MARSHALL COUNTY
HydroFest: father-son home team; race info; and Concert on the Rocks A peek into the life of a Boaz man who works at NASA ... and is blind Question: If you go ‘Somewhere,’ are you in Key West or Albertville?
SUMMER 2018 COMPLIMENTARY
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Welcome
Because of phone calls like this, you have Good Life Magazine
I
t came out of the clear blue, sometime back in March, a phone call I’d never have expected. Ever. “I made that nutty crunch cobbler from that recipe in Good Life Magazine,” a lady announced from her end of the line. “Mine came out kind of dry. Could you find out what I need to do to make it a little moister?” Never saw that one coming. I had no idea what to say, so I reverted to what I usually do when feeling thick as a brick. I asked insightful questions. “Hunh?” In a friendly voice she introduced herself as Faye Willis, repeated her question about dryness and wondered if I might know, or could find out, how to make the cobbler a little more moist. Gathering a wit or two, I asked Faye from which issue of which magazine she’d gotten the recipe. Her number showed up on my phone as Hartselle, which is in neither Marshall or Cullman County. It was the Marshall magazine, she said. Fall issue. I said I’d call the guest cook and try to get her an answer. I try not to complain, but this job I created for myself keeps me right at busy most of the time. Strep throat and a case of the flu also slowed down my investigation. The note to myself, scrawled on the back of a report from Edward Jones, haunted me every time it surfaced on my desk. Once I thought I’d lost it. Finally, I made a few minutes, retrieved the “Good Cooking” story I wrote last July on Cara Lange – a wonderful Albertville cook known as “The Cobbler Queen” – got her phone number off of it and called. And so she, too, got a call she’d never have expected. We had a nice chat. Cara suggested that Faye take the cobbler out of the oven about 10 minutes sooner, add more butter and, instead of sprinkling pats on the cobbler before baking, melt and drizzle on the butter. “We want that cobbler to be good,” Cara laughed, noting that I’d caught her at Weight Watchers. “And that’s exactly why I am here!” Faye plans to try Cara’s suggestions. It is, she added, a good recipe ... good enough that she’s made the cobbler several times for dinners at her husband’s Masonic lodge and their church. By the way, Faye actually lives in Cotaco. She picks up the magazine in Arab while shopping at Pearls of Grace or Generations. I appreciate Faye calling, because I appreciate her interest in Good Life. It’s what keeps us in business. David Moore, Publisher/editor 6
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Contributors A new voice joins Good Life’s contributor list – David Myers. A Louisiana transplant who works as a contractor for NASA, he formerly lived in Arab and now lives in Guntersville with his wife, Rose. He’s hardly new to writing, he’s penned five novels. Here he tackles a restaurant. Book review writer Annette Haislip got to see Pulitzer winner and author Rick Bragg during his recent visit. It was special because she loves his writing style and heart. She also saw someone else special – her newest granddaughter, Katherine “Kate” Johnson, born Feb. 22. Seth Terrell pretty much wakes and falls to sleep with writing spinning in his brain. Not only does he face weekly deadlines to produce sermons at Broad Street Church of Christ in Albertville and writes articles for Good Life, but in June he’ll complete his MFA in – of course - writing. Hunter McBrayer walks into the Marshall County Extension office where he allegedly works and asks coordinator Eddie Wheeler, “You seen my desk?” “No,” Eddie replied, “and you haven’t either in a very long time ...” Maybe Hunter’s been out research this issue’s column. Many folks are consumed with their pets. Steve Maze in this issue visits a time in the past – it continues today – when some farm animals were also pets. As an aside, he’s been consumed lately with the demise of his dad’s iconic two-story outhouse. It toppled in a storm. GLM’s art/ad director Sheila McAnear is a “Jackie” of all trades. She helped rebuild her mom’s privacy fence after it fell victim to March’s storms. But she has her limits. While flooring her attic, she ran into so much wiring she had to call it quits. As a UA psych major, David Moore heard the joke: Why did the masochist hang out with the sadist? Beats me. He recalls that sometimes as the deadline-squeezed editor of GLM, but it’s worth it all to see an issue like this come together.
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Inside 11 Good Fun
Concert on the Rocks joins a lineup that includes Fire on the Mountain and “Poke”
18 Good People
Paula Henderson loves writing about “good people doing good things in Grant”
24 Good Reads
“The Great Alone” and “Arthur Truluv”
27 Good Cooking
On the cover: Hydroplane racing photographer Steve Conner catches the U-27 “riding high,” as it will be again at HydroFest in June,
36 Good ’n’ Green
This page: These two turtles are also “riding high” on the water, though in a markedly different style than a hydroplane. Photo by David Moore.
Vicki Lowery is a bit shy about publicity but not about cooking for 50 in her family
Save some green keeping your yard green
38 Their best shot
When Renae and Vaughn Warren finally built their Arab house, they wanted it right
46 Good Eats
Find a taste of Key West in Albertville
48 Farm pets
It’s not hard to find a cute pet when you live on a farm; keeping it sometimes is
50 ‘Old Mother Hubbard’
Renae and Fritz had already sent four kids out into the world when they adopted six
56 Meet David Brock
The Boaz man does not allow blindness to keep him from doing his job at NASA
64 Itching for HydroFest
The U-27 racing team’s had two tough years, so they’re motivated for a big turnaround
74 Out ’n’ About
The Cost of Freedom
David F. Moore Publisher/editor 256-293-0888 david.goodlifemagazine@gmail.com
Vol. 5 No. 3 Copyright 2018 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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The City of Guntersville & Lake Guntersville Chamber of Commerce
WELCOME YOU TO
WHILE YOU’RE IN GUNTERSVILLE ...
Enjoy the races. Enjoy our hospitality. Enjoy the scenery. Enjoy visiting our businesses. Visit us anytime. And you’re welcome to become our neighbor. Bring your boat — it’s welcome too!
lakeguntersville.org
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
256-582-3612
Concert on the Rocks
Good Fun
H
A Thousand Horses, top, is composed of Michael Hobby, Bill Satcher, Zach Brown and Graham Deloach. Above, Suzi Oravec.
country, drawling rock, high gospel ydroFest is Friday-Sunday, June harmony, low-country blues and old 22-24. Make a day of it Saturday after the school soul.” races and attend the Guntersville Lake Formed in Nashville in 2010, they HydroFest Concert released their first on the Rock. EP that year, titled The concert, “A Thousand set for the lakeside Horses.” pavilion on After signing Lurleen B. Wallace with Republic Drive, features A Nashville of Big Thousand Horses. Machine Label For more on HydroFest, please see: Gates open at 5:30 Group in 2014, Page 64 The father and son home- their first single, p.m., and Suzi Oravec cranks up “Smoke,” opened team of the U-27 is out to re-stake an first at 7. at number 28 old racing claim on Lake Guntersville A rising talent on the Country Page 71 Here’s what you need to from Nashville, Aircheck radio know if you’re going to the races. Suzi grew up in charts, a record for Cleveland, Ohio, the highest debut with a passion by a new act. for music and an Concert urge to perform. After her mother died sponsors are the Marshall County from pancreatic cancer in 2007, she bit the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the bullet and moved to Nashville to pursue Downtown Merchants Association in her dreams. Guntersville. Her hit song “Long Drive Home” was Tickets are $10 at the gate. Or recently released on CMT and GAC. buy them online in advance for $5 if A Thousand Horses, with roots purchased along with a weekend racing in South Carolina and Georgia, bill ticket: www.guntersvillelakehydrofest. themselves as a mixed-DNA group com; or at www.facebook.com/ of melded influences from “muscular guntersvillelakehydrofest. MAY | JUNE | JULY 2018
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• June 9 – Wakeboard tournament One of the best wakeboard tournaments in the South, Spring2Summer returns to Lake Guntersville for its 11th year with plenty of action from 9 a.m. to about 7 p.m. It’s expected to draw some 50-60 regional competitors age 5-76. You can also meet Red Bull pro wakeboarder Guenther Oka. Spring2Summer is part of the Southern Wake Series point chase and includes stops at Smith Lake Park (July 14), Oak
Mountain State Park, Gulfport, Miss., and Orange Beach. Free to observers, it will again be at Steel Ford Boat Launch on Thomas Avenue, located off Ala. 79 beside Publix. It’s the best place to watch from, though it’s always good to get on the lake in a boat. Plans are also being laid for activities Friday evening, June 8. WakeFactory is the event promoter. For more info, call: Shane Cook, 256-509-3785.
‘Fire’ and ‘Poke,’ hosta and a Disney musical – Go for it! • Through May 31 – Susie Garrett exhibit at MVAC The Mountain Valley Arts Council will exhibit pieces Susie created at her Lowe Mill studio in Huntsville. She works with a wide and wildly unique range of mediums. Her level of precision and care that stand out in pieces ranging from soft colored pencil drawings and comical toys, to creatively-restored furniture. The MVAC gallery is open 1-5 p.m. Wednesday-Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays at 300 Gunter Ave., Guntersville. Admission is free. For more information: 256-571-7199. • Through June 3 – Needlepoint exhibit During her long life, Anita B. Lusk of Guntersville created well over 100 works of elaborate needlepoint. A 12
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sampling of them – including two seat covers – continues to be displayed at the Woodall Gallery at Guntersville Museum. Anita (1898-2002) was the mother of attorney Louis Lusk. “This is a charming collection,” says museum director Julie Patton. “The people who have seen it say it takes them back to a mother or a grandmother who did needlepoint. It is a very personal exhibit because there are black and white photos of Mrs. Lusk with it.” The museum is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admittance is free. For more information, call: Guntersville Museum, 256-571-7597. • May 10, 17, 24 – Free outdoor concerts Mountain Valley Arts Council
wraps up its outdoor, spring concert series this month at Errol Allan Park in downtown Guntersville. The free performances are Thursdays 6:30-8:30 p.m. and feature: • Soul Survivor – classic rock • Josh Allison – classic rock and R&R • Emily Joseph – pop and R&R Bring your lawn chair, friends and your dog. For more information, call: MVAC, 256-571-7199. • May 10 – Senior Health and Fitness Day Marshall Medical Centers’ popular event is a healthy dose of fun – and it’s free. From 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Lake Guntersville Civitan Park, you’ll find health screenings, physicians you can talk to, giveaways and door prizes, games, lunch and music by Fishermen
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Quartet. Visit the walking trail along the lake while you’re there. Reservations are requested for free lunch that will be served. Please RSVP at: 256-571-8025 or 256-753-8025 (Arab area calls). • May 11-12 – Fire on the Mountain The fourth annual fundraiser for Tri-County and Four-C Volunteer Fire Departments at Arab City Park this year features entertainment by American Idol contestant Brandon Elder, who’ll perform at 1 p.m. Saturday. Friday activities are 6-10 p.m. and include music by Covenant Baptist and Life Point. Get a $12 seafood plate from Swamp John’s food truck 4-7 p.m. Besides Brandon Elder, Saturday’s entertainment includes The Coleman Brothers, Brandon Henson, Corey Dailey and the Taylor Miller Band. Main stage will be the ABA and KCBS sanctioned backyard barbecue competition. Plus there will be arts and crafts vendors, a car show and the Alabama Fire College simulator trailer. For more info: Jason Haggard, 256-
309-8611; Nark Lide, 256-202-9698; or visit: www.fotmarab.org. • May 18-19 – Poke Salat Festival Brandon Elder of American Idol will be back in Arab this weekend (see May 11-12 event listing) for the longrunning Poke Salat celebration. He and his band will play a free concert on the First Avenue stage at 5 p.m. Friday. He’ll be followed by Cullman’s hottest cover band, the female fronted Overtones. And of course plenty of arts, crafts, food and other vendors will be down from 2-10 p.m. Friday. They’ll be back from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, along with artisan demonstrations; a children’s play area with inflatables, train and pony rides and games; a full food court; the noon pet parade with ribbons for crowd favorite, biggest and smallest, best dressed and most unusual pet; and cornhole tournaments (two-person teams, double elimination with a funnsies bracket starting at 9 a.m., competitive bracket at 1 p.m.) For the second year, Saturday is
devoted to bluegrass, with competition for musicians and singers throughout the day. They’ll be striving for prizes of $200, $300 and $500 with the top winner getting to open that night for the free, as-yet-unnamed, main bluegrass act. Oh, and of course, poke salat will be served at L Rancho and other locations. It’s all sponsored by the Arab Downtown Association, in conjunction with the City of Arab and the Arab Chamber of Commerce. More info? Call Dawn Sparks, 256-200-5270; or the Arab Chamber of Commerce, 256-3138. • May 19 – Hosta sale Want to buy some hosta for your flowerbeds? The Hosta Society of North Alabama is holding its hosta sale 9 a.m.2 p.m. under the Grisham Pavilion at Huntsville Botanical Garden. It features new and rare cultivars you probably won’t see at the local outlets, plus triedand-true regional favorites. There will also be educational talks on the popular plants, one of them by Mary Terrell of Guntersville. Her talk at
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noon is titled “Growing Happy Hosta From the Ground Up.” Garden admission is not required for the sale, parking is free and the site is handicap accessible. For more info, contact Cookie Kruvand: rkruvand@ gmail.com
Mary Terrell, far right, and her flowering home in Guntersville were featured in the 2016 fall issue of Good Life Magazine. A member of the Hosta Society of North Alabama, she’s helping with and will speak at its annual hosta sale in Huntsville.
