Hoover Sun September 2016

Sun Neighborly news & entertainment for Hoover

Volume 4 | Issue 12 | September 2016

2016 MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Brocato bests Ivey

THE FACES OF YOUR NEW CITY GOVERNMENT* Mayor

†Council, Place 1

†Council, Place 1

Brocato

Posey

Lott

7,129 votes

5,254 votes

5,172 votes

Incumbents Lyda, Green hold on to seats to join council newcomers Ivey (I) ................ 4,826 McClinton............1,800

Rives (I) ............... 2,321

‡Council, Place 2

‡Council, Place 2

Council, Place 3

Smith (I)

Swiney

Lyda (I)

6,199 votes

6,171 votes

9,968 votes Singer ................. 2,698

Council, Place 4

Council, Place 5

Shaw

Murphy

7,985 votes

8,675 votes

Holt...................... 4,202 Ellis ........................4,124 ‡Council, Place 6

‡Council, Place 6

Council, Place 7

Middlebrooks

DeLuca

Green (I)

6,212 votes

6,203 votes

Frank Brocato’s daughter, Gina Harris, hugs the mayor-elect after receiving the news that he won the election by taking 7,129 of the total 13,755 votes Aug. 23. Photo by Sam Chandler.

By SYDNEY CROMWELL

I

Pre-Sort Standard U.S. Postage PAID Tupelo, MS Permit #54

t wasn’t Hoover’s new mayor who stole the show on election night; it was his grandkids.

As former Hoover fire marshal Frank Brocato shared the news that he was the

unofficial winner of the 2016 mayoral elections, his grandchildren began running in circles and singing “Celebrate Good Times” at his watch party at Capers on Park Avenue.

While the children were perhaps the most demonstrative, the rest of the crowd at Brocato’s party was equally high energy as they

INSIDE

Sponsors .............. A4 City ........................ A6

hugged, shook hands and took pictures with the new mayor the night of Aug. 23.

“I have a lot of emotions running through my whole family right now. It’s a big responsibility. Any mayor in any city this size and

See ELECTIONS | page A8

Chamber............... A11 Business .............. A12

Opinion ................ A17 School House .....A18

Events ................... B6 Sports .................. B14

7,010 votes Schultz ............... 5,067

*Preliminary election results, courtesy of city of Hoover †Runoff scheduled for Oct. 4 ‡ Results too close to call as of press time

School Guide ..... B20 Calendar ............. B26 facebook.com/TheHooverSun

Be the Best

Football Preview

Hoover High School senior Olivia Portera is determined to win on the volleyball court this season.

See what the Hoover Bucs and the Spain Park Jaguars have on their schedule in September.

See page B1

See page B14

A2 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • A3

A4 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

About Us

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Editor’s Note By Sydney Cromwell Every summer, I tell myself that this is the year I’ll finally adjust to Southern summers and enjoy my time outdoors in our long, sunny days.

And every summer, I scurry back indoors to the blessed air conditioning, choosing instead to glare out my window at the heat waves rising off the pavement.

Despite living in the South since I was five years old, I’m convinced that I’m a cold weather creature, built for scarves and hats and boots. This was reinforced recently when I was lucky enough to take a trip to Alaska. The landscape, the wildlife and everything about the trip was stunning. But in the midst of that, I also felt a sense of relief at the summer temperatures, which felt more like the mid-autumn days I experience here.

“Ah,” I thought, “this is what it’s

supposed to be.”

That breath of cold, fresh air evaporated all too quickly once I got on the plane back home. But it gave me a nice reminder that I’ve got fall days coming my way.

Summer’s just about over, and we

chose a few of the best photos you sent us to highlight your summer adventures. Be sure to find those inside.

You’ll also find stories about a local soda business, a volleyball team at Veterans Park and an Aldridge Gardens employee with an extensive collection of arrowheads. Whether your interests are running or arts and theater, we also have previews of several events this month.

I hope you enjoy September and all our community has to offer this month.

Meanwhile, I’ll be cranking up the air conditioning and looking fondly at my sweaters.

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

A girl tries on a Hoover Police Department dive team mask during Hoover’s 2016 National Night Out gathering Aug. 2 at The Grove shopping center. Photo by Jon Anderson.

Sun Publisher: Managing Editor: Design Editor: Director of Digital Media: Sports Editor: Page Designers:

Dan Starnes Sydney Cromwell Kristin Williams Heather VacLav Kyle Parmley Cameron Tipton Emily VanderMey Community Reporters: Erica Techo Jon Anderson Tara Massouleh Jesse Chambers Staff Writers: Emily Featherston Sam Chandler Copy Editor: Louisa Jeffries Contributing Writers: Rick Watson Ali Renckens Sarah Cook

Advertising Manager: Matthew Allen Sales and Distribution: Warren Caldwell Don Harris Michelle Salem Haynes Brittany Joffrion Rhonda Smith James Plunkett Jon Harrison Gail King Eric Clements

For advertising contact: dan@starnespublishing.com Contact Information: Hoover 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: Hoover Sun LLC Legals: The Hoover Sun is published monthly. Reproduction or use of editorial or graphic content without prior permission is prohibited. The Hoover Sun is designed to inform the Hoover community of area school, family and community events. Information in The Hoover Sun is gathered from sources considered reliable but the accuracy cannot be guaranteed. All articles/photos submitted become the property of The Hoover 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.

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30 A Realty (A13) A Team Ministries (A16) Aesthetic Dermatology (B4) Alabama Allergy & Asthma Center (A31) Alabama Outdoors (B9) Alabama School of Fine Arts (A14) Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center (A2) Angela Gamble Cleaning (B26) Anna Lu Hemphill, Realty South (B18) ARC Realty (B3) Auto Oasis Express Wash (A31) Bargains on the Bluff (A26) Bedzzz Express (B1, B28) BenchMark Physical Therapy (A19) Birmingham Botanical Gardens (A31) Boy Scouts of America - Greater Alabama Council (A26) Brewer Cabinets (A6) Bromberg & Company, Inc. (B25) Brookwood Medical Center (B9) California Closets (A22) Carbon Recall (B15) Cardiovascular Associates of the Southeast (A5) Carpet Warehouse Galleria (A9) CB&S Bank (A12) Children’s of Alabama (A20) Classic Events/On The Green (B13) Classic Gardens (A12) Construx (B3) Covenant Classical Schools & Daycare (B20) CR2 Massage Studio (A14) Danberry at Inverness (A30) David J Putman for Congress (A32) Decorating Dens Interiors (B5) Doorstep Delivery (A29) Encore Rehabilitation (B18) EZ Roof & EZ Restoration (B7) Flat Fee Real Estate (A5) Geico Insurance (B17) Grandview Medical (A23) HealthSouth Lakeshore Rehabilitation Hospital (A17) Hoover City Schools (A20) Hoover City Schools (A13) Hoover Hometown Pharmacy (A10) Hoover Public Library (A22) Huntington Learning Center (A28) Issis & Sons (B12) Iz Cafe (A16) Jeff Lindsey, Re/MAX Advantage (A7) Kasey Davis Dentistry (A15) Kete Cannon, RE MAX Southern Homes (A18) LAH Real Estate - Hoover Offi e (B25) Magic City Chiropractic (A24) Mantooth Interiors (A24) Mr. Chen’s Authentic Chinese (B26) Neuralife (A27) OLLI (A3) Outdoor Living Areas (A19) Oxmoor Valley Orthodontics (A18) Patti Schreiner, Re/MAX Southern Homes (A6) Paul Davis Emergency Services of South Birmingham (A10) People’s Bank of Alabama (A3) Planet Fitness (A21) Pure Dermatology & Aesthetics (B24) RealtySouth Marketing (B27) River Highlands of Birmingham (B19) Samford Academy of the Arts (A25) Sentry Heating & Air (A8) Shades Mountain Christian School (B21) Southlake Orthopaedics (A30) Spring Valley School (B22) Stonecreek Montessori School (B22) Sweetspire Gardens (A25) The Altamont School (B23) The Maids (A1) The Tile Cleaner LLC. (B10) Therapy South Hoover (B17) Tracey Mercer, Optometrist (A29) UAB Medical West (B2) Uptown at BJCC (B26) Virginia Samford Theatre (B6) Vulcan Termite & Pest Control (B24) Wedgworth Construction (B11) Weigh To Wellness (A11) Whale of a Sale (B24) Wilcox Communities (A1) Wrapsody (B15) YMCA of Greater Birmingham (B1)

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September 2016 • A5

A6 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

City Hoover council amends budget to provide $270,000 for armored rescue vehicle

By JON ANDERSON The Hoover City Council on Aug. 15 amended its budget so the Police Department can buy an armored rescue vehicle estimated to cost about $265,000.

Hoover police Chief Nick Derzis said the department needs such a vehicle to use in hostile situations where a police officer or civilian needs rescuing. For example, if someone is injured in an area where there is a gunman, the vehicle can be positioned between the gunman and the injured person while the rescue occurs, Derzis said.

“God forbid we ever need it,” but it will be good to have if such situations occur,” he said.

The vehicle police want to purchase is a Lenco BearCat four-wheel-drive vehicle that can carry 10-12 people, said Jehad Al-Dakka, the department’s executive officer.

“It protects you from high-powered rifles,” he said.

The vehicles have been useful in Dallas and Baton Rouge, and Baton Rouge officials have advised Hoover officials as they shopped around to find the best fit for what Hoover needs, Derzis said. The Birmingham and Tuscaloosa police departments also have armored rescue vehicles, Derzis said.

It likely will take about five to six months to get one made and delivered, he said. Lenco has had a lot of orders with the uptick in violence toward police officers, he said.

Hoover police plan to pay for the vehicle with money confiscated from drug dealers,

The Hoover Police Department plans to purchase an armored rescue vehicle similar to this Lenco Bearcat for about $265,000 for use in hostile situations in which people are in danger. Photo courtesy of Lenco.

Derzis said.

In other business, the council: ► Tabled a vote to pay $523,000 over the next 11 years to lease a vacant warehouse and office at 3515 Lorna Ridge Drive for use as a police training facility. Arnold Singer recommended the council consider using space at the Hoover Public Safety Center off Valleydale

Road or build a training facility on that property instead. ► Zoned 18 acres at the intersection of Alabama 119 and Greystone Way as a community business district. The property is owned by EBSCO and is part of a larger 75-acre tract called Tattersall Park, which EBSCO hopes to develop for retail stores, office buildings,

restaurants, hotels and medical facilities. ► Authorized the mayor to enter an agreement with the city of Helena that will allow Hoover to put a radio antenna on top of a Helena water tower at 4664 South Shades Crest Road to aid in public safety communications in that area. ► Declared four vehicles and a lawn mower as surplus to be sold at auction. ► Approved a budget amendment to allocate $545,313 for costs related to the $80 million warrant issue for the new sports complex next to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium and to reallocate $30,000 from the Bluff Park sidewalk project to a pipe replacement and resurfacing project on Hugh Daniel Drive. ► Approved requests from: Formosa Chinese Restaurant to sell liquor at 2109 Lorna Ridge Lane; Taste of Thailand to sell liquor at 3321 Lorna Road, Suite 3; Vecchia Pizzeria and Mercato to sell liquor at 610 Preserve Parkway, Suite 100; Fred’s Store No. 1840 to sell beer and wine for consumption off the premises at 3317 Lorna Road. ► Set public hearings for Sept. 6 to consider requests to allow SkyZone Sports to put a trampoline park in the former Staples location at 1694 Montgomery Highway and the City of Vestavia Hills to build a road through Lot 7 of International Park to allow access to a park being developed by Vestavia Hills on the site of the former Altadena Valley Country Club. ► Rescheduled the Sept. 5 Hoover City Council meeting to Sept. 6 due to the Labor Day holiday.

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • A7

Mayor’s Minute

By Gary Ivey

at Veterans Park on Valleydale The Hoover Beautification Board recently held a luncheon Road. All details about these to commend businesses and events and a complete listing non-residential properties for of other events are located on the most beautiful landscaping. our website at hooveralabama.

This program is held every two gov, or you can call City Hall years. at 444-7500.

The properties are judged Be sure to remember on first impressions, creative Aldridge Gardens or the design, plant selection, plant Hoover Met if you need a maintenance and maintenance place to host a holiday party, of retaining walls, walkways wedding reception, reunion and pavement. Bonus points or an anniversary party. Both are given for properties that facilities are reasonably priced Gary Ivey have the “wow factor.” and catering is available.

There were several categoFor more information about ries for different types of businesses, churches rentals at Aldridge Gardens call 682-8019 or and educational foundations, each with their visit their website, aldridgegardens.com, or for own winner. The Mayor’s award was presented the Hoover Met call 739-6400. to Thomas E. Bradley Fire Station No. 4 and We want to exceed your expectations in the Tree Conservation Award was won by the every way with all we do. Please contact our office if we can be of assistance to you.

Chase Corporate Center.

Fall is a busy time of year in the city of Sincerely, Hoover. We have many exciting events planned for this fall and they are all family friendly!

Another annual event in Hoover is the Pig Iron BBQ Challenge, held at the Hoover Met on Oct. 21, followed up by the Hoover Hayride and Family Night held on Oct. 27 from 5 to 8 p.m.

This 155,000-square-foot indoor event center is a big part of the $76 million sports complex being built next to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. Sketch courtesy of Goodwyn Mills & Cawood.

Council OKs $20.3M sports complex construction package

By JON ANDERSON The Hoover City Council will pay $20.3 million for a “general works” construction package for the new sports complex being built next to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.

That is $1.9 million more than budgeted for that construction package, but $1.83 million less than the amount originally proposed by the low bidder for the project, M.J. Harris Construction Services.

City officials decided to eliminate the slab and rooftop air conditioning unit for a sports performance facility that likely will be rented out to a private company, Hoover Executive Director Allen Pate said. Those costs likely will be passed onto the private company.

They also changed the design for a covered canopy that will go between the Hoover Met and the new 155,000-squarefoot indoor event center, Pate said. That canopy will still be built, but it will be a lesser canopy than originally designed, he said.

Stephen Franklin of Brasfield & Gorrie, the construction manager for the city, said the city also was able to save about $1.7 million through value engineering.

For example, they chose to use less expensive materials for some parts of the

construction, such as light fixtures, Franklin said.

Hoover Council President Jack Wright said even though the project was over budget, he was satisfied city officials were able to cut back some of the costs on the project through value engineering.

The City Council postponed a vote on the general works construction package for two weeks to achieve the savings.

“We’re kind of committed” to the project, Wright said. “We’d like to go ahead and get the building going.”

The $20.3 million is just a part of the overall cost for the 124-acre sports complex. The total cost is projected to be about $76 million.

The council previously had awarded a $3.9 million contract to C.S. Beatty Construction for a partial relocation and expansion of the Hoover RV Park, a $3.37 million contract to Dunn Construction Co. for the pre-engineered metal building that will serve as the indoor event center and a $2.36 million contract to Rabren General Contractors to do the foundation work and concrete pad for the event center.

The complex also is scheduled to include five college-size baseball fields, five soccer/lacrosse/football fields, 16 tennis courts, a pro shop, a 2-mile walking track, playground and splash pad.

A8 • September 2016

Hoover Sun it,” he added, referring to the council elections in general as well as Brocato’s win.

ELECTIONS

CONTINUED from page A1 some of the challenges that we have ahead of us, it’s something I take very seriously, and I’m going to do everything I can to bring our city together,” Brocato said after the announcement.

Brocato outpaced his competitors — incumbent Gary Ivey and former Hoover City Schools Foundation President Steve McClinton — to take 7,129 of the total 13,755 votes in the unofficial totals the city released. This put him at about 52 percent of the vote, enough to avoid a runoff with Ivey, who finished in second place with about 35 percent of the vote.

“I just wanted to tell y’all from the bottom of my heart how much it’s meant to me that so many friends turned out. It’s been overwhelming,” Ivey said as he conceded the race at a watch party in Aldridge Gardens. “The city’s been good to me.”

McClinton did not give a formal concession speech at his watch party but said his plan now is to continue his involvement in the city in other ways.

“Right now I serve in many capacities for the community and I’ll serve whatever endeavor I’m asked to serve for the foundation. If I’m asked to do anything else, I’d be glad to help the city,” McClinton said.

MAIN ISSUES

Brocato credited his win in part to the grassroots nature of his campaign, including knocking on doors and personal phone calls to voters instead of robo-calls. His major campaign issues included increasing funding for city schools, creating a master plan for city development and, of course, support for public safety officials.

“Public safety has always been important to this city and will continue to be extremely important to me. I grew up in public safety, 42 years with the first department, and we’re not going to compromise public safety in Hoover,” Brocato said.

Additional support for Hoover City Schools was a common campaign theme not only for

COUNCIL OUTCOMES

Frank Brocato and his mother Doris, whom he said was his encourager throughout the election season. Photo by Sam Chandler.

Brocato but for several council race winners, and some of their opponents as well, reflecting citywide concern over the schools’ difficulty in having revenue keep up with expenses. Brocato said one of his first decisions in the mayor’s office will be to look at the budget and set meetings to discuss new funding options.

“Let’s see what we can do to reach out to the schools and help address this funding issue.

She [Superintendent Kathy Murphy] is doing her part of the job; let’s do our part,” Brocato said.

At the election night watch party, Brocato’s friend of 25 years, Van McClurkin, described the mayor-elect as “Hoover through and through.” Jason Lovoy, a Hoover resident for 10 years, said Brocato’s campaign was the first time he got involved in local politics.

When asked why he voted for Brocato, Lovoy said, “That’s pretty easy. The main thing is leadership. I don’t think I’ve heard Ivey speak the whole time he’s been mayor compared to [Mayor Tony] Petelos before him. I want to know what’s going on. We’ve

had so much going on with the schools, from the school buses to the rezoning to the constant topics on funding. I’ve got four kids in Hoover school system. As parents, we don’t ever hear from the mayor, and that’s really what we want.

We want to take part.”

While Brocato’s win was the biggest news of the night, he’s not the only new face coming to Hoover’s elected government for 2016-20. Joining him at the November inauguration will be Mike Shaw, who won the Place 4 seat over Mike Holt with 65.5 percent of the vote, and Derrick Murphy, who took nearly 68 percent of the Place 5 votes over Dan Ellis.

“We don’t want to become complacent,” Lovoy said. “We want Hoover to be better, and I think that’s through leadership, communication. We’ve got a lot of amazing families, and a lot of folks who want to be involved.

“I think this election has caused people to be excited mainly because they don’t feel like their voice is being heard. That’s a big part of

Two incumbents are guaranteed to be returning for four more years. John Lyda kept his Place 3 seat with the support of 9,968 voters, taking nearly 79 percent of the vote over challenger Arnold Singer. John Greene also fended off opponent Robin Schultz for Place 7, ending the night with 58 percent of the vote.

However, the rest of the races did not have a clear winner as of the Hoover Sun’s press time.

Place 1 will likely be a runoff between candidates Curt Posey and Trey Lott. Posey has a narrow edge of 41 percent of the votes to Lott’s 40.5 percent, but candidates in a three-person race must receive at least 50 percent plus one vote in order to avoid a runoff.

The runoff election will be Oct. 4.

