Tuscaloosa Magazine Winter 2019

ALSO INSIDE: CHUCKWAGON RACING PADDLEBOARD YOGA TWINS, TRIPLETS AND QUADS

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editor’s letter

Editor-in-chief Becky Hopf Design Editor Lindi Daywalt-Feazel Photographers Gary Cosby Jr. Jake Arthur Copy Editors Amy Robinson Kelcey Sexton Amanda Daoud, intern General Manager Bobby Rice Advertising Director Charlie Callari Prepress Coordinator Chuck Jones Published by The Tuscaloosa News 315 28th Avenue Tuscaloosa, AL 35401 Executive Editor Michael James Senior GL Accountant Carolyn Durel To advertise 205-722-0173 To subscribe 205-722-0102

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huckwagon racing? I’ve been covering sports pretty much my entire life, beginning with being a very bad sportswriter, at age 14, covering the youth soccer league for The Fairhope Courier where my ledes included gems like “the Mustangs kicked the Tigers,” (get it? Horses kicking? Soccer involves kicks? Puns a-plenty). But until last spring, I had never heard of such a sport, in 2019, as chuckwagon racing.

To my delight, I happened to stumble across an action shot in a magazine that accompanied a story about a chuckwagon racing event. And, there in the picture among the race participants was a mule-driven cart, a modern-day miniversion of a pioneer/Wild West chuckwagon, and, on the canvas covering of the cart were the words “Bama Mule Skinners.”

Mule Skinners? I was also delighted, when I looked it up, to discover mule skinners was not a literal term. It’s an old term for a mule-driver. The skinner part was a way of describing outsmarting someone. Mules, it seems, are pretty darn smart and more than a bit stubborn, so the mule skinner was a driver who could outsmart those mules.

Upon even further research I learned, also to my delight, that that very team, Bama Mule Skinners, was from nearby, in Winfield.

That’s where our photographer, Gary Cosby Jr., and I met up with Zac Spiller. At least Zac assured Gary that we were in Winfield though Gary and I are still convinced the address was more like “Middle of Nowhere.” Regardless, it was a fun assignment to watch Zac tack up and then race through a pasture with his mule team of Jack and Jill and a pack of pet dogs chasing alongside. He told me that in competition, the mules will race 30-40 miles per hour. Zac, a Tuscaloosa County High School graduate, was a great host, and you’ll enjoy reading all about the Bama Mule Skinners in Stephen Dethrage’s story in this issue.

The story is bittersweet. Gunner Pendley, Zac’s best friend, started the team. Late this summer, while working on the family farm, Gunner, who is only 20, was involved in a horrific tractor accident and faces a long journey back. Zac and their other teammate, Andrew Polk, have completely dedicated what they do and their quest for success in Gunner’s honor. Good men, good friends.

My other revelation in this issue is the number of twins, triplets and even quadruplets who live in the Tuscaloosa area. I had some in mind already for our photo essay in the Style section in this issue, and, when more kept popping up, we put

Thanks to Zac Spiller, I can now add mule skinners to my list of friends.

a notice on our Tuscaloosa magazine Facebook page inviting “multiples” to meet for a group shot at Tuscaloosa’s Government Plaza on a fall Sunday afternoon. They ranged in all ages, from triplet babies to a brother and sister in their 70s.

It, too, was great fun to be a part of, and they all seemed to enjoy it as well. One mother of twin sons, who looked to be around 8, walked up to two sets of twin brothers, one looking to be in their 30s, the other set in their 50s, and asked, “I just want to know: When do they stop fighting?”

Both sets of brothers looked at one another and, pretty much at the same time, all answered, smiling, “Never.”

Which brings us to our cover story, something that mom might need: cocktails. Dana Camp invited us into her home where she concocted some great ideas for all the holidays that we’re rolling into, and we couldn’t be more grateful to Krista Poole and Hudson-Poole Fine Jewelers for lending us the drinkware.

Amy Robinson writes about two popular workouts: Pound fitness and paddleboard yoga.

Jennifer Greathouse shares tips and the importance of keeping alive the art of note writing. And those are just a few of our features you can enjoy during these winter months.

Basketball, holidays, perhaps a snowflake or two (this is Alabama, so two’s about our limit) — winter is one of our four favorite seasons. (Yes, that’s meant to be a joke, seeing as there are only four seasons — we love them all!)

Becky Hopf, editor Reach Becky Hopf at becky.hopf@tuscaloosanews.com.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

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WINTER 2019

VOLUME 18, NO. 4

CONTENTS

8 08 DINING OUT

Whimsy Cookie Co. will tickle your taste buds pink.

14 EVENTS

Places to go, things to see and do.

28 20 FOODIE NEWS

Donna Cornelius has all the best ideas for items you need to stock your kitchen — or someone else’s on gift occasions.

28 COVER STORY

Cheers to the cocktail hour. We have some great suggestions for special-occasion drinks.

42 38 PETS

Tales of some special tail-wagging — and, in the case of one opinionated cat, flesh-slashing — pets who made their way into hearts — and homes.

42 AT HOME

Rusty and Mary Katherine Gibson’s backyard is designed for entertaining and for pure relaxation.

ALSO : E INSID N

l i a t k Coc THE

R U O H

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ON THE COVER The next few months are filled with holidays: Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day and Mardi Gras. Dana Camp shares some of her favorite cocktails that are a perfect fit for each of those holidays.

Photo by: Gary Cosby Jr. • See story: Page 28

D R, AN S R BA Y O U B R AT IO N IN G E L K E C C R TO T FO ON S T IP S S P E R F E C K D R IN om

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GO KWA CHUCACING R ARD B LE O PADD OGA Y S IPLET S, TR TWIN QUADS AND TS P LE E ORAB MEM ING RIGU T IN 6 LE PEOP H MUC & SO RE MO

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48 ETIQUETTE

It’s the thought that counts when it comes to writing notes.

52 LIFESTYLES

The Bama Mule Skinners compete in a sport you’ve probably never heard of: chuckwagon racing, driven by a mule team.

58 TRAVEL

Everywhere you look, Maine is a picture postcard.

64 WELLNESS

Paddleboard yoga will calm you; Pound fitness will get that heart rate going.

76 STYLE

87 6 INTRIGUING PEOPLE

Gary Cosby Jr.’s camera lens captures some of Tuscaloosa and West Alabama’s greatest treasures: twins, triplets and even quadruplets.

52

Meet six folks who are making a difference in our community.

101 ON THE SCENE

The best bashes, parties and charity events of the season.

106 LAST LOOK

A snapshot that captures life in West Alabama.

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DINING OUT

Pretty

IN

PINK THE WHIMSY COOKIE CO. BRINGS ITS SWEET CREATIONS TO TUSCALOOSA

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DINING OUT

BY DONNA CORNELIUS | PHOTOS BY GARY COSBY JR.

Chocolatedipped Oreos

rom the minute you enter the pink front doors of The Whimsy Cookie Co., you know you’re in a place where pretty is a priority.

A plush cranberry sofa and two just-forfun fancy pink thrones sit on black and white floors. One wall has pink-and-white-striped wallpaper, while another has exposed brick painted — you guessed it — pink. Crystal chandeliers dangle from the ceiling.

“The construction crew said they’d never used so much pink — and probably never would again,” said Stacy Taylor, manager and co-owner of the store, which opened in September next to Jim ’N Nick’s Bar-B-Q. But as eye-appealing as the interior is, the main attractions here are the cookies. There’s an array of treats in glass cases: sugar cookies decorated with bright colors and clever designs, gooey cookies in flavors like red velvet and lemon, and specialty confections like oatmeal cream pies. All the goodies are displayed on cake stands, vintage plates and trays just as if they came out of your grandmother’s kitchen.

Taylor owns the Tuscaloosa Whimsy Cookie Co. franchise with her husband, Josh Taylor, and their friends Melissa and Lance Hyche. The business venture began when Melissa came to Josh, who’s an accountant, with Whimsy’s franchising information. >>

Mornings start with fresh confections being placed inside the display counters.

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DINING OUT

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Buttercream chocolate chip and sugar cookies bites • Customers have many tempting items to chose from. • Oatmeal cream pies • Mini Gooeys

“She wanted him to look over it — and to help her talk her husband into doing it,” Stacy Taylor said.

Owning a cookie shop is a real career change for Taylor, who for 12 years worked the 3-11 p.m. shift in the radiology department at DCH Medical Center. When the couple’s elder son, 7-year-old Harrison, started school, she switched to PRN status, which means she works at the hospital as needed. The Taylors have a younger son, Gresham, who’s 19 months old.

“The Whimsy store was a good opportunity to grow and to do something on my own,” she said. “It’s nice to have my own thing.”

Laurie Suriff of Memphis started The Whimsy Cookie Co. several years ago. She used her mother’s secret sugar cookie recipe to make cookies as Christmas gifts for her husband’s clients and soon began getting more and more requests for her treats.

In 2011, Leigh Anne Tuohy, whose story was featured in “The Blind Side” book and movie, ordered Suriff’s cookies for a Baltimore Ravens tailgate event for Tuohy’s son, football player Michael Oher. Leigh Anne and her daughter, Collins Tuohy Smith, loved the cookies — so much that Smith and Suriff became equal business partners in 2012.

The company’s main store is in a 100-year-old house on Memphis’ Poplar Avenue. Stacy Taylor and some of her staff members went there for a two-week training session before they opened the store in Tuscaloosa.

“I worked in the front of the store for a week and also learned about packaging,” Taylor said.

Everything is baked fresh at the Tuscaloosa shop. The menu includes sugar cookies, gooey cookies and specialty cookies. Although

the selection changes weekly, there are some cookies customers can count on.

“We always have our pink and white stripes, swirls, and smileys in the case as well as happy birthday cookies,” Taylor said.

There are seasonal selections, too. In October, special designs included a witch’s cauldron, a pumpkin and a pink Breast Cancer Awareness cookie. Christmas cookies are featured in December and, later on, Mardi Gras cookies. There are even Shark Week cookies. And that’s not all.

“For some reason, llamas have been very popular,” Taylor said.

She said the top seller is the chocolate chip gooey butter cookie.

“People go nuts over our gooeys topped with buttercream frosting,” Taylor said. “And we can’t keep our chocolate-covered Oreos in stock.”

Whimsy also has chocolate chip cookie cakes with decorations like footballs in the fall and watermelons in the summer.

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DINING OUT

Designs on cookies vary by the seasons.

IF YOU GO: The Whimsy Cookie Co.

is at 305 21st Ave., Suite C in downtown Tuscaloosa. Hours are Monday-Wednesday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Thursday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. and Sundays from noon-6 p.m. For more information, visit www.whimsycookieco.com or follow the business on social media.

Carley Wrensted is the baker at the Tuscaloosa store, and Justina Presley is the decorator. The two women and other staff members have plenty of room to work in the spacious kitchen — also painted a cheerful pink.

“This is one of the nicest kitchens I’ve worked in,” said Presley, a Washington native who has a degree in baking and pastry from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.

She joined Taylor for the training session in Memphis to learn Whimsy’s baking and decorating methods.

“Here, we decorate anywhere from 200 to 300 cookies a day, and

sometimes we do 400 to 500 on weekends,” Presley said. “Every week our list changes.”

Taylor said the next goal for her and her co-owners is to open a Whimsy Cookie Co. store in Birmingham.

“We have the rights there for up to a year,” she said.

The Tuscaloosa store is Whimsy’s fourth location, and others are set to open soon. But despite the company’s growth, Laurie Suriff’s standards for tasty, pretty cookies remain the same.

“Laurie likes everything whimsical and fun,” Taylor said. “These are her family recipes.”

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EVENTS

Things to do, places to go, people to see this

winter ENTERTAINMENT “Urinetown, the Musical”

February 2020 • The Actor’s Charitable Theatre, 2205 Ninth St. • Northport There’s a water shortage and, literally, no place to “go.” It’s a comedy put on by The Actor’s Charitable Theatre. For tickets and dates, visit http://theactonline.com.

“Mr. Universe”

Feb. 10-16, 2020 • Allen Bales Theatre • Tuscaloosa A play performed by the University of Alabama Department of Theatre, it’s about “drag queens, a

bloodied-up stranger and a wild night in New Orleans.” For tickets, visit ua.universitytickets.com.

“Inherit the Wind”

Feb. 14-23, 2020 • Bean-Brown Theatre • Tuscaloosa Theatre Tuscaloosa is performing the play that centers on the Scopes Monkey Trial and the theory of evolution — and whether it should be taught in the classroom. For tickets, visit www. theatretusc.com.

“The Servant of Two Masters”

Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra: Celebrating Forty Years

Feb. 24, 2020 • Moody Music Building Concert Hall • Tuscaloosa It’s time to celebrate four decades of beautiful music. The TSO’s Adam Flatt welcomes back former TSO music director Ransom Wilson, who’ll perform as flute soloist. Music will include Stravinsky and Beethoven, among others. For tickets, visit tsoonline.org.

“Dancing With the Stars” March 4, 2020 • BJCC Concert Hall • Birmingham

So far, so good — no Sean Spicer listed in the lineup — but plenty of professional dancers from the TV show who can actually cut a rug.

For info, visit dwtstour.com.

“Romeo & Juliet”

March 13-15, 2020 • BJCC Concert Hall • Birmingham The Alabama Ballet takes on the William Shakespeare classic of the world’s most famous star-crossed lovers in a most beautiful way. Set to Prokofiev’s score. For tickets, visit https://alabamaballet.org.

“School House Rock Live Jr.”

March 20 & 21, 2020 • Bama Theatre • Tuscaloosa This play is the culmination of a weeklong collaboration of kids attending the Actor’s Charitable Theatre’s spring break camp. The kids audition for parts, then pull it all together in a matter of days. To sign up for camp or get tickets, visit http://theactonline.com.

Feb. 18-23, 2020 • Marian Gallaway Theatre • Tuscaloosa

“Neil Simon’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers”

The University of Alabama Department of Theatre describes the play as plots of “mistaken identities and disguises, a hungry young man named Truffaldino sees the opportunity to serve two households as the opportunity for two dinners and seizes his chance.” For tickets, visit ua.universitytickets.com.

It’s Neil Simon’s comedy about a man going through a midlife crisis. His vice? He’s too nice. Laugh as the character, Barney Chasman, strikes out at his attempts to have an affair and how he ends up with his wife after all. For tickets and dates, visit http://theactonline.com.

April 2020 • The Actor’s Charitable Theatre, 2205 Ninth St. • Northport

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EVENTS

Cher

March 18, 2020 • Legacy Arena at the BJCC • Birmingham You can turn back time and see Cher, live and in person, on stage in Birmingham. Go for the songs, her voice, her costumes. “The Beat Goes On” with this diva. For tickets, visit www.ticketmaster. com/cher.

Cher

ASSOCIATED PRESS

“Rain — A Tribute to the Beatles”

April 3, 2020 • BJCC Concert Hall • Birmingham

Sure, it’s a cover band, but if you’re going to play someone else’s tunes, it’s hard to beat the music and songs of The Fab Four. For tickets, visit www.ticketmaster.com/rain.

“Hand to God”

April 6-12, 2020 • Allen Bales Theatre • Tuscaloosa A puppet that’s possessed by the devil?

“Or is it?” That’s the question audiences will answer in the play by the University of Alabama Department of Theatre and Dance.