• May 22-23 – audition for “High School” Want a part in the Whole Backstage’s presentation of Disney’s “High School Musical”? Auditions are at 6:30 p.m. at the WBS theater. Kelleybrooke Brown will be directing the show, which will be staged July 21-29. For audition details call: WBS, 256-582-7469. • June 2 – Walking Tours of Guntersville The Lake Guntersville Chamber of Commerce historic walking tours will be held every Saturday in June at 10 a.m. at the Guntersville Museum, with the exception of June 23 (which is the HydroFest boat races). The walks are led by a knowledgeable guide and last about an hour. Routes for the rest of
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the month had not been finalized at press time, but you can learn more by calling: Guntersville Chamber of Commerce, 256-582-3612. • June 6-19 – GHS student art exhibit Mountain Valley Arts Council will exhibit the works of art students at Guntersville High School. A grand opening reception will be held 5-7 p.m. at the MVAC gallery June 7. The gallery is open 1-5 p.m. Wednesday-Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays at 300 Gunter Ave., Guntersville. Admission is free. For more information: 256-571-7199. • June 16 – July 27 – Alabama in the Making The traveling Alabama Bicentennial exhibit has been extended from two to nearly six weeks for the Guntersville Museum. Accompanying the special event will be a small exhibit about the history of Marshall County put together by the Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Through interactive displays and teaching resources, the traveling exhibit celebrates 200 years of statehood and showcases the decisions and turning points that shaped Alabama history, culture, and geography. The statewide project is presented by Alabama Humanities Foundation in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History and the Alabama Bicentennial Commission. A preview of the exhibit will be given at 10 a.m. June 16 in conjunction with the walking history tour held by the Guntersville Chamber of Commerce that day. (See listing for June 2.) A small reception for the exhibit will be held that day at 1 p.m. The museum is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admittance is free. For more information, call: Guntersville Museum, 256-571-7597. • June 16 – “Lake Guntersville” book signing Authors Dr. Whitney Snow and her mother, Barbara Snow, will sign copies of their new book, “Lake Guntersville,” 16
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5-7 p.m. July 12 at the gallery. It is open 1-5 p.m. Wednesday-Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays at 300 Gunter Ave., Guntersville. Admission is free. For more information: 256571-7199. • July 21-29 – Disney’s “High School Musical” So a jock and the nerdy new girl at his high school fall for each other at a karaoke competition … Sounds like a joke. It’s funny but actually it’s The Whole Backstage adaption of Disney’s highly popular made for television comedy “High School Musical.” Directed by Kelleybrooke Brown, it is catchy songs – the original sound tract was a No. 1 hit album in 2006 – exciting dance routines and the exploration of friendship, first love, and acceptance. Shows are at 7 p.m. July 20-21 The Snows will be signing books June 16. and 26-28. Matinées are at 2 p.m. July 22, 29. Tickets – $10 students, $16 seniors and $18 adults – can be published in May. The signing is 2-4 ordered at: www.wholebackstage.com. p.m. at The Monkey’s Uncle on Gunter For more info: 256-582-7469. Avenue in downtown Guntersville. The book is part of Arcadia Publishing’s • July 21 – Summer Bash/ Vintage Images of America series. Tractor Show A two-year project, the 128-page The vintage tractors will be on photo/caption book mentions some display in conjunction with the annual 800 people, including all of the Miss Summer Bash organized by the Guntersville Lake and Little Miss Guntersville Downtown Merchants. Guntersville Lake pageants winners. The tractors – 25-30 of them – will be at Guntersville Harbor from 8 a.m. to • July 4 – Fireworks over the lake about 1 p.m. Enjoy the spectacular tradition Plans were still being made at exploding over Lake Guntersville in press time, but Summer Bash will be celebration of Independence Day. downtown at Errol Allen Park. There The show starts at 9:00 p.m. The best will be a 40-foot water slide to keep viewing area is between Lurleen B. kids of all ages cool, plus hot sales at Wallace Drive and Civitan Park, unless participating stores. For more info on you have a boat. the tractors, call: Dennis Johnson 256202-909. For more on Summer Bash, • July 4 – 27 – Cindy Phillips exhibit call: Lynne Karel, 256-582-7745 The Mountain Valley Arts Council will showcase the paintings of Cindy • Aug. 10-11 – Main Street Music Phillips, who has a studio at Lowe Festival Mill in Huntsville. A student of art, Press time was too far out for details philosophy and science, she seeks God on the 10th edition of Albertville’s by engaging with natural beauty. “Daily downtown blast, but you can be sure observation of nature reveals to me the bands will be big enough to again that God loves variety – variety in size, draw tens of thousands of folks. shape, form, color and texture, all of To find out the lineup of this year’s which inform and inspire my artwork,” festival, watch your local paper or visit: she says. http://www.mainstreetmusicfestival.com. A reception for the artist will be held
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Good People
5questions Story and photo by David Moore
T
hese days, privacy laws prevent hospitals from releasing the names of people they’ve admitted and discharged. And when someone’s going on vacation, it’s ill-advised to advertise. That’s like begging for a burglar. Yep, times have changed. And that makes Paula Henderson something of a throwback rarity. She’s the community correspondent for Grant in The Advertiser Gleam. One of three community newspapers in Marshall County, the Gleam is something of a throwback rarity, too. Once a mainstay of weekly papers, community correspondents religiously wrote about the myriad doings, big and mostly small, of those in the community – who was in the hospital, who visited the big city, what Aunt Mae cooked for dinner on the grounds at the church homecoming and Uncle Joe’s new calf. But such tidbits have all but completely fallen by the wayside of corporate and cultural change. Newspapers, themselves, struggle to prove relevance in the face of technological and cultural changes. The enthusiasm Paula brings to her part-time, second-job with the newspaper flies in the face of change and goes to the heart of what “community” means. Her short, hyperlocal, human-interest news items run in the Saturday Gleam. Paula sort of inherited the position last August from Thames Robinson, Grant’s former librarian, who had been the community correspondent some 10 years. “She decided to pass it on, and I just happened to be walking into the library to see my home girls,” Paula recalls. “Thames said, ‘I’m not going to be 18
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Paula Henderson
Grant community correspondent writes about good people doing good things writing for the Gleam anymore. Would you like to do it?’ I said sure.” She didn’t expect a road to riches. In fact, when she spoke to editor Anthony Campbell about the job, he never offered to supply her with notebooks, so she bought her own. “But he’s been really nice and supportive,” she says. “Space available, he usually puts in every word I send.” And, it would seem, folks who get the paper, especially in Grant, read every word Paula writes.
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iven how well Paula connects with rural readers, it’s ironic that she grew up in the Atlanta metropolitan area and previously worked in Corporate USA. No fan of high school, she preferred skipping class to see Cooter of Duke’s of Hazard fame. She was, however, interested in art classes and won a contest with a small book she wrote. And she landed a summer job proofreading manuscripts for a publisher. After high school, Paula worked at an Atlanta insurance office, married, had two sons. The marriage did not pan out. She’d been divorced several years when her mom, who worked at Scientific Atlanta, introduced her to co-worker Keith Henderson, son of a preacher man. “I was like, ‘No,’” Paula says, a Dusty Springfield song perhaps in mind. Regardless, their first date was to a nice restaurant where they had to wait for a table. “I learned early on Keith doesn’t like lines or waiting for a meal,” laughs Paula, who suggested a Chinese place across the street with few customers. “He said he liked me, but I would have waited. It was a really nice restaurant.” They married six months later, and
Keith got her a temp job at Scientific Atlanta, now Cisco, which builds television cable boxes. She advanced into strategic communications, traveling to international trade shows, doing customer PR work. Her eight customers included Time Warner, Media One and Comcast.
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n addition to working and raising her sons, Paula attended Mercer University. Keith’s job required travel to Mexico. “I had to go to Las Vegas several times a year, and Keith and I would hook up in El Paso,” Paula says. “It was a lot of fun, but I was exhausted. I needed some space to clear my head.” She quit Scientific Atlanta in 2005, finished her last semester at Mercer and pretty much retired to her craft room above their garage. “I got a little artsy when I went back to school, she says. “I always tinkered with gardening and sewing. I had a flair.” With Keith looking at retirement and Paula’s parents moving to Ardmore in 2002 to be near her grandfather, they decided to eventually move to Alabama. Her now late grandfather, the Rev. Willie Cook had pastored Guntersville Church of God – now The River – back when Paula was a kid. So they all decided to eventually move to the area. For her parents, Paula called Coldwell Banker Graben and Kim Klueger – a now close friend – answered. Paula explained they wanted property in the Guntersville area. Kim showed Paula’s parents a fixer-upper on Posed at the overlook in Grant, Paula Henderson holds a copy of The Advertiser-Gleam and a metal yard ornament goat ... a reminder of Baby Goat Grace.
Snapshot: Paula Henderson
FAMILY: Born to Joe and Shirley Baggett, Jan. 19, 1963, in Piedmont; has two younger brothers. Grew up in several towns in Gwinnett County, Ga. Two sons from a previous marriage: Rob 36, Spring Hill Tenn.; William, 34, of Grant. Married Keith Henderson, 1990; his sons, Josh and Eric, live in Georgia. Five grandchildren. EDUCATION: Graduated North Gwinnett High School, 1981; later attended Mercer University, graduating in 2005 with a major in communications; minor in English literature. CAREER: Wausau Insurance, Atlanta for 12 years; later Scientific Atlanta for 14 years. After moving to the Swearingen community near Grant did temp work in Huntsville; substitute teacher for Marshall County Schools; waited tables, etc., at MiMi’s Country Tea Room. Since 2009 has worked at Peoples State Bank, which is now FNB. Does seasonal tax work at H&R Block for Kent Smith in Grant. OTHER INVOLVEMENT: Volunteer for Grant Chamber of Commerce; active with Keith at Grace Fellowship on Ala. 79 and in four book clubs; reads a book or two weekly. Enjoys yard work and gardening. Formerly active with Mountain Valley Arts Council, Salvation Army in Guntersville, and the boards of CASA and CAJA.
acreage in the Swearingen community, which they bought. “It needed work but had potential – and a pool,” Paula says. “That was all we needed. We kept visiting and met people in Grant. I told Mom one day we would move.” Atlanta friends thought the Hendersons were crazy to move from their nice subdivision to Grant. Their friends had it backward. “Atlanta,” Paula says, “was crazy.”