The final canvassing of results will confirm the winners in Places 2 and 6, which were too close to call in the preliminary tallies. Incumbent Gene Smith and Sam Swiney had a difference of only 28 votes between them, giving Smith a razor-thin margin of 50.1 percent to Swiney’s 49.9 percent.

Place 6 was even closer, as only nine votes separated candidates Casey Middlebrooks, with 6,212 votes, and Jason DeLuca, with 6,203 votes.

Visit hooversun.com for updates on the winners in these races once final canvassing has been completed.

Despite the uncertainty left in three races, the majority of the 2016-20 council is already guaranteed to be newcomers. This significant shift in the dynamics between council members and the mayor means the opportunity to choose either to follow the model of their predecessors or to forge a new direction.

“We laid out a really good plan, taking the pulse of the public for six months. Mayor Ivey has been a wonderful servant to the citizens of Hoover for 20-plus years. I’m grateful for what he’s done, and I look forward to working with him in transitioning and the knowledge that he’ll share with me,” Brocato said.

– Sam Chandler, Kyle Parmley and Tara Massouleh contributed to this article.

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • A9

Members of the Hoover Fire Department stand outside the department’s newest training building, located next to Station 6. Photo by Erica Techo.

Fire Department celebrates training facility’s opening

By ERICA TECHO A group of Hoover firefighters and city officials gathered at Station 6 on Aug. 18 to celebrate the opening of a new training facility.

Next to the existing training tower there is a new metal building which allows firefighters to experience the conditions produced in a structure fire. Within the two-story structure, there are several rooms in which the firefighters have to navigate through smoke and fire.

Closable windows and doors allow for a variety of simulations, and the overall structure helps replicate the heat firefighters would encounter when responding to a burning building.

Hoover Fire Chief John C. Wingate said not only will Hoover firefighters be able to train at the facility, but firefighters from surrounding departments will also be able to utilize the structure. Members of Cahaba Valley and North Shelby fire departments were also present at the dedication of the training facility, and Father John Fallon from Prince of Peace Catholic Church was present to bless the buildings.

“Today, we want to just thank you. The reasoning for this is its very important to, I think, all of our fire department members,” Wingate said. “We want to bless this training facility where we’re going to do

our live fires.”

Wingate said he hopes for safe training at the station and thanked department members for the work they put into the construction of the new facility.

“They took a lot of pride and ownership in this building, from going and picking out the individual containers and then coming in, working with Hoover Public Works,” Wingate said. “I can’t say enough on them. They have really stepped up to the plate and helped us develop what we have here.”

Battalion Chief Clay Bentley, who is in command of the department’s training, health and safety bureau, thanked everyone who came out for the dedication. He also thanked Mayor Gary Ivey, the Hoover City Council, Wingate and anyone else who was a part of the process.

“It’s kind of funny how this thing started,” Bentley said. “…This was a vision that several members of our department had, and we looked at this thing economically as a way for us to build something that would fit our needs. We researched a lot of things over the years, and we determined this, we felt like this would fit our needs.”

Following opening speeches and a prayer from Fallon, attendees were invited to tour the facility and stay for lunch and a demonstration of the training building in action.

Let us help spread the news! Email sydney@starnespublishing.com to submit your announcement.

A10 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

The outlined part of the green area shows the nine acres where Parrish Building Co. wants to build 35 houses. Map courtesy of the city of Hoover.

This landscape plan shows the proposed layout for 35 residential lots Parrish Building Co. wants to create near the corner of Tyler Road and Alford Avenue. Courtesy of Robert P. Kirk & Associates.

35-home subdivision proposed for Bluff Park

By JON ANDERSON A plan to put a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market in Bluff Park two years sparked a firestorm of opposition and was withdrawn, and now the property owners are asking the city to rezone the land to accommodate 35 houses on nine acres.

The property sits near the corner of Alford Avenue and Tyler Road, and drawings submitted to the city show entrances on both roads.

The property owners are asking the city to rezone the land from agricultural use to a planned residential development district. There would be 3.9 homes per acre, and lots would be 75 feet wide at the building line, developer Zac Parrish of Parrish Building Co. said.

“We feel like a residential setting there is

more appropriate,” Parrish said.

The property is surrounded by Bluff Park United Methodist Church and St. Luke Korean Catholic Church to the west, estate zoning to the north, townhomes and agricultural zoning to the east and Bluff Park Village and R-1 single-family residential zoning to the south.

The proposed development is expected to generate 140 vehicle trips per day once fully built out, according to Joey Miller, an engineer representing the developer. The two streets would have sidewalks on both sides of the roads, Miller said.

There would be no mass grading, and at least two trees will be planted per lot, Miller said.

The developer will save as many existing trees as possible, Miller said. The area at the intersection of Tyler and Alford would be improved

with additional landscaping, Parrish said.

Paperwork submitted to the city lists Hoover resident Patricia Clark as one of the property owners and R.W. Carleton of Cropwell as an agent for the other.

The rezoning request is scheduled to go to the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission on Sept. 12. The commission’s action meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. A work session typically is held at 5 p.m. in the conference room behind the City Council chambers, and sometimes a second work session is held the previous Thursday at 5 p.m. Both work sessions and action meetings are open to the public, but public comment typically is reserved for the action meetings.

The planning commission in August gave its approval for: ► Final plans for Phase 1-A of the Brock

Point subdivision off Shelby County 41 next The Cove at Greystone and across from Shoal Creek. Phase 1-A includes 16 of the 97 houses planned for Brock Point. The developer is Signature Homes. ► A request to allow a SkyZone Sports trampoline park at 1694 Montgomery Highway in the former Staples store at The Centre at Riverchase shopping center. ► A request to allow construction of a road through Lot 7 of International Park off Acton Road to provide access to a park being developed by Vestavia Hills on the former site of the Altadena Valley Country Club. ► The requests for the trampoline park and access road to the Vestavia Hills park now go before the Hoover City Council on Sept. 6 for final approval.

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • A11

Chamber

Preview of

Former NRA President Jim Porter comes armed with stories, stats to chamber

Luncheon

By JON ANDERSON The United States doesn’t need more restrictions on gun ownership because they don’t do anything to curb crime, a former president of the National Rifle Association told the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce on Aug. 17.

Widespread publicity of shootings involving multiple victims in recent years has gun control advocates pushing for more limitations, but that’s not the answer to the problem, said Jim Porter, a Birmingham attorney who served as NRA president from 2013 to 2015.

Porter came with a few statistics to the chamber luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel.

Porter said surveys show that 72 percent of people in the U.S.A. say the country doesn’t need more gun laws. Instead, authorities need to focus their efforts on taking criminals off the streets and putting them in jail, he said.

The Mothers Against Drunk Drivers group is very successful in its efforts because it doesn’t spend its time suing car manufacturers, Porter said. Instead, that group deals with the problem, which is people who get behind the wheel when they’re under the influence of alcohol, he said.

More than 99 million people support people’s right to keep firearms in their homes for self-defense, Porter said. When people have the right to bear arms, crime rates are infinitesimally small, he said.

“Crime is at an all-time low,” Porter said.

“Gun ownership is at an all-time high.”

Areas with stricter gun control, such as

Jim Porter, a Birmingham attorney who was president of the National Rifle Association from 2013 to 2015, speaks to the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce during is monthly luncheon.

Photo by Jon Anderson.

Chicago, have extremely high crime, he said.

Everyone is sickened by the those who gun down innocent people, Porter said.

“Those people are murderers. They’re criminals,” he said.

But the gun control restrictions being proposed in Congress by Democrats will have no effect on crime, Porter said. NRA members are not the ones who are guilty of perpetrating these heinous acts, he said.

Porter told the story of Otis McDonald, a black grandfather in Chicago who sued the city of Chicago over a handgun ban because he wanted to protect himself and his family from drug dealers and gang members who were terrorizing his neighborhood.

He lost the lawsuit in U.S. District Court but won at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2010.

McDonald is considered a hero among NRA members and proof that gun rights advocates are not just white people.

Porter also recounted the history of the NRA, noting it began in 1877 as a shooting club aimed at teaching citizens how to use military weapons in case they were ever drafted to help fight in the service. The idea was that having people already trained on how to fire guns would give the United States an advantage over its enemies, he said.

The organization, which has grown from 100,000 to 150,000 members in the 1950s to more than 5 million today, still has a strong emphasis on teaching people how to safely operate firearms, he said.

President Lyndon Johnson, looking for a diversion from his failed policies related to Vietnam, led the first major gun control charge in the 1960s and got the nation’s first legislation passed to limit the possession and sale of firearms, Porter said. That was the legislation that also created the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, he said.

The NRA created a lobbying arm in 1975, started fighting hard politically and had a major reorganization under Porter’s father’s leadership in 1977, he said. Their efforts proved successful in 1986 with passage of the Gun Owners Protection Act, he said.

The NRA has continued growing and gained strength not because of a lot of money, but because of its size and organization, Porter said. “Our people vote,” he said.

“We can show candidates we can move the needle 4 percent in elections.”

September The Jimmie Hale Mission will sponsor the Sept. 15 Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon and has invited former Auburn and NFL great Al Del Greco to speak.

While playing for the Auburn Tigers, Del Greco kicked an SEC-record six field goals versus Kentucky in 1982. He also kicked three field goals in the victory over Michigan in the 1984 Sugar Bowl.

Al Del Greco played 17 years in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals, Houston Oilers and the Tennessee Titans.

In addition to his skills on the football field, Del Greco is a fivetime winner of the Cadillac NFL Golf Classic and a seven time winner on the Celebrity Players Tour. In May 2014, he was named the Men’s Golf Coach at Samford University.

Networking begins at 11:15 a.m., with the meeting starting at noon.

The luncheon for members is $20, payable at the door, or $25 for those without reservations. Cancellations are accepted until the morning of the luncheon.

The Hyatt Regency Birmingham – The Wynfrey Hotel is located at 1000 Riverchase Galleria. Free parking is adjacent to the hotel in the open lot, or use the North Parking Deck for free parking.

A12 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

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Now Open

Highway, Suite P.

Emily’s Heirloom Pound Cakes has opened a kiosk inside the Riverchase Galleria, 2000 Riverchase Galleria, adjacent to the food court. The bakery specializes in homemade pound cakes in a variety of flavors.

937-7392, emilysheirloompoundcakes.com

R&S Flooring is now open in the Patton 1 Creek Shopping y 1 Center, 4421 Hw Creekside Ave., Suite 101.

This is the company’s second location, following their original store in Brentwood, Tennessee.

881-3800, randswoodflooring. com

1

Noon O Kabab, 2 Taboon a Persian restaurant, is now open at 1550 Montgomery

3

Panda Express is now open at 3780 Lorna Road.

403-2879, pandaexpress.com

4

HooverSun.com Family Care Dental is now open at 3325 Lorna Road, Suite 5.

874-9605, familycaredentalbirmingham. com

5

PrimeTime Fitness, a 24-hour gym and fitness center, is now open at 4524 Southlake Parkway, Suite 30.

403-7961, 24primetime.com

6

America’s Best Contacts and Eyeglasses is now open at 2798 John Hawkins Parkway, Suite 112.

421-1582, americasbest.com

7

James “Jim” Sears recently relocated his Daphne, Alabama, law office to Hoover to join with his oldest son, Shane Sears, in the law offices of Sears & Sears, PC, 5809 Feldspar Way. They accept cases in civil, criminal and appeals courts, and they are two of less than 10 attorneys in the state of Alabama who regularly provide legal services to clients who have special education issues.

989-1709, searsandsearslaw.com

8

Peoples Bank of Alabama has opened its first Birmingham-area branch at 1800 International Park Drive, Suite 190. Headquartered in Cullman, the bank has been serving clients since 1977.

438-7160, peoplesbankal.com

9

Coming Soon Men’s Wearhouse will open in a new building at 3654 Riverchase Galleria, adjacent to Home Depot. menswearhouse.com

10

Blue Rain Express Car Wash will open its second location in the Tattersall Park development near the intersection of Highways 119 and 280. Its first location is located on Highway 31 in Pelham, just south of Riverchase.

874-6460, blueraincarwash.com 11

Relocations and Renovations Academy Sports + Outdoors, 2810 John Hawkins Parkway, recently completed a remodel and expansion of its store.

The remodel expanded the store’s footprint to 71,000 square feet.

403-6145, academy.com 12

Garrett, Perkins and Associates, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc., has relocated from their office at 1500 Urban Center Drive, Suite 350, to a new location at 5120 Selkirk Drive, Suite 200, in Hoover.

313-9153, stephengarrettassociates.com 13

Maxine Furs has relocated from its location on Lorna Road to 2159 Rocky Ridge Road, Suite 101.

824-0410, maxinefurs.com 14

September 2016 • A13 relocated its Chace Lake clinic to 1870 Chace Drive, Suite 160. It is located in the space formerly occupied by Cedars Mediterranean Grille.

733-7110, stvfamilycare.com/hoover

News and Accomplishments Steve and Anna Parker, Realtors with Keller Williams Hoover, were recognized recently as a Top Producing Team within the organization.

383-5819, callsteveandanna.com 17

Over the Mountain Designs, 599 Shades Crest Road, has changed their name to J-SEP Building Company. The change was made to better identify their company as a home builder specializing in new construction, remodeling, additions and outdoor living areas.

999-2760, j-sep.com 18

Hirings and Promotions LAH Real Estate, 2 Chase Corporate Drive, Suite 15, has hired Joel Watson as a residential real estate agent.

440-4740, lahrealestate.com/about-lah/ lah-locations/lah-hoover-office 19

Medical West has hired J.D. Shugrue, MD, as a family medicine physician for their Hoover Health Center, 5310 Medford Drive.

820-8440, medicalwesthospital.org 20

Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa, 4000 Grand Ave., has hired Jonathan McKinney as director of sales and marketing.

916-7677, marriott.com/bhmhv

21

RealtySouth, 1220 Alford Ave., has hired Anthony Green as a Realtor.

822-2364, realtysouth.com

22

RealtySouth, 109 Inverness Plaza, has hired Kyle Sherrell as a Realtor.

991-6565, realtysouth.com

23

Child’s Play Therapy Center, 3057 Lorna Road, Suite 220, has hired Chelsea Thomas as a new office assistant.

978-9939, childsplaytherapycenter.com

24

Anniversaries Salon 43 One, 5291 Valleydale Road, Suite 125, is celebrating its first anniversary in business on September 1.

968-1620, salon43one.com

25

Closings

15

The Boot at Preserve Village, 616 Preserve Parkway, Suite 112, has closed. Plans are for the restaurant to relocate to the Highway 150 area near The Grove shopping center by the end of the year. thebootfoodanddrink.com

16

California Pizza Kitchen has closed its location near the Riverchase Galleria, 3470 Galleria Circle. cpk.com

Kobe Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar has announced that it will relocate to 330 Inverness Corners. The new location is expected to be open in November.

298-0200, ekobe.com St. Vincent’s Primary Care has

26

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A14 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

Sodas made local Hoover resident starts craft soda business

By TARA MASSOULEH

C

ordette Wall said she always knew she would be famous — she just didn’t know it would happen in her 80s. Wall, also known as Mimi to her grandchildren, is the namesake and inspiration behind one of Birmingham’s newest businesses, Mimi’s Sodas.

Her grandson Jonathan Brasher, a longtime Hoover resident, is the creative mastermind behind the craft soda cart that has been popping up around town. Mimi’s Sodas, pronounced “mih-mees,” can be bought at Pepper Place farmers market on Saturday mornings or at the West Homewood Farmer’s Market on Tuesdays.

Brasher sells his sodas by the 16-ounce cup for $4 or as ice cream floats paired with homemade ice cream for $7. All his sodas and ice creams are made with local produce, and the flavors change based on what fruits and plants he can forage or buy from local farmers and co-ops in season.

“I can’t stop changing the flavors,” he said. “I should have more steady flavors, but I mostly do

Hoover resident Jonathan Brasher makes one-of-a-kind soft drinks for Mimi’s Sodas. Photos courtesy of Jonathan Brasher.

HooverSun.com classic flavor profiles, but then try to work in more exotic stuff to push the boundaries of local.”

Past soda flavors have included strawberry basil, carrot ginger ale and a mocha soda made with Domestique Haitian coffee, chocolate and cream.

Float choices range from a vegan avocado lime float made with lime basil soda, avocado ice cream and hempseed granola to a peachy pine float made with peach ginger soda and roasted peach and Virginia pine ice cream.

Brasher’s current favorite float is his blueberry and candy cap mushroom soda paired with a Conecuh bacon ice cream.

Candy cap mushrooms have a strong maple flavor that pair with bacon and blueberry for a full taste of breakfast.

“I like flavors that shouldn’t work, but do,” he said.

The Shades Mountain Christian High School alumnus said he started developing sodas after first experimenting with juices and cocktails.

During his time as a chef for Shindigs Catering, he worked at their short-lived juice bar. He then ventured into making craft cocktails, and eventually sodas followed.

“I all of a sudden realized I was making sodas without meaning to,” he said. “First it was with no bubbles, then it was alcohol and bubbles, and finally it just morphed into this.”

Brasher got into the food business in roughly the same way he got into sodas. As a kid, he always played in the kitchen. He often threw random ingredients into a bowl, then baked them to see what he could make. Though he admits his creations were mostly horrible at the time, he credits this early experimentation with growing his food obsession.

Making sodas through Mimi’s is a far cry from Brasher’s first food job as a nighttime grill cook for The Cheesecake Factory in 2009. For one, he doesn’t have to grill 30 pieces of meat at one time, or work with any meat for that matter.

But more importantly, he gets to do things his own way, which he said has led to lots of figuring, refiguring and many an all-nighter.

“With every piece of produce, I’m figuring out the best way to extract the flavor — syrups, juices, shrubs, infusions — and everything is

September 2016 • A15

Above: Mocha float made with Domestique coffee and chocolate soda, chocolate ice cream and Bud’s Best cookies.

Left: The Magic Shannon soda made with Wickles pickles, lime and preserved lime.

different,” he said. “So that’s been the hardest part, and what I’m most proud of is getting pure, real flavor out of fruit.”

Brasher said he spent more than a year developing soda-making techniques and then did three months of intensive recipe developing with Chad Schofield, former co-owner of Shindigs Catering. Brasher worked under Schofield at Shindigs, and when Schofield decided it was time for him to move on from the catering business, his first order of business was encouraging Brasher to make his craft soda dreams a reality.

“I had been bouncing ideas off him, and he finally said, ‘You need to do this. Let me help you,’ and that forced me to follow through with my idea,” he said. “So basically it’s all Chad’s fault.”

At the time, Brasher was working a full-time sales job, part-time at Shindigs, and spending any extra time experimenting with sodas in his

kitchen. By the winter of 2015 he committed to doing Mimi’s, and he made his Birmingham debut at Pepper Place on April 9.

Now that Mimi’s is up and running and he has had time to iron out the kinks in his recipes, Brasher already is beginning to plan for the future.

One of the most looming concerns for him is how he’ll be able to continue using local produce once winter hits and it’s not as readily available. To address this problem, he is working to process and freeze as many local fruits as he can to use later. In addition, Brasher is considering bottling his sodas to sell locally.

