Cahaba Sun February 2016 by Starnes Media

TEACHING THE JOY OF CHECKMATING Chess coach shows kids how to win quickly. 10

Vol 1 | Issue 4 | FEBRUARY 2016 As Trussville As It Gets

Unifying force Interim coach driving power behind Huskies. 20

Cabinetry Refinishing, LLC Unlimited Colors Cabinet Modifications/Additions Granite & Quartz Countertops Birmingham • 205-482-2133 www.cabinetryrefinishing.com

HTHS GRAD IS OVER THE MOON

FROM VIETNAM TO TRUSSVILLE

Former Trussville resident David Parsons is working with NASA on missions to Mars and Jupiter’s moon. 6

Nails Plus owner shares his story about escaping Vietnam and reuniting with his family years later. 12

4 | F E BRUARY 20 1 6

CAHABASUN.COM

Photo of the Month

Editor’s Note

By Sydney Cromwell I both love and fear the idea of going to space. Love it, because the idea of seeing other planets far from home is nothing but awe-inspiring. Fear it, because there’s a whole lot of empty space between me and those other planets, and a lot can go wrong. Because of that fear — and my distinct lack of the skills or physical ability to be an astronaut — I’ll probably never go to space. I’m OK with that. However, it makes me enjoy even more the stories of the astronauts and engineers whose work revolves around space and other planets. David Parsons and his work on a Mars rover and a moon lander for one of Jupiter’s moons was undoubtedly my favorite story for the month. I love the idea of going to work every day knowing that your work is advancing human knowledge in a very real way. Plus, I’m always fascinated by NASA’s rovers. There are many great stories in this issue: The interim basketball coach at HTHS whose passion is inspiring his students, the Trussville Icehouse that kept Trussville cool for many years and the chess coach devoting his time to teaching children how to “checkmate,” among others. But the little childhood part of me that never quite gave up on the idea of exploring new worlds is still jumping around excitedly, looking forward to watching a lander touch down on Europa and saying, “I know a guy who helped make that happen.”

Please Support Our Community Partners Alabama Allergy & Asthma Center (12) Alabama Outdoors (26) ARC Realty (20) Bedzzz Express (11) Beltone Hearing (8) Bromberg & Company, Inc. (9) Cabinetry Refinishing (1 Cahaba Cycles (9) California Closets (7) Children’s of Alabama (7) Corner Shops (31) East 59 (30) ERS Construction Products (3) First Community Mortgage (26) Geico Insurance (24)

Grayson Valley Pet Clinic (12) Kirkwood by the River (15) Lee Marlow, RealtySouth (15) Melanie Clough, ARC Realty (32) Renaissance Consignment and Marketplace (2, 29) St. Vincent’s Health Systems (18) Sunrise Lawn Service LLC (19) The Maids (19) Tom Williams BMW (14) Trussville Gas and Water (21) Urban Home Market (17) Vitalogy Wellness Center (13, 25) Weigh To Wellness (22)

Tim Keith and Jeremy Faulkner of the Trussville Parks and Recreation department remove the lights from the city’s Christmas tree during the first week of January. Photo by Ron Burkett.

Publishers: Dan Starnes Scott Buttram General Manager: Matthew Allen Managing Editor: Sydney Cromwell Design Editor: Kristin Williams Page Designers: Cameron Tipton Shweta Gamble Copy Editor: Louisa Jeffries Contributing Writers: Kyle Parmley Chris Yow Erik Harris Chris Megginson Saige Leopard Rick Watson Sales and Distribution: Warren Caldwell Don Harris Michelle Salem Haynes Brittany Joffrion Rhonda Smith James Plunkett Contributing Photographer: Ron Burkett

For advertising contact: dan@starnespublishing.com Contact Information: The Cahaba Sun PO Box 530341 Birmingham, AL 35253 (205) 313-1780 dan@ starnespublishing.com

Please submit all articles, information and photos to: sydney@ starnespublishing.com P.O. Box 530341 Birmingham, AL 35253

Published by: Cahaba Sun LLC Legals: The Cahaba Sun is published monthly. Reproduction or use of editorial or graphic content without prior permission is prohibited. The Cahaba Sun is designed to inform the Trussville community of area school, family and community events. Information in The Cahaba Sun is gathered from sources considered reliable but the accuracy cannot be guaranteed. All articles/photos submitted become the property of The Cahaba Sun. We reserve the right to edit articles/photos as deemed necessary and are under no obligation to publish or return photos submitted. Inaccuracies or errors should be brought to the attention of the publisher at (205) 313-1780 or by email.

Please recycle this paper.

CAH A BAS U N.CO M

F EBRUARY 2016 | 5

Icehouse offered cold comforts to all around Darrell Harper, left, and Bobby Glenn, the youngest son of George Glenn Sr., about to leave on ice deliveries. Photo courtesy of Tandi Smith.

SAIGE LEOPARD There’s a dreamy nostalgia in George Glenn Jr.’s eyes when he recalls those hot July days his father would sell cold watermelons and Coca-Cola, and even colder crushed ice, to all passersby in Trussville. In those days, George Glenn Sr.’s business — Trussville Ice Manufacturing Company — was one that kept local residents’ most treasured perishables cold. Conveniently located on Main Street, his company operated as an ice plant and icehouse from the early 1940s until the late 70s. Customers could come and fill up their cars with the most crystal clear ice that money could buy. They also made home deliveries— straight from the plant to people’s doorsteps — much like the milkman did during those days. “My father delivered ice to everyone’s home,” Glenn, 77, said. “From Trussville to Leeds and Margaret to Center Point.” It wasn’t the only icehouse in town, with others located in both Irondale and Warrior, but it was the first manufacturing-type plant in Trussville, possibly only second to Webb Manufacturing, Glenn said. Once George Sr. got the ice plant going, their truck hit the road for delivery to faraway places. Not surprisingly, the Glenn family was one of the first families to settle in the Cahaba Project — the historic suburban housing section built in the late 1930s and early ’40s as part of the government’s economic recovery program. Glenn worked at his dad’s icehouse, along with his four siblings, after school hours and in the summers, until he went to college. “My dad went to Hewitt and lacked only a few months graduating, but he got mad at a teacher and quit school,” said Glenn. “He knew he was going to open a business here.” And he did — a full-service filling station — around the age of 20, and not much later, he opened the ice company. Glenn paints a picture reminiscent of what Trussville was like then: children and adults alike sipping iced beverages and enjoying homemade ice cream, made with his dad’s crushed ice, on their front porches in a simple, yet modern, small town. “My dad just really saw a need for this place,” Glenn said of the icehouse and plant. For home delivery, the workers arrived in a truck with a simple tarp over the ice. They would then chip off as much as was ordered and that ice would usually last three to four days, keeping the perishables cold in their iceboxes. The ice plant included about 1,800 square feet where the manufacturing and storage took place. With an interior built like a swimming pool, it housed a 5-foot-deep concrete vat, Glenn said. A technical process, as one would expect, the production of the ice involved a saltwater brine, the circulation of air and much more. “It was an amazing thing to know how the ice was made,” Glenn recalled.

Above: The Trussville Icehouse operated from the 1940s to the 1970s, manufacturing and delivering ice throughout Trussville and surrounding areas. Photo courtesy of Tandi Smith. Left: George Glenn Sr. opened the icehouse and Trussville Ice Manufacturing Company. Photo courtesy of June Mathews.

The brine was made and put into giant ice cans that would eventually freeze. Air would circulate in the water before the freezing process, which helped to make the ice so clear in the end. After it froze, a crane would hook to it and with a flush of fresh water, the 300-pound blocks of ice would easily slide out. It would then be put in the storage room, ready for sale or delivery. The blocks might then become chunks, sold to customers, which could be chipped to 50 or 25 pounds. Overall, it was a process that would take a little over 24 hours, just to make one 300-pound block, Glenn said. “The ice plant ran 24 hours a day and 7 days a week,” he said. “There was no

shutting down. It’s a continual process — making ice. Somebody had to be here at all times.” With the modern rare amenities in the Cahaba Project homes, including electricity, the demand for ice eventually went down. But with the increased need for transportation of meats, fruits and vegetables to supermarkets during this time, the demand for ice went up and his father’s plant fared well at the time. Reaching far parts of the country, and serving the local chicken plant in Trussville, it helped these companies get ice quickly, Glenn said. “Trucks would come in and get 6 inches of ice on top, which would trickle down onto the meat and vegetables and keep it

preserved,” he said. Sometimes there would be six 300-pound blocks of ice on top of these items going to faraway places. But eventually, it became unprofitable. “What really closed them down was the electricity bills and the Health Department,” Glenn said. “Everything took electricity. There was a lot of water running that cost a lot of money. Economically, it just wasn’t feasible to keep the operation going.” Today, the interior of the building is quite different. Owned by local Butler Imports, the pit floor has been covered with flooring and it most recently housed an auto parts store and a martial arts studio. It is currently vacant and for lease.

