Hoover Sun June 2018 by Starnes Media

Sun VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 9 | JUNE 2018

HOOVER’S COMMUNITY NEWS SOURCE

HOT ROD POWER TOUR:

CRUISIN’ INTO TOWN By JON ANDERSON

eople who love hot rods, street rods, custom trucks, muscle cars and other high-performance vehicles or classic cars are in for a treat in June, when the Hot Rod Power Tour returns to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. Thousands of vehicles are expected to roll into the stadium parking lot on June 11 and be on display for the public to see for free. Hoover is the third stop on a seven-day, 1,300mile tour that begins June 9 at the Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and winds its way through six Southern states before ending at the zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina, on June 15. Other stops along the way include: Chattanooga,

Scenes from the 2015 Hot Rod Power Tour, the last time the show was in Hoover. Photos courtesy of Lance Shores/city of Hoover.

See CRUISIN’ | page A30

INSIDE Sponsors ......... A4 News ..................A6 Business ......... A12 Chamber ........ A14 Events ............ A22

Exploring Boundaries

Community .......B8 School House . B10 Sports .............. B16 Metro Roundup.B22 Calendar ..........B26

Residents urged to be mindful of guidelines as recycling issues rise By SYDNEY CROMWELL

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

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Hoover resident Lorraine Singh finds her art niche in marbling.

See page B1

Each week, the contents of 50 to 60 Hoover recycling bins get dumped in the trash instead of into Santek Waste Services’ recycling trucks, City Administrator Allan Rice said. Out of 26,000 households that Santek provides recycling pickup to in Hoover, these bins are considered too contaminated — either with unrecyclable items or with food and materials that can ruin products like cardboard or paper — to deliver to the Birmingham Recycling and Recovery Center (BRR) downtown, which processes goods from 25 Birmingham municipalities to be sold and reused, Santek General Manager Sam Dillender said. The BRR charges recycling providers for the level of contamination in loads they deliver, BRR

See RECYCLING | page A28

A Birmingham Recycling and Recovery worker pulls plastic bags from a conveyor belt of plastics. Despite their material, bags are not recyclable and can halt recycling production if they get caught in the machines. Photo by Sarah Finnegan.

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About Us Editor’s Note By Sydney Cromwell In my head, my dad and motorcycles have always been two sides of the same coin. He raced dirt bikes when he was young and is known to make a second loop around the parking lot to get another look at a nice motorcycle anywhere he goes. So, as a young child, of course I had a motorcycle, too. You could find me on my little pink Y amaha dirt bike, head bobbling in a slightly oversized helmet as I cruised through our backyard or nearby fields. My favorite was going over “ whoop-de-doos” — in reality, they were probably j ust little dirt mounds, but Dad always treated them like j umps on my own personal track. Usually when I would ride, Dad kept training wheels on my bike and a long rope attached to the tail so he could prevent anything catastrophic from happening. When I was roughly 6 or 7, he stopped me in the backyard to “ look

at something” on the back end of my bike. I wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing, focused impatiently on returning to zipping around in a circle. When he stepped away, I carried on riding like normal, not even noticing until later that he had taken off both the wheels and the rope. Without realizing

it, I was riding all on my own. Had he told me the training wheels were gone, I probably would have gotten nervous and crashed almost immediately. Instead, he knew I was ready and q uietly took away the supports so that when I realized they were gone, I was already succeeding on my own. Not all of the things Dad taught me have stuck over the years — sorry Dad, I still can’t change my own oil — but that’s one of the memories I fondly remember: my father guiding me, but letting me teach myself to be strong and brave. Happy F ather’s Day.

PHOTO OF THE MONTH Richard Ujueta (7) moves in to slide tackle Pirman Blattman (6) during a Class A first round playoff match between Hoover and Mountain Brook May 1 at Mountain Brook High School. Photo by Sarah Finnegan.

Sun Publisher: Managing Editor: Design Editor: Director of Photography: Community Editors: Sports Editor: Digital Editor: Page Designer: Community Reporters:

Dan Starnes Sydney Cromwell Kristin Williams Sarah Finnegan Erica Techo Lexi Coon Emily Featherston Kyle Parmley Alyx Chandler Melanie Viering Jon Anderson Jesse Chambers

Contributing Writers: Chris Megginson Gary Lloyd

Advertising Manager: Matthew Allen Account Manager: Layton Dudley Sales and Distribution: Warren Caldwell Don Harris Michelle Salem Haynes Rhonda Smith

James Plunkett Eric Clements Vicky Hager Heather Anthony Ethan Currier

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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City Hoover Met Complex had $3.6 million impact in first quarter 2018 By JON ANDERSON Events at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex had a $ 3.6 million economic im act in t e first uarter of this year, complex managers told the oover ity ouncil recently. at includes million in direct s ending by visitors on t ings suc as lodging, food and gasoline and $ 600,000 in indirect economic benefits, said o n Mc onald, a vice president with Sports F acilities Management M , w ic runs t e com le for t e city. ose estimates, calculated by the Birmingham Convention and isitors ureau, were based on t e number of visitors w o attended four events in anuary, two in ebruary and five in Marc , Mc onald said. The biggest draws were volleyball tournaments at t e , s uare foot inley enter, w ic tend to attract a lot of family members, e said. verall direct revenue for t e oover Metro olitan om le for t e first si mont s of fiscal ctober t roug t e end of Marc was , , Mc onald said. at was , less than was expected in the comle budget, li ely due to delays in t e o ening of a climbing wall in t e lobby of t e inley enter and a lanned s orts erformance facility to be operated by the Alabama orts oundation, e said. otal e enses were about , , com ared to about

he oover et Jon Anderson.

omple had an estimated

, in budgeted e enses. e end result was a loss of about , instead of t e , loss t at ad been ro ected for t e si month period. ason lement, t e and co founder of M, said is comany remains o timistic about t e future of t e com le and is companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to improve the bottom line, increase the economic im act of t e com le and rovide recreational o ortunities for

. million economic impact in the first uarter of

Hoover residents. nstallation of t e climbing wall at t e inley enter s ould begin after t e aseball ournament, w ic is May , and s ould be com lete by t is summer, Mc onald said. nd M is close to finali ing its contract with the Alabama Sports oundation for t e , s uare foot s orts erformance, training, re ab and education center, e said. lus, good rogress is being made on t e outdoor s orts com le t at is

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under construction, Mc onald said. e first of five baseball softball fields will be ready in time for use as a batting ractice facility for t e aseball ournament, and t e ot er four baseball softball fields are on sc edule to o en in ugust, said Corey Collier, the proj ect manager for t e rasfield orrie construction com any andling t e wor . ite wor is well under way for t e five field com le for soccer, football, lacrosse and rugby and

t e court tennis com le , ollier said. oundation wor for t e soccer football fields s ould start in about two wee s, and t at com le s ould be done by anuary, e said. onstruction on t e tennis com le s ould start in uly and be done by anuary as well, e said. Monty ones, general manager of the Hoover Metropolitan Complex, said boo ing for t e com le is gaining momentum. ere are more events already boo ed for t e rest of t is year, including bas etball, baseball and softball tournaments, four more gun shows, a cheer competition, two food s ows, a irming am ssociation of ealtors summit, erwin Williams Expo, Alabama Apartment Association trade show and t e unior eague of irming am s Mar et oel. egotiations continue for additional events, ones said. e com le also continues to get a lot of use by oover residents, including , ours of local use from ctober t roug Marc , ones said. Most of t at is Mondays t roug ursdays because t e facility ty ically is boo ed on t e wee ends, he said. Clement said his company is starting a scholarship program to rovide sc olars i s for oover c ildren w o can t afford to articipate in activities at the complex and is as ing com anies and individuals to donate to that program. SF M is roviding , in seed money for scholarships, he said.

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June 2018 • A7

Mayor’s Minute

By Frank V. Brocato I am thrilled that our ecoon this proj ect. nomic developer Greg KnighHaving more walkable ton has been meeting with communities where people developers, commercial proplive, work, play and shop erty owners and businesses will be a critical component to retaining and attracting on behalf of Hoover’s ecoindustries that are important nomic development efforts. We are working to diversify to our economic development our economy. By virtue of its efforts. We want to make q uality of life and educated sure our community offers workforce, Hoover has the the attributes that highly ability to grow, attract and skilled workers desire in their retain well-paying j obs in communities. high-growth industry secHoover is a very diverse tors — particularly those that community. Even as exciting Frank V. Brocato create STEM-related j obs. new residential areas come We have recently appointed an Industrial online, one can drive through our older, estabDevelopment Board that is comprised of lis ed neig bor oods and find t em being Hoover residents that are key leaders from infused with remodeling proj ects, new landdiverse industry sectors in the metro area. scaping and other proj ects. Among other things, the board members will Hoover is home to almost 90,000 people use their experience to help the city develop and we stress the importance of q uality of life. business opportunities as well as identify suit- We work hard to offer our residents the very able real estate locations. best living experience a community can offer. This summer we are going to present the We have many activities and events going on new comprehensive plan, which is a guide in our city this summer. Please be sure to visit for the city’s development over the next 20 our website for a complete list of events at years. The plan will cover Hoover’s built, hooveralabama.gov or call 444-7 500. natural and social environments and address emember, your elected officials and city our position in the metro area. This plan aims staff are here to serve you so please don’t hesat preserving neighborhood character, devel- itate to contact our office. opment strategies for remaining undeveloped areas and redevelopment efforts along some of Hoover’s older commercial corridors. Our City Planner Mac Martin is working diligently

A retired oover school bus has been retrofitted for use in a summer feeding program for children and is being decorated on the outside with a wrap made by e t evel raphics. Photo courtesy of Hoover City Schools.