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he Hendersons bought four acres from her parents and built a garage next door to them with an upstairs apartment. With kids off at college, they moved in August 2007, though Keith was back and forth for a year until he briefly retired. After finishing the apartment, he began a second career and now does helicopter contract work for SAIC Redstone Arsenal. Paula did substitute teaching for Marshall County, temp jobs in Huntsville and worked part-time at MiMi’s Country Tea Room in Grant. In 2009 she went to work at Peoples State Bank, which is now FNB. She’s a loan assistant. After four years, she and Keith built the big house they planned with her parents as neighbors. “We have, like, a commune,” Paula laughs. “It looks nothing like it did when we started. I got Keith to cut the grass …” In the past 11 years Paula has
become immersed in the Grant community. “I moved here and I had one mindset of how things were,” she says. “All of a sudden I was aware I was having conversations with people because I knew who their momma is.” While her correspondent paycheck doesn’t fill her wallet, writing community news goes a long way toward topping off her “fulfillment tank.” “I enjoy the community part of writing,” says the girl from Atlanta. “I love bringing the community together with stories ...”
1.
Your columns sometimes include the sentence, “Good people are doing great things in Grant.” Who are some of these people and what are they doing? There are good people doing great things in Grant, even if they are not big things. Someone might achieve the smallest little thing, but I like writing about them to encourage someone else. I often challenge readers to scout out “good people doing great things in Grant.” We’ve had submissions on everything from North Alabama Electric Co-op linemen working during storms and Ms. Susie Keller, a retired teacher giving weekly reading sessions at the library, to scout activities, art students of the month and updates on local missionaries.
Other good people have been growing pineapples, nursing sick animals and telling what it takes to be a great barrel riding fella. We also have local citizens who keep flags flying high in Grant. We have people working with the library to offer new book selections. I share events there and promote new library endeavors through the Grant community news. Social media is buzzing with some new alert or some new story that you need to read right now. There seems to be pressure from all sides to constantly scroll through and click here and there. It’s mind numbing at times. The Grant page in the paper slows us down some. It’s designed to share weekly stories of “kumbaya moments” that may never make big-time news outlets. I call them “kumbaya moments” because the word actually means “come by here.” So when I’m writing or scouting story ideas, I think of the readers who will “come by here” as they browse the Grant section. And maybe they’ll notice the unity that such stories reflect about the Grant community.
2.
The Grant community columns often combine information and entertainment. Got any favorites? The couple who grew the pineapple – I can tell you this one from start to finish right here.
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Paula’s Henderson’s story titled Scout Motto In Action Elizabeth Sewell Gilliland and her two sons were driving along Main Street when they noticed a flag whipping wildly around the pole at a local business. March winds and frequent rainy drizzle on the mountain often wreak havoc to flags that are proudly flying in the Grant community. The boys, John and Jacob Gilliland, are Boy Scouts and knew exactly what they needed to do for a flag in distress. They asked their mom to stop and allow them to help. The wind was rough, the flag was much bigger than they’d realized and the darkness didn’t help either. Keeping the flag off the ground, they saw a clip had broken. Not a problem for a couple of dedicated Boy Scouts who take seriously their motto: Be prepared. To a scout, this means you are always in a state of readiness in mind and body to do your DUTY! They had an extra flag clip, removed the broken one,
They were going to toss out a pineapple, but the woman said she’d heard you could grow them, even here in Alabama. So they followed the directions about cutting of the leafy top part, and she planted it in her flowerbed. It got big and they moved it to a huge pot they’d put outside in the spring and to the basement in the winter. They did that for three and half years. One day they got a pineapple There was excitement about the pineapple before the story even came out among neighbors and such. And even more after my story came out in the paper. People told me they never knew you
.
Scouts John and Jacob Gilliland. Photo provided by Paula Henderson and with hands over their hearts in honor of the American flag, drew the flag back up the pole. Phillip and Elizabeth Gilliland are proud parents. And to John and Jacob Gilliland, the community salutes YOU!
could grow a pineapple here. I didn’t know you could do that here either until I did the story. Then there was the story about the baby goat with a heart on its nose. People are very fond of their animals around here. Farmers, too. They care about their animals. They are not just farmers, they are compassionate farmers. The baby goat was another of those stories. A friend named Pam Gamble – everyone loves Pam – had a couple of pregnant female goats. One of the mothers died, so Pam and her husband had to bottle-feed its babies. Only one survived. Pam named it
Grace because she prayed for it all the time. Grace was born with a heart on her nose and a heart shape marking on her front leg. She’s marked with hearts. Everybody was pulling for baby goat Grace and still are. I’d like to make a point about that … Pam did a lot of posting and messaging about Grace. When Grace hit the paper, she took a picture of the story and posted that. She said, “Isn’t this exciting! My goat Grace made the paper!” Although she got a bunch of “likes” and comments on Facebook, it still meant something for Grace to be in the paper. People said, “Oh, I saw your
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goat in the paper!” The printed story in the local paper still had meaning for her. Birthday notices in the Grant section are photographed and texted and shared on Facebook with the same, “Look! My family made the paper!” It’s tangible in the paper. It’s not fleeting like social media, here and gone. It has staying power because it was in the paper. Just like the idea of kumbaya … Come by here. Stay and visit a while. There are good people here.
But words … I love words! Descriptions and details and feelings. And, like I said, newspapers have a “sticking-ness” to their stories, more so than social media. And we may not believe what we see on social media, but for me – and many people – we have faith in what we read in the newspaper and believe it to be truth. I’m a fan of print. I like newspapers, magazines and books. I don’t read my phone for news. They use algorithms designed to fill your phone up with the news you want to hear. I don’t like that. I want to seek my own news … and find my own ads for 50-year-old ladies.
3.
You have referred to your information gathering as “scavenger hunts” in which you find useful and interesting community tidbits. How do you come across these items, and if you tossed a handful of them into the air like confetti, what’s an example of what might flutter down? Sometimes it’s hard to get in touch with people about a little story. I don’t know everyone. But I didn’t come to Grant and say, “Hey, I’m bored!” to be involved in the community. I lived in a subdivision where I didn’t know my neighbor, or, if I did, I didn’t trust them. Here, your neighbor’s got your back. That’s the big difference. I would like that known. So most of my stories come from word of mouth … working in a community bank, being a magnet for friends and neighbors to gather and share what’s going on. Oftentimes I get bits and pieces about someone who may be working on a fantastic project but I don’t have all the info, not even enough to get a few sentences shaped together. Getting all the information can be hard. I’ll ask if someone knows so-andso, and usually they do not, but they’ll text me a phone number for someone who supposedly does. But darn it, that person can’t remember the name of that person who knows the person I need to reach. So, yes, it’s a treasure hunt, breadcrumbs, scavenger hunt. I need to get details. That’s the story 22
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5.
What is something most people don’t know about Paula Henderson? Baby goat Grace with her heart-shaped nose. right there, the entertainment value of community stories … “Why did you do what you did? How long did it take you to do that? And let’s put a good word in for your mama, who encourages you to do good things.” What would flutter down if we threw such stories in the air? Laughter, smiles, a few happy tears, emotions and feelings that we like to feel every so often. Feelings that are embraced because they are real, because we know these folks who are doing these great things are living right here in our community.
4.
Besides writing, you are a voracious reader. Why is reading important to you? Reading helps me with focus. It stretches my brain by causing me to think about different topics and ideas. Reading puts an importance on times in history that I may have forgotten or didn’t realize how life was at that time. Reading challenges me, and sticks with me. I’m great at parties and trivia! However I may not be everyone’s cup of tea in the day-to-day conversations about news and weather.
After we moved here, I worked for Linda Burlbaugh, who owns MiMi’s Country Tea Room (and “Bakery,” now). She’s open Thursdays and Sundays for lunch. Sometimes on Saturdays. One evening she opened for a special Valentine’s dinner for $49.50 per couple. I thought it was that much per person. A couple on a motorcycle happened to see the sign and come in. I told them dinner was $49.50 per person. They thought that was a deal – and it sounded like a Georgia price to me. Later, I was ringing up a couple at the register, and Linda said I rang it up twice. I told her I thought the cost was per person, and she said, “How much have we made tonight?” She told me to start giving money back, and we did to all the local folks, but the motorcycle couple had left. They’d thought it was a terrific price for such a wonderful meal on top of a mountain they’d never visited before. Plus, they tipped me $20 on top of the $100 bill they paid with – and I had no way to reach them. Even now, every year on Valentine’s Day I get a call from Linda who teases me and asks me if I want to work that day. Good Life Magazine
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Good Reads
Alaska is a main character in Hannah’s ‘The Great Alone’
‘The Story of Arthur Truluv’ provides a pleasant break
he setting of Alaska has to be the main character in the novel “The Great Alone.” Its spectacular scenery and endless wilderness is beautifully described. Author Kristin Hannah based many of the descriptions from her own experiences as her family traveled to Alaska in a VW van in 1968 and “I was taught by my later established a lodge own father to be afraid in the area where her story occurs. of the world.” The story unfolds in 1974 before the big influx of settlers and tourism occurred, when the sparse population consisted of adventurers, the self-sufficient and those seeking obscurity. Ernt Allbright, a former POW, returns from Vietnam a damaged man filled with paranoia and anger, unable to hold a job. Cora, his rebellious hippie wife – who had gotten pregnant at 15 and fled her comfortable home – blames the war for Ernt’s abusive behavior. Their 13-year-old daughter, Lena, attempts to remove herself from her parents’ destructive, dysfunctional love. When a slain Army buddy leaves Ernt a 40-acre plot in Alaska, the unprepared and overconfident family embarks on their journey in an old VW van. They find their house is a filthy, tumbled down shack with no running water or electricity. With the help of friendly, somewhat eccentric locals, they settle in for the isolation, deprivation and long winters with 18-hour nights. Eventually overcome by alcohol and rage, Ernt’s erratic behavior results in a violent confrontation causing one of the females in his life to make a heart-wrenching decision that will forever change their lives. – Annette Haislip
n these times of unrelenting, depressing and sometimes frightening news, it is nice to just sit, read, and enjoy a pleasant story. In “The Story of Arthur Truluv,” Elizabeth Berg has written a delightful, heartwarming tale of just what it means to be a family. There are only three “Real families come from basic characters, and each choices we make and about share a sense of loneliness. Arthur Moses has recently who we want to be bound to.” lost his beloved wife, Nola, and faithfully visits her grave each day at lunchtime. His neighbor Lucille, a single, retired teacher, attempts to ease his despair with some of her delicious baked goodies but is constantly rebuffed. At the cemetery, Arthur begins to notice a scruffy, sullen teenager, Maddy, who initially ignores his attempts to start a conversation. Finally, Arthur persuades her to come to his house for soup and sandwiches and learns that her mother was killed in an automobile accident shortly after her birth. Raised by her distant, uncaring father, she is socially inept and is bullied and ostracized at school. She begins to call her new friend “Arthur Truluv” because of his enduring love for Nola. A further unfortunate situation for Maddy sends her seeking refuge with Arthur. A page from Lucille’s past returns in her twilight years. Fate, however, intervenes and Lucille finds herself drawn into the budding friendship between Arthur and Maddy. Eventually, Arthur and Lucille find in their old age they have established a new family. And this pleasant story blooms into fullness. – Annette Haislip
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Vicki Lowery Her cooking continues a family bond of love Story and photos by David Moore
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Good Cooking
favorite,” Deborah says. “That’s to die for. Vicki makes the best. Her key lime cake, it’s up there, too. Everything is good! I can’t just pick one or two things.” “All it takes is a phone call and I’m here,” chimes in Tim Brooks. “Her turnip greens, pintos, beef stew … she can cook
“But that’s the ultimate compliment,” she explains. “One of my favorite is the sweet potato pie and her coconut cake. She lets me make potato salad. That’s the only thing she’ll let me make.” “Why didn’t you make it?” Vicki asks. “I didn’t have 13 things I could make,”
about anything you ask her to cook. She’s outstanding.” Other than his wife Denise, Tim laughs, Vicki as a sister-in-law is the biggest benefit of being in the Lowery family. “It’s really a close family,” Tim says. “Food has got something to do with it. Back when we were dating, you had to be there for Sunday dinner or have a good reason. We’ve been married 40 years and it’s still that way.” Denise allows that her sister’s cooking is pretty close to their mother’s.