For this, he is working with Kay Reed, owner of Café Iz in Vestavia Hills, to get his soda sold at her grocery store in English Village and eventually beyond.

Brasher makes his sodas from Reed’s commissary kitchen and works with her to develop Mimi’s soda cocktails as an option for her

catering business. Thus far, he has mostly done wedding rehearsals, and recently he did alcoholic soda floats for BIG Communications downtown.

Brasher credits the mentorship of people such as Schofield and Reed, as well as Pete Halupka and Lindsey Whiteaker at Harvest Roots, with making Mimi’s Sodas possible.

“I’ve been so overwhelmed and humbled by the people who believe in the concept and want to make it happen,” he said.

The support for Mimi’s seems like part of a larger movement of people looking to buy and eat local. In Birmingham and its surrounding areas, especially, people have been extremely receptive to the concept, Brasher said.

“I can’t really judge what our local scene is like next to other markets, but I doubt if there are many — if any — other cities that are moving as fast as we are in the right direction,” he said.

A16 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

Born to Sew

By TARA MASSOULEH Chau McLendon is no stranger to working with winners. Inside her Hoover alteration shop, the walls are lined with photos of her past clients — beauty queens, senators, even Olympic gold medalists.

But for all the high profiles McLendon has worked with over the years, her proudest, she said, was a 103-year-old retired engineer.

She displays a signed photograph of Donald Dunham alongside portraits of Olympic bobsledder Vonetta Flowers and former Miss America Deidre Downs.

“I knew him for many, many years, since he was 80,” McLendon said. “It took me 20 years to get a picture with him. He’s the man who lived the longest in Birmingham.”

These types of long-term relationships are not uncommon for McLendon, known to most in Hoover as Ms. Chau. Most of her clients have been coming to her for years, and for some, their parents and grandparents have done the same.

“This one girl she come in and say, ‘Ms. Chau, my grandma is so and so; my mom is so and so, and I’m the third generation,’” McLendon said.

Though it took McLendon 30 years to build Chau’s Alterations into the community institution it is today, she said making and altering clothes is what she was born to do. Originally from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, McLendon learned to sew from her mother and grew up altering clothes for herself and her four siblings.

“God put me in a poor family in a poor country, so to survive I make clothes for myself,” she said.

While in Vietnam, McLendon worked as a teacher, but she continued to alter clothes on the side to help support her mother and four siblings.

When Vietnam became a communist country following the Vietnam War, McLendon said she knew she had to leave.

“When I left the country, I left communism,” she said. “I wanted freedom, anywhere for freedom.”

In 1981, McLendon joined the 2 million “boat people” who fled Vietnam by sea

Chau McLendon makes adjustments to a dress in her shop. Photo by Tara Massouleh.

between 1975 and 1995. She ended up joining her older sister in Alabama and immediately started working to learn about American fashion styles so that she could continue her work as a seamstress.

Four years later, on Thanksgiving Day 1985, McLendon opened Chau’s Alterations on Lorna Road. She started out doing all the alterations herself, and as her clientele grew, so did the business. Today, McLendon works with three other seamstresses and often lets her 24-yearold son run the reception.

“I started from the ground, and I never dreamed that I could get to the mountain in 30 years like this,” she said.

Ten years after leaving Vietnam, McLendon saved enough money to sponsor the immigration of her mother and three younger brothers to America. Now, at 65, McLendon said she has no interest in growing her business. During her busy season, also known as high school prom season, McLendon sees anywhere from 30 to 50 customers a day.

“Sometime if you come in prom season, you have to sit and wait in line,” she said.

After prom season comes wedding season from May through July, and then things finally settle down.

“This is all I can handle, and I’m happy with what I got,” she said.

For McLendon, another huge part of her business and her personal life is her Christian faith. She is a long-time member of Hunter Street Baptist Church, and she has collected secondhand clothes to donate to Hope Street Ministry for the past three years.

“Even though it is secondhand clothes to us, to them, it’s brand new,” she said. “It’s a thing that they cannot afford, and it’s really changed many lives.”

For McLendon, the charity hits close to home and brings her journey from Vietnam full circle.

“When I first came to this country 30 years ago, I remember some ministry gave me five garments, and I thank God that now I can pay back what they gave me many years ago,” she said.

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • A17

Opinion LETTER TO THE EDITOR I bought a house two years ago in a neighborhood off South Shades Crest Road. Very quickly, I found out that there is a nearby outdoor gun range, Brocks Gap Training Center.

They are allowed to shoot from January 1 to December 31 from 9 a.m.

– 9 p.m. Yes, you read that right, 9 p.m., every day. All the neighborhoods that are off South Shades Crest Road, from Shades Run to SouthPointe, as well as the residents of Brocks Gap are affected by this. The gun range is shooting within their legal rights, but several residents have reached out to them to see if they would cut back their hours.

All they say is, “they regret you purchased a home near a gun range.”

They have no compassion for the surrounding residents. I have reached out to several Hoover city councilmen and Mayor Gary Ivey, who say there is nothing they can do. I asked if they have ever contacted the people of Brocks Gap Training Center to request to cut back their hours and they have not.

Rain or shine, Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, there are always loud booms coming from the range. Your home is supposed to be your place of sanctuary, where you come to be with your family and relax after a long day at work. Most of the activity at the range is after work and on the weekends, when you spend the most time at your home.

Hoover has also approved the development of the Lake Wilborn neighborhood. This new development

is going to back up directly to the gun range. I have heard that the developers have reached out the Brocks Gap Training Center to ask if they would consider moving but they declined.

Can you imagine kids playing that close to a gun range? Hoover keeps approving these new developments that are near the gun range and people like me purchase these homes not knowing what is in store. For example, last week I heard the first gun shot at 9:05 a.m. and it didn’t stop until 7 p.m., then it started back up from 8:15 to 8:45 p.m.

Hoover police use this gun range.

So the residents’ tax dollars that pay their salary are the same residents that have to hear their noise pollution. Why can’t they use the indoor gun range at Hoover Tactical Firearm? Vestavia and Homewood police use it as well.

Mayor Ivey has admitted that he uses it as well. So our mayor and police are adding to the noise that we have to endure. Doesn’t seem like they care too much about the well being of all their residents. Access to the range is off South Shades Crest Road, which is in Hoover, so why has the city allowed this to happen for all these years?

I am writing this to inform all future and current Hoover residents to be aware when purchasing a home on this side of town, as well as help from our Hoover leaders and compassion from the Brocks Gap Training Center.

Sincerely, Bill Barnard

My South By Rick Watson

Quality and quantity Quality and quantity are two concepts During the time she underwent treatwe face almost daily in our lives. We find ments she was a hostage in her home. ourselves making decisions based on one Even a small infection, which for most of us would be quickly cured with steor the other. For some, quantity is key.

But some prefer quality. The reasons we roids and antibiotics, could have been choose one or the other are many. And fatal for her. Her friends understood her sometimes these choices are not easy. struggle and we kept her in our thoughts Just after Jilda and I were married and prayers.

When Mary and her husband Bryan in 1974, we spent our honeymoon in Panama City, Florida. The Quinns, an drove into our yard for the fish fry last older couple, owned Quinn’s Cottages year, we were delighted. She was as Watson on Laguna Beach. The cottages weren’t happy as I’d seen her in years. air-conditioned, but they were cozy and we could About 30 friends and family members had gathafford the rent for a week on our pauper’s pay. ered to enjoy a beautiful spring day. We ate fried On the second day we were there, the Quinns fish and hush puppies. Afterwards we sat around in invited us to lunch, their treat. We agreed and at the shade of the oak and pine in our backyard and noon, we wheeled into the parking lot at Duff’s. It enjoyed each other’s company. It was a quality day. was one of those all-you-can-eat cafeterias.

As the shadows grew longer in the evening, I ate pork chops, catfish, shrimp, hush puppies, people began saying their goodbyes. Mary had cake, pudding and soft ice cream over a brownie. You gone to the bathroom before the drive back to Bircould almost hear the cholesterol clogging my veins. mingham and that’s when Bryan told us that Mary’s I was so full when we left I needed a wheelbarrow cancer was back. to get to the car. Quantity was the objective that day, After a lot of soul-searching, Mary made the deciso Duff’s was a good choice. sion along with Bryan to forego treatment. Doctors told But quantity versus quality isn’t always as “cut her without treatment she could expect to live about and dry.” Sometimes the choices require a trade-off. a year. She decided that she’d come to a point in her Our friend Mary is a good example. life where quality was more important than quantity.

She discovered in 2003 that she had Hodgkin’s Mary and Bryan made the most of the last months lymphoma. This diagnosis kicked off years of of her life and she died in her sleep at home instead of chemotherapy, bone marrow transplants and in a hospital tethered to tubes and beeping machines. experimental drug therapies. Thankfully, treatWe all face choices as we move through life. ment added years to her life.

Some of the choices are no-brainers, but some of As it turns out, cancer kept invading her body. them are much more difficult.

Each time it did, she weighed treatment outcomes, and even though she knew the chemo would make Rick Watson is a columnist and author. His latest her life miserable she decided that feeling miserable book “Life Changes,” is available on Amazon.com. for a year was worthwhile if it could add years to You can contact him via email at rick@homefolkher life. She opted for quantity instead of quality. media.com.

A18 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

School House

Planting seeds of curiosity, growing knowledge

By ALI RENCKENS In some ways, it’s like any other garden.

Strawberries redden in the sun; kale opens its papery leaves; butterflies flit from one brightly colored flower to another. But the Riverchase Elementary School garden grows something much more vital and intangible than kale and squash.

Every semester, 16 classes sign up to spend 20 to 30 minutes once a week in the garden.

Students conduct experiments like planting plants on two different sides of the garden, one that receives more sun and one with more shade, and monitor the growth of both sides.

“They usually are a little reluctant at first and then they start to see things grow,” said fifth-grade teacher Abra Wallis. “After one weekend we came in and they could not believe how fast the stuff had grown. Then they really start to question.”

Gardening allows the students to experience hands-on learning, a central aspect of the new science standards.

“It’s one thing to see it in a book; it’s another to see it on a video; it’s another thing to go out and see and really get their hands dirty,” Wallis said.

However, the garden is not exclusively used for science class. Some students use math skills to calculate how many plants can grow per square foot. Sometimes classes write about their experiences in the garden or simply meet there to read. One class incorporated history by growing the “Three Sisters Garden,” based on an Iroquois legend. They also used engineering and problem-solving skills to construct an apparatus out of netting and PVC pipes to keep out geese and other creatures. The garden also

teaches them about nutrition.

“Someone told me agriculture is a literacy,” Wallis said. “We teach kids how to read, and we teach them how to do math, but they don’t know where their food and their fiber come from, so it’s a literacy unto itself.”

At the end of each semester, students harvest what they’ve grown and throw a tasting party. Last year, they made pizzas with toppings from the garden vegetables. Leftover vegetables are given to the lunchroom or a local food bank.

School officials said they hope to obtain more grants for further improvements to the garden.

Patti Tanner, a counselor at Riverchase who helps oversee the garden, said she wants to look into potentially raising the beds to about the students’ waist, which would allow greater root development and the children to access the plants more easily. Wallis said she would like to experiment with hydroponics.

She hopes for some students, the garden will spark a lifelong interest.

“Fifth grade is one of those ages where I want them to start seeing some of their options for what they might want to do when they grow up,” she said. “There’s a lot of technology and science involved, so there’s a lot of ways to get the kids involved looking toward their future.”

Most importantly, the garden grows curiosity and an excitement to learn.

“The advantage is that they really start asking questions, like what is in soil, and then it branches out from there,” Wallis said. “Just to watch them question has been probably the biggest benefit … to hear them talk about the why and the how, that’s probably my favorite thing to hear them say.”

Above: Students from Nicole Turner's first-grade class pick banana peppers in the garden behind Riverchase Elementary School.

Left: Students stand around a garden patch with green beans at Riverchase Elementary School.

Photos by Erica Techo.

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • A19

Fire up the fun this fall!

A20 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

Local student selected for the Macy’s Great American Marching Band

Photo courtesy of Lora Vifquain.

SMCS athletics department travels to Lasi, Romania, on mission trip The Shades Mountain Christian School (SMCS) athletics department coordinated a mission trip to Romania in June. The SMCS group consisted of 18 travelers including the athletic director, coaches, faculty, parents and nine student-athletes.

The purpose of the mission trip was to support the Richard Wurmbrand Christian School in Lasi, Romania.

The Richard Wurmbrand Christian School opened in 1995 and is dedicated to giving hope back to Romania by educating its children for a brighter future. The school is named after the well-known Christian minister and author Richard Wurmbrand, who spent most of his

life in prison due to his Christian beliefs and speaking out against communism.

The SMCS group hosted a fiveday basketball camp, which included daily devotionals and Bible studies.

They also provided opportunities for intramural sports and worked on the grounds around the school.

The SMCS athletics department has a long-term goal to raise money to fund a new playground for the Richard Wurmbrand Christian School.

The group also enjoyed the beautiful countryside, village market, shopping mall and restaurants in Lasi, Romania.

– Submitted by Lora Vifquain.

Joel Sullivan, a student at Hoover High School, has been selected to participate in the 2016 Macy’s Great American Marching Band as one of the select number of students from Alabama.

The band is celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and will take an honor position in the parade Nov. 24.

Students were selected based on their musical ability and past achievements. The opportunity was open to students from more than 14,000 high schools across the United States.

Stepping off from Central Park, the band will be cheered by 3.5 million live spectators, before arriving at Macy’s flagship store for their national performance for more than 50 million TV viewers watching the broadcast live on NBC. The students will have the chance to participate in this prestigious band with more than 200 students from across the country. The musicians, under the direction of Drs. Richard Good and Douglas Rosener, Auburn University, and Barry Houser, University of Illinois, will be complemented by approximately 40 flags and dancers choreographed by Vicki Pfeiffer of Cheerleaders of America and WGI Sport of the Arts Marketing Manager Bart Woodley.

Dr. Good is the director of bands at Auburn University, while Rosener is associate director of bands and the percussion specialist. Located in Champaign, Illinois, Houser is the director of the Marching Illini and university’s athletic bands. Woodley has worked in the marching arts for 20 years. New to the MGAMB creative staff, Pfeiffer is known for choreographing numerous halftime shows as

Photo courtesy of Joel Sullivan.

well as USO tours.

In addition to marching in the parade, all selected participants’ package plans will include a guest leadership seminar, meals, lodging and New York City sightseeing (9/11 memorial and museum, Thanksgiving dinner/dance and Broadway show).

The Band Hall, Tennessee, is supplying the Band’s custom uniforms. Sousaphones will be provided by Jupiter®, Texas, while Mapex by Jupiter is supplying the drum line instruments. Other percussion suppliers include famed manufacturers Vic Firth, Massachusetts, Sabian, Massachusetts, and Remo, California.

– Submitted by Joel Sullivan.

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • A21

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT:

Susan Baird

By SYDNEY CROMWELL Susan Baird is a Riverchase area resident and artist specializing in still life, landscape and interior oil paintings. The Hoover Sun recently sat down with Baird to talk about her art and why she enjoys it.

To see more of Baird’s work, visit susanbairdart.com.

Q A

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I am married to the love of my life and best friend, Dave, who is an anchor on ABC 33/40. We have two grown sons, John, a public defender living in Tuscaloosa who is soon to be married, and David, an artist teaching part of the year in France. My loyal studio companion is our 8-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Chaucer. I have had the opportunity to do a little volunteer work with Cavalier Rescue of Alabama.

Q A

What drew you to painting?

I have always been fascinated with visual arts, especially

representational drawings and paintings. Like many children, I enjoyed drawing the people, places and objects around me. During my 19 years of teaching, I dreamed of someday having the time to paint.

After retirement, I began experimenting with watercolor, acrylic, graphite and oil paint. I took classes and workshops offered by some of my favorite artists and began to explore various subject matters that interested me. There are so many things one can learn about drawing and painting that I hope to spend the rest of my life exploring and experimenting with art.

Q A

Where does your inspiration come from?

I find inspiration everywhere!

As I answer your questions I am looking out at my backyard, which is a wooded area bathed in the golden late afternoon light. The sunlight makes the leaves sparkle. The long shadows from the trees are turning a beautiful shade of violet. Wildflowers in every color imaginable are starting to appear. These things I’m observing

Hoover artist Susan Baird with one of her paintings. Photo courtesy of Susan Baird.

are constant elements in my paintings: the effects of light, interesting patterns, mysterious shadows, exquisite color.

Additionally, the works of accomplished artists, past and present, inspire me.

Q A

What is the greatest compliment you’ve ever received about your work?

I am always delighted when someone wants to purchase one of my paintings for their home. One compliment I received recently was from a client who had purchased my painting of a late afternoon beach scene. She said looking at the painting brought her a sense of peace, so

she hung it in her bedroom where she could see it as she fell asleep and awoke each morning. When I experienced this scene firsthand and was inspired to paint it, I had a sense that “all was right with the world.”

It was good to know that inspiration was conveyed to the viewer.

Q A

What is the work you’re proudest of?

The artworks I am proudest of are the paintings that hold special meaning for my clients.

For instance, the painting of a little dog, “Lucky,” was commissioned by friends who had adopted her from a local shelter. Our friend brought her to our home one day so that my

husband and I could take some reference photos. Lucky’s eager-to-please nature made her so much fun to work with and her thick shaggy fur made her a blast to paint. She lived a long happy life with this family who say that her personality was captured in the painting that still makes them smile whenever they look at it.

Q A

What is something you would like to create in the future?

I want to create more paintings depicting our wonderful surroundings here in Birmingham. Our city scenes, local cafes and stunning architecture are among the many features that make Birmingham a remarkable city in which to live and work.

A22 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

HUNTING FOR HISTORY

By ALI RENCKENS Every chance he gets, Hoover resident Robert Wolff goes “head hunting.”

One trip involved four or five hours of work. Sometimes, it means walking three miles to a hunting spot or immersing himself in a hole six or eight feet deep.

“I’ve dug six feet down, and I was covered — completely covered,” he said. “Deer-hunting season, deer would just run right on by me or jump over the hole, and I’m looking around, thinking, ‘Oh, shoot, I’ll get shot next.’”

Wolff, a maintenance worker at Aldridge Gardens, has collected Indian artifacts since 2005. His hobby started when he was living in Mississippi.

“I asked my mother, ‘Where is my cousin finding all these arrowheads?’” he said. “She said, ‘Robert, they’re all over the place’... and she looks down and says, ‘Well, there’s one right by

your foot in my driveway.’ And I said, ‘Son of a gun!’”

Since then, collecting arrowheads has become an obsession, Wolff said.

“Once it started, I just didn’t stop,” he said. “As a rule, I try to get into everything I do.”

Wolff uses details such as the type of rock and how it was made to determine where the arrowhead came from, when it was made and how it was used.

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • A23

Robert Wolff, right, collects and makes arrowheads and crosses as a hobby. He has a passion for teaching history. Photos by Frank Couch.

He said geologically, the Birmingham area consists mostly of slate, so rocks that are easier to carve, like quartz and jasper, had to be brought in from surrounding areas.

He said American Indians primarily used arrowheads made from quartz as ornaments, and they used thinner arrowheads for fishing.