Hoover schools, library offer free lunches for kids this summer By JON ANDERSON The Hoover school system is partnering with the Hoover Public L ibrary to offer free lunches for children on weekdays this summer. Any child age 18 or younger can come to the Hoover Public L ibrary between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Monday through F riday (June 4-July 27 ) and receive a lunch with a sandwich (or pizza slice), vegetable, fruit and milk, said Melinda Bonner, the child nutrition program director for Hoover City Schools. t s t e first time t e sc ool system as offered free lunches during the summer, Bonner said. “ It’s not going to be a cold sandwich every day,” she said. “ One day it may be a hamburger or a chicken sandwich.” The lunches will be prepared at Rocky Ridge Elementary School and taken to the Hoover Public L ibrary on a bus that has been retrofitted for t e c ild nutrition rogram, s e said. Some lunches will be served directly from the bus, and others will be served inside the library. “ The only caveat is that they have to eat it

right there,” Bonner said. The summer feeding program is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National School L unch Program, and most costs are being reimbursed by that program, she said. The federal government wants to ensure that children are actually the ones getting the food, she said. There are a few ancillary costs being covered by t e oover el s non rofit organization and businesses, Bonner said. That includes a decorative wrap with pictures of food that is being put on the outside of the school bus, she said. The bus itself is a 2002 model that was being retired, she said. The Hoover Public L ibrary was chosen as the food distribution point because it is in the census tract with a high enough percentage of students q ualifying for free or reduced-price meals, Bonner said. c ool officials aren t sure ow many c ildren to expect but are planning for about 250 er day, s e said. o identification is re uired, and children do not have to be enrolled in Hoover schools or sign anything to receive the lunches.

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Council to consider mixed use development with 44 apartments Rime Construction Co. is asking the city of Hoover to rezone about 11 acres in International Park from planned office use to planned commercial use and to allow for commercial development on the first oor of a three story building and 44 apartments on the second and third oors. Map courtesy of city of Hoover.

By JON ANDERSON The Hoover City Council on June 18 will consider a req uest to rezone about 11 acres in International Park to accommodate a mixeduse apartment and commercial development. Rime Construction Co. is seeking permission to construct a building with 60,000 to 7 0,000 sq uare feet off Acton Road with 44 apartments on t e to two oors and commercial businesses on t e bottom oor, owner Irving Meisler said. The entrance would be j ust south of the BeKare Child Development Center, and the apartments would be “ high-end” and have only one or two bedrooms, Meisler said. He believes it is an ideal site for such a development because of the close proximity to Interstate 459 and Interstate 65, Grandview Medical enter and medical offices in t e area, he said. He envisions restaurants and offices in t e commercial s ace on t e first oor, and t e a artments would have enclosed, air-conditioned corridors and a state-of-theart security system, he said. To move forward with the development, Rime Construction needs the property rezoned from planned office use to lanned commercial use, as well as conditional use approval for mixed use development with apartments on the top two oors of t e building. The Planning and Z oning Commission on May 14 voted 7 -0 to recommend the City Council approve the rezoning. Councilman Mike Shaw, who also sits on the Planning and Z oning

Commission, said he knows some people have obj ections to any new apartments, but “ we’re not talking about a big apartment complex.” This is an apartment development designed to work in conj unction with commercial space and the ad acent lass office s ace, aw said. Hoover is trying to compete with other areas that are gaining these types of developments, such as downtown Birmingham, he said. A good example is the Pizitz food hall and The F orge shared workspace business incubator, which have apartments above them, Shaw said. “ That makes for an interesting

synergy,” he said. “ This is different than anything we have that I’m aware of.” However, Shaw said he is not sure how he will vote on this when it gets to the council. The council as a whole needs to decide if this is the type of development it wants to see , and e wants to find out more about how it would impact Hoover schools, he said. aw said t e city definitely needs to make sure people understand what “ mixed use” means and that it includes a residential component. Meisler said his company owns an adj acent lot to the southwest that also is in International Park that he

later e ects to develo for office use. There likely will be a connection between the two lots so that traffic from t e a artment develo ment can reach International Park Drive and have two ways to reach Acton Road, he said. e first entrance near e are Child Development Center will not create enoug traffic to merit a traffic signal, e said. owever, t e lan does call for a sidewalk along Acton Road that connects with International Park Drive. If the rezoning req uest is approved by the City Council, Meisler said his company would immediately begin wor on final drawings. e would

like to have the development ready to open by next summer, he said. The Hoover City Council also on June 18 will consider a req uest to rezone 2.4 acres in Trace Crossings at the end of F eldspar Way from planned single-family use to planned industrial use. The property originally was zoned for planned industrial use but was rezoned for single-family use in June of last year. Hoover City Administrator Allan Rice said city officials originally thought they needed the property for the Hoover Metropolitan Complex expansion but later determined they did not, so it remained with Signature Homes.

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June 2018 • A9

Express Oil CEO touts power of prayer at mayor’s breakfast By JON ANDERSON The CEO of Express Oil Change Tire Engineers talked about the power of prayer with about 48 0 people at the 2018 Hoover Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast on May 8. Ricky Brooks, the head of the Hoover-based business with about 8 00 locations across the country, told the crowd at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel that prayer has played a tremendous role in his life. Many people say their faith walk is the result of the prayers of parents or grandparents, and he is one of them, he said. “ My mother prayed with me every single day,” he said. “ We prayed every night until I went to college at age 17.” Then, he drifted away from prayer and got started in business with the misguided goal of wanting to be a millionaire by the time he was 30, e said. is first ob was manager of a Bonanza Sirloin Pit and then he became the youngest franchisee for Sonic Drive-In restaurants in the 1970s . He had success in business and a nice income but felt empty inside, he said. “ No level of success we could experience will provide an answer to that loneliness other than a relationship with God,” Brooks said. He had partners and business associates in his Sonic franchises who were Christians, and long talks with them and 18 months of studying cri ture finally led im to a lace where he was ready to change his life and return to his faith at the age of 27, he said. &

Ricky Brooks, CEO of Express Oil Change & Tire Engineers, delivers the keynote address at the 2018 oover ayor s rayer Breakfast at the yatt Regency Birmingham he ynfrey otel in oover on 8. Photo by Jon Anderson.

He then went into the investments and insurance industry from 198 0 and moved from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham. It was during that time that the L ord humbled him as he went through all his money and the equi ty in his house and developed a pile of debt, he said. “ That time was used to teach me to trust [ God] and to trust in the power of prayer,” he said. Brooks and a partner, Joe Watson, o ened t eir first ress il franchise in 198 8 and by 1995 had

expanded to 14 franchise stores, which were more stores than the founder of the company owned. They bought out the founder in 1996 and immediately had 25 of the 48 Express Oil Change stores under their control. In 2013, Express Oil bought Tire Engineers and began merging the two business models to create onestop auto service shops. Additional acq uisitions of tire businesses grew the company to about 400 stores and increased sales revenues from $ 30 million in 1996 to more than $ 525

million in 2017. The company has had 22 years of record sales and rofits years of same-store sales growth except for one uarter and average store sales that are 30 percent higher than their industry average, he said. In March, Express Oil & Tire Engineers merged with the New Y ork-based Mavis Discount Tire, which had more than 400 stores. This year, the combined company ‘ s more than 800 stores will have sales of $1.3 bi llion, Brooks said.

All of that is a testament to answered prayer and the grace and blessing of God, Brooks said. Throughout the years, he and other managers have tried to build their business on Christian principles of integrity, honesty, loyalty and treating others how you want to be treated, he said, and he feels God has blessed that effort. He has also had answered prayers in his personal life, he said, including a wonderful wife of 29 years and guidance through a son’s leukemia diagnosis four years ago, he said. Though their son at one time was given a 20 percent chance to live, he now is in full remission after going through chemotherapy, radiation and a stem cell transplant and is competing regionally in weightlifting and endurance competitions, he said. Brooks said he, his family and business associates are grateful for the blessings that God has provided and encouraged the crowd to remember the power of prayer. He encouraged them to pray for the city, its leaders, employees, businesses and families. roo s oined t ree ministers in praying with the crowd, including the Rev. Christopher DeGreen from Christ the King L utheran Church, the Rev. Phil Reddick from Briarwood Presbyterian Church and the Rev. Nancy Harper from Riverchase United Methodist Church. ABC 33/ 40 news anchor Christopher Sign served as master of ceremonies for the breakfast, which was organized by the Hoover Beautification Board. Hoover police fficer teven asterling sang t e national anthem.

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Brocato joins over-the-mountain mayors in Freedom from Addiction Coalition By SYDNEY CROMWELL There were 269 drug overdose deaths in Jefferson County in 2017 , including 11 in Hoover. The mayors of four over-the-mountain cities have created a new coalition to increase awareness of drug abuse and addiction resources. “ It’s really a very tough situation for our entire country,” Hoover Mayor F rank Brocato said of drug addiction. The F reedom from Addiction Coalition is the creation of Brocato and the mayors of V estavia Hills, Mountain Brook and Homewood. Brocato said the idea came up during a q uarterly meeting between the mayors roughly a year ago. The recent statistics from the Jefferson ounty oroner s ffice and oover Police Department of overdose deaths, as well as a 67 percent rise in drug cases in Hoover from to , confirm t e need for additional action to prevent and treat addiction. Marij uana was the most common drug found on people arrested in Hoover in 2017 , but the city also saw 57 heroin and fentanyl overdoses last year, 11 of which resulted in deaths. “ I think a lot of people look at over the mountain as middle class communities that maybe don’t have those types of problems, but in reality they are very much problems in all four of our cities,” Brocato said. Brocato said the Coalition is centered on awareness of the signs of addiction and providing resources for people who want help for themselves or a friend or family member to get clean. The organization has connected with the Addiction Prevention Coalition, the Alabama Teen Challenge and Help the Hills in V estavia, but Brocato said he’d like to see it grow to work with more addiction agencies and perhaps set up a hotline in the future to connect people with the help they need. “ We want to help get the word out about those agencies and j ust do what we can in our communities,” Brocato said, adding that

he doesn’t think there’s such a thing as “ too much” action to address the rising number of drug addiction and overdose cases that Hoover faces. “ We don’t think we can be too vocal,” he said. e oalition eld its first event, a ommunity Awareness Breakfast, on March 13. The event included local resources for treating and preventing addiction, as well as speakers Mike and Deborah Bailey, who lost their 20-yearold daughter Ashlynn to an overdose in 2016. is first oalition event was met wit a standing room-only crowd, and the city of Mountain Brook intends to host a similar breakfast on June 12. Brocato said Hoover will also host an event in the future, though that date has not been selected. Curry said he wants to combine the Coalition’s awareness efforts with more

Above: Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato, far right, stands with over-themountain mayors at the March 13 Community Awareness Breakfast. Left: Deborah and Mike Bailey discuss their daughter s struggle with addiction. Photos by Emily Featherston.

resources and city protocols to help addicts who reach out for assistance in overcoming their addiction.