Denise laughs, looking at the full plates and the array of serving dishes sitting out in the kitchen. “I like Vicki’s key lime cake, even if it’s not St. Paddy’s Day,” says sister Lisa Lowery. “And her meat loaf. I don’t eat meat loaf anywhere else ...” “The two helpings I had were pretty good,” David injects, his mouth full. “And the Thousand Island dressing is good, too,” Lisa finishes. “She gives me cups of it,” an appreciative David says.
icki Lowery is among staff who takes food to the never shy folks working at the Marshall County Probate Office where she’s worked for 40 years. Vicki cooks for her family at home in Albertville, sometimes up to three times a month. Though she lives alone, her cooking draws up to 50 eager relatives. All of that’s to say Vicki loves to cook for people. But when asked to be a guest cook in Good Life Magazine, she modestly protests. I’m no chef. It’s just country cooking. Nothing fancy. Not me. I can’t do an interview. With loving persuasion from Susan Hancock, a huge fan and cousin who’s an assistant principal for Madison County Schools, Vicki finally relents. And when she does, instead of preparing the requested sampling of four dishes, she invites a sampling of her big family and prepares Vicki Lowery – at left, who supervises the recording department at the probate office – 13 dishes. gets a round of applause for another of her family meals. Continuing from left are sister To save Vicki from an Denise Brooks, Deborah and David Lowery, Lisa Lowery and Tim Brooks. Immediate interview, family members do family not present for the “small,” impromptu meal are sister Mary Plunkett the talking between mouthfuls and her husband, Glean, and brother Stephen Lowery. of food as they sit around her dining room table ...
“S
he makes dressing better than anybody’s I’ve ever eaten, unless it’s momma’s. If they say food, I try to get by here,” says David Lowery, digging into his plate with, apparently, not quite the speed he once did. “I can keep up with him,” grins his wife, Deborah. “He’s not as fast as he used to be.” Unfazed, David continues, “I usually bring to-go boxes and eat two or three days off her cooking.” “Her strawberry cake is probably my
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KEY LIME CAKE 1 box lemon cake mix 1 box lime Jello 1½ cup vegetable oil ½ cup orange juice 5 eggs Combine cake mix and Jell-O. Add oil, orange juice and eggs. Beat 2 to 3 minutes on medium speed. Pour into three round 8 or 9 inch cake pans, greased and floured. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Glaze: 4 Tbsp. confectioners sugar ½ cup lime juice Mix sugar and lime juice. While cake layers are still hot, drizzle glaze over layers. Cream cheese frosting: 1 stick butter, softened 1 8 oz. cream cheese, softened 1 box confectioners sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract Cream together butter and cream cheese, blend in sugar and vanilla. Frost cake when cooled. CHICKEN SALAD 2 cups diced cooked chicken 1½ cups red seedless grapes, halved ½ cup mayonnaise ½ cup chopped celery ½ cup slivered almonds Salt and Pepper, to taste Combine chicken and celery with mayonnaise. Add almonds, stir to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Add the grapes and stir gently to combine.
“Sometimes our oldest son eats it with crackers,” adds Denise. David asks Vicki what dishes she most enjoys making. “I don’t know …” she thinks a second. “I enjoy making the cakes.”
M
elba and Claudell Lowery, both deceased, had six offspring. Melba, however, basically raised them as a single mom. And fed them. “Fried potatoes, pintos and cornbread,” David recalls. “I never went hungry. I’ve been fat all my life.” “He sure didn’t get fat off my cooking,” Deborah comments. 28
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Though Vicki’s developed her own cooking talents, early on she picked up some knowledge from her mother. As things worked out, Melba lived out her later life in Vicki’s house, where the family meals continued, along with her mom’s cooking influences. “When she got to where she wasn’t able, she told me what to do,” Vicki laughs. “But she still wanted everyone together.” Since Melba died in 2006, the tradition has continued. Once a month or more Vicki cooks for the entire family. Someone’s always having a birthday. Plus they gather for holidays.
The 38 direct family members often bring cousins and aunts, so up to 50 folks spread through the house with heaping plates of Vicki’s food. “Melba would appreciate that,” Deborah says. “Absolutely,” agrees Vicki, who barely touched her plate. “I appreciate Vicki continuing to do it … Don’t cry,” Deborah says. “Momma would love it,” Vicki says, wiping an eye. “And she’d eat after they all left.” Starting above is a smattering of Vicki’s recipes ...
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SWEET POTATO PIE 3 cups sweet potatoes, mashed (cook with method of choice) ¼ cup butter, softened 1 14oz. can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk 2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp. sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract ½ tsp. cinnamon 1 9-inch unbaked pie crust Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1 box red velvet cake mix ¾ cup butter, melted 1 egg ½ cup water 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 2 cups walnuts, chopped (optional)
RED VELVET BROWNIES Stir until ingredients are combined with no lumps. Add chocolate chips and 1 cup nuts. Pour into a 9x13 greased pan. Cook 40-45 minutes. Let cool and frost. Sprinkle with remaining nuts. Drizzle with melted chocolate if desired.
Combine egg, butter, and water in mixing bowl. Add red velvet cake mix.
Buttercream frosting 3 cups confectioners sugar
In large mixing bowl, mix mashed potatoes with butter until smooth. Add remaining ingredients, mix well. Pour into pie shell. Bake about 40 minutes or until middle is set.
1 cup butter, softened 1 tsp. vanilla extract 2 Tbsp. milk Cream butter with hand mixer until smooth and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners sugar until fully incorporated. Add vanilla. Pour in milk. Beat for an additional 3-4 minutes.
‘ 1 cup long grain rice 2 cans beef consommé 1 jar sliced mushrooms
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DENISE’S DIRTY RICE 1 stick margarine, melted Combine all ingredients in a
casserole dish. Cook at 375 for about 40 minutes or until rice is tender.
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CORNBREAD CASSEROLE 1 stick butter, melted 1 cup whole kernel corn 1 15oz. can cream style corn 1 cup sour cream 1 8 oz. pkg. corn muffin mix 6 Tbsp. thinly sliced green onions ¼ tsp. black pepper pinch of salt Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9-inch baking dish. In large bowl, stir together butter, corn, sour cream, muffin mix, onions, salt and pepper. Pour batter into dish. Bake 1 hour or until set. Let stand 5 or 10 minutes before serving. CHEDDAR AND BACON ROASTED POTATOES 2 lbs. small red potatoes 2 cups buttermilk ranch dressing 1 cup real bacon bits, divided 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided Wash and cut potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. Place potatoes in a 9 x 13 greased baking dish. Pour dressing over potatoes. Toss to coat. Stir in 1/2 cup bacon and 1 cup cheese. Cover dish with aluminum foil. Cook in oven at 350 for about 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender (stirring halfway through). Remove foil, sprinkle with remaining cheese and bacon on top. Bake uncovered 10 minutes.
THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING 1 qt. mayonnaise 1 cup ketchup 1 med. onion (puree in blender) 4 boiled eggs (chopped fine) 3 Tbsp. sugar 1 tsp. vinegar 1 16 oz. cottage cheese Mix mayonnaise and ketchup together. Add remaining ingredients. Stir until well blended. Chill and serve. Keep refrigerated. 32
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CHEESE BALL 2 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese 1 8½ oz. can crushed pineapple, drained 2 cups pecans, chopped 2 Tbsp. minced onion 1 Tbsp. Lawry’s Seasoned Salt Combine softened cream cheese and crushed pineapple. Add 1 cup pecans. Stir in minced onion and seasoned salt. Chill until firm. Form into ball on serving dish. Cover with remaining cup of pecans. Chill until ready to serve.
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MOTHER’S STRAWBERRY CAKE 1 box white cake mix 1 cup frozen strawberries, drained ¾ cup vegetable oil ½ cup chopped pecans 3½ oz. can coconut 1 cup milk 1 small box strawberry Jello 4 eggs (add last) Combine all ingredients, mix until well blended. Pour into three round 9 inch cake pans, greased and floured. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Strawberry frosting: 1 box confectioners sugar 1 stick butter, softened 3½ oz. can coconut 1 cup chopped pecans 1 cup frozen strawberries, drained Mix all ingredients well. Frost cake when cooled. COCONUT PIE 1 ¼ cups sugar 2 Tbsp. flour ½ cup butter, melted 3 eggs, beaten ½ cup buttermilk 3½ oz. can coconut 1 tsp. vanilla 1 9 inch deep dish pie crust Combine sugar and flour in mixing bowl. Add melted butter, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and 2/3 coconut, mix well. Pour mixture into pie crust. Sprinkle with remaining coconut. Bake at 325 for 1 hour or until set.
TORTILLA ROLL-UPS 1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened 1 small can chopped black olives 1 can Rotel, drained 1 pack of dry ranch dressing mix 8-10 flour tortillas Combine first four ingredients, stirring until well blended. Spread 1-2 Tbsp. of the mixture onto each tortilla. Roll tightly and refrigerate several hours. Slice into 1-inch lengths and serve. Makes 80-90 roll-ups. NOTE: I like to refrigerate overnight before slicing. Usually I cut off the rounded ends of the rolls just to make them neat.) 34
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VEGETABLE CASSEROLE 2 cans mixed vegetables, drained 1 small onion, chopped 1 can Mexicorn 1 can cheddar cheese soup ½ cup mayonnaise salt and pepper to taste In casserole dish mix cheddar cheese soup and mayonnaise together. Add remaining ingredients. Stir until well blended. Crush one sleeve of Ritz crackers on top of mixture. Dot crackers with pats of butter. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until top is brown.
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Check irrigation – Maybe it is because of my line of work or maybe it is my background in saving water (and money), but it drives me nuts to see a lawn sprinkler that is not working properly. Now is a great time to check that all of your irrigation heads are working properly, that they are not leaking water and, most importantly, that they are not watering the street, sidewalk or driveway.
Good ’n’ Green
Save money
Here are five tips to keep your yard nice and green without wilting your wallet
Soil test – While this is one that I tend to lean on most, this is truly the best tip that I can give homeowners. Whether you are growing fruits and vegetables, ornamentals or turf, the soil is the foundation on which all is built. Soil testing is an inexpensive way to know what the pH of your soil is, what nutrients and minerals your soil is lacking and provide recommendations based on the plants that you are interested in growing. Remember, if the pH is too high or too low, the plants cannot use the nutrients in the soil, no matter how much you fertilize. 36
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Story by Hunter McBrayer Photos provided or GLM file
H
aving a picture perfect landscape – one that is magazine worthy – can be a tough task. One must get started early, work late and maybe even have a few helpers along the way to ensure that all of the weeds are pulled, the shrubs trimmed and the pots watered. In addition to the amount of hard work
involved, a pristine landscape can cost LOTS of money, or so I’m told. Most of the Auburn Extension clients that I talk to are interested in having the best landscape they can while spending the least amount of money. So, in an effort to reduce costs, improve aesthetics and increase the overall enjoyment that you can get from your garden, here are five tips to save money this year in your landscape …
Install drip irrigation – A cheap, simple fix to most of your watering problems. Replacing old soaker hoses with pressure regulated drip irrigation in landscape beds can make for a fool-proof watering solution. Small tubing can be easily installed in containers, window boxes or raised beds to ensure that the right amount of water makes it to the roots in those areas that are prone to drying out quickly. Coupled with a timer, you’ll never have to look at droopy container plants again.
Use perennials – I love to see vibrant colors in flowerbeds, but (as I pointed out in my column in spring issue of Good Life) installing multiple plantings of annual plants each year is a costly endeavor. So consider planting perennials that come back year after year. There are many new cultivars (cultivated varieties of plants that have been selected for color, height, etc.) of native plants that can really lighten up an otherwise dreary landscape. Aside from saving money year in and year out, they tend to resist pests and disease and our pollinators love them.
Become a DIYer – Many American are hesitant to take on their own lawn care. I assure you that keeping a pristine lawn is no more than some well-timed applications of the right product. Extension offers many opportunities to learn more about lawn care, landscaping and much more. Combined with the number of research-based publications that break it down step by step, and a willing county agent, most anyone who wants can learn to take care of their own lawn and landscape. For more information on these and other landscaping tips, contact us at the Marshall County Extension: 256-582-2009. MAY | JUNE | JULY 2018
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When they were ready to build, Vaughn and Renae Warren wanted to ...
