280 Living December 2022

MAKING NEW PATHS

Double Oak Park opens with new hiking, biking opportunities

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE

As Shelby County continues to focus on parks and recre ation, the county’s newest park has recently opened. County Manager Chad Scroggins said it has a view that will rival the King’s Chair

overlook at Oak Mountain State Park.

Double Oak Park became the latest addition to Shelby County’s 51 parks after a ribbon cutting on Nov. 10.

The 750-acre property was purchased in August 2021, and crews went straight to work. The trail system was designed, and the county awarded the contract to

Anniston-based Flomotion Trail Builders for construction. The $200,000 contract for the first 7 miles of the trail was paid using county funds.

After the contract was complete, a second, $25,000 contract was approved to create a beginner loop approximately a mile in length near the Shelby County 43 trailhead.

See DOUBLE OAK PARK | page A24

Creating tech hot spots

Hoover hopes to transform Meadow Brook, Inverness office parks into mixed-use innovation centers

By JON ANDERSON

As the office market deals with high vacancy rates, Hoover officials are developing strategies to help re-energize and potentially transform some of the city’s office parks into mixed-use centers, particularly in the U.S. 280 corridor.

The city is focusing on Meadow Brook Cor porate Park and Inverness Center North, both of which have large office buildings available for lease, with a total of more than 600,000 square

feet of vacant space, according to property owners and the city.

Meadow Brook Corporate Park has about 281,000 square feet of vacant office space, said Greg Knighton, the city of Hoover’s economic development manager.

Slightly west, Inverness Center North has two completely vacant 150,000-square-foot build ings and a third similar-sized building with about

A birds-eye view of the Meadow Brook Office Park along U.S. 280

Photo courtesy of 58 INC.

The view from the top of the Double Oak Mountain Park trail. Photo by Kendall Williams.

IT’S TIME TO THRIVE

There’s never been a better time to choose good health.

At Grandview Medical Group, our healthcare providers take the time to identify your health risks and can help you prioritize good health. Regular checkups and age-appropriate screenings are important to be healthy now – and to stay well in the future.

With same-day appointments and online scheduling, we make it easy to see a provider. You can even see us from the comfort of home via telehealth.

Make a choice to thrive. It’s time now.

Find an appointment at PrimaryCareGrandviewHealth.com or call 205-941-6221.

Neil Tindell, D.O. Board Certified, Family Medicine

Dolly Ridge Road, Suite 201 Birmingham

Welcome!

About Us

Editor’s Note By Leah Ingram Eagle

December is here and we’ve made (or are still making) the shift from turkey and pumpkins to trees and holiday shopping.

I sure miss being a kid at Christ mas. Being out of school for weeks during Christmas break, sleeping in, getting tons of presents. That really was the best.

Now as a mom/wife/daughter/, December is spent doing All. The. Things.

Buying all the gifts for family, friends, teachers, mail carriers, hairdressers, the dog.

My husband only purchases gifts for me (that he asks for spe cifically or pulls off my Amazon wish list). Last Christmas, I got a pair of diamond earrings, so that’s hard to beat.

I’ll be navigating holiday plans between Birmingham and South Carolina, addressing and stamping

around 60 Christmas cards, deco rating (because we enjoy Thanks giving and don’t decorate until it’s over!) attending kids’ Christmas performances and class parties along with all the other day-to-day responsibilities.

Our son’s birthday is two weeks before Christmas, so we are basi cally celebrating the entire month. Some of the things I love to do

during the holidays are:

► Watch holiday movies with my family (we have so many favorites, but “Elf” and “A Christ mas Story” is always at the top!)

► Bake holiday treats

► Donate to charity

► Attend our Christmas Eve church service

► Spend time with friends and family

This year I want to be less focused on the stress and hustle and instead try to relax and enjoy this special time of year. I hope you and your family have a won derful holiday season and thanks for reading!

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Alabama Vision Center (A14)

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Find Us

Oak Mountain’s Matthew Womack approaches the finish line during the boys Class 7A race in the AHSAA State Cross-Country Championships at Oakville Indian Mounds on Nov. 5. Photo by Erin Nelson.

City Chelsea wrestling team gears up for season

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE

Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer recognized the Chelsea wrestling team and coaching staff during the Nov. 1 Chelsea City Council meeting Coach Heath Butler said the team will be competing completely in the 7A region this season, facing the likes of Thompson, Vestavia Hills, Hewitt-Trussville and Oak Mountain. He said he has high hopes for his athletes.

“Most of this group [of about 50 students] has been with us for five or six years, as our [junior high and high school] programs are combined,” Butler said. “Last year this group made it to quarterfinals and has a very good chance at making a run at the state title this year.”

Butler went on to thank the mayor and coun cil for their recent donation to the program, which they are using to pay coaching stipends in order to add more members to their coaching staff.

“I can’t thank you enough for everything,” he said.

The council awarded more Nick Grants to all four Chelsea schools. These were a special group of approved grants over and above what the council had already approved for the grant cycle:

► Chelsea Park Elementary was awarded $9,100 for instruments and storage materials for the music department.

► Forest Oaks Elementary was awarded $4,883.89 for two-way radios and batteries and a keypad entry system.

► Chelsea Middle received $8,365.40 for chair racks and music stands for the band room and security cameras.

► Chelsea High received $70,000 (out of a requested $100,000) for new band uniforms and also a scorer’s table.

The council approved to pay the city’s bills with an amendment to pay for the new trucks for the Chelsea Fire and Rescue Department from the general fund.

During the community forum, Jane Ann Mueller, programs director at the Chelsea Com munity Center, shared that the first fall craft fair, held on Oct. 29, was a huge success.

“We used every room in the building,”

Mueller said. “I had 45 vendors that partici pated and had 20 more that asked if we could squeeze them in, but we had no more room. Many of the ones I talked to said they had a very successful day and asked when we would have the next one.”

Mueller also shared that spring sports reg istration is under way and 600 students have signed up to play basketball.

Chelsea embarks on parks and rec master plan

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE

The Chelsea City Council accepted a pro posal for a Chelsea Park & Recreation System Master Plan project by Dix-Hite during the Nov. 15 council meeting. The company will do an assessment of all the facilities available to the city and see what can be added.

“It would involve public engagement, public comment, and we want the citizens to be aware of it,” Councilman Chris Grace said. “You’ll be receiving notifications publicly about a couple of activities that we will be conducting here in the city to elicit your feedback and desires about what our park system plan needs to include.”

Councilman Casey Morris said that Preston Sorrell, the landscape architect in charge of the project, is from Chelsea and that he is excited to have a parks and recreation plan with someone who is familiar with the city.

“Hopefully we get a lot of citizen engage ment and create a plan for us to run on,” Morris said.

During the mayor’s report, Mayor Tony Pick lesimer said groundwork has begun on Chel sea’s first hotel — LaQuinta Inn by Wyndham. The groundbreaking was held July 11.

“This has been a long time coming, and we’re very excited to see that work begin,”

Picklesimer said. “I want to say thank you to the Auburn Hospitality Group for hanging in there through a very difficult time in our nation’s economy and staying true to the project.”

He noted that there is also new construction behind Applebee’s (a child care center) and beside Elite Auto Care (an ABC distribution center) and noted that city revenues continue to be extremely strong.

“We hope you’re starting to see a trend here, even though we are in what some call an

inflationary period,” Picklesimer said. “There's still construction and business coming to our city. That's a very good thing.”

Also during the meeting, the council: ► Awarded education funds to Chelsea High School

► Reappointed Matt Lyons to the Chelsea Planning Commission

► Declared property as surplus and autho rized its donation/disposal, including a 1985 volunteer fire truck that will be donated to the

Important Dates

► Dec. 1–Jan. 15: Nick Grant Applications acceptance period. Guidelines at cityofchelsea.com.

► Dec. 6 and 20: City Council meetings, 6 p.m.

► Dec. 17: 23rd Annual Chelsea Christmas Parade, 10 a.m. followed by Splash’n with Santa Party at Melrose Park, noon–3 p.m.

Southern Vintage Fire Apparatus Museum in Birmingham.

► Authorized insurance coverage for city of Chelsea retirees. Picklesimer said although the city is only 26 years old, city employees are beginning to retire.

“It's truly a milestone when you've got employees that have been around long enough to earn retirement for our city,” he said.

► Authorized the conversion of unused sick leave to retirement service credit

► Agreed to pay the city’s bills

Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer and the council members pose with the Chelsea wrestling team and staff at the council meeting Nov. 1.

Photo by Leah Ingram Eagle.

Councilman Chris Grace, right, discusses details about the Chelsea Parks and Recreation master plan. Photo by Leah Ingram Eagle.

Seven financial areas to reexamine ahead of 2023

This year has presented some specific challenges as we reexamine our finances and prep for next year. Financial assets are down for many people after a couple of years of strong growth, while inflation is hitting everyone. Both of these trends require adjustments as we approach the year’s end.

As a longtime private banker, I have honed in on seven key areas that I encourage people to review and assess to best prepare their finances for the coming year.

1. PERSONAL AND BUSINESS PLANS. Ideally, you have a business plan and a personal plan. Sit down with a financial professional to examine the goals in each and assess where you stand. A financial professional can offer adjustments to your plan to keep you on track with your goals.

2. INVESTMENTS. Take a deep dive here to rebalance your investments. It is actually a good time to take tax losses and reduce your taxable gains. Also, run a diagnostic on your portfolio and consider diversifying. Be sure wealth is not concentrated in a particular asset class or sector. Including more recession-proof categories – like food or energy – could help minimize risk, particularly in this market with a potential for recession.

3. CASH FLOW. In examining your finances, identify if you have enough cash to support your lifestyle and upcoming expenditures, considering the current down market and inflation. If you have a child entering college or a wedding expense, as an example, start planning well ahead of time.

4. RETIREMENT PLANNING. Going into next year, if you’re in a defined contribution plan such as a 401k, you should plan to allocate more as contribution caps increase. With many asset values deflated, you can also consider a Roth conversion so that you pay an IRA’s taxes now as opposed to when you retire, helping you to get ahead in your retirement years.

5. FAMILY CHARITABLE GIVING. Consider tax exemptions and gifting limits as you map out your contribution plans. The annual gift tax exemption has gone up to $16,000, making now a great time to make gifts to children or grandchildren. However, lifetime gifting limits are increasing in 2023 so waiting to make those larger donations could also be a smart move. Also see if your contributions can tie to appreciation of assets, or even to your required minimum distributions (RMDs).

6. TAX STRATEGIES. Take time to review your year-end withholding amounts. It’s a point of debate among many. Some people like getting the big refund each tax season, but I’d rather pay at tax time and not have the government holding my money beforehand. Adjust your withholding amounts to match your needs in the coming year.

7. LIFE INSURANCE. People are good about checking how their fire alarms are working, but not as good at keeping their life insurance or financial beneficiary information updated. As family members age or pass away, or people get married or divorced, your selection for beneficiaries may need to change. In addition, you should review the policy amounts to be sure they are a match for your stage and situation of life.

Delving into your finances is not necessarily the most fun year-end activity, whether it’s for you or your business. I encourage clients to incorporate this crucial thinking and discussions into an activity you know you’ll enjoy, like going for a hike or going away for a weekend. This makes it more likely it will become something you actually look forward to.

Marc

Alabama market for Valley Bank’s Private Banking Services. He has been in private banking for more than 35 years and is currently based in Chicago.

©2022 Valley National Bank. Member FDIC. Equal Opportunity Lender. Equal Housing Lender. All Rights Reserved.

Pershan is a First Vice President serving the

Waste Management reps address commission

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE

Two Waste Management representatives were in attendance at the Oct. 24 Shelby County Commission meeting to discuss issues that have occurred since the company took over garbage collection on Oct. 1.

County Manager Chad Scroggins said the new contract was a hot topic at the previous commission meeting. After Republic Services notified the commission in March that they would not be renewing their contract, Waste Management won the low bid, although the recycling component was removed due to an increase in the expense.

“At times when you have over 20,000 cus tomers, startups do not go perfectly,” Scroggins said. “These two gentlemen have told us one thing and they actually followed through with it. We appreciate that they are here to talk to [the commission] a little bit further.”

Johannes Kohn, the director of collections operations for Waste Management, said that sig nificant progress had been made in the previous week to ensure that all residents' garbage was getting picked up, with seven to nine recovery trucks running daily.

“We are excited to have this contract,” Kohn said. “We know it didn’t kick off the way we intended it to. With all the plans and goals, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Unfortunately, it didn't go the way we intended it to go, but we are back on track.”

He added that in rural parts of the county, the GPS just doesn’t work the way they had anticipated when addresses were put into the system, which has been part of the challenge. In some pick-up spots where the system lists one can, there have been up to 50 cans. Drivers are also limited to 60-hour work weeks, with no more than 14 hours per day with a 10 hour reset.

“You rely on technology sometimes and it shoots one back at you that you weren’t pre pared for,” Kohn said.

Oct. 24 began Waste Management’s fourth

week of service in the county, and daily routes had been increased from seven to 11. Kohn said that they are making significant progress and thanked the county staff for their assistance and for fielding calls.

“We’re making improvements week over week, but we’ll get there,” Kohn said. “I’m sure in the next couple of weeks, we will be having a much different conversation.”

Scroggins said that if there are any custom ers whose trash has not been picked up, the county needs to know about it. The public can call 205-669-3737 and county employees will route information back to WM.

Waste Management is also working to pick up customers’ recycling carts and trying to

decipher which cans are for recyclables, as they are not all marked well. If customers could label the cans “recycle” and leave them at their curb, it would assist in that process, Kohn said.

Kohn shared with the commission that in the next five to seven years, 30% of the work force in the garbage collection will be retiring, which will have a tremendous impact on the industry. Waste Management is working to get new drivers and is partnering with some of the universities in the state that have driver schools to recruit more drivers.

Waste Management has also been faced with an equipment shortage. Kohn said the com pany had ordered 2,000 new trucks in 2022 for replacements across the enterprise and had

gotten less than 80 for the market area.

“For this contract alone, we are supposed to get nine brand new automated side load trucks, but there is still no ETA on when they will show up,” Kohn said. “We’re renting trucks and pull ing trucks from other areas where we can. These nine trucks are supposed to show up between now and the end of the year, when they were supposed to be here in July or August. Regard less, we’re still waiting on them and they can't come soon enough.”