For tickets, visit ua.universitytickets.com.

“Legally Blonde”

April 14-19, 2020 • Marian Gallaway Theatre • Tuscaloosa Justice prevails when the daffy Elle Woods takes on Harvard and the law. This “musical adaptation” is based on the Tony-winning Broadway show.

For tickets, visit ua.universitytickets.com.

Brantley Gilbert Fire’t Up Tour

April 17, 2020 • Tuscaloosa Amphitheater Country comes to T-town with Gilbert, who by fall already had four No. 1 singles, including “Bottoms Up,” “Country Must be Country Wide,” “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do” and “One Hell of an Amen.” For tickets, visit www.tuscaloosaamphitheater.com.

“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, the Broadway Musical” April 24-26, 2020 • Bama Theatre • Tuscaloosa

Mark Twain’s classic novel finds the young teen, Tom Sawyer, involved in one adventure after another, bringing along his best friend, Huckleberry Finn, for the ride. Performed by Tuscaloosa Children’s Theatre. For tickets, visit tuscaloosachildrenstheatre.net.

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EVENTS

FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

ASSOCIA TED PRES S

Monster Jam

Jan. 4-5, 2020 • Legacy Arena at the BJCC • Birmingham No, this isn’t King Kong and Godzilla forming a band — it’s the big wheels, the mega trucks playing inside in the dirt. For tickets, visit www.monsterjam.com.

“Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat” Jan. 11-25, 2020 • Alabama Shakespeare Festival • Montgomery Oh, that misbehavin’, red-and-white-striped-tallhatted kitty. And his cohorts in mischief, Thing 1 and Thing 2. It’s classic fun and a childhood favorite book come to life on stage. Montgomery’s just a short drive away for a play and a great memory. For tickets, visit https://asf.net.

Family Discovery Young Person’s Concerts

March 29, 2020 • 4 p.m. • March 30, 2020 • 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11 a.m. • Moody Music Building Concert Hall • Tuscaloosa Directed by Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra’s Adam Flatt, the music is by Kenyon Wilson. TSO’s description: “We will take you on a journey that you will never forget as you learn about music and space travel in the Alabama premiere of this new work.” For tickets, visit tsoonline.org.

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EVENTS

MISC.

Eighth annual West Alabama Food & Wine Festival April 9, 2020 • Tuscaloosa River Market

Billed as “Tuscaloosa’s premiere culinary event of the year,” it brings together the best of local chefs and brewers. It benefits the West Alabama Chapter of American Red Cross. General admission is $50 and gets you tastings of food, beer and wine as well as a keepsake wine glass. The VIP tickets, $75, get you all that plus a reserved seat at a table. Visit www.westalabamafoodandwine.org for more information, including a running list of who’ll be cooking for you that night!

THE TUSCALOOSA NEWS

When’s the last time you visited Chattanooga, Tennessee? Lots to do there for adults, for kids, for kids with adults. Rock City is old-school but a must-visit venue, from its observation point that’s 1,700 feet above sea level and from where, on a clear day, you can see seven states. It has the gnomes in Fairyland Caverns, the dioramas in Mother Goose Village, a climbing wall for the kids or when you are ready to climb a wall, Art in the Garden feature sculptures, and, for the brave, a 180foot suspension bridge to walk across. There’s also the Tennessee Aquarium, Chattanooga Duck Boat Tours, the Southern Belle Riverboat and some really great dining experiences.

ROAD TRIPS

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Theatre Tuscaloosa will be bringing two favorites to its stage this spring and summer: “Father of the Bride,” May 14-24, and, oh my Abba-loving-heart, “Mamma Mia!” July 17-26.

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BY DONNA CORNELIUS, THE SNOOTY FOODIE | PHOTOS BY GARY COSBY JR.

Cast-iron chefs: THIS SKILLET IS A HEAVY FAVORITE AMONG SOUTHERN COOKS

W

hen I asked my Facebook friends for help with my “Kitchen Essentials” article, I got a lot of fun responses — more than 150, in fact.

Some of the items people mentioned were surprising. My friend and neighbor Leslie Ferguson said she still loves her SaladShooter, an electric slicer and shredder, that she got when she was a newlywed. Julie Mann, the West Alabama Food and Wine Festival co-chairwoman, said she uses her Henrietta Hen egg cooker to boil or soft-cook her eggs.

My husband was especially helpful with his shout-out to the Bass-O-Matic, the “Saturday Night Live” device that, according to Dan Aykroyd, can reduce a whole fish into a drinkable pulp. Yum! If you’ve read the kitchen essentials story, you’ll know that the Bass-O-Matic surprisingly was not the No. 1 item from my Facebook responses. That honor goes to an oldie but a goodie: the cast-iron skillet. It’s a thing of beauty and, if it’s a family piece, often as cherished as an heirloom wedding gown.

Virginia Gilbert Loftin, my University of Alabama sorority sister, didn’t list this kitchen staple right off the bat when she answered my Facebook question. Then she thought better of leaving it out: “I asked the late, great Pierre Franey — The New York Times’ 60-minute Gourmet — that question about 40 years ago, and he said, without hesitation, a cast-iron skillet. But that seems so obvious to any of us in the South that I didn’t include that in my first response. I inherited my great-grandmother’s perfectly seasoned cast-iron skillet and passed it on to my daughter Emily at Christmas two years ago. So it’s now in its fifth generation of flawless, reliable performance.”

Another sorority sister, Ann Morgan Cruit, said she has “maybe five cast-iron skillets — all different sizes and probably all over 100 years old.”

Most people said they used their skillets for

cornbread, of course. Any Southerner worth her sea salt knows cornbread can’t be made in any other vessel. You have to use a cast-iron skillet to get that golden-brown crust — and also because you’d be kicked out of the Southern League of Cooks if you cook your cornbread in — horrors — a Pyrex dish.

But you can do more than bake in your skillet.

You can braise, broil, roast, pan-fry and sauté.

One of my favorite things to cook in my smallest cast-iron skillet is a Spanish fried egg. Here’s how to make it: Break an egg into a small bowl, being careful to keep the yolk intact. Heat up about ¼ inch of olive oil (you also can use an olive oil-butter combination) over medium-high heat until the oil begins to smoke a little. Carefully slip the egg into the oil; turn the heat to medium-low right away. Spoon the hot oil over the egg as it cooks, which should take no longer than a minute and a half (watch it closely). Take the pan off the heat and remove the egg with a slotted spoon. The result is a crispy-edged egg with a lusciously runny yolk.

Roasting vegetables is super easy in a cast-

iron skillet. Just toss your veg of choice with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and throw it in the pan. Cooking time depends on what you’re preparing. Broccoli and green beans take only about 15 minutes at 425 degrees, while my favorite, cauliflower, needs about 20 minutes at 450 degrees.

A little history lesson compliments of Google: Cast iron was not invented in the American South but in China in the 5th century B.C. Its versatility was discovered early on; the Chinese poured it into molds to make not just pots but pagodas and weapons. I’d argue that a castiron skillet makes a pretty good weapon in modern times if you bonk somebody over the head with it.

Donna Cornelius is a Tuscaloosa writer whose motto is: So much food, so little time.

Contact her to share recipes, restaurant news or anything food-related at donnawcornelius@bellsouth.net. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @blonderavenous.

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FOODIE NEWS

VECTEEZY.COM

Kitchen

ESSENTIALS FROM MIXERS TO MEASURING CUPS, HERE’S A LIST OF WHAT EVERY HOME COOK NEEDS

hen my editor asked me to put together a list of kitchen gadgets, tools and appliances that every home cook should have, I thought, “Well, this will be a piece of cake.” But as ESPN’s Lee Corso says: Not so fast, my friend. There were certain things that were no-brainers, such as a stand mixer, measuring cups and spoons, and frying pans. But the more items I wrote down, the more I thought of.

Where to stop?

For help, I enlisted my best cooking buddy, Kelly Pridgen. For inspiration, we made search-and-find trips to several Tuscaloosa-area kitchen supply stores. If you’d like to go yourself, check out two Northport stores, Sanford Restaurant Equipment at 1503 Third St. and Hotel & Restaurant Supply at 501 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., and in Tuscaloosa, Mobile Fixture at 2806 Greensboro Ave. You’ll be surprised at both the selection and the prices.

It’s always fun to shop at two Birmingham retail kitchen stores, too: Sur

La Table and Williams-Sonoma, both at The Summit. I get catalogs from both and read them as avidly as my husband does Cecil Hurt’s columns during college football season.

I also used the time-honored investigative reporting technique of asking my Facebook friends this question: “What’s the one kitchen tool/gadget/appliance you couldn’t live without?” The response was so great that I still haven’t had time to thank everyone who answered.

The list below was compiled from shopping trips, social media research and a rummage through my own kitchen cabinets and drawers to remind myself which things I use the most. I hope you’ll enjoy the list, not just because it’s intended to be helpful to home cooks but because lots of these items make great gifts if you have a food enthusiast you really want to please.

I have no doubt that I’ve forgotten some useful items. But as a genial elderly waitress at a Birmingham mom-and-pop diner used to say as she brought out a basket of hot rolls, “Lemme get y’all started.”

INDISPENSABLE APPLIANCES STAND MIXER:

This is the one piece of kitchen equipment that’s a game changer. When I got one some 10 years ago — about the time I got serious about cooking — I looked at my cherry-red beauty and thought, “Where have you been all my life?”

The clear favorite in my unofficial Facebook survey: the KitchenAid model.

FOOD PROCESSOR:

Most folks were partial to Cuisinart. But there are lots of brands to choose from; just make sure to read reviews before you buy. In addition to its regular duties of chopping, etc., a food processor is great for shredding chicken for chicken salad, said my friends Cindy Housel of Gordo and Megan Rykaczewski, a Tuscaloosa Academy and University of Alabama graduate who now lives in Atlanta.

BLENDER:

Vitamix is the king of kings here. It also will set you back a pretty penny. Unless you use a blender on a daily basis, a less expensive model should do the trick. >>

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FOODIE NEWS

EVERYDAY COOKING

CAST-IRON SKILLET:

This item came up in my Facebook responses more than any other. Read more than you probably want to know about the charm of cast-iron skillets in my column.

DUTCH OVEN:

I love my Staub Dutch oven so much that I keep it out on my stove so that people will think, “Hey, she’s got a Staub — obviously she’s a fabulous cook!” Like Le Creuset, Staub is a prestige thing — but that said, both brands are of excellent quality and are beautiful, too. Looking for a more budget-friendly choice that still gets great reviews? Try Lodge.

BAKING PANS:

Half-sheets are your basic cookie sheets. But buy a couple of smaller quarter-sheets, too.

You’ll be surprised at how useful they are.

MIXING BOWLS:

My favorites are metal bowls in several sizes. They come in handy not just for mixing but for when you need a double boiler and have no such thing.

Just bring water to a simmer in a large pot and put the metal bowl on top.

WOODEN SPOONS:

You don’t want to scratch your nice pots and pans (particularly those Staubs and Le Creusets) with metal utensils. I use wooden spoons for just about everything and a flat wooden spatula-like thing for scrambling eggs.

OTHER THINGS YOU’LL NEED:

• Heat-proof spatula • Whisk • Metal tongs • Nonstick skillet • Small, medium and large saucepans with lids • Large casserole dish • Square baking dish

THE SHARPER IMAGE CHEF’S KNIFE:

Like a stand mixer, a really good knife makes all the difference when you’re cooking. My Facebook friends mentioned Cutco and Shun knives as their favorites. Kelly Pridgen and I are partial to our Global knives — the late Anthony Bourdain recommended this brand as a good-but-not-superexpensive choice — and I adore my absolutely gorgeous Anvil & Hammer knife that was a gift from my sons and daughter-in-law. I once threatened my husband with bodily harm when I caught him trying to put it in the dishwasher.

CUTTING BOARD:

Whether you choose a plastic or wooden board, make sure it’s sturdy enough not to jiggle around when you’re slicing and dicing.

Otherwise, you may slice and dice a finger. My preference is a wooden board, because it can double as a nice serving piece for cheeses and breads.

MICROPLANE AND BOX GRATER:

The microplane is handy when you want to shred a small amount of cheese, such as parmesan over pasta. For bigger jobs, use a box grater.

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• Pastry blender • Bench scraper • Sifter • Cake pans • Pie dish • Springform pan • Candy thermometer • Silpats (non-stick mats for your cookie sheets) • Rotating cake stand (for expert frosting) • Offset spatula

NICE BUT NOT NECESSARY

If you’re a dedicated home cook, here’s a wish list of nonessentials that can step up your kitchen game — and in some cases, are just plain fun.

SOUS VIDE MACHINE: ALSO MAKING THE CUT: • Serrated knife • Paring knife • Vegetable peeler • Kitchen shears • Pizza cutter

FOR GOOD MEASURE

CUPS FOR DRY INGREDIENTS:

Metal cups are the smart choice here. I’ve found the writing on the plastic ones often wears off, and why take a chance on using a ¼ cup when you really needed a ¹/₃?

CLEAR MEASURING CUP FOR WET INGREDIENTS:

OXO’s Good Grips cup is angled, and you can look straight down into it to see the exact measurement.

Using this device takes some practice, but it’s worth the effort. Sous vide is the process of vacuum-sealing food in plastic pouches and then cooking it slowly in a temperature-controlled water bath. The immersion circulator keeps the water at the proper temperature, so you can’t overcook or undercook your food. Chicken, for example, comes out moist and juicy, and I’ve even used my machine to make ricotta cheese.

HANDHELD SMOKING GUN:

Another gift from my kids, this thing is a blast to use. Put whatever you want to smoke in a bag or container (I’ve done mozzarella cheese and, for Bloody Marys, tomato juice), fill the gun’s chamber with aromatic chips and go to town.

MANDOLINE:

If you like to make your own fries and potato chips, you need a mandoline to get them nice and thin. Most mandolines come with straight and wavy blades for slicing up vegetables. But don’t try this at home unless you commit to always using the safety grip. When you’re watching a TV cooking show and a contestant screams “Medic!” while holding his or her bleeding finger, there’s a good chance a mandoline was involved in the debacle.

MORE EXTRAS:

• Instant read thermometer • Immersion blender • Slow cooker or Instant Pot • Kitchen scale • Herb scissors • Citrus squeezer • Mini-food processor

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

The cheapest tools in my kitchen also are some of the most useful: plastic squeeze bottles. I keep one filled with olive oil for squirting into frying pans, over veggies I’m about to roast, and on pasta and hummus. Fancy folks can fill them with a sauce to easily decorate plates with those artsy little dots. You’ll be surprised at how much you’ll use them.

MEASURING SPOONS:

Again, choose metal. They’re more durable.

BAKER’S JOY

If you don’t do much baking, you can skip this part of the list.

But if you do, make sure to have these tools:

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FOODIE NEWS

‘Meals that Heal’ CAROLYN WILLIAMS’ NEW COOKBOOK HAS HEALTHY RECIPES THAT ARE QUICK AND DELICIOUS

BY DONNA CORNELIUS ooking for a Christmas gift for the healthy eater on your list — or for someone making a New Year’s resolution to become one?