6 | F E BRUARY 20 1 6

Over the moon

CAHABASUN.COM

HTHS grad studies Mars, Jupiter’s moon for upcoming NASA missions By CHRIS MEGGINSON This year marks 50 years since a man-made object first successfully softlanded on another planet or moon. Now a Hewitt-Trussville graduate is tasked with helping two of the next landing projects in U.S. space history. David Parsons, a 2002 HTHS graduate and 2007 Auburn University graduate, relocated to Pasadena, California, last June to work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at Caltech. He spent his first six months working on the Mars 2020 project. Now, he begins his new role — lead dynamics environment engineer for the Europa mission — the space industry’s first trip to investigate Jupiter’s icy moon in detail. “It is definitely one of the most motivating and exciting aspects of the job,” Parsons said. “It doesn’t always register with me during the day-to-day that the projects I am working on now will one day be on Mars or will be orbiting another planet or moon. It’s good to remind myself of the bigger picture every now and then.”

PATH TO PASADENA

Parsons didn’t exactly dream of working in the space industry or becoming an engineer. He did have a big interest in space from ages six to eight, but Parsons said

becoming an engineer was random. Upon arriving at Auburn, he declared his major early in mechanical engineering and thought grad school and a job in the biomedical field was his future. But an internship opportunity at JPL in 2006 reintroduced him to space. While Parsons didn’t get the internship, he only applied for one job out of college: the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, where he worked as a structural dynamics analyst from June 2007 to June 2015. When he married Elizabeth Sassler in February 2014, the couple realized a change of location could provide more opportunities for Sassler’s career, using her Ph.D. in public administration to teach and perform research, as well as expanding Parsons’ career path. Parsons began putting out feelers to colleagues for engineering jobs in larger cities. At the time, it looked like he might have to leave NASA to do so, but when JPL was awarded contracts for two major projects, it opened the door in Pasadena. “It was kind of a win-win-win for us,” Parsons said. “I was excited to get the opportunity to come out here and work here. There are many paths to success. In my case, I wasn’t able to get out here initially, but I was able to get on at Marshall and build up an expertise that was needed at JPL.”

Below: Former Trussville resident David Parsons is working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on missions to Mars and Jupiter’s moon Europa. Left: His work includes a spacecraft and surface lander for the nation’s first attempt to land on another planet’s moon. Photos courtesy of NASA and David Parsons.

6 | F E BRUARY 20 1 6

Over the moon

CAHABASUN.COM

PATH TO PASADENA

Parsons didn’t exactly dream of working in the space industry or becoming an engineer. He did have a big interest in space from ages six to eight, but Parsons said

CAH A BAS U N.CO M

F EBRUARY 2016 | 7

His analysis expertise in structural vibrations and pyroshock, as well as presentations at conferences and workshops, is what attracted his new boss, Dr. Ali Kolaini, to hire him. It was Kolaini, a principal engineer at JPL and supervisor for the Dynamics Environment Group, who placed Parsons in a leadership role for a mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa in January 2016. “He doesn’t shy away from stepping into new territories and getting involved into a unique thing nobody has done,” Kolaini said. “Some engineers are reluctant to get into new things. I ﬁnd David to be one who dives in and works hard on things he hasn’t done before.”

Left: David Parsons is helping design a drill on the arm of a scientiﬁc rover that will land on Mars as part of the Mars 2020 mission. Photo courtesy of NASA.

MARS 2020

Parsons spent his first six months at JPL working on Mars 2020, the next step toward a manned mission to Mars, which NASA calls “a roving laboratory that will study the planet as never before.” An expert in subject matter, Parsons’ primary job is to define environments in which the mission will take place. For Mars 2020, his focus is a drill that will be located on a robotic arm on the front left side of the rover. On this drill are two scientific instruments. One is PIXL, which is designed to look at small scale samples of Mars’ surface to gather information about chemical elements present. The other is

SHERLOC, which will use an ultraviolet laser which can help “identify certain minerals, including ones formed from evaporation of salty water, and organic compounds,” according to NASA. “We have several decades of data about launch vehicles, but the concept of a space drill is relatively new,” Parsons said. “We’re having to ﬁnd ways to utilize scientiﬁc instruments, designed to work in a lab, in an environment no man has ever stepped foot on.” In June 2015, Congress approved funding for a mission to Europa — a giant leap

from Galileo’s ﬂyby in 2003. The mission evolved when NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope observed water vapor above Europa in 2012. The spacecraft, scheduled to launch in the 2020s, will orbit Jupiter for several reconnaissance ﬂybys of the moon. But in December, Congress added a twist: a mandate that a surface lander be included.

DEEPLY ROOTED IN TRUSSVILLE

Parsons says he wouldn’t be where he is today if it wasn’t for his Trussville schools education. “I got my foundation there, which

prepared me to be able to handle this career path,” he said. He developed his work ethic and pride in work through the leadership of Mike Jones in the Hewitt-Trussville Husky Band. It was physics that made for an easier freshman year at Auburn and a “strong foundation in writing and communication” he received from the HTHS English department, which helps him effectively explain his analysis to other engineers and scientists. And Parsons says the hardest class he ever had, including college, was Bob Haynes’ AP U.S. History at HTHS. “What I appreciated about him is his class wasn’t hard for the sake of being hard, he really pushed for critical thinking, which has been an important skill,” Parsons said. Haynes, who says he has taught two NASA employees during his 34-year career, said his AP course included a writing process that required students to read for themes, analyze information and try to tie things together. He said he isn’t surprised Parsons is where he is today. “He was just one of these people who was dedicated and focused on why he was there to do what he was supposed to do. He was active in other things, but he was there to get school right,” Haynes recalled. Parsons says he welcomes teachers, students or others interested in learning more about his work to email him at parsods@ yahoo.com.

HE ONCE UPDATED HIS DAD’S SMART PHONE, TABLET AND LAPTOP IN LESS THAN AN HOUR. ALL WITHOUT LEAVING THE COMFORT OF HIS FOOTIE PAJAMAS. C H I L D R E N A M A Z E U S E V E R Y D AY and at Children’s of Alabama we want to see every child grow up and live to their fullest potential. That’s why we recruit, train and retain the most inquiring minds, the most skilled hands and the most compassionate hearts in pediatric medicine. 1600 7TH AVENUE SOUTH BIRMINGHAM, AL 35233 (205) 638-9100 ChildrensAL.org

CahabaSun_COA_HeadlineAd_pajamas.indd 1

10/28/15 10:41 AM

8 | F E BRUA RY 20 1 6

CAHABASUN.COM

Trussville Area Chamber to receive downtown update By CHRIS MEGGINSON The Redevelopment Authority (RDA) will address the Trussville Area Chamber of Commerce for the ﬁrst time Thursday, Feb. 18, at the monthly chamber luncheon, sponsored by Bryant Bank. The event begins at 11:30 a.m. at the Trussville Civic Center. Former RDA Chairman Jef Freeman will give his presentation shortly after the noon lunch. “Our downtown area is one that affects our whole community — our residents as well as our businesses,” Chamber Director Diane Poole said. “The redevelopment of our downtown area is exciting, and I know people will be really interested to hear about the status of that development. We’re ﬁnally making some progress.” Freeman, who recently stepped down from his position as RDA chairman after announcing his candidacy for City Council, said he is looking forward to sharing RDA’s plan. “I think it’s a wonderful opportunity,” Freeman said. “We certainly want public and community involvement in what we’re

“

Our goal is to make a better place for the merchants we have in town now, as well as attract other businesses to make it a better place to be.

”

JEF FREEMAN

doing. Our goal is to make a better place for the merchants we have in town now, as well as attract other businesses to make it a better place to be.” The main topics will be the restoration of the downtown street view and the creation of public parking downtown beginning with Quad 1 — the northeast corner of the Chalkville Mountain Road and U.S. 11 intersection behind The Straw Hat of Trussville

and surrounding businesses. Freeman said the presentation will include slides created by the RDA’s architecture team. The February luncheon will begin with a 30-minute network development time during which members and guests can network with the estimated 80-100 individuals expected to attend. Prior to lunch, the Chamber will honor its monthly Customer Service Award winners. Door prizes will also be given away. To register, visit TrussvilleChamber.com, call June Mathews at 665-7535 or email her Former RDA Chairman Jef Freeman will at june.mathews@trussvillechamber.com. speak at the Chamber of Commerce Questions related to the downtown Redevel- February luncheon. Courtesy photo. opment Authority can be directed to rda@ trussville.org. Chamber of Commerce Cost is $17 (cash or check) or $17.34 if paying by credit or debit card (2 percent February Luncheon processing fee). Online registration closes at midnight Monday, Feb. 15, but the ChamWHEN: Feb. 18, 11:30 a.m. ber ofﬁce will accept registration by phone WHERE: Trussville Civic Center, until noon Tuesday, Feb. 16. All nonmembers 5381 Trussville-Clay Road, must pay in advance. Trussville, AL 35173 The address for the Trussville Civic Center COST: $17 per person is 5381 Trussville-Clay Road, Trussville, CONTACT: 655-7535 35173.