Get it right the first time
Story and photos by David Moore
R
plans in the book. She scrounged around and found it. A big house was fine, but this one was too big, so she took it to Mark Gullion of Gullion Design to be scaled back. (Small town connectivity
months later, they were offered a ton of cash for it. “No way,” Renae says. They’d gotten it right. Still, nothing is perfect.
enae and Vaughn Warren don’t plan on ever building a second house, so when they finally got around to building one, they wanted to With five garage bays get it right the first time. already, in 2016 they had The house is in Legacy Randy add a stand-alone, Station, a small subdivision in climate controlled, three-bay Arab just off U.S. 231 north of garage. At Randy’s suggestion, Walmart. they made it two stories with Previously, they lived 18 what’s essentially an apartment years in a rancher a few miles upstairs that was built as a yet north on 231, across from Jet unused office. Pep and now one of Vaughn’s Renae is pressed to think rentals. Building their own what else they might change, place had long been on their what they didn’t get right on the radar, but only as a vague blip. house the first time. She comes “I always wanted to build up with only two things. a nice home,” Vaughn says. “I • The laundry room is had those intentions when I was relatively spacious, but it would 20.” be nice to have a closet to hide In early 1990, Renae came brooms, mops and such. across a photo and plans of a • Overlooking the pool, the nice house in a book. Among covered back porch provides a its attractions was an open floor wonderful outdoor living area. plan. But they both enjoy grilling. An “We lived in a brick rancher outdoor kitchen off the porch with a long hall and bedrooms would be nice. off it,” she says. “I grew up But still. in that same house plan and wanted something open and aughn was 10 when he airy.” moved with his family from Merely toying with ideas Athens to Arab. Cecil, his dad, back then, she stuck the book worked for Joe V. Clayton away for some possible time Chevrolet. When he traded The Warrens’ front door glows warm and inviting obscured below the horizon. their house for a 42-acre farm in the afternoon sunlight. That time eventually rolled into in Union Chapel, Cecil, his sight. wife Janette and the rest of the Since high school, Vaughn family moved there. had worked on his father’s farm in the note: Mark and Renae now serve After graduating from Arab High Union Chapel area and later became together on the Arab City Council.) in 1978, Vaughn worked in Huntsville a partner. After his dad died in 2009, Mark whittled the house down to until the gas crisis during the Carter he kept the farm but took some profits a still sizable 8,200 square feet. They administration made commuting from the cattle. hired Arab contractor Randy Parker and impractical. So he partnered with his Combined with money they’d saved, pretty much turned him loose. parents and worked on the farm. he and Renae bought property in the “He’s good with construction plans,” Cecil had a wooden leg, but it newly developed Legacy Station. The Vaughn says. slowed him little. With Vaughn land backed up to Twin Lakes Golf But there was still much for the onboard, the farm grew to 265 acres. Course, an added attraction. More Warrens to do. They added cattle and a third chicken on their lots later, but elbow room, “There are so many decisions to house so that at the peak their layers they knew, was important to ensuring make, and you think you know what produced more than 180,000 eggs per whatever they built fit the land and was you want but you don’t,” Renae says. “I day. right for them and their two sons. have never been so tired of picking out Janette still lives on the farm and stuff in my life.” Vaughn still works the egg operation, hinking about what they might Nonetheless, they moved into their but he’s turned over the cattle to their want, Renae’s house radar locked on the new house in October 2010. Two oldest son, Colby.
V
T
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Renae and Vaughn stand at the marble-topped counter in their kitchen. Their son, Colby, 24, and his wife, Abbey became parents in December when Sam was born. “It’s like having Colby all over again,” Renae beams. “It’s her third child is what we say,” Vaughn laughs. Colby graduated from Arab High in 2011, and has a business management degree from Athens State. Besides taking over the cattle operation at the family farm, he and Abbey own Deep South Design, plus he owns a gutter and a trucking business. The Warrens’ younger son, Carson, is 20. He a 2015 grad of AHS, he’s now at Athens on scholarship, pursing his business management degree while working as an assistant manager at O’Reilly Auto Parts. Along with two brothers, Renae grew up in Arab, the daughter of Charles and Millie LaRue. “She’s a Cajun,” Vaughn grins. “And he thinks he’s funny,” she grins back, and you get an idea of how they get along.
R
enae was only two years behind Vaughn in high school, but she was in the band, he played football and they didn’t know each other. “She hung around the sissy crowd,” he laughs. “He was a redneck and I was a prep,” she retorts. She worked a while at several plants before spending 14 years at Intergraph Madison. She moved there to save the long commute. “My parents thought I’d moved to the other end of the world,” she says. A mutual friend introduced her to
The floor plan is open enough for columns between the front door and main room. MAY | JUNE | JULY 2018
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Vaughn in 1990. A month later, he asked her out to play golf at Brookside, the course on the west side of Arab. They married the next year and moved into one of the rental houses – this one near the high school – that Vaughn seemed to be collecting. “We were just good for each other,” he says. “Everything fell right in the groove.” At Intergraph Renae quickly worked her way up from soldering to handling computer system maintenance contracts for the likes of TV Guide, IBM and state departments of transportation across the Southeast. She left her long hours there when Colby was born in 1993 and remained at home until Carson, son two, started school. Then, after working briefly doing bookkeeping and scheduling at the former Merle Norman Lifestyles Grand Salon, Renae became administrative assistant to Sammy Waldrop, whose numerous hats at Arab City Hall included economic development, planning and zoning and building inspector. Likewise, she learned to inspect buildings, handled construction permits and took notes at P&Z meeting. Renae enjoyed her time at city hall, but left in August 2009 with a changing administration and for better pay in the insurance business. She worked for State Farm agents in Huntsville and Albertville before now working for the company out of her house.
W
hile working in the P&Z office at city hall, Renae saw the plans Dale Kinney submitted for Legacy Station, with five commercial lots and 28 residential sites on a loop road through. Five back lots overlooked the 17th and 18th holes at Twin Lakes, and she really liked one in the corner. It was far nicer, she thought, than Vaughn’s current idea of perhaps building at the farm. “I wanted to buy it as a surprise,” she says. “I thought it would be the only way I could get Vaughn to not build a house at the ‘Chicken Ranch.’” At any rate, without his ever knowing her plan, it fell through when the late Roger Isom quickly bought the five back lots with an eye to build. Vaughn meanwhile visited Legacy 42
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Clockwise from upper left: The master bedroom offers a view of the back yard and golf course and has an en suite bathroom. A container garden makes the highly livable back porch all the more inviting. That’s Vaughn’s flag celebrating Crimson Tide’s 17th national championship. By a running bet, Renae gets to fly her Auburn flag when they win the championship. A whimsical metal lizard stands watch over the pool. The attractive, detached garage brings the total covered parking spaces to eight, counting a double bay in the basement. Also in the 3,200-square-foot basement is a game room apartment, bottom left, that was turned over to the boys, who made good use of it through school. It includes two bedrooms and a connecting bath off to the left. MAY | JUNE | JULY 2018
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The Warrens’ enjoy cooking out and having get-togethers, though they entertained a good deal more in the earlier days of the house, hosting several wedding showers and so many teas that Carson claimed they lived on Tea Lane. Renae, elected in 2016 to the Arab City Council, is undecided about running again. “It depends on what’s going on in my life,” she laughs. “If the golf keeps picking up, I might be too busy digging golf balls out of the palm trees.” Station, liked the idea of being on the golf course and called Roger about buying one of his lots. After Vaughn discussed it with Renae, they realized a single lot was too narrow for the house she had in mind, so they bought a lot and a half. Eventually they bought six lots – about 2.5 acres – several of them on the golf course and two across the loop road in front of their house, ensuring plenty of elbowroom. While land issues sorted themselves out, over time another issue arose. One end of the main floor of the house holds a three-car garage. On the other end, the basement has a single- and doublecar garage. Boys will be boys, Renae says, and her three managed to flood all that space with cars, trucks, jet skis, a bow-fishing boat and a tractor with a front-end loader. It might be surprising she didn’t insist on the tractor going 44
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to the farm, but Vaughn uses it on his well-tended lawn. “When you have boys, you pick your battles,” Renae says. Even with the detached garage, parking can still be an issue.
A
nother issue that arose is kind of funny. Seems their location by Twin Lakes made the house a golf ball magnet. They crunch into flowerbeds, splash in the pool. It was there one afternoon that Renae heard an incoming ball. “Oh, don’t hit my head!” she cried. A few days later she found the errant ball in a palm tree by the garage. The shot made The Arab Tribune. Remarkably, they’ve only had one broken window. That was on Carson’s pickup truck, which he’d parked by a garage door to the basement. “It had to have ricocheted off the retainer wall,” Vaughn marvels.
In 2012 the absentee owner of Twin Lakes closed the course. True, it ended the golf ball showers, but it was bad news as the course became overgrown. Several efforts to buy it, including one involving Vaughn, never panned out or panned out poorly. At one point the course was so overgrown Vaughn mowed the 17th and 18th holes. Finally, in 2017, David Chastain bought Twin Lakes and restored the course. From the rear of the house the Warrens can again watch golfers playing through. What about those pesky golf balls? “As long as they don’t hit my windows,” laughs Renae, “I am just thankful there are people out there on the golf course.” Makes their got-right-the-first-time house just right. Good Life Magazine
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Good Eats
OK, you are Somewhere
The question here is whether it’s Key West or Albertville
Story by David Myers Photos by David Moore
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ntil you experience it in person, it’s hard to imagine a Key West feel in downtown Albertville. That’s what we thought as my wife Rose and I headed to Somewhere on Main in the historic Hammer’s building. The minute we walked in, though, we felt the tropical beach vibe. A giant flipflop table, surf boards hanging ten, and the Key West colors of bright teal, coral and lime had us looking and pointing like tourists. “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere. Welcome to Somewhere.” That’s the theme and inspiration for Somewhere on Main, but don’t assume this is just a party bar. It’s 46
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a family-oriented restaurant, assures the owner, serving gourmet-quality food. “We get a lot of families and a lot of kids,” says Mercedes Thurman, who owns Somewhere with her husband Bubba. Along with live music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, Somewhere holds a popular cornhole night on Mondays and a life-sized Jenga game for anytime. We figured while in Key West, do as the beach bums do and we started with cocktails. It was hard to choose from the list of tempting drinks – Blue Lagoon, Toucan-tini, Motor Boat and Lake Water – so our server recommended a Strawberry Bikini and the Lazy Pontoon. We were not disappointed. The Bikini, with strawberry vodka, lemonade and grenadine, was sweetly refreshing.
The Lazy Pontoon took both of us on a delicious cruise of pineapple juice, coconut rum, banana and raspberry liqueur with a splash of OJ. We could have floated on that all the way to the Keys.
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n to the main event – the food. We started with fried green tomatoes. These slices were battered in corn meal and panko breadcrumbs before hitting the deep fryer to brown up crisp and tangy. Served with a creole succotash of crunchy veggies and a spicy sauce that trumped anything we’ve ever tried on top of a tomato. It was only one of a list of tempting appetizers offered at surprisingly reasonable prices. Next time we’d like to sample the coconut shrimp and the warm pimento cheese dip.
You’ve got two flavors going at Somewhere on Main ... Key West and great food. Clockwise, starting at the far left, is one of the surfboard tables. A weeknight crowd is out to eat and hear live music. Get a ribeye served with a loaded baked potato and asparagus. Among the signature drinks are a Blue Lagoon, Some-rita and a Toucan-tini. Every day is a different burger. Fried green tomatoes with shrimp and succotash ... good stuff. You can eat, drink or do both at the horseshoe bar. Rose and I are big salmon fans, so we were eager to give it a try. It did not disappoint. Perfectly cooked, the first bite told me it had been grilled. It came with a bourbon-Sriracha glaze that gave the fish sweetness and moderate heat at the same time. We also had the chicken marsala, which was tender, juicy chicken coated with a glossy mushroom-marsala sauce. We managed to stuff ourselves with one more entrée – shrimp and grits – which we like to taste anytime it’s offered. This one featured perfectly grilled shrimp on a pool of cheesy grits and accompanied by some of the tastiest smoked sausage I’ve ever eaten. Naturally, it was from Louisiana, same as me.