Commissioner Kevin Morris asked why the recycling component was taken out of the bid ding process. Kohn said that several years ago, many recycling products were shipped overseas to China. In recent years, China hit a hard stop and shut everything off, putting the recycling market in a tailspin, he said.

“There’s not a whole lot of avenues in Ala bama itself for recycling where products come through the line to go to manufacturers to get turned into something else,” Kohn said. “The market in general is a tough market to be in. We have to continue educating the public on what can and can’t be recycled. We see Alabama as a forward opportunity in the future to make an investment here from a recycling standpoint. It's just a matter of getting everyone on board.”

Morris told Kohn and Mike Mitchell, public sector representative, that he appreciates all they have done. He said his district covers the most rural areas, so he has been pretty in tune with this issue every day.

“If someone doesn’t have trash picked up by now, they’ve not notified the right people,” Morris said. “Social media is not the direct route to go. I want to thank our whole environmental staff. This could have been a situation for our staff to say it’s not their issue, but we're a part nership [with Waste Management] and we’ve got to make sure we both react and both respond quickly to minimize the risk from a reputation standpoint. We’ve made a big turn and appreci ate all your efforts and hope our residents appre ciate all your efforts going into getting it right.”

Waste Management representatives Mike Mitchell, seated, and Johannes Kohn take questions from the Shelby County Commission at the Oct. 24 meeting. Photo by Leah Ingram Eagle.

Vest leaving commission for new opportunity

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE

Shelby County Commissioner Mike Vest announced during the commission’s Nov. 15 meeting that he will be stepping away from the commission after 10 years of service.

“I have accepted the position out of my dis trict that is going to require me to move,” Vest said. “Today was 10 years to the day that I was sworn in. We have been provided an opportu nity that we have really been looking forward to the next years of our life.”

Since 2012, Vest has served as commis sioner of District 6, which stretches from Inverness to Riverchase and includes more than 25,000 residents.

Vest said he will forever say he Shelby County Commission is the best county admin istration in the country. He believes the next person appointed to serve District 6, whether appointed or voted in, will do an even better job than he has.

“I'm thrilled to death to see who I can sup port when this seat is filled,” Vest said. “It’s been a lot of fun. I love you all, and that's from the deepest depths of my heart. The residents of District 6 for the last 10 years have been wonderful.”

He thanked his fellow commissioners for the support they have given him over the years, including after his serious mountain bike acci dent in 2018. He said commissioners may not always give people the answers they want to hear and are not afraid to say yes, no or that they don’t know.

Vest concluded by saying the position is not about him, but about the commission as a collective.

“If not for y'all, I wouldn’t be here today,” Vest said. “It’s not what I've done, but what you’ve done to make me look good.”

The commision passed a resolution recog nizing the meritorious county services of Vest. Commission Chairman Kevin Morris read the resolution aloud and publicly thanked Vest for

his tenure.

The resolution read in part: “The Shelby County Commission recognizes his consis tent performance and excellent service to the constituents of his district and the entire county … The commission commends Vest for his valuable tenure with Shelby County, and his dedication to the county will be remembered for decades to come.”

The resolution also listed Vest's

accomplishments and volunteer positions over the years. He received a football scholarship and graduated from Samford University. He spent time in Nashville and Dallas, working as a professional country music singer. He was also a high school football coach in Texas. He spent several years at the Birmingham Athletic Partnership and has been a longtime supporter of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Shelby County, as well as a deacon in his church and a youth

football, basketball and baseball coach.

Morris said he has known Vest for years, in the political world as well as from a religious, civic and business standpoint, and most of all believes Vest has lived the life of a servant leader who is appreciated and known by all.

Sheriff John Samaniego added that Vest has been a supporter of law and order and of public safety and congratulated him on his new career.

Mike Vest, seated, is stepping down from the Shelby County Commission after a 10-year tenure. He is moving out of his district for a new employment opportunity.

Photo by Leah Ingram Eagle.

Business

NOW OPEN

Devoted Health, a health care company that serves Medi care-eligible beneficiaries has expanded into eight addi tional states including Alabama. The company is serving the Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery and north Alabama markets and established an office at The Colonnade. 877-762-3515, devoted.com

Pandora is now open at The Summit offering a wide selection of charms, earrings, rings and watches. 205-203-0062, thesummitbirmingham.com

Johnny Was, a California-based store, embodying true bohemian style with timeless technique and modern artistry is now open next to Kendra Scott and near Gus Mayer at The Summit. 659-599-7054, johnnywas.com

The modern-American fashion and lifestyle brand Fran ces Valentine is now open at The Summit. 646-480-2091, francesvalentine.com

Gail and John Kirkpatrick have opened B Photo, Sup plies, Framing, Printing & Studio Rental in The Village at Lee Branch at 1401 Doug Baker Blvd., Suite 109. 205-968-1234

COMING SOON

Sav-A-Life Shelby, Inc., a faith based non-profit 501(c)3 provider of women’s services including pregnancy testing, peer-to-peer counseling, limited ultrasounds, pregnancy/ parenting education classes and material resources is opening an additional office in Chelsea. Certified medical and trained staff will initially open this fall, 1-2 days a week providing limited services to women in need with the goal of opening 4 days per week in early 2023. savalifeshelby.org

RELOCATIONS AND RENOVATIONS

ed for the 2022 Best of Birmingham Award in the Home Goods category by the Birmingham Award Program, which was established to recognize the best of local busi nesses in the community. 205-769-6986, the-mercantile-by-miller.myshopify.com

Robert and Lulu Regard say they would like to sell their Crazy Cajun’s Boiling Pot restaurant at 125 Inverness Plaza and retire from the restaurant business after 25 years in it. 205-408-0630, Crazy Cajuns on Facebook

PERSONNEL MOVES

Buff City Soap has relocated from their previous location at 5631 U.S. 280 to a new space in Lee Branch Shopping Center. The store has other locations in Hoover and Mountain Brook. 205-730-9199, buffcitysoap.com, BuffCitySoapBirmingham on Facebook

Vapor Thrift Store’s Greystone location is back open af ter recently undergoing a remodel. The Westover location at 11271 U.S. 280 will remain open. Store hours and drop offs are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (with Westover staying open until 7 p.m.) 205-639-1077, vaporthrift.com

NEW OWNERSHIP

Glennis Tillman of Douglasville, Georgia, has bought the Painting with a Twist franchise with locations in The Village at Lee Branch in Hoover and in Pell City from He men Patel. Her daughter and son-in-law, Kiondre and Eriel Dunman are managing the locations. 205-637-7777, paintingwithatwist.com

NEWS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Mercantile by Miller in Brook Highland Plaza was select

Dr. Jonathan Isbell has joined Southlake Orthopaedics and will see patients at both the MedPlex office at 4517 Southlake Parkway and Grandview office at 3686 Grand view Parkway. His specialties are sports medicine and orthopaedic surgery. He offers expertise in adolescent and adult sports medicine, including complex shoulder, elbow and knee injuries, as well as cartilage restoration procedures. He also offers hip arthroscopy. 205-985-4111, southlakeorthopaedics.com

Real estate agent Anita Kilpatrick has moved her real estate license to Lake Homes Realty and will specialize in lake homes and land on and around Lake George and Catoma Lake. 256-510-1984, lakehomes.com

Avadian Credit Union, which has branches in the U.S. 280 corridor at 420 Old U.S. 280 in Greystone, 3439 Colonnade Parkway, Suite 100, and 15660 U.S. 280 in Chelsea, has expanded its business services lending team. The team will be led by Larry Uptain, who was promoted to commercial lending manager, and includes Blake Wat kins, Clint Phillips and Quintin Milton. 205-437-3696, avadiancu.com

New Greystone medical practice helps patients deal with chronic pain

By GRACE THORNTON

Dr. Joshua Meyer said for him, the practice of pain medicine is very personal.

At first, he got into the field because of practical reasons — he studied obstetrics and gynecology, then shifted into anesthesiology because the schedule allowed him more flexi bility to be with family.

“I found, however, that I missed my dayto-day patient contact and continuity of care,” Meyer said. “I then found out that pain medi cine was a board-certified subspecialty of anes thesiology. When I realized that pain medicine meant caring for patients on a continual basis, I was intrigued, and by God’s hand, I got into it.”

And then about six months into opening his own practice, he hurt his own back.

“It changed the way I thought about how pain medicine, pain management is approached overall,” Meyer said.

That was in 2016. Now he’s seven years into the work of helping people manage pain, and his practice — Legacy Pain & Spine Specialists — has recently opened a new office at U.S. 280 and Hugh Daniel Drive after having an estab lished office in Anniston for years.

At his practice, Meyer — who did his med ical studies at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and at Emory University in Atlanta — provides interventional pain med icine by treating the source, not just medicating it. Their office provides a variety of state-ofthe-art treatment options to help relieve chronic pain issues such as neck pain, back pain and joint pain.

They know experiencing pain can be disori enting, and they love helping people have more quality of life again.

“We listen to our patients,” Meyer said. “It’s

not necessarily what the X-rays or MRIs show, though that can be very helpful information. It’s 90 percent listening to what they are dealing with.”

He said there are five ways for people to deal with chronic pain. First, they can live with it. Next, they could try therapy such as physical therapy, chiropractic care, aqua massage or cognitive therapy. Third, they could try medica tions, whether over the counter or prescription. Fourth, they could try more aggressive therapy,

such as interventions or injections. The final option is surgery.

“I tell my patients, ‘You probably came to see me because you don’t want to just live with it,’” Meyer said.

From there, he’s able to put together a treat ment plan from the middle three options to find something that works. He said Legacy Pain & Spine Specialists is a comprehensive practice that takes all options into consideration to see what works best for each individual patient.

They aren’t lopsided toward one treatment, such as medication or injections.

“I advise them on medications, injections and therapy,” Meyer said, noting that they are able to do many of those treatments right there in the office. “I do that with some bias as a physician living with some pain myself. It is ultimately very personal, and that’s why I’m passionate about it.”

For more information, visit legacypain andspine.com.

Modern vintage clothing store opens at The Summit

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE

Elyce Arons had never been to Birmingham. When she spoke to 280 Living, she was at work on the creative floor at her office in New York City overlooking Bryant Park.

Arons is the co-founder and current CEO of Frances Valentine, a modern-American fashion and lifestyle brand founded in 2016 by Arons and her friends Kate and Andy Spade.

“We do trunk shows, usually seasonally in the fall and spring in Franklin, Tennessee; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Richmond, Virginia,” Arons said. “At every single one of them, there was somebody telling me, ‘You really have to go to Birmingham.’”

Birmingham was on the list of their top demo graphic areas for a retail store. When a space opened up at The Summit, Arons said it was the right opportunity, so her team jumped on it as fast as possible. She made her first trip to Birmingham in mid-November for the store’s grand opening.

Frances Valentine has five other retail stores: two in New York (Madison Avenue and South ampton), Palm Beach, Houston, Atlanta (Buck head Village) and now Birmingham.

There are two more leases that have been signed for Naples, Florida, and Alexandria, Vir ginia, to come in 2023.

Arons said The Summit location is near Belk and several doors down from the Kate Spade store.

“Ours is a tiny space, but we really wanted to be there. So we thought we'll take what we can get and happily move in,” she said. “The space was formerly The Art of Shaving, so we had to pull out a lot of the built-ins that they had, but we had a great construction team, and they got it done in a couple of weeks.”

The pieces at Frances Valentine are vin tage with a modern look. Arons shared that the age range for their customers is from 25 to 85, although their fastest growing customer segment right now is ages 25 to 35. The brand offers options for their over-50 customers including

mock necks, sleeves for arm coverage and zip pers in place of buttons.

“We've taken these beautiful, nostalgic, vin tage pieces that we love and brought them into the current day, but made them a little bit more modern,” Arons said. “The thing I love about it is that women can buy something today from Fran ces Valentine and walk into their closets 20 years from now and still love that same piece. It's not trending, the [clothes] are very eclectic. We call ourselves the opposite of fast fashion, because we make really great quality products with an accessible luxury price point. We want them to

stay in your closet for the rest of your life.”

The tagline for Frances Valentine is “Wear what makes you happy,” and Arons said their items are full of color with vibrant prints and personal details.

“Even for someone who wears all black, [they can] throw on a really great jacket that's got won derful jacquard or embroidery on it, or a pair of bright yellow velvet shoes with rhinestones,” she said. “It's just really special pieces that even if you dress plainly, it just makes your outfit and makes you feel great.”

Arons said she feels that now is the time for a

fresh, new American brand and believes Frances Valentine is just that. What started as an acces sories brand with handbags and shoes has now expanded into other product categories, and Arons said they’ve been able to do that because their customers communicate their requests to them.

“They write us letters and I talk to them at trunk shows,” she said. “I want to hear everything they have to say because if we can do something better, or make something that I haven't thought of before that they're really asking for, we want to do it.”

An inside look of the Frances Valentine store in Houston. The Birmingham location opened at the Summit after 280 Living’s press date. Photo courtesy of Azione PR.

Legacy Pain and Spine Specialists is located at the Greystone Neuroscience Center. Photo by Erin Nelson.

Home on Hawthorn

By GRACE THORNTON

Decorating has always been a passion for Sarah Fay and Jeannette Martin. But it didn’t become a business until the two moved to Haw thorn Street in Mt Laurel.

They became friends and began sharing their homes, families and love of design.

“Friends and family began asking us to help with their holiday and home decorating needs,” Fay said. “Over time, this evolved into a full-ser vice business.”

Since Christmas 2021, their company — Home on Hawthorn — has stayed busy, helping people all over the area decorate for the holidays.

They provide tablescapes, home decor and styling services, but they also have provided full redesign for clients’ homes, including new furniture and light fixtures.

Their Instagram bio describes the business as “two mamas with a passion for styling and holiday decor.” Their feed is full of dramatic before and after photos. They can assist clients with a holiday mantle or completing a surface or space in their homes that they can’t quite figure out how to finish.

The process begins with a meeting at the cli ent’s home, where Fay and Martin discuss what they are wanting to change, suggest items to add, furniture placement, color ideas and accessory options to style.

A typical client meeting may cover anything from fabrics to layout or accessory options and preferences, and the two will also cover time lines and budgets.

“Balance is key in styling your home and making it feel complete,” Martin said. “For hol iday decorating, we tailor our decorating accord ing to your needs. Whether you want your entire house decorated or just a tabletop, stairwell or tree, we can tackle it for you."

She said helping a client achieve a look that’s right for them is where she and Fay thrive. They both find it very fulfilling to see a space get

new life.