L earn more about local efforts to prevent opioid abuse at addictionprevention coalition.org.

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June 2018 • A11

Dept. of Energy sees Reynolds Landing power system as model for future By JON ANDERSON Alabama Power publicly unveiled in May an innovative power system that is providing electricity for the new Reynolds L anding “ smart neighborhood” in Ross Bridge. It’s a power system called a microgrid that, though attached to the power company’s main electrical system, is capable of functioning inde endently of it. t is t e first microgrid in the Southeast to support an entire residential community, according to Alabama Power. One of the key elements of the microgrid serving the 62 homes in Reynolds L anding is a 3-acre solar anel field t at is ca able of roducing 600,000 kilowatt hours of power annually, said Jim L everette, a research engineer with Southern Co., Alabama Power’s parent company. That should be enough to serve all the electricity needs of the neighborhood, depending on their usage patterns, he said. The Reynolds L anding microgrid, located less than a mile away on a 14-acre parcel owned by Alabama Power off Shannon-Oxmoor Road, also includes a lithium ion battery bank and a natural gas-driven generator, L everette said. Since the microgrid started functioning at the beginning of the year, Alabama Power has been alternating the types of power used to serve the neighborhood, he said. At times, the entire neighborhood has been powered solely by the battery bank or solely by the natural gas-powered generator, but not yet solely by the solar panels, L everette said. At other times, the neighborhood was powered by combinations of the

A acre solar panel field is part of an innovative microgrid power system being used to provide electricity to the Reynolds anding neighborhood in the Ross Bridge community in oover. Photo by Jon Anderson.

various power sources, sometimes using two power sources and sometimes three, he said. The microgrid is capable of producing about 1 megawatt of power if all three on-site power sources are being utilized, he said. The neighborhood also is connected to Alabama Power’s regular power grid if it is needed, L everette said. Representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy visited the site on May 8 and said they are excited about this proj ect because they see it as model for what the future could look like, and they look forward to studying how well it works.

Alabama Power is gathering data about the microgrid and the power usage of homes in Reynolds L anding over the next two years to provide insight into how neighborhoods of the future could function. The company plans to use the information to develop new programs, services and advanced energy solutions. The proj ect is part of a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National L aboratory and the Electric Power Research Institute. Also, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced that the Reynolds anding microgrid is t e first ro ect in its Global Energy Institute’s

energy innovation campaign, which highlights the most innovative technology developments in the nation, said John Hudson, Alabama Power’s senior vice president of marketing and business development. “ We know that this neighborhood represents a great leap forward in serving our customers and providing energy in ways to improve people’s lives like we’ve never done before,” Hudson said. The Reynolds L anding “ smart neighborhood” also features homes that are rated 35 percent more energy efficient t an standard labama homes being built today, Alabama Power said.

The homes, built by Signature Homes, include thicker walls with more insulation, triple-pane windows and a radiant barrier roof t at re ects radiant eat instead of absorbing it, reducing cooling costs. ll t e ouses feature energy efficient appliances, heat pumps and water heaters and are eq uipped with “ smart home” technology that allows homeowners to control multiple features while away from home. Daniel Simmons, the U.S. Department of Energy’s principal deputy assistant secretary of energy efficiency and renewable energy, said this proj ect helps build on a tradition of technical excellence and build innovative solutions to save residents money wit out sacrificing comfort and security in their homes. Simmons said he is accustomed to seeing this kind of technology in the laboratory, but what’s great about this proj ect is that it takes that technology and science from national labs and puts it into real families’ lives to see how well it works. Christine Harbin, the senior advisor for external affairs in the U.S. e artment of nergy s ffice of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, said the government also looks at this proj ect as a model for investment in microgrid technology. It could be a game-changer for parts of the country impacted by hurricanes and other natural disasters, Harbin said. “ This technology will help households and businesses keep operating if t e larger grid goes of ine, s e said. F or more information about the Reynolds L anding “ smart neighborhood,” go to smartneighbor.com.

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HooverSun.com

June 2018 • A13

Now Open 1 open. 502743, h

H w y 5 Burgers Sh ak es & F ries, 3230 Riverchase Galleria, Suite 101, is now w y55.c

Anytime F itness, 5529 Grove Blvd., is now open at The Grove in Hoover. 848-7350, anytimefitness.com

South ern H earing Associates DBA Miracle Ear, 28 01 John Hawkins Parkway Suite 125, is now open. 2087963, m iracle- ear.c om/ locations/ h oove r- al

T h e Lee Branch F armers Mark et — located at The V illages at L ee Branch, in

front of the Carmike Theatre and Urban Home — has reopened for 2018. The open-air, rain or s ine labama certified farmers mar et is o en every Saturday, 8 a.m. to noon, through Sept. 29. th emark etp laceatleebranch .c om

Jak e' s Ex p ress, 307 5 John Hawkins Parkway, Suite D, is now open. L ocated adj acent to Jake' s Soul F ood Kitchen, Jake' s Express is offering their food for people on the go. 4386340

dear p rudence, 181 Main St., Suite 105, is now open. Dear Prudence specializes in fun, on trend fashion, j ewelry and gifts. 4077523, d earp rudence.c om

Coming Soon J & C Seafood, 1944 Hoover Court, is currently renovating the former Outback Steakhouse for their new restaurant. 518569

T aco Mama is o ening its fift irmingham area location at 6801 Cahaba V alley Road, Suite 124, in the Cadence Place shopping center. tacomamaonline.c om

G uadalaj ara G rill, 347 0 Galleria Circle, is opening soon in the former California Pizza Kitchen space. 917086

Wasabi Juan’ s will open a new location in late May or early June in the Inverness Heights Market, 5037 U.S. 280. This will be their second location in Hoover and third overall. w asabij uan.c om

ALDI has announced it will build a new store in the new Stadium Trace V illage development at the corner of Alabama 150 and Interstate 459. aldi.u s

Relocations and Renovations P aul Davi s Emergency Servi ces, which was previously operating out of a residential ome office, is now located at usiness Center Drive. 42863, s outh - birmingh am.p auldavi s.c om

Cach é Salon has moved to another location in the L ee Branch Shopping Center. It is now at 701 D oug Baker Blvd., Suite 107A . 38068

P erry Warren, an insurance and financial services agent with F armers Insurance, as relocated is office to reystone ommercial lvd., uite . is office was formerly located at 5511 U.S. 280, S uite 305. 7 3 9 - 2 5 8 0 , agents. farmers. com/ al/ birmingh am/ p erry- w arren

H oov er T oyota, 268 6 John Hawkins Parkway, held a private grand opening on April 24 to celebrate their redesigned facility. 978260, h oove rtoyota.c om

T rueCoders, a technology business that teaches coding, has relocated from Birming am to oover, ata ffice rive, Suite 235. The new location gives them more than twice the amount of space they had previously. 5308946, t ruecoders.i o

News and Accomplishments O Sush i Ex p ress, 307 6 John Hawkins Parkway, has changed their name to Komé Japanese Cuisine. 02-5 721, k omebirmingh am.c om

Mason Music is now offering trumpet lessons, in addition to piano, guitar, drums, voice and violin lessons in Bluff Park at 761 Shades Mountain Plaza, and in Greystone at 5406 U.S. 280. 582238, m asonmusicstudios.c om

T aylor Burton Comp any, I nc. , 3239 L orna Road, was honored at the Alabama Remodeling Excellence Awards ceremony hosted by the Home Builders Association of Alabama. ey won first lace in t e ommercial Renovation and were the runner up in the Space Renovation. 827936, t aylorburton.c om

P recision H omecrafters, 1215 L ake F orest Circle, was honored at the Alabama Remodeling Excellence Awards ceremony hosted by the Home Builders Association of Alabama. They placed in or won several categories, including: runner up in Kitchen Remodel Over $ 8 0,000 for “ L ake House Kitchen; ” winner in Bath Remodel $ 20,000 to $ 50,000 for “ Cahaba Bachelor Bath; ” runner up in Additions Under $ 100,000 for “ V estavia Music Room; ” and runner up in Outdoor L iving for “ Backyard Retreat.” 739583, p recisionh omecrafters.c om

T h e Caj un Cleav er, 2341 John Hawkins Parkway, Suite 101, won Best Gumbo at the Gumbo Gala on April 21. 40496, t h ecaj uncleave r.c om

Becky L awrence — a dental hygienist with P errigo Dental Care, 2038 Patton Chapel Road — has retired after 13 years with the practice. 545-8007, pe rrigodentalcare.com

F irst Commercial Bank , with locations at 102 Inverness Corners, 2020 Patton Chapel Road and 5290 Preserve Parkway, has rebranded and is now Synovus Bank. The bank has long been in the Synovus family, and all Synovus banks nationwide are now under the Synovus Bank name. 8691 1 1, s ynovu s.c om/ local/ birmingh am- al

Hirings and Promotions K eller Williams H oov er, 1 Chase Corporate Drive, Suite 150, has hired Monica Maz ingo, Leslie H ouser, Joh n Cock rell, Yamesh a Dav is, Crystal Smith and Dan Ch av ez as Realtors. 8227, k w .c om

Ross Bridge Animal H osp ital, 2001 Greenside Way, has hired Dr. H ugh Wash ington to j oin their staff. He started with the practice in May after many years of working in the Birmingham area. 208031, r ossbridgeve t.c om

Anniversaries Aldridge G ardens, 3530 L orna Road, is celebrating its 16th anniversary as a public garden in June. 6828019, al dridgegardens.c om

Bluff P ark I ce Cream Sh op p e, 8 15 Shades Crest Road, is celebrating its second anniversary in June. 42350, b luffp ark icecreamsh op .c om

Exp edia CruiseSh ip Centers, 270 Doug Baker Blvd., Suite 500, is celebrating its fourth anniversary in June. 437354, c ruisesh ip centers.c om/ greystoneal

Mr. Ch en’ s Auth entic Ch inese Cuisine, 1917 Hoover Court, is celebrating its seventh anniversary in June. 824823

Location not on map

A14 • June 2018

Hoover Sun

Chamber Hoover chamber gives $16,000 in scholarships By JON ANDERSON The Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce on May 17 awarded four $ 4,000 scholarships to seniors at local high schools.

