280 Living
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neighborly news & entertainment
Volume 5 | Issue 10 | June 2012 | June 2012 |
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Absent no more
June Features
How one man is equipping a community of fathers By RICK WATSON
OMHS’s Jim Duren- Page 13 Editor’s note
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Local events
6
Sweet Melissa’s Sauces
8
Oak Mountain State Park
9
Project Night Night
11
Vacation Bible Schools
14
People you should know
15
Restaurant Showcase
17
Business Spotlight
18
High school graduates
20
School House
22
Sports
24
Library Happenings
26
280 Business Happenings
27
Kari Kampakis
28
Paul Johnson
29
Rick Watson
29
Calendar of Events
30
Ward Williams knows what it means to have an absent father. His own dad walked out on him and his four siblings when he was young. “My mother struggled to make ends meet without any support, financial or otherwise, from my father,” he said. Luckily for Williams, his coaches, teachers and pastors stepped in and helped him through those difficult times. He realized early on that he would not make the same mistakes his father made and has committed his adult life to equipping men to be fathers nationwide and especially in Shelby County. Williams knows children in homes with absent fathers are more likely to live in poverty, become involved in drugs, commit crimes and become pregnant. As a remedy, he is reaching out to the community to help men become involved, committed and responsible dads in his role as Executive Director of Vineyard Family Services (VFS), based out of Inverness Vineyard Church. Thanks to Williams’ implementation, the first “alternative sentencing program” in Shelby County Family Court services non-custodial fathers who are in trouble with the law because they aren’t paying child support. “Most men don’t want to go to parenting classes, but being ordered to go by the courts is a high motivator,” said Williams. The first few weeks of the program
See FATHERS | page 14
Ward Williams with his wife, Suzanne, and children, Carter, Sarah Paige and Tate. Photo courtesy of Melissa Elise.
A farmhouse wedding close to home By CRAIG KLEIMEYER
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Destination weddings don’t have to be in Hawaii or the Virgin Islands. The Sonnet House, located about 10 minutes from Highway 280 off Highway 119 in Leeds, gives couples the feeling of a “destination” close to home. At the Sonnet House, you feel farther away than you are in a good way, Owner and Manager Jared Heaton said. “It’s not as far away as it seems,” Heaton said. “When I heard about it being in Leeds, I was like, really? You never know what you’re going to fall in love with.” Jordyn Culbreth Farris and her husband, David, recent Auburn University
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The Sonnet House in Leeds is a popular wedding venue. Photo courtesy of Ann Wade Parrish.
See SONNET HOUSE | page 10