Our server suggested crème brulee for dessert, but we declined, having not a smidge of room left for anything. Next time we hope to try it or the key lime pie. We’ll also shoot for one of the daily burger specials: from the Carnivore, with smoked sausage, country ham and bacon, and the Southern, with fried okra and pimento cheese, to a Southwest with pico de gallo, fried jalapeños and avocado, or an Italian, with fried mozzarella, marinara and pesto. They all sound good to me.
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omewhere offers a brunch menu on Saturday, daily lunch specials, a salad bar for lighter fare and a selection of bottled and draft beers. Somewhere’s full menu is available to patrons who sit at the 18-seat horseshoe-shaped bar.
The Thurmans, who previously owned restaurants in Indiana and Tennessee, owned Somewhere on the Lake in Guntersville. When they sold it last year, they kept the name. After purchasing the former Sebastian’s location, the couple traveled to Key West, collected island kitsch and snapped gorgeous photographs, which now grace the brick walls of the historic building. “It kind of has the feel of the lake but we gave it a makeover,” Mercedes says. “It still has a laid back feel to it.” Don’t have time for a trip down to Key West or for a Caribbean cruise? Spend a couple of hours at Somewhere on Main. You’ll forget that you’re in the hills of northern Alabama. Good Life Magazine MAY | JUNE | JULY 2018
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Farm animals as pets had it made (well, at least some of them did)
... just like that dog named ala
Story by Steve A. Maze Photos from the author’s collection
the small bird home with him and began caring for it.
ost families are pet owners. In fact, some people feel as close to their pets as their relatives … closer in some cases. The vast majority of family pets include cats, dogs, aquarium fish and hamsters. Some pet owners even raise exotic animals like snakes, tigers, lions and other creatures you might find at a circus. Up until the 1970s, Grandpa raised a large variety of “pets” on his farm in eastern Cullman County. Of course, they included the usual dogs and cats that seemed to multiply almost as quickly as rabbits. The cats were not only pets, but helped keep the rat population down in the corncrib and barn. The canines usually consisted of hounds or bird dogs for hunting. If you are a hunter, you will not be surprised at how attached a person can become to their dogs, especially when they help put meat on the table. When Dad was growing up on Grandpa’s farm he had a little feist that would kill snakes. It was OK for the dog to kill the poisonous snakes, but not the non-venomous reptiles that helped in the rat extermination process. In fact, Grandpa kept what he called a “rat snake” in the corncrib for that purpose. Dad’s pets also included rabbits and baby chicks, but he had some not-soordinary pets as well. He once had a pet crow. He spotted it in a nest one day and watched as its mother flew up to feed her sole fledgling a worm. Out of curiosity, Dad climbed the tree in order to see the baby crow. Upon reaching the nest he discovered that the crow had already feathered out. Dad took
he crow – named Joe – enjoyed Dad feeding and caring for it, and stuck around even after it could fly. Joe also
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After a day as a pet, a lamb deserves a good bottle-feeding. Right?
developed an attachment to Grandma, following her everywhere she went. Joe sometimes sat atop her shoulder as she tended the vegetable garden. Crows can become quite a nuisance as they grow older, however, and this one was no exception. It got to where it picked up anything shiny and hid it in the barn loft. Small objects constantly disappeared. The bird also started pecking ripe tomatoes and dried beans out of their hulls
when it went with Grandma to the garden. Due to its aggravating nature, the crow mysteriously disappeared one day while Dad was gone to school. At least that’s what Grandma told him. Hummingbirds were also plentiful with all of the flowers around the house. Dad would sneak up on the birds and trap them by pinching the end of the flower together with the bird inside. He let the birds go after only a few seconds since they could only live a very short period of time in captivity. Dad made pets out of other farm birds as well. Pigeons flocked around the barn on a regular basis. They weren’t tame, but became regular visitors due to the shelled corn that Dad fed them everyday. Wild guineas did the same. A few times, Dad traded a tame rabbit for a couple of bantam roosters. He would feed and raise them, but learned not to become too attached to his “banties.” When the roosters became big enough, Grandma invited them inside for a pan of chicken and dressing, or chicken and dumplings. The same was true for the yard chickens. If a hen quit laying, or a rooster got too old, it was traded to the peddler or served for supper.
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ad said that milk cows were like pets since he saw them twice a day. In fact, he didn’t even have to run the Jersey’s up to the barn most of the time. Somehow, they knew the routine and would walk in from the pasture each morning and evening. If the milking schedule were changed, however, Dad or Grandpa would have to run them up. That was always the case on
The unidentified kids in the undated photo above appear to have a petting zoo at their farm home. Besides the two lambs, a cat is trying to run off from one youngster, and if it does, chances are the rabbit, to the right rear in cage, may soon be off and running. The sweatered kid at the left may actually love the tied up pet goat, but you’d think he’d try to find him a nicer stick. the Fourth of July when milk was needed during the afternoon to make ice cream. Dad even had a bull for a pet. He broke the bull and taught him to pull a homemade wagon. The bull became mean-natured when his horns started growing and would run everyone out of the pasture. Grandpa solved that problem by selling him. Grandpa never had horses on his farm since their hooves were too large for plowing. Their over-sized feet would trample the tender cotton and corn plants in the field. So he used mules for farming. He’d keep a mule about three years then trade it for an unbroken one and a little cash. A good mule that could “gee” and “haw” was worth its weight in gold. The cash was very important, but by the end of three years Dad had grown somewhat attached to the mules. Fortunately for him, Grandpa always held on to one of the older mules to train a younger one with. When I was a kid, Dad once brought
home a “pet” that had been caught near Grandpa’s farm. A neighbor had cut down a hollow tree and discovered a squirrel’s nest in it. A young gray squirrel ran out, and the neighbor caught and tamed it. He gave it to Dad, who built a wooden box for it to stay in behind our house.
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e named the squirrel Charlie. He’d come when we called his name. In fact, he was quite playful. My brother and I had a tire swing in the back yard, and the squirrel would jump in our lap and ride with us. One day, Dad called Charlie, but he didn’t scamper out of his box as usual. Dad went to check and found Charlie dead in his box. Our entire family was devastated. In fact, many of my pets disappeared or were killed when struck by cars over the years. Later, I decided – no more pets. My wife and daughter, however, decided a few years ago that they wanted
a dog. I put my foot down and told them there was absolutely no way that we were going to get a dog. For those of you who are the only male living in a house with two other females … well, you know how I came out on that deal. I finally relented, but only if the dog stayed outside. I absolutely did not want a house pet. Do you remember the thing that I just said about the male living with two females? Not only does Nala, our little Maltese, stay in the house, she sleeps in our bed. On my pillow! I still don’t know if it was the dog or my wife that growled one night when I rolled over on them. There’s one thing about it, though. After Nala goes to dog heaven in a few years, there will never ever be another pet in our house. Still I guess I’d best hang on to Nala’s dog bowl, as well as my pillow. You know, just in case. Good Life Magazine MAY | JUNE | JULY 2018
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Some people at their church call Renae Suttles “Old Mother Hubbard,” and not without some good-natured reason. She and husband Fritz raised four children of their own – now in their 30s – and have eight grandkids. Then Renae and Fritz became foster parents. Now they’ve adopted five siblings and an unrelated boy going on 2.
A big new chapter has started in this family story Story by Seth Terrell
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ometimes a dream is born. Born from inspiration deep within a person. Forged in resilience and hope with just a dash of imagination. But sometimes dreams arrive out of a calling, a gentle tug that comes from experiences. The question is, “How did this dream come about?” Renae Suttles and her husband Fritz ponder the question while sitting at a back table in their Albertville store, Sew Irresistible. After a moment of deep thinking on Renae’s part, Fritz laughs out loud at the thought of the couple’s successful business being “a dream” – for a dream this one has taken a lot of hard work. Dreams are funny that way. And in the Suttles’ case there are two dreams they have seen fulfilled in the past several years. The first is the business itself, and the second is forming an unlikely second family in an unlikely season of life. After playfully ignoring Fritz’s laughter, Renae offers a response to the dream question. “My dad pushed me the whole way,” she says of the business. “It was originally his dream.”
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hat dream of a family business gave way to an even more important dream – the business of family. Renae, ever in tune with her customers and their lives, began a few years ago to notice another trend. “We had a customer that has adopted 18 kids, one who has adopted 22, and one customer with seven,” she says. The stories Renae and Fritz heard about these families tugged their heartstrings. 50
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The Suttles Family, Chapter II: Left to right are: Renae, Faith, River, Hannah, Sarah (holding the Family sign), Rebekah, Sebastian and Fritz. Photo by Sherry Beazley.
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River, who is 4, is the youngest of the five siblings the Suttles adopted. Often accompanying Renae and Fritz to work, here he is in their Albertville store, showing his new mom how to work a computerized sewing machine. OK, all he did was find a lit-up button and start pushing, but it was fun while it lasted. Photos these pages by David Moore. “I really felt like this is something God has put on my heart to do, to adopt an older child out of foster care,” she says. The first foster child placed with the Suttles was in 2016. Fritz wasn’t quite sure at the beginning. “I told him,” Renae says, “let’s try it, and if you get your heart broken we will stop doing it.” Fritz laughs at the memory of this conversation. “I couldn’t bear to watch these kids get split up from one another,” he says. The first foster child soon gave way to whole families of foster kids needing a place to live. It wasn’t long before the Suttles were on their way to full adoption. Twenty-four children have passed through their home in the past two years.
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hese days, the Suttles family – originating with four biological children – has grown to include six adopted children and four foster children, all under one roof. 52
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Suffice it to say, their four-bedroom home is due a renovation that will begin this summer. Renae, 58, and Fritz, 65, reflect on the unlikeliness of their second parenthood. But a deep connection with these children overrides that unlikeliness. The faith of the family has given the Suttles a “Here am I, send me,” attitude. Though they’d set out to just adopt a single child, bigger plans were in order, and the dream of giving foster children a loving family began to take over every aspect of their lives. And with Sew Irresistible thriving, the Suttles have opened their hearts and minds to taking in as many children as they are physically able to. Dreams are not all romance. The best dreams are often forged from a greater need. Because of the ongoing drug epidemic, many group homes for children are bursting at the seams. There is an unwavering demand for foster
families, and many times children come with several siblings in tow. The Suttles family now includes children as young as 20 months and as old as 10 years. Nearing retirement age – though there are no plans to retire soon – they only doubled-down on their hard work. And, they would have you know, raising such a large family takes much organization and planning. “We teach the kids that they are a part of a team,” Renae says. Each child has a set of basic chores that make the family function as well as it does. Even the expected nightmare of laundry is a task best divvied up among the children.
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uch organization has taught them how to take ownership within the family. But the challenges don’t end with laundry. Foster parenting can be challenging in ways unexpected: because most of these
children have not had a stable environment, some have not had consistent schooling. They require extra help at home to get caught up. Several require medical and dental attention. But the challenges, as Renae and Fritz say, are so very worth every ounce of hard work and preparation. Kelli, who works to help customers learn to love sewing, runs the register in Albertville while Renae and Fritz sit with young River, one of their children, sharing their dream. The greatest joy of such a large family comes through watching the younger ones transform and mature before their very eyes. Fritz pulls up a photo on his tablet, and the couple looks on the photograph lovingly as they reminisce about the journey. “We’ve taught them that crying and whining will not get you what you want,” Renae says. One of the youngest children sits nearby while customers filter in and out of the store. Fritz pipes up at that comment, “Take what you get and don’t pitch a fit.” He laughs with approval.
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ritz also approves their first dream, that of the family business. For eight years, Sew Irresistible has serviced the Marshall County area in the ways of personalized monogramming, sewing machine repair, custom-made clothing and fabric sales. The business offers customized monogramming as well as lessons on sewing and embroidering. Early on, Renae noticed a trend – lots of people needed sewing machines repaired. So she set out to learn how. “I took a machine dealership with the Brother Company so they’d train me to work on machines,” she says. The Suttles have carried Brother machines since 2010. Their success as dealers has earned trips to Canada and the French Riviera for their family. And make no mistake, the business is certainly a family one. Joined by Fritz, a former painter and current machine repairman, and her daughter Kelli, who teaches classes for the business, Renae works to keep the Albertville store and another in Gadsden running. There is a generational aspect to the business as well. Renae’s 83-year-old father, the top salesperson for the company, keeps day-to-day hours at the Gadsden location.