MAGGIE KNIGHTON

Maggie Knighton of Hoover High School won the Bill and Dr. Gail Powell Scholarship. She achieved a 3.9 GPA in high school, was a senior class officer, member of t e ational Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society and was voted friendliest in her senior class. She also was in the F inance Academy and won a state competition by inventing a product that clips umbrellas to shopping carts to keep the umbrellas secure and dry while people shop. Knighton plans to attend Auburn University and maj or in accounting. Knighton, who has worked to overcome a speech impediment, upon graduating college would like to open an audiology clinic in Hoover to help other people overcome similar problems.

JOEY ST. CYR

Joey St. Cyr of Spain Park High School won a scholarship provided with funding from the Jefferson County Commission. St. Cyr achieved a 4.39 GPA and scored a 32 on the ACT college admission test. He was a part of the Health Sciences Academy, HOSA-F uture Health Professionals, unior and senior class officers

and several honor societies, and was co-captain of the Spain Park basketball team. He plans to attend Auburn University and pursue a degree in pharmacy. St. Cyr has a passion for nutrition and wants to do research on nutritional ingredients t at are beneficial to athletes and create his own business to sell high-q uality, safe nutritional supplements.

GRACE ELLIOTT

Grace Elliott of Briarwood Christian High School received the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce F oundation Scholarship. She achieved a 4.24 GPA and was a member of t e ational onor Society, Spanish Honor Society, yearbook staff and student government, and she was a founding member of the Briarwood ladies golf team. She plans to attend Troy University and study biology with the goal of becoming a dermatologist, inspired by a grandmother who passed away from skin cancer in 2009.

OLIVIA SHIVERS

Olivia Shivers of Oak Mountain High School also received a scholarship. She achieved a 4.4 GPA and a score of 33 on the ACT and was ranked 12th out of 242 seniors at Oak Mountain High. She was a member of the Oak Mountain mbassadors, ational Honor Society, Science Honor Society and o a a ational ocial Studies Honor Society.

The Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce presented four $4,000 scholarships to graduating high school seniors at the chamber luncheon at the Hoover Country Club May 17. Scholarship recipients are, from left, Joey St. Cyr of Spain Park High School, Grace Elliott of Briarwood Christian High School, Maggie Knighton of Hoover High School and Olivia Shivers of Oak Mountain High School. Photo by Jon Anderson.

Shivers plans to attend the University of Alabama at Birmingham, maj or in biomedical engineering and eventually attend medical school. The chamber scholarships were open to employees of chamber members or the city of Hoover, or their children. A committee examined the applications and called in eight of the applicants for 30-minute interviews before deciding on the four scholarship recipients, said Paul Dangel, vice president of the chamber.

The winners were chosen based on academic ac ievement, financial need and contributions to the community, e said. e t year, t e chamber hopes to award $ 20,000 in scholarships, Dangel said. David Bobo, a member of the Shelby County Board of Education and director of community and media relations for Jefferson State Community College, shared with the audience at the May 17 chamber luncheon about what Jeff State

has to offer and encouraged parents to closely examine their children’s interests, goals and abilities as they consider life after high school. He has seen many parents force their children into a four-year college when the students weren’t really ready for that experience, he said. It’s a good decision for some students, but others do better starting at a twoyear college, earning certification in a career or going straight into the workforce, he said.

HooverSun.com

June 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ A15

Aldi grocery, UAB medical offices coming to Stadium Trace Village By JON ANDERSON An Aldi grocery store and UAB ealt ystem medical office building are coming to t e new tadium race illage s o ing center under construction along o n aw ins ar way at nterstate , t e developer of the shopping center said. ldi lans to ut a new rototy e store for t e com any at tadium race illage t at will be designed to encourage more foot traffic and a better connection wit t e surrounding village, according to road Metro , t e develo er of t e s o ing center. Early site plans showed a , s uare foot grocery store. nside, t e store will feature a fres design, o en ceilings, natural lig ting and environmentally friendly building materials suc as recycled materials, energy saving refrigeration and lig ting, road Metro said in a news release. The store will ut an increased em asis on fres roduce wit larger and more visible displays. roy Mars all, vice resident of ldi s Mount uliet division, said construction will begin soon, and t e store s ould be in lace t is fall. Meanw ile, t e niversity of labama at irming am ealt ystem as said it will build a , s uare foot medical facility to ouse a variety of medical services, including rimary care doctors, obstetrics, gynecology, oral surgery and ot er specialties. is moving its clinic at o n aw ins ar way near a e Crest) down the highway to the Stadium race illage ro erty on t e

Aldi plans to build a grocery store in the Stadium Trace Village development under construction along John Hawkins Parkway between Interstate 459 and Stadium Trace Parkway. This is a typical Aldi store design. The Hoover Aldi store may look different. Rendering courtesy of Aldi.

ot er side of . onstruction is e ected to begin in early , and t e new office building s ould o en in early , said in a news release. s o esman ob e ard said t e new offices will allow to add staff and robably more s ecialties, but all t ose details ave not been determined. oover Mayor ran rocato said he is excited to see the Aldi and UAB medical building coming to tadium Trace V illage. e city s vision for tadium

race illage is to bring new assets and services to en ance t e uality of life for our residents and to furt er grow our economy, rocato said. am loo ing forward to more good news in t e days a ead. ill adis , t e rinci al owner of road Metro, said daily needs and essentials are ey to road Metro s vision for tadium race illage. want to t an ldi for wor ing wit our arc itects and engineers to create a design that will integrate into our ro ect seamlessly and for develo ing a rogram for t e tadium

Trace V illage store that helps promote wal ability and a strong connection wit t e surrounding village, adis said. ldi grocery stores are nown for aving a no frills s o ing e erience, wit only four to five aisles and with goods displayed in the same bo es in w ic t ey were s i ed to save time and money. ldi as nearly , . . stores in states, including in labama, according to t e com any s website. Ten of those are in the Birmingham area, including stores in labaster,

essemer, restwood, ultondale, omewood, ueytown, uffman, nverness, el am and russville. There also are Aldi stores in Oxford and uscaloosa. Brocato said he is excited that UAB has chosen to expand its presence in oover. e new multi service clinic at tadium race illage will bring muc needed ealt care o tions to our growing community, t e mayor said. e Medical est freestanding emergency department has already added immeasurably to t e uality of life for oover residents, and we are confident t e new clinic will ave an even greater im act. e loo forward to a long, roductive artners i between t e ealt ystem and t e city of oover. ill erniany, of t e ealt ystem, said recogni es t e need to bring its e ertise and outstanding facilities to t e laces w ere eo le wor and live. oover is t e si t largest city in labama, and along wit ot er communities in sout and sout west efferson ounty, continues to e erience tremendous growt , erniany said. e oover medical office building continues our efforts to ma e it easier for residents of labama, es ecially west efferson ounty, to access t e world class care available from Medicine. L and clearing and site preparation for tadium race illage started last year, and t e first arts of t e ro ect are ro ected to o en late t is year, road Metro said. e develo ment also is e ected to include otels, restaurants and s ecialty retail s o s.

A16 • June 2018

Hoover Sun

‘ T h e best th ing w e could h av e done’ Inverness family finds success with Bohemian chic boutique at Galleria By JON ANDERSON V ictoria L ester opened a tiny boutiq ue in the Colombian city of Medellin at the age of 19. Now, about 30 years later, she is reliving that experience with her husband and 26-year-old daughter with a relatively new and expanding store at the Riverchase Galleria. L ester moved to the United States in the mid-1990s and came to the Birmingham area because of a cousin who was a Catholic priest here. Her daughter, Melissa L opez, was 4 at the time and shared her mother’s eye for fashion. L opez was voted best dressed at Hewitt-Trussville Middle School and continued her love for fashion and j ewelry when the family moved to Hoover. She graduated from Spain Park High School in 2010 and got her degree in merchandising from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Collat School of Business in 2016. ile s e was in college, about five years ago, she and her mother and stepfather started a business called Brio. They made handcrafted j ewelry and leather accessories such as wallets and cuffs, using leather from Colombia. L opez’s stepfather, Mitch L ester, cuts the molds for the leather goods, and then she and her mom handstitch them. They spent several years selling their goods in craft shows and artisan booths at places like Mt L aurel and the Moss Rock F estival at The Preserve and at markets in Atlanta and Chattanooga. They also started selling their j ewelry and leather items by consignment at a couple of boutique s in the Riverchase Galleria.

Melissa Lopez, a 2010 graduate of Spain Park High School, and her mother, Victoria Lester, make jewelry May 3 in their Luna by Brio store at the Riverchase Galleria. Photos by Jon Anderson.