“We love the creative process the most, and we are in our element when we are coming up with ideas based on our clients’ needs,” Martin said.

Martin and Fay both say Home on Haw thorn can be a go-to business for holiday decor, whether it’s a quick spruce-up or a complete makeover. This Christmas, a number of tables,

mantles and homes all over the area will have a new festive, designer look thanks to their expertise.

They say they love big and small projects and everything in between.

And they don’t just style for Christmas, Fay said — they’ve got a lot of experience with fall festivals, Easter tablescapes and a range of other holidays and party themes, and they enjoy the

challenge of new projects.

“Keep us in mind for events and holidays throughout the year,” she said. “If you are host ing a holiday or throwing a party any time of the year, we are here to help.”

To find out more about Home on Hawthorn, follow their Instagram at @homeonhawthorn or email Homeon Hawthorn@gmail.com.

Mt Laurel friends create decorating business from their love of design

Sarah Fay, left, and Jeannette Martin, owners of Home on Hawthorn, decorate a dining room. Photo courtesy of Home on Hawthorn.

By SARAH GILLILAND

A new restaurant concept will debut at The Summit late next year. Culinary Dropout, a sister restaurant to established tenant North Italia, is coming to Birmingham after successful openings in cities including Denver, Austin and Phoenix.

“The Culinary Dropout menu is filled with classic meals done with some attitude,” said Anita Walker, the vice president of marketing for Fox Restaurant Concepts. “You’ll want to taste everything, with crew favorites like housemade pretzels and famous fried chicken drizzled with honey. Culinary Dropout is for anyone who loves great food and drinks.”

Walker added that in addition to enjoying good food and drinks, live local music will be a staple of the dine-in atmosphere.

The Fox Restaurant Concepts team chose The Summit for their second Birmingham restaurant because of its incredible location.

“It’s right in the heart of Birmingham, and we have experience opening here with our sister restaurant, North Italia, a few years ago,” she said. “We love the neighborhood and think it’s going to make a great addition to the community.”

Culinary Dropout is a restaurant concept described as a place for “families, date night or after-work food and drinks.”

Some of the most popular menu items include their soft pretzel and provolone fondue starter, 36-hour slow-roasted pork ribs in jalapeno BBQ sauce and hot wings with buffalo sauce.

A full bar will be available for patrons as well. One of the best-selling cocktails is the El Matador, made with Anejo tequila, elder flower liqueur, ginger agave and a dash of orange bitters.

Fox Restaurant Concepts has around a dozen restaurant concepts in its portfolio, ranging from comfort food and burgers to pizza, Mexican and Mediterranean menus. They manage more than 50 locations, according to the Fox website.

Walker said the company may consider bring ing more of its restaurant concepts to Birming ham in the future.

“Our focus is always on opening one great restaurant at a time,” Walker said. “While we don’t have definitive plans right now, we are

always inspired and open to great opportunities for the future.”

Culinary Dropout plans to open in late 2023 and will be located in the former Macaroni Grill space near P.F. Chang’s. For more information, visit culinarydropout.com.

Top: A sample of menu items from Culinary Dropout, opening at The Summit in 2023 in the former Macaroni Grill location. Above: An artist’s rendering of the site. Images courtesy of JLauren PR.

Scroggins shares update on Shelby County

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE

County Manager Chad Scroggins shared what has changed since his 2021 State of the County address at the Shelby County Cham ber luncheon on Oct. 26 at the Pelham Civic Complex.

Scroggins said the county’s leadership team has changed significantly in the last 12 months. David Willingham took over as the county engineer following Randy Cole’s retirement after 31 years with the county. Scott Holladay is now the chief engineer and Clay Aderholt is the assistant county engineer. Christie Pan nell-Hester stepped into the role of chief devel opment officer and has two new team members in Patrick Anderson (inspecting services) and Josh Osborne (planning services). Trey Gauntt is the facilities and general services manager, Brandon Hamilton manages Environmental Services and Mike Asdale has taken over as the EMA director.

“In Shelby County, we are focused on qual ity of life,” Scroggins said. “We can improve quality of life in a few ways, such as provid ing people a place to work, a good education system and good public safety. The other piece is recreational opportunities; those things make folks want to come to Shelby County.”

Shelby County’s population in 2021 was 226,902, a growth of 3,900 people from the year before. The county also has the lowest unemployment rate in the state (1.8%) and the county’s one-cent sales tax generated $42 million per year. Property values in the county also increased by $478 million.

Shelby County ranks first in the state in household median income ($78,889), per capita income, unemployment rate, education

rate, home median price and health outcomes.

The county’s 2023 revenue budget is $166 million, the largest in its history. While the budgeted expenditures are $186 million, that includes fund balance reserves that have been saved over time, which will be used to invest into assets in the county, including adding a new pod at the Shelby County Jail.

“Fund balance reserves come from budgeted

dollars where we received more tax dollars or something happens year over year when our county staff spends less than we have budgeted for,” Scroggins said. “We save those dollars for future investment in our county to handle large ticket items. We budget extremely conserva tively and budget in case there's a downturn in the market or inflation that has recessionary issues that follow. We do that because if we

save more, it will go into savings for future projects. We are going to spend less than the budgeted number, so it’s able to make us stay extremely tight on expenditures going out and how we collect going in.”

Scroggins said that the county received $42 million in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds from the federal government and is investing those in infrastructure projects that will last a minimum of 20 years.

2022 COMPLETED PROJECTS

Scroggins highlighted several projects that were accomplished in the previous year. In November 2021, the county services building was opened on U.S. 280. Scroggins said the 47,000-square-foot building cost about $14.5 million to construct, roughly $2 million under the architect’s estimate.

Other projects included:

► Mobile Medical Unit: The county used grant funding to provide a mobile med ical clinic and partnered with the Commu nity of Hope Clinic to go into communities during pandemics or vaccination opportuni ties. The unit can also be used for everyday medical needs and can go to rural portions of the county to provide medical services to the under served.

► Dunnavant Valley Park: Opened on Shelby County 41 in May 2022. The county purchased the former Mt Laurel organic farm in August 2021.

► Double Oak Park: Officially opened with a ribbon cutting on Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. The 750-acre park is located between Shelby County 41 and 43.

Contact the county about problems or sug gestions at eyes@shelbyal.com.

Shelby County Manager Chad Scroggins shares an update on the state of the county during the Oct. 26 Shelby Chamber luncheon at the Pelham Civic Complex. Photo by Leah Ingram Eagle.

Brook Highland resident honored with Vulcan Community Award

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE

Susann Montgomery-Clark is being honored for the work she has done since her daughter’s passing to help others who may face domestic violence situations.

She and her husband Rod, who live in Brook Highland, established the Megan Montgomery Domestic Violence Prevention Fund in memory of their daughter, Megan, who was killed by her ex-husband on December 1, 2019. Their goal is to provide grants to local nonprofits that can educate students in high school and college about toxic and potentially violent relationships, stopping the violence before it ever happens.

“That’s what we want to change, to make sure that young women get the knowledge they need to protect themselves,” Montgomery-Clark said. “We don’t have the expertise to do the educa tion, but there are nonprofits out there that do.”

Montgomery-Clark is this year’s recipient of the Heroes Award, part of the Vulcan Com munity Awards. She said the great thing about being honored is that more people are going to hear Megan's story and the message of what needs to happen to prevent domestic violence.

She and her husband want to see healthy relationship education taught in schools. The schools can apply for a grant from Megan’s Fund to assist in hiring someone to do relation ship education that is age appropriate.

“We don't dictate what the curriculum they use, we just want them to do something,” Mont gomery-Clark said. “We want to get in on the front end.”

So far, it’s been well received, and they are now a public 501(c)3 charity.

As a public foundation, they can raise more funds to reach more schools. Montgom ery-Clark said when they tell Megan's story, it

makes it real for the kids.

“God gave me 35 years of fundraising and PR experience in the nonprofit industry for a reason,” she said. “It would be a sin for me to not use what I've been given. It’s so natural for us to do this.”

While they’ve been through the unimaginable in losing their daughter, Montgomery-Clark said they “can’t not do it, and that it’s not even a choice.”

“We will do it until we are not able to do it anymore,” she said. “With the foundation, we’ll have some relief.”

The foundation has four non-family board members, and Megan’s sister, Meredith, serves as the staff person. Montgomery-Clark said she is a partner in this work and is devoted to keep ing Megan’s mission alive after we are gone.

The couple does the work because it is what Megan wanted to do. A few months before she was killed, Megan posted on social media

The MontgomeryClark family at their Christmas gathering before Megan’s (center) passing. Photo courtesy of Susann MontgomeryClark

The 2022 Vulcan Community Award honorees

THE VULCANS

► Lifetime Achievement: Dr. Jesse Lewis, a Birmingham visionary entrepreneur

► Hero: Bradley Johnson of the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office

► Game Changer: Dr. Mark Wilson of Jefferson County Health Department

► Servant Leadership: Lawrence Sheffield of Manufacture Good

that she wanted to help other women know the warning signs and to see the red flags before it's too late.

“She was planning on doing that,” her mother said. “She was going to speak up. She didn't get to do that, so we’re doing it for her. Megan’s saving lives today just like she wanted to. If she was alive, she wouldn’t have this much impact. It’s tragic people don't pay attention until some body dies.”

Montgomery-Clark is one of seven citizens being honored with a Vulcan Community Award, who, according to the press release announcement, are all “citizens who exemplify civic pride, leadership and progress” and “work tirelessly to affect change, serve, lead or make a difference in the lives of the people, places and organizations in the city.”

Jennifer Chandler, director of development at the Vulcan Park Foundation, said, “The important legacy these seven individuals have

THE SPEARS

► Heroes: Susann Montgom ery-Clark of the Megan Mont gomery Domestic Violence Prevention Fund

► Game Changers: Josephine Lowery of College Choice Foun dation

► Servant Leadership: Kelly Greene of Food For Our Journey

created will impact the lives of many for years to come.”

Montgomery-Clark and the other recipients were chosen by an independent panel and rec ognized at the annual reception at The Club in Homewood on Nov. 29.

Have

community announcement? Email Leah Ingram Eagle at leagle@starnesmedia.com to be considered for inclusion in an upcoming issue.

OUT OF THE DARKNESS WALK

Hundreds gathered at Veterans Park on Sunday, Nov. 6, to participate in the annual Out of the Darkness Walk, benefiting the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Photos by Erin Nelson.

CPES teacher fulfills book dreams

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE

Sarah Cooley has wanted to be a writer since she was very young.

Although she never set out to write a fiction book, when a publishing company reached out to her to write a Christmas story, she couldn’t turn down the opportunity.

“They had apparently found my Instagram account, @firstgraderatlast, and had seen cre ations from my Christmas Around the World scrapbook — it’s one of the things I have used in my first-grade classroom for years,” said Cooley, a first-grade teacher at Chelsea Park Elementary. “I developed it so that I could teach my kids different cultural traditions from around the world and how other countries cel ebrate Christmas.”

Rockridge Press approached Cooley with a book outline that they wanted her to complete. After submitting a writing sample, she was offered a contract.

“It just kind of fell into my lap,” she said. “I had been praying for this door to be opened. … I said ‘Lord, if this is supposed to happen, you’ll open a door.’”

Once the door was opened, the process moved quickly. The publisher reached out to Cooley before the end of the 2021-22 school year. She had to meet different deadlines for each section of the book that she worked on throughout the summer, and she had it com pleted before the new school year began.

An illustrator was contracted for the book and Cooley provided notes of her ideas for art for each section so the illustrator could create the designs based on her suggestions. Cooley said the illustrator put her own creative spin on the work and that she did an amazing job.

“Celebrating Christmas: History, Traditions, and Activities — A Holiday Book for Kids” was released in October, just ahead of this year’s holiday season. Cooley said she had to do research regarding the history of Christmas

and said the challenging part was writing it in a way that six- to nine-year-olds could under stand. The book is part of an eight-book series celebrating different holidays, written by

different authors.

The book is divided into seven main parts: What is Christmas?, The History of Christmas, Preparing for Christmas,

How to Celebrate Christmas, Around the World, Culture Corner and Learn to Say It. The end of the book has recipes, crafts and games.

In addition to writing, Cooley also handled marketing the book on her own using her social media accounts, including her 23,000 Instagram followers and over 11,000 followers on her Teachers Pay Teachers resource website.

When she got to announce the news of her book to her first-grade class, Cooley said she was thrilled. When they began their writing unit earlier in the school year, she told her class that she had always wanted to be an author since she was their age, and now she was.

“They cheered and were so excited I showed them my Amazon page,” she said. “Then I brought the actual copy in for them to see. That was a neat experience, and I used it as a lesson that if you have a dream and you really enjoy something, especially writing, keep doing it. You might have a real book one day.”

Cooley is looking forward to incorporating the book into her Christmas Around the World unit in December and making the crafts with her class, and she will give a copy to each student.

The book is dedicated to her own children, Emma, Grayson and Bennett, to which Cooley added, “I hope you always searched the skies for magic at Christmas.” On the acknowledg ments page at the end of the book, Cooley thanked her late mother, who she said was always a huge supporter of her and her writing.

Cooley said she feels that being a published author will open doors for her in the future. She has some picture book ideas in the works and feels more comfortable putting her ideas out there.

“Now that it's finally here, it's exciting,” she said. “Everybody's been so supportive and so kind and it’s given me confidence going forward.”

Cozied up in her Christmas pajamas at her home, Sarah Cooley holds a copy of her book, “Celebrating Christmas: History, Traditions, and Activities — A Holiday Book for Kids.” Photo courtesy of Sarah Cooley.

Schoolhouse

Hampton, Miller recognized for tenure on SCBOE

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE

Two members of the Shelby County Board of Education were honored with Journey Shaper awards during the Nov. 17 board meeting.

Superintendent Lewis Brooks presented Jane Hampton and Aubrey Miller with the awards as a thank you for their service to the Shelby County school system over the past 12 years. The two will have their last meeting as board members on Dec. 15.

“Tonight is a very special night for us,” Brooks said. “We want to recognize two of our board members for their service to the Board of Education. It is a bittersweet moment, but Mr. Miller reminded me it is also a sweet moment. Jane Hampton and Aubrey Miller, we appreci ate the work you’ve done.”

Hampton has served on board for 12 years and in Shelby County Schools for 49 years. She is a member of the board of directors for the Shelby County Schools Education Foundation. Brooks also thanked her for her service to both boards and the district.