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eyond the business world, May is National Foster Awareness Month, and it
With as many people as River has in his family, some of the chores he’s (sort of) learning at work with Mom and Dad will probably come in handy someday soon at home. MAY | JUNE | JULY 2018
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seems fitting. As the trees bloom green and the days get longer and warmer, foster families all over the state are settling into summer. But with more than 6,000 children in foster care throughout Alabama, there is a pressing need that the Suttles believe cannot be ignored. Though years ago, the Suttles might not have been prepared to take in the many children they have – as they were busy raising their biological children – they see now that this season of parenthood is not unlikely at all, it is the perfect timing for them. Soon enough, the Suttles will be busy with graduations and college tuitions and even weddings, but for now they are content. Content to see these children who came with few resources and little stability, grow and flourish in a loving home. To anyone thinking about fostering and adopting, the Suttles have this advice, via Renae: “At some point you have to quit thinking about it and just do it. These kids need someone who’ll invest in them. Someone who’ll love them too much.” Good Life Magazine
Kelli Smith, left, is one of Renae and Fritz Suttles’ biological children. She manages the family’s Sew Irresistible store in Albertville. River, center, is part of the couple’s new bevy of adopted young ‘uns. Photo by David Moore.
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David Brock can type at his computer, but he can’t read on it, so he uses a program that can. It reads aloud messages and reports to him. “Technologically, it’s the one thing that opened the door more so than anything else,” he says. “It proves that a visually impaired person put in the right situation can be as successful as anyone can,” he says. Ironically, he’s pretty good at catching typos and mistakes missed by those who can see.
The Boaz man handles hundreds of millions of dollars in NASA contracts ... oh, and he’s blind
A peek into the world of David Brock
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Story and photos by David Moore
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ne thing that gripes David Brock about being blind is when someone moves his plastic jug of unsweet tea from one place to another in the refrigerator. “I have my place for it,” he says. “Sometimes I reach in there for it and pour a glass and find out it’s milk. Or worse – sweet tea.” It’s not funny. Fortunately, his jug isn’t often moved from its designated place, but when it is, likely suspects are few. It’s not their pet shiatsu, Little Bit, which leaves only his wife Shirley or granddaughter Taylor Brock, who lives in their house in Boaz while attending Snead State Community College. For the most part, however, David doesn’t dwell on being blind, doesn’t gripe and seeks no pity for his lot in life. “I have no time to think about it,” he says. That’s because he works for NASA as the lead small business specialist (SBS) at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. As such, David plans and implements the space agency’s small business programs at Marshall, which last year entailed $324 million in contracts awarded to some 60 small businesses that supplied components and materials to the major corporations that support NASA’s exploration of the cosmos. It’s a hefty handful for anyone. And it’s all the more impressive that, despite blindness, David has the professional acumen and drive to four times be named NASA’s SBS of the year. Twice he’s won the Director’s Commendation Award. Her blind husband also impresses Shirley, even after 43 years of marriage.
David sits in front of a model of the space shuttle in his office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. He does not believe he’s there by coincidence. “There are,”he says, “many reasons I was meant to be here.”
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David and Shirley moved into their house in Boaz in 1990. She works at Redstone Arsenal and he rides to work with her. At home, David sometimes cranks the mower and cleans out a ditch by the road. “He does amaze me, just being able to get up and do what he does every day,” she says. That, in part, translates to bringing home a paycheck. “It might be a different story,” David laughs, “if I didn’t have the money coming in.”
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rowing up in Boaz, David, who’ll turn 65 on July 2, first noticed sight problems in the early 1960s while playing on the Little League team his dad coached. He couldn’t see the ball at night. For 10 years his parents, the late Olin and Beatrice, toted him to optometrists, but no one could pinpoint the problem. Two years after graduating from Boaz High in 1971, David’s gradually deteriorating vision hit a milestone – in the form of a pedestrian. He was driving to visit a friend when his car struck a woman walking on the road. She flipped onto the front of his ’63 Chevy then slid off into a ditch. It didn’t break a bone, but still … “I just didn’t see her,” says David. “I 58
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laid my car keys down and never drove a car since.” In July 1973 David saw Dr. Jay David Davidson at what is now the UAB Callahan Eye Hospital. He was accompanied by his parents and Shirley, whom he’d met in ’72. “She was a God-send,” he says. After the examination, the doctor called in Shirley and David’s parents and explained that he had retinitis pigmentosa, a rare, progressive, hereditary eye disease slowly destroying the rods and cones of his retinas. It has no cure. He said David had about 10 more years of useful eyesight. “Bottom line,” the doctor told the 20-year-old, “you’re going blind.”
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avid was able to graduate from Gadsden Business College in 1973. He’d hoped to get an office job but ended up working at ConAgra’s former egg processing plant in Boaz where BPI Media Group is today. He bought a small house within
walking distance of work and married Shirley in 1975. Their son, David Heath, was born in 1977. “I used to could sit and read a newspaper,” David says. “But slowly, day by day, even that was being robbed.” Jim Brussell of the state’s Vocation Rehabilitation Services said the agency could help with specialized training, but only if David was unemployed. He could sign up for Social Security disability, but checks would not start for six months after leaving work. It was a dilemma: try to keep working around heavy equipment, draw a check and make house payments, or go on disability with no money for six months but training afterward. “Shirley and I did a lot of praying.” Afterward, David talked to the bank president, who agreed to hold their house payments for six months, and he left his job in ’78. “Shirley and I got through it, barely,” he says. “Interestingly enough, they shut the door on ConAgra’s Boaz
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David and Shirley have three grandchildren: Anna Kate Brock, 22, lives in Huntsville, works part time and is going back to UAH next year; Taylor Maria Brock, 19, lives with them while on scholarship to Snead and plans to transfer to UAH; Ethan Brock, 17, graduates this year from Buckhorn High and will enter the military. David’s never seen them but he considers himself lucky to have seen Shirley before losing his eyesight, as well as their son, David Heath Brock, who also works at Marshall Space Flight Center. operation right after that. I don’t believe in coincidence.”
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avid went to Snead State two years then to the UAB School of Health Professions to become a therapist. He also went to an occupational rehab center and learned mobility skills, such as using a white cane. He had a 3.9 GPA at UAB, but after three quarters knew he was in the wrong field. “I could not see me working with people without eyesight,” David says. He followed a friend’s suggestion and earned a business degree. After graduating in 1983, David sent out resumes with help from his occupational rehab therapist Jim Brooks, but had little luck. A year later, Jim arranged a meeting with U.S. Rep. Tom Bevill, who graciously dictated letters of recommendation to Alabama Power, South Central Bell and the Army Aviation and Missile Command. 60
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David and Jim were leaving Bevill’s office when he stopped them. “Wait a minute, David,” the congressman said. “Would you be interested in working at Marshall Space Flight Center?” So that letter went out, too. That November, NASA asked David to interview for a job in the procurement office. The pay started at $5.61 per hour – $400 less than his disability check – but he was excited. There was room to advance. David started Dec. 12, 1984. A week later, Alabama Power offered him a job starting at $22,000. “I told them no, I thought I had found a home,” he says. “I knew this was where I was meant to be.”
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ach NASA center in the country has a small business specialist. David is one of 10 in the NASA family and has spent 32 of his 34 years in the same office. “If you’re looking to do business with
Marshall, you are going to come here,” he says. Quality work is essential. “There are millions of parts that make up a rocket,” David says, “and every part is critical and has to function without a problem or it could be devastating.” He takes great pride in his work, directing a “tremendous” in-house team of 25 professionals, which repeatedly receives accolades and is recognized as one of the best teams in NASA. “This job has been very rewarding,” he says. “The one thing that has probably contributed the most to my success is my passion. I have always been a hard worker and very disciplined and focused. I am very passionate about what I do.” David set out with three distinct goals: • To make the SBS program one of the best programs in government; • To be the best small business specialist he could be;
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David Brock seemingly lives in two worlds, that of the seeing and that of the blind. He literally functions in both, which amazes – and inspires – a lot of people. He’s a lay speaker at his church in Boaz, Julia Street United Methodist. He also gives motivational talks, some related to his work at NASA, some not. He’s not only a voracious “reader” of audio books – he goes through about 120 a year, from Jack Reacher novels to spiritual works – but he’s nearly finished writing a book on his life. “It’s got a lot of interesting anecdotes, stories within stories,” he says. “My faith is what helped me get through all of this.” • To advance to the GS-13 journeyman pay level. He accomplished that back in 1997, and in 2006 got to GS-14 step 8. “It proves that a visually impaired person put in the right situation can be as successful as anyone can,” he says.
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n the job, David used to annually spend about 100 nights a week out of town, much of that visiting NASA’s major contractors. Now he’s slowed down to 40-50 nights a year. Initially, David had to alleviate management’s concerns about a blind person flying. He says terminal assistants help him check in, get through security and catch a cab, while flight attendants assist him in the plane, and bellhops get him into hotels. Being blind, he’s come to learn layout patterns in hotel bedrooms and baths. He’s also learned to identify some people by sound, say the way their charm bracelet jingles or the gait of their walk. 62
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“Before we had carpet at work, I could hear people coming down the hall and I would know who they were by the time they reached my office. I’d say, ‘Hello, so-and-so!’ They’d say, ‘How did you know?’” If David is greeting you, instead of fumbling around to find you, he’ll hold out his hand first so you’ll take it to shake. He rides to work with Shirley. He gets inside the building, up the elevator and to his office with his knowledge of the layout and help from his collapsible white cane. His brother-in-law Kirby Dobbins always seems amazed at David’s apparent ease in getting around. “He tells me he sometimes closes his eyes and tries to walk around,” David laughs. “I say, ‘Kirby don’t do that. I’ve been doing this for years. You’ll hurt yourself.’”
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lind people don’t see blackness. They see nothing, similar to how you
can’t see anything behind you, though you might have some spatial sense of it being there. “I used to could see light in the window,” David says of his blindness. “I don’t see that anymore. I can see some peripheral movement.” Blindness, ultimately, is a constant in his life. “My faith helps me through all of this,” says David, who’s active at Julia Street United Methodist Church in Boaz. Ditto, he says, of Shirley. “My wife is not only my wife, but she’s been my caregiver for more than 30 years.” Finally, humor helps David see his way through a sightless day. “I was in a meeting recently and heard a ‘flick’ sound,” he says. “I said, ‘Did the lights go out? If so, then we’re all on equal footing here.’” Just don’t move the furniture or his unsweet tea around. Good Life Magazine
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The ‘home team’ is out to stake a family claim on Lake Guntersville
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Why do people race Unlimited Class hydroplanes? It’s a desire to skim the water at 200-plus miles per hour. It’s a compulsion to alter hull designs, adjust propellers and tweak 3,000-hp turbine engines to their screaming peak. Drivers and teams thrive on competition, pushing nerves and skills, willing every edge out of themselves and their boats to best all comers among the fastest of all racing craft. They crave the simple thrill of throwing up a 60-foot tall rooster tail as long as a football field. They race for the rush. They race to win. A mix of these reasons are luring the nation’s top
hydroplane racing teams here June 22-24 when the Guntersville Lake HydroFest strives to again make Marshall County one of the sport’s premier venues. Wiggins Racing team owner Milt Wiggins and co-owner and crew chief Charley Wiggins have two additional factors driving their desire to race here this summer. One, Lake Guntersville marks a homecoming of sorts for the Gadsden-based men who’d love to re-stake their claim on this famed body of water in front of a home crowd. Their second reason is a mix of nature and nurture. One could say …
Like father, like son Story by David Moore
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“I learned quite a few things,” Milton says. Translate: he found ways to make his little boats go faster and faster.