4 CONVENIENT LOCATIONS Cahaba Heights Oak Mountain

Homewood Trussville

CAHABAS U N.CO M

F EBRUARY 2016 | 9

Trussville area Business Happenings 75

vil alk

llow

o yH app

Old Acto n Rd

Old

Spr

ing

y Pkw ot

ville

rfo Dee

le Rd

ter ws Bre

wn to ns

r Rope

Rd rk Pa

e Qu

e Av

411

459

20 78

Now Open Deerfoot Memorial Funeral Home is now open at 5360 Deerfoot Parkway. The facility offers everything on site, including casket sales, funeral preparation and more. 655-3444, deerfootmemorialfuneralhome. com

PK Nails, owned by Karen Tu, is now open in Clay at 5104 Old Springville

Road. 739-2099

Relocations and Renovations 3

large expansion of their facility. The expansion will be in front of the existing mail facility and will be 40,000 square feet. It will house some of the materials brought into the facility through their receiving department and will allow the company to bring raw materials directly inside the facility. 655-3271, amerex-fire.com

News and Accomplishments 4

Elite Jewelers, 235 Main St., has launched their new website. 655-4844, elitejewelersinc.com

Amerex Corporation, 7595 Gadsden Highway, has broken ground on a

Business news to share? If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a brick and mortar business in the Trussville area and want to share your event with the community, let us know. Email matthew@starnespublishing.com

10 | F E BRUA RY 20 1 6

CAHABASUN.COM

Chess champ helps kids find fun in checkmatin By SAIGE LEOPARD Local chess coach Charles A. Smith has a vision: to inspire our nation’s next generation to lay down their video game controllers and instead pick up kings, queens, rooks and other counterparts to become accomplished student chess players. In the monthly chess course at Trussville Public Library, Smith educates his students using a modern teaching style. “It’s a common misconception that chess is boring and takes a lifetime to learn,” Smith said. “But, depending on your teacher, you can really have fun with it. In order to be an effective chess coach, you must teach children how to play and how to win quickly. That’s very important.” To Hewitt-Trussville Middle School seventh-grader Skyler Robinson, 11, those teaching practices took him to Nashville last year to compete in the National Elementary Championship, where he placed eighth in his division. “It’s all thanks to Coach Smith,” Robinson said. “He’s a fantastic teacher. I really felt ready for the competition. He really helps us by teaching us a lot of strategies.” Chess became a hobby for Skyler, who also serves on the school’s math team and plays the bass clarinet in the band, about a year ago when he started classes at the library. He said he could see improvements in his schoolwork after picking up the strategies on the chessboard. “I like how it’s a strategic game and how it can help you with math, because there are a lot of numbers involved,” he said. “There’s really nothing I dislike about the game.” This is where Smith is hoping to make a difference — in the education realm. He is one of only eight people in the nation to have earned the title of National Chess Coach from the U.S. Chess Federation, the governing body of chess in the United States. “The governing body determines who should be coaching in schools,” Smith said. “I was labeled one of the top coaches in the U.S., and I’m really proud of that.” Thanks to some federal funding, many chess programs are showing up in school curricula, especially in New York, and he hopes that will spread across the nation. “Chess helps with critical thinking and math skills, and there is scientific proof of that, but they’re still researching how that happens,” Smith said. Not surprisingly, Smith liked chess at an early age. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, he learned the game while sitting around a table and watching his brother play and triumph at the game. It sparked his love for it, and he’s been playing for 37 years. It took years of practice, of course, to be where he is today, making a career as a renowned chess coach. After taking a break from chess for some time, serving in the Marine Corps and working as a chef, he moved to Alabama in the 1990s and started Magic City Chess U — a club that encompasses all of his chess programs and

Chess coach Charles A. Smith teaches children how to win a game of chess quickly. Smith is one of only eight people to earn the title of National Chess Coach from the U.S. Chess Federation. In his chess course, children ages 5 and older learn basic rules and strategies, and as they improve, advanced strategies. Photos by Ron Burkett.

Chess classes

activities. He began teaching chess eight years ago in local schools, starting first with inner-city youth in Birmingham. In the library’s chess course, children ages 5 and older will learn the movement of the pieces, basic strategies and, when they improve, even more advanced strategies, Smith said. Although it’s mostly kids who attend the classes, parents learn as well by watching, and it also provides an engaging activity for parent and child. “Chess is not the bright lights and quick reward that many kids want these days,” Smith said. “I believe video games shut them down from critical thinking and make them impulsive. We need thinkers in this nation,” he added, “and chess is a productive activity. Period.” Like many other chess professionals, Smith had a mentor or an influential figure

in his life. “A lot of great chess players have a group of players who follow their certain style,” Smith said. “Mine was Emory Tate, and I call it ‘Tateism.’” Smith continues Tate’s teachings in his own classes today, bringing energy and passion to each game, much like Tate did. Smith has garnered numerous team and individual championships at the local level and beyond. The Trussville program has grown during the past few years, too, and this year, he plans for his library team to compete at the state championship in March at Indian Springs School in Pelham. “The most difficult thing about learning to play chess is discipline,” Smith said. “Chess involves concrete analysis and knowing how to make every move using those analysis strategies. You need a disciplined mind for it.”

WHEN: 6 p.m. two Tuesdays a month WHERE: Trussville Public Library, 201 Parkway Drive, Trussville, 35173 COST: Free INFO: trussvillelibrary.com/children/ chess/ or magiccitychessu.blogspot. com. Smith said the things he loves about chess are endless, and he’s currently writing a book about how to play and improve at the game. “I like the way chess changes people,” Smith said. “It’s the greatest thinking game ever. It is the ultimate game.” Skyler said he wants to continue developing his skills with the game under Smith’s leadership, and he wants to compete this year with the team. “I want to be a better chess player when I grow up, but I also have other big dreams set aside,” he said. Smith’s free introductory chess course is at 6 p.m. at the Trussville Public Library two Tuesdays per month. For more information, go to trussvillelibrary.com/children/ chess/ or magiccitychessu.blogspot.com.

12 | F E BRUA RY 20 1 6

CAHABASUN.COM

Nguyens find russville in journey to freedom By CHRIS MEGGINSON The war was over, but the fear was not. Nearly 40 years ago, one of the greatest Asian refugee migrations began as millions of “boat people” fled war-torn Vietnam. The near 20-year Vietnam War officially ended with the fall of Saigon in April 1975, but for the next 15 to 20 years, people fled the Viet Cong, post-war economic sanctions and more as the region remained in conflict. These Vietnamese people chose to brave secret escape, choosing the rough waters of the South China Sea, often during typhoon season, and the risk of death rather than to stay in their country. Mothers placed their sons in boats with little in hand for hopes of a new life. Families were broken up along the way, escaping with others left behind, in hopes to one day be reunited. Some never did. Trussville nail salon owner Don Nguyen and his family are one of the fortunate stories of the time. “Escaping was a very dangerous situation,” Don said. “You have no choice, and have to get out of there.” In the fall of 1981, 11-year-old Don and his father, Muoi, were part of a group that planned to escape the Vietnam coastal city Da Nang. Don, the oldest of three boys in a

Muoi and Don Nguyen pose for a photo in Wichita, Kansas in May 1982. Photo courtesy of Don Nguyen.

six-sibling family, was just three years away from the mark when the Vietnam government would take boys away from their families. Muoi, who fought for South Vietnam from 1968 to 1975, was now a commercial fisherman. One night, Don joined Muoi on his fishing boat with six other fishermen. Their cover was a night of deep-sea fishing. The plan was to sneak back close to shore during the middle of the night and use different color

5632 Chalkville Mountain Road Birmingham, AL 35235

205.856.3804 • www.GraysonValleyPets.com

flashlights to signal family and neighbors waiting in small canoes. Each canoe had a color. But when the boat approached land that night, shots were fired by members of the Vietnam coast guard, which chased the boat in a small motored canoe. The plan was foiled. “We left those people behind,” Don said. “We thought we were going to keep going and come back and pick them up, but when you come back you just have a 50 percent chance [of survival].” Among those left behind were Don’s mother, Dinh, his three sisters Hong, Anh and Tuyet and two younger brothers Suan and Anh. Their boat continued through the night to Hainan, an island province of China located 471 kilometers southwest of Hong Kong. There, the boat picked up others who were on the same journey. Shortly before reaching Hong Kong, Muoi’s boat met a canoe of 32 Vietnamese people. All came on board asking to pay with their watches and any gold they had. “I left all of my family behind, so I really don’t need to take anything,” Don recalls his father saying. Thirty minutes later, they picked up more passengers. Later that day, as they were about 45 minutes away from a refugee camp

in Hong Kong, the refugees on Muoi’s boat encountered pirates. “They took everything from everybody,” Don said. They hid out the rest of the way in the boat’s float space. Upon reaching the camp, they slept two to a bed, in twin-sized, plywood beds bunked three levels high. Muoi found odd jobs, while Don began school. “Dad earned very little money,” Don said. “At that time, we’d send money back to take care of our brothers and sisters for their next escape.” Since the time the first family attempt failed, Dinh took Don’s siblings to Ho Chi Minh City to live with Don’s aunt — an 18-hour drive from Da Nang. During this time, in early 1982, Muoi was able to gain sponsorship to the U.S. because he fought the war as an ally in the South Vietnamese Army. A Catholic church in Wichita, Kansas, helped bring Muoi and Don to Kansas, where they lived on welfare until Muoi was able to find a job making $2.25 an hour. “He still worked, raised me and continued to send money to my mom,” Don said. After arriving in the U.S. they learned that Dinh was able to purchase a canoe for Don’s older sisters, Hong and Anh, and oldest brother, Suan. They were among 18 people

