Stories | Recipes | Events | People | Places | Things | Local News MAY 2018
Wiregrass
Electric Cooperative
LEADERS OF TOMORROW WEC sends local students to Montgomery
ALABAMA LIVING is delivered to some 420,000 Alabama families and businesses, which are members of 22 not-for-profit, consumer-owned, locally directed and taxpaying electric cooperatives. AREA cooperative member subscriptions are $3 a year; non-member subscriptions, $6. Alabama Living (USPS 029920) is published monthly by the Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives. Periodicals postage paid at Montgomery, Alabama, and at additional mailing office.
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VOL. 69 NO. XX MAY 2018
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POSTMASTER send forms 3579 to: Alabama Living, P.O. Box 244014 Montgomery, Alabama 36124-4014. ALABAMA RURAL ELECTRIC ASSOCIATION
AREA President Fred Braswell Editor Lenore Vickrey Managing Editor Allison Griffin Creative Director Mark Stephenson Art Director Michael Cornelison Advertising Director Jacob Johnson Advertising Coordinator, Graphic Designer Brooke Echols Communications Coordinator Laura Stewart
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ANGEL OF HOPE
March Silent Hero winner gives people who have lost loved ones a place for peace and comfort.
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9 Spotlight 26 Worth the drive 29 Around Alabama 36 Gardens 40 Outdoors 41 Fish & Game Forecast 46 Cook of the month 54 Snapshots ONLINE: alabamaliving.coop ON THE COVER WEC sponsored 10 students for the Montgomery Youth Tour, where they visited the state Capitol and other historic sites. See story, Page 6.
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New partnership will bring fiber to the Wiregrass Board of Trustees John Clark, Jr. District 3 President Donna Parrish District 2 Vice-President Debra E. Baxley District 1 Secretary
Danny McNeil District 4
Les Moreland, CEO Wiregrass Electric Cooperative Next year, WEC will celebrate its 80th anniversary. All those years ago, the people of this community came together to solve a problem. They needed electricity in order to improve their lives and, often, their farms. They washed clothing and sharpened their blades by hand while their cousins in larger cities had machines that did the work. To solve that problem, they formed the Wiregrass Electric Cooperative and ran power lines to places no for-profit company would ever go. Today, there’s a different infrastructure that is improving lives in larger cities while rural America struggles for access: fiber. The internet is today’s electricity, and access to it is life-changing. The most reliable internet technology is fiber, and today I am announcing that WEC is investing in a fiber buildout — both for the cooperative and for our members.
A new partnership Tracy Reeder District 5
Kip Justice District 6
Donald Ray Wilks District 7
Greg McCullough District 8
David Winstead District 9
For the next several months, WEC will be partnering with Troy Cable to build a fiber backbone between all of our substations and offices. Connecting these substations through fiber will give us the ability to serve you, our member, even better. Technology in the electric industry increasingly depends upon moving large amounts of information quickly. These fiber connections will help us adopt new technology as it becomes available, as well as strengthen the technology we use each day. Fiber will be an excellent tool to help WEC be a trusted, preferred energy provider for each of our members. But, there are other benefits as well. We’ve made sure that, as Troy Cable strings fiber on our poles, the routes connecting our substations and offices are reaching the greatest number of members in rural parts of our service territory. The Wiregrass needs access to fiber internet, and WEC is going to help make this happen. After the fiber has been strung, our members near these areas will be able to receive broadband internet at their homes and businesses.
The Wiregrass of the future
This will be internet access as fast as anywhere in the nation, and it will be provided through a locally owned company that we believe is as dedicated to their customers as we are to our members. 4 MAY 2018
WEC has begun making their poles ready to connect its substations and offices with fiber.