Wolff makes arrowheads himself through a process called “knapping.” It takes about six weeks to heat-treat the rocks, but carving them can take mere minutes. He said heat-treating is a “new school” method,

which means those arrowheads made through that process are roughly 200 to 600 years old.

Wolff said he believes the work put into artifacts makes them special.

“In my belief, whoever makes these, their dedication, their time, their spirit is in it,” he said. “If there’s a person sick in the hospital … I would give him something like this.”

Over the years, Wolff said he has acquired a sizable collection, including some specimens worth thousands of dollars. However, he has little interest in monetary value. He

prefers to give away what he finds.

Earlier that day, a young girl admired a necklace he had made with one of his arrowheads. Although he estimates that the arrowhead, one of the first he found, is worth $50 to $300, he promptly took it off and gave it to her.

“It doesn’t matter,” Wolff said. “I do it because it comes from me; it comes from my heart, and I’d rather somebody appreciate it … I made a friend. Plus, she’s going to respect it and talk to all her friends. Maybe

these kids, 10 years down the line, will make a difference for the world.”

He said he hopes the next generation will learn something from these little pieces of history.

“You know, it took this long for us to start caring,” Wolff said. “A lot of old people have collections, but nobody’s ever seen them because they just set them aside ... To hand this down, maybe [kids] will respect the Earth a little bit more and understand the Indians and how they were back then.”

A24 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

hobby Self-proclaimed ‘city girl’ becomes force behind Garden Honey Bee products

By SARAH COOK Thousands of little workers fervently buzz behind Brenda Belcher’s Hoover home daily.

From sunup to sundown, they labor tirelessly, making sure every task is completed with care.

Most don’t throw in the towel until their dying day.

And although their lives are all work and no play, their product is pretty sweet.

“They get the job done. They don’t have a problem with taking care of business,” Belcher said of her tiny workers, who individually weigh no more than a 10th of a gram and measure between 12 and 16 millimeters in length.

The workers are honeybees, and Belcher is their keeper.

Brenda Belcher works with the honeybee hives outside her Hoover home. Garden Honey Bee products are at Organic Harvest in Hoover and Lily Magnolia Boutique, inside Riverchase Galleria. Photos by Sarah Cook.

BACKYARD BUSINESS

Belcher, owner of Garden Honey Bee, began beekeeping about five years ago. A

self-proclaimed “city girl,” Belcher said she never envisioned becoming a beekeeper. But after studying the insect and learning about its intricate, diligent work ethic, Belcher said she became fascinated with the species.

“I began to read and research and just went full speed ahead with it,” she said.

Belcher started off with just two garden hives. However, word began to slowly buzz that she was keeping bees, and that’s when inquiries swarmed in.

People plagued by seasonal allergies began reaching out to her — asking if they could have some of her homegrown honey to help soothe their ailments, she said.

“I found out how many people have really tough allergy problems in the South,” Belcher said. “I actually had people who would seek me out [for honey]. It was an eye opener for me.”

One thing led to another, and before Belcher knew it, her two hives multiplied.

Today, Belcher’s backyard boasts rows of

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • A25 “So what they’re doing is basically removing all that stuff that’s really good for you and making it so they can quickly bottle it, put it in the grocery store and it won’t go to crystal for a long, long time,” Belcher said.

If honey is relatively unfiltered, Belcher said a long list of benefits could be found in the substance.

Belcher once received a thank you note from a man in Denver who was an amputee, and he said her honey-based soap worked wonders for his skin.

“He wrote me and said that with his burns, it was hard to find a soap that he could cleanse himself with,” she said. “He said that it [the soap] changed his life.”

SMORGASBORD OF SWEETNESS

Brenda Belcher sells her honey and wax products around Birmingham.

hives buzzing with activity.

“It’s very interesting,” she said of the science behind beekeeping, which can be traced back thousands of years.

Belcher noted honey has been found in ancient Egyptian tombs.

“It just turned into an amazing hobby. I learned how much people love honey,” she said.

BUZZ BEHIND BEEKEEPING

Much like wine, honey flavor and color is determined by its source — which for bees is any plant that produces pollen or nectar.

Belcher’s bees will fly as far as five miles in

search of these two elements.

“Because we’re on the side of the mountain, it drops off miles and miles down,” Belcher said of the surrounding vegetation. “So it’s untouched. There’s no spraying, no pesticides — just total clean vegetation, and that’s kind of rare.”

Depending on the sources, Belcher said the honey might crystallize quickly or slowly.

(Crystallization is the process by which honey changes from a liquid to a semi-solid state with a granular composition.)

“The Tupelo bloom never crystallizes,” Belcher said as an example. “The exact

opposite of that is the cotton bloom. It makes a great honey, but the old saying is ‘You’d be lucky to get it bottled because it just crystallizes so quickly.’”

Even though time can affect the composition and color of honey, Belcher said the sweet substance never spoils. All you need to do is pop it in the microwave and give it a good stir for it to look fresh again.

However, because people are used to golden-colored honey that has a consistent texture, she said commercial honey is often filtered and stripped of its natural ingredients in an effort to preserve appearance.

Aside from harvesting honey, Belcher said she also has a passion for infusing the natural sweetener.

Some of her flavors include wildflower, orange blossom and jalapeño. And along with soaps, she makes an array of bath and body products including lotions, balms, scrubs, beard oil and mustache wax.

“It reminds me of cooking,” Belcher said of experimenting with different flavors and uses of honey. “It’s very fulfilling.”

When considering the work ethic and sweet product of the honeybee, Belcher said there is a lot to be learned from the hardworking insect. And because honeybee populations have suffered a decline in the past few years (the phenomenon has been dubbed the “colony collapse”), Belcher encouraged others to take up the hobby, too.

“They will literally sacrifice themselves for the good of the hive,” she said of the honeybee. “And I just think about this, and think if man did this practice and followed what’s good for others, how much better off we would be.”

Garden Honey Bee products are at Organic Harvest in Hoover and Lily Magnolia Boutique, inside Riverchase Galleria. Belcher also makes appearances at Pepper Place farmers market.

For more information on Garden Honey Bee, go to gardenhoneybee.com.

A26 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

Learning through Legos Bricks 4 Kidz teaches STEM through fun pastime

By ERICA TECHO Teaching STEM concepts — science, technology, engineering and math — does not always require textbooks. Sometimes, all it takes are a few Legos.

Bricks 4 Kidz, a franchise with about 600 locations internationally, first came to Shelby County in 2012. This year, its after-school lessons will continue at some Hoover City Schools.

“You can count on us to teach science and engineering concepts with every class or camp or even birthday party we do,” said Joy Wade, a retired educator who owns the Bricks 4 Kidz franchise in Shelby County.

This fall, in-school workshops will be held at Gwin and Riverside Elementary schools as well as Deer Valley Elementary, Wade said, although specific dates have not been nailed down for Deer Valley as of the Hoover Sun press date.

Students receive a kit during the program, which includes all of the parts they need to build a variety of models. Each model is planned out by a team of designers, and all model plans are different than what can be purchased in stores. In addition to focusing on STEM, Wade said building the models works on other skill sets as well.

“I think it develops problem-solving skills, No. 1, [and] creative thinking,” she said.

Students also take apart their models at the end of each class and have to place the pieces and parts back in their kits, which Wade said helps develop and emphasize the importance of organizational skills.

Students work in pairs to build their models, and Wade said she encourages them to ask each other questions. When one pair asks for help, oftentimes she will give them a few minutes to work further on the problem before stopping by to offer help.

“If they both need help and they tell me they need me, I never go right over to them,” she said. “I let them wait a few minutes … Most of the time, by the time I get back to them, they’ll tell me, ‘Oh, we’ve figured it out.’”

Students can oftentimes find solutions on their own because they are enthusiastic about the project — fueled by their love of Legos — and do not want to wait before moving on to the next

Students learn through playing with Legos with Bricks 4 Kidz. Photo courtesy of Joy Wade.

step, Wade said.

“If children are motivated to solve the problem, most of the time, they’re much better at it than if they don’t really care,” she said.

Kits come in several difficulty levels, which Wade said helps the program fit in after-school programs that include a wide range of ages, for example kindergarten through fifth graders, rather than simply kindergarten through third or second grade.

The kits also come in handy, she said, if there is a student who excels at their first few kits.

“If, after the first class, I see I have a really, really skilled builder, I’ll bring something more difficult for that child,” she said.

Courses are consistently developing, and each year new programs, themes and models are introduced, Wade said.

Lesson plans to meet and teach new science standards are also in the works, Wade said, which she hopes will help teachers through in-school field trip programs and after-school enrichment.

“We are really hoping to get other schools, other teachers to schedule in-school workshops with us because we will address standards,” she said. “And we will bring Legos, and the kids will have fun.”

For more information, go to bricks4kidz.com/Alabama-hoover -birmingham, or Bricks 4 Kids – Hoover, AL on Facebook.

BRINGING BACK jazz HooverSun.com

September 2016 • A27

Preserve Jazz Fest returns to original location for ninth year

By ERICA TECHO

Whether it is smooth jazz, jazz fusion or contemporary, it will be on stage at this year’s Preserve Jazz — Over the Mountain Music Festival.

“When you say jazz, instinctively something pops into your mind,” said event coordinator Jason Henderson. “We’ve always prided ourselves on offering a wide variety of jazz.”

Now in its ninth year, the jazz festival is making its way back to Hoover to its original location at The Preserve Sept. 17.

Preserve resident Jason Henderson started the jazz festival in 2007 in his neighborhood, where it took place every summer for seven years. In its eighth year, however, Henderson and his fellow organizers chose to move it to Sloss Furnaces. Numbers were down, and what Henderson thought would be a more central location ended up not being a success.

“It just wasn’t the same vibe as we had at The Preserve,” Henderson said.

In 2015, the jazz fest took a year off so Henderson could focus on his family and his job, he said, but it is returning this September.

Although they are moving back to the festival’s original location, Henderson said this year’s event will have a different feel.

For starters, this year’s festival will be on a Saturday in September, rather than a Sunday in summer. The decision was made based on past attendees’ feedback.

Henderson said they chose this particular weekend because Alabama has an away game, and Auburn is playing a low-tier football team.

It will also be cooler and less likely to rain, Henderson said.

Keyboardist Chuck Barnes, drummer Ronnie Harris, Vann Burchfield and bassist Leonard Todd practice at Burchfield’s Hoover home. Photo by Erica Techo.

“I hope we picked a pretty good weekend to relaunch it,” he said.

Hoover resident and 2016 performer Vann Burchfield said he believes Henderson picked a perfect weekend for the festival, and he is looking forward to participating in a festival where he has formerly attended.

“I have actually paid for tickets and gone and sat in the audience for many wonderful acts that the Preserve Jazz Fest has had,” Burchfield said. “So when they asked me to perform, it was just such an incredible honor that I just

had to say yes.”

Burchfield said at the Preserve Jazz Fest, especially during his band’s performance, attendees can expect a high-energy musical experience.

“It’s always about the people,” he said. “We don’t just stand up on the stage and play music.

We express our hearts; we express our feelings and our emotions through our instruments.

Don’t ever put an X and tell me to stand there because I love to dance. We all love to move.”

In addition to Burchfield’s smooth jazz, attendees will be able to experience Masters

of Fusion, a project involving Gerald Veasley, Alex Bugnon and Chieli Minucci. Veasley’s experience includes everything from traditional jazz to jazz-rock fusion and funk, and he said the Masters of Fusion is helping bring together the wide array of jazz music.

Their group will also bring a high-energy performance, Veasley said, and attendees will hear a one-of-a-kind experience.

“If you just listen to a recording, it might not inspire you, but when you see artists play their hearts out, like we intend to do, you get an idea of the intensity, the enthusiasm the artist’s bringing,” Veasley said.

As in past years, attendees can bring their own food and drinks to The Preserve lawn. Vendors, however, will be different. Rather than bring in food trucks, the two restaurants at The Preserve — Vecchia and The Boot — will be the only food vendors.

“I want to drive and really incorporate them, bring the restaurants in [to the festival],” Henderson said.

Gates for the festival open at 11 a.m., and the first act will go on about 1 p.m. While all-day tickets are available for $42 in advance, Twilight Tickets also are available for $25. These tickets will cover admission from 6:30 p.m. until the end of the festival, and are intended for those who cannot attend all day. VIP tickets for a Thursday night event including beer and wine tastings, food pairings and a live, local band also are available for $50.

All proceeds, after the bills are paid, will go toward The Rev. John T. Porter Scholarship and WVSU 91.1, both at Samford University.

For more information, go to preservejazz.com.

A28 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

PHOTO summer CONT EST CATEGORY 1 WINNER

CATEGORY 1 RUNNER-UP

Laine Minich jumps along the shore at Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. Photo courtesy of Melissa Minich.

Four-month-old Cooper Dunn chills out under an umbrella on the beach at Gulf Shores. Photo courtesy of Mark Dunn.

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • A29

PHOTO summer CONT EST CATEGORY 1 RUNNER-UP 2

Xander and Kyle Kubas take a seat 103 floors above Chicago on the Ledge, a glass box that extends out from the side of the Willis Tower. Photo courtesy of Brian Kubas.

CATEGORY 1 RUNNER-UP 3

Friends Colten and Jude discover that unlimited jumps in the pool make for a great Alabama summer. Photo courtesy of Merrick Wilson.

A30 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

RUNNING

the

COURSE

CrossFit gym owner tackles 262-mile canoe race

By TARA MASSOULEH

S

ean Dickson has never been one to back down from a challenge. So when the 38-year-old Riverchase resident’s friend asked him to compete in a race called the Texas Water Safari, Dickson didn’t think twice before he said, “Absolutely.” After agreeing to the race, Dickson did some research and said he was immediately overwhelmed.

“Even then, I still had no idea what I was getting myself into, and you can’t until it happens,” said Dickson, who owns Riverchase CrossFit Combat Fitness Training Facility.

According to its website, the Texas Water Safari is the world’s toughest canoe race. The race, which started in 1963, runs 262 miles from the town of San Marcos in the middle of Texas, all the way down the Guadalupe River into the town of Seadrift on the Gulf Coast. Teams have 100 hours to complete the race in which they encounter whitewater rapids, multiple portages, bugs, snakes, freshwater alligators, bull sharks and the relentless Texas heat.

Most don’t finish the race. In fact, this year, only 57 of the 118 boats that competed made it to the finish line. Sean Dickson’s boat was one of them. After two days and 11 hours, Dickson and his partner, Mike Durkin, finished the race in 41st place.

PRE-RACE PREPARATION

For the owner of a CrossFit facility and U.S. Army veteran, training is no joke. From the day he decided to sign up for the race, Dickson cut alcohol, sugar and junk food from his diet and immediately began training.

He’s no stranger to hard work. He has competed in one major race event for each of the seven years he’s been out of the Army. But he

doesn’t compete in just your average marathon; he competes in races like the Ultimate Sucks, which consists of 36 hours of combined weightlifting and marathon running, he said.

Dickson “I do it because I have to show myself every year that I’ve still got what it takes to be a Ranger, to be a Green Beret,” he said. “I do these events because as I’m driving to the race I still have no idea if I’m going to finish, and I need that in my life.”

Dickson began his training with a row machine and a customized CrossFit workout meant to condition him to push past exhaustion.

Once he was able to row long distances on the row machine, he moved on to kayaking 12- to 18-mile stretches. After that, he practiced for the whitewater rapids. Every weekend he traveled to the Coosa River, where he ran the same 7-mile stretch of rapids three or four times in a row.

During the final stage of his training, Dickson took on two-a-days. On the weekends he took his training to Oak Mountain State Park where he did a CrossFit workout on the shore, then paddleboarded at a threshold pace, meaning as fast as he could, for a mile. Then he repeated the circuit again.

A few hours later, he met fellow CrossFit enthusiasts at his gym where they created a workout meant to bring him to his breaking point.

In the pitch-black night, with no music and no talking allowed, Dickson prepared for the race.

“There were times where I swear they were trying to kill me,” he said.

During the six months leading up to the race, Dickson said he never considered quitting, but others certainly did for him. Race organizers and Water Safari veterans all warned Dickson, his partner, Mike Durkin, and their two other sister boats — all champion obstacle racers and CrossFit experts — against competing.

“We were told pre-race that we had a 20 percent chance to finish,” he said. “When we got to speaking with the vets and they found out that we don’t train together and we just rented our boat, they told us two things: one, your chances dropped below 10 percent and two, you’re going to die.”

THE RACE

On the morning of the race, Dickson and Durkin set out in their 18-foot canoe wearing only the clothes on their backs and carrying nothing more than a small bag of medical supplies, some sandwiches, protein and carbohydrate gels and water.

Dickson said the first 10 hours were the most brutal because of the congestion of other boats paired with the fast river rapids and tight turns.

He and his partner were knocked out of their boat NASCAR-style when a veteran boater crashed into them in an attempt to cut them off from a turn. During the 11th hour, Dickson said he hit a mental collapse.

“I went off the deep end,” he said. “I just went quiet. You have to figure that in a threeday race, psychologically everyone has a high and a low. It’s really a manic-depressant environment.”

Luckily, Dickson’s partner was able to bring him back up, and the two spent the next 24 hours navigating about 60 miles of the 262-mile course. They stopped only to resupply at each of the 10 checkpoints or to walk their boat over areas too dangerous to cross.

Every fourth hour, they ate. At the top and bottom of every hour, Dickson and Durkin implemented a rest plan in which they took turns laying back for 1-3 minute periods without paddling. They did not stop to go to the bathroom.

The only other time the men stopped was to do what they called “body maintenance.” During this time, the men spent five minutes rubbing their bottoms down with Desitin in an effort to prevent the inevitable rash they would get from sitting in wet clothes for 56 hours straight.

“I was literally making a papier-mâché diaper out of Desitin, but things worked out,” Dickson said.

Dickson said the majority of the distance was traveled during the second day, when they passed through 140 miles of mind-numbingly monotonous river terrain. By the third day things hit an all-time low, as the two men, exhausted from 48 hours of constant paddling, encountered a logjam, a whirlpool and, finally, the open ocean.

Dickson said he remembers a distinct moment where he was certain he was going to die. He and his partner had gotten sucked halfway into a room-sized whirlpool when they grabbed onto a rock and eventually hoisted themselves and their canoe back onto a bank of rocks.

All the while, Dickson’s wife, Peggy, along with family, friends and race organizers, sat back watching the GPS tracker for the team predicted to fail. Dickson said he found out

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • A31

Hoover resident Sean Dickson and Mike Durkin were a two-man team that participated in the Texas Water Safari canoe challenge. Photos courtesy of Ashley Landis.

later from his wife that their group of skeptics slowly turned into fans with each checkpoint they made it through.

“She said by the time we got to the fourth checkpoint, the race staff said if we finished in 75 hours we would be considered legends,” he said. “About the time we passed halfway, a bunch of people that smirked at us before were cheering for us.”

ROUNDING THE BEND

By the time Dickson made it to the last day of the race, he had just 64 more miles to row, but much of it came in the form of the open bay, which was full of bull sharks and huge waves.

“I have never in my life pulled out more balance skills, just because I didn’t want to fall out of the boat and get eaten by a shark,” he said.