“Meals that Heal” by Carolyn Williams of Tuscaloosa has more than 100 recipes that are antiinflammatory — and that can be made in 30 minutes or less. If your first thought is that such a book might be a little too healthoriented, don’t feel bad. Williams, a registered dietitian and culinary nutrition expert, writes in the book’s intro: “A few years ago, I probably would have rolled my eyes and put this cookbook back on the shelf for being too hippie health nut.”

Williams’ interest in this type of cooking started in 2016 when

she collaborated on a Cooking Light magazine article and studied recent research on foods’ roles in preventing conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Through writing this and other articles — she won a James Beard Foundation award for her article called “Brain Health” — she became convinced that the key to healthy eating is reducing inflammatory foods.

She’s a mother of two and teaches in Shelton State Community College’s culinary program, so making her recipes easy and quick for others with busy lives was a priority. Above all, she chose dishes that are as good taste-wise as they’re good for you. Just a few of the recipes in the book: Chopped Greek Salad Bowls with Chicken, Pork Scaloppine with White Beans, and even a Classic Margarita.

“Meals that Heal” is available at Amazon, major bookstores and, locally, at Bev’s Décor, Gourmade Kitchen and Kyle Fine Stationery.

From “Meals that Heal”: Tuna, White Bean and Arugula Salad INGREDIENTS: • 1½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil • ½ teaspoon lemon zest • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice • ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt • ¹/8 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 cup canned no-saltadded cannellini beans, rinsed and drained • ½ cup grape tomatoes, halved • ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion • 1 (6.4-ounce) pouch of low-sodium chunk light tuna in water, drained and

broken into chunks • 2 cups firmly packed arugula INSTRUCTIONS: Whisk together the oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the beans, tomatoes, onion, tuna and

arugula; toss well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

From “Meals that Heal” by Carolyn Williams, published

by Tiller Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Copyright Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

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COVER STORY

Drink

be merry BRIGHTEN UP WINTER HOLIDAYS WITH THESE FESTIVE COCKTAILS

BY DONNA CORNELIUS | PHOTOS BY GARY COSBY JR.

>>

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COVER STORY

hristmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, Mardi Gras — winter would be a lot bleaker without holidays to brighten them up. Make the season’s special days even more fun with these very merry cocktails. Dana Camp of Tuscaloosa shared some of her favorite recipes, which range from out-of-the-ordinary martinis to a classic Manhattan.

But of course, you don’t have to wait for a holiday to concoct these delicious drinks — they’re good any time of the year.

Guests will appreciate your cocktails even more if you mix in beautiful drinkware and serving pieces. Krista Poole of HudsonPoole Fine Jewelers in downtown Tuscaloosa selected some gems that are great for gift-giving (or to keep for yourself).

Dana and her husband, Butch, love to welcome friends to their house in The Downs. Everyone loves to gather at their antique bar, which Butch said started life in an old Philadelphia general mercantile store.

Try these cocktails to add a little sparkle to the season. Just maybe not all at once.

New Year’s Eve:

PERFECT MANHATTAN

Makes one drink.

INGREDIENTS: • 1 ounce bourbon • ¼ ounce dry vermouth • ¼ ounce sweet vermouth • Dash of bitters • Cherries (Dana and Butch like Woodford Reserve cherries) INSTRUCTIONS: Add first four ingredients to a shaker filled with ice. Shake and pour into a chilled martini glass and garnish with cherries.

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COVER STORY

Stocking your bar:

A well-stocked home bar will make life easier when you’re hosting a get-together. With these basic liquors on hand, you’ll have at least the foundations for most cocktails.

Bourbon • You live in Alabama. Need we say more about why you need a really good bourbon? Maybe not Pappy Van Winkle, but don’t go with El Cheapo brands unless you want to get rid of guests who have turned into The Things That Wouldn’t Leave.

ing actual people from Scotland. In Edinburgh some years ago, I toured a Scotch distillery. You hopped into a little car that took you past scenes showing the history of Scotch, kind of like Disney’s Small World for grownups.

Gin • The drinking world is divided into two camps: those who like gin and those who don’t. The former group will love you if you have a good bottle on hand.

Rum • It’s nice to offer a light rum for mojitos and daiquiris and a dark or spiced rum for a Dark and Stormy or a tropical rum punch. Yo-ho-ho and all that.

Rye Whiskey • This is the basis for many classic cocktails. A Food and Wine magazine article says rye whiskey was consumed in parts of the United States as far back as the 18th century and then fell into disfavor during Prohibition when people opted for clear spirits like vodka. It’s enjoying a resurgence in popularity, so don’t leave it off your list.

Tequila • Tequila is currently enjoying “cool kid” status, and there are lots of options to choose from. But if you’re buying only one bottle, a blanco (or silver) is a smart choice.

Scotch • Have Scotch whisky on hand if you have aficionados among your guests and particularly if by some weird chance you are entertain-

Vodka • You don’t have to break the bank if you’re using vodka as a mixer — say, for a Bloody Mary. But you may want to splurge for a better version for drinks like vodka martinis.

Flavored vodkas are nice extras for your home bar. Try Ketel One’s Botanical Cucumber and Mint for a really fresh taste.

New Year’s Day: SNOWFLAKE MARTINI Makes two drinks.

INGREDIENTS: • 2 ounces peppermint vodka • 2 ounces white chocolate liqueur • 1 ounce white crème de cacao • 1 ounce half and half • Fresh mint INSTRUCTIONS: Put all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Shake for about 10 seconds. Divide between two martini glasses and garnish each drink with a sprig of fresh mint.

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Valentine’s Day: SWEETHEART PUNCH INGREDIENTS: • 2 cups cranberry juice • 1 cup vodka • 1 cup Grand Marnier orange liqueur • Juice of one lime • 1 cup orange juice • Lemon, lime and orange slices for garnish • Optional: Lemon-lime soda, such as Sprite, or club soda INSTRUCTIONS: Mix first 3 ingredients in a large pitcher or punch bowl.

Add lime juice and orange juice and mix. Serve in chilled highball glasses over ice or in a punch bowl or beverage dispenser. You can top off the mixture with lemonlime soda or club soda if you’d like. Garnish with fresh fruit slices.

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Mardi Gras:

HURRICANE Makes two drinks.

INGREDIENTS: • 2 ounces light rum • 3 ounces dark rum • 6 ounces passion fruit juice • 6 ounces orange juice • 2 tablespoons grenadine • 2 orange slices • 2 maraschino cherries INSTRUCTIONS: Mix first five ingredients in a large liquid measuring cup.

Divide mixture between two ice-filled glasses. Garnish each drink with an orange slice and a cherry.

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Christmas: PEPPERMINT MARTINI Makes one drink.

INGREDIENTS: • 1½ ounces vanilla vodka • 1 ounce peppermint schnapps • 1½ ounces crème de cacao • Small peppermint candy cane INSTRUCTIONS: Put all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice.

Shake for about 10 seconds. Pour into a martini glass. Garnish with a small peppermint candy cane.

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COVER STORY

The drinkware and trays used in our Cover Story photos were provided by Hudson-Poole Fine Jewelers.

Hudson-Poole Fine Jewelers is located in downtown Tuscaloosa at 1111 Greenboro Ave. For store hours or prices, call toll free:1-855-752-5535

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1. Vietri Optical Gold highball glasses; Juliska Firenze Medici gold dessert plates; Juliska Forest Walk hostess tray; Vietri Rufolo glass gold bowl; Annieglass Ruffle Gold oval platter; Lenox Gold Coast platter; Vietri Optical Amber highball glasses; Zodax hammered glass decanter; Simon Pearce napkin ring; Brasil Home Design bottle coaster; Pampa Bay bowl (holding cranberries); Beatriz Ball flax, stone wash napkin. • 2. Simon Pearce Hampton martini glass; Simon Pearce Westport stemless martini glass; William Yeoward Champagne coupe (between the Simon Pearce martini glasses); (Tall flutes) Novo Champagne flutes; Hibiscus Linens cocktail napkin; Beatriz Ball crocodile pattern tray; (smaller tray) Godinger silver plate tray; Reed & Barton drink strainer; Leeber cocktail shaker; Fortessa jigger; Gold Eagle mercury glass tree. • 3. Waterford Lismore double old-fashioned glasses and decanter; Zodax leather tray and coasters; Beatriz Ball New Orleans green and gold marble tray and bowl; Zodax trees; Hibiscus Linens embroidered napkin; Simon Pearce napkin ring. • 4. Arte Italica Natale dinner plate; Simon Pearce highball glass (far left); Schott Zwiesel Tossa highball glass; Schott Zwiesel Cici highball; Schott Zwiesel Modo; Waterford Lismore highball; Juliska Carine highball; Schott Zwiesel Julen glasses; Leeber tray; Beatriz Ball cocktail napkin; green tree by Raz Imports; silver trees by Raz Imports.• 5. Juliska Carine wine goblets; Juliska Carine wine bucket; Beatriz Ball New Orleans blue and gold glass platter; Beatriz Ball glass gold foil oval platter and bowl; India Handicrafts wine holder; Abbott large tray.

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PETS

CREATURE COMF RTS STORIES ABOUT ANIMALS WHO TAMED HEARTS

GUS

BY LYDIA SEABOL AVANT After a horrible start to 2019 — a year in which our family dealt with the deaths of my dad, grandmother and our beloved older boxer — we decided it was time to focus on something happy, to focus on new life. We got a new puppy.

In June, my 10-year-old daughter and I made a three-day trek to Missouri to pick

up Gus, an 8-week-old European boxer with velveteen fat rolls and paws the size of silver dollars. The puppy spent much of the nine and a half-hour ride home in my daughter’s lap. As we pulled into our driveway, my husband was waiting for us, and my two younger children ran across the front yard excitedly shouting, “Gus! Gus!” Gus was finally finally home.

For two days, the kids took turns holding him, learning how to carry him. Our 1-yearold boxer, Maggie, patiently taught him to play tug-of-war with her rope. It seemed like everything was going right. Until it didn’t.

Three days after Gus arrived home, I walked into my kids’ room as my husband was reading them a book. I tripped on his foot and landed hard on the floor. When I got up, we found Gus unresponsive on the floor underneath me.

Gus was still breathing as I threw on shoes and grabbed my keys, taking him from my

husband as I ran out the door, not even realizing I was in my pajamas. As I drove to the emergency vet, I tried to keep him stimulated and did mouth-to-mouth. I prayed out loud, asking God to let him live.

And he did. Initially, he had significant brain damage and was blind. His face was paralyzed due to nerve damage, and he spent two weeks at the vet hooked up to IV fluids and medication to reduce the brain swelling.

As the veterinarian told us, most people would have put him down. But after so much loss, we couldn’t give up on the puppy.

Gus lived — and became our little miracle.

Slowly, he began to recover. He started to wag his tail days after the fall. Then, after coming home, he miraculously knew the way around the house despite temporary blindness. His vision eventually came back and he started to blink again. And after two months of eating pureed dog food via syringe, he can now eat on his own, even though his jaw is still mostly immobile.

At 6 months old, Gus is a normal puppy, running, jumping and trying to chew furniture like any other dog. And he is happiest when playing with Maggie or snuggled up in bed with my 8-year-old son, where he sleeps every night. This year has been the worst. In all the darkness, however, Gus became our light.

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PETS

ZEENA

BY DON STALEY In the early ’80s, after finishing my college athletic eligibility, I managed a bar in Virginia Beach where we had a fight that the police were called in to break up. The police brought dogs I had never seen before. Those intimidating dogs were Rottweilers. Having grown up with German shepherds, I was a fan of big dogs, so my interest was piqued.

Years later, when I was the head soccer coach at Radford University, I bought one of these dogs, to the chagrin of my wife, who was a cat person. The breeder was a German woman from Fort Defiance, Virginia. As Kim would say later, the town in which our dog was purchased was fitting because the dog couldn’t be any more defiant of her.

I named the dog Zeena, and she and I were pretty much inseparable.

She was a permanent fixture at Radford University men’s and women’s soccer, and for the most part all the players loved her.

During practices and often during warmups

ALICE

BY JEFF WILSON

she was part of a drill called “Keep Away,” where we had a circle of players and one ball, and the players passed the ball around, trying not to have Zeena take it away.

She was relentless and popped several balls a year. She actually went on a road trip with the team to Harrisonburg, Virginia, where we were playing James Madison University the weekend Mike Tyson lost to James “Buster” Douglas. I remember it well because Zeena was allowed to come into the place where we watched the fight.

The dog actually had her face on a promotional Radford University soccer T-shirt.

It read “Big Dog Soccer” and had a picture of her biting a soccer ball with the ball hanging out of her mouth.

Upon my arrival in Tuscaloosa as the University of Alabama soccer coach, Zeena visited the team occasionally but didn’t suit up as much as she did at Radford. She and I spent many days, though, training at the soccer complex. She was older then. And, when her time came to leave this world, our world, our soccer world, I scattered her ashes on the soccer field.

Although Rottweilers are considered a working and aggressive breed, Zeena was a 100-pound lapdog and pretty much all bark and no bite. Kim puts a little different spin on it: “We tolerated each other” because at bedtime, Zeena would often show her teeth at Kim when she got into bed. Kim used to say, “The dog thinks she’s married to you.” Funny thing was, whenever I was out of town, Zeena never showed her teeth to Kim. Like me, many of my former players, both at Radford and Alabama, had never seen a Rottweiler before. Zeena changed all that.

After they graduated, more than 10 of my former athletes became Rottweiler owners.

Two years ago, I decided to try to fi find nd a companion dog to keep me company.

I could not make a decision. My friend Ava Buchanan posted a photo of a dog she found on the highway and asked if anyone would be interested in taking her. I immediately told her I would. She found her coming home from Aliceville, so Alice became her new name.

The vet guessed that she was 12 to 14 years old and in extremely bad condition. He didn’t give her much of a chance. She was a pit bull and apparently used for a “bait” dog and to have puppies. I took her and began her rehabilitation.

Immediately I could sense that she was a very loving being. She would just sit and look at me with the most loving stare. She had never had a bed to sleep in or a food bowl. I can’t imagine the horrors this poor

creature endured. It took a while, but she gained all her weight back, and her favorite spot was on her bed.

For two years, we got into our routine. On Saturday game days, I would come home from cooking and go to my deck and sit with her to listen to the Alabama games.

She would nap and I would relax. The entire game, she would sleep. I always put my hand on her to make sure she was breathing.

She had quite a following on Facebook.

The new season started in 2019 with our same Saturday routine. I would come in and check on her, then join her for our game-day ritual.

On Sept. 28, I came home and saw her asleep on her bed. I went to join her for our game-day ritual and found that she had passed away, on her favorite bed in her favorite place.

The most loving and gentle creature I have ever known. Rest in peace, Alice!

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PETS

BUG

BY BECKY HOPF She wasn’t my cat.

She belonged to a friend with a very demanding job that found him working out of town often. He named her Bug, I suspect because the first thing you noticed about her were her large, piercing eyes. Those eyes.

They pierced you to the core. Judged you.

And she knew it.

She had a couple of siblings — not actually related to her and only one of which she tolerated — when we first crossed paths.

“Her Boy” had gone out of town and talked me into feeding the cats while he was away.

When I opened the door, the others ran to greet me. I’d like to think it was because they liked me, but the reality was more likely that they knew I was their meal ticket.