Brooks thanked Miller, the president of the board, for his thoughtful, kind and caring lead ership and leading with passion and honesty.

“I just appreciate all the things you’ve done for Shelby County Schools,” Brooks said. “When I think of people, the world is a better place because of Aubrey Miller.”

An election of new officers took place, with David Bobo being elected the new president and Peg Hill vice president.

Chelsea High School Assistant Principal Brent McCaleb was approved as the new prin cipal at Helena High School. McCaleb has more than 26 years of experience in public education.

“I would like to thank the board for this opportunity and express my gratitude to Dr.

Brooks and his entire staff for helping me grow as a leader; Dr. Turner and the admin team at Chelsea High School for helping me develop as an administrator; Mrs. Bahr for the confidence that she has placed in me to come to Helena High School; and my wife and my family for supporting me in my career.” McCaleb said.

“Although I will miss the students at Chelsea High School, the faculty and staff and the com munity of Chelsea as a whole, I'm excited for this new opportunity to work with the students, faculty and staff in the community of Helena.”

The board approved a bid for $1,072,452 to Sports Turf Co. for a turf surfacing project at Heardmont Park, along with upgrades to the

track

David Calhoun, assistant superintendent of operations for the school system, said this is a great opportunity to upgrade this area because it’s a high-use venue that not only serves and supports events at Oak Mountain High School, but also a lot of county and statewide events.

The school board also approved: ► Out-of-state field trips, including trips for

► An agreement to pay compensation to the

Program

► Amended fiscal 2023 salary schedules

► An update to policies for charged meals and mental health services

► Personnel actions

► The termination of a tenured employee

► Bus substitutes and aides

The next Shelby County Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Dec. 15 at noon at the Shelby County Instructional Services Center in Alabaster.

and areas for the high jump, long/triple jump and shot put. The project will be a part nership between four entities: the Shelby County Board of Education, Shelby County Commission, Shelby County Park and Recre ation Authority and the town of Indian Springs Village.

the engineering class at Chelsea High School and wrestling teams at Oak Mountain and Chel sea high schools.

DAY

Shelby County Schools Superintendent Lewis Brooks presents Jane Hampton, left photo, and Aubrey Miller with the Journey Shaper Award for their years of service to the Shelby County Board of Education on Nov. 17. Photos by Leah Ingram Eagle.

Hoover test scores show ‘astounding’ growth

By JON ANDERSON

Students in Hoover City Schools showed “astounding” improvements in their academic test scores this past spring, the system’s chief academic officer said.

The percentage of Hoover students at or above grade level increased by 11 percentage points in math, 5 percentage points in science and 4 percentage points in English, Chief Academic Officer Chris Robbins said. That was more than twice the level of growth compared to the state average growth rate in each subject area between the spring of 2021 and spring of 2022, he said. Statewide, the gains were 5 percentage points in math, 2 percentage points in science and 2 percentage points in English.

More specifically, the percentage of Hoover students deemed proficient in math grew from 45% in the spring of 2021 to 56% in the spring of 2022, while the proficiency rate in science grew from 55% to 60% and the proficiency rate in English grew from 66% to 70% of students, Robbins said.

Also, a national study by Stanford and Harvard universities showed that while the average student nationally lost more than half a year of learning in math and a quarter of a year in reading from 2019 to 2022, Hoover students showed gains of three to four months in both reading and math, Robbins said.

Alabama students as a whole ranked among the top 10 states that either improved or lost the least amount of learning in math and reading, and Hoover’s results were better than the state average as well. Statewide, Alabama students lost about 1½ months of learning in math and had a negligible loss in reading, Robbins shared.

Students in the Hoover school system also landed on four national Top 10 lists for districts with substantial learning gains for students in poverty, black students and His panic students.

While those groups of students nationally had greater learning losses than white stu dents, that wasn’t the case in Hoover, Robbins said. In Hoover, students in poverty, black students and Hispanic students showed the same or greater than their average classmates’ progress over the past three years, data shows.

In particular, Hispanic students in Hoover showed a full year’s worth of growth in read ing, compared to three or four months’ worth of growth for the general student population.

Students in poverty in Hoover also showed more growth than the average student in Hoover, with four to five months’ worth of gains in both reading and math, Robbins said.

“That’s really extraordinary,” Robbins said. “Hoover City Schools students are making uncommon gains as compared to area dis tricts, to our state and across our nation. We have a lot to celebrate.”

Only about 15% of students in the nation attend school in a district that showed gains in reading from 2019 to 2022, and only 2.5% of students in the nation attend school in a

district that showed gains in math during that period, Robbins said.

The gains in Hoover are the result of the collaborative efforts of everyone in the district — from the support staff and district leadership to the principals, teachers, students and families, he said.

School board member Craig Kelley said he believed the fact that Hoover schools were prepared for remote learning with technol ogy played a big role in Hoover students’ progress and kept learning losses from being worse than they were during the height of the pandemic.

Despite the recent positive news, there still are areas for growth, Robbins said.

While Hoover is in the top 10 school districts statewide in terms of proficiency in math, science and English, Hoover continues to rank behind many of the over-the-mountain school districts with which people often make comparisons, including Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills and Homewood, state data shows.

For example, the percentage of Hoover students deemed proficient in math was 56%, compared to proficiency rates of 77% in Mountain Brook, 72% in Vestavia Hills and 59% in Homewood.

In science, 60% of Hoover students were deemed proficient, compared to 81% in Mountain Brook, 79% in Vestavia Hills and 68% in Homewood. In English, 70% of Hoover students were deemed proficient, compared to 84% in Mountain Brook, 83% in Vestavia Hills and 75% in Homewood.

“We’re not going to stop here,” Robbins said. “We’re going to work hard this year and in subsequent years to continue to show growth in these areas.”

The national comparisons were based on research done by Stanford and Harvard uni versities, using the National Assessment for Educational Progress and state assessments such as the Alabama Comprehensive As sessment Program. The study covered 3,700 school districts across 29 states and Washing ton, D.C., Robbins said.

How My Chamber Investment Works for Me

I started my journey as a young businesswoman new to Shelby County in 2020. In a time when doors were closed and networking seemed impossible, joining the chamber gave me a list of people (my fellow investors) who were open to conversation and full of encouragement. I have enjoyed utilizing the resources The Shelby County Chamber offers to build my business, with my favorite being the community of women I now have that are supportive of both myself and my business.

Students in Brook Lee’s sixth grade math class work on prime factorization at Berry Middle School. Photo by Erin Nelson.

Decking the halls

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE

The walls and spaces around Chelsea Middle School have gone from drab to fab thanks to Chelsea Middle School art teacher Katy Thompson and her students.

In one hallway, brightly colored student col lages of cats, dogs and birds are on display. In the glass hallway, stained glass art lines the windows and brightens the area where the stu dents walk between classes.

Several larger pieces are on permanent dis play throughout the school. A Chelsea Middle School piece in blue and white, the school colors, greets students and welcomes visitors in the lobby entrance. A 4-foot by 8-foot black canvas with colorful bird wings reads “Find your wings and fly” outside the gym. And a col orful piece featuring squares and a whimsical tree in the counselor’s suite reminds everyone to “Be Kind.”

“We’ve been talking about it for a while — ways we could spruce up the school,” Thomp son said. “Over the summer [Principal] Mrs. [Cynthia] Cruce and I were emailing back and forth to come up with ideas of what we wanted and how to make it happen. At the beginning of the school year, she bought all the supplies. My

intent was for the teachers to do it, but instead we let the students do them.”

The pieces were created by all of Thomp son’s classes during the first week of school and hung up for display. She said while the large pieces of art will remain in place, the smaller pieces will be rotated throughout the year. She plans to add more large paintings each school year.

Art is a popular elective at Chelsea Middle School. Thompson has five classes each day: two seventh-grade and three eighth-grade classes. While the eighth-grade classes last the entire school year, seventh-grade classes last half the year.

While her classes are a bit smaller than last year, Thompson said she can do more things with smaller classes.

Each day, the students begin their class with a prompt to draw in their sketchbooks. Thompson said she enjoys seeing the variety and creativity displayed and that no two are exactly alike.

From 2D and 3D drawings to working with clay and creating sculptures, Thompson said she likes to make her class interesting. Students not only get to paint and draw, but also create with other mediums.

“The seventh graders made sushi plates and bowls and eighth graders made clay mugs,” Thompson said. “The students will get to enjoy a special snack using their plates and bowls and enjoy hot cocoa and apple cider using their mugs.”

Seeing their works displayed through out the school gives her students a sense of accomplishment.

Maggie Lartigue said she likes seeing her art hanging on the school halls, as well as the aesthetic it gives the school.

“People come up to me and say, ‘I saw your drawing and it's really good,’” Lartigue said. “The halls were so depressing before, now it’s more alive.”

Summer Mundy shared that art class gives her a sense of accomplishment.

“I get to be proud of what I did and have a lot of fun learning what I’m actually good at,” she said.

Christina Nguyen likes creating things she’s never done before.

“I like getting creative and it's the period where I get to not think too hard about it and can just let myself flow and be creative,” she said.

Lilly VandeVoorde has art first period and

When standard treatment of weekly counseling, and proper use of medications is not sufficient and effective, intensive counseling is available for support, rescue, and strengthening hope.

IOP Services provides 9 hours per week of therapy in a group setting. It is a powerful supplement to standard treatment. Many types of emotional pain ebb and flow. The most difficult times can seem unbearable.

school

said it’s a great way to start her school day.

“It's a very fun and relaxing thing to do,” she said. “You get to have fun and be creative.”

Now at the halfway point in the school year, Thompson said there is plenty more to come.

This month, the students will take a field trip to Orbix Hot Glass in Fort Payne to blow glass ornaments. In March, they will go to Sloss Furnace to do iron pouring. In the spring, the eighth-grade classes will have a sidewalk chalk contest and winners receive a stained glass trophy at the awards day at the end of the school year.

Thompson recently received a Nick Grant from the city of Chelsea and plans to purchase a Cricut Maker 3, which can cut, draw, emboss, engrave, perforate and score a variety of mate rials. Thompson plans to use it to make items including paper lanterns and picture frames and use vinyl to make screen printing.

What Thompson said she loves most about her job is sharing her love of art with her students.

“I love when kids get it and you see the lightbulb go off,” she said. “That's rewarding. Seeing them work through problems and being successful and sharing my love of things with other people.”

Chelsea Middle School art students take their talents to the walls of the

Projects by the Chelsea Middle School art classes are displayed throughout the school. From left, stained glass art, a large pair of colorful wings and a whimsical tree with a reminder to be kind. Photos by Leah Ingram Eagle.

DOUBLE OAK PARK

The new park features a pavilion, restrooms (including a shower) and ample parking at the trailhead just off Shelby County 43. It includes 8 miles of single-track trails and 8 miles of double-track trails for bikers and hikers.

Trey Gauntt, Shelby County chief facilities management officer, said no more land was cleared than necessary at the trailhead, to be as environmentally sensitive as possible.

A NEW PARK POSITION

While most of the parks in Shelby County are maintained by cities, the county maintains 13 of them and maintains trails for 12 others. It’s a big job, so a position was created for a trail construction and maintenance supervisor. Jack Aured was hired in March 2021 and brought with him a wealth of experience.

“Jack came out of the private sector after working for two different trail contractors,” Gauntt said. “He brings a lot to the table not only from the trail maintenance, but also doing some trail construction in house. Jack has been a huge asset to the county. He lives and breathes the trail world. He has really dis covered a job that's not like work. He enjoys it so much, it's worked out good for him and for us.”

Aured said he has been riding mountain bikes and building trails in the woods since he was about 13 (just more than half his life). He started off being a foreman, then worked building trails in the Appalachian Mountains before accepting his position with Shelby County. He said the job is different from anything he has done before and feels like his expertise makes him valuable to go in and make sure things are done to high standards.

“I feel like I jumped onto the other side of the fence,” Aured said. “It's kind of mind blowing. This is an amazing opportunity, and I can’t find anyone else in the country with my job. It’s a pretty unique position for the county to have trail maintenance, and every one just calls me the trail boss.”

Aured attended high school in Tuscaloosa and moved back to the area eight years ago. He said Shelby County is very passionate about trails and wants to be a destination in the Southeast. He is thrilled to have the opportunity to make the place near where he grew up a destination, and he no longer has to travel to find great trails.

Each day is different for Aured. He could be out with a chainsaw cleaning up debris, making signs, completing inspections, map ping trails or answering a trail maintenance call.

“I usually have everything planned out each day where I'm going to be,” he said. “Another aspect of my job is doing a lot of Geographic Information System field work for the trails, where I collect new data for the team to compile into a map. Other days, I’m

editing that data or uploading it for the public to access. I never have two days that are the same.”

Aured created the digital design for Double Oak Park and wanted it to be accessible to everyone, regardless of their trail experience. He said about 30% to 40% of the trail is beginner friendly and accessible by everyone. Another 25% to 40% of the trails cater to those who have been trail running or moun tain biking for at least six months to a year.

The process to create the trail at Double Oak Park began with Aured walking the prop erty to get the lay of the land. He said one of the most challenging aspects in creating a trail is for it to meet the specific grade require ments slope for each difficulty level.

Next, flags are put down every 15 feet to mark the trail. From there, he gives the infor mation to Gauntt before the contract is put out for bids. Once a contractor is approved, Aured will talk with them about the design and continue to work with them throughout the process.

“Once we reach the budget limit, we come in with mapping of the final product and make sure everything is ready for the grand opening before passing it off to the facilities department,” Aured said. “It’s really a huge collaboration process for everything to come together once everything is up and running smoothly. Then I will continue to monitor the trail for any maintenance issues.”

Aured said the best way to describe Double Oak Park is extremely scenic. It features an overlook where two or three mountain ranges can be seen. He said from a mountain biking perspective, it’s fast and flowing with a lot of elevation gain and loss and has a bigger mountain feel than other parks in the county.

“It's gorgeous, beautiful, rocky and tech nical, and something we plan to grow over

The Making of Double Oak Park

► 2021: 750 acres of property purchased in August

► 2021: Awarded the first contract for to FlowMotion to construct the first 7 miles ► 2022: Awarded the second contract to FlowMotion to con struction a 1-mile beginner loop trail near the Shelby County 43 trailhead

► 2023: plans to construct additional trails using in-house forces and pursue grant oppor tunities to build an additional 12 miles of trails (~$600K)

time,” he said. “I think the public will benefit from it.”