When things got tough, Dickson said two thoughts got him through. He thought about getting home to see his two young sons and he thought about his peers in the Army who died during battle.

“That was hard,” he said. “This [race] wasn’t hard. When your friend has been shot and you have to carry him, that’s hard. So I told myself to stop whining about being in a canoe in a race I volunteered to go to, and it would bring me back.”

In the final stage of the race, Dickson said he and Durkin decided to wait for their friends who had lagged behind during the race. They wanted to finish as a team.

“It just felt like the right thing to do,” he said.

They grabbed onto each other’s boats so they could finish at the same time. As they pulled up to the dock, they saw a figure standing chest deep in the water pumping his arms in celebration. The figure was the teams’ mentor, John Bugge, a 15-time national championship canoeist, who had won the Texas Water Safari for 30 of the past 40 years. This year, the 65-yearold won the men’s division with a 47-year-old woman as his partner.

When Bugge presented the men with their finishers’ trophy, Dickson said he almost cried.

“He made a speech saying that we never should have been able to finish the race, but yet we proved everyone wrong,” he said. “It was like Michael Jordan telling you you’re good at basketball.”

Now that the race is over, Dickson said he has no plans to follow his mentor Bugge in trying the race again.

“It was the most brutal, agonizing experience of my civilian life,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll do it again, but you know, never say never.”

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Sun B SECTION

SEPTEMBER 2016

Events B4 Sports B14 Private School Guide B20 Calendar B26

DEMANDING

the best Olivia Portera aims to lead the Bucs to state championship

By KYLE PARMLEY Olivia Portera says she just has to be a “senior” in 2016.

That means showing up every day with the same mindset and determination to lead her volleyball team to a state championship, something the Hoover High School program has been on the doorstep of, but has yet to accomplish.

“I just have to demand everything every single day and nothing can change,” she said.

“I’ve got to keep energy, keep effort, and every day in practice make sure that we’re all working as hard as we can.”

Portera is the unquestioned leader of the Bucs as a senior, team captain and libero, three traits that, on their own, generally speak to a player having a key role. Combine them together, and the product is a special player.

In the beginning, she picked up the game of volleyball at church at the age of 12.

“I started with all my best friends, and it became fun and then I got good, and it became even more fun,” she said.

That’s also when the hard work began.

According to her coach at Hoover, Chris Camper, Portera displays a passion and work ethic toward the sport unrivaled by many.

“Getting better and loving the game is her greatest strength. If you don’t have that, you’re never going to get better, because it’s so hard to get better in this game and break through the wall that comes naturally to everybody that plays it,” he said. “There’s a significant amount of volleyball fundamentals that she has that other people don’t have. That’s not Godgiven. You don’t come out knowing how to pass. That’s stuff that she’s worked really hard on since she was 12-13 years old, and it shows.”

See PORTERA | page B24

Olivia Portera is determined to get Hoover back to the Birmingham CrossPlex and to win the Class 7A state championship in her senior season. Photo by Frank Couch.

B2 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • B3

B4 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

Bringing to Hoover Sand volleyball group drawing players from across the Southeast

By TARA MASSOULEH

Volleyball players came from the Birmingham area, as well as many from the Southeast.

Photos courtesy of Bob Gower.

On any given spring or summer Saturday, the sand volleyball courts at Veterans Park on Valleydale Road are abuzz with activity. Often high school students and youth groups use the three nets for casual play, but when Joe Alaimo and other members of the Birmingham Beach Adult Volleyball Facebook group get out there, it’s an entirely different game.

The competition’s stiffer; the party’s crazier; the relationships are deeper, and the payoff’s bigger. The group generally plays at the “A level,” which means players have considerable experience and knowledge of the game. A long day of outdoor play is almost always followed by an after party at a local restaurant or bar. Many of the group’s members, including Alaimo, are engaged

or married to other volleyball players, and each tournament has a total payout of around $1,000.

“Our tournaments have turned into an event,” Alaimo said. “Even if you’re not playing, people go out and watch because it’s a lot of fun.”

Alaimo started playing volleyball in Birmingham through the Hoover Rec Center league in 2005. He played his first beach tournament in 2010 and said he has been hooked ever since. One of the first people he met playing was Lance Woods, a longtime player who coaches Oak Mountain’s high school team and serves as the director of operations for the Birmingham Volleyball Club junior Olympic volleyball program.

At that time, games were sporadic and tournaments were lucky to happen once or twice a summer. In March of 2013 Alaimo started a Facebook group to help

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • B5 restaurant or bar sponsored the tournament.

Tournament mornings aren’t the only time Alaimo and other sand enthusiasts get up early to play. He said he often gets up around 5:30 a.m. to play before work to avoid the crowds that form at the courts in the afternoons.

“I’ll get there at 6, then play from 6 to 8, shower and go to work,” he said. “We do that all the time because in the afternoon, when you’re playing two on two and there’s 30 kids trying to get on a court, you feel bad.”

Players compete in two-on-two sand volleyball tournaments held at Veterans Park.

organize the hundreds of players in the area.

Eventually, he started planning tournaments.

Now, there are anywhere from six to ten tournaments from April through September. Each tournament hosts around 100 people in 2 v. 2 sand or 4 v. 4 grass volleyball.

“This has been done a few times, but it’s always gone away after awhile” Lance Woods said of the current volleyball scene. “Joe’s the one pushing this right now, but it’s really hard to find someone special to do this. There’s no money involved, so you just do it for the love of the game.”

Lately, tournaments run by the group have

been so successful that they have filled up within 10 minutes of being posted. Players from Nashville, Hunstville, Bilouxi, Atlanta and Montgomery come into town to compete regularly. Lance’s wife, Carly, a fellow sand volleyball player, said even two years ago it was hard to fill a tournament, and now they almost always have to turn people away.

“It’s a lot of word of mouth,” she said. “But for the three courts we have, we’re a major stop for out of towners.”

It costs $25 per person to enter the grass competition and $30 to enter the sand competition. All the money, minus the amount it takes

to reserve the courts, becomes prize money for tournament winners. The first tournament of this year was held as a fundraiser to purchase new nets and a new net system for Veterans Park. The tournament raised almost $2,000 that went toward three new net systems that can be adjusted to regulation height for both men and women sand volleyball.

On tournament days, Alaimo said he and his fiancé Jodie get to the court around 6:30 to set up nets, tents and make sure everything is in order for the day. Games start at 9 a.m. and go until anywhere from 7 to 9 in the evening.

After games, everyone meets up at whichever

Many in the group also travel to play in tournaments around the Southeast. One huge tournament, nicknamed Fuds, is held twice a year in Destin, Florida and attracts 300 teams of four players each.

“Lance and I got married the Friday night before the tournament just because all our friends were going to be down there anyway,” Carly Woods said.

For Alaimo and the Woods, the sand volleyball group is about much more than just playing for themselves. It’s about growing the sport in Birmingham, and more importantly, transferring their love for the sport to a new generation of players.

Both couples coach youth volleyball in the area, and said they are excited by how sand volleyball has grown in the area in the last couple of years. It is now a collegiate championship sport; UAB, Spring Hill and Jacksonville State all offer sand volleyball scholarships.

“It’s a trickle down effect,” Carly Woods said. “You get more people knowing and loving the sport and then they want to pass it down.

Maybe they have kids or they want to start coaching, and then we get more scholarships for kids in our community to play volleyball in college.”

For Lance Woods, who has been coaching volleyball since the early 1990s and playing for more than 30 years, it’s been most rewarding to see the game and his players grow over the years.

“The best thing about the game is it’s very social,” he said. “Once they get out there, it’s like a drug, they’re hooked and then you start seeing them all around town.”

B6 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

Events

September charity runs/walks GIVE KIDS THE WORLD 5K

By JON ANDERSON There are numerous opportunities to give back to others and participate in a healthy run or walk in Hoover in September. Here are four:

ROSS BRIDGE 8K AND HEALTH EXPO The 2016 Ross Bridge 8K and Health Expo is scheduled for Sept. 10.

The 4.97-mile race is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. in the Ross Bridge Village Center and wind through six of the Ross Bridge neighborhoods. The course includes some trails and finishes at the vintage train station in the village center.

Medals will be given away for the top three finishers in each age group, plus grand prizes for the top male and female.

The event also includes entertainment, inflatables and games for kids, and health and wellness vendor booths.

The race is a fundraiser for Alabama Teen Challenge, an organization that provides residential low-cost drug and alcohol recovery programs for people of all ages.

Last year, just fewer than 200 people participated in the 8K, and about 400 people attended the event, which raised about $23,000, said Rachel Roberts, an Alabama Teen Challenge life coach who serves as race and expo coordinator.

“It helps out tremendously,” Roberts said. “It is our biggest fundraiser.”

In the past, the event has been held on Labor Day weekend, but organizers are moving it to the following weekend this

Volunteers hand out drinks to runners in the 2015 Ross Bridge 8K in the Ross Bridge subdivision. Photo courtesy of Alabama Teen Challenge.

year because so many people travel on Labor Day weekend and because Labor Day weekend is a big football weekend, Roberts said.

The cost to register is $25. Runners can register on active.com or on site on race day, beginning at 7 a.m. Runners can pick up their packets on Sept. 9 at the Trak Shak in Homewood from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. or on race day at the site.

Updates will be on the Ross Bridge 8K Facebook page.

About 300 people participated in the inaugural Give Kids the World 5K at the Riverchase Galleria in 2015. Photo courtesy of Cammerron Jackson/Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel.

The second annual Give Kids the World 5K is being held at the Riverchase Galleria on Sept. 10 at 8 a.m.

The event is organized by the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel as a fundraiser for the Give Kids The World Village, a 70-acre nonprofit resort in central Florida that offers free, weeklong fantasy vacations to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.

Last year’s inaugural run drew about 300 people and resulted in a $10,000 donation to the Give Kids The World Village, said Paul Dangel, director of sales and marketing for the Hyatt Regency.

“We just want to see it grow,” Dangel

said. “Any growth over last year would be fantastic.”

The Hyatt Regency Birmingham last year donated the third most amount of money to the Give Kids The World Village out of 40 hotels owned by Davidson Hotels and Resorts, he said.

The 5K starts at the Hyatt Regency and makes three laps on Galleria Circle around the Riverchase Galleria. Medals will be given out for top performances in different race groups. There also will be door prizes, music and refreshments.

Registration is $25 and can be done online at gktw5kal.com or on-site on race day.

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • B7

HEAD OVER TEAL 5K/10K, 1-MILE FUN RUN/WALK AND FAMILY FALL FESTIVAL

Runners take off at the start of the 2015 Head Over Teal race in The Preserve subdivision.

Photo by Erica Techo.

The seventh annual Head Over Teal races and fall festival are scheduled from 8 a.m. to noon on Sept. 24 in The Preserve subdivision.

The event is a fundraiser for the Laura Crandall Brown Foundation, which works to increase awareness of gynecologic cancers, support research for early detection and provide support for women battling these forms of the disease.

The fundraiser has always had a 5K (3.1mile race) and last year added the 10K (6.2mile race), said Doris Moody, a foundation board member. There also is a 1-mile fun run/ walk. All the runs wind through the Preserve subdivision.

Organizers also are trying to make the event more of a fall festival and will have children’s inflatable activities, games, face painting, crazy hair, pumpkin painting, crafts, various vendors, a photo booth, live music and a blood drive with LifeSouth.

Last year’s event drew more than 600 participants and raised more than $45,000, and organizers anticipate closer to 800 runners and walkers this year, Moody said.

This year features a new 10K course, she

said. There will be free refreshments such as fruit, breakfast items and coffee prior to the race and free beer and pizza afterward, she added.

Bumpus Middle School student Emily Knerr, who is battling a recurrence of ovarian cancer, is expected to sound the horn to begin the races again this year.

The 5K and 10K start at 8 a.m., and the 1-mile fun run is at 9 a.m. Medals will be awarded top finishers in various age groups.

Organizers encourage people to park at Prince of Peace Catholic Church and take shuttles to The Preserve.

The registration cost for the 5K is $35 by Aug. 31 and $40 after that date. Registration for the 10K is $40 by Aug. 31 and $45 after that date.

Children ages 13 and younger can register for $20. Team registration (with a minimum of five people) is $30 by Aug. 31 and $35 after that date for the 5K and $35 by Aug. 31 and $40 after that date for the 10K. Registration can be done online via the Laura Crandall Brown Foundation website at thinkoflaura.org.

JUVENILE DIABETES RESEARCH FOUNDATION ONE WALK

One of the fundraising teams for the 2015 Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation One Walk sports matching attire. Photo courtesy of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is holding its annual One Walk 5K and 1-mile walk on Sept. 25 at Veterans Park off Valleydale Road in Hoover.

There is no registration fee for the walks, but participants are asked to recruit people to sponsor them on their walk with donations to support research into juvenile diabetes. Check-in for the walks is at 1 p.m., and they start at 2 p.m.

This year, the foundation is partnering with Orange Theory Fitness to have a 5K run as well.

Check-in for the run is at 3 p.m., and the run starts at 4 p.m. The run has a registration fee of $25.

Last year, about 600 people participated

in the walk, which was down from previous years when about 1,000 people came, said Jennifer Bentley, development coordinator for the Alabama chapter of the foundation.

They raised about $165,000 last year, she said. They are hoping to get participation back up to previous levels this year and have set this year’s fundraising goal at $205,895, according to the foundation’s website.

People are invited to form teams, either personal or corporate, and document their fundraising on the website. Individuals and teams can register at jdrf.org. Click on events and One Walk, type in your zip code and look for the Birmingham One Walk.

B8 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

Marc Cohn, Molly Ringwald, Phil Vassar among acts in 2016-17 Hoover Library Theatre lineup

By JON ANDERSON Grammy Award-winning pianist, singer and songwriter Marc Cohn will open the 25th anniversary season for the Hoover Library Theatre in October, library officials announced.

The rest of the lineup for the 2016-17 season includes country music star Phil Vassar, actress and jazz singer Molly Ringwald, bluegrass, country and gospel singers Dailey & Vincent, the Celtic Tenors, the Zoe Speaks mountain music trio, the Alabama Troubadours folk band and the Rhythmic Circus percussive dance group.

“It’s a reunion season,” said Matina Johnson, the Hoover Public Library’s fine arts director.

All of the acts have performed at the Library Theatre in years past since the 250-seat theater first opened in 1991, Johnson said. Library officials wanted to bring back some of the best acts they’ve had, she said.

Some of the performers who have come to Hoover over the years, such as blues singer Odetta and guitarist Richie Havens, have died, and some of the companies that put on plays or other performances have long since dispersed. But the artists coming back for the 201617 season were some of the crowd favorites, Johnson said.

Here’s more about each of the acts: ► Marc Cohn, Oct. 13-14, 7:30 p.m.

Cohn, who opened the 2008-09 Hoover Library Theatre season, incidentally is celebrating his 25th years as a performer as well. His stop in Hoover this year will be part of a 25th anniversary tour in which he performs his debut platinum-selling album in its entirety from start to finish, complete with photos and videos from his personal archives.

That self-titled album included the Grammy Award-winning song “Walking in Memphis,” which was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Vocal at the 34th annual Grammy Awards in 1992. He won the Grammy for best new artist that year.

Cohn had two more releases in the 1990s and then went on a decadelong sabbatical that ended in 2007 with “Join the Parade,” which was inspired by the events following Hurricane Katrina and his own near-fatal shooting just weeks before, according to the bio on his website.

In March of this year, Cohn released his latest album, “Careful What You Dream: Lost Songs and Rarities” and the bonus album, “Evolution of a Record,” which features never-before-heard songs and demos dating back to years before his debut. His anniversary show allows fans to not only hear his music but to also see photos and videos of some of the people and places that populate his songs. ► Dailey & Vincent, Nov. 16-18, 7:30 p.m.

This Grammy Award-winning duo is the only act for which the Library Theatre in the past had to open up a third show to accommodate high demand, Johnson said.

When they were chosen as openers for the 2013-14 season, tickets for their two shows sold out quickly, and there were more than 250 people on a waiting list the first week of ticket sales, she said. Library officials arranged a third show, and it sold out immediately, Johnson said.

Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent have won nine Grammy Awards individually and three as a duo that specializes in bluegrass, traditional country and gospel music since they came together in 2007. They also have won 35 International Bluegrass Music Association awards.

Since they performed in Hoover in 2013, they started a national cable music and entertainment series called “The Dailey & Vincent Show” on the RFD-TV cable channel aimed at rural America, and their PBS special, “Dailey & Vincent ALIVE – In Concert,” has aired in more than 84 markets. The special later was released as a live CD that debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard bluegrass charts and a DVD that debuted at No. 2 across all genres on the Billboard music video sales chart. ► Rhythmic Circus, Dec. 2-3, 7:30 p.m.

This group began as an underground percussive dance act in Minneapolis when four tap dancers teamed up with a seven-piece Twin Cities’ big brass funk band, including beatboxer Aaron “Heatbox” Heaton.

They deliver a rapid-fire tap show that has won numerous awards, including two Upper Midwest Emmys, a Spirit of the Fringe Award at the 2012 Edinburgh Festival, and outstanding ensemble and performance awards from the Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders organization.

They first performed at the Hoover Library Theatre in 2010 and will be returning this year to put on a new Christmas holiday-themed show. ► Molly Ringwald, Jan. 12-13, 7:30 p.m.

Perhaps best known for her roles as an actress on stage and screen, Ringwald earned a Golden Globe at age 13 and starred in numerous iconic films, including “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club” and “Pretty in Pink.”

On stage, she has starred in Broadway productions of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “How I Learned To Drive,” the revival of “Cabaret,” the Tony-nominated “Enchanted April” and the London production of “When Harry Met Sally.”

Rhythmic Circus is a high energy tap show featuring a big brass funk band and percussive dance act. Photos courtesy of Hoover Library Theatre.

More recently, she starred in “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” on the ABC Family channel and the 2015 movie “Jem and the Holograms.”

However, Ringwald’s return visit to the Hoover Library Theatre will highlight her jazz vocal skills. The daughter of blind jazz pianist Bob Ringwald, she first began performing jazz at age 3 with her father’s Fulton Street Jazz Band. She started out with Dixieland style jazz but has transitioned into more modern jazz and in April 2013 released an album of cover songs called “Except Sometimes,” which includes the Simple Minds song “Don’t You (Forget About Me).”

Since that time, she and her band have performed more than 200 concerts in at least seven countries.

She was a favorite among Hoover Library Theatre patrons in January 2014, some of whom came mostly to hear her music and others who were more interested in the meet-and-greet time, Johnson said. ► Zoe Speaks, Feb. 22-23, 7:30 p.m.

This group of Kentucky musicians includes Mitch Barrett, Owen Reynolds and Carla Gover. They are known for their smooth, mellow instrumental mixes and close vocal harmonies.

From traditional ballads to award-winning originals, this trio often accompanies themselves with a guitar, claw hammer banjo, upright bass, dulcimers and occasionally clogging feet.

When they first performed at the Hoover Library Theatre in 2003, the daughter of lead singers Barrett and Gover — Zoey Raven — was just a baby. Now, she’s 13 and not only speaks; she sings. She’ll be joining the group in song and on the fiddle on the Library Theatre stage.