Bug was nowhere in sight. I finally found her, crouching under a bed, staring back at me with those piercing eyes. Judging me. No amount of Temptations cat treats placed in a path on the floor in front of her would coax her out, unlike the others who, as soon as they heard the treat bag rattle, rushed at me, pawing and tearing at the bag and making me fear for my life or that, should I try to reach into the bag, I would draw back a nub.

In time it became my quest to one day have Bug actually allow me to touch her. I would call her name, but she could never be bothered to answer. I would find her, often lying on top of the warm cable converter box, staring at me as if to say, “You idiot. I’m right here.”

She never ran from me. She just kept her distance. After many visits of playing catand-moron, we finally had a breakthrough.

Bug allowed me to pet her — not hold her, mind you — just touch her. She hunched down, like it was searing her flesh, but she didn’t run.

She continued to allow me come near her and, very briefly, pet her, on subsequent visits, but holding her was still out of the question. Meanwhile, “Her Boy” shared stories about her, like the time a neighborhood cat pounced on the sibling she tolerated and she ran to his rescue, tearing after the offending neighborhood cat and chasing it far away.

She was beautiful, a deep charcoal gray

with white accents. And she was smart. Like Tiger from “The Brady Bunch,” she knew how to roll down a car window. “Her Boy” discovered this the hard way. Buyers had come to look at a house he was living in at the time, and he put the cats in his car with the motor running in his driveway while he let the potential buyers inside the house.

When he went back to his car a couple of minutes later, the cats were loose outside.

Bug had rolled down the window and released them. And it wasn’t a one-time thing. She went straight for the automatic window button every time she got into a car, mine included, when I’d take her to stay at my house. It’s not enough to feel foolish that you are driving around Tuscaloosa with a cat glaring out at passing cars — I really would have drawn back a nub trying to get Bug into a cat carrier — you really feel like the cat is smarter than you when she keeps pressing on the window button to try to roll down your windows to escape. (My hero became the inventor of the driver’s side window lock button.)

Tragedy drew us closer. She was down to one sibling, the cat she tolerated. He became gravely ill while “Her Boy” was out of town.

I rushed him to the vet, but his heart had given out. He was in his teens. Bug was so wise. When I returned from the vet without him, she leapt into my arms. It was the first time I’d actually held her. I collected her belongings and took her back to my house (and, yes, she did try to roll down the car window on the way there.) She grieved. She raced around the length of my house. She yowled. She mourned. The first few days she bunkered in a chair in my living room. I would hear her come into my room at night, standing in my doorway, checking to see if I was there, then she’d head back to her chair.

A couple of nights later, she began to sleep between my open door and the wall. Slowly, she worked her way not into my lap but around my neck. Not the most comfortable for me, but it was sweet.

She loved the outdoors. She escaped once early on, running out my kitchen door when I opened it to come in, as if she’d been perched in front of it all day, just waiting for the opportunity. Of course she ignored me when I called her. To my amusement, she would come within about 10 feet, making sure she could see me. She made her way to the backyard, stopped and looked for me

through the French door, then made her way, on her own time, back inside through the kitchen door.

She had her nemeses. Dogs. She hated dogs. Didn’t trust them one lick. And other cats. Many a night I’d race out of bed because I’d hear a guttural sound, and it would be Bug, paws flying, fighting a stray cat through my French door. I tried to explain to Bug that the cat was an orphan with no home and no one to love him. She was not impressed.

When “Her Boy” was on long stretches of frequent travel, he’d come by to see her between trips. She would sit in his lap, on her chair, and just stare at me with those piercing eyes, as if to say, very proudly, “This is ‘My Boy.’ ” Oh, how she loved him.

She’d stay with me when non-cat people stayed at his house. Bug was not the type to change a cat hater’s mind. Bug had opinions.

She didn’t have any problem with slicing a claw at you if you were doing something she didn’t like. She had no tolerance for my talking on the phone. Many was the time I would hurriedly tell someone I had to go because she would be sitting next to me, staring at me and then I would see a right-hand hook about to head my way. Bug did not suffer fools. Once I was in my room, feeling sorry for myself. I started to cry. Bug was sitting on her haunches next to me, very still, staring at me, judging me. All of the sudden, she smacked me, but good. It worked. I snapped out of it.

Bug lived to be nearly 18. “Her Boy” called me one morning to tell me she had passed, peacefully, in the night. That was a year ago.

Her nemesis was run over by a car not long before. When I hear a violent crash of thunder some nights, I wonder if that’s Bug, up in kitty heaven, still duking it out with that cat.

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AT HOME

Asecret

garden

BY BECKY HOPF | PHOTOS BY GARY COSBY JR.

THE GIBSONS’ BACKYARD BRINGS JOY EVEN ON THE DREARIEST DAYS

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AT HOME

The view from a corner of the back yard that overlooks the pool and arbor. The flowers in the containers are changed out seasonally.

THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A tangerine tree in a container remains outside yearround. • Italian cypress trees make a dramatic backdrop in the yard. • The homeowners, Mary Katherine and Rusty Gibson.

ary Katherine Gibson is no fan of winter.

“It’s just so dreary,” she said.

So, after lightning struck their home and caused major fire damage in 1997, Mary Katherine and her husband, Rusty Gibson, decided to try to make winters a little more tolerable when it came to addressing renovation of their backyard space.

“We were out of town when it happened. We got a call and heard our house was burning to the ground,” she said of the Indian Hills home where she, Rusty and their family have lived since 1994. “Lightning struck the garage and shot straight up. Downstairs the foundation was still there, and we were able to salvage some of our furniture and belongings. The roof collapsed and upstairs was a total loss.”

The Gibsons appreciated and enjoyed their neighborhood and the home’s location. It backs up to the 18th fairway of the Indian Hills Country Club golf course. So they decided to stay and rebuild. And, when it came to the renovation, they made some changes, including the addition of a wing for their master bedroom and bath. >>

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AT HOME

“From my bedroom, I wanted to wake up and look out and see green.

I wanted to see the pool. I wanted to see flowers and plants and fruit trees,” she said.

So the Gibsons included sets of French doors on the side of the bedroom that faces their backyard and pool area. No more dreary winter vistas.

“I just love it,” she said of the result.

They worked with architect Bill Ingram on plans for their home and on a landscaping plan. The backyard, anchored in stone flooring, has a vine arbor covering a seating area that is a door-opening away from the home’s den. There’s a pool with a lion’s-head water fountain that was a find in New Orleans, a dining area, chaise lounge seating area, towering palm trees, hydrangeas and large pots filled with flowers and fruit trees.

The flowering plants in the pots are changed out each season.

The Gibsons can see it all from their bedroom, from the breakfast area in their open kitchen and from the den. The yard is accessorized with plantings of evergreens, including wax myrtles and boxwoods; blue and limelight hydrangeas; rosemary; ligustrum; and even a tangerine tree planted in an oversized container.

“We keep it out all winter. So far it’s done well. And if it doesn’t make it through a winter someday, we can always plant another,” Mary Katherine said.

Just inside the back fence are several Italian cypress trees they planted when they re-did the backyard.

“I saw them when I was in Destin. We loaded them in a 12-foot trailer because they were so tall,” she said. “Now they are 40 feet tall.”

Also striking are the Sabal palm trees planted between the kitchen area and the master window.

“I found the palm trees in Destin, too. There was a man selling them on the side of the road,” Mary Katherine said.

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AT HOME The palm trees are a favorite of Rusty’s. Most of the backyard, in fact, is a reflection of his thoughts regarding outdoor décor and plantings.

“My husband is a yard fanatic,” she said. “He even climbs on a ladder and trims the palm trees himself.”

Much of the backyard remains similar to what it was like before the fire and home remodel. The scale has changed. When they moved into the house, their three sons were much younger, so it was also a major play area. The location made it a haven for kids. Their sons would come home from school and play baseball or golf. The pool and the arbor were in place, though the arbor is much taller now and the wall behind the pool was changed. They leveled the yard from the back of the pool to the fence that separates their backyard from the golf course.

“We took out loads of dirt to level the area, and we replaced our existing wooden fence,” she said.

Now it is a stucco wall.

The backyard gate is a centerpiece, and not just because it centers the back area leading to the golf course. The metalwork was originally a series of antique iron panels. Dogan Metal Products, a Tuscaloosa business, used the ornate metal to create the picturesque gates.

The backyard has played centerpiece for many events. The Gibsons

enjoy entertaining. Among the many social events they’ve hosted is the Children’s Hands-On Museum’s major fundraiser, the Wild Party. Sister Schubert — Patricia Barnes — was the guest of honor at last year’s party. There is space for a band to set up and play music at parties, and, on several occasions, they’ve tented the open area for events, attaching the tenting to the house so that, in the case of inclement weather, everyone stays dry.

The backyard also has been used as a setting to advertise Seasons Fire Pits, a national business based in Moundville. Their friends use the area to take family portraits.

“We entertain a lot, whether it’s something small with drinks and a few friends or something large,” Mary Katherine said. “We love sitting out around the table with the umbrella. My favorite time is when it’s just dark and the lights come on. We have lights around some of the pots, some shining up trees and along the wall with the wax myrtles. It’s so relaxing.”

The seating is Kingsley Bate Teak, an all-weather wood furniture.

Northport’s The Potager and Hawkins-Israel sourced the urns under the arbor.

“People are surprised when they first come here and see the back,” Mary Katherine said. “They don’t know it’s here. It’s like a secret garden.”

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The view from the golf course looking into the homeowners’ backyard. • Lounge chairs placed outside the master bedroom give perfect views of the pool. • Tiered steps lead to a slightly elevated level of the yard. • Mary Katherine Gibson designed the master bedroom so that she could look out and see all the cheerful greenery in her backyard.

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ETIQUETTE

PERFECT NOTE WRITING AND INVITATION WORDING IS A CLASSIC ART — AND A CLASS ACT

BY JENNIFER GREATHOUSE | PHOTOS BY GARY COSBY JR.

helley Kyle is in the business of providing the perfect materials to create invitations or put pen to paper for a handwritten letter or note. She is also in the business of making sure one of the most basic elements in the social graces does not become a lost art.

The owner of Kyle Fine Stationery in Tuscaloosa is a firm believer that the handwritten note should never go out of style or be taken for granted as far as the impact it can make on its recipient.

“It’s a tangible keepsake for generations to have,” Kyle said. “When you receive your mail and see a personal invite or greeting

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IF YOU GO: To learn more about Kyle Fine Stationery, visit http://www.kylefinestationery.com or call 205-722-2291.

The store is at 908 Queen City Ave. in Tuscaloosa.

and recognize someone’s writing, it means something to you, and you are reminded of them.”

The length of the note doesn’t matter. This is one of those things where it truly is the thought that counts. When someone has given a gift or done a kindness, acknowledging that deed or gift is important, if for nothing else than to let the giver know it was received. And it’s better to acknowledge the gift later than never.

“It’s easiest to write them close to when the event happened because your enthusiasm comes through in your writing,” Kyle said. “But it’s never too late to say thank you.”

And it will be appreciated.

“Greeting cards can be displayed on refrigerator doors, and personal correspondence can be shared or kept private, but there is no mistaking how personal it is. Whether it be an invitation or a ‘get well soon’ card, personal correspondence reminds people they are more than just a name on a list. It is a purposeful way of reaching out to loved ones and letting them know that they are thought of and that they matter.”

Kyle Fine Stationery first opened its doors in 2004. It sells novelty items for events — napkins, cups and other pieces that can be personalized — but at the heart of the store is what’s in its name: stationery.

“Our saying here is ‘classic taste with modern style,’ ” Kyle said. “Most of our customers have some ideas of how they want their event to go, but we have a staff here to help them plan their next step.”

Among its most popular items with customers are invitations: weddings, showers, birthday parties, cocktail parties, cookouts, pool parties — the list goes on. The information the sender includes in the invitation is important — as is the need for the recipient to respond should an RSVP be requested. Place yourself in the host’s shoes: It’s hard to properly prepare for an event if you don’t know how many are attending.

“With any invitation sent, it is polite to respond with appreciation if you can attend or not,” Kyle said.

“Etiquette is the guideline on how to conduct yourself in society and builds relationships,” she said.

“I believe it’s important to preserve the art of social grace,” Kyle said.

“There is so much history to be gained from looking at past letters.”

SHELLEY KYLE’S TIPS ON WORDING INVITATIONS: An invitation should include the following: Date • Time • Address • Host/Hostess • What to wear (style of invitation should indicate dress attire) When is it appropriate to send invitations? • Social event: Two to four weeks out • Wedding: At least four weeks; send eight weeks in advance for a holiday or destination wedding

THANK-YOU NOTES

A thank-you note should include the following: Occasion (wedding, graduation, etc.) • Name of the gift/reason for writing the thank-you • Line of gratitude (how you plan to use the gift)

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LIFESTYLES

PUTTING

mule THE

BEFORE THE CART Chuckwagon racing is a mad dash to the finish

BY STEPHEN DETHRAGE PHOTOS BY GARY COSBY JR. PHOTOS ALSO FROM ZAC SKINNER, ANDREW POLK AND GUNNER PENDLEY ere in the South, racing is usually associated with NASCAR, where drivers push cars to their mechanical limits for hundreds of miles and laps, for hours at a time in events that span multiple days.

For the Bama Mule Skinners and other chuckwagon racing teams, the art of the race is distilled into something much more simple and pure, a mad dash in an 80-pound wagon led by two mules, and it’s all over in 60 seconds or less.

Organized chuckwagon racing, as it’s known in the U.S. today, began about 35 years ago, when Dan and Peggy Eoff added excitement to a Labor Day celebration by having a few teams race wagons at their ranch in Clinton, Arkansas. The tradition persisted and grew, and out of it, the National

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LIFESTYLES

Championship Chuckwagon Races were born. A few decades later and each year, the event draws more than 20,000 people to Clinton to watch 150 teams compete in five different divisions for a shot at winning some serious prizes.

Jerry and Brenda Reese, who live in Winfield, have been either attending or participating in the races in Clinton for 30 years, and when they took their grandson Gunner Pendley to watch the spectacle, he knew being a bystander wasn’t going to be enough — he wanted to be a part of a chuckwagon team himself.

The Reeses were happy to oblige, and the family set about forming the Bama Mule Skinners. (Mule skinner is a term for a mule driver).

Each chuckwagon team has three members — a driver, a cook and an outrider — and each member has a specific role to play when it’s time to race. The driver controls the mules pulling the chuckwagon, and the outrider races on a horse.

The cook starts on the ground and begins the race by throwing a bedroll into the back of the wagon, then hops next to the driver and rides with him. All these steps must be done properly for the team to qualify. >>

Zac Spiller preps mules Jack and Jill for a ride at the stable in Winfield.

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“I was at a wagon race with my family, and that’s when I met Gunner’s grandparents. Saying yes when Jerry and Mrs. Brenda approached me, that’s the best thing I’ve done in my whole life.” –— ANDREW POLK For their driver, Gunner, Jerry and Brenda recruited Andrew Polk, a cattle farmer from Batesville, Arkansas, whose family has been involved in chuckwagon racing his entire life. They found an outrider in another Arkansan, Tyler Jackson, and the team was formed.

“I was at a wagon race with my family, and that’s when I met Gunner’s grandparents,” Polk said. “Saying yes when Jerry and Mrs. Brenda approached me, that’s the best thing I’ve done in my whole life.”

