat the canola oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook meat on all sides

until browned. Add the beef broth and water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low; cover and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes.

Remove the meat rolls. Strain the broth mixture and return liquid to the skillet. Whisk together the cornstarch and 1 cup of water. Slowly pour the cornstarch roux into the skillet, stirring continually until the sauce has thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the sour cream. Return rolls to the sauce; serve immediately.

GERMAN MEATLOAF (HACKBRATEN) 1 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil 1 medium onion, minced ½ lb. ground pork ½ lb ground beef 3 Tbsp. breadcrumbs 4 eggs 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. paprika 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard Preheat oven to 390.

Boil three eggs for 6-10 minutes.

Remove from hot water and run under cold water or place in an ice bath for a 28

minute. Remove and set aside.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Sauté the onion until clear. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the meats, breadcrumbs, onion, salt, pepper, paprika, mustard and remaining raw egg. Mix thoroughly with clean hands.

Drape a piece of parchment paper down one side of your loaf pan, across the bottom and up the other side for easy removal once cooked.

Put just less than half the meat

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

mixture in the pan. Spread evenly.

Peel the 3 hard boiled eggs, place on the meat, lengthwise. Keep them away from the edges. They should be completely covered in the meat.

Add the rest of the meat mixture on top of and around the eggs. Press down and smooth gently. Bake for 4045 minutes.

Once cooked through, remove from oven and let rest in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove from pan, slice and serve with mashed potatoes, warm potato salad or potato dumplings.

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29

WARM POTATO SALAD 2 lbs. red potatoes 1 tsp. salt 12 oz. bacon ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar 1 Tbsp. sugar 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard ½ tsp. salt Freshly ground black pepper 1 Tbsp. minced fresh garlic, about 3 large cloves ½ cup chopped fresh parsley 2 Tbsp. dry onion flakes

GRANDMA’S COLD GERMAN POTATO SALAD

By Jacquelyn Hall’s grandmother, Margaret Cuny, a German descendant 3 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled, rinsed and cubed into 1-inch chunks 1 Tbsp. salt, plus extra to add as needed Black pepper to taste 4 eggs hard boiled, peeled ¾ cup finely chopped red onion, rinsed under cool water and drained 1 cup chopped celery 1 tsp. paprika 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (optional) Dressing ²/³ cup mayonnaise ²/³ cup sour cream Milk as needed to thin to spreading consistency Place potatoes in a large pot.

Cover with water (water level should come about 1-inch above potatoes), season with 1 Tbsp. salt.

Bring to a boil over medium-high 30

heat, then reduce to medium-low, cover and simmer until potatoes are just tender all the way through, about 10-15 minutes (don’t overcook them). Drain potatoes, then transfer to a bowl.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap while leaving an opening on the edge for heat to escape and chill 30 minutes.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, pepper, and 3 Tbsp. milk. Season with salt to taste (about ¾ tsp.+).

Dice 2 boiled eggs and add with red onion, celery and dressing to bowl with potatoes. Toss everything to coat. Thin with more milk as desired, 1 Tbsp. at a time (you may need up to 4 Tbsp. more).

Chill at least 30 minutes. Serve cold and sprinkle top with fresh parsley, 2 sliced boiled eggs, and sprinkled paprika, if desired. Keeps well in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

Scrub the potatoes and cut in ½-inch slices. Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and stir in 1 tsp. of salt. Reduce heat and simmer the potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tender when stabbed with a fork. Drain the water. Leaving the potatoes in the pot, return the pot to the still-hot (but turned off) burner. Leave the lid off of the pot and allow the potatoes to steam dry for a couple minutes.

Set another large pot over medium heat and, using kitchen shears, cut the bacon strips into approximately 1-inch pieces directly into the pot. Cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crispy. While the bacon is cooking, cut the potatoes into ½-inch thick cubes. Set aside. Once the bacon is done, remove the pot from the stove and remove the bacon pieces to a plate or bowl while leaving the bacon grease in the pot.

Slowly add vinegar, sugar, Dijon, salt and pepper to the pot of bacon grease. Place the pot back on the burner, bring the mixture to a simmer and stir for a couple of minutes.

Stir the minced garlic into the mixture and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until the garlic starts to turn a light golden brown.

Remove the pot from the heat and toss in the cubed potatoes, gently mixing until potatoes have absorbed all of the liquid.

Carefully fold in the cooked bacon pieces and chopped parsley.

Transfer the potato salad to a serving dish and serve hot or warm. Potato salad should not sit at room temperature for more than two hours before refrigerating any leftovers. Typically served with the pork schnitzel.

Note: Ensure the pot is off of the burner and the bacon grease is slightly cooled before carefully adding the vinegar (in order to prevent the mixture from bubbling up).

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ALMOND COOKIES 2 sticks real butter 1 cup sugar 1 tsp. real almond extract 1 tsp. real vanilla extract 1 egg 2 cups all-purpose flour ¼ tsp. salt 1 cups almond slivers

¾ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips (optional but recommended) Mix the first five ingredients together, then add the remaining ingredients.

Mix all thoroughly and put in refrigerator for a few hours or

overnight for best results.

Drop by tablespoon and flatten with a fork on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for approximately 1518 minutes until lightly golden brown.

Let stand on cookie sheets for 5 minutes, remove to cooling racks, store in sealed containers.

LEBKUCHEN ½ cup honey ½ cup molasses ¾ cup dark brown sugar, packed 1 egg 1 tsp. grated lemon rind 1 Tbsp. lemon juice 2 ¾ cups sifted flour ½ baking soda ½ tsp. salt 1 tsp. each; nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and allspice ¾ cup diced candied citron ½ cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans recommended) 32

Blanched almonds Candied cherries Top with glaze Put the first three ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Cool; stir in egg, lemon rind and juice.

Sift together dry ingredients and add to the wet mixture. Then add the citron, chopped nuts; mix well.

Chill overnight.

Roll out to ¼ inch thickness, and cut with round 2½-inch cutter. Put on

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

greased cookie sheets. Put 3 almonds on each and a half a candied cherry in the center. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 for 10-12 minutes.

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33

Good Getaways

Taking in a five-mile stretch of water, the view of the Tennessee River Gorge from Snooper’s Rock, above, is epic. An elevation of 1,410 feet puts the bluff 776 feet above the river’s horseshoe bend. Left, the I-24 and U.S. 41 bridges cross the river/reservoir four miles upstream from Nickajack Dam. The photo was taken from Look Out Winery (and pizzeria) on U.S. 41. The second ridge back is where scenic Grant Summit Cabins, far right, is located.

34

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

Nickajack

and the Tennessee River Gorge Story and photos

by David Moore

W

hen Hunter and I stepped out of the dark forest onto Snooper’s Rock, I was hit by a sense of discovery, as if maybe my son and I were the first humans to ever behold this expansive view of the serpentine Tennessee River Gorge.

“First,” of course, is preposterous.

Another photographer was already set up there in the predawn gloom hoping to catch a stunning sunrise, maybe with the river fogged over, as it sometimes does, in the pit

of the deep gorge. Soon, 15 more people joined our vigil.

As it worked out, sunrise was a flat, gray, overcast bust. I ended up driving again to southeastern Tennessee a few days later for an afternoon shot from Snooper’s – but I truly didn’t mind the drive. The feeling of discovery was still palpable, even though a few others were visiting then, too.