Zoe Speaks has won numerous songwriting contests, including Merlefest’s Chris Austin Contest, The Telluride Troubadour Contest, The Kerrville New Folk Contest, The Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Songwriting Contest and The Flatrock Festival Song Contest. The trio has performed at places such as Merlefest, The Kennedy Center, The Kerrville Folk Festival and The Copenhagen Blues Festival. ► The Celtic Tenors, March 16-17, 7:30 p.m.

The Irish trio of Matthew Gilsenan, James Nelson and Daryl Simpson has been performing together for at least 15 years, blending opera and traditional Irish music.

They stepped away from their classical roots and added a more contemporary edge that has proven popular.

The tenors have sold more than a million albums, including three that went platinum, according to their website. They’re reached No. 1 chart positions in Ireland and Germany and No. 2 in the United Kingdom and have performed to private audiences that include world leaders such as Bill Clinton and Kofi Annan.

When they came to the Library Theatre in 2014, they shared a Christmas show, but this one will be more like one of their typical performances, Johnson said. ► Alabama Troubadours, April 20-21, 7:30 p.m.

Singer/songwriter Karen Pell and her band take their audience on a vocal tour of out-of-the-way and unique places in Alabama, telling stories about the Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, Coon Dog Cemetery in Cherokee and Boll Weevil Monument in Enterprise.

Their debut performance was commissioned by Hoover Library Director and Southern Voices conference founder Linda Andrews as part of the 1998 Southern Voices gathering.

Now, 18 years later, they’re coming back for the 25th anniversary of Southern Voices to share more stories and original songs with sweet harmonies, Johnson said.

Their music will be complemented by the photography of Chip

Molly Ringwald was a crowd favorite at the theatre in 2014.

She returns to highlight her jazz vocal skills Jan. 12-13.

Cooper, who took pictures of the locales featured in their songs. ► Phil Vassar, May 6, 4 and 7:30 p.m.

Vassar, a country music star from Nashville, has eight albums and three Songwriter of the Year awards to his credit.

He has written 10 No. 1 singles and 26 Top 40 hits, including “Carlene,” “Just Another Day In Paradise,” “Six-Pack Summer” and “That’s When I Love You.” He has hit the Top 5 with seven of his own recordings, but written No. 1 hits for other singers, including “My Next Thirty Years” sung by Tim McGraw, and “Bye, Bye” and “I’m Alright” sung by Jo Dee Messina.

Vassar, who came to the Library Theatre in 2014, has a high-energy show and was one of the most requested performers among the ladies, Johnson said.

“Our crowds really went wild over him,” she said. “They’re like — just make sure he packs his jeans.” ► Ticket sales This year’s season is starting a month later than usual because of a project to renovate the art gallery and meeting room area outside the theater, but that project should be completed by Sept.

30, Johnson said.

The delayed start also meant a delay in the announcement of the lineup, and “everybody’s been asking,” she said.

Full-season ticket packages go on sale for last year’s full-season subscribers on Sept. 6 at 10 a.m., and new full-season subscribers can start to buy tickets on Sept. 8 at 10 a.m.

Tickets for individual shows will be available starting Sept. 9 at 10 a.m., and ticket exchanges begin Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. There is an order limit of six tickets per show, per patron, until Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. Seating is reserved, with no guarantee that the same seats are available for all performances purchased.

Tickets are $25 each, plus a processing fee of $2.50 per ticket.

They can be bought online at hooverlibrary.org/thelibrarytheatre or by phone at 205-444-7888.

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • B9

B10 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

FORGING ahead

Blacksmith among 50-plus artists coming to 14th annual Art in the Gardens

By JON ANDERSON Kenneth Spivey III has been fascinated with re-creating things he sees in movies ever since he was about 5 years old.

He built cardboard and aluminum foil swords and was really intrigued by the bayonet hook worn by Dustin Hoffman when Hoffman played Captain Hook in the movie “Hook.”

But as he got older, Spivey wanted his replica creations to be more realistic. At 15, the Vestavia Hills teen joined the youth apprenticeship program at Sloss Furnaces and learned how to forge metal.

He loved it so much, he bought his own forge and equipment and started a foundry in Wilsonville — at age 16.

Artist Kenneth Spivey III works to create a knife out of a railroad spike in his studio at Artists on the Bluff in Bluff Park.

He will be one of more than 50 artists at the 14th annual Art in the Gardens event at Aldridge Gardens on Sept. 24-25.

Photos by Jon Anderson.

Now he’s 30 and is a full-time artist and art instructor. He teaches classes at the Artists on the Bluff facility in Bluff Park, where he opened a studio a few months ago.

Spivey, a smith who specializes in metal forging, welding and fabrication, is one of more than 50 artists who will be featured at the Art in the Gardens event at Aldridge Gardens Sept. 24-25.

This is the 14th year for the Art in the Gardens show. More than 50 artists are expected, all from Alabama, said Jennifer Gowers with GoPro Event Solutions, which is coordinating the show.

The juried show is expected to include metal forgers, woodworkers, photographers, sculptors, printmakers, glassmakers, jewelry artists, potters, fine artists and mixed media artists,

Gowers said.

In the past, the show has been held in June, but this year, it was moved to late September to avoid hot summer temperatures.

“We couldn’t take the heat anymore,” Gowers said. “You’ve got 80-year-old artists out in the heat. They can’t do it. We didn’t want to risk anybody’s health.”

This will be Spivey’s fourth year at Art in the Gardens. He’ll be forging on site but also will have a second booth featuring his fine arts pieces.

Spivey is known for turning railroad spikes into ornate, polished knives. He formerly collected them from near railroad tracks until he learned that was illegal, he said. Now, he orders them from a company in Nashville.

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • B11

This is one of artist Kenneth Spivey III’s finished handcrafted knives, made from a railroad spike. Photo courtesy of Kenneth Spivey III.

While Spivey specializes as a metal forger, he has learned numerous other art forms, many connected to his love of swords and other weapons. He learned how to work with leather in order to make sword handles and knife sheaths, and he learned how to work with jewelry in order to set stones in swords. He also does woodworking. His knives come in wooden boxes recycled from wine crates, and he knows how to make a clock.

After graduating from Vestavia Hills High School, Spivey got his undergraduate degree in art from the University of Montevallo. He also got a master’s degree in education from Montevallo and a master’s degree in fine arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia.

He now teaches more than 30 classes, from metalworking and blacksmithing to jewelry work, silver casting, glass staining and stone carving. He teaches at Artists on the Bluff in Hoover and the MASS (Music, Artistic, Scientific and Social) Collective in Atlanta and leads summer metalworking courses at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Spivey typically participates in about five art shows a year, mostly in Alabama. His knives range from $100 to $200, but he also sells smaller jewelry items for $15 to $30 and key chains made out of nails for people with small budgets who want something unique.

Some of his larger custom jobs have included a $20,000 restoration of an antique Cessna 170 airplane and a $5,000 sign he made for Oxmoor Valley Orthodontics. The Artists on the Bluff facility has proposed a $100,000 sculpture to put in front of the building, but funding has not yet been acquired, Spivey said.

Staying true to his love, Spivey also has done custom props for the entertainment industry. He worked as an intern under Bruce Larson and helped make a special prosthetic leg for a character in the movie “U.S.S. Indianapolis: Men of Courage,” and he crafted a mechanical engine for the CW series, “The Vampire Diaries.”

Spivey has collected about $150,000 to $200,000 worth of movie props, including more than 100 from James Bond movies, he said. Others are from Indiana Jones movies and

Artist Kenneth Spivey III handmade these invitations to a reception that will open an art exhibition at Artists on the Bluff Oct. 1-31. Photo by Jon Anderson.

Art in the Gardens • WHEN: Sept. 24-25 • WHERE: Aldridge Gardens • HOURS: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 24; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 25 • ADMISSION: $5; children 15 and younger free

“Back to the Future.”

At 18, he made a replica of the time machine from “Back to the Future” that included some of the original tubes in the flux capacitor featured in the movie, he said.

He also made a replica of a glowing ring from the “Lord of the Rings” and the arc reactor in “Iron Man,” he said.

Spivey said he simply loves to create things and to see people’s reactions when they look at his handiwork.

For more about Spivey and his creations, go to fireandbrimstoneforge.net. Art in the Gardens will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 24, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 25. Admission is $5 per person, but children 15 and younger get in free.

A dagger handcrafted by artist Kenneth Spivey III. Photo courtesy of Kenneth Spivey III.

B12 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

Hoover honors first responders of Sept. 11 with Patriot Day ceremony

By TARA MASSOULEH The Hoover Fire Department will once again honor those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001, with their annual Patriot Day ceremony at Fire Station No. 2 on Patton Chapel Road.

Each year the station invites area firefighters, police officers and Hoover residents to come together in remembrance of the first responders and civilians who were killed during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The ceremony is Sept. 11 at 8:30 a.m.

During the event, multiple speakers will talk about the tragedy, and the national anthem will be performed.

The ceremony will close with a bell-tolling ceremony followed by refreshments.

Hoover Fire Department Executive Officer Rusty Lowe said the bell tolling ceremony is an old fire department tradition.

“You toll the bell at the end of somebody’s watch

— typically their funeral,” he said. “We’re tolling the bell in memory of the firefighters that died when the building came down.”

In addition, this year the Gwin Elementary School choir will perform.

Lowe said he hopes having the choir sing will draw more people in addition to the 75 to 100 who usually attend.

For those who cannot make it, Lowe said all other Hoover fire stations are set to hold smaller-scale ceremonies at their flagpoles in recognition of Patriot Day at 8:30 a.m., too.

“I think it’s very important for us to remember the lives of the first responders that were lost at the World Trade Center to remind people of the sacrifices they made,” he said. “It’s a good holiday to remember that we are vulnerable, and we should do everything we can to minimize our risk while we’re out there saving lives and serving the public.”

The national anthem is sung during the 2015 Patriot Day ceremony. Photo by Erica Techo.

Spain Park marching festival set for Sept. 24

By JON ANDERSON

Spain Park High School will host nearly 20 marching bands for this year’s festival. Photo by Jordan Hays.

Spain Park High School plans to host nearly 20 marching bands for its fourth annual Sparks in the Park Marching Festival on Sept. 24.

The event is expected to have about 16 high school marching bands from throughout Alabama performing in competition. In addition, there will be exhibition shows by Spain Park’s 180-member band, the University of North Alabama Pride of Dixie Marching Band and the 40-member RamCorps from the University of Mobile.

The UNA band, directed by Lloyd Jones, is one of the finest marching bands in the country and was invited to compete at the Bands of America Grand National Championships a couple of years ago, said Chris

Neugent, Spain Park’s band director.

Jones, for the second year in a row, is arranging the music for the Spain Park band’s halftime show, Neugent said.

The University of Mobile’s RamCorps, directed by Kenn Hughes, is a brass and percussion ensemble that performs across the country.

The high school bands competing at Sparks in the Park will be divided into categories by size and judged.

This year’s judges include: Harry McAfee, retired band director from Hoover High; Jason Smith, Mountain Brook High School band director; John Bradley, retired band director from Monroe County High School; David Koelz, drill designer for the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corp; Sean Womack, instructor of percussion

studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Jacksonville State University; Stacy Arnold, UAB auxiliaries coordinator; and Mason McFarland, a former UAB drum major.

Admission to Sparks in the Park costs $8 for adults and $5 for students age 6 and older. Children age 5 and younger get in free, and parking is free.

Proceeds help the Spain Park band pay for things such as new uniforms and instruments, Neugent said.

“The band here at Spain Park is growing, and we need new instruments every year.

That goes to offset the costs,” he said.

Last year’s Sparks in the Park Marching Festival brought in about $20,000, he said.

For more information, go to spainparkband.org/events/sparks-in-the-park.

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • B13

Community KaiLian Davis, a Prince of Peace Catholic Church teen parishioner, tutored Cameron Hunter in a summer literacy program as part of a John Carroll Catholic High School mission trip to Vredenburgh, Alabama.

Prince of Peace was a sponsor of the literacy program.

Photo courtesy of Ohtra Awad.

Prince of Peace church helps Black Belt literacy initiative Prince of Peace Catholic Church, along with two Birmingham foundations, sponsored a sixweek summer reading program for children in the Black Belt community of Vredenburgh, Alabama.

Not only did POP help to fund the program, but six teen parishioners who attend John Carroll Catholic High School (Ohtra Awad, KaiLian Davis, AJ Kingsmore, Veronica Werszner, Daniel West and Ellen Willet) went to Vredenburgh to work with the children in custom-designed literacy skills program.

The six teens were part of a John Carroll mission trip put together by theology teachers Michael Bouton and Sister Margaret Andrew.

Prince of Peace has a 25-year relationship with Vredenburgh, assisting this former lumber mill town in various ways through its ecumenical ministry.

POP has worked hand in hand with the Sisters of St. Joseph’s ministry on many Vredenburgh outreach projects, including the planning, design and construction of the Vredenburgh community center where this year’s reading program was held. (That four-year project also included help from the Living Stones Temple, and the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church.)

This year, Prince of Peace was pleased to join the Michael and Gillian Goodrich Foundation and the Daniel Foundation to help Sister Kathleen Navarra of the Sisters of St. Joseph to bring a literacy program to the former lumber mill town.

Sister Kathy has been working in ministry in the Alabama Black Belt for 16 years and worked closely with Better Basics, a Birmingham-based literacy enrichment and intervention provider, to create a program tailored to the needs of the children of Vredenburgh with the donated money.

In addition to the funding the reading program for 35 children, grant money from Prince of Peace and the other two groups paid the salaries of two teachers from neighboring Selma to oversee and implement the six-week learning adventure.

The two teachers, Courtney and Joshua Stewart, also trained six Vredenburgh parents so that an after-school tutoring/enrichment program for the students can begin in the fall.

All of the children in the program also received between six and eight books to begin their own home library.

Hoover author publishes new book For many children in foster care and awaiting adoption, the journey can be very confusing. Hoover resident and author Chandra Sparks Splond aims to help with her latest book. “‘You’ve Gotta Have Faith’ follows 10-year-old Destini Daniels on her journey through foster care,” said Splond. “This is actually the second book in my Date with Destini series. In the first book, ‘The Greatest Gift of All’, Destini is in foster care, and she comes up with a scheme to get adopted.

In ‘You’ve Gotta Have Faith’, she’s on the verge of being adopted, but a few things occur that make her lose faith that it will actually happen.”

Splond, who is also the author of several books for young adults, hopes ‘You’ve Gotta Have Faith’ will give kids and adults a glimpse into the foster care system from a child’s perspective.

“If you are living with your biological family, there are a lot of things you take for granted,” Splond said. “No family is perfect, but it’s still your family. There are so many kids out there dreaming of having a forever family and the life that many take for granted.

Their stories need to be told.”

Splond decided to write the Date with Destini series because foster care and adoption are not a subject she has often seen addressed in books for African-American children, and she wanted to tackle some of the issues kids in foster care and awaiting adoption go through.

Photo courtesy of Chandra Sparks Splond.

“I hope ‘The Greatest Gift of All’ and ‘You’ve Gotta Have Faith’ will give readers who are in foster care or awaiting adoption hope that their situation will change. I also hope the books will help those with families stop and realize how blessed they are,” she said. “I want the Date with Destini series to be a blessing to readers and help them look at foster care and adoption in a different light.”

– Submitted by Chandra Sparks Splond.

B14 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

Sports SPAIN PARK FOOTBALL: SEPTEMBER PREVIEW

Showdown with Hoover highlights Jags’ September slate

By SAM CHANDLER The Spain Park High School football team will embark on its quest to reclaim the Class 7A, Region 3 title when it opens region play at home against Vestavia Hills High School on Sept. 2. The game marks the first of four region matchups the Jags will play in September. Other opponents include crosstown rival Hoover, Mountain Brook and Huffman.

The Jags started off the season with two non-region games against Gadsden City and Muscle Shoals.

Spain Park went 7-0 in region play in 2015 and clinched the region crown thanks in part to a stout defense and consistent kicking game.

Last season, the Jags’ defense pitched three shutouts in the seven-game span, and limited region opponents to 59 points total. Former place-kicker Crosby Gray, meanwhile, lifted Spain Park to a pair of victories by nailing game-winning field goals.

“I think the margin of error in our region, and especially with us, is very small,” Jags head coach Shawn Raney said. “You look at the tight games we won last year, we lost (those) the year before and were 6-4 and did not make the playoffs.”

The Jags will look to duplicate last season’s flurry of region success starting with their matchup against Vestavia Hills. Last fall, Spain Park rolled to a 21-0 win over the Rebels. Perry Young, a former Jag and current University of Cincinnati linebacker, spurred his team to

Running back Larry Wooden will help power the Jags’ offense as it prepares for a tough September slate. Photo by Ted Melton.

victory with a momentum-shifting field-goal block.

Following their date with Vestavia, the Jags

will play one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the 2016 season. On Sept. 9, they will take on Hoover in a rematch of last fall’s

7A state semifinal, which Spain Park won 7-6.

The game will be played at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.

“We just treat it like any other game, and just go out and do what we’ve been doing all year and preparing for all year,” Raney said.

Spain Park stunned Hoover in last fall’s regular season meeting at the Hoover Met. After 13 failed attempts — save a forfeit victory in 2007 — the Jags knocked off the Bucs for the first time in school history. Spain Park’s 17-0 triumph ended Hoover’s 43 game in-state win streak, and it marked the first time the Bucs had been shut out since 1991.

“I love having that on our side,” Jags senior linebacker Houston Hollis said. “It gives a little more motivation to say, ‘Hey, we can go out and do it again.’”

Spain Park will come back Sept. 16, for a home game against Mountain Brook. In their 2015 matchup, former running back Wade Streeter and current running back Larry Wooden carried the Jags to a 21-7 victory. The tandem combined for 167 yards rushing, and Wooden accounted for two of the team’s touchdowns.

Spain Park will have a week off after the Mountain Brook game, but will return to action Sept. 30. The Jags will host Huffman, a team that moved into Region 3 following the most recent wave of AHSAA reclassification. The two teams have never before gone head-tohead on the gridiron. The Vikings qualified for the postseason in 6A last fall for the first time since 2005.

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • B15

HOOVER FOOTBALL: SEPTEMBER PREVIEW

Home opener, region play up next for Bucs

“

By SAM CHANDLER Hoover High School head football coach Josh Niblett knows that his team enters each season with a target on its back. As coach of a perennial power, that’s just the way it is.

“You’ve got to find ways to win because we’re going to get everybody’s A-game,” he said.

It’s an expectation that rings especially true within the context of region play, which will begin for the Bucs Sept. 2. Hoover will host Mountain Brook High School in the first of four Class 7A, Region 3 games that it will contest during the month of September. Other opponents include crosstown rival Spain Park, Tuscaloosa County and Oak Mountain.

Hoover opened up the season with two non-region games against Central-Phenix City and Allen (Texas).

In 2015, the Bucs went 5-2 against region competition, losing games to Spain Park and Vestavia Hills. Before Hoover fell to Spain Park last October, it had not lost to a region opponent since October 2011.

Niblett said the heightened expectations that annually surround the Hoover program can sometimes make winning games feel like a relief — in region play or otherwise. But this season, he said his team has shifted its focus.