For four years, the Bama Mule Skinners were racing almost every spring and summer weekend at events in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas and beyond, and times were good. But in the summer of 2019, tragedy struck — Gunner, now 20 years old, fell off a tractor while working on a farm in Fayette County and was gravely injured. He suffered major head trauma, and his skull was fractured in multiple places.

Zac Spiller, Gunner’s best friend and a 2015 graduate of Tuscaloosa County High School, said doctors had little hope for Gunner’s survival in the immediate aftermath of the accident.

“I can remember sitting at UAB (Hospital) and them starting the conversation about declaring Gunner brain-dead and harvesting his organs for donation,” Spiller said. “I mean, he was meant to be a vegetable. Now he’s moving, he’s alert, recognizes people. It’s nothing short of a miracle.”

ABOVE: Gunner Pendley racing in an event. BELOW: Jack and Jill are the Bama Mule Skinners team.

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FROM TOP: Spiller. • Spiller and Andrew Polk in a race. • Spiller and Pendley competing.

Gunner Pendley’s road to recovery is a long one, but he is healing now at a rehabilitation center in Atlanta, and the Mule Skinners have not dissolved in his absence. Spiller took over for Gunner as the team’s cook, and they still compete regularly, except now they’re doing it for a cause.

“I race for Gunner. It’s that simple,” Polk said. “I’m the driver and I’ve got to keep this team going because one day I will have him in my wagon again.”

The Mule Skinners race in the Arkansas Chuckwagon Racing Association’s “Big Mule” division, which means their wagon is pulled by mules that are at least 52 inches tall — in this case, a brother-and-sister pair named Jack and Jill who were raised by Jerry and Brenda Reese for racing and leisure riding alike.

At the start of each race, the driver and cook take off in their 80-pound wagon while the outrider, Jackson, mounts his horse and races full speed to overtake them before the wagon can round a barrel and finish a single quartermile lap.

“As the driver, I’m the head of the Comanches,” Polk said. “And people look at the driver like they’re the cream of the crop, but in what we do, they’re not.

We’re a whole team, and your whole team has to be together to win something, to move on to the next level of competition.”

It’s a bit convoluted on paper, but it boils down to teams of three big animals and three men tearing down the track at full speed, with most races finished in under a minute. >>

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Spiller prepares to hitch the cart to the mule team. • Spiller works on the tack for the mules.

• Spiller’s belt buckle pronouncing him a race champion.

“Those wagons can make it a quarter mile in 42 seconds,” Polk said. “They only weigh 82 pounds, and they just float through the fields. When you circle that barrel, if you ain’t positioned right with your weight distributed, you’re going for a good somersault. It’s dangerous.”

Spiller knows that all too well — he was thrown from a wagon two years ago and broke his hip, but he’s back in the wagon as the Mule Skinners’ cook and races as often as he can. He said the feeling of being behind those mules or on a horse while they give it everything they’ve got is unmatched.

“For me, it’s all about the adrenaline rush,” Spiller said. “When you’re on an animal, a big creature with a mind of its own, and it’s stretched out as fast as it goes, you have this bond and trust you form. You’re flying together. It’s like no other.”

And as much fun as the team has racing, Spiller said he’s also committed to continue doing this for his friend Gunner, and for the Reeses, whom the team affectionately refers to as Nana and Pop. “They just do a whole lot for us,” Spiller said. “They own the

mules, they pay for the feed and pay for races. We absolutely wouldn’t be able to do this without those two, and they don’t want to take any prize money we earn. They just want to see the mules run.

They just want us to win for Gunner.”

Polk echoed those sentiments and said every weekend he races, it’s for Gunner and his grandparents.

“Since we started this five or six years ago, it was with Gunner,” Polk said. “I will finish this with him. I hope we will win a world championship with him, but what matters is one day, I will have him back in that wagon. I’ll never give up on that boy.”

For now, the team trains the mules and races when they can, with the same mission as always — to make it back to the National Championships in Clinton next Labor Day weekend. In the meantime, the Mule Skinners and chuckwagon racers all over the country hope and pray each day that someday soon, Gunner Pendley will be back where he belongs, flying down a field behind Jack and Jill with his friends at his side and his grandparents looking on.

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TRAVEL

THE

SIGH’STHE

LIMIT MAINE OFFERS ONE BREATHTAKING VIEW AFTER ANOTHER STORY AND PHOTOS BY BECKY HOPF

Walker’s Point, the Kennebunkport vacation home of the late President George H.W. Bush.

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St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in Kennebunkport.

Boats near an entrance to Acadia National Park.

t’s just a picture postcard everywhere you look.”

Those are words you’ll repeat — or think — over and over as you travel through Maine.

It’s nicknamed “the Lighthouse State” for a reason. The coast is painted with 65 historic lighthouses. But there’s so much more to its beauty. There’s the 47,000 acre Acadia National Park that wraps around the coast and offers breathtaking vistas. Located largely on Mount Desert Island, Acadia’s Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on the East Coast, and getting up very early to catch the sunrise there is highly recommended.

It’s a land and sea wildlife wonder, where whales frolic in the Atlantic Ocean, moose wander and can, in some places, be spotted as commonly as deer in Alabama. The coastline is rocky but the sandy beach areas offer up treasures, like sea glass.

The towns and villages along the coast are, in a word, charming. You’ll pass so many homes and churches that are hundreds of years old and meticulously maintained.

And the food? Lobster is king and it is everywhere, including roadside shacks that are among the most popular seafood dining experiences.

Depending on the time of year you visit, outdoor activities are abundant. There are sleigh rides, dog sledding, snow tubing, sledding, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, Nordic skiing and maybe just wadding up a big ole snowball and throwing it at your loved ones. Snow in Maine in the winter is a given. Spring and summer activities include kayaking, canoeing, swimming, sailing, whale watching, hopping on a lobster boat and observing the lobstermen catch your lunch, hiking, taking a carriage ride, rafting, bird watching — the list goes on and on. One offbeat activity that’s actually a thing is hunting for abandoned 1920s train cars in the woods along logging roads. >>

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TRAVEL

A popular spot in Acadia National Park.

Paul Bunyan statue in Bangor.

Stephen King’s house in Bangor.

It may be one of the most relaxing vacations you can take even though you will find something to do all day and night long. Timing is perhaps key. Once mid-June hits, through Labor Day, the more popular areas will be crowded. Our trip was the first week in June, just before the tourist season really set in. One suggestion is to wait until Memorial Day if you’re planning a summer visit because a lot of the stores, restaurants and tourist destinations are seasonal.

There’s also a plethora of antique stores, and, because it’s a tourist destination, the hours they are open are very accommodating. On a Sunday, on our drive from Bar Harbor to Boston, we stopped at several along the way as many were open as early as 10 a.m. on a Sunday.

Want to visit Maine? Here are some recommendations from our June trip:

How to get there: For the truly adventurous, drive. It’s about a 20-hour-drive from Tuscaloosa. This is recommended only if you really, really love your family or fellow passengers. We flew in and out of Boston. You can also fly into Portland or Bangor, Maine, or Manchester, New Hampshire. As it is from Boston, it is a quick drive from Manchester into Maine. If you do drive through Massachusetts, check ahead about the toll road situation. They no longer take cash, so, depending on the roads you take, you may want to get a toll pass in advance or at the rental car counter.

Among the favorite places we visited:

Acadia National Park: Mount Desert Island, near Bar Harbor. Woods, water, wildlife, Acadia has the outdoors covered.

Sit on rocks and watch, and hear, ocean waves crashing against nearby rocks. Drive up to Cadillac Mountain, park, and take a short (mostly very flat) walk for panoramic views of land and water. And, totally recommended, stop in the park at Carriage Rides of Acadia. We took the bridge tour that takes you along a carriage road that was on the Rockefeller property and winds you, in a horse-drawn carriage, past stone bridges more than a century old. Funny note: The carriage we took had several people from Alabama on it, including one of the two carriage drivers. It seated 10, and something like seven passengers were from Alabama.

Bar Harbor: • We stayed downtown at The Grand Hotel, Bar Harbor, 269 Main St. It was a perfect location because we could shop and it was just a short walk back to the hotel to drop off what we bought and head back out again. Bar Harbor is not very big, so it’s easy to walk around for shopping. Lots of dining options, including right on the water. The only negative is that it’s perhaps a little too dog friendly. So many people and their dogs, large and small, walking the streets and in the restaurants.

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Bangor: • The Paul Bunyan statue. The statue is 31 feet tall and was built in 1959. It’s located on 519 Main St. and is a roadside sideshow that you need to witness.

• Stephen King’s house. 47 West Broadway. It’s near downtown Bangor. He still owns it but apparently recently moved to another house, probably because people like me love to stop by and view it. The home itself is a lovely, rambling, brick Victorian. But it’s the iron fencing and gate that will remind you that this author of most of our favorite horror stories (and movies) is ever so clever. The fence has gargoyles and spider-web formations.

Kennebunkport: A must. Perhaps most famous as being the family vacation home for two former U.S. presidents, it’s a definite Maine destination. The Bush compound is on Walker’s Point off Ocean Avenue. You can’t drive up to the compound — and it is a compound, made up of several structures — but, the next-best thing, you can pull over and park across the water from it. The signs say you can only pull over for 15 minutes, which is all you’ll really need to view it and take photos. And, depending on when you go, expect to have to make a couple of drive-bys before you can find a parking spot. You won’t be the only ones stopping. And, while you’re on the two-lane road, be sure to check out the homes you can get close to. Most are older but majorly large and swoonworthy, from the architecture to the envy-inducing ocean views the homeowners have. >>

Bar Harbor.

Barnacle Billy’s in Ogunquit.

The historic Colony Hotel in Kennebunkport.

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• The Colony Hotel, 140 Ocean Ave. This is definitely one of the “picture postcard” sigh-producing sites from land or sea.

Originally under a different name, it was opened in 1914, and, according to a post on its website, then you could get a room for $5 or $10, the latter offering the best ocean views. It’s sprawling and classic and $5 will barely get you a soda there now. Even if you don’t stay there, you can dine there. We ate lunch outdoors, near poolside, overlooking the ocean and enjoying the lobster bisque.

• Mabel’s Lobster Claw, 124 Ocean Ave. This is one of the seasonal restaurants and won’t reopen until April 2020. Said to be a favorite of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, it was a favorite of ours as well. It’s not very big, so you may want to call ahead to see if you can get a reservation. And it’s by no means upscale. But the food and the service were great.

• Shopping: Lots to choose from at stores with upscale clothing and gift items, souvenir shops that weren’t Gatlinburg-esque, art stores, and more.

Maine has no shortage of quaint harbors filled with docked boats.

Ogunquit: Ogunquit is a quaint seaside village with harbor sites that will make you, yes, sigh. It was our first stop when we arrived in Maine that evening.

• Barnacle Billy’s, 50-70 Perkins Cove Road. Seasonal. Our first meal in Maine — and we went with lobster and clam chowder.

Both got two thumbs, or in this case, claws, up. It’s on a harbor, and, in early June, the outside temperature was in the very low 60s and inside a fire was burning in the fireplace in the main dining area. (You can also eat outside on the deck, when the weather is behaving.) You walk in and order at a counter, grab your utensils and head to the dining area. According to its website, 2020 will mark its 59th season.

Wells: • Maine Diner, 2265 Post Road. We stumbled on this roadside diner by accident for breakfast one morning and, once inside, discovered it had been featured on The Food Network. Its sign advertises breakfast and lobster “anytime,” which just shows you how serious Maine is about lobster, seeing as the diner is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. We, however, chose the former, opting for the more traditional breakfast fare and enjoyed it.

York:

A carriage ride through Acadia National Park.

The view from a bench in Bar Harbor.

• Cape Neddick Nubble Lighthouse, Sohier Park, York Beach.

Said to be one of the most-photographed lighthouses in Maine.

You can only view it from across an inlet because it’s surrounded by rocks. The beach area near the park is said to be a good site to find sea glass.

These were just a few of our stops. We were gone six days, with two nights in Kennebunkport, two in Bar Harbor and one in Boston. We kept our visit to the coastal areas, but, part of the appeal to visiting New England is you can move around, even to different states, in no time and with relative ease, so you can customize your own trip. We chose not to go to one of Maine’s most famous shopping destinations, L.L. Bean in Freeport, though I suspect its iconic giant shoe in front of the store would fit Paul Bunyan.

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Toning TO THE BEAT OF DRUMSTICKS POUND FITNESS TAKES CARDIO TO YOUR CORE

BY AMY ROBINSON PHOTOS BY GARY COSBY JR. etting a bit bored with yoga? Or not sure you’re ready for high-intensity cardio or weight-lifting? Then Pound may be what you’ve been looking for.

“It is a full-body cardio workout that brings in the fun of drumming,” said Amy Martin, who by day is director of communications for advancement at the University of Alabama but, as fitness is her passion, also teaches classes at the Tuscaloosa YMCA. In December, she started teaching Pound on Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m.

“It is a 45- to 60-minute workout and it’s full-body cardio. It brings in strength and conditioning and is kind of based around yoga and Pilates moves. And it’s just a really fun class.”

In 2011, two former college athletes who were recreational drummers created Pound after they realized what a workout they got when they had to drum without sitting.

Martin said unlike running or cycling, Pound engages muscles you don’t use every day: “The next day you’re like, ‘Oh, I didn’t even know I had a muscle there.’ ” If you’ve watched the scene on the TV show “This Is Us” when one of the characters, Kate Pearson, uses the drumsticks in a fitness class, you’ve seen this workout in action.

“That was legit Pound,” Martin said.

In the scene, Kate’s holding the iconic bright green Ripstix,

which are special drumsticks that weigh a quarter of a pound each. Pound participants use them to help with tone and arm movement, Martin said. “It’s this extra extension to your limbs and so it really causes you to kind of focus on making sure that you are engaging your core. And so then for the lower body, there’s a lot of squats, and we’re hitting the sticks up in the air and then squatting all the way down and hitting them on the floor, there’s lunges where we’re hitting on the floor … we do one that’s seated and so that’s really a lot of core engagement,” she said. “It’s a full-body jam session.”

Local gyms and the YMCA where Martin leads classes provide Ripstix, but, if you want a set of your own for use in class or at home, you can purchase them online at the Pound website, www.poundfit.com.

“It’s a lot more fun when you’re surrounded by people who are getting into it just like you are … the mood is amped up so much more than doing it at home,” Martin said. “I want people to experience it. Definitely I would not want someone to just try it at home and never come to a class. It’s like when you go see a band and you’re the only person there, versus when you go to a concert and it’s totally packed.”

Don’t worry if you’re uncoordinated. Rhythm is not a requirement.

“Everybody is not going to hit the beat every time, it’s fine,” Martin said. “You just have your own ‘drum solo’ and everybody’s paying attention to what they’re doing. They’re not paying attention to their neighbor. It’s just a welcoming environment, I think. It’s fun first and then fitness.” >>

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“It is a 45- to 60-minute workout and it’s full-body cardio. It brings in strength and conditioning and is kind of based around yoga and Pilates moves.And it’s just a really fun class.”

— AMY MARTIN

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Pound fitness instructor Amy Martin shows some of the moves she teaches in her class at the YMCA.

And you don’t have to worry about whether you can keep up.