TAKING A LEAP

The Brio items were selling so well that Galleria managers approached L opez and L ester about starting their own store. So in April 2017 , L opez and her mom and stepdad opened a store called L una by Brio in a 7 00-sq uare-foot space between Starbucks and V on Maur. “ It was the best thing we could have done,”

L opez said. “ It was very well-received.” They noticed a lot of their customers were women in their 20s and 30s, who often were accompanied by their mothers, so they decided to add clothing to their merchandise lineup and offer styles to fit bot t e young ladies and t e “ chic grandmas,” L opez said. They sell a lot of Bohemian-style clothing

t at is loose fitting and attering to all s a es, she said. Sales took off, and Galleria managers asked if they wanted a larger location. In April of this year, L una by Brio moved three doors down into a 2,800- squa re-foot space formerly occuied by ar er ane. t s on t e first oor of t e Galleria near the food court, situated between

HooverSun.com

June 2018 • A17

Right: Melissa Lopez makes jewelry inside Luna by Brio. “We make jewelry every single day,” she said. “Eighty percent of our jewelry is made here in house. We solder all the stones.” Far right: A close-up of some of their customized jewelry.

Luna by Brio • WHERE: Riverchase Galleria, first floor near food court • HOURS: Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. • CALL: 730-9220 • WEB: lunabybrio. com

goods either in their two-car garage basement or at the store, she said. “ It’s all handstitched and handcut,” she said. “ And I love bringing that little bit of Colombian culture to Birmingham.” Mike White, general manager of the Galleria, said it’s very unusual for the Galleria to have tenants who make their own merchandise right in the store. About 90 percent of tenants are national companies, and about 10 percent are locally-owned boutique s, he said. L opez said being around all the national c ains as actually been a tremendous benefit for L una by Brio. “ It sets us apart,” she said. And the custom work helps them build better connections with customers, V ictoria L ester said. They like to know their customers’ names and try to treat everyone like family, she said. Because they come from different generations, they can relate to a variety of customers, she said. “ It’s like you’re shopping with your girlfriends.” Molly Green and Champs Sports, across from Michael Kors. The new space has worked out great, L opez said. They have a lot more room to spread out their merchandise in more appealing dis lays and now ave si fitting rooms instead of one. “ Our customers have j ust been so excited for us,” L opez said.

BEST-SELLERS

Their top-selling items are the custom

j ewelry they make right there in the store. “ We make j ewelry every single day,” L opez said. “ Eighty percent of our j ewelry is made here in house. We solder all the stones.” They make only about three to six of the same-style j ewelry pieces, she said. “ I love it so everybody’s not wearing the same thing.” Their second best-seller is the leather goods. They’ve added new items, such as backpacks, and can customize to meet their customers’ desires, L opez said. They go to Colombia four times a year to buy the leather and make the

FAMILY BUSINESS

It is very much a family business. L opez and her mother are in the store almost every day, and her 21-year-old cousin, Manuela Molina, works there, too, and solders all the j ewels. Her stepdad, while not in the store regularly because of his primary j ob, cuts the molds for the leather and helps out in many other ways. The store is named after L opez’s 13-yearold sister, L una, who is a student at Berry

Middle School, and they named the different handbag styles they make after members of the family as well. L opez said her mother provides a lot of vision and encouragement, while she keeps up with the latest fashion trends and helps build the business on social media. L ester said her daughter has a lot of fresh ideas and an open mind to try new things and is a perfectionist. L ester said she has come a long way from her tiny store in Medellin and has loved opening this new store and expanding it. “ We are blessed,” she said. “ I enj oy getting to work with my daughter and with my family. … Sometimes, I think it is a dream.” L opez, who glows when she talks about the store, said she is doing what she always wanted to do. “ My whole life — it’s j ust been an obsession. I’m a collector of j ewelry, and I love fashion,” she said. “ Doing it with family makes it even better.” White said L opez and the L esters have a really good business model. They have uniq ue merchandise and a commitment to customer service, he said. “ I could see them growing far past this property.” L opez said she could see that, too. In the ne t five years, s e o es t ey ave a second store in Atlanta or maybe Tuscaloosa, she said. In the meantime, she’s living her dream and feels li e s e s fulfilling er mot er s dream at the same time, she said. “ This is my baby. I love this.”

A18 â&#x20AC;˘ June 2018

Hoover Sun

SMOKING with TRADITION

Van Sykes, right, stands with Jason Jewell in front of the barbecue pit and kitchen at Bob Sykes BBQ in Bessemer. Sykes and Jewell are the second and third generation, respectively, to run the restaurant that has been a family business since 1957. Photo by Emily Featherston.

By EMI LY F EAT H ERST ON atc t e fire and tend t e grill t at s w at it all comes down to for good barbecue. t least t at s w at an y es, t e second generation owner o erator of ob y es , says. e oover resident as been art of t e restaurant business retty muc as long as e can remember. n is arents boug t in to t e restaurant business, serving amburgers and malts at first and eventually moving into t e full service mar et. obody new w at to do, really, so w at you did is you did a little bit of everyt ing, e said. y es is one of t e founding members of t e out ern oodways lliance and as lived in oover since . is first ob, beginning long before e turned years old, was stirring barbecue sauce. e remembers standing in is arents restaurant t e day ennedy was assassinated, being a car o in t e days w en trays were still affi ed to car windows for service and w en t e idea of s eciali ing in one ty e of food was laug able. ere was a brief time w en is arents, w o would one day run more t an a do en franc ised barbecue oints, also t oug t t e conce t of s eciali ing as a restaurant would mean certain failure. owever, after ta ing a cou le years off due to financial issues and wor ing in a certain fried c ic en restaurant made famous by a colonel in w ite, y es said is fat er ad an idea. at e reali ed, w ic of course still wor s today call t is t e cornerstone t oug t you can s eciali e in one ind of food, e said, and is arents decided t at food would be slow smo ed meat. ventually, y es said, e moved from t e itc en to el ing is mot er wit t e

Hoover resident part of more than half-century of barbecue legacy

front of ouse wor , and at age , w en is fat er ad a stro e, e became second in command. e said ll run t e day s ift, you run t e nig t s ift, you ll go to sc ool and drive your daddy s car, e said. y es too a brea from t e restaurant busi ness at age because is mot er wanted im to e erience somet ing else. e oined t e ir orce in and served for four years wor ing as a urc asing agent. ventually, t oug , e was ulled bac in

and too over t e business, reducing t e foot rint to ust one store. e ob y es t at e ists today on t venue ort in essemer is far from t e original conce t of a seat s ac wit an o en it. n , e closed t e store for si wee s to e and it to its current si e, and t at building as lasted ever since. e ey, e said, is to stay focused on w at wor s. arbecue will never be any better t an ta ing it off a grill, and cutting it and serving

it, e said. t s ard to do w en you re coo ing , ounds in a day, but we ve got years e erience. You now w en to coo and w en to slow down. y es said e is roud to serve only fres , omemade food, and is a y is ne ew ason ewell as come on board as t e t ird generation. lot of times, m told, t at second gener ation is t e one t at messes everyt ing u , e said. o ve felt uite roud t at ve been able to grow it.

HooverSun.com

June 2018 • A19

Guadalaj ara Grill returns to Hoover By JON ANDERSON After being closed for 10 years, the Guadalaj ara Grill is making a comeback in Hoover. Only this time, it will be on an outparcel at the Riverchase Galleria, at the former site of California Pizza Kitchen. Owner Carlos Medina said he was hoping to get his Mexican restaurant restarted by the end of May. Medina first opened Guadalaj ara Grill in 1992 j ust up the road in The Centre at Riverchase shopping center, across U.S. 31 from the Hoover Municipal Center. He closed it in 2008 with the intention of relocating to the former L onghorn Steakhouse building that is now part of the Tameron Hyundai car dealership. But after he had closed, Medina discovered a serious plumbing problem at the L onghorn building that would have cost him $ 160,000 to correct, so he backed out of that site, he said. Medina tried to come back to The Centre at Riverchase, but the manager of that shopping center was not happy Medina had given him only three months notice and refused to let him return, he said. So Guadalaj ara Grill came to an end. Medina focused his efforts on another restaurant he opened in Pelham about 15 years ago called Two Pesos. It’s now on Alabama 119 between Interstate 65 and U.S. 31, in the former O’Charley’s site. But a lot of his customers from Hoover wanted him to come back to Hoover, Medina said, so he started looking for a site around late 2017 .

Guadalajara Grill • WHERE: 3470 Galleria Circle • HOURS: 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday • CALL: 989-5558

Carlos Medina shows off one of the specialty dishes that will be served at Guadalajara Grill — an open-face salmon quesadilla. Photo by Jon Anderson.

He found the California Pizza Kitchen building, and the Galleria managers made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, he said. Mike White, the general manager at the Riverchase Galleria, said mall officials were eager to see t at art of their property vibrant again and believe a great Mexican restaurant will bring a lot of people. Medina fit t e bill, ite said. “ He’s got a longstanding reputation around the Birmingham, Jefferson County, Shelby County

area. e new e d be a good fit, White said. “ He’s part of the community and we wanted to foster that relations i . Medina, 57 , is actually from Guadalaj ara, the capital city of the state of Jalisco in Mexico. He moved to California when he was 3 years old and finis ed ig sc ool t ere. Medina said he spent many years wor ing in t e fields in alifornia, picking grapes, nectarines, j alapeñ os, broccoli, cauliflower and other vegetables and fruits. He had

moved back to Guadalaj ara but would go to California every year to wor in t e fields for a season. It was an uncle who got him into the restaurant business, as a waiter at the L a F iesta restaurant in Montgomery where his uncle cooked. He then waited tables at the L a F iesta in Hoover before his uncle convinced him to open his own restaurant. Medina didn’t have enough money to start a restaurant, so he, his uncle, his brother and a friend all partnered to start Guadalaj ara

Grill, with Medina as the manager. Medina later bought out the others’ ownership shares. He also started Guadalaj ara Grill restaurants in Hueytown, Decatur and Trussville but sold the Hueytown and Decatur locations to family members and closed the Trussville one. Medina, who lives in Pelham, said he’s excited to reopen Guadalaj ara Grill in Hoover and even has one of the same cooks who was at the former location — Jacobo Cardoza. He’s keeping the menu much the same as before, which is similar to the menu at Two Pesos. He serves all the staples of most Mexican restaurants but has a few specialties as well, including camarones escondidas, which is shrimp hidden under a chicken breast, with vegetables and chipotle wine sauce with mushrooms on top. He also sells a lot of faj itas, openface q uesadillas and tacos with spinach handmade tortillas, and has a selection of desserts. Most dinner plates cost $ 10 to $ 20, while the lunch plates run $ 8 to $ 13. Medina said he plans to offer breakfast in the future.