When forming this partnership, we looked for a company with the same values as we have — service and reliability. We’re happy to recommend our members take part in this service when it becomes available. While we’re excited to be bringing this to our residential members, we’re equally excited about what this means for our business members and for the Wiregrass’ economic development. Today, trying to lure industry and business practically requires a fast, stable internet connection. Fiber is the fastest and most easily recognizable way to say that “our towns are open for business, and you can build here.” We firmly believe this investment will translate to jobs for this service area, increased opportunity for teleworking, telemedicine, better education and the overall improvement in the quality of life for our members and the Wiregrass Community. The possibilities of fiber are endless — and there are benefits this technology will enable that haven’t even been thought of yet. But, thanks to this investment, we will be ready when they are. The timeline for this rollout isn’t fixed, but we began the work of making our power poles ready for fiber in April of this year. We know there will be a lot of questions as we move forward, and we look forward to answering those. Until then, I hope you’ll join us in the excitement around this project and the opportunities it will bring to our area! n www.alabamaliving.coop
WEC Service Area
Be weather aware
Contact Information Mailing address 509 N. State Hwy 167 P.O. Box 158, Hartford, AL 36344 Phone 1-800-239-4602 Toll Free Outage “Hotline” 1-888-4-MY-OUTAGE 1-888-469-6882 (24 hrs/day) Website www.wiregrass.coop Find us here:
TfY Help protect your family from severe weather with this free app Spring is a wonderful time of year in the Wiregrass. Flowers bloom, the weather warms up, and it’s a great time to be outside with friends and family. But warmer temperatures are often followed by severe weather. Providing potentially life-saving warnings is the reason for the Alabama SAF-T-Net smartphone weather app. The app notifies users when they are in the path of severe weather and provides radar and satellite images of approaching storms. Also, SAF-T-Net is no longer just for storms. The app offers a seven-day forecast, current temperatures and more. You also can customize the app to alert you to four different locations, such as your home, your work and your child’s school. “You can rely on this app every day for all types
of uses,” says Brad Kimbro, chief operating officer at WEC. “You can check the weather daily, or you can just use it for severe weather alerts. At WEC we are constantly monitoring the weather, and we recommend all of our members do the same. We believe SAF-T-NET is a great way to do that.”
Give it a try
SAF-T-Net is free, easy to use and quick to download. Just go to Apple’s App Store for iOS devices or Google Play for Android and search for the app. If you’re already using the Alabama SAF-T-Net app, your smartphone may update the app automatically. If not, check your app update settings to get the new version. n
Find Wiregrass Electric Co-op on Twitter (twitter. com/wec2), Facebook and YouTube.
Payment Options BY MAIL Wiregrass Electric Cooperative, Inc. Department 1340, P.O. Box 2153 Birmingham, AL 35287-1340 WEBSITE Payments may be made 24 hrs/day by Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express and E-Check on our website at www.wiregrass.coop. PHONE PAYMENTS Payments may be made any time by dialing 1-800-239-4602. NIGHT DEPOSITORY Available at each office location. IN PERSON Mon. – Fri. 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Payment kiosks also available 24/7 in all offices. Hartford 509 N. State Hwy. 167 • Hartford, AL 36344 Samson 13148 W. State Hwy. 52 • Samson, AL 36477 Ashford 1066 Ashford Highway • Ashford, AL 36312 Dothan 6167 Fortner St. • Dothan, AL 36305 For questions regarding sanitation service, call Houston County Sanitation Department at 334-677-4781 or Dothan City Sanitation at 334-615-3820.
Alabama Living
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Wiregrass Area High School juniors.
TRIP OF A LIFETIME
WEC sponsors Youth Tour trip to Montgomery Wiregrass Electric Cooperative recently sponsored 10 local high school juniors on an all-expenses-paid trip to the state capital in Montgomery. The 2018 Youth Tour is designed to help high school juniors learn more about their local cooperative and about their state government. “For more than 50 years, our cooperative has been proud to sponsor more than 350 students from the Wiregrass area to participate in the Youth Tour program,” says WEC Chief Operating Officer Brad Kimbro. “The program has helped our young members develop leadership skills and learn about our state’s government and its history. The tour helps us build better leaders for tomorrow, which will help the Wiregrass to be an even better place to call home.” The students visited the state Capitol and the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, to name a couple of loca6 MAY 2018
tions. They also listened to motivational speakers and participated in team-building activities. WEC recently hosted a banquet to honor the Montgomery Youth Tour delegates: Bailey Anderson, Rehobeth; Weston Bailey, Geneva County; Macy Birge, Slocomb; Hannah Grace Shiver, Rehobeth; John David Hagler, Slocomb; Gabriel Hamm, Houston County; Audrey Ketchem, Wicksburg High School; Chase Reeder, Slocomb; Ally Register, Slocomb; and Sydney Stewart, Providence Christian School. “I enjoyed it so much,” Stewart says of the Montgomery experience. “It was packed full of all kinds of amazing things for us to do. I’m a visual person, so it was cool for me to be able to see places like the Capitol and hear stories about our state capital.” In addition to the trip, the delegates are also given a $500 scholarship.
“I think the Youth Tour is an awesome program, and WEC is very supportive of it,” says WEC Board of Trustees President, John Clark Jr. “It helps develop leadership in these students, and it’s helping grow the youth in America. That then helps grow the Wiregrass because these students will bring that leadership back to the Wiregrass.”