That sensation of discovery, for me, is the exclamation mark that accompanies any trip to this stretch of the Tennessee River from Nickajack Dam up through the relatively narrow, looming walls of the

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

35

Walden Ridge Game Preserve Road •

• Suck Creek • Suck Creek Road

Snooper’s Rock •

• Elder Mountain

Mullins Cove Road •

• Top of the Rock Restaurant

• Look Out Winery

Hicks Mountain

• Nickajack Dam

• Grant Summit Cabins

gorge before reaching Chattanooga 43 miles upstream.

Experiencing the gorge by boat is amazing, but you can thoroughly enjoy this area by car and foot.

Hunter and I stayed two nights at Grant Summit Cabins, which is tucked into the northeast corner of Alabama atop a mountain directly overlooking Nickajack Dam. On the drive over, we ate in Jasper, Tennessee, at Top of the Rock. It has good food, on-site brewing and a knockout view – a foretaste, really – of where we were heading.

Grant Mountain Cabins aren’t exactly central to the area. But the view is tremendous and this was pretty much a road trip anyway, so I’d say they’re perfect.

The drive to Snooper’s Rock takes just over an hour. The route is scenic but a bit involved, with the last six miles on a gravel road.

So if you want to catch a sunrise, I suggest a daylight reconnaissance trip first.

The area boasts numerous hiking trails, but before taking off on state land first check the state forestry website. Prentice Cooper State Forest and other areas are closed certain days of the year for hunting.

Call ahead: 423-658-5551.

Hunter would have probably been up for any hike, but his old, gray dad’s hiking legs ain’t what they used be. So for the full Saturday we had, we took a loop drive back over the river, up the scenic Sequatchie Valley, across Hicks Mountain and – still on the same road, down into Chattanooga.

Next trip, I want to drive Mullins Cove Road which hugs north shore of the river through the gorge. And, for sure, revisit Snooper’s Rock.

Good Life Magazine For more information: • topoftherockbrewery.com • grantsummitcabins. holidayfuture.com • www.tn.gov/agriculture/forests/ state-forests/prentice-cooper.html

Hunter Moore, upper right, explores along Suck Creek, which parallels Tenn. 27 as it tumbles down Hicks Mountain into the gorge.

At right, is a view of the river from US 41 at the bottom of the gorge.

36

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

Taking US. 278 east from Cullman, then U.S. 79 and 72 north, it’s about two hours to Top of the Rock Restaurant and Brewery in Jasper, Tenn.

From there, it’s 21 miles to Grant Summit Cabins.

From the cabins to Snooper’s Rock, cross the Tennessee on U.S. 41, drive up the Sequatchie Valley on Tenn. 27 to Powells Crossroad, then follow 27 up Hicks Mountain, and watch for signs to Prentice Cooper State Forest.

Tenn. 27 continues down the mountain and into Chattanooga, and U.S. 41 loops you out of the gorge.

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Designed to stand the test of time

Surrounded by undulating hayfields, Jeremy and Sadie Wootten’s Georgian Colonial house looks as if it might have been standing there for years. Only the young trees along the drive and still small hydrangea give away its young age. That will change ... well, with time.

Story and photos

By David Moore

T

design, which Jeremy had hand-painted on green silk through his company’s office in Hangzhou, China.

For other particulars that add character and charm, they turned to Southern Accents to acquire antique fireplaces and

were required to withstand a 22-month test of time.

I

hey didn’t buy the 70-acre tract t was 2015 when they bought the of undulating farmland specifically for property. Jeremy and Sadie, pregnant a future homesite. But when Jeremy with Teddy, their first child, were living in and Sadie Wootten Birmingham. decided to build, they Once, while knew the property visiting his parents would graciously Jerry and Kathy accommodate their Wootten, they went large-scale plans. to church with The house they them at Flint Creek built is a white, Baptist Church, double-winged, founded in 1836 by two-story Georgian Jeremy’s great-greatColonial. With its great grandfather marked symmetry James Drake. On the and proportions, way, Jeremy noticed its classical a for sale sign in but restrained a pasture. Later, ornamentation, it driving through encompasses 6,000 the property, he square feet of living discovered a second space, 9,500 if you for sale sign on count the garages and adjacent property; unfinished basement. the two totaled 70 A 1,500-foot acres. tar, chip and pea They bought gravel drive turns them first because off Cullman County they were a good 1422, curves down deal, offered privacy, then up around a yet were only wooded dip in the seven minutes from field before stretching downtown. And Jack, 4, sits on Dad’s knee while Teddy, who will be 6 in October, sits beside out to end in a large maybe, they thought, Mom. The family attends Cullman First Baptist Church. After graduating circular turnaround in one day … from Harvard in 2005, Gerald “Jeremy” Edward Wootten III returned to front of the Woottens’ Teddy was born his family’s business, HomTex Inc. He’s been president and CFO since 2013. stately house.

October 2015. Son HomTex has manufacturing and distribution facilities in Cullman (where it’s “We wanted a Jack was born June headquartered), Vinemont, Tennessee and North and South Carolina; offices house that looked 2017. By that time like it had been here the die was cast for and showrooms in New York, Las Vegas and Atlanta; and sourcing offices 100 years, something building on the land. in China and India. Jeremy serves on the boards of St. Bernard Preparatory with a feel of history The Woottens School, ZeroRPM, LLC and the Business Council of Alabama. Besides full-time and charm,” Sadie hired Cullman mothering, Sadie enjoys tennis, travel, fashion and decorating and is president says. “We like the architect Frank of the Second Century League, second VP of the Cullman Women’s League, a classic details in the Fagg to do the member of Cullman Regional Foundation Guild and worked in 2018-19 with architecture, and the engineering. décor for that matter.

As president and United Way of Cullman County. She’s also a member of the Junior League of It’s something that CFO of HomTex, Birmingham and the National Society of The Colonial Dames of America. could stand the test of the family business time.” in Cullman, Jeremy “We thought,” works with 400,000 custom, solid wood doors, paneling and Jeremy adds, “that it would be fun to square feet of manufacturing space in trim. build. And Sadie had some particular town and another 600,000 square feet Given the project’s scope, from things she wanted.” elsewhere, so he felt confident taking on groundbreaking to occupancy in One particular is the dining room the role of general contractor. He brought November 2018, the Woottens themselves aboard HomTex’s building manager, John wallpaper. Sadie actually created the 40

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

American Pickers featured Garlan Gudger of Southern Accents salvaging the trim and fireplace in the Woottens’ living room from an old mansion in Birmingham. Some of the floors are oak, such as those in the living room, above.

The floor, in the windowed hallway connecting the east wing with the house proper, is of Pennsylvania blue slate. Tim Rutherford laid all of the floors.

Trim work throughout was done by the late John Schwaiger.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

41

The keeping room, with play space off to the side, flows from the open kitchen area above.

“Sadie chose all of the wallpaper and colors,” Jeremy says.

“Every inch of that is Sadie.”

Decorating is a passionate side hobby which she’d love to pursue one day as a second career. The silk wallpaper she designed for the dining room, right, was hung by James Means, as was the rest of the wallpaper throughout. The house includes four bedrooms and three and a half baths.

Sadie is proud of the half bath, second right, located off the foyer, center page.

Spradlin, as project supervisor.

They started with prefab poured walls in the basement. David Wallace did “a great job” framing the house with 2x6s and putting up yellow-primed Hardie board.

Jeremy says they didn’t want an asphalt drive, so they opted for tar, chip and pea gravel. But the rolling hills required 200 dump trucks of fill dirt, which later settled and created potholes.