A20 â&#x20AC;˘ June 2018

Hoover Sun

Celebrate Hoover Day

Celebrate Hoover Day brought out more than 10,000 people to celebrate in the festivities at Veterans Park on April 28. Photos by Alyx Chandler.

By JON ANDERSON

An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 people came out for a sunny 2018 Celebrate Hoover Day at V eterans Park off V alleydale Road on April 28 , organizers said. The day kicked off at 11 a.m. with a ceremony to honor veterans at the V eterans Plaza and then shifted to a pavilion, where city leaders served a giant apple pie that was 10 feet 3 inches in diameter. There was plenty of entertainment, including the Spain Park Dazzlers dance team, Spain Park High School theater department, Greystone Elementary School Jumpinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Jags Jump Rope Team, Berry Middle School Sparklers dance team, a Tiger Rock Martial Arts demonstration, Julia Tamburello and the L egal L imit and One Step Closer bands. Children played in the kids zone, which included carnival rides and in atables, and a live disc oc ey oversaw games. e irming am Z oo, Alabama Wildlife Center and a group called 6th Day Creatures brought animals for kids to see and pet, and there also were pony rides, face painters, balloon twisters and a car show. Businesses and other groups with the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce manned an exhibitor tent, and numerous food trucks were there to provide lunch and a multitude of goodies.

Left: Members of the owlin ad Smith Detachment of the U.S. Marine Corps League re-enact the famous raising of a . . ag during the invasion of the Japanese island of wo Jima in February during a Veterans Memorial paver dedication ceremony. Far left: Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato scoops up some of the giant apple pie served at the Celebrate Hoover Day. Photos by Jon Anderson.

embers of the

reystone lementary chool umpin

ags ump Rope eam, left, and students from iger Rock

artial Arts, right, show their skills. Photos by Jon Anderson.

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Hoover Sun

Events Jason Sweatt, at left, and Paul Chin-Lai paint the entrance and interior of a restroom during a 2017 Hoover City Dad Brigade cleanup at Trace Crossings Elementary School. Photo by Jon Anderson.

The 2018 HoopSeen Bama Jam youth basketball tournament featured 64 teams from at least five Southeastern states at the Finley Center in the Hoover Metropolitan Complex on April 21. Photo by Jon Anderson.

Signup for Hoover City Dad Brigade begins June 4 By JON ANDERSON Signup for the 2018 Hoover City Dad Brigade back-to-school cleanup begins June 4. Hoover Councilman Derrick Murphy, the lead organizer for the event, said he hopes 500 to 600 men and high school boys will sign up for cleanup effort, scheduled for July 28. This is the fourth year for the event, where male volunteers gather at Hoover schools to help spruce up the buildings and grounds prior to the start of the school year, which is Aug. 8. Principals at the schools develop lists of work they would like to see done, which typically includes landscaping, spreading pine straw, trimming bushes, pressure washing, painting and general cleanup. The men are invited to gather at the Home Depot in Riverchase for a breakfast provided by Chickfil and to ear instructions before dis ersing to Hoover’s 16 schools. Some men go straight to the

schools to help. While it’s called the Hoover City Dad Brigade, men do not have to be fathers of students in Hoover schools to participate. Grandfathers, uncles, brothers and unrelated men are invited to assist, but volunteers must at least be high school age, Murphy said. F req uently, several Hoover religious organizations send teams of men to help. Those who assisted last year included Hunter Street Baptist, Green V alley Baptist, Shades Crest Baptist, Cross Creek Church, Christian L ife Church and the Hoover Islamic Center. Corporate partners providing money, materials or other support for the event include Home Depot, ic fil , a by s, labama entals, llworld Proj ect Management, the Hoover Rotary Club, L egends Barber Shop, Hoover Tactical F irearms, Pete’s Printing, Riverchase Car Wash & Detail and the Hoover City Schools F oundation. o sign u , find t e oover ity ad rigade on aceboo or c ec wit sc ool offices.

Roundball action returns to Finley Center BY JON ANDERSON Most people think of basketball as a winter sport, but for those who are really into it, it never stops. The F inley Center at the Hoover Metro olitan om le osted four yout basketball tournaments over weekends in April and May (HoopSeen Bama Jam, F uture150, Adidas Select Alabama Classic and the Capital Cool Classic), and the action continues in June and July. On June 15-17 , the Competitive Y outh Basketball L eague will have its national championships at the F inley Center. About 100 to 120 teams, mostly from out ern states, are e ected to attend, including boys in grades 2-12 and girls in grades 5-12, said Monty Jones, general manager for the Hoover Metropolitan om le . ast year s c am ions i was held at the Mobile Convention Center, Jones said.

On July 6-7 , the Essence Girls Basketball group returns, with Birmingham ive, an certified event for girls in grades 7- 12, Jones said. About 120 to teams are e ected, e said. Then on July 23-25, the Triple Crown Basketball’s Southeast championship is coming to the F inley Center, featuring about 8 0 teams of girls 14-and-under through 17 -and-under. That tournament also is certified by t e , ones said. Just a couple of hours after the Triple Crown tournament ends, another certified tournament called t e F uture150 L ive Nationals begins and continues through July 29. That one should bring 100 to 120 teams of boys and girls 12-and-under through 17 -and-under, Jones said. The 155,000-sq uare-foot F inley Center has 8 3,000 sq uare feet of continuous space that can be divided into as many as 11 full-size basketball courts.

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4th annual Take the Reins 5K returns to Veterans Park June 9 Runners participate in the 2017 Take the Reins 5K at Veterans Park. his year s race returns June 9. Photo courtesy of The Red Barn.

By ERI CA T ECH O Runners will have the chance to celebrate veterans and give back to The Red Barn this June. At the fourth annual Take the Reins 5K, runners will take to the trails of V eterans Park for a 10K, 5K and 1-mile fun run in support of The Red Barn’s mission to provide equi ne-assisted activities to individuals of all abilities and circumstances. The Red Barn, located in L eeds, works with children and adults with physical, cognitive and emotional disabilities, as well as veterans and their families. The Take the Reins run is a way to highlight those services, said program coordinator Grace Butler, and held in memory of a veteran who died by suicide, Cpl. Anthony Clay Ward. “ [ The Ward family] and their daughter started participating in the Barn as part of their

healing,” Butler said. Each year, about 100 people come to the race, and many of them are men who served with Ward, Butler said. They come together from all over the country. “ There is a kind of camaraderie that happens

during the run. They run as a team, but we also let them speak and tell their story,” Butler said. “ ...I think that’s j ust true to who we are as far as our character as an agency. We want to offer all our families, even our families of children with special needs, a special place to celebrate

Aldridge Gardens offers dinner, auctions under the stars June 9

• WHEN: June 9, 8-11 a.m. • WHERE: Veterans Park • DETAILS: 10K, 5K and sleep-in option: $35; fun run: $20 • WEB: theredbarn.org/take-thereins-run

the life that they have.” The cost is $35 for the 10K or 5K, as well as for a sleep-in option for people who would j ust like a T-shirt. The 1-mile fun run is $20. By participating in the run, Butler said everyone is helping support veterans as well as The Red Barn’s programs as a whole. F or more information or to register, go to theredbarn.org/ take-the-reins-run.

Guests of Willie Edmiston wait for dinner to begin at the 2017 Hydrangeas Under the Stars on June 10, 2017. Photo by Emily Featherston.

By JON ANDERSON If auctions and an outdoor white tablecloth dinner in a public garden are your idea of a nice night, the Hydrangeas Under the Stars event at Aldridge Gardens may be for you. The annual event is one of Aldridge’s biggest fundraisers of the year and this year is scheduled for Saturday, June 9, from 6 to 9 p.m. The night begins with a reception and silent auction under the pavilion, and then guests move to the tent for dinner and a live auction at 7 :30 p.m. Dinner is provided by the Jefferson State Community College Culinary and Hospitality Institute, said Aldridge CEO Tynette L ynch. Auction items this year include: a seven-day tri to ensacola eac five nig ts in ancun,

Take the Reins 5K

Hydrangeas Under the Stars • WHEN: June 9, 6-9 p.m. • WHERE: Aldridge Gardens, 3530 Lorna Road • TICKETS: $250 • WEB: aldridgegardens.com

Mexico; four nights in Bermuda; and three nights in Pebble Beach, California. Airfare is included with each of those trips. Other auction items include artwork, a

basketful of restaurant gift cards, and tickets to Alabama and Auburn football games, the SEC Baseball Tournament, Regions Tradition golf tournament and Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. There also will be hotel packages to the Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa, Hyatt Regency Birmingham – The Wynfrey Hotel, Hampton Inn & Suites Birmingham Downtown – The Tutwiler, The Westin Birmingham and Sheraton Birmingham.

Aldridge Gardens board President James Mathews Jr. will serve as master of ceremonies, and Hoover Councilman John L yda is scheduled as the auctioneer. L ast year’s event raised about $ 62,000 for the gardens, L ynch said. Tickets cost $ 250 and are limited. The tent will hold 26 tables with eight people per table, so only 208 tickets will be sold, L ynch said. To buy tickets, go to aldridgegardens.com.