Once-in-a-lifetime trip
“This is an amazing trip for these students,” says WEC Manager of Communications and Public Relations Jennifer Ward who coordinates WEC’s youth tour program and accompanies the delegates to Montgomery. “They all have a basic understanding about electric cooperatives, but during this trip, they get to learn so much more about how electric cooperatives work and the difference in the quality of life our electric cooperative provides to our local community. They www.alabamaliving.coop
went to some amazing places in Montgomery, and I got to see them step out of their comfort zones and meet new people.” A trip highlight was a visit to Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached. Tour guide Wanda Battle led the students in singing “This Little Light of Mine” and reciting King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. “You could feel the emotion of everything that went into the civil rights movement,” Stewart says. Other stops included the First White House of the Confederacy and the Civil Rights Memorial. “Learning about all the history was probably my favorite part,” Register says. “Getting to see all of that in person was amazing.” Students also heard motivational speaker Cea Cohen-Elliot, who talked with the students about issues their age group faces, like bullying and dealing with stress. Another highlight was visiting with state legislators to hear about their platforms. “They had so much wisdom that they shared with us, and for me getting to hear the female leaders was special,” Stewart says. “I learned a lot from what they had to say.” The WEC delegates talked with their local state representatives Paul Lee and Donnie Chesteen. One issue they went over with the students was the efforts they are making with rural broadband to bring more reliable internet to the area. WEC has also been working with Lee and Chesteen, along with local internet providers, to bring more reliable internet to WEC members. “Where I live is farther out, so it’s difficult for us to get good internet,” Register says. “Sometimes when I do homework, it’s difficult to do because of the internet. The fact that they are working to make that better for this area means a lot to me.”
Our cooperative
Prior to the trip, most of the students had a basic understanding about WEC and electric cooperatives, but after their visit to Montgomery, they had a newfound respect for their energy provider. Stewart said the work they do in the community is something that grabbed her attention. “I go to Bethel Baptist Church, and I had no idea Operation Round Up gave money to help them start a school,” Stewart says. “Bethel is like my second home, and Operation Round Up giving it the opportunity to start a Christian school was amazing.” n
Pictured with the 2018 Youth Tour delegates are some of WEC’s board of trustees members at the Youth Tour banquet. Front row, from left, are Donna Parrish, Sydney Stewart, Ally Register, Hannah Grace Shiver, Macy Birge and Donald Ray Wilks. Back row, from left, are John Clark Jr., Gabriel J. Hamm, Chase Reeder, Bailey Anderson, Weston Bailey and Tracy Reeder.
Alabama Living
Sydney Stewart, Providence Christian School, and Ally Register, Slocomb High School, were both selected to attend the Washington Youth Tour this summer. Not pictured is Audrey Ketchem, Wicksburg High School, who was also selected.
Three selected for Washington Youth Tour Three area students learned during the 2018 WEC Youth Tour banquet that they would travel to the nation’s capital. Sydney Stewart, Providence Christian School; Ally Register, Slocomb High School; and Audrey Ketchem, Wicksburg High School, will represent WEC at the 2018 Washington Youth Tour. In March, a 10-student group participated in the Montgomery Youth Tour, and each student received a $500 scholarship. From that group, three were selected for an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., as well as an additional $500 scholarship. “There aren’t words to describe how happy it makes me to be selected out of this amazing group to represent Wiregrass Electric there,” Stewart says. “It’s very humbling.” More than 1,500 students from across America will take part in the Youth Tour. The Washington, D.C., trip gives students the opportunity to visit museums, memorials and monuments and to meet their U.S. representatives and senators. “It’s an honor, and I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for me,” Register says. “I’ve heard that we get to go to the Holocaust Museum, and that sounds amazing. I’ve never been to Washington, so this will be a great experience for me.” “This is an amazing opportunity for these students,” says WEC Manager of Communications and Public Relations Jennifer Ward. “They learn about our nation’s history and the role electric cooperatives played in that history. Also, it gets them to step out of their comfort zones and to build relationships that will last a lifetime. WEC is very supportive of this program.” The students will travel to Washington in June.
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Houston County Commissioner Doug Sinquefield holds a cleanup bag that is given to volunteers from Alabama PALS.
Sinquefield works to reduce litter in Houston County Doug Sinquefield’s 30-year career at UPS took him across Southeast Alabama. During those years, he couldn’t help but notice the growing litter problem along rural roadways. When he became Houston County Commissioner in 2010, he knew he had a chance to make a change for the better. Sinquefield has focused on reducing litter in Houston County by working with statewide organizations and sharing information during county commission meetings. Reducing litter will make the area look better and also make it more attractive for potential industries or businesses interested in moving to Houston County. “I wish more people would take pride in their county, community and country,” Sinquefield says. “By controlling litter and not just throwing it out on the public road for people to pick up, we can make the county look better.” Wiregrass Electric Cooperative has long been a supporter of efforts to benefit the environment, including making sure the people of the Wiregrass have a clean place to call home. “Commissioner Sinquefield has done amazing work with reducing litter in Houston County,” says WEC Chief Operating Officer Brad Kimbro. “The Wiregrass is a great place to live, and there are great people who live here. If we all did just a little more to help reduce litter, then we could make the Wiregrass even better than it already is.” 8 MAY 2018
For the last five years, WEC has partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation to give away free sapling trees throughout April. By planting saplings around your home, you can help the environment and make your yard look great. You also can lower your energy bill by 20 percent from the shade a fully grown tree provides. WEC believes in a clean environment, and planting trees is a great way to help promote that.