42

“It’s been more maintenance than anticipated,” he says.

T

heir house’s design grew from historic roots, largely as a matter of Sadie hailing from Spartanburg, South Carolina.

“I always loved older homes and knew I wanted to incorporate that into a home we built someday,” she says. Daughter of Sarah and Sam Galloway, her father was also

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

president of the South Carolina Historical Society.

Majoring in business and minoring in art, she graduated from Birmingham Southern in 2006.

Jeremy began working summers at HomTex when he was 12. He graduated from St. Bernard in 2001, senior class president and valedictorian.

“I did pretty good there,” he says.

Jeremy’s study, top, is located off the windowed, connector hallway. (A guest room is at the end of the hallway.) The en suite master bedroom and the boys’ bedrooms, above, are on the second floor of the house.

Good enough to have his eye on Princeton and Washington and Lee, but after getting offers from Yale and Harvard, he decided on the latter.

Jeremy graduated from Harvard in 2005 with a concentration in government studies. He would have gone on to business school, but instead, with a recession on, he continued his education at HomTex.

Prior to that, he had come home from Harvard for Christmas break in 2004. A friend from St. Bernard, Natalie Henderson, set him up with a date with Sadie, one of her sorority sisters at Birmingham Southern. That was just before Facebook’s popularity exploded.

“It was the last true blind date,” Sadie jokes.

“With Facebook, she could have seen

all the details on me beforehand,” Jeremy laughs. “I wouldn’t have gotten the date.”

S

oon after returning to Cullman to work at HomTex, Jeremy moved to Birmingham and commuted. After Sadie graduated, she worked nine years in advertising at two firms in Birmingham, Intermark Group and O2ideas.

They married in 2010 and moved to AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

43

Mountain Brook. Sadie continued to work until Teddy was born in 2015. Shortly after Jack’s birth, the couple moved to Cullman and lived 15 months with Jerry and Kathy while their new house was under construction.

“My parents adored having two grandsons there,” Jeremy says.

Sadie required some acclimation when they finally moved to the new house in late 2018.

“She had sidewalks in Spartanburg,” Jeremy laugh. “She had sidewalks in Birmingham and then Mountain Brook.

Moving to 70 acres out in Cullman County was quite the adjustment.”

“Now that we are here, we’ve grown to love – and re-love – a small hometown,” Sadie says. “We laugh and say we live on a farm.”

“We only grow children and hay, though,” Jeremy says. “And I don’t cut the hay. Somebody cuts it.”

They also love entertaining there.

“We built the house in the way we thought it would entertain well, flow well,” Sadie says. “We love having dinner parties and the kids’ birthday parties.”

A

fter two and a half years, their new house and its ample rolling grounds have definitely become home, the Woottens say.

“In some ways, it’s turned out more than we had hoped for,” Jeremy says. “But you always see things … you still want to do more.”

For instance, put up a fence alongside the road, a gate at the drive. Sadie would like a formal garden, maybe for roses. A pool would be nice for the kids. And the basement … they’d like to finish it out with maybe a workout room, media room, game room kitchenette and another bedroom.

Returning the land to actually farming is not, however, on the Woottens’ foreseeable to-do list.

“We are just enjoying having hayfields right now,” Jeremy says.

“But I can’t imagine not having this much land for the boys to play on,” Sadie adds. “During Covid, it was great. They love being outside.”

“It’s all been exciting,” says Jeremy.

“But it was definitely a lot more work than we thought.”

Which is probably to be expected in order for a house to stand the test of time.

Good Life Magazine 44

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

Jeremy refers to the stocked, 2.4-acre pound behind the house as Lake Sadie. An old A-frame house – reached by a fun ride in a 4 wheeler Mule – is located by the shore. French doors open off the back of the main house, adding flexibility for entertaining. Easter family gatherings have already become a tradition, and the weekend before Thanksgiving they invite a dozen or so couples over for “Friendsgiving.”

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

45

A special inheritance Story by Steve A. Maze Photos from the author’s collection

M

y grandfather’s character was one I used to size up all men. I guess that’s why a lot of them never measured up.

A simple lifestyle gave Paw Paw – a name he preferred and one he cherished – the greatest pleasure.

Paw Paw was a hard-work and nononsense type of man. His work clothes consisted of overalls, brogan shoes, longsleeved shirts and a broad-brimmed straw hat. He was similar to a blue collar worker who carried a lunch pail to his job. The only difference was the lack of a name patch sewn above his shirt pocket.

He rose before the fields shook off the morning dew to work in the dust and buzzing insects on his little farm in northeast Cullman County. After sunset, he would milk the cow inside his barn of weathered wood turned gray by years of hot sun, rain and cold winters. Paw Paw then walked to the house he hand-built of sawmill lumber back in 1911 to enjoy Grandma’s good cooking.

He was small of stature, but his muscular body looked to be put together by a welder.

His face resembled a clenched fist from the long hours under the fierce sun that boiled the sweat on his leathery brow.

Paw Paw’s soft and loving heart was totally different from his hard-bitten outward appearance, however. His rough, calloused hands could gently and lovingly hold one of his dozen grandchildren. And he never failed to find each of us a shiny quarter in his change purse when we sat atop his knee.

A

fter a rain-shortened day in the fields, he might join us grandkids in a corncob battle behind the barn, or allow us to swim in the creek that ran through his property. Even though he believed hard work was the key to being lucky, Paw Paw indulged us while we scrambled to find four-leaf clovers hiding in his luscious green pasture. He taught us to toss horseshoes – which he had hammered into shape on his anvil – over our left shoulder in an attempt to find good fortune.

46

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

Jay Hugh “Paw Paw” Maze photographed with his wife, the former Earlie Bannister, and daughters Fleecie and baby Lorene, circa 1913.

Paw Paw welcomed sons- and daughters-in-law into the family as if they were one of his own. The only time I saw him cry was when a son-in-law died at a young age from a heart attack. He took to his bed as soon as we came home from my uncle’s funeral. Man-sized tears rolled down his face in the deep, sunburned lines that more resembled ruts.

Things were either right or wrong in Paw Paw’s world. There was no gray area.

Doing the right thing applied to all – no matter how much money you had or didn’t have. A handshake or a man’s word was better than a written contract in his day.

Honor was still in style at that particular time period, and Paw Paw gripped his Bible tightly in such matters.

If a neighbor was in distress, he felt it was his duty, as well as other members of the community, to help them. He and others regularly tended and harvested the crops of widows and those who fell ill.

After the harvesting was finished and the cool autumn air was upon them, the men erected barns, doctored farm animals or butchered a hog for a neighbor because it was the right thing to do.

Showing off new clothes and prized possessions in 1933, Paw Paw holds his shotgun with one hand, his bird dog with the other. Grandson Coy Holaway holds his ukulele.

Grandma holds the author’s father, Marlon Maze, with his toy gun and pet pigeons. that passed their home. I guess that was an unwritten law in the South.

T

P

aw Paw only owned one car during his lifetime – a brand new 1926 Model-T Ford he purchased for a whopping $500.

He sold it for $50 when unable to obtain fuel and tires for it due to World War II rationing.

Paw Paw purchased a Farmall Super A tractor in the early ’50s and that became his mode of transportation.

He also obtained a salvaged military trailer after the war to pull behind the tractor.

Sideboards were added so Grandma could ride atop the dried corn Paw Paw carried to the mill to have ground into cornmeal. Of course, she waved at everyone they met driving on the route.