uring high school in Gadsden in the early 1950s, Milton Wiggins went boating on Lake ilton and his wife, Guntersville. It was all Joan, had two daughters, Lynn pleasure. and Leigh. Their son Charley Along with throngs arrived in ‘69. of others, he also went to Milton worked weekdays watch boat racing. A tough at his industrial Wiggins swim-team competitor in Service and Supply Company. school, the races revved But on race weekends, his competitive nature to a he loaded his trailer with Milton Wiggins with one of his early outboard racers. With a captivating new level. two runabouts, two small 25hp engine, he could hit 40-50 miles per hour on the water. So in 1953, his senior hydroplanes and various year, Milton took his engines so he could race in newspaper route earnings multiple classes. He hauled it was so dirty we always went up to and bought a small, rather all – and usually his family – Guntersville to really test the boat.” beat up, homemade outboard race boat to to races across the Southeast, often taking While at Jacksonville State, Milton “play with” on the nearby Coosa River. the checkered flag, even setting records. took his boat to Georgia for his first race. “I knew,” says the 82-year-old, “I had to “We could not have won without going start with the little bitty boats and work up.” He didn’t win, but he got even more after it,” Milton says. jacked up. After transferring to Auburn he Milton and his buddies would tinker Though Dad didn’t push, his success with its engine, launch it in the Coosa, see raced in the summers, limited by funds to was not lost on young Charley. “I let him three or four events per season. if it ran any faster. Bailing out the water make up his mind,” Milton says. Along the line, maybe in Scottsboro or always helped. It was an easy decision. In the big Montgomery, Milton was thrilled to snag “That was before the (Neely Henry) garage at home Charley play-raced in his his first win. It only fed his drive and skill. dam was there,” he recalls. “The Coosa dad’s boats. At events he was exposed 66
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Picking on several boats bigger than his, Milton Wiggins races his F-27 outboard hydroplane along the Spring Creek levee on Lake Guntersville. This particular event did not include a class for his modified 250cc outboard engine, so at the drivers meeting beforehand Milton asked to be added to the 800cc stock class – allegedly the fastest boats there that weekend – and even offered to start on the unfavorable outside track. He won all his heats that weekend. to top drivers and the whole racing atmosphere. By age 12 Charley’s course was set on racing hydroplanes. Ironically, at that point in the early ‘80s, his dad was drifting from the sport. But that changed when Charley announced he wanted to race with Dad. Says Milton, “He encouraged me more than I encouraged him.”
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o about 1981 Milton got his battery charged. But, he told Charley, if they raced it would no longer be in outboards. They would drive inboard hydroplanes powered by automotive engines … assuming they were approved. “The person who needed to approve it was Joan,” Milton laughs. “When she got word of it she said, ‘Oh, no! You’ve already spent all this time on boats!’ I said, ‘But inboards are not nearly as much work. We’ll have lots of extra time …’” He didn’t exactly lie, Milton says. He actually thought the change would make racing less time intensive. They’d simply hit the starter and go. Wrong. Initially, Milton got a 2.5-liter hydroplane. Charley got a 1-liter. “We’d work nights and weekends
Milton races his 7-liter hydroplane on Lake Guntersville in the early 1980s. on them,” Charley recalls. Like father, like son, with Dad passing on his vast knowledge of building engines and racing tips. This was in the mid-‘80s, and Milton also got involved in promoting hydroplane racing. He worked to bring not only inboard classes of racers to Guntersville, but he helped secure national TV coverage on a relatively new cable station – ESPN. In 1984, at age 15, Charley was old enough to enter a new youth class at
Guntersville. They raced 1-liter stock engines capable of about 85 mph. His first race he finished second, missing first in a photo finish. Next year, he won every heat. Think Dad was excited? “Oh, yeah,” says Milton the mentor. “We were all excited.”
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eyond his own wins, those were exciting times in Guntersville for Charley, because he got to see his Dad race. “That was the last memory I have of MAY | JUNE | JULY 2018
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him driving the bigger boats,” Charley says. “He was driving a 7-liter boat then.” Milton’s big hydro sported a 427ci Chevy engine and ran about 140 mph. It was dangerous. Back then, hydroplanes had no canopy-enclosed cockpit. They were open like an Indy race care. “He was always real concerned about safety with me driving, but you could always feel his competitiveness,” Charley says. After that last season Milton pursued racing management. He chaired Grand National and Unlimited Light hydroplane races in the Southeast. From 1987 to 1991 Charley pursued a degree in building construction from Auburn University but still devoted summers to racing. He claimed his first Eastern Regional championship in ‘89 in the 1-liter modified class, a feat he repeated six consecutive years. He won national championships in the class in 1991 and ’92. He set one-mile speed records. In the 2.5-stock class hydroplanes Charley claimed the 1991 Eastern Regional and North American championships. Then, in the Grand Nationals, he captured series championships in ‘93 and ’94, finished second in points in the Unlimited Lights in 1999 plus won the class’s “Automotive Gold Cup” in Detroit.
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harley’s wins came with a cost beyond the dollars it takes to race fast, expensive boats – pain. In ‘94, his last year of 1-liter racing, he hoped to make the papers with a win in Hampton, Va. He made the news, all right – with a disastrous blow over. Charley suffered broken ribs, a collapsed lung and nerve damage to his left arm and shoulder. In 2000, he got his first shot at driving an H1 Unlimited hydroplane for the Madison, Ind., team, the same team that ran in the trials last summer at Guntersville. They were racing at Evansville, Ind., where the Ohio River is notorious for rough currents. In something of a perfect storm, Charley was running in a heat when he hit a “bump” in the current doing about 150 mph. It knocked a hole in the escape hatch in the hull beneath his seat, and water blasted in. “It felt like swinging a baseball bat across my legs,” he says. “I thought they were broken.” He was forced to shut down, ending his first H1 Unlimited race. Two weeks later, racing in his own Unlimited Light on the Detroit River, Charley had a blow over. The boat shot into the air then 68
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Charley Wiggins hoped to make big news with a win in the Racing his 1-liter hydro at Hampton, Va., in 1994, Charley Wiggins caught a wind gust that blew up a disaster. As seen above in photos he provided, the bow pitched up, the boat flipped over and hurled him out. “Even though that was one of the smaller classes, when you’re going 108 miles per hour the water is pretty hard,” Charley says. His list of injuries was nearly as long as a Walmart shopping receipt. On the inside at immediate left, Charley races his Unlimited Light. MAY | JUNE | JULY 2018
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In 2016, in the last lap of the final at Madison, Ind., Cal Phipps in the Wiggins Racing U-27 hit the throttle in hopes in regaining first. Instead, the boat spectacularly blew over, fully flipping in the air before crashing into the Ohio River. Cal was unhurt, but the heavy damage ruined the season. Charley, above, and the crew have mostly worked since then in their Gadsden shop getting the U-27 primed for HydroFest this June. Photos at left furnished; above by David Moore. hit the water upside down. He was cut, but fortunately the enclosed cockpit kept him from serious injury. Even as competent as cockpits are, at age 30, after back-to-back incidents, Charley had enough of sitting in one. “I decided to take a break and didn’t go back to driving,” he says.
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hen you live and breathe boat racing – or any activity with a passion – it’s hard to keep it at arms length, to keep it from infiltrating your mind. So it was that two years later father and son returned to racing, only this time they brought in an outside driver, Cal Phipps. For 13 years Cal drove on and 70
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off for Wiggins Racing, based out of Milton’s old business in south Gadsden near the backwaters of the Coosa River. With Milton as owner and Charley as crew chief, they bought and built hydros and engines in the Unlimited Light and Grand Prix Hydro classes. With his engineering background, Charley immersed himself in the setup of racing hulls and the use of carbonfiber materials. He learned even more about engines, gearboxes and props. By 2015 father and son were ready for the major league, ready to race in the Unlimited H1 class. They purchased the former U-17 from a race
team in Seattle. Charley hauled it to Gadsden. Cal – who had raced the boat to good affect in 2011 – was happily hired as driver of the newly numbered U-27. That first year was impressive. Charley says they chalked up three podium finishes and ended up third in points. 2016 started hot but quickly turned to disaster. They qualified in second and were running in second when the big boat spectacularly went airborne. When it crashed back on the surface, the damage was spectacularly severe. Charley and the team got her Continued on page 72
Coming June 22-24 to your favorite lake ... be there
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And the no-nos … No hard shell coolers or tents can be brought into the venue after Thursday. No pets, drones, bicycles, hoverboards, skateboards or swimming. No alcohol can be brought into the event venue. Coolers and bags will be checked by security at the gates. For up-to-date info: Facebook @ guntersvillelakehydrofest; or visit: www. guntersvillelakehydrofest.com.
ou are going to Guntersville Lake HydroFest, right? Then here’s what you need to know … • It will be held June 22-24, along Sunset Drive in Guntersville. • Friday will be testing and qualifying. Saturday and Sunday you’ll see hydroplane races in the Unlimited and Grand Prix West Series, plus a special visit by the iconic Miss Budweiser hydro and a professional wakeboard demonstration. • Gates will open daily at 8 a.m. • All parking is off-site with designated lots around Guntersville. Parking is $5 per day and shuttles will run 7 a.m.-7 p.m. • Weekend passes: $20 adults; $10 ages 6-12; free for kids 5 and under. Buy them online now: www. guntersvillelakehydrofest.com • Pits will be across Browns Creek at Jaycee Boat Ramp on Ala. 69. Pit passes are an additional $20; include to-andfrom transportation and guided tour. • Limited boat viewing via the 8-foot vertical clearance under the Ala. 69 causeway bridge; only open to traffic 7-8 a.m., noon-1:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. • Food and beverage vendors, static U-27 races at Detroit, above, and San Diego, below in these displays, boat displays, etc. will be some of the fun additions to the event venue. 2015 season photos by Chris Denslow. MAY | JUNE | JULY 2018
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Milton and Charley Wiggins hope to make a strong showing at Guntersville with driver Cal Phipps and their U-27. They work on it at their garage in Gadsden, where Milton also restores vintage wooden pleasure craft, below. Photos by David Moore
rebuilt in time to participate in the final race of the season in San Diego, but few points were scored all year.
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ike auto racing and bass fishing, sponsorships are crucial to boat racing, all the more so in the expensive H1 Unlimited class. And Wiggins Racing found itself without a major sponsor. Last year they participated in an exhibition race in Madison and trials 72
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on Lake Guntersville, but that was it. Since then, they’ve been forced to concentrate on HydroFest in Guntersville this June. But Guntersville looms huge for the Alabama home team for a reason beyond its return to competition with U-27 and perhaps a sponsor-attracting win or finish. With Guntersville, it’s personal for father and son. The last boat race here was in 1984. And the big hydros haven’t thundered across Guntersville waters since 1969. Milton says Charley was the key force in the return of big-time boat racing here. He first approached Guntersville Mayor Leigh Dollar and Katy Norton of the
Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau in 2015. “We used to travel all over the country racing,” Charley says. “There’s very little of it done in the South anymore, like when my father started racing. With the history of hydroplane racing in Guntersville, I felt there was a good opportunity to revive the sport there.”
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ow that’s finally happening. Charley looks forward to sharing the thrill of the big boats skipping across the water at 200 mph, with the thousands of people expected to attend HydroFest. “It all seems pretty positive,” he says. More personally HydroFest means a return to the waters where Milton and Charley’s racing bond first melded and grew. “Racing has been,” says Charley, “a lifelong thing we’ve been able to do together.” Like father, like son. Good Life Magazine
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Out ’n’ About If you’re out and about and feeling a bit patriotic, you might want to stop by the Cost of Freedom Museum in downtown Arab. If you’re not feeling patriotic, it might do you some good. Gene Bishop, with Steven Shavers and Jim Carson, created a non-profit and, with free rent from the city, opened the museum on a “bootstring” budget in 2012. It’s open in the old Arabian Theater 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. It’s free, but donations will certainly help them with their mission to “preserve our heritage, honor our defenders and educate our future.” For more info, call Gene: 256-498-2499 or 738-4791. On May 28, pay your respects to those who paid the ultimate “cost of freedom” by attending one of the VFW’s annual Memorial Day ceremonies, which are at 11 a.m. in front of the Marshall County Courthouse and 2 p.m. at Arab City Park. Photos by David Moore. 74
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