CAHABAS U N.CO M

FEBRUARY 2016 | 13

in the canoe, which managed to escape and later hit an island during typhoon season. “They kept praying and praying. No one knew where they were,” Don said. Eventually Dinh had enough money for another canoe escape for her and her two youngest — daughter Tuyet and son Anh. Despite it still being a heavy typhoon season, they set out for the Philippines. “Nobody paid attention to them. Not many people are going to go into the deep sea during hurricane season in a canoe,” Don said. “We didn’t know where they were.” Similar to his older siblings, the canoe hit an island, leaving the youngest of the six siblings forced to occasionally steal fish off boats to survive. Eventually, Muoi received a letter from a friend in China who found out where all of the family members were and began working on their sponsorship to the U.S. In December 1983, Don and Muoi were reunited with Hong, Anh and Suan in Wichita, but it wasn’t until early 1984 before Dinh and the two youngest arrived to complete the family reunion. It was almost three years since Don and his father had originally escaped. Later that year, the family moved to San Diego to be close to Muoi’s nephew. “We were so poor, we put six people in a 1974 Ford Mercury from Kansas to San Diego,” Don said. “Slowly, slowly we got there.” In California, the family rented a beat-up

Muoi Nguyen (front) plays with grandchildren at a recent family cookout. Photo courtesy of Don Nguyen.

house that needed a lot of renovations but was cheap to rent, Don said. They used the backyard to plant a garden. Muoi began work collecting cardboard for recycle, using a 1978 Toyota pickup to haul it around. Don would go to school and then work part-time to help his dad, jumping in and out of dumpsters to gather cardboard. One ton of cardboard brought $35. Don and his siblings would walk 2 miles

to and from school. They hid loose coins in the aluminum headboards or footboards of their bed, occasionally flipping the bed when they needed the money. Don said that was mostly for a special ice cream, which cost 31 cents. Once one of his sisters got married, the family got into the arcade business and was eventually able to buy machines to drop off at businesses in town, splitting the

Dr. Sultan will tell you about the latest scientific breakthroughs and methods that help you permanently and safely remove unwanted belly fat while quickly reclaiming your health, your youth, and your life!

commission with the shop owners. This was the Nguyens’ main revenue until a round of thefts made it difficult. After school, Don married his wife Lisa in 1990, who went to cosmetology school and began doing nails. They talked the entire family into learning to do nails and moved to Alabama in 1996. The entire family followed both in location and profession. Twenty years later, life is far different than it was when their journey began. “Now all of the family is in Alabama and everybody has a nail salon and have kids and a family,” Don said. “We get together pretty much every week. We remember when the past was hard, especially my mom, brothers and sisters.” Today, Muoi and Dinh live in Cullman with their youngest son, Anh, and spend their Alabama winters traveling back to Vietnam. Don’s other brother, Suan, is in Fultondale. His oldest sister, Hong, is in Hoover and youngest sister Tuyet, lives in his same neighborhood in Trussville. Don’s older sister Anh is the only one who has since left Alabama, now living in Daytona Beach, Florida. Now the owner of Nails Plus on Main Street in Trussville, Don says his family has prospered through generosity. “I believe I came from a family where my parents were always generous,” Don said. “It’s one of the reasons we’re here today. You do good things, good things will happen. We’re very, very lucky.”

14 | F E BRUARY 20 1 6

CAHABASUN.COM

Taylor Cosby is No. 1 on Taziki’s Trussville team By CHRIS YOW Sometimes the simplest of jobs can be important. That is certainly the case for Taylor Cosby, one of 15 employees with special needs at Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe across the state of Alabama. Taylor Cosby, or “Number 1” as the Taziki’s team affectionately calls her at the Trussville location on U.S. 11, is a student who has found a home with Taziki’s, where she ﬁts right in. Cosby takes care of several tasks at the restaurant, and the store’s General Manager Ryan Grier applauds the job she does when she is working. “She can do almost anything. She helps run food, makes drinks, take payments, roll silverware — she does a little bit of everything,” Grier said. Rolling silverware, in fact, is Cosby’s favorite job, although she admits sometimes her job isn’t always fun. “Sometimes it’s stressful,” she said. Cosby is one of the bright spots on the Trussville Taziki’s team, according to Grier. “She helps bring everyone up. When she’s in a good mood, she puts a smile on everybody’s face. She helps us all out on a daily basis,” he said. She wouldn’t have this chance, however, except for a boring cruise.

Taziki’s Founder and Chief Development Ofﬁcer Keith Richards said he was on a cruise, and he was bored. He jumped on stage one evening to help out a band, whose drummer was both singing and drumming. “During that time, [my wife] Amy was out there watching us play and she struck up a conversation with a lady sitting beside us who happened to be Cindy Vinson,” Richards said. “She is the job coach for Shelby County Schools, and she asked if we had ever considered hiring special needs students for work.” At the time, Richards hadn’t thought of that. That’s when Richards found Brandy Nevins and her mother Donna, whom everyone in the company knows affectionately as “Mama D.” “We fell in love with her. Once we had Brandy, and we had the other two stores Cindy came to me with another student, we ﬁlled it and kept it going. It was a godsend,” Richards said. Grier said it was one of the most impressive programs he’s ever been around in the restaurant business. “I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever seen in the restaurant industry. You have a lot of different type owners in this industry, but to give back like that — it’s priceless. These kids love it. They come in, do their job and feel a part of the team. It helps

Taylor Cosby is an employee with special needs at Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe. Photos by Chris Yow.

CAHABAS U N.CO M

Taylor Cosby, or “Number 1” as the Taziki’s team affectionately calls her at the Trussville location on U.S. 11, is a student who has found a home with Taziki’s, where she fits right in.

Lis New tin g

them, and it’s great,” he said. Helping these specific workers is something Richards is very proud to do. “The most satisfying part is helping them. We’re increasing their self-potential and how they relate to peers and adults. You also deal with responsibilities,” Richards said. “I’ll get onto Taylor just like any other employee. “What we’ve seen is it helps them mature and how to make money and really gives them a purpose. It gives them a purpose just like it does us. “ Payday is something Cosby looks forward to reaching. When she gets paid, she said she likes to save money, maybe for a trip to Disney World or maybe, she laughs, for an RV. “They take it serious, and they write their notes. They hold themselves accountable and I hold them accountable, too,” Richards said. Why is it so important, though, for Richards and this company to give these special needs students the chance to earn some money while learning about responsibility? “God blessed me with four healthy kids,” Richards said. “I know how stressful it is for my wife while I’m at work. These are kids for life, and if I can allow that parent three hours a day to do whatever it is they want to do, I’ve helped two souls.” Cosby said she would like to tell other special needs students who may believe they will never be able to work that if you put your mind to it, it can be done. “There are good jobs and places like this to help,” she said.

F EBRUARY 2016 | 15

8714 Highlands Drive

5139 Flint Court

5908 Deer Crest Lane

3436 Fairway Drive

5151 Missy Lane

Penny Lane Condo #712

16 | F E BRUARY 20 1 6

CAHABASUN.COM

valentine’s day gift guide

For the

TRENDSETTER

OTBT Bushnell Platform Wedge $125 This popular Bushnell wedge comes in several fabulous colors and has just enough stretch to keep you comfortable no matter where your day may take you. Alabama Outdoors 4710 Frank St., Suite 116 655-6025

For the

SWEETHEART Antique Bronze Heart Necklace $23.99 38” antique bronze double chain open heart necklace. East 59 Vintage & Cafe 7619 1st Ave. N. Birmingham 838-0559

For the

VALENTINE

FASHIONISTA HOBO Handbags and Wallets Purse $198, Wallet $108 Genuine leather, classic bags for the stylish person in your life.

Red Velvet Heart Shaped Cake $24.95 You and your sweetheart will love this 8-inch, beautiful and delicious, heart-shaped red velvet cake.