IMPORTANCE OF PARKS

Shelby County has roughly 14,000 acres of public parks, including over 11,000 at Oak Mountain State Park. Gauntt said it’s very important to the county’s mission to maintain a high standard when it comes to outdoor recreational offerings for residents, as well as those traveling to visit the county. He said that whenever a comprehensive study is done, recreation opportunities always rank at the top of the list.

“These investments will last for gener ations to come and only become more and more valuable over time,” Gauntt said. “As the surrounding places are developed, it will become more and more valuable. … I think

So Many Parks!

The 51 public parks in Shel by County offer approximately 14,000 acres, including over 11,000 at Oak Mountain State Park. The county operates and maintains 13 of those parks, totaling around 40 miles of sin gle-track trails.

► Almont Park: 0.25 miles paved trail (4.5 acres)

► Forest Park: 2.3 miles single track (100 acres)

► Beeswax Park: 2.8 miles single track (85 acres)

► Cahaba River Park: 23 miles of single track / 8 miles of double track (1,838 acres)

► Dunnavant Valley Greenway / Dunnavant Valley Park: 2 miles single track (10.5 acres)

► Gorman Park: 0.2 miles single track (15 acres)

► Heardmont Park Trail: 1.2 miles paved trail / 0.85 miles stone trail (74 acres)

► Pea Ridge Park: 0.2 miles paved trail (3.3 acres)

► Shelby West Corporate Park: 1 mile double track (6 acres); Shelby West Corporate Park Lake (24 acres)

► Sterrett Park: 0.2 miles paved trail (2 acres)

► Vandiver Park: 0.2 miles paved trail (6.5 acres)

people will look back at the purchase of Double Oak Park and think whoever devel oped this was a genius. Who has a 1,000-acre park in their back door?”

The county will apply for a Recreational Trail Program grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs in 2023. If awarded a grant, Gauntt said there are plans to add 12 miles to the existing trail. There are future plans for a connection between Double Oak Park and the 10.5-acre Dunnavant Valley Park.

Kendall Williams, the county’s manager of tourism and events, said she is excited to be able to open Double Oak Park to both resi dents and visitors. She added that the hiking and mountain biking trails are challenging, yet rewarding once visitors get to witness the incredible views.

“We look forward to hosting many events in the future that welcome athletes, families and friends from across the nation who are eager to discover all Shelby County has to offer,” she said. “This park is just one way we are able to help preserve the beauty and recreational opportunities of Shelby County for generations.

Trey Gauntt, the facilities manager for Shelby County, speaks to Frank Bridges, left, and Dwayne Rigsby about the trail system at the newly opened Double Oak Park on Bear Creek Road in Sterrett, Alabama on Nov. 10. Photo by Erin Nelson.

A map shows the trail system at Double Oak Park. Map courtesy of Shelby County.

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35,000 square feet of vacant space, said Randy Thomas, executive president for NAI Chase Commercial, the leasing agent for the owner, In-Rel Properties.

Despite a challenging office market, Hoover economic development officials say they see potential ways to make those office parks more attractive so the existing tenants can expand and building owners can reel in tenants and jobs that help stimulate the economy.

City officials have identified five target growth sectors: information technology, life sciences, freight and logistics brokers, automotive research and development, and corporate headquarters.

There is a strong desire to amp up Hoover’s technology sector, but to do so, economic devel opment officials say some adjustments may be in order.

The large, legacy office parks built in the 1980s and 1990s were good for a season, but many companies today are looking for some thing different, said Knighton, who has been in the industry for nearly three decades.

Instead of being surrounded by trees and iso lated from other businesses, many technology companies of today are looking for innovative campuses in high-density areas where their employees can interact and collaborate with other technology workers, Knighton said. They want to be surrounded by innovative startup companies that create disruptive technology and knowledge spillover from one business to another, he said.

Many companies today want to have a lot of amenities close by, within walking distance for their employees so it’s easy to walk downstairs and go to a coffee shop, restaurant, gym or retail store, said Jackson Pruett, an economic develop ment coordinator for the city.

“STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) workers want amenities,” he said. “If it’s not a cool environment in which to work, they might prefer to work from home.”

Pruett added that many technology companies attract young professionals who like the idea of living within walking distance of their jobs, so providing housing alternatives in close proximity also is a need.

“This is a really cool opportunity to bring innovation-minded economic development and commercial real estate together,” he said.

If the city can work with current property owners to create a cool, dense, mixed-use space, it will help support the technology companies that already are there so they can continue to attract knowledge workers and simultaneously give economic developers something to attract companies that currently are outside the market, he said.

“We’re not just generally selling the city, but we’re selling specific nodes of innovation and technology that we think could be a really competitive advantage for us,” Pruett said. “It gives this park or other areas of the 280 corridor a unique identity as an innovation center for the region, which is a huge need.”

The good news is that Meadow Brook Cor porate Park and Inverness Center North already have some of the outdoor amenities that com panies like, such as lakes and walking trails, Knighton said.

Also, the 35242 zip code that includes Meadow Brook and Inverness has the highest concentration of technology workers in the entire Birmingham-Hoover metro area, he said.

What’s missing right now is the housing com ponent and easy, quick access to restaurants, coffee shops and services such as a gym or dry cleaners, he said.

MEADOW BROOK

At Meadow Brook Corporate Park, there are a lot of restaurants and retail opportunities directly across U.S. 280 in Brook Highland Plaza, but getting there on foot or in a vehicle isn’t the eas iest task, especially with new modifications to U.S. 280 that eliminated one of the direct cross over points, Knighton said.

Having those kinds of amenities mixed in on the Meadow Brook Corporate Park campus could be a huge selling point, he said.

“Building an environment like that is super critical,” Knighton said. “Employers and employees crave that sort of atmosphere. You’ve got the workforce built in. You’ve got the bones built in. It’s really taking an office park that has great bones and adding amenities to it.”

The city’s comprehensive plan that was approved in 2019 advocates the idea of taking some of the unused parking areas and green spaces in Meadow Brook Corporate Park and adding housing and retail amenities.

Now, it’s time to take a deeper dive into that mindset and see what it would really take to make that a reality, Knighton said.

Knighton favors starting with Meadow Brook Corporate Park because that park already is seeing a lot of momentum with the recent addi tion of companies such as McLeod Software (which already has close to 600 employees on site) and Lake Homes Realty (which plans to add about 350 jobs there).

“If we want to build on this innovation, there's a real opportunity to take that park to the next level,” Knighton said.

The city’s Industrial Development Board and new Commercial Development Authority have advised Knighton and his team to move forward with finding a leading real estate and economic development advisory firm to develop a more specific market analysis and business plan.

The Hoover City Council set aside some money in the city’s 2023 budget to help pay for such a study, but Knighton said Shelby Coun ty’s economic development agency, 58 Inc., and landowners and existing tenants in Meadow Brook Corporate Park could be potential funding partners.

Knighton said he has been encouraged by his conversations with some of the property owners thus far.

“These property owners are very interested in seeing a metamorphosis occur in their locations to include mixed-use activities and more con nectivity and activities to create a technology ecosystem,” he said.

SDM Partners, an Atlanta-based real invest ment firm, bought four of the large office build ings in Meadow Brook Corporate Park about five years ago. SDM sold the 145,000-squarefoot 100 Building to McLeod Software and ren ovated the 128,000-square-foot 1200 Building and leased about 90% of it, said Steve Martin, the managing principal for SDM Partners.

The 135,000-square-foot 500 Building, for merly home to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, has about 45,000 square feet still vacant, and the 101,000-square-foot 300 Build ing, also formerly used by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, has been vacant about 10 years, Martin said.

Martin said his company is on board with the idea of transforming Meadow Brook Corpo rate Park into more of a mixed-use center that includes housing and retail options. SDM Part ners already is exploring the idea of tearing down the 300 Building and redeveloping the 5.9-acre site for multi-family housing, he said. They’ve

been bringing in food trucks for office tenants in other buildings but would love to have a food hall or coffee shop on site, he said.

INVERNESS CENTER NORTH

Inverness Center North has been mostly vacant since Southern Company Services vacated its three office buildings there around 2017 to move to the Colonnade.

In-Rel Properties bought the office park at auction in July for about $16 million, said Thomas of NAI Chase Commercial. That was a bargain considering the previous owner bought it for $68 million, he said. In-Rel paid about $36 per square foot, and comparable office properties in the Inverness area are selling for $140 to $160 per square foot, he said.

Now, there are two completely vacant 150,000-square-foot buildings and a third build ing with one tenant —FIS (a financial technology firm) occupying about 115,000 square feet, said Thomas of NAI Chase Commercial.

As of late October, there was one new poten tial small tenant considering a lease for that building and about 16,000 square feet of avail able space left on the first floor, he said.

Thomas said NAI Chase Commercial and In-Rel share the same ultimate goal as the city of Hoover for Inverness Center North — to bring in new amenities for the campus to attract tenants. Potential ideas include restaurants, an ice cream shop and other retail and service establishments, he said.

However, the owner is not interested in elim inating any of the existing parking lots at Inver ness Center North, Thomas said. “We need that parking for the buildings once we’re fully occu pied again,” he said.

Instead, In-Rel Properties would favor using about 10 acres on the Inverness Center North campus that originally was planned for a fourth building as space for some type of retail center, Thomas said.

“We have no intention of building a fourth office building,” he said. “There’s a better use for that dirt.”

In-Rel first must get approval from the group that controls the overall Inverness development plan and then come to the city for zoning changes that would allow a new type of development, he said. Thomas said In-Rel hopes to have a request to the city within the next five months.

Knighton said what Hoover officials are pro posing is nothing new. It has worked in other markets such as Oklahoma City; Newton, Mass.; and Richardson, Texas, he said. It’s just going to take a planned approach with both short-term and long-term strategies to get there, he said.

Eight or nine years ago, Inverness and Meadow Brook were seen more as being on the outskirts of the metro area, but with the growth of Chelsea and other parts of Shelby County, more and more businesses are looking south of Interstate 459 as potential relocation spots, Knighton said.

Hoover is seeing more inquiries now due to the footprint of the properties in the city and the talent base, he said. “There’s a lot of excitement about redevelopment in this city.”

Building 42 is one of two completely vacant 150,000squarefoot office buildings in Inverness Center North.

A land sale sign for

acres is seen by the lake in front of McLeod Software at the 100 Building in Meadow Brook Corporate Park off U.S. 280. Photos by Erin Nelson.

Peace on Earth

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2022-23 high school basketball season preview

By KYLE PARMLEY

The high school basketball season has officially tipped off, and the varsity basketball teams along the U.S. 280 corridor have high hopes for the 202223 season. This season preview features a break down of Briarwood, Chelsea, Oak Mountain and Spain Park’s boys and girls teams as they embark on the long campaign ahead.

NEW-LOOK EAGLES READY TO COMPETE

So much has changed in recent months for the Oak Mountain High School boys basketball team. Nine seniors graduated from last year’s team and former head coach Chris Love retired.

This year’s Eagles team will feature seven seniors and Joel Floyd as the team’s new coach. Much has changed, but the team’s desire to work hard has not.

“We’re very excited about the future here and this season,” said Floyd, who is returning to a head coaching position after a few years as an assistant at Spain Park. “We’ve got a great group of guys and a strong senior class.”

The senior class that departed last season put together the most successful stretch in program history, winning a state championship, advancing to a state semifinal and playing in the regional final a season ago.

“That’s a lot to live up to,” Floyd said. “This group is hungry and waiting to try to go out there and prove that they can continue that tradition on.”

Floyd’s style is obviously going to be some what different than what Oak Mountain has done for years under Love. Floyd will likely attempt to push the pace more on offense. But one thing that he won’t adjust much are his expectations for the team.

“The standard and expectation for how we’re going to go out there and succeed is still going to be set at a really high bar,” Floyd said. “I’ve been extremely impressed with the buy-in and work ethic from the guys.”

At the preseason Birmingham Media Day event, held at Thompson High, Floyd brought three of his seven seniors with him. Matthew Heiberger, Devan Moss and Tre Thomas spoke of the team’s cohe siveness and desire to put together a strong season.

“A lot of the mindset every day is proving our selves and keeping this legacy going,” Moss said.

Braxton Diorio, Bobby Laury, Eli Love and Jack Ronilo are the other seniors on this year’s team.

Emanuel Johnson, Kevin Jasinski and Grey Wil liams are three juniors Floyd expects to make a big impact, in addition to Camden Spangler, Sawyer Smith and Cameron Channell. Garrett Gorman is the team’s lone sophomore.

“We’ve got 13 guys that can run in there at any point in time,” Floyd said. “We’ve got a number of guys that can get out there and get after it.”

Oak Mountain plays a schedule featuring the likes of Helena, Huffman, Vestavia Hills, Leeds, Homewood and Oxford. The Eagles will also play in Homewood’s Metro Tournament. They will compete in Class 7A, Area 6 with Hewitt-Truss ville, Spain Park and Chelsea.

The Eagles have plenty of things to figure out with a new roster and a new coach, but if they can make the progress their coach believes they can, the team may have something for the competition down the stretch.

“Once we get to that point, hopefully by January, I think some really good things can come from it,” Floyd said.

Oak Mountain’s Matthew Heiberger (23) shoots a layup guarded by James Clemens’ John Paul Gilmore (5) in the first half of the Class 7A boys Northwest Regional Final at Tom Drake Coliseum at Wallace State Community College in February 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.

The pursuit of happiness is more a choice than something that occurs by happenstance!

Those individuals that are the ‘happier’ ones have more meaningful conversations versus small talk. It turns out that less ‘alone’ time and more time ‘talking’ with others was linked to higher well-being. And happiness levels rose even higher when there was less small talk and more meaningful conversation.

According to a study that compared happy meaningful conversational people to the unhappiest participants, the happiest participants spent 25% less time alone and 70% more time talking and engaging with others. The findings of the study demonstrated that a potentially ‘happy life’ is social rather than solitary and, conversationally deep rather than superficial. And if you think about it, it makes sense. It may be that happy people are ‘social attractors/magnets’ that facilitate deeper social encounters. Also, deep conversations help people feel connected more so than small surface talk. Just like self-disclosure can instill a sense of intimacy in a relationship. Whereas deep conversations may instill a sense of meaning in the interaction.