Much like a creeping iceberg, old age and poor health slowly sneaked up on Paw Paw. In his mind, you were either lazy or no account if you didn’t do some type of work. He said there was always something to do on a farm, and doing “something” enabled him to keep his pride and self worth.

When no longer able to work the fields, he “hulled” butter beans or helped Grandma string green beans while sitting

Jay Hugh and Earlie Maze at their 50th anniversary in 1958. in his cane-bottomed chair on the front porch.

Paw Paw could tell who was coming up the dirt road whenever he spotted a cloud of dust a quarter-mile away. A squeak, rattle, roar of the motor or speed of the vehicle allowed him to identify the driver.

And, of course, he waved to everyone

he stoop in Paw Paw’s back gradually increased over the years until it morphed into a permanent fixture. When he became bedridden the stoop was so pronounced that he appeared to be trying to rise up out of bed.

Like an old car, Paw Paw was simply worn out at the end of his life. There were no missing pieces, but the pieces he had simply no longer worked. And death finally relieved him from his arthritic body 15 days short of his 90th birthday.

It’s still hard to believe he has been gone for almost a half century. I still recall that cool fall day in 1977 when we buried him, but I most remember my griefstricken Grandma. Paw Paw took her heart with him when he died. He had been the only egg in her basket for 70 years.

Paw Paw did leave something for the rest of us, however. He left his descendants an inheritance of a strong moral compass and a good work ethic, which has benefited us all these many years.

Many of you, I certainly hope, recognize some of Paw Paw’s characteristics as similar to those belonging to your loved ones. In that case, we all have a special inheritance to celebrate.

Good Life Magazine

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

47

Folks pack in for breakfast at Busy Bee on the way to work or on the way to a fun Saturday.

Good Eats Story by David Meyers Photos by David Moore

Y

ou know you’re in for something good when you slide into a booth in a diner, but you usually don’t get a history lesson to chew on with your lunch.

I promised my hard-working wife, Rose, I’d treat her if she’d skip out of work early on a Friday for a visit to Cullman. I’d heard about a diner there that has managed to keep its doors open for more than 100 years while other restaurants are folding faster than a cheap napkin.

When Busy Bee Café opened in 1919 the owners came across a recipe from Corinth, Mississippi, for “slugburgers,” where ground meat is mixed with white bread, shaped into patties and then fried.

Likely inspired by large families trying to stretch Great Depression-era meat dollars, diners in the South adopted the technique.

Back then, a burger sold for a nickel, which was nicknamed a “slug.”

48

Busy Bee has fed Cullman for 102 years – diner style

Busy Bee still proudly serves the original burgers – along with a handful of other diners across North Alabama.

“It’s what makes us different,” says owner Stevie Douglas. “You can go anywhere in Cullman and they’re all serving the same thing.”

Well, I knew right then that I would be having a slugburger for lunch.

tomatoes and these crispy treats were not disappointing. The crispy fried dill pickles were hard to leave alone, especially dipped into a cup of fresh-made ranch dressing.

The star of the appetizer show was the homemade chips, served warm and crunchy. They made a delightful accompaniment to our burgers.

he original is simply dressed with a mixture of ketchup and mustard with diced onion on top. The cheeseburger is a tad fancier with mayo, lettuce tomato, pickle and cheese.

When I bit into the original burger, my mind whizzed back about 50 years because that is exactly how my mom made her patties. She always added a little white bread to the meat. It was just like sitting at her table in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, again.

A sampler tray of sides brought me back to reality. I love fried green

reakfast is a big deal here, served 6-11 a.m. Busy Bee is one of the few places in Cullman that serves a big breakfast that includes platters of eggs with your choice of pork, grits, gravy, toast or biscuit. Also tempting are the omelets, breakfast sandwiches, biscuits and pancakes.

“Customers are lined up outside before we open the doors,” Stevie says. “They gather outside and mingle.”

Stevie is the third generation of her family to run the Busy Bee. The original Continued on page 50

T

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

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Clockwise from top left are the burger with fried pickles; grilled chicken Greek salad; classic cheeseburger; and a ribeye sandwich.

Busy Bee is located at 101 5th Street SE in Cullman. It’s open 6 a.m. -3 p.m. Monday through Saturday and closed Sunday.

Continued from page 48 was located on old 278 east and moved to town in the early 1960s. Her grandfather bought it after moving from Wyoming.

Her parents, Steve and Kitty Spears, took over the restaurant in 1989, and she stepped up in 2015.

The tornado of 2011 destroyed the Busy Bee, but you can’t keep a good diner down. It re-opened one year to the day afterward, which was Stevie’s dad’s last day in the place. He passed away soon after, knowing the family business was in good hands.

T

he Alabama Senate issued a resolution on April 25, 2019, 50

congratulating Busy Bee on its 100th anniversary. A picture on the wall shows Kitty proudly accepting a framed copy of the resolution.

A page from the April 13, 1989, edition of The Cullman Times documents the turnover of the restaurant from owner Andy Spears to his son Steve, who declared its longstanding traditions would continue.

And so they have with daughter Stevie.

“There’s a lot of history here,” she says, beaming.

The burger and fries left us fat and happy, but with no room to sample the rest of the tempting menu. For those

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

hungry for something other than a burger, try the Eric – grilled chicken topped with fried jalapenos blanketed in melted cheese between grilled Texas toast. Stevie warns it packs some heat.

Or the ribeye sandwich with a sixounce cut, lettuce and tomato on Texas toast.

A

lso on the menu are grilled ham, tuna salad, chicken salad, grilled cheese, BBQ, fried bologna, BLT and chicken finger sandwiches, all served in red baskets with checkered liners. Soup and salads round out the offerings.

Dessert? What else, but fried pies?

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Brewmaster Matthew Schumacher and Crystal, his wife, were part of Goat Island Brewing’s fifth anniversary celebration on April 10. Appropriately, he says, it was the largest taproom crowd in the brewery’s history ... well, so far, anyway.

People move to Cullman for many different reasons.

Matthew Schumacher moved all the way from Seattle for the beer. More specifically, to become ...

The new brewmaster at Goat Island

Story and photos

By David Moore

T

hat first batch of homebrew 22-year-old Matthew Schumacher cooked up in January 1996 wasn’t made to celebrate the new year. Nor was it intended to launch a career as a brewmaster – an eventuality that earned him the distinction as probably the only person to ever move to Cullman because of the beer.

Nope. It was done simply to make and enjoy – he hoped – a good brew.

At the time, Matthew’s career path was teaching, so he studied secondary social science education at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. But he liked beer, and jumped into his new hobby with both feet, buying equipment and brewing and bottling a tricky five-gallon batch of Australian lager.

“You had to control the temperature a lot more than other beers require,” he says.

He still thinks it’s the best beer he ever drank.

“It was one of those eureka moments,” he laughs. “It tasted good to an extent it was shocking. It was fairly complicated, and I got it right the first time I did it. It was a unique experience.”

A roommate offered his own critique after a tentative sip.

“I haven’t gone blind yet,” he proclaimed.

Matthew returned to the homebrew store and bought ingredients for a stout he AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

53

called Mudslide, then a beer he dubbed 144 Banana Weed.

“144 is a gross,” he grins. “And it was really gross at first. But I aged it for six months and it became awesome.”

M

atthew relocated his family from Seattle in April 2020 to become the new brewmaster at Cullman’s Goat Island Brewing – yep, he moved here for the beer.