“I told our kids: We’re changing that. We’re going to celebrate when we win,” Niblett said.

“The teams that win, the teams that sustain success, are those that high-five and chest bump.”

Starting with the home opener against Mountain Brook at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium — where the Bucs play all their home games

You’ve got to find ays to win because we’re going to get everybody’s A-game.

”

JOSH NIBLETT

Garrett Farquhar is in his first season as starting quarterback. Photo by Kyle Parmley.

— Niblett will discover how his team’s celebratory approach affects its play against region opponents.

In last season’s matchup with Mountain Brook, Hoover relied on a late scoring drive to clinch a 21-14 victory. Former Bucs defensive back P.J. Hall turned the tide of the game when he intercepted a pass with less than five minutes to play in the fourth quarter. On the subsequent possession, Bucs running back C.J. Sturdivant rushed for a game-winning touchdown to break a 14-14 stalemate.

Hoover owns a 30-7 all-time record against

Mountain Brook; it has won seven of the past eight meetings.

Up next, Hoover will host Spain Park Sept.

9 in what is sure to be one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the season. Last fall, the Jags beat the Bucs twice: once in the regular season and once in the 7A state semifinal.

Spain Park’s 17-0 regular season blanking on Oct. 1 snapped Hoover’s 43 game in-state win streak and marked the first time since 1991 that the Bucs were held scoreless. It was also the first time in Spain Park school history that it defeated Hoover — save a forfeit

victory in 2007.

“I think the biggest thing with our kids, it’s going to hurt,” Niblett said after the game. “It’s supposed to hurt, and we want it to hurt for a little bit.”

Following its game with Spain Park, Hoover will travel to Tuscaloosa County Sept. 16. The Bucs rolled to a 45-3 victory over the Wildcats last fall, but they could face more of a challenge this time around. Bart Sessions, Spain Park’s former defensive coordinator, is Tuscaloosa County’s new head coach. Sessions’ defense at Spain Park limited Hoover to six total points across eight quarters in 2015.

Hoover will have an off week after that game, but will return to action Sept. 30. The Bucs will play an away game at Oak Mountain, a team they defeated by a mere three-point margin in 2015.

B16 • September 2016

A

Hoover Sun

CLOSE

CALL

Spain Park volleyball player Ali Close turns the page on her debilitating ankle injury Ali Close suffered a severe ankle sprain the day before the season last fall, hampering her for the entire season.

Photo courtesy of Jimmy Mitchell.

By KYLE PARMLEY

N

othing has come easy for Ali Close on the volleyball court the last few years, but that has not stopped her from making the most of her chances.

The first sign of trouble came when she sprained her left ankle in January 2015 during the club season of her sophomore year at Spain Park High School.

“The doctor told me I eventually would need surgery, but he was going to let me finish out high school,” Close said. “I rehabbed it and came back playing, summer and all that.”

To add insult to injury, or more literally injury to injury, Close suffered another setback the same week. After already being restricted

to upper body workouts, she failed to follow proper procedure after a repetition in the weight room, and her right ring finger was smashed between two dumbbells.

A quick trip to the doctor repaired the fracture, and “they stitched it up right then and there.” But Close was totally out of commission for a brief time.

After rehab, Close was ready to step onto the court last fall as a vital contributor for the Jags.

She had the ankle taped up and a brace on top of that. But that was not enough to prevent it from happening again.

“Our setter set me far out towards the pole, and I went up and jumped and wasn’t really paying attention to the pole, and when I came down, my ankle landed sideways on it,” she said.

Just like that, she injured her ankle again, this time worse than the initial sprain.

In an unusual move, doctors casted her ankle for a week, then transitioned Close to a boot.

With a season still ongoing, surgery was not an option in her mind. She was willing to do whatever it took to get back on the court and finish out the season.

After a few more weeks of rehab, she slowly eased her way back into practices, and found herself back on the court on Oct. 2, 2015.

Although not near full strength, she wanted to do whatever she could to contribute.

“Honestly, I was a little scared to be playing, because I kind of had that surgery in the back of my mind. We already had it set up. I knew it was coming,” Close said.

Close said she is back to full strength and hopes to lead Spain Park to great heights in 2016. Photo by Kyle Parmley.

Before the injuries, Close was a right-side hitter for the Jags, but without the ability to jump in her compromised state, she played on the back row for the remainder of the season.

Her playing time was brief, jumping in when needed. But when the Class 7A, Area 6 tournament came around, her services were required in a big way. Spain Park and Vestavia Hills went down to the wire in a five-set match, and Close summoned the strength to play the majority of the night.

“That was definitely a tough match, but I was able to come in and play and that was straight adrenaline,” she said.

She had surgery right after the season, and endured the long road back. She completed her rehabilitation in the spring, and now feels back to full strength.

“It was definitely a long process, but it feels better than it ever has,” Close said.

Those should be encouraging words for a Spain Park team with high aspirations in Kellye Bowen’s third year at the helm. Close is back on the right side, playing her normal position.

There is a catch to that occasionally, though.

“To this day, if I am playing on the outside, or if there’s a rotation where I have to hit outside, if I’m set too far out, I don’t jump near the pole,” she said. “I usually just stay on the ground and try to get the ball over. Other than that, I’m back playing.”

She called the process humbling, and admitted to being devastated when she re-injured her ankle just before last season.

“God definitely used it to teach me a lesson that my plan isn’t ultimately what happens.

It’s his plan that ultimately prevails. That’s a valuable lesson I learned. If that’s what it took for me to learn that lesson, then that’s what I’ll take,” she said.

Close’s three years in the varsity program coincide with Bowen’s tenure, as the Jags have gone from nine wins in 2014 to 22 wins in 2015. They said they hope to achieve even more in 2016.

“She’s phenomenal, teaching us how to play, how to interact with each other on and off the court,” Close said of her coach. “Obviously, you can’t say enough about her.”

Bowen said she expects to rely on Close to guide the team on and off the court, and commends her persevering spirit.

“She’s never given up; she’s never wavered from that, and she’s one of my strongest leaders. She’s going to play a very important role as far as that goes,” Bowen said.

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • B17

B18 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

Growth, experience to help Spain Park boys in 2016

By SAM CHANDLER Spain Park High School head cross-country coach Michael Zelwak said he wants his boys team to enter the fall with a chip on its shoulder.

In 2015, a young and inexperienced Jaguars squad weathered a turbulent season that culminated in a last-place finish at the Class 7A, Section 3 meet. The gloomy performance extended Spain Park’s absence from the state championship to a third straight year.

“We had a young group of guys that were talented and they worked hard,” Zelwak said, “but I think they just learned what competitive high school cross-country is like.”

This fall, the Spain Park boys will aim for improvement as they draw motivation from the past. Led by juniors Cole Dillard and Andrew Gedgoudas, along with sophomore Jacob Warner, the team now boasts a more experienced roster that returns its top 10 runners.

“We have a lot of guys that are really close, and I think that’s going to be their strongest point,” Zelwak said.

Dillard emerged as the team’s front-runner last fall, recording a 5K personal best of 16 minutes, 53.74 seconds. He is the lone returner to have broken the 17-minute barrier, though a slew of teammates have come close. Junior Morgan Becker holds a personal best of 17:04 and Warner has run 17:05. The rest of Spain Park’s top seven from 2015, including Gedgoudas, have posted times in the 17’s.

Collectively, Zelwak said he expects to have 12 runners capable of contending for his team’s top five spots on any given day.

“The one thing that’s separating them is who’s going to be tough enough,” Zelwak said.

“In the races, they need that toughness and that

confidence. That’s really going to be the difference between last year and this year.”

Zelwak said the process of developing those key mental traits has already begun. To date, Zelwak said he has incorporated a strength and conditioning component into his team’s training regimen while also placing an added emphasis on hill workouts.

“I want them ready to fight,” Zelwak said. “[I want them] sort of saying, ‘Hey, we were young last year and we took our lumps, but we’re ready to go and we can run with anybody and we’re ready to prove it now.’”

The Spain Park girls find themselves in a slightly different position.

Behind the consistent efforts of All-State performers Sarah Sims McGrath and Zoe Shore, the girls team charged to a third-place finish at the 2015 state meet. But now McGrath and Shore, along with fellow top performer Emily DiMercurio, have graduated.

Their departures leave senior Isabel Caddo and freshman Holland Lidikay as the only returners from the team’s top six.

Last season, Caddo ran 18:54 and Lidikay ran 19:26 for the 5K distance. Zelwak said he expects sophomore Kristen Hopkins to join seniors Alyssa Gaston, Lily Pudlik and Mary Katherine Tedder as key contributors who can fill holes left by graduation.

“I believe in them, and I know what they can do, but that doesn’t mean anything on race day,” Zelwak said. “They have to believe it, and I really think that they can go out and really surprise some people.”

The Spain Park boys and girls cross-country teams kicked off the 2016 season at the Montevallo Early Bird Classic on Friday, Aug. 26.

Cole Dillard, pictured warming up for a summer training session at Veteran’s Park, is the top returner for the Spain Park High School boys cross-country team. Photo by Sam Chandler.

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • B19

Hoover Hurricanes go undefeated in Grand Slam World Series

Pictured left to right: (Back row) Drew Murkerson, Noah Smith, Dylan Hughes, Ian Johnigan, Camden Prothro, Weston Dow, Scott McFadden, Kevin Gray. (Front row) Carson McFadden, Camdyn Teague, Ian Campbell, Braydon Gerstenburg, Coleman Gray, Heath Teague, Josh Campbell. Photo courtesy of Cindy O’Dell.

The Hoover Hurricanes Cat-10 baseball team went 7-0 in the Grand Slam World Series this June in Panama City Beach, Florida. Fourteen teams from Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi came to compete in the Grand Slam World Series.

The Hurricanes captured two big wins during the pool play round. Their first game was against Georgia’s East Cobb Stars. The final score of 7-5 that featured a triple play from first baseman Weston Dow and hits from Camdyn Teague, Camden Prothro, Drew Murkerson, Dylan Hughes, Ian Campbell and Noah Smith The Canes’ second pool play game was a 9-7 final inning come-from-behind victory against Florida’s Lynn Haven Raptors. The Canes were led to victory with hits from Dylan Hughes, Noah Smith, Carson McFadden, Camden Prothro, Camdyn Teague and Weston Dow. The Hurricanes earned the third seed going into the double elimination tournament.

Dylan Hughes, Camdyn Teague and Drew Murkerson combined to throw 14 strikeouts in the first round tournament game that resulted in a 9-2 win against Georgia’s Team Demarini. Coleman Gray was solid behind the plate that proved to be a confidence builder for the pitchers throughout the tournament. Hit leaders for the game were Noah Smith, Dylan Hughes, Camden Prothro, Drew Murkerson, Ian Johnigan and Weston Dow. The Canes

followed up with a 9-5 win over the Louisiana Thibodaux Heat keeping the bats hot with hits recorded by Ian Johnigan, Drew Murkerson, Ian Campbell, Dylan Hughes and Noah Smith.

Advancing to the quarterfinals showcased an impressive complete game shutout thrown by Camdyn Teague to beat the Alabama Show Stoppers 5-0. Coleman Gray, Camdyn Teague, Noah Smith and Weston Dow all barreled up big hits for the Canes. The Canes returned later that night for a game that featured a gem of a semifinal that was won with an intense battle and an impressive complete game pitching performance from Dylan Hughes that brought the Canes victory over the No. 1-seeded Mississippi Golden Spikes 8-5.

That was complemented with the big bats of Ian Johnigan, Camden Prothro, Drew Murkerson, Dylan Hughes and Noah Smith all recording hits.

The World Series Championship Game was between two Alabama teams, the Hoover Hurricanes Cat-10 (6-0) and Husky Baseball Club (5-1-1) from Trussville, Alabama.

The Hurricanes fell behind early 7-0 but showed a champion spirit never giving up, and the Hurricanes’ bats ignited with all Hurricane players recording hits to beat Husky Baseball Club 18-9. Noah Smith led with a batting average for the entire tournament of .733. Hoover Hurricanes Cat-10 overall record for the 20152016 season was 30-15.

– Submitted by Hoover Hurricanes Cat-10.

Nichols pledges to South Alabama

By KYLE PARMLEY Caroline “Pepper” Nichols has decided on a college home, and will be reunited with her sister at the University of South Alabama.

“I was really happy to be able to commit to Coach (Becky) Clark and South Alabama,” Nichols said. “I love the campus and coaching staff and I am very excited to get the opportunity to play with my sister again.”

Her sister, MC, is currently at South Alabama, and by the time Caroline Nichols graduates from Hoover High School in 2018, they will be afforded the opportunity to play two seasons together in Mobile.

Work remains for her at Hoover, however.

As a sophomore in 2016, Nichols hit for a .361 average with a .404 on-base percentage, as the Bucs advanced to the Class 7A North Central Regional. She made the most of her 56 hits and 10 walks, as she scored 45 runs on the season.

“I am extremely proud of Pepper and all the hard work and dedication she puts into the game of softball,” said Lexi Shrout, Hoover’s head coach. “She will be a great fit at South Alabama. We are grateful to have her for another two seasons.”

Nichols also led Hoover with 30 stolen bases, a .436 average with runners in scoring position, and she led the team with 10 sacrifice bunts last year.

Caroline Nichols will join her sister, MC, at South Alabama. Photo by Kyle Parmley.

“I am very thankful for Coach Shrout and Coach (Kellie) Eubanks who helped me become a better player and person through the past two years and our AD, Andy Urban, who has done so much for our program,” she said.

B20 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

2016

INSIDE covenant classical SCHOOL & DAYCARE...............b20 shades mountain CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ...............b21 spring valley school ........B22 stonecreek montessori academy ..............................B22

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

The Altamont School ........B23

Covenant Classical Schools & Daycare

At Covenant Classical Schools & Daycare (CCS), we strive to maximize each child’s early school experience. Our teachers nurture and encourage our students, developing wellrounded individuals who are equipped to succeed at the next level.

We aim to enhance young minds through their academic abilities. Our studies go beyond the basics of reading, math and writing. Extended studies include arts and crafts, Bible, sign language, biblical character development and Spanish, to name a few. CCS also uses the A Beka Book curriculum, which is a comprehensive, quality curriculum written from a Christian perspective.

Alongside our academic standards, we offer security and encouragement to create a positive atmosphere that’s conducive to learning and growth. With songs and games, we make learning fun and memorable for little ones. We seek to show God’s love in our everyday interaction.

From Bible lessons to the meals we provide, your child is engaged and actively attuned to God’s creation and grace in the world around them.

We treasure the wisdom found in Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

As Christian parents and teachers, we realize that instilling good (biblical) character traits

KEY FACTS • • • •

GRADES: 6 weeks-kindergarten WHERE: 5390 Magnolia Trace CALL: 733-5437 WEB: covenantclassical.com

in our children while they are young is vital in preparing them for a successful future. The foundational aspects of character that we focus on are: respect, honesty, obedience and kindness. In addition to these four character traits, our teachers emphasize one character trait each week.

Covenant Classical Schools wants to assure our parents that their child will be placed in a room that is best suited for them (developmentally speaking, this encompasses their physical, emotional and social needs). At each stage, we provide classrooms that provide the specific nurturing and encouragement that children thrive in. CCS endeavors to create a community that serves and loves, and we invite you to experience the difference.

In addition to the current four locations in the Birmingham area, CCS will open a new Trussville location in November 2016.

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • B21

KEY FACTS • GRADES: K3-12 • WHERE: 2290 Old Tyler Road • CALL: 978-6001 • WEB: facebook.com/shades mountainchristianschool

SHADES MOUNTAIN CHRISTIAN school Shades Mountain Christian School is positioning itself for an exciting future of growth and expansion with the anticipated move to Riverchase Middle School.

2016 will be the last year “on the mountain” as SMCS plans to begin the 2017 school year in the new location.

SMCS announced during a schoolwide assembly Aug. 9 that it will become Heritage Christian Academy.

The new name pays tribute 40 years of history and is reflective of the school’s founder, the late Richard “Dick” Vigneulle, who often quoted Psalm 127:3: “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.”

SMCS has shared facilities with Shades Mountain Independent Church since its founding in 1974.

In 2012, SMCS separated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit and began the process of seeking a location in which to expand as a community, independent Christian school.

In 2015, the school board announced a purchase agreement with the city of Pelham to buy Riverchase Middle School, including 40 acres

surrounding the property.

WHO WE ARE

SMCS is comprised of a diverse community of families throughout the Birmingham metro area, and the new location will have ample room to serve up to 600 students in grades K3-12.

SMCS offers a unique combination of highly qualified faculty, rigorous academic programs, competitive athletics and a commitment to service which prepares students for college and beyond. The 2016 graduating class earned $1.6 million in scholarships and all graduates received a college preparatory diploma.

“We will have ample room to build on our rich heritage of pursuing excellence in academics, arts, and athletics which are all taught with a Christian worldview,” said Bill Vandiver, president of the SMCS board of directors.

Students at Shades Mountain Christian School have the opportunity to explore and develop their talents in academics, with Advanced Placement, honors and dual enrollment courses; arts, including choir, band and theater; and athletics, including multiple girls’

and boys’ sports.

SMCS students also give back to the community by voluntarily participating in a variety of charity events and collection efforts to raise money and supplies for those in need.

SMCS is fully accredited by AdvancEd, formerly known as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and is also a member of the Association of Christian Schools International. The faculty is comprised of committed Christians who hold degrees in their field of study and who feel called to serve in a Christian school environment.

Most are state certified in addition to being certified through the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), and approximately 50 percent hold master’s degrees.

WHAT WE SEEK

SMCS exists to equip and empower young champions for Christ — young men and women who will be change agents for the kingdom of God — through service to the entire Birmingham metropolitan area and the larger global community.

“

The new name will reflect our rich heritage in Christian education and allow us to continue our mission to equip students for life through academics and service to Christ.

Moving the school marks the beginning of a new chapter in our heritage, and will allow us to grow and expand our ministry.

”

SMCS HEADMASTER BRIAN WILLETT

“I am now a firm believer in the power of the mission field in our own backyard” said Joel Smith, SMCS board member.

SMCS seeks to be a community, Christian school committed to excellence and devoted to Christ. Building on our heritage in Christian education, Shades Mountain Christian School is poised to continue the legacy of developing inspired, transformed and mission-minded community leaders for the future.

Equipping students for life through academics and service to Christ Shades Mountain Christian School will become

Heritage Christian Academy and moving to our new location (currently Riverchase Middle School) Summer 2017 853 Willow Oak Drive, Birmingham, AL 35244

9 40+ years in Christian education 9 Grades K3-12 9 AdvancED Accredited 9 College Preparatory Program 9 15:1 Student/Teacher Ratio 9 AHSAA 1A & Youth Athletics 9 Fine Arts 9 Missions and Service Focus

Call 978-6001 for Admissions & Enrollment or email bethbuyck@smcs.org www.smcs.org

Orientation and Open House Sunday, October 2, 3:00 - 5:00 pm at our new location: Riverchase Middle School. 853 Willow Oak Drive, Birmingham, AL 35244

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

B22 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

SPRING VALLEY SCHOOL

STONECREEK MONTESSORI ACADEMY

Spring Valley School is an independent, nonsectarian school for students in grades 2-12 who struggle with dyslexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and other learning differences.