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Hoover Sun

Magic City Con coming back to Hoover this month

About 400 people showed up for the first film in the ree riday licks summer outdoor movie series une , , at eterans ark. Photo by Jon Anderson.

By JON ANDERSON

2 0 1 8 F ree F riday F lick s to begin w ith ‘ Star Wars’ By JON ANDERSON The F orce is coming to V eterans Park for the 2018 F ree F riday F licks summer outdoor movie series. “ The L ast Jedi,” the eighth episode of the Star Wars series, will kick off this year’s lineup of movies on June 1. Here is the rest of this year’s lineup: June 8: “ Wonder” June 15: “ Beauty and the Beast” (2017 version) June 2: “ Peter Rabbit” June 29: “ Despicable Me 3” July 6: “ Paddington 2” July 13: “ F erdinand” July 20: “ Coco” July 27: Rain date Most of the movies are rated PG, for rude humor, action, violence, thematic elements, frightening images, bullying or mild language, depending on the movie. The one exception is “ Star Wars: The L ast Jedi,” which is rated for science fiction action and violence. Keri L ane Hontzas, the founder of the

movie series and the company called Backyard Movie Parties, said this year’s events will run much like previous years. The movie images are 30 feet wide and are shown on a 38- foot-wide screen on the grassy area near the main pavilion at V eterans Park, off V alleydale Road. Each movie is scheduled to start at dusk. The sun sets between 7 :52 and 8 :01 p.m. during the weeks the movies are scheduled. Hontzas encourages people to come early — around 6:30 p.m. — and have picnics in the park prior to the show. There is a playground nearby and Hontzas also encourages people to bring blankets or lawn chairs. L ittle Caesar’s Pizza is scheduled to have pizzas available for sale, but people are welcome to bring their own food, she said. ont as lans to ave an in atable bounce house for kids, face painting and a balloon twister there. To get updates on movie cancellations due to bad weather, follow Backyard Movie Parties on Twitter at @ BY MovieParties or on F acebook.

The fourth annual Magic City Con science fiction, gaming and cosplay convention is coming back to Hoover on June 8- 10. This year’s convention will return to the Hyatt Regency Birmingham – The Wynfrey Hotel for three days of cosplay, video games, fantasy board games and panel discussions about everything from surviving his year s convention will return to the yatt Regency the zombie apocalypse Birmingham he ynfrey otel for three days of cosplay, to making chainmaille. video games, fantasy board games and panel discussions This year, organizabout everything from surviving the ombie apocalypse to ers have increased the making chainmaille. Photo by Sydney Cromwell. size of the video game lounge, allowing for tournament play on one side of the room and training camp, Ghostbusters ghost hunt and casual play on the other, said Rita Houston, slime making, and a pirates and princess tea one of two owners and event coordinators for party. ecial guests t is year include film and the convention. Two highlights include tournaments for TV actress V irginia Hey, who starred with Mel Gibson in “ Mad Max 2: The Road WarSuper Smash Bros. and Dragonball F ighter Z rior” and as a James Bond girl in “ The L iving on Saturday, June 9. The tabletop game room also will be larger, Daylights; ” Ming Chen, a podcaster and cast Houston said. People can check out games, member of “ Comic Book Men” on the AMC suc as ar ammer and at finder, to lay channel; and Justin Kucsulain of “ The Walkon their own, or instructors will be there to ing Dead” and “ Sleepy Hollow.” About 7 ,000 people from 44 states and four teach people how to play the various games, countries attended last year’s Magic City Con, she said. The convention is never short on costumes, an increase of about 1,500 people from the including a Heroes and V illains Masque rade year before, Houston said. F or more information or tickets, go to Ball and a costume contest. Saturday features a KidCon, with program- magiccitycon.com. Weekend passes cost $30 for adults and $15 for children ages 6-11 and ming designed s ecifically for c ildren from a.m. to 3 p.m., including the Hogwarts School military. Daily passes for adults cost $ 20 of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Star Wars Jedi F riday, $25 S aturday and $10 S unday.

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Above: Tony and Elizabeth Tanner support the work of the Tanner Foundation for patients with neurological diseases. Photo by Sydney Cromwell. Left: The Tanner Foundation hosted Over the Edge, a fundraiser where participants were able to rappel down oors at he ffices at Riverchase on May 11. Photo by Lexi Coon.

Hoover resident’s MS diagnosis inspires foundation, fundraising By SYDNEY CROMWELL Tony Tanner is known for his positive attitude, which his 198 6 diagnosis of multiple sclerosis has done nothing to change. It’s the inspiration for both the Tanner F oundation and the Tanner Center for Multiple Sclerosis, which seek to help patients with MS and other neurological diseases. It’s also the reason his daughter-in-law and his neurologist, Dr. Emily Riser, have both rappelled down the side of a building as part of fundraisers for the Tanner F oundation. “ Y ou have to have a positive attitude otherwise you curl up and wait, and I’m not ready to,” Tony Tanner said. This May, Riser was one of many participants in the Over the Edge event, in which they rappelled down the side of the 19-story ffices at iverc ase as a fundraiser. Tony Tanner and his wife Elizabeth watched

from the ground. “ I love that people who have never done it before are doing it to help other people,” Elizabeth Tanner said. “ That’s pretty brave.” This was the second year of the event, and it included local celebrity rappellers such as veteran and motivational speaker Noah Galloway and former Auburn football coach F rank Orgel, who descended from the building in a special wheelchair apparatus. The fundraising goal was , . “ It was scary looking up. I can’t imagine being up there and looking down,” Elizabeth anner said of t e first year s ra elling event, w ic was eld downtown in . Tony Tanner was one of the co-founders of HealthSouth Corp., now Encompass Health, and is retired. He and his wife have lived in Southlake since 1984. His diagnosis started with some numbness in his leg and issues with his right foot dropping.

In the early years, Tony Tanner said there weren’t many medical treatments for MS. He has tried a number of them over the years. As the disease has progressed, Tony Tanner has moved from using a cane to arm crutches and finally a w eelc air, w ic e began using more than three years ago. “ I’ve had the fun of MS. I’ve gotten to know how the disease works,” he said. “ It’s been a long ride.” He said he was glad the progression of the neurological disease has been slow in his case, allowing him to stay active in his career and spend t e first years of is retirement in traveling. ow, he said, the focus is on his eight grandkids. Tony Tanner has also served locally and nationally with the Multiple Sclerosis Society. t was in t at iser w o e said has “ taken care of me and kept me going” a roac ed im about t e creation of t e Tanner F oundation.

The F oundation funds research, treatment and support for patients with MS, Parkinson’s disease and AL S (L ou Gehrig’s Disease), as well as their families. The F oundation works with the Tanner Center, located in Homewood, to make treatment affordable. “ We’re really excited that it expanded to AL S and Parkinson’s,” Elizabeth Tanner said. All three are progressive neurological diseases. “ Through funding and through research, there’s so much available to people with MS today.” Both of the Tanners are optimistic that younger MS patients will see a cure for the disease within their lifetime. “ Sometimes it’s hard, but he makes it very, very easy. He’s got a positive attitude, a good spirit, and so even when things are pretty bad we find somet ing to laug about, li abet Tanner said. V isit alaneuro.com/ tanner-foundation for more information about the Tanner F oundation.

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Greystone hosts Regions Tradition for 8th year Celebrities and professional golfers alike took advantage of Greystone Golf and Country Clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 18 hol es for the annual Regions Tradition. The event lasted from May 16-20 and was open to professional golfers ages 50 and older as part of the PGA Tour Champions. The Tradition kicked off with the annual Celebrity Pro-Am on a sunny Wednesday, with celebrities such as Gus Malzahn, Nick Saban and Greg McElroy teeing off. ans filled t e stands t roug out the week to watch the competition for a piece of the $2.4 million total purse. Greystone has hosted the Regions Tradition annually since 2011. Clockwise, from top left: Former American Idol winner Taylor Hicks plays the harmonica before teeing off during the NCR Celebrity Pro-Am on May 16. Alabama A&M football coach Connell Maynor and Alabama State University football coach Donald Hill-Eley pose together before teeing off. University of Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart tees off. Former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addresses the crowd before teeing off. Photos by Layton Dudley.

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Clockwise, from top left: University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban tees off during the NCR Celebrity Pro-Am. Former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy tees off. Auburn head football coach Gus Malzahn tees off. Former Auburn running-back Bo Jackson prepares to tee off.

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Hoover Sun RECYCLING

A Birmingham Recycling and Recovery worker sweeps recycled items back onto the conveyor belt. Photos by Sarah Finnegan.