But that was hardly his first move.

He spent his early years in an Iowa farming community with a shrinking population of 900. Son of Ken and Chris Schumacher, he has an older sister, Erica, now a graphic artist and citizen of the United Kingdom; and a brother, Zach, who is an attorney in San Diego.

Matthew was 11 – already enjoying cooking and baking and thinking (at least at the time) about becoming a dentist – when his dad graduated from college. As a 54

NASA contractor, he relocated the family to Satellite Beach, Florida.

In high school Matthew tasted his first beer, probably thanks to the guy his sister was dating.

“Why,” the neophyte wondered, “do they drink this stuff?”

Matthew figured out the answer long before he started homebrewing in Orlando.

It was there that he also started cooking professionally.

So, when he moved to Boulder, Colorado in 1996, he cooked at several restaurants and brewpubs. Naturally, he lugged his growing array of homebrew equipment with him.

I

n the fall of 2000, Matthew didn’t move from Boulder but he did change directions again, gravitating toward the admissions office at the University of Colorado.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

“Studying social science, studying people … that always interested me, and I got into anthropology,” he says. “My plan was to study the subbranch of anthropology for forensics. But “CSI” had just come out on TV, and suddenly everybody and their brother wanted to study what I had gone into.”

With forensics’ luster lost, he turned to biological anthropology and human evolution. Indiana Jones, Matthew says, was a huge influence. Plus …

“I had for a long time thought I might become a college professor. That’s kind of how my brain works, and this was just the first step.”

In 2002, Matthew got his degree in anthropology and entered a post-grad program at San Diego State University in cultural anthropology. Naturally, he lugged his growing array of homebrew equipment with him.

At far left, Matthew tests the gravity of a nearly completed beer. Like anything made with a recipe, brewing beer requires ingredients, which are obviously ordered in bulk. At center, Matthew takes stock of his stock. Above, Gigi, 4, and Emmerich, 6, clown around in Cullman’s Warehouse District for this photo Crystal shot. “It’s definitely better than I could ever have anticipated,” she says of their move in spring 2020.

He was but one of the Schumacherdominos falling at the time – his parents had already moved to San Diego. And his brother, who had followed him to Colorado, also moved to San Diego.

“My family tends to move around,” Matthew grins. “We scatter and then follow each other.”

A

t SDSU one summer, Matthew did some interesting field work, studying indigenous fishing people in the Solomon Islands. Okay, he didn’t haul his homebrew equipment with him, but he did discover Sol Brewery in the islands.

“The beer was all right,” he says, “kind of a Danish lager in disguise. They had to import all their ingredients.”

During his four years at SDSU, Matthew picked up a new girlfriend, and after graduation he followed her to

Seattle where she worked on her PhD at the University of Washington.

Naturally, he lugged his still growing array of homebrew equipment with him.

Plus, he took with him a new change in direction – well, sort of.

“I was interested at this point in becoming a professional brewer, and, especially at that time, it was the place to become a brewer,” Matthew says. “I had lived in several brewery hotspots.”

In 2006, few online or school programs existed for those seeking to become professional brewers. So Matthew, armed with pamphlets and handwritten notes – and what’s more, 10 years of homebrewing experience – applied for a job at Maritime Pacific Brewing Co.

M

aritime hired Matthew as its cellarmaster.

“A lot of people start at the very bottom

scrubbing kegs,” he says. “Because of my homebrewing and general knowledge, I did not do that. But I learned how to do everything there.”

The original brewery was in an old muffler shop, but in 2010 Maritime moved to a location comparable in physical size to Goat Island. It also opened a big taproom restaurant and hired new employees.

One of those was Crystal Huntsucker, who grew up in the small town of Deer Park north of Spokane and was hired to wait tables.

“That’s how we met,” Matthew says. “I will always owe that to Maritime, if nothing else.”

Obviously something other than West Coast beer was brewing there.

Crystal and Matthew held a surprise wedding in 2012 on a beach in Florida, where his parents had moved. “It was beautiful,” he says.

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T

he year before, Matthew had been named brewmaster at Maritime.

“My first three years as brewmaster were our best three years,” he says, a head of professional pride rising to the rim of his figurative pint glass. “We flirted with 10,000 barrels, which was always my goal.”

His high-tide mark was 9,650 barrels – enough to top off more than 2.39 million pint glasses.

Maritime’s market, however, was changing. Initially one of two “neighborhood” breweries, Maritime would soon be surrounded by 15 craft producers.

Legalization of marijuana further squeezed the Seattle market.

“Maritime had been there 30 years,” Matthew says. “Everybody knew it and loved it, but it wasn’t the fresh, new thing.

There are a lot of hipsters in Seattle, and they only wanted what was new, regardless of how good the old, stable brewery was.”

Beyond a changing market, Matthew had developed an itch.

“I was looking for a change in jobs. I wanted to be at a place that could do more innovation, that could see the benefit of changes and not just fear them.

“All of this coincided with us starting a family,” he adds. “The prospect of raising kids in a giant city like Seattle was not appealing to us.”

M

atthew and Crystal were selective as to where they might go.

“We were not just going to pull up and move willy-nilly.

“Nothing is perfect,” he continues.

“We had to find something as close to the perfect fit as we could – a job I could enjoy at a company on the right track. We also wanted to find a community where we could be comfortable raising our kids.”

The Northwest was a low priority.

And mega breweries, like Sierra Nevada, were out. Matthew had about a dozen interviews from Montana to Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

Finally, in March 2020, he read on Probrewer.com that Goat Island Brewing in a place called Cullman, Alabama was looking for a brewmaster. Quick internet sleuthing checked off all the boxes, so he submitted his resumé. Then he got smart.

“I want you to do some research,” he told Crystal, who had never lived 56

outside of Washington. So she did – and tentatively liked what she found.

“I said we would go to visit because we were looking for the right place for the kids

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

and for Matthew,” Crystal says.

It’s good she agreed. Almost immediately, Matthew was invited to interview with Goat Island owners Mike

one beer city,” Mike says. “His experience as a sous chef and an anthropology instructor at San Diego State caught our eye – somebody that can teach and knows flavors checks important boxes.”

After speaking to Matthew by phone, the Goat guys were even more impressed.

“He spoke with authority and knowledge about brewing and helping aspiring brewers to grow and improve,” Mike says. “When we hung up, we knew he was more than a head brewer. He was a leader. That is exactly what we needed.”

So Matthew and Crystal flew down in mid-March and underwent a several-day whirlwind education on Goat Island and Cullman.

Despite Covid restrictions being enacted during their visit – one day they returned to the brewery to find all of the tables had been hauled out of the taproom – the Northwesterners were greatly impressed.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people,” Crystal says of the owners.

“They felt like family. It’s hard to believe they were new in our lives.”

Excellent schools, strong economy, fine parks and other community assets along with a large Catholic contingency … Crystal and Matthew found all were anomalies from the preconceived palette from which many people paint the South.

“And settled by Germans?” Matthew laughs. “In Florida, nobody could pronounce my last name.”

Their last night here, Mike presented Matthew an offer. A few days later he called to accept it.

Katie Reams, top, who has an MA in biology from Georgia Southern, chats with Matthew. From Statesboro, Ga., she stayed with area family to undergo an internship at Goat Island as part of the brewing science and operations program she’s in. New hire Kayla Owens, above, of Locust Fork, cleans kegs at the brewery.

