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Volume 2 | Issue 4 | January 2014
Beloved literary festival returns
Hoover City Schools has decided not to cancel bus service next year. Read the details inside.
School House page 23
Back-to-back
Lisa See, author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, autographs copies of her book at the 2013 Southern Voices Festival. Photo courtesy of the Hoover Public Library.
A look at Southern Voices 2014 The Hoover Buccaneers secured their second consecutive 6A AHSAA title with a win over Auburn High in December. The championship trophy will be presented Jan. 30 at 10 a.m. at Hoover High School. Photo courtesy of Ted Melton/ actionsportspix.smugmug.com.
Sports page 24
INSIDE City ..................... 3 Business ............ 6 Food ................... 9 Community ....... 11
School House .. 21 Sports ............... 24 Calendar ........... 26
By REBECCA WALDEN Book-loving aficionados can hardly wait for February. Why? Next month will mark the 22nd annual Southern Voices Festival, a winter highlight for many that takes place at Hoover Public Library. With more than two decades of wowing sellout crowds with their slate of A-list authors and the culture of camaraderie between guests and literary superstars, event planners face an
ambitious task of planning a program each year guaranteed to outdo the one before. “We do set a very high standard for our authors, and it’s a challenge to select the best each year,” said Amanda Bonner Borden, assistant director of Hoover Public Library. “However, each year we discover new voices, new ideas and new styles of writing.” In some cases, talent makes a second appearance, often after they’ve hit their literary stride. “I’m especially excited this year to have Ann
Patchett as our keynote speaker,” Borden said. “For one thing, Ann was a guest at our very first conference when she was relatively still unknown, as was our conference. Twenty-one years later, she’s a literary icon and our festival has established a pretty good reputation, too. It seems like we’ve come full circle.” Patchett fans will have ample time to rub elbows with the author during the opening
See VOICES | page 18
2014 Year in preview Things to watch for in Hoover this year See Entrance page to4 The Grove
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Alacare Sprouts Farmers Market (tentative)
Proposed ER site
Sprouts Farmers Market plans to open in Hoover this year.
Plans are in the works for a new ER facility to open on Highway 150.
The Hoover Met will host the 2014 USA Football Bowl Festival.