The Straw Hat 201 Main St. 661-2222

The Three Earred Rabbit 209 Main St., Suite 101 655-2000

For the

PERSON ON THE GO ORCA Chaser $34.99 Whether you’re going to work, the ball fi ﬁeld, a tailgate, into the woods, down the dock or to a party, the ORCA Chaser will get you there with an ice cold or piping hot beverage. ERS Construction Products 5021 Cardinal St. 661-5800

For the

STYLISH TIMEKEEPER Swiss Army Ladies Small Alliance Watch $595 The Swiss Army Ladies Watch with two-tone stainless steel bracelet features a subtle and ﬁts any woman’s style. elegant design. This watch fi Bromberg’s Mountain Brook and The Summit 871-3276, 979-1776

18 | F E BRUA RY 20 1 6

CAHABASUN.COM

Omar a natural leader for Lady Cougars By KYLE PARMLEY Game-day is a compound word that Raven Omar takes to heart. If a game is being played on a particular day, that entire day on the calendar revolves around one thing for the Clay-Chalkville guard: the game. “Usually all day I’m thinking about the game,” she said. The first thing the two-sport star — she plays volleyball and basketball — does when she wakes up in the morning is immediately pack her game bag, setting the rest of the day into motion. She claims to pay attention in class throughout the day, but doesn’t deny that her mind drifts occasionally. “I’m thinking about the game, trying to get my mind wrapped around it, remembering what all we talked about,” Omar said. The last hour of the school day is spent in the gym, where the Lady Cougars have a walk-through for the night’s game. During the walk-through, the team goes through its offensive and defensive plays and harps on some of the specifics they will see from the opponent that evening. After that, there is a window of time for the team to relax and get ready before playing. “We leave there and go eat,” Omar said. “I Raven Omar is a driving force behind Clay-Chalkville’s success on the court. Photo by Ron Burkett.

CAHABAS U N.CO M

like to get to the gym early so I can watch the JV game, and of course, get my mind right and listen to music.” The game is the end of a day dedicated to building up to tipoff. Omar takes the court as the point guard and floor general in hopes of notching a win. “It’s game time.” Playing alongside Kristian Hudson, now at Florida International University, for two years showed Omar how to lead a team, a process that she has tweaked to fit her own personality as she goes. “I’m the point guard and I have to lead,” Omar said. “I’m learning as I go. My leadership kicks in more now. Now it’s my team.” That leadership reveals itself on the court with her encouraging nature, as she appears to be the Steve Nash of girls basketball. Nash was known for giving up to 100 high-fives per game to teammates during his time in the NBA. Every dead ball, Omar can be seen moving toward a teammate to give a highfive and an encouraging word. “I probably get on their nerves because I talk so much. But I let my teammates know that we’re together. We’re one big team,” she said. That positive nature also gives her the credibility to give constructive criticism when the time arises as well. “She knows her role is to build kids up, because there’s going to be a time when she’s going to need to be tough on them,” head girls basketball coach Justin Haynie said.

F EBRUARY 2016 | 19

The transition into the main voice among the players has not appeared to be a difficult transition for Omar. Haynie hardly even had to tell her what was expected from the team captain. “He never put so much pressure on me,” she said. “He does imply that this is your team and you’re the captain. I know that he expects that from me.” Most nights, Omar is the smallest player on the court, standing at 5-foot-1. Don’t tell her that, though. “I don’t really see myself as a short person,” she said. “Sometimes people have to remind me that I am short. I will try to go in the lane with the trees.” Age and experience have taught her the right times to attack the lanes, and she credits Hudson with teaching her another aspect of the game as the point guard. “I used to be a guard that just wanted to go, go, go. Sometimes you have to slow the game down. Kristian taught me that,” Omar said. She has become another coach on the floor, something coaches say about their more intelligent players. For example, a player mistake in a game caused Haynie to yell across the gym in an effort to get the girl’s attention. But the gym was too loud for him to get the message across. Omar walked over to her teammate and gave instruction to the player, without being told anything. By the time the players got back to the bench and Haynie gave the

Raven Omar drives by a defender in the New Year’s Shootout at HewittTrussville. Photo by Ron Burkett.

instructions, she informed Haynie that Omar had already delivered that exact message. “Coaches say it all the time, but it makes our job easier,” Haynie said. Outside of the basketball and volleyball courts, Omar has proven to be a wellrounded person in all aspects of life. She has a job, was on the school’s homecoming court in the fall, makes good grades and shows an overall zeal for life that cannot be ignored.

“Everyone knows of her ability and accolades on the court, but she’s an even better student in the classroom and absolutely leads by example,” said Clay-Chalkville principal Michael Lee. Spend a day with her, or just a minute. Either way, her positivity is infectious. “Finally, I think of happiness. She’s always smiling and lifts up others around her. People gravitate towards her,” Lee said.

NOTHING SAYS LOVE LIKE A CLEAN HOME. 50% off first treatment up to 10,000 sq. ft.

✓ Fertilization & Weed Control ✓ Insect & Disease Control

✓ Results Guaranteed!

We’ll take care of the weeds

Call Today 205-849-9229

20 | F E BRUARY 20 1 6

CAHABASUN.COM

Thomas drives uniﬁed Huskies By KYLE PARMLEY Passionate people tend to rub off on the people around them. They inspire their peers and understudies to take the next step, to go further than they thought possible, and to unite others behind a cause. That is exactly what Hewitt-Trussville interim head basketball coach Marcus Thomas has done. Thomas took over shortly before the season in the midst of a hectic situation that threw the program into chaos. He had a built-in excuse to go through the motions and concede the job to be too tough to have success. He has not entertained that possibility for a second. His conscience will not allow it. “The guys know that I’m a competitor,” Thomas said. He will not go down without a ﬁght, and that ever-present desire allows him to relate to players a generation younger than him. “That’s one area that the age barrier is not there. They see me as coach and mentor and I see them as player. But when we step on the court, I want to win as badly as they do,” he said. Last season did not go according to plan for the Huskies. Many games were decided Marcus Thomas grabs the attention of his team each time he steps into the huddle. Photo by Ron Burkett.

CAH A BAS U N.CO M

FEBRUARY 2016 | 21

Thomas is the catalyst behind a HewittTrussville team with more chemistry this season. Photo by Ron Burkett.

by halftime, and playing in the same area as Spain Park and Mountain Brook, two of the top teams in the state, made things tough. A 7-23 record was the end result, and much of the roster from that team remains intact. Do not let that last fact fool you, though. This is not the same team from last year, and Thomas is a key reason why. “Coach has such a burning passion for the game,” senior guard Josh Monski said. “He has the ability to inspire us to be the best we can be on and off the court.” Sam Frazier is an example of that inspiring nature reaping benefits. In Hewitt-Trussville’s second game of the season, the junior guard knocked down a three-pointer with under a minute remaining to seal the win over crosstown rival Pinson Valley. Leading up to that shot, however, Frazier

was struggling. Thomas said he had not been shooting well in practice or in game situations, but he stayed in the gym after practice the day before the game in hopes of finding his stroke once again. “Sam was in here yesterday on his own,” Thomas said after that game. “He took right at 600 shots.” In the timeout preceding that play, Thomas showed confidence in Frazier by drawing up the play and telling him that he would be open. “I told him, ‘I watched you shoot 600 shots and I know this is going to be 601 and you’re going to make this one just like you made the other ones,” Thomas said. Sure enough, there he was, wide open on the wing. Thomas “could see it in his eyes” that he thought of passing up the shot once the ball was in his hands. But he took aim

and fired. He drained it. Athletic director Karen Johns has been witness to the belief level of the players rising with each day, as she watched the team run the table in the Albertville Civitan Christmas Classic. “He has changed how they feel about themselves as people, and that has given them the will and desire to get better. There are weaknesses to overcome, but they believe in themselves and each other and that will last a lifetime,” she said. Thomas admits that his team is not the most athletic, fastest or strongest team, but even when Hewitt-Trussville faces an opponent that is simply better on a given day, nothing less than a 32-minute, complete game effort is expected. The Huskies have followed through with that. He said, “We haven’t had a single game where they just dropped their heads and called it quits. Not once. I’m pleased with them and their effort.” Many times in the huddle, Thomas can be heard yelling, “Listen to me!” This is not an indictment on his men. It’s quite the opposite. It’s a testament to their intensity. “It’s not because the guys are bickering amongst themselves,” he said. “The bench is talking to them, pepping them up, and I love that.” One of the strategies being discussed once the bench calms down is a play called “Five Out,” which the Huskies ran ad nauseam in an upset win over Homewood in December

that snapped the Patriots’ nine-game winning streak. The idea is that the offense spreads everyone out around the three-point line and uses cuts to the basket to draw defenders out of position and set up easy buckets. “We can put five guys on the floor at any time that can dribble, pass, or shoot. Teams with bigger guys can struggle with that,” Thomas said. “We need an advantage when we go in (to a game).” Thomas devotes time to and harps on a popular video, “The Beautiful Game,” that focuses on the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs and the importance of teamwork to create a successful basketball team. Late in a close game, the name of that film will be heard, as Thomas instructs his guys to emulate what they have seen. The chemistry that results from those situations is the biggest difference from last year to this year. “We are more unified this year, resulting in less selfishness and more team-oriented basketball,” Monski said. The school mascot is a husky, allowing Thomas the perfect opportunity for one last team-building analogy. He compares his team to a pack of dogs in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, and the fact that if one dog in the pack quits pulling its weight, the whole sled is thrown into disarray. When that scenario is translated to reality, Thomas is the driver behind the sled’s success.