“I want to learn what they’re doing here,” says the former hostess at a brewpub in Trussville. Nick Gerowski of Warrior, blue shirt at left, and Garrett Smith of Cullman sometimes help with the brewing, underway at top left, but they can always count on “glorified janitorial work.” “If you have been in the food industry at all, you understand why it needs to be clean,” Garrett says. Nick says they take extreme precautions not to contaminate the delicate brewing process with bacteria.

Mullaney, Gery Teichmiller, John Dean and Brad Glenn.

W

hen they read Matthew’s resumé,

Mike says, they were immediately impressed that he was an experienced brewer from Seattle.

“Which is arguably the nation’s number

S

o, 14 years after he become Maritime’s cellarmaster, Matthew, along with Crystal and their two children, said “see ya” to Seattle.

Naturally, he lugged his now quite huge array of little-used homebrew equipment with him. (Once fitting on a tabletop, all his brewing gear – including his initial, $12 glass carboy – now requires a storage unit.)

The move required two trucks, which they – foolishly, Matthew says – opted to drive themselves. Covid restrictions in Seattle had closed thrift stores, their wouldbe depositories for much of a big houseful of stuff. Covid-closed and capacity-limited lodgings forced two truck cab sleepovers on their five-day odyssey.

On the bright side, Cullman changed what had been nearly two hours of daily AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

57

A perk of the job, and serious responsibility, the brewmaster taps a fresh beer straight from the fermenter and gives it the ol’ taste test. “Ah,” says Matthew, lending his professional seal of approval to a new batch of Goat Island. commuting for Matthew to a four-minute drive. Farewell, rat race.

“Cullman has been beyond expectations,” Crystal says. “The schools have been incredible with socialization for the kids. Our son’s kindergarten teacher, Caroline Tidmore, got him reading halfway through the year.”

Crystal’s also enjoyed working some at Goat Island, initially bartending weekends.

“The concerts there are really fun and the regular customers are fun and engaging,” she says. “Looking back, it was pretty wild, the jump we made. I think we are both still shocked we did it, but it’s been pretty awesome.”

In keeping with the aforementioned knack for Schumacher family members to follow each other around, Matthew’s dad is moving to Fairview.

S

everal months before Matthew’s arrival, Goat Island invested in a canning line to get its Blood Orange Berliner Weisse into stores. With the new blockbuster brew joining Richter Pils and Sipsey River Red as canned offerings, 58

Goat Island co-owner Mike Mullaney says sales in 2020 were up 62 percent over 2019. They’re expected to grow another 40 percent this year and would be even higher except for lingering logistics issues, a hangover from the effects of the pandemic.

Goat Island greatly expanded its retail presence.

“There are a lot more convenience stores and groceries that can carry our product now as opposed to bars that will take our kegs of draft.

“Blood Orange is great, and we will ride that pony for as long as we can,” Matthew says. “The demand is still enormous, but nothing can last forever. We need to be ready for what’s next.”

Toward that end, Goat Island now also cans Hippieweizen and Giggling Goat IPA. The latter is a collaboration with the local Pink Boots chapter – which Matthew initiated – of the national group that promotes women’s roles in the brewing industry.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

Since his arrival, Matthew has also initiated six new beers: Mango Weisse, Crane Hill Kolsch, Puget South IPA, Dinkleberg, the new Oktoberfest and an ESB (extra special bitter). Goat Island started canning the first two this summer.

S

o Matthew has his hands full. One thing he’s not particularly concerned about is an exploding bubble in the region’s growing number of craft breweries.

“The bubble has a leak in Seattle. I don’t think we are anywhere near that happening here, and I think we have better shot of lasting than a lot of other breweries.

“Goat Island had a really good foundation when I came in,” Matthew continues. “I was brought in to take it to another level. I would say we are already starting to do that. We are certainly sending more beer out of here than anyone thought possible.”

Cheers!

“Absolutely,” grins the guy who moved to Cullman for the beer. “We are moving in very positive direction.”

Good Life Magazine

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Bill Butler’s heart and yard are rooted in the joys of the elegantly fluorescent Japanese maple Story and photos

By David Moore

T

hough shy about personal attention, Bill Butler is known far beyond Fairview’s town limits for the scores of Japanese maples that paint their leaves from a threeseason palette. Ditto for his expertise in growing and grafting the delicately elegant trees.

Like those trees, Bill’s life and heart are rooted in Fairview, but his love of radiant fall colors stem from the five years he and his wife Kaye lived in Huntsville.

Reaching that house required driving by the historic district, full of sugar maples and other trees rich in fall color.

“It would be like driving through fluorescent colors,” Bill says.

“It still is,” Kaye agrees. “We ride up there and look at them today.”

The Butlers lived there 1969-1972 while Bill worked for General Electric drafting plans for the Saturn V ground support system. Staying with GE, however, would have required transferring to South Carolina – not what they wanted.

So in 1971 they began building a house on the far end of family property in Fairview that runs from Butler Street north along Wesley Avenue.

“Best decision we ever made, moving back and raising the kids here,” Kaye says.

W

hen they moved in 1972, Bill packed along his love of fall colors, and within a year he’d planted a sugar maple near the front door.

Not only did the expected colors fail to materialize, but the tree died in a season or two.

Determined to find the right trees with 60

the right colors, Bill made inquiries to landscape teacher Kenneth “Roy” Ball at Wallace State Community College and others.

“I probably got on Roy’s nerves dropping by all the time,” Bill grins.

But he lucked out. One day at Wallace, while discussing fall colors, Horace Smith, who operated a nursery west of Hanceville, overheard Bill’s conversation.

“Butler,” Horace said, “if you are

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

looking for color, Japanese maples have spring color, summer color and fall color.”

So Bill bought a grafted Bloodgood red Japanese maple – Acer palmatum is the species name – from Horace, and that was that. Like his mother, Bill enjoyed working outside, and soon had several Japanese maples taking colorful root.

I

t was like the old TV commercial from the ‘70s … figuratively, Bill slapped his

Bill and Kaye have about 150 varieties of Japanese maples in their yard. Many of them grow in a raised terrace on the south and east sides of the house. Bill built the terrace using stones from old chimneys and barns.

forehead and said, “I could’ve had a V-8!”

The more his Japanese maples grew, and the more his knowledge of them grew, the more he loved them.

He ordered 50 trees from a nursery in Oregon.

“I paid $250 for those trees,” Bill chuckles now. “And $87 for shipping. I’d put them in pots for a year or two then until I figured out where to plant them. I was pretty well took.”

“That’s when you got ‘the fever,’” Kaye says.

Besides Horace, Bill learned about grafting from Harold Johnson of Tallassee – famous for his talent in such circles – and other tips from Randal Holder.

As his collection of Japanese maples grew, he also started collecting rocks from two chimneys on the family property and from several old barns in Fairview. Bill used them to build low terrace walls in the

yard, then hauled in fill dirt to create raised garden areas for his trees.

“We spent years plugging centipede grass in the yard,” laughs Kaye, “and dang if we didn’t dig it up. Even today, somebody will bring us a rock and we’ll put it out there.”

Y

oungest of four boys, Bill was born and grew up at the family homeplace in Fairview.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

61

A concrete squirrel looks perfectly happy to be amongst the Butlers’ Japanese maples. At immediate right, a Red Dragon shows its colors.