It is the only accredited school in central Alabama devoted to impacting the lives of children with learning disabilities, and it serves children from all over the Birmingham area and beyond.

Founded in 2000 by parents seeking better educational opportunities for their children, the school is a nonprofit organization governed by a board of directors.

The school recognizes that the learning processes of these students differ from that of their peers and that each student possesses unique academic needs. As a result, the school offers a multi-sensory (visual, auditory and tactile), language-based instructional program presented in small classes (between five and nine students).

Core beliefs include: ► A successful student sets academic goals and monitors progress in achieving them ► Students excel when they are actively involved in the learning process ► Students thrive when high expectations

When Director Melinda Bray co-founded Stonecreek Montessori Academy, she had a distinct vision based on her doctorate studies at Vanderbilt and her years of local and international experience.

Alabama’s only Montessori school that spans from toddlers to 12th grade, Stonecreek is a school where students find joy and purpose in their learning.

It is a small school by design, where each student is known, appreciated and loved, and where children can be intellectually challenged and their individual interests supported. Teachers encourage students to think creatively and critically and strive to build a community based on meaningful relationships.

An emphasis on problem-based, placebased and service-oriented learning means that students ask questions, research answers and discuss their real-world findings.

This process extends far beyond the classroom. Students have visited, for example, the Cahaba River to study its ecosystems, Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks to study the environment and history, and the United Nations headquarters in New York City to

KEY FACTS • • • •

GRADES: 2-12 WHERE: 2701 Sydney Drive CALL: 423-8660 WEB: springvalleyschool.org

are coupled with opportunities to achieve academic success ► The curriculum must incorporate a variety of teaching strategies to accommodate various learning styles ► Students become good citizens by contributing to their community through leadership and service.

Spring Valley School is accredited through AdvancED (formerly the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools). To learn more or to discuss admission, contact their administrative assistant at 423-8660 to set up an interview with the executive director and a tour of the school.

Spring Valley School thanks the many donors who helped make their dream of a new building a reality!

KEY FACTS • • • •

GRADES: Toddlers-12 WHERE: 159 Business Center Drive CALL: 500-0412 WEB: stonecreekmontessori.org

participate in the Model United Nations.

The results speak for themselves. Stonecreek students have won regional, state and national awards in writing, debate and science, with many in robotics.

Despite a lack of “teaching to the test,” nearly two-thirds of students perform at least two grade levels above their grade.

The school has celebrated two graduating classes, with 100 percent of graduates accepted into college, a median ACT score of 26 and average merit scholarships of over $17,000 per student.

Perhaps most importantly, Stonecreek students are simply happy to be at school.

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • B23

THE ALTAMONT school Altamont is more than a school where talented, smart individuals gather together to learn. It is a community of caring, like-minded leaders who come together with the common goal to inspire, educate and encourage one another to reach full potential.

At Altamont, we are preparing students to be good citizens; educating compassionate, curious, students; committed to producing wellrounded students; a rigorous school with strong core values; a family.

We will encourage and support our students’ interests; graduate mature, enlightened students who are prepared for their life and career; prepare the next generation to be critical thinkers; do everything in our power to see your child succeed.

We do this because we care; we believe in unending possibilities; we’re small, passionate and competitive; we believe in truth, knowledge and honor.

Each day at Altamont, we strive to improve the fabric of society by graduating compassionate, educated individuals capable of independent thinking and innovative ideas. That is never more important than in today’s changing and fast-paced world.

Preparing students for the world requires both balance and breadth, and this is where Altamont’s faculty stands out. No matter a student’s passion or strength, each one is nurtured and allowed to grow, mature and learn in a caring environment.

We are confident that our students are articulate, passionate and ethically aware young people who will make a difference in the world, hold themselves to a higher standard and lead trustworthy lives.

Altamont is a small family with socio-economic, ethnic and religious diversity, and our honor code is essential to the fulfillment of our mission. The school has an intensive college preparatory academic program with a

KEY FACTS • • • •

personalized college search program, including an annual college tour. And the school offers many opportunities for children to develop multiple talents by participating in arts, foreign language, leadership programs, community service, clubs, class projects, science competitions and sports — all at the same time.

We seek highly motivated students who crave greater breadth and challenge in all areas of school life. The school awards about $1 million in merit and need-based scholarships each year in order to attract the best, brightest and most diverse student body.

Altamont’s main campus is on 28 acres on

GRADES: 5-12 WHERE: 4801 Altamont Road S. CALL: 879-2006 WEB: altamontschool.org

the crest of Red Mountain just south of downtown Birmingham.

The main school building houses 40 classrooms, two science wings, a fine arts center, a student center, an art gallery and sculpture garden, a computer lab, a 14,000-volume library and special studios for chorus, art, photography and orchestra.

The athletic facilities include two gymnasiums with basketball and volleyball courts and a weight room. The main campus offers six tennis courts, a soccer field and a track. A second campus provides another gymnasium as well as soccer, baseball and softball fields.

Please join us for one of our Open Houses to learn more about our school, our students, our mission and what sets us apart.

Hoover Sun

B24 • September 2016 PORTERA

CONTINUED from page B1 That work has helped lead her team to the Birmingham CrossPlex and the state tournament each of the last three years, where the Bucs have watched Mountain Brook win the Class 7A crown the past two seasons.

Camper said Portera would be one of the team’s best setters, but doesn’t do that from her current position. She also has experience playing in the big moments, as she’s started every game dating back to her freshman year.

“All three years, she’s started, so she’s experienced it,” Camper said. “She’s been in the toughest situations.”

Now in her senior campaign, she is looking to break through for that state title, and admits there is a little pressure after getting so close in the past few years.

“It kind of makes me nervous,” she said. “In past years I’ve been worried about it … but this year, we’re all super close, and I think that as long as we have fun, we can go as far as we want to.”

That road was made a little tougher when all-star level setter and junior Jamie Gregg went down with a knee injury during the spring softball season. There are talented players ready to step up in her spot, but that experience and chemistry only comes by playing games.

Along with losing a player of that caliber, Gregg’s leadership skills are not lost on Portera, which made Gregg’s injury slightly unsettling for the senior. But in her absence, she has increased her leadership role that much more.

“I was a little worried. She was just as demanding as I was even though she was younger,” Portera said. “I’ve just given a little more to make sure they know that we mean business now that we have to step up, now that we’ve lost a player.”

It’s not just on the court where Portera makes her presence felt. In her mind, being a leader of the team begins before any games are played.

“It starts off the court, too,” she said.

“Making sure everyone wears what we’re supposed to wear. In workouts, making sure everybody goes as hard as they can. On the court,

As team captain, Portera’s job is to ensure the rest of the team is putting forth its best effort every day. Photo by Frank Couch.

making sure everybody gives everything, effort and energy.”

However far Portera is able to lead the Bucs this fall, her volleyball career will not end at Hoover. She has committed to play collegiately at Jacksonville State University for coach Terry Gamble.

“I really liked coach Gamble,” she said. “I like the school, and I’ve heard a lot of good things about it.”

Another advantage Jacksonville State had in its camp was the nursing program, the education path Portera plans to pursue.

Camper said he believes his star player will be in the mix for immediate playing time.

“They know right away she’s going to compete to play,” he said. “The thing about playing volleyball at that level is there is no substitute for skill. She’s going to walk in the door and pass as well as anyone they have on campus.”

Portera and Camper both agree she is prepared for the next level. Camper said everything throughout his program at Hoover is designed with college volleyball in mind. He made an example of why he altered Portera’s passing form when she was 14 or 15 years old.

“In college, everybody is an elite athlete.

They also have elite skill, and that’s what she can do,” Camper said.

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • B25

Hoover

2414 Northampton Drive

Real Estate Listings MLS #

Zip

Address

Status

Price

759555

35226

2414 Northampton Drive

New

$449,900

760022

35226

628 Flag Circle

New

$209,900

759953

35226

4245 Glasscott Crossing

New

$879,900

759826

35226

805 Mill Run Lane

New

$379,900

759746

35226

4825 Wood Springs Lane

New

$300,000

759730

35226

4941 Crystal Circle

New

$359,000

759687

35226

2717 Moselle Cove

New

$334,900

759545

35226

1136 Alford Avenue

New

$169,900

759493

35226

390 Laredo Drive

New

$265,000

759453

35226

121 Highland Crest Parkway

New

$199,900

759440

35226

253 Caliente Drive

New

$159,900

759427

35226

2301 Grand Avenue #217

New

$192,000

759423

35226

4033 Butler Springs Place

New

$875,000

759419

35226

529 Clearview Road

New

$164,900

759705

35226

2449 Old Briar Trail

New

$235,000

759400

35226

26 Shades Crest Road

New

$249,900

759394

35226

1132 Magnolia Run

New

$517,000

759366

35226

3921 Butler Springs Way

New

$599,900

759343

35226

270 ShefďŹ eld Court

New

$127,000

759337

35226

2594 Foothills Drive

New

$275,000

Real estate listings provided by the Birmingham Association of Realtors on Aug. 22.

Visit birminghamrealtors.com.

2449 Old Briar Trail

B26 • September 2016

Hoover Sun

Calendar Hoover Events Tuesday nights: Kids eat free at Vecchia Pizzeria & Mercato. 610 Preserve Parkway. (One child per adult). Visit vecchiabirmingham.com.

hooverchamber.org.

Sept. 8: Hoover Chamber Coffee & Contacts.

7:30-9 a.m. Inverness Apartment Homes. Visit hooverchamber.org.

Sept. 15: Hoover Chamber Luncheon. Hyatt Regency-The Wynfrey Hotel. 11:15 a.m. Networking, Noon Luncheon. Call 205-988-5672 or email lisa@ hooverchamber.org for reservations. Visit hooverchamber.org.

Sept. 14: Chamber Ambassador Meeting. 4:30 p.m. Hoover Chamber Office. Visitors welcome. Visit

Sept. 17: Members Only Guided Bird Walk. 8 a.m.

Aldridge Gardens. RSVP. Visit aldridgegardens.com

Stardome Comedy Club

Sept. 17: Preserve Jazz - Over the Mountain Music Festival. 11 a.m. Town Hall at the Preserve. $42 advanced, $50 day of show. Kids under 10, free. Visit mossrockmusic.tixclix.com.

Sept. 22: Business after Hours. 5 p.m.-7 p.m.

Expedia Cruise Ship Center, Lee Branch. Visit hooverchamber.org.

and Fall Festival. Town Hall at the Preserve. Free refreshments and activities for children. Registration fee $35. Visit thinkoflaura.org.

Sept. 24-25: Art in the Gardens. Aldridge Gardens. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. $5 entry fee, 16 and under, free. Visit Aldridgegardens.com.

Sept. 24: 7th Annual Head Over Teal 5K/10K

Hoover High School Football

Sept. 2: vs. Mountain Brook, 7 p.m.

Sept. 16: @ Tuscaloosa County, 7 p.m.

Sept. 9: vs. Spain Park, 7 p.m.

Sept. 30: @ Oak Mountain, 7 p.m.

Sept. 1-4: Steve Brown. 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. Saturday, 6:30 p.m. Sunday. $9.75 Thursday, $18.75 Friday-Sunday.

Hoover Public Library Events

Sept. 6-11: Gary Conrad. Tuesday-Friday, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 6:30 p.m. and 8:45 p.m., Sunday 6:30 p.m. $9.75 Tues/Wed/Thurs/ Sun; $16.50 Fri/Sat. Sept. 16-18: John Witherspoon. Friday, 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.; Saturday, 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.; Sunday, 6:30 p.m. $25 reserved/$20 VIP.

Kids Sept. 3: Spin-A-Story. 10:30 a.m. Under the Sea.

Sept. 20-22: Lady and the Trump. 7:30 p.m. Musical Comedy Show. $20, students 17 and under, $10.

Sept. 5: Library closed for Labor Day.

Sept. 21-25: James Davis. 7:30 p.m. Wed/Thurs/Fri/Sun, 6:30 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. Saturday. $9.75 Wed/Thurs/Sun. $16.50.

Sept. 6: Mother Goose. 9:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. A Trip to the Zoo.

Sept. 30-Oct. 2: Bruce Bruce. $31.50 reserved/$41.50 VIP. 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Friday, 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. Oct. 1, 6:30 p.m. Oct. 2.

Sept. 6: Early Birds. 10 a.m. Fly Away Baby!

Sept. 7: Rockin’ Tots. 9:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. Animal Fair.

Sept. 12: Together with Twos. 9:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. Cool Cats.

Sept. 8: ExploraStory. 10:30 a.m. Ocean Commotion.

Sept. 12: Story Lab. 4 p.m. Wheeled Wonders. Ages 3-8.

Sept. 8: PJ Storytime. 6:30 p.m. A Horse of Course!

Sept. 12: Reader’s Café. 6:30 p.m.

Upper elementary book club.

Sept. 11: Young Artists Reception. 3 p.m.

Sept. 13: Mother Goose. 9:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. Sittin’ with Kittens.

HooverSun.com

September 2016 • B27

Sept. 13: Early Birds. 10 a.m. Squeaky Clean.

Sept. 13: Raging Readers. 6:30 p.m. Middle school book club.

Sept. 14: Rockin’ Tots. 9:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.

Teddy Bear Time.

Sept. 14: Homeschool Hub. 2 p.m. Library Skills 101.

Sept. 15: ExploraStory. 10:30 a.m. Space Race.

Sept. 15: PJ Storytime. 6:30 p.m. Baby Bonanza.

Sept. 16: Movers and Shakers. 11 a.m. Head to Toe. Sept. 17: Aaargh! Back to Pirate School. 10:30 a.m. All ages.

Sept. 19: Together with Twos. 9:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. Flipping Frogs.

Sept. 19: Story Lab. 4 p.m. Sssssnakes! Ages 3-8.

Sept. 20: Mother Goose. 9:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.

Puppy Pals.

Sept. 20: Early Birds. 10 a.m. Vroom, Vroom!

Sept. 20: Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead: Art. 4 p.m.

Puppetry workshop. Ages 5-11.

Sept. 21: Rockin’ Tots. 9:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. A World of Colors.

Sept. 22: ExploraStory. 10:30 a.m. Senses Celebration.

Sept. 22: PJ Storytime. 6:30 p.m. All Dressed Up. Sept. 23: Tween Scene: Iron Chef. 4 p.m. Ages 10-13.

Sept. 24: Crafty Characters. 10:30 a.m. Johnny Appleseed.

Sept. 26: Together with Twos. 9:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. Fantastic Fish.

Sept. 26: Story Lab. 4 p.m. Hair-raising Fun. Ages 3-8.

Sept. 27: Mother Goose. 9:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.

Color My World.

Sept. 27: Early Birds. 10 a.m. Baby Loves Bugs.

Sept. 28: Rockin’ Tots. 9:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.

Hot Diggity Dog. Sept. 29: ExploraStory. 10:30 a.m. Senses Celebration.

Sept. 29: PJ Storytime. 6:30 p.m. Crazy About Construction.

Sept. 30: Movers and Shakers. 11 a.m. Rainbow Romp!

Teens Sept. 27: ¡¡¡HOLA!!! Spanish Conversations for Teens. 6:30 p.m. All fluency levels are welcome at this free event. Grades 9-12.

Adults Tuesdays, September 13-27: Adult English Classes. 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Training Center. Free basic or intermediate English classes.

Sept. 1: First Thursday Fiction Book Group. 10 a.m. Adult Program Room. Discussing The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.

Sept. 3: How to Find Grants. 10:30 a.m. Training Center. Learn how to use the Foundation Center Co-

operative database to find grants for nonprofits and individuals. Also Sept. 4 at 2:30 p.m. Reservations required.

Sept. 8: Second Thursday Fiction Book Group.

10 a.m. Adult Program Room. Discussing After I’m Gone by Laura Lippman.

Sept. 8: Hiroya Tsukamoto. 6:30 p.m. Library Plaza. Japanese guitarist and singer performs original acoustic music and Japanese folk songs.

Sept. 9: All Day Color & Chill. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. choose a picture page and let the colors flow as you chat and unwind. Adults and teens. Free.

Sept. 10: Purl @ the Plaza. 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Library Plaza. Autumn knitting. Bring your projects and make new friends.

Sept. 12: Friends of the Hoover Library: Bicycling the East Coast from Key West to Canada. 10 a.m.

Library Plaza. Refreshments at 9:45 a.m.

Sept. 12: Helping Hands. 3 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Adult Program Room. Make newspaper rolls for a local humane society. Teens and adults.

Sept. 13: Daytime Nonfiction Book Group. 10:30 a.m. Adult Program Room. Discussing In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette by Hampton Sides.

Sept. 13: Spanish Conversation Club. 7 p.m.

Library Plaza. Practice your Spanish and celebrate the culture.

Sept. 18: James Mullis. 2:30 p.m. Library Plaza.

Birmingham based singer/songwriter blends modern day folk with soft blues.

Sept. 20: Glue Gun Gang: Felt Feathered Owls.

6:30 p.m. Adult Program Room. Adults only. Free.

Reservations required.

Sept. 20: French Conversation Club. 7 p.m.

Library Plaza. Practice your French and celebrate the culture.

Sept. 21: No Jacket Required Nonfiction Book Group. 10:30 a.m. Adult Program Room. This month’s genre: Banned Books.

Sept. 22: Glue Gun Gang: Felt Feathered Owls.

10:30 a.m. Adult Program Room. Adults only.

Reservation required.

Sept. 22: Nighttime Nonfiction Book Group. 7 p.m. Allen Board Room. Discussing Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can’t Get a Date by Robert X. Cringley.

Sept. 23: After Hours @ the Plaza: Game Nite. 7 p.m. Library Plaza. Put your game face on and team up with your fellow gamers.

Sept. 23: Color & Chill at Game Nite. 7 p.m.

Library Plaza. Take a break between games and join us for a pop-up edition of our popular adult coloring page event. Free. 444-7840.

Sept. 24: Write Club. 10:30 a.m. Adult Program Room. Share and network with other aspiring writers.

Sept. 26: Neuroscience Cafe. 6:30 p.m. Youth Program Room. Presented by the UAB Comprehensive Neuroscience Center. Advances in Huntington’s Disease. Free.

Sept. 29: Banned Books Week. 12 p.m. Library Plaza. Dr. William Hutchings from the UAB Department of English talks about the most famous banned and challenged books.

Sept. 29: English Conversation Club. 6:30 p.m.

Library Plaza. Informal English practice for speakers of other languages.

Area Events Sept. 12: BAO Bingo. Birmingham AIDS Outreach.

7 p.m. $15 for 5 games. Visit birminghamaidsoutreach.org.

Sept. 25: Birmingham Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

Railroad Park. 3 p.m. Free and open to the public.

Visit act.alz.org.

Sept. 25: 25th Annual Magic City AIDS Walk.

Railroad Park. 4:30 p.m. Free. Visit birminghamaidsoutreach.org.

Sept. 29-Oct. 2: Southern Women’s Show.

BJCC Exhibition Halls. Fashion shows, celebrity appearances, food sampling and more. 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. $8 advance, $10 at the door. Visit southernshows.com.