22 | F E BRUARY 20 1 6

CAHABASUN.COM

Indians try to duplicate playoff success By KYLE PARMLEY There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Pinson Valley baseball advanced to the Class 6A semifinals last season, the second time Shane Chappell has led the Indians to the Final Four in the past three seasons. The confidence that results from a deep postseason run can be twofold. If handled correctly, the results are positive. “If it’s channeled in the right way, it could be a huge asset. You’re not going to get overwhelmed with the situation. It’s ‘been here, done that,’” Chappell said. If that confidence is taken a step too far, however, it becomes arrogance, and can be a severe hindrance on the growth of a team. “On the flip side, you also can go in with the mentality we’ve done this and we’re going to do it again and not really prepare,” he said. “We’ve got to do the same things to get back there. People around here have a lot of expectations for us.” The Indians’ recent run of success has proven the strength of the program, and with just three seniors, they are set up to continue building. First baseman Jody Graves and second baseman Jacob Ingram are two of those seniors who take it upon themselves to

Jody Graves brings leadership and production to the Indians’ lineup. Submitted photo.

lead the team. Graves led the team in runs batted in last season, and Ingram draws rave reviews from his coaches. “He’s a great team guy, accepts his role, and doesn’t worry about if he’s getting hits,”

Chappell said. “He just wants to do his job to make us better and what it takes to win. Those guys are a very rare breed.” The pitching rotation is up in the air following the likely top two starters, Shelton

Clevenger and Ben Miller, as the Indians look to replace Brett Jordan and Hunter Davidson at the top end. Clevenger got a number of starts on last season’s team, but Miller will get his first extended action on the varsity level this year. “If you can’t pitch, you’re going to struggle,” Chappell said. “That’s my number one priority. You’ve got to develop your pitching staff and be able to be on the mound and give yourself a chance.” Chappell does not believe in letting his team ease into the season. A tough schedule early means a team is prepared late in the season for a potential postseason run. The road ahead makes preseason preparations crucial to the direction the team will take once the season begins. “The majority of your games in the regular season you win or lose before the season even begins. Today, you’re going to win or lose games based on how you work, because someone else is always working,” Chappell said. The Indians now are looking for a way to advance past the semifinal round and move into the championship round. “We’ll probably get people’s best now. People know Pinson Valley has a competitive baseball program. We’re not a fluke. That’s good for us, but we’ve got to step up to the challenge,” Chappell said.

it's TIME TO START

LOViNG

Yourself THIS VALENTINES!

aplanforme.com

TRAICMSA BARIA ALAB OF

PATIENTS WELCOME

CAHABAS U N.CO M

FEBRUARY 2016 | 23

Johns moving behind the plate for Cougars By ERIK HARRIS The Clay-Chalkville baseball team will be under new leadership this season. Former Cougar outfielder Chris Tinsley will now take hold of the program, replacing former head coach Bubba Roberts. As a 2002 graduate, Tinsley helped build the foundation for the program’s 2003 state championship. In time, he hopes to piece the groundwork back together. To do so, Tinsley will have the fortune of working with players who are familiar to him. He served as a junior varsity coach last year after spending the previous three seasons as the Clay-Chalkville Middle School head coach. “I’ve coached most of them since they were in the seventh grade,” said Tinsley. “They know me and I know them. We’ve always worked really well together. We’ve got a good relationship and they’ve bought in to what we’ve been selling.” The first-year coach points to senior Thomas Johns as his primary team leader. Johns is a UAB signee who struggled to stay on the field as a junior, due to nagging injuries. Although his past has been at first base, Johns will look to settle in behind the plate in 2016. He and fellow senior Tristan Milledge

Johns returns as the top hitter for the Cougars and will play some catcher in 2016. Photos courtesy of Tim Johns.

are expected to receive most of the varsity pitches this season. One pitcher they won’t be catching is Matthew Calvert, who was Roberts’ top arm a season ago before signing with UAB. “Replacing (Calvert) is going to be tough,” said Tinsley. Blake Petty, a lefty, and Dayne Edwards will be called upon to throw important innings for Clay-Chalkville as it swims the

waters of Class 6A, Area 12: Pinson Valley, Shades Valley and Huffman. “We’re going to be young. We have ﬁve seniors, but we’re going to be experienced,” said Tinsley. “We have a lot of guys that played a lot of innings. Overall, we have a lot of varsity experience.” Jeremy Rhodes, Michael Kilgore, Andrew Blount and Jacob Duchock are some other names on a roster that Tinsley believes can

Dayne Edwards will pitch and play the outﬁeld for Clay-Chalkville.

hold its ground. “With the team that we have, we should be able to compete in the playoffs,” he continued. “If we make it past the ﬁrst round, that’s a win in my book.”

TWO HANDS ARE

ALWAYS BETTER THAN ONE The Trussville Tribune and Starnes Publishing have partnered to bring you the Cahaba Sun, Trussville’s monthly publication with stories, photos, and more about the people, places, and things that matter to you most. The Cahaba Sun...as Trussville as it gets.

24 | F E BRUARY 20 1 6

CAHABASUN.COM

Huskies mixing up offseason program

Justin Booker is a newcomer who will attempt to replace Cyle Moore at catcher. Photos by Ron Burkett.

By ERIK HARRIS Sometimes good things don’t happen to good teams. Describing last year’s Hewitt-Trussville baseball team as “good” isn’t exactly a far stretch. The Huskies held pole position in the ASWA Class 7A rankings for three consecutive weeks and ended the 2015 season at No. 8 in the state. However, that resume wasn’t good enough to qualify for the 16-team state playoff bracket. The Huskies were left on the outside looking in last April. That doesn’t sit well with fourth-year head coach Jeff Mauldin. “We were a good team last year, just not good enough in the area that we’re in,” said Mauldin. All four teams residing in Area 6 ﬁnished last year ranked in the ASWA poll, with Vestavia Hills and Mountain Brook holding the top slots. As only the top two ﬁnishers from each area can compete in postseason play, Vestavia Hills and Mountain Brook marched onward while Hewitt-Trussville and Spain Park stayed home. Mauldin, who is rarely one for playoff

SAVING

absence, has adopted a new format for preparing his team for the 2016 season in hopes that next April won’t see him observing the playoffs from afar. “We’ve done things that we have not done in my career,” said Mauldin. “We were in the weight room three and four days a week all summer long. We’ve really stepped it up a notch as far as training.” Unlike seasons past, Mauldin is giving players different workouts based on the position they play on the field, and the results have been positive. “Usually we make every player do the same workout. Now, we’re being position-specific,” said Mauldin. “Our pitchers are doing a completely different workout than our position players, and we did that on purpose because I knew we were younger on the mound than most teams are.” That youth could be masked by an abundance of talent and experience once the spring arrives. According to Mauldin, each of his pitchers have gained two to five miles per hour on their fastball under the new workout format. Hewitt-Trussville only loses one arm from

MONEY

THE BEST GAME PLAN. Get a free quote.

GEICO Local Office

205-824-4449 3301 Lorna Rd Birmingham geico.com/birmingham Some discounts, coverages, payment plans and features are not available in all states or all GEICO companies. GEICO is a registered service mark of Government Employees Insurance Company, Washington, D.C. 20076; a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. subsidiary. © 2016 GEICO.

CAHABAS U N.CO M

last season — Austin Brewster, who finished his senior campaign 6-3. Juniors Bradley Huffstutler and Ben Vetters will join sophomores Carson Skipper, Walker Sahagun and Davis Burgin along with others to carry the Huskies on the mound in 2016. There are no senior pitchers currently in Mauldin’s plans. Perhaps Hewitt-Trussville’s most talented arm is coming off of an injury sustained last spring. Cameron Moore, a junior capable of throwing in the 90s, is easing his way back on to the rubber. “We’ve really taken it slow and we’re really listening to the doctors and his physical therapy people,” said Mauldin. “He’s going to have no limitations for us once the season starts except he might be on certain pitch counts as the season goes.” After missing his junior year, Keegan Morrow will be back on his perch in centerfield. Senior Justin Booker will replace Cyle Moore behind the plate. Booker became the team’s primary designated hitter as a junior and seldom filled in for Moore at catcher, but Mauldin likes what his soon-to-be Calhoun Community College signee brings to the field. “Booker is a different type of catcher than Cyle (Moore),” said Mauldin. “Booker throws just as well as Cyle (Moore), he just looks a little bit different. I think he’s quicker.” Senior Tyler Tolbert, a UAB signee, and sophomore Ed Johnson return to the middle

F EBRUARY 2016 | 25

infield. Johnson spent much of his freshman year at shortstop while Tolbert made a home at second base, but those roles could be reversed this time around. “He should be, obviously, one of our best players,” said Mauldin of Tolbert. “He’s really improved over the summer. [Tolbert] plays with a lot more confidence now. He’s gotten faster and stronger. He’s advanced two years in the past six months, and it’s been awesome to see.” Nick Jackson, who played junior varsity ball a year ago, is expected to take over at first base. Former outfielder Jamison Stennis will get the first crack at third base. “We’re not sure where he’ll play yet,” said Mauldin of Stennis. “He may play third this year, we’re going to look at him at third, but he will definitely be a middle-of-the-lineup guy.” Exactly how Mauldin fields his young, high-minded roster is foggy at the moment, but they’ll be facing a demanding field in Class 7A, Area 6. “I think every team in our area can win a state championship if the cards fall right,” said Mauldin. “The sad thing is two of us don’t make it, but I would rather play at the 7A level and compete against the best teams and the best coaches day in and day out. I would rather go down fighting against these type guys than to win against smaller schools.” The Huskies open their season at home with a doubleheader against Bob Jones on Feb. 15.