Center, is a view of Bill’s greenhouse area, where he does his grafting and growing. In the provided photo at top right, the Butlers are: son Scott (heads the ag program at Arab Junior High, wife Angela, son Martin Dyar) lives in Arab; Kaye and Bill; and son Sean (engineer with the state department of transportation, wife Jennifer) lives next door to his parents. Sean’s sons are a big help with the trees; they are Cody, second from top right in a provided photo, and Will, bottom photo.

“Doc Gross came out and delivered me,” he says.

His father, William Hershel – known as “WH” – was a carpenter.

“Bill is a good man,” says Kaye, “but Hershel Butler was the finest man I met in my whole life.”

Bill’s mother, Ruth, had a love of gardening.

“She taught me all I know,” he says.

“We had a vegetable garden and flowers year around.”

Bill graduated from Fairview High in 1962 “lost for something to do” as a career.

62

He attended St. Bernard College for three semesters before announcing it just wasn’t for him.

When a Fairview coach told him Brown Engineering (now Teledyne Brown) in Huntsville was training draftsmen for the space program, Bill signed up. After training, he worked over nine years at GE. Around that time, Bill also joined the National Guard and bought a new Cutlass Olds – two factors that continue to affect his life today.

D

aughter of Hoy and Lois Greer, Kaye graduated from Hanceville High

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

in 1964 and worked at the Belk Hudson clothing store in Cullman and later as buyer for the store in Huntsville. While living there, she often hung out at The Globe, where one day she spotted Bill.

“He came through with his National Guard uniform and a brand new Cutlass, and I thought he was a good looking man,” Kaye recalls. “I asked a friend at Belk, who knew him, to fix me up with him.

“I probably asked Bill for the first date. He was bashful – Lord, have mercy, he was bashful,” she laughs. “But I was impressed.”

“Evidently you were,” he says.

“In the car or you?”

“Both,” he grins.

Married in ’67, Kaye worked until their son, Sean, was born. By the time Bill left GE, Scott was born. They moved to Fairview so the boys would know their grandparents.

Bill went to work with Cullman Printing, which his brother Pelham had started with David Smith. He ran the offset printing press, did typesetting, shot negatives and was “a Jack of all trades.” Bill bought out his brother 1993, and he and David ran the shop until about 2005.

S

hortly after moving to Fairview, Bill’s love of fall colors sprouted into a new hobby

that soon bloomed into a side business.

Once the person seeking to learn about Acer palmatum, Bill become the person to turn to for not just information on Japanese maples, but to buy them.

It’s not a get-rich-overnight-scheme.

“I was in the hole, in the red, for a long time before I sold any,” he laughs.

Most of his sales are trees he’s grafted.

He does his grafting February to March and August to September. Prior to Covid, he grafted about 400 Japanese maples annually.

Bill might humbly tell you that his mentor, the late Harold Johnson was the king of grafting Japanese maples at least in Alabama, but Harold never had a YouTube

video made of his talents. Bill has. (Google “grafting Japanese Maples with Bill Butler” to see his handiwork.)

A main reason for grafting, he says, is so you can be certain of a tree’s cultivar and color. Grafting removes any guesswork, and hardy stems and rootstock yield trees with strong characteristics.

Grafting also allows the propagation of hybrids, something King Harold is known for.

G

rafting involves attaching a small Japanese maple stem – or scion – from a known cultivar or variety, to hardy Acer palmatum rootstock. It’s the scion,

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

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AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

not the rootstock, that determines the cultivar.

To graft a small tree, Bill cuts a scion from his chosen cultivar, whittles the end, inserts that into a slice in the rootstock and binds it together with his artful touch.

He grows rootstock from seeds he picks in September. He refrigerates them until December, then removes them, places 50-75 seeds into a zipperlocked baggie with damp peat moss, then refrigerates the baggies.

“Kaye made me get my own refrigerator,” he says. “She didn’t like my seeds and peat moss in there with her lettuce.”

The seeds germinate in early March, popping out with tiny roots. Bill moves them into cups with potting soil and keeps them watered in a heated greenhouse until freezing weather ends. Incrementally transplanted into larger pots, the seedstock grows three or so years before grafting.

Bill also moves some of the rootstock to gallon pots and lets them mature.

“Some of them are as pretty as they can be,” he says. “But grafted trees sell better.”

A

The Coral Bark Japanese maple – with coral-red stems – grows by the pergola in the backyard; it has green leaves during the spring and summer, that turn a yellow in the fall. At far left, tree blooms make seeds. Left, Bill used more old stones to create a Japanese maple, deep shaded sitting area on the side of the house. Above, an Acer joponicum Meigetsu grows in a planter, at least for now.

s much as Bill loves growing Japanese maples, he also loves the friendships they’ve allowed him to grow locally and statewide. And their yard’s not only attracted busloads of horticulture students from Wallace State and Auburn University, but perfect strangers stop to shoot pictures.

Another thing about Japanese maples – they make wonderful and meaningful gifts. Most of their neighbors have Billgrown trees coloring their yards, and they also grow at Randal Shed Park and the prayer garden at their church, Fairview First Baptist.

“We’ve planted them for friends’ grandbabies and given them in memory of people,” Kaye says.

“We got better at giving them away than selling them,” Bill chuckles.

“We are not attention getters,” Kaye makes a point to say. “But we do want people to know about Japanese maples.”

That’s because everybody needs the joy and fluorescent wonder of a delicately elegant Japanese maple tree in their yard.

Good Life Magazine

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

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Dot Graf’s art still talks today Story by Seth Terrell Images from various sources

T

he sisters don’t remember exactly what kind of tree it was – there were many such trees and many such moments with their mother, the late artist Dot Graf.

Perhaps they were on their way to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church one Sunday morning, or maybe they were on their way to an art show somewhere across the South where Dot’s work would be on display. But the sisters, Luanne Reid and Kitty Warren, and their older brother, Dean Graf, do remember the impromptu art lesson their mother had in mind for them.

“Do you see the colors?” Dot asked, pulling the family car over to the side of the road.

It was a simple question, one that in the throes of autumn seems rhetorical.

Yet for Dot, the question was an invitation, a deeper yearning for her children to understand the

Dot Graf, art supplies on her shoulder, stops under a tree in this family photograph. At top, her book preserving Cullman houses in sketches.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021

67

beauty of the world – I see sienna and russet, terracotta and burnt orange, umber and saffron and cadmium yellow.

For the Graf children, and later the grandchildren, each moment with their mother and grandmother was a lesson in how life and beauty, family and art, are all interwoven down to their most simple, colorful elements.

“She loved life,” Luanne says of Dot.

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uanne, Kitty and Kitty’s daughter, (Dot’s granddaughter) Summer Borwick, sit around the table at Luanne’s Fifth Avenue Cullman home on a quiet Tuesday morning.

Before them on the table is “If Walls Could Talk,” a book of sketches that Dot published 44 years ago. Browsing through the pages and taking closer looks at the sketches is at once a journey through Cullman’s past and also a personal testament to the transcendent, creative spirit of the woman who drew them.

There is the McEntire-Reddick House and the Fuller-Dreher-Bland house. The women are particularly fond of a painting of Werdt’s store – the high angular store-front, the tall shadowed columns cast amid the foliage of hardwood trees.

“She captured so much of Cullman and its history,” Summer says.

They have other sketches and paintings not found in the book, including the very house in which Luanne and her husband Dennis now live.

Dot Graf was born in 1931 in Oklahoma City, OK, but grew up in Goodwater in Coosa County. She studied art at Ringling Art School in Florida and perfected her skills at the University of Alabama and across the Atlantic in England.