No kidding that a study about small talk found that it’s less meaningful and those individuals were less happy. The researchers arrived at this conclusion when they used a group involving more of a diverse data set. The group included breast cancer survivors and their partners, recently divorced adults and adults who meditate. The study revealed moderate associations

between life satisfaction and the amount of alone time, conversation time and substantive conversations among the subjects. Additionally, the study revealed that for those involved in meaningful conversation, it increased life satisfaction in virtually every group they studied. And that small talk was less impactful.

The co-author of the study, Matthias Mehl, a professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, revealed, “we found that people who spend a lot of time alone are less satisfied with their lives and have lower well-being,” Whereas “people who spend more time interacting with others and have more meaningful, substantive conversations are more satisfied”. Take away, the ‘happy life’ is social and engaging with others rather than solitary. Further, while small talk wasn’t extremely satisfying and thought of being beneficial, it wasn’t decidedly negative either. The researchers suggested it may have a place in leading to more meaningful conversations. So, chat while at a grocery store!

Along with regular, deep talks with friends and family, previous research has identified certain personality traits common with people that are happier such as having self-esteem and optimism. Researchers writing in Europe’s Journal of Psychology took the findings a step further, revealing that people with these personality traits are happier because they use positive humor in their daily life. “The happiness of ‘happy people’ does not depend on life circumstances. Rather, happy people seem to have personalities

that allow them to find happiness even during adversity and challenging life conditions,” the study noted. And humor, it turns out, makes an effective adaptive strategy to maintain happiness.

Not just any type of humor was beneficial. Self-defeating and aggressive humor styles were linked to less happiness, while positive, self-enhancing and affiliative humor helped people cope with difficult circumstances. The research ers explained, “our findings suggest that people who are high in extraversion, have internal personal control, optimism and self-esteem have developed adaptive strategies of using humor in daily life, which in turn help make them happy. They are better at finding strategies to regulate their emotions, and the habitual use of positive humor is one of those strategies”.

I have found that kindness leads to happiness. Opening a door for an elder, helping an elder to their car, etc. Happiness levels increase when you help others. Also, practice counting your blessings and your own acts of kindness with others. Kindness makes one happy because your brain produces feel-good hormones and neurotransmitters like serotonin when you’re kind. And kindness helps you to build strong relationships with others, fostering positive feelings and stronger, more meaningful social interactions all-around. Giving of your time to others is also linked to happiness. Like generosity, gratitude can also produce measurable effects on several systems in your body, leading to better sleep,

more positive emotions and more.

Most research into happiness has focused on its social ties, but research has also found that people who sleep well are more satisfied with life. While sleep has long been linked to mood, researchers also suggested that people who sleep poorly are more likely to have a zero-sum view of happiness, which causes people to engage in more social comparisons and savor their positive experiences less, ultimately leading to less happiness.

It’s important to note as well, that while the happiest people experienced positive (though not ecstatic) feelings most of the time, they also have negative moods on occasion. In short, it’s completely natural to feel down sometimes, but happy people have ways of coping with negative emotions so they’re able to turn them around and maintain a bright outlook overall.

For 2023, if you want to be happier, research suggests putting effort into your social relationships, particularly those that provide deep nurturing meaningful conversations. Likewise, be kind and keep a running tally of your blessings and acts of kindness, no matter how big or small. Be sure to get quality shut eye each night, and practice living in the present moment, not focused on past regrets which are not changeable! Strive to increase your faith and reduce future worries. At the end of day, we only have one life, make it meaningful. Resources: Mercola.com. Psychological Science.com

In an uncertain economy, ensuring the stability of your finances is crucial. Talk to a SouthPoint Bank team member about options to keep your money safe and climbing.

Together we can climb toward your financial goals.

‘One heck of a ride’ Vizzina completes storied Briarwood Christian career

By GARY LLOYD

Christopher Vizzina threw for the most passing yards in the final game of his four-year Briarwood Christian School career Oct. 28 against Fairhope, and it was a footnote of the night.

The Clemson-bound five-star quarterback passed for 329 yards across a 48-minute football game, but he likely gave more hugs to teammates, classmates, family and adoring children in 30 minutes after the game. Todd Kwarcinski, a sports photographer who has covered Briarwood Christian for nine years, was in the middle of it all. His camera batteries may still be cooling.

“After the Pelham game, we were up 20 and lost by one, and while the team was getting on the bus, he took the time to talk and take pictures with Pelham fans and kids, and talked with some of their coaches,” Kwarcinski said. “He is all class, one reason why Dabo [Swinney] wanted him. It’s how he handles himself off the field.”

Kwarcinski, a devoted Clemson fan, said Vizzina is the only player he’s photographed for all four years as a varsity player. He’s photographed Vizzina on the field, sure, but he’s been present for dozens of halftime speeches, fist bumps and handshakes in the locker room.

“That’s CV,” he said. “Team guy.”

Vizzina finished his career with 7,222 passing yards, 58 passing touchdowns and 28 interceptions. He rushed for 1,126 yards and 28 scores. As a starter, he led the Lions to a 32-12 record, including five playoff wins.

“It’s been one heck of a ride,” Vizzina said. “I got to play more than anybody. I got to play for four years. It’s flown by. Everybody told me it would go by fast, and it sure did.”

His on-field accomplishments, the national

notoriety, are well-documented. It’s the off-thefield moments that will cement Vizzina’s Briarwood Christian legacy.

“I want to walk off this field and hopefully people remember me for more than just being the quarter back,” he said. “I hope that I made an impact on people during school or even outside of school. This place is just special. I hope that I did enough to impact people here.”

The impact seems evident. When coaches, teach ers, counselors and parents have told their favorite Vizzina stories, football, like his career high in pass ing yards against Fairhope, is a footnote. They talk of his outreach, his willingness to mentor younger kids and offer advice where needed. During the last week of his high school football career, Briarwood Christian School held a senior athlete celebrity car pool day. Vizzina greeted young children coming to school. In one photo, his right arm is wrapped around an elementary-age boy. It’s hard to tell which of their smiles is wider.

“He’s not chasing fame or fortune,” said Lions head coach Matthew Forester. “He wants to be the best person he can be, and he wants to be the best player he can be. It’s not about all the glitz and glamor that so many people make it. I think that, and then I think just the humility he has to realize that life isn’t all about him. I think that’s huge. I can’t wait for the moment for my kids to learn that lesson. I’m grateful that he learned it early in life, and I think we all have to go through that. Life’s not all about us. We’re here to help and serve others, and he gets that.”

Vizzina now heads off to Clemson, leaving a legacy of leadership behind him.

“It’s just crazy that it’s all coming to an end,” he said. “I’ll definitely be back. This place means so much to me.”

Briarwood quarterback Christopher Vizzina (17) warms up before the second half of a football game versus Fairhope at Lions Pride Stadium on Oct. 28. The Lions fell to the Pirates 44-22. Photo by Laura Chramer.

BASKETBALL

LIONS FEATURE ‘TON OF EXPERIENCE’

ENTERING SEASON

Entering the 2022-23 season, the story is different for the Briarwood Christian School boys basketball team. Last year, the Lions were look ing to gain experience and figure things out as they went.

This year, the hope is to capitalize on that progress made over the previ ous 12 months.

“Last year, we didn’t have a ton of experience,” Briarwood head coach Bobby Kerley said. “We had two seniors that did a good job, but they hadn’t played a ton of basketball… This year, coming back, we have a ton of experience.”

Kerley was flanked at the preseason Birmingham Media Day event by two of his six seniors, William Lloyd and Miles Gilbert. They believe having a full year of varsity experience alongside each other is going to pay dividends.

Lloyd said the team is comfortable around each other now, while Gilbert commended the seniors’ character.

“What makes us unique is we’re very unselfish,” Gilbert said. “We know each other’s weaknesses. We all had to come together and figure it out, but it’s exciting for us.”

The Lions rely on Lloyd’s abil ity to handle the basketball, while Gilbert has size and can score from anywhere on the court in addition to being a defensive force. Zac Lamey is a forward but is an elite shooter. Mathias Leib also plays forward and is a tough player, according to Kerley. Grant Mears is a shooter and known for his hustle plays. Sawyer Russell is another guy who makes all the tough plays.

Those six seniors will carry the Lions this season.

“Having so many older guys, we already know what we’re doing,” Kerley said. “Hopefully, we’re able to take that and move forward right away. We’ll be a good defensive team because we’re intelligent and long. You’ll see good offense because we can shoot it and we’re long.”

Luke Schultz and Garrett With erington provide Briarwood a post presence as well. Caleb Keller is a fundamentally sound guard who Kerley said was fun to watch and a great passer. Drew Mears is a fresh man guard and Josh Thompson is a junior forward.

Lloyd and Gilbert commented on the desire for the team to represent Christ and have a collective high char acter, and Kerley appreciated hearing those sentiments from his players.

“It’s just loud. It’s joyful, it’s a great place to be. We love practice almost as

much as we love playing the game,” Kerley said.

Briarwood will be in Class 6A, Area 8, this season with Pelham and Helena.

“Every game is going to be down to the wire. It’s going to be tough from tip to final buzzer. We’re excited about the opportunity to be great and to compete with those guys,” Kerley said.

Briarwood will also face the likes of Woodlawn, Leeds, Homewood, Helena, Pelham and Calera in addi tion to tournaments at Woodlawn and in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

HORNETS READY TO TURN PROGRESS INTO CONSISTENCY

Over the last several years, the Chelsea High School boys basketball team has a habit of making waves.

The Hornets are typically good enough to pull off some big wins, like their one against Mountain Brook last January.

Unfortunately, Chelsea has not been able to consistently parlay nights like that into long-term success over a season.

Head coach Nick Baumbaugh is ready to change that this year and believes his team possesses the capa bility to do just that.

“We have flashes of success in our program, we always have at Chelsea,” Baumbaugh said prior to the season.

“We’ve talked about being tough all these years, and we’ve been tough. We battle hard and we don’t always win.

“This year, it’s about winning.”

Chelsea even has a motto this year that reminds them of that goal: What ever Is Necessary (W.I.N.).

“The returning nucleus understands what needs to be done and those juniors are going to fit right in to what we’re doing and how we’re doing it.”

The Hornets will rely on their five seniors to lead the way to what they hope is a strong season. Paul Lanzi is back as the team’s leading scorer and will be in his third year as a full-time starter. He led the Hornets in points, assists and steals, while setting three different school records.

Alex Redd has also been contribut ing to the varsity team since his fresh man season. He’s not a flashy player, according to his coach, but plays great defense and adds value in many ways.

Dylan Brown started several games last season, and MJ Conrad and EJ Hudnall will give Chelsea two topnotch athletes in key positions.

Junior Avery Futch was Chelsea’s second leading scorer last year and Baumbaugh believes he is ready to take another step in his game this year.

Aiden Owens is only a sophomore but established himself as a key player last season as well.

Gavin Collett, Braden Macon, Will Lee, Jaxon Shuttlesworth and Chris tian Whetstone are players who are making the jump to varsity this year.

“These guys are hungry. They got a small taste of success last year,” Baumbaugh said. “This is one of the deepest teams we’ve had in a long time. If someone is having an off night, we have guys who can step up.”

Baumbaugh said the Hornets had a strong summer, reinforcing some tactical tweaks they made toward the end of last year. He wants to see his team be consistent and handle adver sity well this winter.

Chelsea will face the likes of

Thompson, Helena, Sylacauga, Oxford, McAdory, Pelham and Calera throughout the season. The Hornets have also ascended to Class 7A for the first time and will play in Area 6 against Hewitt-Trussville, Spain Park and Oak Mountain.

“From the area standpoint, we’ve talked about how tough it’s going to be,” Baumbaugh said. “Are we going to rise to the challenge?”

JAGS LOOKING TO CONTINUE RECENT RUN OF SUCCESS

The Spain Park High School boys basketball program is on a great run of success over the last couple of years.

In each of the last two years, the Jags have advanced to the Class 7A final four, where they have fallen to the same Enterprise team in the semifinals.

In 2020-21, Spain Park entered the season with high expectations and reached those. Last winter, it was largely expected the Jags would take a step back, but they defied the odds and got back to the same level.

This year, expectations are proba bly somewhere in between.

“Every year is a new season and a new journey,” Spain Park head coach Chris Laatsch said before the season at Birmingham Media Day at Thomp son. “You lose some guys from the year before and we’re excited about who we have in our program.”

Laatsch, as one can imagine, spends little time worrying about his team’s external expectations. His favorite part of the season is showing up to work with his group of guys every day.

“I love going to the gym every day and seeing them, because I know what I’m going to get form them,” he said.

“I don’t have to poke and prod or try to motivate guys to work hard. These guys bring it every day, so it’s a lot of fun.”

Spain Park has the requisite talent to achieve a season similar to the last two. The Jags finished each of those campaigns with 27 wins. In order to do that, or even go further, the Jags will have to excel in two specific areas.

“One of the things we’ve got to do is increase our toughness and grit,” Laatsch said. “We’ve got kids that want to do right, they want to do the right things, be in the right spots, doing the right things.”

Zach Gray and Sam Wright are the two players Laatsch brought with him to Media Day, for good reason. Both are key players for this Jags team who play hard every night and are strong leaders for the team.

Gray is a guard who has a reputa tion for being a shooter, so he said he has worked to develop his ball-han dling and rebounding to increase his value to the team even if the opponent attempts to shut him down on offense.

Wright will anchor the post pres ence for the Jags, a strength of this year’s team.

“When you have bigs, you’re going to try to play through them,” Laatsch said. “We have bigs that can play, so they’re going to get touches. We also have a lot of guys that can drive the ball and shoot the ball. I think we can be versatile and hurt people in a lot of areas and have success in a lot of areas.”

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Above: Chelsea’s Paul Lanzi (5) shoots for 3 points in a game against the Eagles at Oak Mountain High School in December 2021. Right: Spain Park’s Zach Gray (22) shoots for 3 points guarded by Enterprise’s Kenneth Mitchell Jr. (5) in the second half of the AHSAA Class 7A boys state semifinal game at Legacy Arena at the BJCC in March 2022. Photos by Erin Nelson.

Hunter Herritt and Evan Houser are also seniors this year, while Chase James is a third returning starter from last year’s squad. TJ Lamar and Jared Smith are two players who will pro vide depth at forward. Korbin Long also played big minutes last season.

Joshua Fonbah, Nicholas Richard son, Harrison Stewart, Jackson Brad ley, Josh Helms, Joseph Buchanan, Parker Chase and Chapman Blevins will also contribute for the Jags this year.

Spain Park will compete in Class 7A, Area 6, against Oak Mountain, Chelsea and Hewitt-Trussville.