Making a difference
One way Sinquefield has helped control litter is through his work with the nonprofit People Against A Littered State, an organization dedicated to providing and implementing anti-litter programs. The Adopt A Mile Program and the Clean Campus Program are used in Houston County. Dothan also has Spirit of Service Day each April. This year, the day was dedicated to reducing litter. But Sinquefield says the best way to make a difference is for people to just clean up around their homes and where they work. “When we call it ‘Alabama the Beautiful,’ it’s just a statement, but we need to make that statement true,” he says. “If we can bring enough attention to the problem and more people start helping, then it might just make people who are causing the problem stop doing it.” n www.alabamaliving.coop
Members of WEC’s board of trustees and Operation Round Up board recently got together to thank Hardwick for his work in the Wiregrass. Left side, from left: Gail Adams, Brad Kimbro, Jennifer Ward, Steve Hardwick, WTVY’s Spencer Bienvenu, and Stanley G. Aman. Right side, from left: WTVY’s Wes Tomlin, Les Moreland, Danny McNeil, Donna Parrish, David Winstead, Rhonda Webb and David Hall.
The Angel of Hope statue, located in Dothan’s Westgate Park, is a place for people who have lost loved ones to come for peace and comfort.
Never forgotten
Angel of Hope provides comfort to those who have lost loved ones Gail Adams visits the Angel of Hope statue in Dothan’s Westgate Park at least twice a week. She comes for peace and comfort. She sits on the bench in front of the statue and watches children play baseball and softball on the nearby fields. She watches the families that come to the park, and she thinks about her daughter, April Kirkland, who was killed in a car accident in 1997. She was just 16 years old. It’s been 20 years since her daughter died, but the pain from her loss is still there. “Losing a child is the worst thing you can ever go through in your life,” Adams says. “It’s been 20 years, and it’s still hard for me, but knowing she is remembered is a blessing to me.” Adams comes to the Angel of Hope to remember her daughter, who was a straight-A student at Cottonwood High School. Giving someone like Adams a peaceful place was exactly what Steve Hardwick envisioned when he led the effort to bring the Angel of Hope statue to Dothan.
A place of peace
There are 136 Angel of Hope statues around the world, and there are only two in Alabama. “It gives people peace and comfort,” Hardwick says. “Some people don’t have a place to go to grieve because maybe their child was buried out of town or they don’t like going to the cemetery. They know this place is for them.” Hardwick, with the help of generous donations, raised the $90,000 needed to build the statue and the surrounding landscaping. He also helps keep it clean throughout the year. Giving back is nothing new for Hardwick, who has been involved in numerous fundraisers over the years. For his work in the Wiregrass, Hardwick was named as WTVY and Wiregrass Electric Cooperative’s Operation Round Up Silent Hero of the Wiregrass for March. “The work he has done for the Wiregrass is phenomenal,” says WEC Chief Operating Officer Brad Kimbro. “He is the perfect example of a Silent Hero. He doesn’t want recognition. He wants to help people in need.”
People come to grieve and to remember A giver’s heart a lost loved one. The statue is based on the Hardwick’s charitable efforts began in Richard Paul Evans book “Christmas Box 2014 when 17-year-old Cody Hayes from Angel,” which tells the story of a mother Ashford battled leukemia. One night while who grieves the loss of her child. Hardwick and his daughter were watch50 MAY 2018
ing QVC, he decided to buy a KitchenAid mixer and make 20 pound cakes to raise $500 for Hayes. Hardwick had never baked a cake. He not only reached his goal, but he also exceeded it, raising $9,500. While Hayes lost his battle with cancer, the financial help provided from the fundraiser gave needed support to his family, who dedicated all of their time to caring for him. “A lot of people don’t understand the financial burden something like that has on a family,” Hardwick says. Since that initial fundraiser, Hardwick has raised more than $150,000 by baking pound cakes. “It’s very rare that you see somebody do something like this who doesn’t have a connection to it,” says WEC’s Operation Round Up Board President David Hall. “He hasn’t lost a child, but he still raised all of this money. That is a remarkable person. That’s a hero.” n
WEC Chief Operating Officer Brad Kimbro thanks Steve Hardwick for his efforts to bring the Angel of Hope statue to the Wiregrass.
www.alabamaliving.coop
I Always ... Caleb Flippo, Groundman
Keep a clear mind and follow all safety rules. Alabama Living
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