HewittTrussville baseball coach Jeff Mauldin believes Tyler Tolbert has an outside chance of being selected in the MLB draft.

26 | F E BRUA RY 20 1 6

CAHABASUN.COM

Opinion It’s a difﬁcult task to prepare someone for loss

s I sit here writing, the aroma of simmering vegetable soup and cornbread baking in the oven makes it hard to focus. I keep thinking about slipping into the kitchen, taking a long-handled spoon and sampling the soup. But the soup isn’t for us, it’s lunch for our neighbors down the road who are going through a difﬁcult time right now. Nurses visit frequently and her outlook does not sound good. He seems to be struggling with making sure she has what she needs and probably has little time for thinking of life without her. I can’t imagine what they’re going through. As Jilda and I walked yesterday, he pulled his SUV to the curb and rolled down his window to give us a brief update. We both listened. The sadness in his voice broke my heart. Jilda did manage to ask him if he thought he and his wife might be able to eat a bite of vegetable soup. He said he thought she might like that. Before he rolled his window up and headed to the store, I told him if there was anything

“

... I told him if there was anything I could do to help, let me know. In reality, there’s little anyone here on Earth can do.

MY SOUTH

By Rick Watson I could do to help, let me know. In reality, there’s little anyone here on Earth can do. I know the coming weeks and months will be brutal. Our friend Yvonne went through a similar situation with her husband Charlie last year. They’d been married over 50 years.

”

She told me this week that there are times when walking through their house, she feels Charlie’s presence. She realizes that some people write this off as wishful thinking on her part, but when two people are as close as they were for as long as they were, it would be strange for him NOT to be with her on some level. I thought about both Yvonne and our neighbor as Jilda and I ﬁnished our walk yesterday. Trying to imagine how I would

feel if faced with a similar situation was not an easy thing to consider. There were times over the last few years that I feared the worst. Jilda was struggling with severe side effects from her monthly infusion treatments. The treatments were for a defective immune system. This procedure causes side effects in only a small number of patients, but she hit the side effect lottery and struggled with aseptic meningitis. Some months it only put her on the couch for a few days, but other months she rarely left the couch. I can tell you it was scary to think I might lose someone who’s been with me for most of my life. Jilda and I started dating in high school. That was in 1968 and aside from the two years I was in the Army, we’ve been together ever since. Today, after the soup simmered and the cornbread browned, she boxed up enough for our neighbors to eat for a day or two. He told me to thank Jilda for doing that for them. It wasn’t much, but under the circumstances, it’s the least we could do.

N ECTIO

IAL S

n e m o W f o E L L I V TRUSS 2016

SPEC

Coming in July

Email matthew@starnespublishing.com for more information

VALID ON PAST-SEASON, NON-CARRYOVER STYLES AND COLORS ONLY; EXCLUDES IN-SEASON STYLES AND COLORS. ALL OFFERS LIMITED TO STOCK ON HAND; NO RAIN CHECKS. OTHER RESTRICTIONS MAY APPLY. OFFER EXPIRES 2/21/2016

CAH A BAS U N.CO M

FEBRUARY 2016 | 27

Community Rotary announces student, teacher of the month The Trussville Rotary Daybreak Club’s December Student of the Month (SOM) is Katie Hayes from ClayChalkville High School. Hayes, a senior, is a member of the CCHS band, Honor Society, HOSA and is an active member of her church. Her Teacher of the Month selection is her Health Sciences teacher, Farah Bridges. “She has been both an inspiration and a mentor for me. It is because of her that I have decided to pursue a career in nursing. She has taught and given me experiences that will extend far beyond when I graduate high school.” The student received a gift card donated by Jim ’n Nick’s

Bar-B-Q. The teacher received a gift card from either Jim ’n Nick’s or Staples. The club is also pleased to announce its new location for weekly meetings. The club will now meet at Spare Time Entertainment located at 3600 Roosevelt Blvd. in Trussville. The group will continue to meet at 7 a.m. on Wednesday mornings. For more information on the Trussville Rotary Daybreak Club, or to help with one of their projects, please visit trussvillerotaryclub.org or email Diane Poole at diane.poole@ trussvillechamber.com. – Submitted by the Trussville Rotary Daybreak Club

Chamber food drive to benefit .E.A.M. The Trussville Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting a community-wide food drive this month. The 7th annual “Love Your Neighbor” food drive will be held at various times and locations the week of Valentine’s Day. A drive through kickoff will be held on Saturday, Feb. 13, from 9 a.m. to noon in the First Methodist Church of Trussville parking lot. Celebrity volunteers, including Alabama’s 13 Ken Lass, Fox 6 anchor Janet Hall and former University of Alabama football players Bobby Johns, Quinton Dial and Rudy Griffin, will be at the kickoff. T.E.A.M., or Trussville Ecumenical Assistive Ministry, assists those in the immediate Trussville area who are in need of food, clothing and other necessities during difficult financial times. Area schools have been instrumental in the food drive. Several companies also sent monetary donations to T.E.A.M. Independence Place, an agency meeting the social and recreational needs of adults with special needs, will staple informational flyers to food bags. This year’s goal is to collect enough non-perishable items to help T.E.A.M. provide food until the fall. Specific items particularly needed include personal hygiene items, cooking oil, flour, cornmeal, sugar, canned meat and fish, dried beans, cereal, breakfast food, peanut butter, jelly, saltines and mac and cheese. T.E.A.M.’s other immediate needs include not only volunteers but also a larger building in which to house and distribute their donated items.

Trussville Police raise money for Decatur offi er By SYDNEY CROMWELL

Members of the Trussville community drop off food and other items during the Love Your Neighbor Food Drive. Courtesy of the Trussville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Area churches that will participate as drop-off points include Clear Branch United Methodist Church, Deerfoot Baptist Church, First Baptist Church Trussville, First Methodist Church of Trussville, Holy Cross Episcopal Church, Faith Lutheran Church, Cahaba Springs Presbyterian Church and Holy Infant of Prague Catholic Church. In addition, the Chamber of Commerce, the McSweeney Foundation, the Trussville fire station on Main Street in downtown Trussville and T.E.A.M. headquarters at 88 Cedar Lane will be drop-off points. All locations will gladly accept donations Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during that week. Most of the participating churches will also conduct drives on Feb. 14 and 21. Donors may also leave items at the T.E.A.M. location any time. — Submitted by the Trussville Area Chamber of Commerce

Rotarian and SOM Coordinator Ty Williams, Katie Hayes, Farah Bridges and Rotary Club President Eddie Seal. Photo courtesy of the Trussville Rotary Daybreak Club.

Officers in the Trussville Police Department looked a little hairier in December, but it was for a good cause. After finding out that Decatur Police officers have been donating money and sick leave time to fellow officer Josh Driggers, who is fighting a brain tumor, several Trussville officers wanted to raise funds for him as well. Police Chief Don Sivley decided to relax the department’s rules on facial hair for 30 days so officers could participate in Beards for Bucks. From Nov. 18 to Dec. 18, Trussville officers who donated to Driggers were permitted to grow out beards, mustaches, sideburns or any other facial hair. The required donation was $50 for officers, $75 for sergeants and lieutenants and $100 for captains or the chief. Capt. Kevin Bridges said 27 members of the department donated to Driggers and his family, though not all of those donors chose to grow out their hair. Trussville Beards for

Officer Clayton Dew won the Trussville Police Department’s best beard contest. Photo courtesy of Jeff Bridges.

Bucks raised $1,595 in total. On Dec. 18, Officer Clayton Dew was named the winner of the best beard contest, and Sivley donated $100 in his honor. Trussville officers were required to be clean-shaven again on their next shift after Dec. 18, but Officer Driggers and his family have a GoFundMe site for those who wish to donate to their medical costs.

Chili Bowl back to support Independence Place By SYDNEY CROMWELL Independence Place of Alabama is bringing back its Super Chili Bowl this month. Local four-person teams will be making gallons of chili for judges and visitors to sample. The event is Feb. 6 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with public sampling beginning at noon and the award ceremony at 2:30. Held at the Trussville Civic Center, the chili bowl is a chance for lighthearted competition and the chance to support the work of Independence Place, which assists people with special needs and their families.