She lived in Savannah, Ga., for a time as well as Montgomery before she and her husband, Louis, settled in Cullman. In 1966 she was listed in Outstanding Young Women of America.

Along the way, Dot’s love for art permeated everything she did and everything she was.

W

hen she and Louis moved into their house in Cullman, it wasn’t long before Dot transformed a big family room into her studio where her love for art would become a passion that she passed on to art students of all ages and abilities. Dean, Dot’s son, still lives in the house today and keeps her old studio and much of his house full of Dot’s paintings.

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Suitable for framing, the pen and ink drawings on the tan backgrounds, provided by her son, Dean, came from a 12-pack of small postcards Dot produced and sold. From left, starting on the first row, they depict what’s now the Cullman County Museum (a replica of Col. Johann Cullmann’s house, one of the first large homes built in the former German colony); Wert’s German Restaurant and Store, 1880s-1960s; Ava Maria Grotto; and Cullman Ice Factory, built in 1895.

Sketches with white backgrounds are a sampling of the 99 full plates Dot’ drew for her book, “Whispers from Cullman, Ala. –If Walls Could Talk. With thanks to members of the Cullman Historical Society and others – including husband, Louis, and her family – the hardback coffee table book was printed by Oxmoor Press in Birmingham. From the first row left, the images, when printed in 1977, were identified as the Bogue–Herrell–Musante House; Sutterer–Stahmer House; the George H. Parker House; and Mrs. Fisher’s boarding house.

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Dot sculpted the small statuette of her young granddaughter Summer, upper left. It sits atop the entry in Dot’s diary describing Summer’s birth. At right is an old palette of Dot’s, probably used in teaching children. Hanging in people’s homes, people’s offices, sometimes, Dot’s work seems ubiquitous. Once, for Summer and her husband, it seemed surreal. They had moved into an older house on Meledrum Street and, stashed in a closet, she discovered a watercolor of the house her mother had once painted, right. Another sample of Dot’s watercolor work is the colorful, unsigned woods scene, above. Photos this page by David Moore.

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“We can’t remember a time when she wasn’t doing something artistic,” Kitty says.

“She would drag us to art show after art show,” Luanne adds, “Horse Pens 40, Rickwood Caverns, all over the state and beyond.”

Understanding Dot Graf through the adoring lens of her family means understanding that Dot’s personality was such that the word ‘fame’ would not have entered her mind in a self-description. However, as her art grew along with her love for Cullman, Dot gained renown across North Alabama and beyond.

She worked in charcoal and oil and even ceramic sculpting, which she studied with Fr. Tim Harrison of St. Bernard.

The Oxmoor Press printed her book “Color Cullman County” in 1977. Dot followed the publication with her book “Walking Through Walker County.”

“To this day,” Luanne says, “people still call wanting to buy her books.”

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espite her acclaim, Dot’s commitment to the people of Cullman was in some ways her highest purpose. Her unique artistic abilities and her lasting efforts as artful historian were always coupled with her love for people.

The family remembers the Arty Yard Party that Dot and Louis threw in their neighborhood on Second Street.

“It was like a dream life,” Dean says.

Dot would hang her students’ paintings on the clothesline as people from all over the area were invited to come enjoy the creations and to display their own art. The grandkids often served lemonade.

During these parties, it seemed as if the whole town was present. And all of the people, in some way or another, orbited around the ‘free spirit’ that was Dot Graf.

“She only saw the good in people,” Kitty says.

Herein lies Dot’s greatest legacy in Cullman – art was no mere hobby; art was a way of understanding and sustaining community. Art was life. Art was everything.

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ot was often found doing yoga with the nuns at Sacred Heart convent; she attended ordination ceremonies for priests (with her kids in tow).

“People would come to live with us all the time,” Kitty recalls.

There were artists passing through from places such as Brazil and sundry towns and states from all over the world. Dot was always welcoming of anyone.

The siblings remember her taking in people who had been recently released from jail and others who had no good place to call home.

“She was such a positive person,” Dean says, “and everything around her was positive.”

If art in its finest moments is capable of producing community, the values thereof are even far magnified in the family. When asked, 36 years after Dot’s death, what is it that inspired her most, the children and grandchildren are quick to answer.

“She loved kids,” Kitty says.

“And kids were drawn to her,” Summer adds.

Especially the grandkids, Summer, Graf, Hunter, Raleigh and Will. Summer remembers Dot making her dresses and inviting her and the other grandchildren into hands-on art projects. Dot wanted the kids to have fun and learn on their own without being overshadowed.

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uanne recalls a watercolor portrait Dot once did of Luanne’s son, Graf.

Luanne loved the piece, but says that Dot wasn’t quite satisfied, ripping it up in order to paint a more perfect portrait instead.

“She was resourceful, though,” Kitty says. She used the materials she had around her to make toys and art projects.

The children especially recall Dot hanging curtains on the outside window of their house.

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Among the Dot Graf originals the family owns is this 14x11 pencil sketch of the second Cullman County Courthouse, which was used from 1912-1965. It’s one of numerous buildings and houses that Dot sketched multiple times over the years.

“We had to be the only humans with curtains on the outside window,” Kitty says laughing.

Before Dot passed away from cancer in 1985, the family remembers most how this free spirit, who preferred to go barefooted, approached the end of her life.

Luanne’s husband Dennis remembers how once, on the way to a cancer treatment with Dot, she said she’d lived her life to her fullest; she was thankful, ever mindful of so many people who died without the opportunities to find the beauty she had found in the everyday moments of her life.

Summer recalls Dot’s last artwork.

Knowing at the time that her grandmother was really sick, Summer lined her Cabbage Patch Dolls up on the couch 72

and asked Dot if she would draw them.

Even as sick as she felt, with her health beginning to fail, Dot didn’t hesitate.

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n one of those surreal moments that interweaves the past and the present in inexplicable ways, Summer was fortunate enough to connect with her grandmother once more after her death.

When she and her husband, Ryan, moved into their house on Meldrum Street, Summer was exploring the house.

Stored away in a closet that held the trim, Summer found a watercolor of the house, previously unbeknownst to her, that her grandmother had painted.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Summer says, “she wasn’t around to paint my house, and yet she had painted it. What a treasure.”

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The legacy of Dot Graf will continue to be felt in Cullman for many years to come.

The many commissioned pieces she did of people’s houses and local businesses will remain a gift to the community.

Certainly, her artistic spirit is still alive in her kids and grandkids. Kitty is a professional decorator, Luanne is a professional calligrapher, Dean still admires his mother’s art as he lounges in her old art studio, and Summer has taken on the artistic mantle through her own paintings.

Though Dot Graf’s art lives on, perhaps her greatest gift is the vision of a community that inspires each other with the same love and easygoing grace that she embodied.

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Out ‘n’ About Celebrating 148 years of German heritage, the 40th Annual Cullman Oktoberfest will be held 5-9 p.m.

Sept. 30, 4-9 p.m. Oct. 1, and 10 a.m.9 p.m. Oct. 2. Join the celebration as the new burgermeister is introduced Thursday evening and Miss Oktoberfest is decided by the bite of a cupcake. Raise a pint of local beer, have a brat and enjoy live music, both modern and German. There will be tons of craft vendors, games for young and old – including a cornhole tournament – wiener dog races and much more. Visit Cullman Park, Recreation and Sports Tourism Facebook page for more info. Out ‘n’ about last year at this time? These scenes might look familiar. Photos by Liz Smith.

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