LADY LIONS SEAMLESSLY MIXING YOUNG AND OLD

The Briarwood Christian School girls basketball team has plenty of energy surrounding the program entering the 2022-23 season. The Lady Lions have a core of solid play ers remaining in the fold from last season, while working some new ones into the mix that should only add to the team’s success.

“We’re returning four starters and we’re excited about one more year of experience for those girls,” Briarwood head coach Lorie Kerley said.

In addition to those four starters, the Lady Lions will also get Taylor Smith back, who missed most of last season due to injury. The 6-foot-2 senior will be a major factor for her team this season.

Smith said she is excited to take on her senior season and is working to contribute to the team the best way that she can.

“I can’t say enough about how proud I am of her and how much work she put in. She’s a completely differ ent player,” Kerley said.

Smith is one of three seniors on this year’s team, with Sigourney Bell and Piper Eighmy making up the class. Kerley calls Eighmy a “blue-collar” player and noted Bell’s rebounding prowess.

Mary Beth Dicen and Colleen Lehane are the team’s juniors. Dicen has been the starting point guard since she was a freshman and has made con tinual strides from the day she stepped on the floor for the first time.

“I feel completely comfortable on the court,” Dicen said. “I rely on my teammates and as long as we’re all working together, then nothing will mess that up.”

Over half of the roster is composed of freshmen and sophomores. That dynamic could easily make things difficult, but Kerley complimented the older players for embracing the younger ones.

“We have great younger players and our older girls realize that we need them to contribute,” Kerley said. “It’s nothing that I’ve had to worry about or deal with, because our older girls have done a great job of unifying us as one team.”

Brooklyn Barnett, Taylor Leib and Mia Wilson are the sophomores, while Ann Tatum Baker, Ellison Causey and Emma Kerley are all impressive

freshmen that will have significant roles.

Lorie Kerley said the team has worked on decreasing turnovers and is focusing on doing little things well with so many players back from a season ago.

Briarwood will compete in Class 6A, Area 8, with Helena and Pelham. With it being a three-team area, the regular season champion will qualify for the sub-regionals before the area tournament.

“I think all the girls are really excited and it’s going to be very com petitive,” Kerley said.

LADY HORNETS TAKING ON NEW CHALLENGES

This season will present many obstacles for the Chelsea High School girls basketball team to face and attempt to overcome.

The Lady Hornets have made sev eral deep postseason runs in recent years, including nearly advancing to the state final four for the second straight season a year ago.

In order to do that again, Chelsea will be looking at replacing roughly 90% of its scoring from last year and ascending into a new, extremely chal lenging area.

“It’s going to be different, but we still have talent and we’re going to be a tough out,” Chelsea head coach Jason Harlow said.

Chelsea graduated five seniors last year, four of them regular starters. Compounding that factor is the loss of Lexi Redd, who was the Lady Hor nets’ leading scorer. Redd injured her knee in the regional final game and is expected to miss at least the first half of this season.

“She was such a vital part of our success last year. We’re hoping we can get her back. It’ll provide opportunity

for kids to fill some roles and hope fully we’ll be stronger because of it,” Harlow said.

However, on the positive end of the injury front, Chelsea will get the ser vices of Sophia Brown back. Brown was a big contributor to the team as a freshman and sophomore, before missing her entire junior season with a knee injury.

“At times over her sophomore year, she was our best player on the floor,” Harlow said.

Brown is one of seven seniors on the squad this winter, but it is a class without a wealth of varsity experience.

Nora Breedlove, Zamar’ya Cook, Hardy Erwin, Makenzie Fennell, Madison Moore and Redd are the other seniors.

Haley Trotter is back for the Lady Hornets, quickly ascending to one of the team’s best players last season as a freshman. Another sophomore, Sadie Schwallie, is ready to step into the void left by her older sister, Sydney, who ran the point guard position for four years.

Harlow also noted the emergence of Madeline Epperson, a tough player who is “blue collar and scrappy.” Freshman Caroline Brown and eighth grader Olivia Pryor are young players who have impressed in the preseason.

Baylor McCluney, Sydney Carroll and Allie Scott will also contribute for the Lady Hornets this season.

Harlow called moving up to Class 7A a privilege, as Chelsea will now compete in an area against Hewitt-Trussville, Spain Park and Oak Mountain. The schedule also features games against Thompson, Helena and tournaments at Oak Mountain and Pell City.

“There’s going to be obstacles

Briarwood’s Mary Beth Dicen (2) dribbles the ball downcourt in a game against Homewood at Briarwood Christian School in January 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.

and speed bumps early on, but at the end of the day, I still think we’ll be a tough out if we weather those storms,” Harlow said.

LADY EAGLES LOOKING TO GAIN EXPERIENCE

For Oak Mountain High School girls basketball coach Beth Parmer, it’s a new season with new faces, but the same excitement.

Parmer admits that this year’s team is limited on returning experience. But that won’t diminish the team’s goals and aspirations.

“We know we’re not where we need to be, but usually a team isn’t,” Parmer said at a preseason Birming ham Media Day event at Thompson. “We’ve got to work throughout the season to be the team we need to be once January rolls around.”

Once January rolls around, the games get bigger. Area games lead into the area tournament, which ide ally lead to a postseason run for the Lady Eagles.

Oak Mountain has talked for sev eral years about breaking through to the Class 7A regional finals, and the Lady Eagles have been right on the doorstep of that each of the last three years. They have advanced to the regional tournament three straight seasons and aim to make it four this season.

“That’s been our goal, to do better than the before, and eventually, you’ll get to where you want to be,” Parmer said. “I’ve seen gradual improve ment over the years. We were really close last year, we just weren’t deep enough.”

This year’s team doesn’t possess

much returning varsity experience, but Parmer likes what her three seniors bring to the table. Sydney Kate Ervin, Vica Hood and Kathleen Matuszak will play one final season for their school this season.

“I’m looking for improvement this season,” Ervin said. “We have really good team chemistry.”

Raegan Whitaker is the team’s top returner and is just a junior, along with Ella Holt.

“We have a lot of talent. I have teammates I can trust,” Whitaker said.

Elizabeth Butler, Lily Johnston, Maggie Norris, Ava Tucker and Ella Vineyard make up a big sophomore class. Parmer spoke highly of fresh man Caroline Kester, who is up on varsity along with Lucy McKeown.

Oak Mountain will take on teams like Helena, Huffman, Vestavia Hills, Homewood and Oxford before diving into Class 7A, Area 6 play. The Lady Eagles will compete against Spain Park, Hewitt-Trussville and 7A new comer Chelsea in the area this season.

“By the time we get through that grueling schedule, that will get us ready for what we need to be ready for,” Parmer said.

LADY JAGS STARTING LONG-TERM PLAN

This season begins a two-year jour ney for the Spain Park High School girls basketball program.

The Lady Jags have that luxury because this year’s roster contains no seniors and only one junior. Zyian Heyligar is the oldest player on a 10-player roster largely devoid of any significant varsity experience.

“We’re going to get to the point where when she’s a senior, we’re going to be as good as we can be for her,” Spain Park head coach Mike Chase said. “We’ve got a big core

group of sophomores that are on a three-year plan.”

There are only 10 girls in the high school program this year, so Spain Park won’t have the luxury of fielding a junior varsity squad. Chase credits that issue to Spain Park’s other girls sports succeeding at such a high level in recent years and the pressure to spe cialize in a single sport.

For example, Heyligar plays lacrosse, flag football and basketball. But she has loved basketball since she began playing and is determined to excel.

“Ever since I started playing, I’ve

been hooked on it,” she said. “I’m very competitive and I know what I want.”

Charlee Bennett is one of six sophomores on the team, and is the only returner that earned some start ing experience last year. She is also a high-level softball player and said time management is the biggest key to juggling everything successfully.

A new label that Spain Park is working with this year is that of underdog. The Lady Jags won state championships in 2018 and 2020 and have been one of the state’s top pro grams consistently under Chase.

“There’s no expectations,” Chase said. “We’re going to be the under dog in most games that we play. I like those situations.”

Aside from Bennett, Trinity Dan iels, Tori Flournoy, MC Hunter, Campbell Busby and Jordyn Corey are the team’s sophomores. Allie Whitaker, Kaden Philpot and Teagan Huey are freshmen.

The team’s lack of experience has invigorated Chase in some ways, forc ing him to be more intentional with his teaching of the game in practice and in games.

“We all have to be able to work together,” Chase said. “It’s helped me and they’re helping me, because they’ve been really good about coming in and being ready to go.”

Chase admitted the schedule will look a little different this year, designed to give this year’s players a chance to have games that will help them grow into the season as they gain experience.

“Every time we step on the floor, we’re going to get better and our ceil ing is going to be a lot higher than everyone else,” Chase said.

Spain Park will compete against perennial power Hewitt-Trussville, Oak Mountain and Chelsea in Class 7A, Area 6. Hewitt-Trussville will be one of the top teams in the state, but Chase expects for his team to have a chance to advance out of the area.

“Our goal is to get to those six January games [area games] and stay out of the No. 4 spot. Then, I feel like we’ve got a shot. That’s what our goal is,” he said.

Be sure to visit 280living.com each Tuesday throughout the year for a high school sports recap, which will include results and statistics from each team.

Chelsea’s Haley Trotter (44) shoots for 3 points during the second half of the AHSAA Class 6A girls Northeast Regional Semifinal at Pete Mathews Coliseum in February 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.

Eagles part ways with football coach Tyler Crane

By KYLE PARMLEY

Oak Mountain High School is searching for a new head football coach.

After two seasons, the school has parted ways with head coach Tyler Crane. The Eagles posted a 3-7 record this fall, failing to qualify for the state playoffs.

"We have decided to go in a different direc tion with the leadership of our football pro gram," Oak Mountain High School Principal Andrew Gunn said. "We appreciate Coach Crane's service to our school and community. … We hope to have a head coach in place by the second semester."

Oak Mountain struggled in 2022, losing seven straight games after a pair of season-open ing wins over Northridge and Pelham. Six of those losses were in Class 7A, Region 3 play, plus a game against crosstown foe Briarwood.

But the Eagles won their final game of the

season, beating Spain Park 9-3 to end the year on a high note.

Crane's first season had some high marks, as Oak Mountain posted a 7-5 record in 2021 and advanced to the second round of the state playoffs.

Led by star quarterback Evan Smith, the Eagles got off to a 6-1 start, the best in program history. They also beat James Clemens 38-35 in the first round of the playoffs on a game-win ning Garrett Murphy field goal.

Before being the head coach at Oak Moun tain, Crane served as an assistant coach for two years at the school in the 2016 and 2017 seasons. He graduated from Jacksonville State University and has coached at Sand Rock, Winterboro, Cherokee County (twice), Foley, Northridge and Central-Phenix City.

Oak Mountain’s next coach will be the sixth in program history. Prior to Crane, Cris Bell spent nine years leading the Eagles.

Oak Mountain head coach Tyler Crane calls a play during the season opener against Chelsea in August 2021 at Chelsea High School.

Photo by Erin Nelson.

28th annual Meadow Brook Runs return to Hoover

By ERIC TAUNTON

One of the longest running traditions in the city, Meadow Brook Runs, is returning for its annual 5K and 1-mile fun run at Valley Bank on Dec. 17.

The 5K will be at 9 a.m., and the 1-mile fun run will begin at 10 a.m., with an awards ceremony for both races at 10:30 a.m.

Proceeds from the runs will go to four non profits, including First Priority, Adult and Teen Challenge of Alabama, Young Life and The Jesus Video Project of Alabama, a nonprofit organization that mails DVDs of the 1979 “Jesus” film to people.

The 28th annual race will feature its annual Taste of 280 offerings from several restau rants, including Jimmy John’s, Chick-fil-A, Golden Flake, Bud’s Best Cookies, Smoothie King, Ashley Mac’s and Full Moon Cookies,

among others, race organizer Bob Cosby said. Runners of each race will also have the chance to receive first-, second- and thirdplace medals as well as gift items from several of the race's sponsors, he said.

Cosby said he got the idea for the race when he was on a run one Saturday before Christmas.

“It was a gorgeous day, and I thought to myself, someone ought to do a race the Sat urday before Christmas,” Cosby said. “My thought process was that, one week before Christmas, we wouldn’t have much compe tition with other races because the race direc tors and volunteers wouldn’t want to work that close to Christmas.”

Tickets for the 5K and 1-mile fun run are $25.

For more information, visit meadowbrook -runs.org.

Participants compete in the 2019 Meadow Brook Runs 5K and 1-mile run event. This year it will take place on Dec. 17 beginning at 9 a.m. Photo courtesy of Suman Silwal.

Oak

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE

After watching too many Hallmark Christ mas movies, Oak Mountain High School PTO president Marci Hackbarth had an idea for a Christmas event in the Oak Mountain community.

“I thought, if the people in those movies can pull together Christmas parades and events in three days, I thought we should be able to do so in six months,” Hackbarth said.

She said that she knew others in the com munity have wanted something like this in their area for some time. Hackbarth’s idea was to bring the community together in a cen tral space for a holiday event, and this month, her idea will come to fruition.

Christmas on the Mountain will be held Thursday, Dec. 1, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at Heardmont Park on U.S. 119.

The planning process began before the 2021-22 school year ended. Hackbarth reached out to the PTO presidents of all the Oak Mountain schools and Mt Laurel Ele mentary, so the schools would be involved and share leadership of the event and provide hands to help. Each of the different schools decided on their own ways to contribute.

“I thought, ‘What if we worked with Heardmont Park and do a tree lighting cer emony there?’” she said. “Oak Mountain doesn't really have a city center or commu nity gathering spot, so we’re trying to create it with this event. I knew this needed to be an all-encompassing, area-wide event.”

Mandee McDonald, co-president of the Inverness Elementary PTO, came on board and Hackbarth said she totally embraced the idea, even creating the Christmas on the Mountain logo.

Hackbarth said she also worked with Shelby County Tourism & Events Director Kendall Williams, who was a huge supporter

of the event and shared her ideas and direc tions on how to handle different things.

A 16-foot Christmas tree will be lit at the beginning of the evening. There will be live performances from local schools and students on the stage every 15 minutes.

Santa will arrive on a golf cart and be led by Inverness Elementary’s winning scare crow class. He will light the tree and then be at the Heardmont Senior Center for photos.

There will also be more than 20 vendors selling items, along with inflatables, a petting zoo, a craft tent and food trucks.