In addition to chili, there will also be a hamburger booth selling $5 meals and a dessert booth. Chili teams will be competing for a variety of honors, including best booth, best costume and people’s choice, voted on by members of the public. Trophies will be given for the Grand Champion chili and the second and third place recipes, which will be voted on by judges based on taste, texture, consistency, blend, aroma and color. Tickets to sample chili are $5, and children 5 and under are admitted free. Purchase tickets at the door or online at trussvillechili.org.

28 | F E BRUARY 20 1 6

CAHABASUN.COM

School House HTHS player goes to International Bowl By ERIK HARRIS One Hewitt-Trussville linebacker was selected to represent Team USA in the 2016 International Bowl at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday, Jan. 31. Fifty players from across the country, including Huskies senior Bailey McElwain, were named to the U.S. Under-19 National Team, which was set to compete against Canada in the seventh annual International Bowl series. U.S. Select Teams at the high school and junior high levels also will compete as part of the series. McElwain is bound for Stanford as a fullback but did most of his work on the defensive side in 2015, averaging six tackles per game as a linebacker. The 2016 International Bowl is a collaboration of the sport’s national governing bodies in each country – USA Football and Football Canada — featuring top student-athletes in football’s greatest annual international competition. The U.S. Under-19 head coach is Shaun Aguano, who has been the head coach at Chandler High School in Arizona since 2011. The Wolves were 10-2 this season, reaching the Division I state semifinals a year after winning the 2014 state title. All U.S. rosters and coaching staffs are available at internationalbowl.com. The International Bowl took place after this issue of the Cahaba Sun went to press. Please see our March issue for updates on McElwain’s performance.

LESSONS ON LIFE SKILLS Community leaders joined HTMS students Dec. 18 to teach them about career, hobby and life skills. Clockwise, from above: HTMS students show off their new tie-tying skills learned in the “What Guys Need to Know” mini-course. Darby Sims instructs students on makeup application techniques. Students learn about no-bake cooking in a class taught by Prissy Anderson. Courtesy of Trussville City Schools.

HTHS student Kaley Ann Fulton.

Student receives recommendation to West Point

HTHS linebacker and senior Bailey McElwain was chosen as one of 50 high schoolers across the country to compete in the 2016 International Bowl. Photo courtesy of the Trussville Tribune.

HTHS student Kaley Ann Fulton has a goal of receiving an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. She recently took one step closer to this goal when Congressman Gary Palmer wrote her a nomination to the academy. Students must be nominated by one of their Congress representatives to be considered for admission. According to the West Point website, those accepted into the academy must display leadership, intelligence, character and physical fitness. — Submitted by Trussville City Schools

30 | F E BRUA RY 20 1 6

CAHABASUN.COM

Trussville

8750 Carrington Lake Ridge

Real Estate Listings MLS #

Zip

Address

Status

Price

737939

35173

8750 Carrington Lake Ridge

New

$429,900

738247

35173

8080 Gadsden Highway

New

$325,000

738227

35173

7017 Arbor Lane

New

$249,900

738107

35173

1479 11 Highway

New

$167,000

737972

35173

1016 Quail Run

New

$149,900

737931

35173

5789 Carrington Lake Parkway

New

$469,900

737759

35173

5635 Carrington Lake Parkway

New

$499,900

737745

35173

104 Mack Roper Road

New

$199,900

737720

35173

6232 Peregrine Circle

New

$230,000

737637

35173

7232 Poston Road

New

$314,025

738193

35173

378 Glen Cross Way

New

$225,000

737623

35173

202 Lake Street

New

$289,000

737604

35173

8202 Carrington Drive

New

$895,000

737483

35173

6836 Markham Drive

New

$114,000

737449

35173

513 Ryding Circle

New

$369,900

Real estate listings provided by the Birmingham Association of Realtors on Jan. 19. Visit birminghamrealtors.com.

378 Glen Cross Way

CAH A BAS U N.CO M

F EBRUARY 2016 | 31

Calendar Feb. 2: Ann Eubanks with The Legislative Watchdogs Topic-Common Core. 6 p.m. Sherry’s Cafe. Feb. 6: Super Chili Bowl. Noon-3 p.m. Trussville Civic Center. $5 per person, children 5 and under free. Visit trussvillechili.org. Feb. 8: Planning and Zoning Commission. 6 p.m. City Hall. Feb. 8: Monday Night Movie. 6 p.m. Trussville Public Library. Join us for a family movie and snack once per month. Feb. 9: Intro to Chess. 6 p.m. Trussville Public Library. Kids 5 and up can learn and polish their chess skills. Contact beckyt@bham.lib.al.us. Feb. 9: City Council. 7 p.m. City Hall. Feb. 16: Dudes and Doughnuts Book Club. 4:30 p.m. Trussville Public Library. Snacks served. Contact kpdavis@bham.lib.al.us.

Feb. 1-5: First Grade STAR Reading and GSM Testing. Paine Primary School. Feb. 6: ACT Testing. Hewitt-Trussville High School. Feb. 8: PPS PTO Meeting. 10 a.m. Paine Primary School. Feb. 8-12: HTHS Highstepper Clinic and Tryouts. HTHS band rooms, studio and theater. Feb. 10: HTHS College Day. Hewitt-Trussville High School. Feb. 10: PIS Club Day. Paine Intermediate School. Feb. 11: HTHS Senior Panoramic Photo. 10:40 a.m. HTHS competition gym. Feb. 12: SCA Valentine Auction. HTHS gymnasium.

Feb. 17-21: Team IMPACT. 7 p.m. nightly. First Baptist Church Trussville. Free.

Feb. 15: President’s Day. Trussville City Schools closed.

Feb. 18: Chamber of Commerce luncheon. 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Trussville Civic Center. $17 per person. Contact June Mathews at june. mathews@trussvillechamber.com.

Feb. 16-19: Trussville’s Got Talent practices. Practice times vary. HTHS Performing Arts Building.

Feb. 18: Chips and Chapters. 4:30 p.m. Trussville Public Library. Book club for 4th-6th graders. This month’s focus is biographies. Snacks served. Contact kpdavis@bham.lib.al.us.

Feb. 20: Trussville’s Got Talent. 4:308:30 p.m. HTHS Performing Arts Building. Feb. 23: PIS Spring Pictures. Paine Intermediate School.

Feb. 18: Board of Zoning Adjustments. 7 p.m. City Hall.

Feb. 23-24: PPS Class Pictures. Paine Primary School.

Feb. 22: American Girl Doll Club. 6:30 p.m. Trussville Public Library. This month’s American Girl is Rebecca. Snacks and historical craft included. Register in the Children’s Department.

Feb. 29: PIS Spring Picture Make-up Day. Paine Intermediate School.

Feb. 23: Intro to Chess. 6 p.m. Trussville Public Library. Kids 5 and up can learn and polish their chess skills. Contact beckyt@bham.lib.al.us.

March 2: PPS Spring Pictures. Paine Primary School. Hewitt-Trussville High School Athletics Calendar

Feb. 23: City Council. 7 p.m. City Hall.

Feb. 1: Basketball vs. ACA. Home.

Tuesdays: Trussville Farmers Market. 1-5 p.m. The Mall. Contact Wesley Gooch, dahliweasel@gmail.com.

Feb. 4: Basketball vs. Hayden. Away.

Thursdays: Storytime with Ms. Shawna. 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. Trussville Public Library.

Feb. 9-13: Basketball Area Tournament.

Saturdays: Trussville Farmers Market. 8 a.m.-noon. Holy Cross Episcopal Church. Contact Wesley Gooch, dahliweasel@gmail.com.

Feb. 15-16: Basketball Sub-Regionals.

Trussville City Schools Calendar Feb. 1: TCS Board of Education Meeting. 7 p.m. TCS Offices Feb. 1-5: HTHS Color Guard Tryouts. HTHS band room and studio.

Feb. 5: Sports Physicals Day.

Feb. 17-25: Basketball Regionals. Feb. 22: Cheerleading Parent Interest Meeting. 6 p.m. HTHS Lecture Hall. Feb. 29-March 5: Basketball State Finals.

Pre-Sort Standard U.S. Postage PAID Memphis, TN Permit #830

“Melanie Clough makes the process of buying and selling a home fun.”

When Melanie Clough first met Pete and Janice Hunter, she knocked on their door to ask if they were interested in selling their beautiful, stately home in Springville. “We weren’t ready to sell at the time,” says Pete, “but when we decided to downsize, we remembered how much she impressed us, so we listed our home with Melanie.” Going above and beyond is not unusual for this agent. “She’s willing to ride through farmland to show us property, or to help clean out our garage,” says Janice. “She’s fun and enthusiastic and we’re glad to recommend her as a Realtor.” Meeting people like the Hunters and helping them buy and sell real estate is a career Melanie enjoys. “My customers become friends,” she says, “and my co-workers at ARC Realty are like family.” For information on the Hunter’s home in Springville visit http://www.onlinehousetours.com/265738. (Melanie’s MLS#733396).

A Relationship Company 4274 Cahaba Heights Court, Suite 200 Birmingham, AL 35243 205.577.3842 www.arcrealtyco.com

Melanie Clough • 205.577.3842 mclough@arcrealtyco.com