“There’s tons of room for modification,” Martin said. “I always tell people, you do what your body can do. Don’t try and do what I’m doing, what your neighbor is doing, because I don’t ever want people to feel intimidated or like they can’t keep up or … I don’t want them to come in and feel badly that they can’t do what somebody else in the class is doing. I want them to leave feeling uplifted that they did something good for their body, what their body is able to do. And that goes for any age.”

In fact, Martin learned about this workout when Tuscaloosa Magnet School had a day where parents could watch their kids’ physical education class, and one activity was Pound. “The kids were having a blast — I mean just the sound — any time you hear the sound of drumming, it just lifts your spirits.”

This mental boost is one of the benefits.

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“It’s like going to a concert and you have the full ability to dance like a fool and move around, and sometimes there’s people singing with the music, it’s just everything that you want to be able to do when you hear a really great song,” Martin said. “It’s a great stress reliever.”

“You don’t realize that it’s a workout, it’s just coming together as a group and just having fun, and so there’s just that camaraderie together and because there’s so much room for modification, no one feels left out. One of (Pound’s) key values is that we love our bodies while wanting to improve our health.”

Participants can keep the intensity lower if they like, but can potentially burn quite a few calories, “depending on if you involve the jumping, if you’re lunging all the way to the floor,” Martin said.

“It is what you put into it.”

Checking the total on her phone app, Martin, who is a certified Pound instructor, said that at an all-day Pound Pro training class, she burned 1,220 calories in a little over eight hours. “Needless to say, I sat down for the rest of the evening.”

“But it’s just so fun,” she continued. “That kind of workout where like when you go dancing or when I take my kids to the trampoline park, you don’t realize the benefit because you’re just having so much fun — and that’s what I love about Pound, because I really think that it will draw in people who are intimidated by being in the gym and around weights, or don’t want to come and do HIIT (high-intensity interval training) classes or cardio classes or if yoga is too boring for them. I think it’s just come and have fun. You get to beat up the mat and get your stress out.”

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THE

BEST

OF BOTH WORLDS

PADDLEBOARD YOGA COMBINES TWO POPULAR FITNESS WORKOUTS

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Ashlie Bowman demonstrates paddleboard yoga on Lake Nicol.

f you’re looking to ramp up your yoga routine and you love the outdoors, you may want to give paddleboard yoga a try.

It’s just what it sounds like: yoga done on a paddleboard on the water. This can be a lot of fun but also a great workout.

“It’s quite challenging in some ways,” said Ashlie Bowman, a yoga instructor at the University of Alabama Recreation Center. Bowman is among those teaching the newly added paddleboard yoga classes there.

The classes begin and end gently. “I call this a ‘slow burn,’ ” Bowman said. You won’t be working out like you’re in a spin class, but you will be sweating a little, she said. “This really works your upper body and core.”

“My first time paddleboarding was very casual,” Bowman said. She’d seen it online, and went with a small group to Lake Tuscaloosa and rented paddleboards to learn what it was all about. “It was a lot of fun.”

It’s similar to regular yoga in that it builds balance, strength and flexibility, and relieves stress, Bowman said.

It has the same social aspect, the same team bonding. >>

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But adding the paddleboard adds an extra physical challenge, because you’re even more focused on staying upright.

It’s especially good for building core strength and balance.

“Even as an instructor, poses that would be easier in yoga are harder on a paddleboard,” Bowman said.

How does it compare to kayaking, for instance? “It’s a lot less stable and you can’t move as fast,” she said. Plus while kayaking is done seated and works mainly the upper body, paddleboard yoga isn’t focused on one particular area. “It’s a full-body workout for sure.”

One caveat: It’s seasonal. “We do it in warmer months,” she said.

What to wear? “Anything you are comfortable getting wet in — I prefer shorts.”

Bowman says some bodies of water are more yoga-friendly than others.

“You probably can’t do it in a pool,” Bowman said, unless you have your own. A public pool would create some logistics and safety issues with the presence of other people, plus you might fall onto the surrounding concrete.

Some people like the ocean. Bowman said she prefers lakes to rivers because rivers have current, and there’s a lot

more traffic. Around Tuscaloosa, Lake Nicol and Lake Harris are popular spots for paddleboard yoga.

Several local venues can help if you’re new to the sport.

The UA Rec Center’s classes provide supervision and training, or you can rent a paddleboard and go it alone through the Park and Recreation Center or a commercial rental service.

Some equipment is required. For its classes, the Rec Center provides the paddleboard and paddle, and the PFD (personal flotation device), Bowman said.

Paddleboards vary by how much weight they can carry, and how wide they are. The wider the board, the more stable it is. Yoga paddleboards, as opposed to surf-style or others, are best for paddleboard yoga because they have wide deck pads and offer better grip for various yoga positions, according to the Pro Tips section of dickssportinggoods.com.

And they aren’t all the typical fiberglass boards you see strapped to the top of someone’s car. Inflatable paddleboards are available in different sizes, and can be rolled up and carried in a bag. Inflatables are a great style for beginners, according to the website, as they tend to be long and wide (thus more stable) and also are softer in case of falls. >>

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For the UA classes, participants meet at the outdoor Rec Center, then drive to Lake Nicol, Bowman said. First the group paddles around the lake to get the feel of the board, then there’s 45 minutes of yoga on the board. The whole thing takes three and a half to four hours, she said.

The classes are taught by a trained instructor. “We have an outdoor recreation staff member in the kayak who’s there to help if someone falls in,” Bowman said. “And we’re all CPR-certified.”

The actual yoga doesn’t involve any paddling because it would be hard to hold the pose at the same time. When it’s time for the yoga, the boards are clipped together so they don’t drift away.

The evening classes provide a nice reward at the end of all the hard work: Just like in a studio, the participants practice relaxation, but the effect is quite different on the paddleboard in the peaceful outdoors at sunset.

For this activity, it helps if you already do yoga, but you don’t have to be an expert. When the Rec Center staff was learning,

they had a lot of fun — and fell a lot. But that’s fine. “If you fall, there’s no consequences,” Bowman said.

You can learn in stages, and you get more comfortable with the board the more you’re on it, Bowman said. When the staff first got on the water, they were afraid to stand up, she said.

When your center of gravity is lower, it’s easier. As beginners,

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they started with yoga poses like the corpse pose, which is basically just lying down on the board. Gradually they mastered standing and moving.

“Then we started progressing and suggesting poses to each other,” Bowman said. “It’s like kids on a trampoline — you start out a little nervous, then it’s like, ‘What can we get away with?’ ” Bowman has been teaching yoga specifically for three years.

She first learned about yoga itself, then learned to teach others.

Her advice? “If you’re a beginner, don’t take it too seriously.”

Also: “You will fall.”

Above all, Bowman said, is to just relax and have fun. Her tips: • Expect to get wet.

• Try not to fall into another person.

• Don’t take yourself or anyone else too seriously.

Also, don’t compare yourself to others. Yoga is not about being competitive. “You can set intentions for yourself,” Bowman said, such as holding a pose for a certain length of time, but it isn’t meant to be a goal-oriented fitness routine. “It’s mental, physical and spiritual, as internal as it is external,” she said. “You’re not working toward anything; there is no right or wrong way of doing a pose, as long as you’re safe.”

And don’t be intimidated by those photos or videos you’ve seen on social media. “For every perfect photo, there’s probably 50 outtakes,” she said.

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STYLE

Kevin and Carson McNeal Age: 17

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STYLE

Harley and Tyler McNeal Age: 13

THE

MORE, THE

merrier

They come in duplicate, triplicate and, in the case of Broox, Virginia, Rainer and Jane Garrett, quadruplicate. The miracle of birth has gone above and beyond for some families in Tuscaloosa and West Alabama to the delight — and at times the exhaustion — of the parents. For the kids (of all ages), the resounding shared opinion is their love of having a built-in, lifelong best friend.

“It’s kind of crazy, something once in a lifetime. It’s fun getting to have the same friend and being together all the time.” — TYLER MCNEAL, TWIN TO SISTER HARLEY MCNEAL “With the first set, we found out we were expecting twins early on. The second set? We were shocked. I remember when I had the ultrasound, the technician didn’t say anything. Then all of a sudden, Kareem (her husband) looked at the screen and said, ‘Is that another one?’ They’re four years apart. The older two were were very good babysitters even at 4 years old. You could run take a very quick shower or leave the room for a minute and know they’d be watching the other two.” — RENE MCNEAL, MOTHER, WITH HUSBAND, KAREEM, TO NOT ONE BUT TWO SETS OF TWINS, BORN FOUR YEARS APART

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STYLE

Lauren Holdefer Penuel and Erin Holdefer Kightlinger Age: 37

“When we were young, we were very close. Mom and Dad said we had our own language. As we grew up and separated and went in our own directions, we weren’t as close just because we weren’t together all the time. Now that we are both back in Tuscaloosa, we talk and text every day. Our four boys are always playing together. We’re closer now than we’ve ever been. We give each other parenting, marriage and life advice.” — ERIN HOLDEFER KIGHTLINGER “We both have our own sets of friends, but she’s always been my built-in best friend. I know at the end of the day we’ll always have each other to depend on and to share things with.” – LAUREN HOLDEFER PENUEL

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STYLE

Jonathan and Andrew Gamble Age: 17

“Everything is a competition. One of us always has to beat the other. I’m normally the winner — of course.”

— JONATHAN GAMBLE, BORN THREE MINUTES BEFORE HIS BROTHER, ANDREW “If he has a song in his head, I can be on the other side of school, and it’s in my head as well. If I have a song stuck in my head, we’ll get in the truck together and we’ll both say play that (same) song on the radio.”

— ANDREW GAMBLE 79

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STYLE

Gary and Alan Richardson Age: 55

“When we were in high school and junior high, we would come out of our rooms in the morning and, I swear, we’d be wearing the same thing. We’d both go back immediately and change.”

— ALAN RICHARDSON, ON THE TWIN BROTHERS’ DISLIKE OF DRESSING ALIKE, DESPITE THEIR MOTHER’S EFFORTS TO DRESS THEM ALIKE THROUGHOUT THEIR CHILDHOOD

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EJ and Talia Dudley Age: 8

“He’s a big silly. He does jokes and sometimes he pretends he’s somebody else. I think he’s funny.” — TALIA DUDLEY, ON HER BROTHER, EJ “I like being her brother. When I’m around her, I always want to play, but sometimes she doesn’t want to play. I like to fix things, and I like it when she helps me. Sometimes I’ll be in bed trying to talk to her and she’ll be asleep. I have to say, ‘Talia. TALIA!’ And she likes JoJo Siwa (a popular 16-year-old dancer, singer and actress). And sometimes she’s funny, but not as funny as me.” — EJ DUDLEY

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STYLE

Michael “Butch” Elkins and Sherry Jane Elkins Phillips Age: 72

“She’s my older sister. I always like to remind her of that.” — “BUTCH” ELKINS, WHO LIKES TO TEASE HIS TWIN SISTER, WHO WAS BORN FIVE MINUTES BEFORE HIM

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Whit and Elis Browder Age: 1

“We call Elis ‘Funny Man.’ He’s always trying to get you to laugh at him. We call Whit ‘Wild Man.’ He is wide open.”

— MOLLY BROWDER, MOTHER OF ELIS AND WHIT BROWDER (DAD IS CLETE BROWDER)

Carley and Carey Browder Age: 21

“You’re going to be really close and have so much fun growing up together.”

— CAREY BROWDER, ON HER ADVICE TO HER YOUNG TWIN COUSINS, ELIS AND WHIT BROWDER “Have fun. Don’t get frustrated when people can’t tell you apart.”

— CARLEY BROWDER, ON HER ADVICE TO HER BABY COUSINS, ELIS AND WHIT BROWDER 83

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STYLE

Donna McCrackin Tidmore, Diane McCrackin Pounders and Denise McCrackin Owen • Age: 43 “They told my mother she was having twins, but I was the big surprise when she got to the hospital. We were only the second set of triplets ever born at DCH. The first set were boys born 20 years before. The Tuscaloosa News came to our house and took pictures of us and of all the baby bottles.”

— DIANE POUNDERS

Tristan and Ty Tidmore Age: 7

“I was two months pregnant when I found out I was having twins. I was just thankful it was two instead of three.”

— DONNA MCCRACKIN TIDMORE, A TRIPLET WHO IS A MOTHER TO TWINS

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STYLE

FIRST ROW, FROM LEFT: Alexandra and Victoria Allen; Bailey and Riley Lake; Bella and India Tucker; Beau and Ian Renfroe; triplets Rhett, Renley and Reed Rushing; Loren and Lucie Sylla; Amani and Amari Powell.

SECOND ROW, FROM LEFT: Beau and Luke Irby; Karter and Kirsten May; triplets Jacob, Jason and Jaxon Dunkin; RiLee and Reaghan Davis; Lawson and Levi Sullivan.

THIRD ROW, FROM LEFT: Azra and Meyra

Yavuz; quadruplets Broox, Virginia, Rainer and Jane Garrett; Callyn and Hayden Christman; Lindley Kate and Ellie Boulware; Kenzee and Harlee Robertson; John Watts and James Hagood; Ava and Triniti Johnson; triplets Mariyah, Mason and Mattison Reed.

FOURTH ROW, FROM LEFT: Mary Elizabeth and Mitchell McCracken; Matthew and Maxwell McCracken (yes, two sets of McCracken twins!); two of the three triplets Abby and Ashley Simpson (brother Adam Huckabee is standing

behind them); Salada and Valada Mack; Sherry Jane Elkins Phillips and Michael Wayne “Butch” Elkins; Kami Drane Combs and Tami Drane Hunter; Caroline (being held by Kami Combs) and Sadie Colbert (being held by Tami Hunter).

BACK ROW, FROM LEFT: Ashley Green and Amy Grace Green; Adam Huckabee (triplet whose sisters are Abby and Ashley Simpson, standing in the row in front of him); Jeromy and Justin Johnson, Gary and Alan Richardson, Quanah and Kai Irwin.

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6

INTRIGUING

PEOPLE

Meet six folks who make a difference in our communities

RICKY McKINNEY

Pastor/historymaking municipal court judge

FRANK WINGARD Woodworker

JONATHAN KING

Creative director of Alabama football

CRYSTAL OATS

Basketball ďŹ rst lady/nurse/ cancer survivor

SOAPY JONES

Entertainer

CYNTHIA SCOTT Documentarian

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SIX INTRIGUING PEOPLE

NO. 1

Ricky

McKINNEY W PASTOR/HISTORY-MAKING MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE

BY STAN GRIFFIN PHOTO BY GARY COSBY JR.

ith Tuscaloosa celebrating its bicentennial in 2019, a key focus of the observance has been past and present leaders who have played integral roles in shaping the “Druid City” into such a dynamic and diverse one.

Tuscaloosa Municipal Court Judge Ricky J. McKinney, a 61-year-old native of Talladega County, defines that description of those with a large impact, not only in his role as the city’s first African American municipal court judge but also as pastor of Weeping Mary Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa.

McKinney, who has practiced law since 1986, was sworn in as municipal court judge on Jan. 5, 2015. He was installed as the fifth pastor of Weeping Mary Baptist Church on March 25, 2012, after having served as pastor of First Missionary Baptist Church in Munford.

McKinney has built an impressive resume, particularly when it comes to higher education.