“We really want it to be an annual thing every year,” Hackbarth said. “We’d love to add a parade or a parade of trees. We have lots of ideas and would love to see this expand.”

McDonald said this event will be nice, so guests can enjoy an evening spending time together without being in a rush.

“I'm hoping there’ll be more events throughout the year that bring the whole community together, not just the schools,” McDonald said.

The vendor deadline is Nov. 30 and to sign up, visit the “Christmas on the Mountain” Facebook page for more information.

PTO presidents and members from Oak Mountain Schools at a planning event for Christmas on the Mountain. Photo courtesy of Marci Hackbarth.

hoping there’ll be more

throughout the year that bring the whole community together, not just the schools.

MANDEE McDONALD

I am watching my husband, who isn’t handy at all, saw through a tree. He is lying on his side, with his top half engulfed by a Christmas pine of some sort. I can hear his grumbles and grunts as he yells, “WHY are we doing this again?”

“It’s our new Christmas tradition!” I exclaim.

My two young boys are flat on the ground as well, pretending to be of assistance to their father.

“Get it, Dad! Saw right here!”

“Let me try, Dad! Can I use the saw? My turn!”

When I had the idea to take my family to the tree farm last year, and cut down a real, live, Christmas tree, it seemed like a great idea. We’ve always purchased a live tree, but we have never been the ones to cut it down. We always left that to the professionals. But, it seemed like an adventure of sorts, and one that my boys would love to do, year after year.

An adventure is one word for what we were experiencing.

There were rows and rows of trees. Christ mas trees galore! I was excited at first, but as we walked the rows and side-stepped muddy puddles, I realized the trees didn’t look as good up close. Some were leaning a bit, or a tad too short. Some were bare in the back. And some just would not do.

I was trying to be optimistic as I said, “They do have a lot of character!”

My six-year-old stopped at his tree of choice. “Mom, this one looks good!”

And it did, for the most part. So, we set about cutting this chosen tree down. It was

Holy Moly Motherhood By Alana

Smith

A Homemade Tree

much harder than one might have imagined. By the time my husband had the trunk sawed through, his pants were covered in dirt, sap coated his palms, and pine needles littered his hair. I couldn’t help but laugh, but I knew this was not going to be a fun tradition for him.

My boys were also quite dirty from laying on the ground as well, watching the action, so our dirt-covered bunch headed to my SUV with our new tree in tow.

After a lot of effort and exasperation, my husband tied the tree to the top of our vehicle. Off we drove, with my hand sticking out of the sunroof and into the pine to make sure it stayed put.

Once we arrived home, our boys raced inside, already interested in other things. I cleared a spot for our new tree, got the stand ready, and my husband drug the tree into the house.

I had never seen an uglier tree.

“Is this the same tree?” I wondered. This tree looked completely different as it stood alone, next to our lamp, without all of its tree companions. This tree was full at the bottom, and grew quite skinny up top, and the top curved over just a bit as if it was straight out of Whoville. I didn’t notice the curved top at the farm, as I guess they all looked this way.

“How will the star stay on top?”

This was apparently a cypress tree, and

not the traditional Fraser Fir, I was expecting. I’m not sure how I didn’t notice this while we were picking a tree, but I didn’t. And the branches were the floppiest things I’d ever seen. My beloved ornaments would never hold. I doubted the lights would even stand a chance.

I knew I had to make the most of it, because if I asked my husband to head to Lowe’s for a different tree, he may never return. So, I got busy. I did manage to get the lights on this crazy tree, but most of the ornaments were too heavy. I picked my favorite few—my boys’ handprint ornaments, a sparkly donut ornament, and our first ornament as a married couple, and hung them on the one sturdy branch I could find. The rest of the tree was decorated with paper ornaments from my boys’ preschool, which gave it a very homemade feel.

I stepped back to inspect this ridiculous tree. It was so bare and nothing like our normal Christmas tree. I called in my boys, and told them that this tree needed some garland. And they were to make it. I went to gather some construction paper, and almost cried when I remembered we had used it all during a Thanksgiving craft. I grabbed my only option, white printer paper, and told them we would “decorate our own!” and we started to create. They colored scribbles and stripes and nothing that resembled Christmas, other than the red

and green marker choice.

I cut the strips out and then stapled together the rings. After about four feet of garland, my boys lost interest, like they usually do. So we hung up our four foot creation, which went exactly one time around the tree. This tree now had a few lights, a few ornaments, and one strip of homemade garland.

It was ugly.

It was leaning.

It was sparse. But it was our tree.

A few days later, the majority of the nee dles fell off the tree. It was a horrendous mess, and it was a Charlie Brown tree now, for sure. And there was nothing to do about it except laugh, and try not to touch it. I probably yelled, “Don’t touch the tree!” at least 50 times last year.

This year, we won’t be heading back to the tree farm. We will leave that to some other unsuspecting parents. But we will always remember and laugh at the year that we picked a regular old cypress tree as a Christmas tree. It was our ugly, messy, homemade tree.

And it was an adventure for sure.

Alana is a nurse anesthetist, writer and boy mom (ages 7 and 2), who lives in north Shelby County with her husband, kids and Boxer, Sam. When she’s not writing or chasing little humans, she can usually be found in the aisles of Target. She shares her writings at Holy Moly Motherhood (on Facebook and Instagram), where she takes on all things motherhood and marriage.

Smith

It was just the two of us, seated at dinner. Alone on Christmas night. Dressed in our Sunday best. Candles on the dining table. Choral music playing.

“This is weird,” said my wife, slicing her turkey. “Not having Mother with us.”

“I know.”

“I keep waiting for her to call me on the phone. I keep waiting to wake up one morning and figure out it was all a bad dream, and that she never really died.”

“Yeah.”

Long silence.

“Is this turkey too dry?” she said.

“Are you kidding? This turkey is so good it’s got an R rating.”

“How about the gravy?”

“I could water ski on this gravy.”

“You like the dressing?”

“I want to use this dressing in the shower.”

She smiled. “Do you recognize the plates that we’re eating off of?”

My wife lifted a dish. It had a simple green Christmas tree painted on it.

“These are your mama’s plates?” I said.

She nodded. “We ate on them every Christmas.” Then she inspected the plate and her eyes began to turn pink.

“And,” she said, “do you notice any thing about this blouse I’m wearing?”

“Your mom’s blouse.”

Another nod. “Do you like it?”

“I do.”

“This strand of pearls is hers, too.” “Ah.”

“The perfume I’m wearing, can you smell it?”

“I can. Was that your mother’s, too?”

Sean of the South By Sean Dietrich Merry Christmas

“Yes. Do you like this perfume? Is it weird that I’m wearing an old woman’s perfume at Christmas?”

“I adore that smell. And there’s no such thing as an old woman’s perfume.”

She covered her mouth. Her head dropped. Her hair fell into her plate. She dropped her fork and her knife, and there was the light sound of sobbing. I stood and went to my wife. I wrapped my arms around her.

“She’s gone,” moaned my wife. “Why can’t I seem to feel that? Why do I keep thinking she’s still here?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where is she? Is she happy? I don’t want to do this without her. Christmas was her favorite day. I can’t do this.”

“Ssssshhhh.”

“How can an old woman seem so normal and healthy one year, and then just up and die? How? Why do people die? Why, why, why?”

“I don’t know.”

“I called her every single day. She called me every single day. We were best friends. This hurts so bad. I need a Kleenex, I’m getting snot all over your sweater.”

“I don’t care.”

“No. It’s a lot of snot. Get me a Kleenex.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, seriously, there’s so much snot

on your sweater, it’s get ting all over your khakis. Take off your pants and shirt, let me go run them through the wash.”

“I am not taking off my trousers and eating Christmas dinner in my underpants.”

Silent crying into my chest for several minutes. The Vienna Boys Choir sang “Adeste Fideles” in the background. The food was getting cold.

“Do you think she can see me?” said my wife.

“Yes,” I said.

“How can you believe that?”

“I don’t know. I just do. I believe she sees you, and me, and all of us. And I don’t believe she’s really gone. I believe she’s with us, somehow. I believe all our loved ones are with us.”

“You do?”

“I really do. I don’t believe she’s gone any more than I believe big waves on the ocean can truly disappear.

“I believe that waves take shape for a little while, and then they crash into the beach, and then they go back into the ocean. But they never disappear. They are always there. We are not a drop in the ocean. We are the ocean in a drop.”

“Wait. Did you steal that from a Disney movie?”

“Perhaps.”

“Which movie?”

“I don’t remember. I think I heard it on ‘Finding Nemo.’”

My wife pushed her plate away. “That was a good movie.”

“Most underrated Disney flick of all time. Second only to ‘Apple Dumpling Gang.’”

Silence.

She said, “Do you think Mother knows how much I miss her?”

“I know she does.”

“Do you think I’m crazy for talking to her like I do all the time?”

“No.”

“Do you think she hears me?”

“I know it.”

“Can we talk to her now? You and me?”

My wife and I both bowed our heads. And the weight of holiday grief sort of pressed downward on my shoulders. My wife squeezed my hand.

“Dear God,” I began. “Please get a message to our loved ones. Please tell them how much we miss them, and how Christmas is not the same without them. And how this world will never be the same without them. And thank you for our lives, God. We are sorry if we don’t appreciate them enough.”

“Amen,” said my wife. Silence.

“I love you, Sean.”

“I love you, too, Jamie darlin’.”

“Merry Christmas.”

“Yes. It sure is.”

“Now take off that sweater right now.”

Sean Dietrich is a columnist and nov elist known for his commentary on life in the American South. He has authored nine books and is the creator of the “Sean of the South” blog and podcast.

Dietrich

Calendar Mt Laurel Library

FAMILY/ALL AGES

Dec. 4: Tree Lighting. 6 p.m.

CHILDREN

Dec. 2 and 16: Ukulele Storytime. 10 a.m. Dec. 3. Animal Tales – Holiday Safari. 2 p.m. Dec. 10: Crafty Saturday.

TWEENS

Dec. 15: Gingerbread Houses. 4-5 p.m. Registration required.

ADULTS

Dec. 1: Mt Laurel Book Club. Reading “The Children’s Bliz zard.” 1 and 7 p.m.

Dec. 8: Personalized Ornament Making. 6-8 p.m. Costs $10. No children allowed. Registration required.

Dec. 12: Mt Laurel Knitting Group. 2-4 p.m.

North Shelby Library

The library will be closed Dec. 24-26 and Dec. 31-Jan. 1.

FAMILY/ALL

adult assistance if needed.

Dec. 8: Drop-In Gingerbread House Program. 3:30-7:30 p.m.

Dec. 13: Snowy Science with Jan the Science Lady. 10:30 a.m. Registration required and opens 2 weeks in advance.

Dec. 14: Homeschool Hangout: Catapult Science. 1 p.m. Grades K-12 with adult assistance if needed. Registration required.

Dec. 14: K-5th Homeschool Art Craft Kit to Go. 1 p.m. Registration required.

Dec. 16-Jan. 16: Get Yeti to Read Winter Challenge. Birth-5th grade. Sign up through northshelbyreads.readsquared.com. Dec. 19-23: DIY Stamper Gift Card. All ages.

TWEENS

All month: Tween Minecraft Realm. Ages 8-12.

All month: Tween Activity Kit: Break-in Bags. Ages 8-12.

Dec. 3: Spanish Club. 2 p.m. Ages 8-17.

Dec. 5: Snowcraft: A Creative Minecraft Challenge. 4 p.m. For ages 8-12. Registration required.

Dec. 12: Tween Leadership Council Meeting. 4:30 p.m.

TEENS

Contact the Young Adult Department at 205-439-5512 or nsyoungadultshelbycounty-al.org for more information.

Mondays: Teen Dungeons & Dragons. 6 p.m. Weekly. Sign up online or by phone.

Dec. 15. Teen Nailed It: Holiday Cookie Challenge. 6 p.m. Sign up online or by phone.

Dec. 16: Teen Leadership Council Meeting. 4 p.m. Con tact the Young Adult Department for more information.

ADULTS

Dec. 6: Holiday Decorative Paper Flower Program. 9 a.m. Registration required.

Dec. 9: Language Club. 5 p.m. Registration required. Dec. 13: True Crime Digital Book Club. 6 p.m. Registration required.

Dec. 15: NSL Book Club. Reading “The Lying Life of Adults” by Elena Ferrante. 10:30 a.m. Registration only required for Zoom.

Chelsea Library

ADULT

Dec. 8: Children Book Club. 10-11 a.m. Outdoor Patio. Dec. 12: Medicare Info. 10-11 a.m. Outdoor Patio.

CHILDREN

Dec. 3: Chess Club. 2-3 p.m. Outdoor Patio. Registration required.

AGES

Dec. 4: 4th Annual Holiday Ornament Craft: Make & Take. 2-5 p.m.

CHILDREN

All month: Activity Bundles. Designed for Pre-K through 1st grade.

Dec. 1 and 15: Family Fun Nights. 6-7:30 p.m. All ages.

Dec. 3: Animal Tales: Holiday Safari. 11 a.m. Heardmont Park Senior Center. All ages.

Dec. 6 and 13: Tech Tuesdays. 3:30-4:30 p.m. All ages with

Dec. 2: Make and Take Ornament Craft. 3 p.m. Sign up online or by phone.

Dec. 5: Snowcraft: A Creative Minecraft Challenge. 4 p.m. For ages 8-12. Join this wintry-themed Minecraft Creative Build Challenge. Sign up online or by phone.

Dec. 10: Teen Movie Night: Harry Potter and the Sor cerer’s Stone. 5:30 p.m. Sign up online or by phone.

Dec. 10: Teen Volunteer Day. Registration opens 21 days before each volunteer day. Sign up online or by phone.

Dec. 14: Homeschool Hangout: Catapult Science. 1 p.m.

Dec. 10: Lego Day. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Children's Floor. Dec. 13: Virtual Music & Books Club. 5:30-6:30 p.m. Dec. 17: Chess Club. 2-3 p.m. Outdoor Patio. Registration required.

Dec. 24: KZT Hands On S.T.E.A.M. Day. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Children's Floor.

TEENS

Dec. 10: Lego Day. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Children's Floor. Dec. 12: Teen Book Club. 5-6 p.m. Conference Room. Dec. 24: K.Z.T Hands On S.T.E.A.M. Day. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Children's Floor.

When

Birmingham

ENT

Jim and Candy Tate with their new Yukon and Sierra vehicles.