He holds a bachelor of arts degree with a concentration in history, business administration and politics from Talladega College; a master’s degree in public policy and administration from Mississippi State University, where he was a Robert F. Kennedy Scholar; and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Alabama School of Law. He’s also completed numerous other studies and levels of education related to his acclaimed career in law and religion.

McKinney, who has been married to Nannette Gooden McKinney for 35 years and is the father of three, said he learned from an early age the importance and love of education, as well as religious faith.

“My dad (Frank McKinney) stressed education because he didn’t get much education himself, and I think he finished the eighth grade,” he said. “I come from a huge Baptist family. I have three or four uncles that were Baptist pastors. It was four of five of us brothers who were Baptist pastors, and I also had cousins who were Baptist pastors. My uncle, he didn’t go to church much at all, but he always said I ought not to talk so much, and that I should be a preacher or a lawyer. I guess he had it pegged just right.”

McKinney said he was greatly interested in the field of law early in life.

Name: Ricky J. McKinney Age: 61

Hometown: Talladega

Personal: Wife, Nannette McKinney; son, Micah; daughter, Tiffaney; son, Joshua.

People who have influenced my life: My wife, my father, my brothers and sisters (all 15!), the Rev. J.L. Simpson and Ryan DeGraffenried.

Something people don’t know about me: I love to bake cakes.

My proudest achievement: My salvation first, my family second.

Why I do what I do: I really love what I do. I love the practice of law because I love helping people and looking for justice, but she is often difficult to find.

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“I always wanted to be a lawyer,” he said.

“I think what had a lot to do with it was the era that I grew up in, and we weren’t allowed to go too many places. I kind of thought that things should be a little bit better, and by the time I had gotten grown, things had gotten better, but I still wanted to be a lawyer. I practiced law with the public defender’s office for about five years (in Tuscaloosa) and I had an opportunity to really make an impact on people’s lives and to try to help people who got in trouble.”

While his interest in the legal world was fairly immediate, he admits his calling as a pastor took a bit more time.

“I feel like I’ve been running from that all

my life,” said McKinney. “I had a lot of family members (who were pastors) and I went to church and enjoyed church and I enjoyed my family, but I never really thought about being a pastor. It was on me for a long time, and eventually I just accepted the calling in 1998.

I got my first church in 1999. I felt a whole lot better and I feel like a weight was off my shoulders because I got tired of running.”

Although happy with his role as pastor and that his church has enjoyed significant growth since his arrival, many city residents may still know him primarily as “Judge McKinney.” He said he is honored to have that role, especially considering the significant historical status of his position in

Tuscaloosa.

“It means a whole lot, especially this year because this is the 200th-year celebration of the city, and it was just an honor for me to become the city judge, but a double honor for me to become the first African American municipal court judge,” said McKinney. “It’s been a great honor. I’ve always wanted to be a judge, but I think this (role) is where I really needed to be because it fits well with the church. I have time to do both of these, and also I see more people in this courtroom probably than any other judge in this county.

Just about everybody can get a ticket, and it’s a chance to see so many people and help so many people.”

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SIX INTRIGUING PEOPLE

NO. 2

Frank

WINGARD WOODWORKER

BY KELCEY SEXTON PHOTOS BY GARY COSBY JR.

T

o say that woodworking runs in the Wingard family is not an exaggeration. Like his father, Frank Wingard is a woodworker, and his son carries on

that tradition as well.

“Woodworking kind of gets into your blood, I think,” said Wingard, 67.

In 1975, Wingard opened Wingard Custom Woodcraft, which served Tuscaloosa for more than 25 years.

Then in 2010, he and his son, Alon, formed Wingard Custom Woodworks in Tuscaloosa after Alon graduated from the University of Alabama with a bachelor of fine arts degree in sculpting. The two specialize in building custom furniture and cabinetry as well as antique restoration.

Wingard learned his craft at a young age.

“I tell people I know kitchen cabinets inside and out because my first job, my daddy gave me a pencil and a flashlight, opened the door to a base cabinet, and put me inside the cabinet,” he said, explaining how he’d mark things up for his dad. “So I was a little bitty thing … I’ve been doing it a long time.”

Wingard said he swore he was going to do something different once he graduated high school in McKenzie. In 1973, he became a police officer in Montgomery, and was a Methodist preacher on weekends.

Though he enjoyed what he did and “was aware he was doing good … it wasn’t tangible,” he said, and he felt himself drawn back to woodworking.

While sharing his testimony in Tuscaloosa, Wingard met his first wife, Lisa, with whom he would have three children. The two married in Montgomery, then moved to Tuscaloosa.

After 14 years together, the couple separated, which led Wingard down a dark path.

He began using drugs and alcohol to cope with their divorce.

“I don’t know how many years I was out there, and somehow I managed to keep Wingard Woodcraft going,” he said. “I don’t know how I did it — just by the mercy of God. I struggled trying to quit alcohol and drug addiction.”

Wingard said that with the help of Phoenix House of Tuscaloosa, he overcame his addictions. In 2009, he entered the Phoenix House for the last time and has been sober ever since.

“That was my new beginning,” he said.

In 2015, Wingard began attending Tuscaloosa’s Christ Episcopal Church, where he said he felt accepted, not only into the church but also back into the community.

Later, he got the opportunity to build a piece for the church that holds great significance for him.

“In the middle of (the ambry) was a piece of wood that I carried around for like 30 years in about every place I had moved, because after becoming an alcoholic and drug addict, I moved around to different

shops,” he said. “I carried around this piece of wood with me every place I went, and after I had gotten into recovery and we started this business, they asked me to do that job. My son said, ‘Why don’t you put that piece of wood in that door front?’ ” Wingard said once he put the two halves of the wood piece together, “you could see an angel standing in that piece of wood.”

Through Christ Episcopal, he met his future wife, Beverly Phifer. They had been dating for about a year when Phifer was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. She was losing hope in the hospital, Wingard said.

Her kidneys were failing, and she was on dialysis.

“It was Christmastime, and I told her, ‘You ain’t giving up. I want you to be my wife,’ ” he said, and he proposed to her in the hospital. “There was a fight that started.

She wanted to live.”

The two married between Phifer’s chemotherapy treatments. They celebrate their anniversary on March 18, which also happens to be their shared birthday. Phifer is now cancer-free.

“God’s grace and mercy is absolutely amazing,” Wingard said.

In 2010, after a year of sobriety, he and Alon began their business partnership as Wingard Custom Woodworks.

“It was just a wonderful combination of woodworking and being able to work with my son, kind of passing this woodworking down to the next generation,” Wingard said.

“We love doing unique things. I just have

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Name: Frank Wingard Age: 67 Hometown: McKenzie Personal: Beverly Phifer Wingard, wife; Paloma Wingard, daughter; Alon Wingard, son; Elena Wingard, daughter.

People who have influenced my life: Of course, my father. I’ve had a lot of men that have been influential: Dan Livingston, Mr. Emmett Dendy — he was like my second father, he and I went through a lot together — Ronny Colvin, Mr. Bill Mitchell, Price McGiffert, Mr. James Fitts — there have just been so many.

focused on quality and doing the very best job I can do, and that’s the way my business has built itself. People that really want quality, they call me.”

Their work can be found across Tuscaloosa, including the Paul W. Bryant Museum, the Junior League of Tuscaloosa building and the NorthRiver Yacht Club’s golf clubhouse. The late Jack Warner designed the entry of the clubhouse and ordered two sets of wooden “curtains.” These were large wooden pieces carved to look like fabric curtains pulled back into what became a doorway, Wingard said.

But when the 200-year-old pieces arrived, Warner realized he had only one set. He came to the shop, requesting a second set of wooden curtains be made.

“It was an amazing compliment from someone that admired my artistic work, but he looked at what we had started (during a visit) and said, ‘I didn’t know we had anybody in Tuscaloosa that could do this, carve like this,’ ” Wingard said.

The curtains were painted to look like fabric, and it was impossible to tell the difference between the two sets when the job was done, he said.

“The day Mr. Warner asked us to do this, I wasn’t real sure about my abilities, but I knew that (Alon) could do it. … It was really neat to see my son sculpting this thing out, and it was a real wonderful feeling.”

Upon request, the two have even built custom wooden boxes for people to place their pet’s ashes. One customer’s dog loved a chest of drawers so much that she asked for the piece of furniture to be made into a coffin for him.

No matter the project, though, the process starts with an understanding of how the piece is going to be used, then a detailed drawing.

“It’s almost like you’re building the piece of furniture in your mind and on paper before you cut any of the wood,” Wingard said.

Once the details are finalized, they go by the plans to cut the individual pieces and start assembling or restoring the piece.

“I love seeing people happy about something that I’ve restored. … It’s about other people,” he said.

“I say now that what I do in woodworking is take something that God created and polish it up a little bit and put it on display. And that’s what (God) does with us.”

Something people don’t know about me: Maybe that I wish I could sing. I love singing, and I play the guitar a little bit, but I always had this hidden desire to be a singer.

(Also, one of his ancestors was hired

by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark as a guide for the Meriwether Trail. He was paid with about 1,000 acres of land in Pike County for his work. The town of Wingard, Alabama, is named after him.)

My proudest achievement: Raising these three children and being able to pass my trade down to my son, but the most difficult thing that I’ve ever accomplished is sobriety. But the thing I’m most proud of is these children and my grandchildren, and of course, my wife. This relationship with her really has changed my life.

She’s the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.

Why I do what I do: Seeing people’s faces light up, I think that’s what makes me want to do what I do.

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SIX INTRIGUING PEOPLE

NO. 3

JonathanKING

CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF ALABAMA FOOTBALL

BY STEPHEN DETHRAGE PHOTO BY GARY COSBY JR.

T

he Alabama football program is tremendous and vast, and for every household name such as Nick Saban or Tua Tagovailoa, dozens more extremely talented people operate outside the public view to ensure that every front-

facing facet of the Crimson Tide is gleaming gorgeously.

Take Jonathan King — most Alabama fans likely have never heard his name, but hundreds of thousands, if not millions, have seen the fruits of his labor.

King is the creative director of Alabama football, where he oversees the implementation of the Tide’s video production and social media strategy all the way down to the design of its programs and season passes.

If the public sees it and it bears the official Alabama Football brand, chances are good

King either designed it or green-lit it.

King spent seven years working with Crimson Tide Productions before spending four more heading the creative team for Tennessee football. When he came back to Tuscaloosa in 2017, the culture had changed here — everyone was beginning to realize the value of an ace creative team, especially in recruiting efforts.

Crimson Tide Productions was tasked with the creative work of the “Olympic sports,” including men’s basketball, women’s basketball, soccer, volleyball, gymnastics, softball

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and baseball, but football had its own creative team, and King is its head.

King said presenting the team in the best way possible is not unlike playing on it, taking a page out of Saban’s book to describe how things are run.

“It’s not about me. This content is incredible, creative, progressive content only because we have an incredible team, because we have a coach that is so focused not only on the outcome but the process,” King said.

“Day in, day out, we try to approach what we do the exact same way the team approaches what they do. It’s a process, it’s not about the likes, it’s not about how much we generate. We don’t try to pump out content at a rapid pace just to get reactions and interaction. We put up content when we feel like it will get the best results for the team.”

That’s a point of pride for King — representing the team in the same way the team itself operates. When it comes to deciding what moments should be captured in highlight reels and what players should be featured in a victory tweet, going into each game with a plan is key.

“We try to come up with every possible scenario, then we try to come up with every reaction we would have to them. It makes us prepared and it gives the opportunity to come up with some really clever content,” King said.

He mentioned last year’s SEC Championship Game against Georgia and said long before kickoff, his team was fantasizing about what an amazing story could come of Jalen Hurts stepping up to win the game, just as Tagovailoa had done for Hurts the year before.

“In the game, when Tua goes down, I said, ‘Here we go. Hollywood ending, it’s about to happen,’ ” King said.

The story unfolded in exactly the best way it could have, and King’s crew released photos and captions, posts, tweets and videos celebrating it, executed quickly and professionally because they had already prepared for the eventuality.

King said the work can become cyclical, prepping each year for the regular season, award season and postseason, National Signing Day and SEC Media Days, but cyclical does not mean boring.

“I personally hold a great deal of weight and personal responsibility with every post we make, and I never want to get to the point where I don’t feel that way about this stuff, because our team deserves it and our fans deserve it,” King said.

King said he takes pride in mentoring creative designers who start as interns at Alabama and go on to work across the country, now leading their own programs at Washington, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, South Carolina, Georgia Tech and more. As much pride, though, also comes from being part of something as great and generational as the current Alabama football program.

“My pride is in the fact that we have our finger on the pulse of what Alabama truly is,” King said. “We have our finger on the pulse of what this team, what Coach Saban and what these players represent. We take that incredibly seriously.”

Name: Jonathan King Age: 37 Hometown: Tuscaloosa Personal: Wife, Kathleen Bissot King; children, Kara, 8, Hannah Claire, 7, and Kabis, 4.

People who have influenced my life: My wife, Kathleen, believed in me from Day 1. When we were newly married, she bought me my first Mac Pro computer — which started our whole adventure. One of the biggest influences on my design career has been Buddy Overstreet. Buddy was the creative director when I first started working as a student at UA. I was able to work with and learn from him from 2005-12, and his influence on my creative process and eye for design is pretty evident. I can’t go without also mentioning Rick Dowling and Chris McCown. They worked in the TV ministry for FBC Tuscaloosa when I was beginning college. They allowed me to learn about the more technical side of video and design and gave me a strong foundation that prepared me to take advantage of the opportunity at Alabama when it became available.

Something people don’t know about me: I love to sing. I was in the Alabama Boys Choir growing up and sang in a traveling Southern gospel trio for nine months during college. I entered college on a voice scholarship at Shelton State Community College and was part of the Shelton State Singers. I even sang with the local Crimson Pride Barbershop Chorus for a couple of years and have been in several musicals with Theatre Tuscaloosa.

My proudest achievement: The Bama Cuts Barbershop series here at Alabama and the One of 119 and One of 120 Twitter scavenger hunt campaigns I created for Tennessee Football’s transition to Nike probably stand out most to me. The Bama Cuts series gave us a great opportunity to showcase the unique personalities of our football players. The @1of119 campaign allowed us to connect to fans in a completely unique way. It gave fans a way to engage with us in real life (vs. online) and truly feel like a part of the team.

Why I do what I do: I have always loved art and design. To have the opportunity to use my creativity in the field of college athletics and football is a dream job for me. My new motivation is mentoring other creatives as they begin their careers and putting them in the best position to succeed and thrive in the design industry.

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SIX INTRIGUING PEOPLE

NO. 4

Crystal OATS I BASKETBALL FIRST LADY/NURSE/CANCER SURVIVOR

BY BECKY HOPF PHOTO BY GARY COSBY JR.

t’s kind of a funny story,” Crystal Oats says, smiling, somewhat apologetically, when asked if she’s always been a basketball fan.

“When we first started dating and I was out in Colorado, he came out for a visit,” she says of the man who would later become her husband, University of Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats. “It was in July, during the NBA Finals.

I didn’t have cable. I just had regular TV. So he was flipping out because he couldn’t watch the NBA Finals, and I was like, ‘Wait.

What do you care about that?’ He was driving me nuts. So we had to go to places like restaurants where he could watch it. I was thinking, ‘This is overkill. He likes basketball way too much.’ ” Fast-forward to today. You’ll find Crystal and their daughters, Lexie, 15, Jocie, 10, and Brielle, 7, sitting in the seats behind the Alabama bench, cheering on the Crimson Tide and, perhaps she might admit, liking basketball “way too much” herself now.

“I think part of it started when I got to know the players. For me, that’s been the best part. And I love the game. It’s fastpaced, high-scoring. And the way Nate plays, it’s just exciting.”

Crystal and Nate met at Wisconsin’s Maranatha Baptist University when both were student-athletes. She played volleyball, and Nate played basketball. They

married on Dec. 20, 1997. She pursued a nursing career, he, a basketball coaching career. The meat of his coaching career was as a successful prep coach at Romulus High School in Michigan, where his teams were ranked in the Top 25 in the nation and, as she got to know them, worked their way into Crystal’s heart. He coached there 11 years until Bobby Hurley hired him as an assistant coach at the University of Buffalo.

Two years later, following the 2015 season, Hurley left and Buffalo hired Nate as its head basketball coach.

And then, in October 2015, a not-sofunny story happened.

“I found lumps on my neck and went to get a CAT scan,” Crystal recalls. “It was right before basketball season. I had a really bad doctor, and, instead of the doctor calling me in or calling me on the phone, he had a nurse call me and tell me I had something called non-Hodgkin’s double-hit lymphoma. When I Googled it, I read that it only had a 3 percent prognosis for survival.”

It was the worst of times. Her life, her health, was in jeopardy. Nate offered, sincerely, to take time off from coaching what would have been his first season as Buffalo’s coach. He loved her and wanted to take care of her. She would have none of that.

“I felt really bad,” she said of the timing.

“I told him I was sorry. This was his dream.

I don’t think people realize how genius what he’s done is: to go from high school to assistant college coach to head college coach in such a quick span. He said he’d

take time off, but I didn’t think that would have helped. It was a crazy time, but basketball helped both of us.”

She remembers being upset and scared.

Her instincts as a nurse kicked in. She studied all she could about that type of cancer.

“I think it helps to look out for yourself because hospitals can make mistakes,” she said.

She began treatment. Their families, friends and their Buffalo “family” rallied around her, helping out with whatever they could, including starting a GoFundMe account to help defray the costly medical bills they faced.

And — this would have been a complete surprise to her back when she and Nate were dating — basketball became one of her best medications. And the players, who made her realize why her husband enjoyed being a part of the sport so much, were a key salve to her healing.

“I missed a few games early on. I was watching one of our games on TV when one of the Buffalo players, C.J. Massinburg — they were in a huddle and I heard him say a prayer for me. He was only a freshman,” she said, fighting back tears as she recalled that tender memory. “That’s what I mean by how special these players are to us. It really is a family. He was in the middle of a game, and he did that.”

And that wasn’t the only time the team cheered for her. Whenever the team broke from a huddle, they’d call out her name.

When Buffalo won the Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship, the players made

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Crystal climb the ladder to cut down part of the net, two years in a row.

It was her championship, too. Basketball helped her heal, helped take her away, at least for a bit, from her battle with cancer.

And it helped, too, that she faced her toughest challenge with Nate at her side.

“Nate has been very supportive. He’s a very positive person. He makes all the phone calls. He gets it done,” she said of his help during her illness and even now.

She is in remission now, busy overseeing the remodeling of their new home on Lake Tuscaloosa, into which they’ve already welcomed their new Alabama family of players.

She knows they, too, have hearts of gold. When their boat dock flooded on Halloween, some of the players voluntarily waded through the water to help clear off the docks.

“I didn’t know I could love basketball as much as I do. At first I hated it because it was taking up so much of Nate’s time when we were first married. The girls and I go to all the home games and we travel a lot. They love the players.

It was hard on them leaving Buffalo because they miss the old players, but they’re having fun getting to know the players here now. As much as Nate loves basketball and loves winning, he does it, we do it, for the guys. We want them to be good men. We want to be a good example as a family. We welcome them into our family. That’s what it’s all about.”

Name: Crystal Oats

put others before myself.

Age: 45

Something people don’t know about me: I put my way through school roller skating as a carhop at Sonic Drive-In.

Hometown: Fort Collins, Colorado tPersonal: Husband, Nate Oats; daughters, Lexie Oats, 15, Jocelyn Oats, 10, Brielle Oats, 7 People who have influenced my life: The Bible and Jesus have influenced my life. My entire outlook on life and the reason I am still on this earth is to glorify God. My mom has helped me. She is an amazing woman who has overcome so much. My husband has influenced me. I have learned so many things from him. My kids have changed me. They have taught me to have patience and to

My proudest achievement: Through God’s grace, beating cancer and being able to still serve Him on earth.

Why I do what I do: I really enjoy helping my husband with his job.

Getting to know the young men he coaches and wanting to serve them. I love being a mom and taking care of my children and the home. I really enjoy remodeling and decorating a home and flower gardening and cooking.

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SIX INTRIGUING PEOPLE

Soapy NO. 5

JONES

ENTERTAINER

BY MARK HUGHES COBB PHOTO BY GARY COSBY JR.

M

ama Dixie sports many toppers, bedazzled with flowers, feathers, lace and other fascinators.

In her more than two decades in Tuscaloosa, Mama, aka Soapy Jones, has owned and operated Left Hand Soap Company, which offers all-natural skin products, and after Nika McCool renovated the 180-plus-year-old Drish House for rental events, Jones began managing and booking it in spring 2017.

If you want something done, turn to the busy entrepreneur, wife and mother.

But that’s just daytime-ish. A dozen years back, Jones developed flamboyant persona Mama Dixie for a “Rocky Horror Picture Show” shadow cast and to emcee Alabama’s the Pink Box Burlesque. Live music’s always been central to its vaudeville-style shows, with instrumentalists who vamp, bolster acts and accompany crooners such as Kitty B. Haive, and the madame herself.

For years, as a standard bit of shtick, Mama would say, “I’d like to introduce the band,” then gesture to the musicians, who’d greet each other. That underscored the group’s namelessness. It bugged Mama, but music directors either didn’t care, or resisted.

“It felt sort of overbearing for me to name the band on my own, until the day I just did it,” she said, laughing. Fans attend PBB shows for obvious reasons — “possibly naked people” — but then, surprise, a bonus: live music.

Early in 2018, the newly dubbed Mama Dixie and the Prize Inside began playing outside PBB. The catalogue built from works chosen by performers and music directors, leaning on American standards such as “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “Summertime,” “Cry Me a River” and “At Last,” but diversifying into all manner of jazz, blues and pop, such as a torchy version of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun,” or an uptempo “Careless Whisper” blended with Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” and riffs from The Police.

You might notice similarities to Lake Street Dive, or the Postmodern Jukebox collective; a set could range from Keri Noble’s raging ballad “Hey Lover” to Leonard Cohen’s devastating “Hallelujah.”

Name: Mama Dixie Age: A lady never tells Hometown: I’ve lived here long enough to call it home.

Personal: Husband, Erik; son, Aidan.

People who have influenced my life: My parents, Nina Simone, my fellow bandmates.

Something people don’t know about me: I’m actually pretty shy.

My proudest achievement: Making it this far.

Why I do what I do: I’m incomplete without it.

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The core band is guitarist Jonathan Harms, who can play anything he sees, with likewise fluid and flexible bass man David Ray. Depending on show or venue requirements, the combo can add percussion, horns or keyboards. You can hear Mama Dixie and the Prize Inside frequently at Hotel Indigo, where they’ve played on the Lookout Rooftop Bar and in the lobby for Friday home games.

The wheelhouse is so wide, it’s hard for them to categorize. But Mama’ll take a stab: “A diverse band rooted in jazz that does so much more than that, with a vocalist who can range from the 1920s to the 1960s, and players who can do literally whatever you ask of them.

“We can be as loud or soft, as attentiongrabbing or subtle, as you want. If you take off the reins, you’ll have a real good time.”

Anyone who’s thrilled to Mama’s volup-

tuous torch burn won’t be surprised she grew up in a musical family — her dad, mom and brother all played instruments, as did she, violin and piano — but might be shocked she only began singing in public recently. She wouldn’t even croon for the fam.

“My parents, when I was a kid, tried to push me to sing, but I didn’t want to ‘cause I didn’t like being told what to do,” she said.

Now both parents enjoy. “My mom’s like, ‘See, I told you you’d be good at singing.’

‘I will burn this entire building down now.

Right now,’ “ she said, laughing. “I didn’t like the attention. I didn’t want the focus on me.

I’m a watcher by nature ...

“I don’t do it for the audience; I do it for the moment.”

Many artists suffer that dichotomy, wanting to connect via art, but not necessarily standing center stage. “I thrive at running

a burlesque show because my job there is making people comfortable about being uncomfortable.” But Mama Dixie the madame isn’t the same as Mama Dixie the singer.

“Pulling the band out on its own to do stuff was an unexpected but supercool play; it’s probably my favorite decision of the last five years. It allowed me to blur the line.

“I’m definitely at least 50% me, half the time,” she said, laughing.

For more, see Mama Dixie and the Prize Inside on Facebook and Instagram, or visit www.mamadixieandtheprizeinside.com.

You can hear them in at least a couple of Youtube videos, at https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=UAX3O0k6jPc, on “Come Rain or Come Shine,” and from the Hotel Indigo, Perkins and Parish’s “Sentimental Gentleman from Georgia,” at www.youtube.com/ watch?v=PUlpyGvrCkE. 97

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SIX INTRIGUING PEOPLE

NO. 6

Cynthia

SCOTT DOCUMENTARIAN

BY STEVE IRVINE PHOTO BY GARY COSBY JR.

A

promise made in the final days of Robert Scott’s life on earth is scheduled to be introduced to the public on the 20th anniversary of the former University of Alabama basketball star’s death.

Cynthia Scott, Robert’s high school sweetheart and later his wife, said the promise to share his story with the world — which she’ll do with a documentary film — came in the final days before he died of cancer on May 9, 2000.

“Robert was in the hospital at University Hospital in Birmingham,” Cynthia said.

“Someone came to visit him. He asked him to step out of the room for a minute when he came in. He looked at me and said he’s coming in to write a book and he said, ‘You need to do one.’ At that moment, I didn’t want to put anything else on my mind, except for him getting well. It lingered there.

In his mind, he was saying, ‘You do it’ and ‘I want you to do it.’ I kind of overlooked it at

that time.”

She continued to push it backward while making sure another promise was fulfilled.

“On his deathbed, I said our children would be raised just as if he was there and they would all complete college,” said Cynthia, who has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Alabama and is a high school teacher. “I put that first and foremost, of making sure my kids completed college. Many times, I actually worked two jobs. I just got to the point of my life, this year, that I was working just one job. I took that extra time that I would have been working the second job, to focus on getting this documentary done. I felt like everything happens for a reason (and) this was the time that the good Lord wanted me to do it.”

The title of the documentary is “Dedication, Discipline and Defense: The life of a Birmingham, Alabama legend Robert ‘Rah Rah’ Scott.’” Putting it together has been a labor of love for Cynthia, whose children, Robert, Daniel and Rahshae, all have college degrees.

“It’s been wonderful, it’s been inspirational, it’s been to the point where I’ve

laughed, I’ve cried,” Cynthia said. “It’s been such a wonderful experience to be doing this. Just to talk to people like Wimp Sanderson, Ennis Whatley, T.R. Dunn, Eddie Phillips, people like that, is wonderful.”

Cynthia and Robert were high school sweethearts at Birmingham’s Parker High School. She was a majorette and he was the star player on a basketball team that eventually would win a state championship.

Their relationship began during their junior year at Parker, continued while both were in college at Alabama and throughout their 18-year marriage.

Robert played in more than 120 games at Alabama and was an All-SEC selection as a senior. He was an NBA draft choice, played professionally overseas and was a successful coach. He coached West End High of Birmingham to a state championship and was an assistant coach at UAB and Alabama. He was fighting cancer during his final season as an assistant coach at Alabama but rarely missed time on the job.

All of that will be part of the documentary, but that’s just a small part.

“As a coach, Robert talked so much about things and ways of Coach (Paul ‘Bear’)

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Bryant,” Cynthia said. “Bear wrote him a letter, when he graduated, expressing to him how well-mannered that Robert was and how he was such a good guy with great character. It’s inspirational to just go back and revisit and look at the memories of things like that. It’s also been an inspiration for my kids to learn things they didn’t know. It’s really been a positive experience.”

Cynthia said her lone regret in making the documentary is she didn’t start the process while Alabama coaching legend C.M. Newton was living.

“C.M. was like a father to Robert,” Cynthia said. “Everything that Robert did in life, while being a basketball player at Alabama and after, he would call on C.M. Newton. I know I can express that relationship in this documentary because it was so strong.”

Again, that’s just a small sliver of what should be a special documentary.

“Hopefully, what people will get out of this documentary is that you need to be dedicated to what you do, you need to teach others to be dedicated, you need to be disciplined within yourself and teach others to be disciplined,” Cynthia said. “And you need to put up the type of defense that is required to say no to negative things going on in the neighborhood. Deny what comes to you and you know what is not right. Defense can take place in sports or in life.

That’s what Robert displayed.”

Name: Cynthia Clark Scott Age: 61 Hometown: Birmingham Personal: Husband, the late Robert “Rah Rah” Scott; children, Robert Ramun Scott, 34, Daniel RahKeith Scott, 31, and Rahshae Evanna Scott, 27; parents. Indiana S. Clark and the late Danny A. Clark Jr.; siblings, Danny, Darryl, Anthony and the late Donald Clark, Syrinthia and Wanda.

People who have influenced my life: My mother and father. My parents were strong disciplinarians. They insisted that my siblings and I treat people like we wanted to be treated, not the way we were treated.

They demanded that we be respectful to everyone as well as demonstrate excellent

character. A huge influence on my adult life was the late Robert “Rah Rah” Scott, my high school sweetheart and later my husband. He actually encouraged me to return to the University of Alabama for my master’s degree. He motivated me to be dedicated and determined to reach success.

Something people don’t know about me: I have a God-gifted talent of sewing. I can make any kind of garment without patterns.

In fact, when “Rah Rah” was playing basketball at Bama, I made him a three-piece pinstriped suit. I am also humorous and love having fun.

My proudest achievement: Earning an undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama. I was even prouder earning my master’s degree and allowing my kids to

witness a full-time working mother and wife go to school full time.

Why I do what I do: My plan was to be this well-known fashion designer. All that changed as this well-known basketball player persuaded me to be his girlfriend and later his wife. I was compelled to helping people and enjoyed every minute doing so. This led me to working with students of various exceptionalities. It’s so rewarding to sit back and realize the positive impact you’ve made in someone’s life. It sparked me to complete a documentary on “Rah Rah’s” life. As I work on it, I’m touched, every moment, by something he said or did as a father, basketball player or coach. I feel like the world will benefit from me sharing his leadership and capability of making a positive difference on and off the court.

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SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 HOME OF RUSTY AND MARY KATHERINE GIBSON PHOTOS | MICHELLE LEPIANKA CARTER

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LAST LOOK

RED SKY AT NIGHT PHOTO BY JAKE ARTHUR Thousands of University of Alabama football fans are blanketed in a sea of crimson by the LED lights inside Bryant-Denny Stadium during the Crimson Tide’s October night home football game against Tennessee.

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