CONTINUED from page A1

Accepted materials

Sales Manager L eigh Shaffer said, in an attempt to cut down on the rate of unusable recyclables being brought in. Rice said the cost of these charges and changes in what can be accepted for recycling may not be seen by residents, but are part of the reason that Hoover has worked with Santek and the BRR to reduce residential recycling contamination. “ They think Santek’s cheating and not doing recycling, but in reality that cart can’t be recycled,” Rice said of the carts that don’t get recycled each week. “ The cost that Santek has to pay if they bring contaminated recycling is pretty extraordinary.” Dillender said BRR charges Santek $30 per ton for uncontaminated recyclables, but the charge for a contaminated load is $75 per ton. If a load is deemed 100 percent contaminated, the price increases to $100 per ton, Dillender said. Santek doesn’t have the manpower to do a thorough inspection or sorting of residents’ bins to reduce contamination. “ Given the costs that are associated with contamination, it drives the delivery price or the disposal price of that material up,” he said. At the BRR, Shaffer said the facility processes 15 tons of recyclable materials an hour. F rom 2012-17 , Hoover households recycled an average of 3,144 tons per year, with 2017 peaking at 3,7 7 5 and 2016 being the low for those years, at 2,373 t ons. Shaffer said the average contamination amount from residential recyclers is 20 to 40 percent, and all of those contaminants have to be sifted out by employees before being processed. Hoover averages about 25 percent contamination, Dillender said, and the large size of the city means that percentage leads to a larger amount of raw unrecyclable materials. Hoover is one of several municipalities that has worked with the BRR recently to send mailers out to homeowners, which explain not only what types of items are and are not accepted for recycling, but also proper standards to reduce contamination. The simplest way to do this is

Accepted materials by Republic Services: Junk mail Magazines Cardboard Newspaper Paper Detergent bottles Shampoo bottles Jugs Egg cartons (not Styrofoam) Water bottles Aluminum cans Paper board Soup cans Cartons Condiment Containers Aluminum Foil Paper Rolls

to make sure everything is “ empty, clean and dry” before it is put in the recycle bin. “ Sometimes people don’t think about [ the fact that] the recycling needs to be washed off,” Rice said. Kathy Silvie, a Blueberry L ane resident, has been recycling and reusing goods since she was young and said she “ abhor[ s] waste.” She used to take recycling to the Alabama Environmental Council (AEC) downtown, but now that she has retired, Silvie relies on the city’s services. When she received the mailer from Hoover and Santek recently, Silvie said some of the items they don’t accept surprised her. “ If it has a plastic recycle triangle on it, I was putting it in the bin,” Silvie said. “ The recycle symbol is misleading if it’s not acceptable to the recycling [ businesses] .” e acce ts and lastics, attened cardboard, paper (including j unk mail, magazines and newspapers) and aluminum, tin or steel cans. There are some common items that people assume can be recycled but cannot be picked up by Santek, such as phone books, plastic grocery

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Left: A mural inside Birmingham Recycling and Recovery. Right: Corrugated cardboard blocks await pickup at the Birmingham Recycling and Recovery plant in Avondale.

bags and Styrofoam. Rice said this is not determined by the city or by Santek, but by what the BRR will accept and, more broadly, whether the resale market for a particular recyclable is strong or oversaturated. “ There’s a lot of confusion because the recycling market has changed so much,” Rice said. Silvie said she wants to see more education for herself and her neighbors on what can and cannot be recycled through Santek’s services. In addition to the mailed out information, Rice said Santek has also begun leaving tags on Hoover residents’ bins to explain why they could not be recycled, as well as plans for Santek employees to begin meeting with homeowners who freque ntly have a high contamination load. “ A lot of times, it’s j ust an educational process to help people understand the market,” Rice said. Silvie also said she felt that there need to be other avenues to recycle items that Santek and

Accepted materials Accepted materials by Alabama Environmental Council (all of the materials accepted by Birmingham Recycling and Recovery, plus): Small engines Empty propane tanks Corks Steel/mixed metal Copper Brass Steel cans

the BRR cannot accept, such as glass, electronics and #3-7 pl astics. “ I’m all for capitalism. If somebody can make some money on this stuff, then all the better. ut if it s ust going to t e landfill,

rita ater filter products Electronics (including computers, televisions and cell phones) Ink/toner cartridges Wood Batteries (rechargeable, single use and auto) Appliances Textiles Cigarette waste #6 rigid plastic cups

t en nobody is rofiting, s e said. o it s a complete waste of time and effort if we’re over-recycling.” Some of those options include the AEC, which accepts the same materials as the BRR

plus many electronics, small engines, certain metals and wood, ink cartridges, textiles, batteries, appliances and more, though the facility is currently not accepting glass. Residents can also recycle plastic bags at their local grocery store, and Target accepts glass recycling, while some automotive stores and mechanics will safely dispose of oil and ot er ve icle uids. Those who need more freque nt pickup can take their recycling to the BRR’s community bin, located at 9 41st St. S., or to the AEC at 4330 F irst Ave. S. Silvie said the people she knows are “ hungry” for the right way to recycle so more of their waste can get a second — or third — life. “ It’s more than a do-good thing, it’s more than a feel-good thing. It has a purpose,” Silvie said. Get more information about Hoover’s recycling services and pickup schedule at hooveral. org/ 308/ Garbage-Recycling.

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he ot Rod ower our drew an estimated crowd of , to , people in and to come to oover etropolitan tadium. Photos courtesy of Lance Shores/city of Hoover.

CRUISIN’

CONTINUED from page A1

Hot Rod Power Tour

Tennessee; Hampton, Georgia; Darlington, South Carolina; Raleigh, North Carolina. The tour is organized by Hot Rod magazine and is expected to draw more than 6,000 classic, custom and high-performance vehicles and more than 100,000 spectators over the nine-day trip. Organizers expect 1,500 to 1,700 vehicles to cruise the entire tour, while thousands more will attend part of the j ourney or register to be on display at one of the seven stops, said Jonathan Mill, publisher and general manager for Hot Rod magazine. This is the tour’s fourth time to come to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, with previous visits in 2010, 2013 and 2015. “ Hoover’s an awesome stop,” Mill said. There are tons of people in Alabama who follow Hot Rod magazine, he said. Plus, the large parking lot at the Hoover Met has enough room for an autocross course, which lets people who register their vehicles for the event see how well they navigate through orange cones and tight curves at high speeds, racing against the clock. The Hot Rod Power Tour also features colorful mobile displays from more than 50 high-performance manufacturers and aftermarket specialists who show off the latest innovations in car technology and custom design and give advice to car enthusiasts. There also is a main stage with local musicians, celebrities, games, prizes and plenty of food vendors, Mill said. This year, one of the celebrities is Mike F innegan, one of the hosts of the auto-themed internet show “ Roadkill,” produced by Motor Trend and Hot Rod magazines. But the best part of the tour is j ust seeing all the different kinds of cars, Mill said. “ This is the most popular car cruise in America,” he said. There’s nothing like seeing more than 2,000 custom and high-performance vehicles in one place or riding down the road together, Mill said. When a bunch of them pull into a gas station at the same time, it’s like a step back in time, he said. “ It’s a pretty cool way to experience the automotive industry.” Even people who aren’t car buffs appreciate the sight of it all, Mill said. “ It’s perfect for a family as well,” he said. “ When kids see these vehicles that are 100 years old still on the road, it’s pretty impressive.” ut e warns guests w o aren t car aficionados: “ Y ou might get the automotive bug.” The Hot Rod Power Tour began in 1995 when the editors and staff at Hot Rod magazine invited readers to j oin them as they drove their own prized hot rods and custom cars on a

When: June 11, noon-7 p.m. Admission: Free Parking: Hoover High School, free One-day vehicle display registration: $45 ($50 after June 1) Multi-day vehicle display registration: $129 ($160 after June 1)

cross-country trek from L os Angeles to a Power F est event at the Norwalk Raceway in Norwalk, Ohio. Eight readers showed up to go the entire distance with them, and a couple dozen more ve icles drove t e first leg of t e tri , according to the magazine’s website. “ Everybody j ust had so much fun, they kept on doing it year after year,” Mill said. Doyal Marks, chairman for the Team Corvette Alabama club, said most car clubs and car buffs look forward to the Hot Rod Power Tour. “ It’s really a great opportunity to come out and see some of the best performance cars as far as hot rods and current cars that have been modified, Mar s said. t s enomenal t e amount of cars there are to see out there — the modifications to t em, t e latest innovations in custom cars.” lus, e li es being able to tal first and to the vendors who make the aftermarket custom products and get tips about installation, he said. About seven members of Team Corvette Alabama plan to go to Bowling Green and j oin the “ long-haulers” for the entire tour, while about eight more plan to make the trip from Chattanooga to Hoover to Atlanta, Marks said. He’s taking his 2015 C-7 Chevrolet Corvette Z 06 on the shorter trek but doesn’t want to drive the entire 1,300-mile route in a Corvette, he said. Team Corvette Alabama probably will have about 25 vehicles on display together at the Hoover Met stop, he said. The Hot Rod Power Tour drew an estimated crowd of 10,000 to 15,000 people in 2013 and 2015, said Erin Colbaugh, the city of Hoover’s events coordinator. Because the Hoover Met parking lot is being used for registered vehicles, guest parking will be at Hoover High School, with free shuttles to the Met parking lot, she said. The gates are open from noon to 7 p.m. While admission to see the tour is free, people who want to register their vehicle for display can do so at hotrod.com for $ 45 ($ 50 after June 1). Registering for multi-day display at several sites or for the long haul costs $ 129 ($ 160 after June 1). F or more information, go to hotrod. com and look under “ Events.”

, said rin

olbaugh, the city of

oover s events coordinator. his is the tour s fourth time

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Sun B SECTION

JUNE 2018

Community B8 School House B10 Sports B16 Metro Roundup B22 Calendar B26

EXPLORING

BOUNDARIES Hoover resident Lorraine Singh finds er ar ni e in mar lin

By ALYX CH ANDLER

oover resident and marble artist L orraine Singh said that ever since she was a kid, she’s loved creating various forms of creative or experimental art. “ I’m always interested in learning new processes or technique s,” Singh said. “ How I can take something to the next level? What can I do with it j ust to explore boundaries? ” Singh started off in ceramic sculpture and tried regular sculpture and ainting before finally finding er nic e in one articular form of art marbling. “ My friends like to say that I’m a little wild with it,” she laughed. “ F or me, I like a lot of contrast, that’s the most interesting part of marbling.” No marbled work is the same, she said, and it can be fascinating how various colors make individual works look completely different.

See SINGH | page B4 Mixed media artist Lorraine Singh sells her art at Riverchase Loves Artists on Feb. 3. Photo by Alyx Chandler.

B2 â&#x20AC;¢ June 2018

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B4 • June 2018

Hoover Sun

Hoover resident and artist Lorraine Singh said the name of her Etsy shop, The Marbled Bee, originated from thinking about being busy as a bee as an artist creating and making something beautiful, just like bees gathering pollen. Photos by Alyx Chandler.

SINGH

CONTINUED from page B1 Singh describes the process of marbling as an art form w ere you oat different colors of paint in water and get creative by raking or combing different swirls and design patterns into whatever medium you are marbling. “ [ When I marble] I keep going and going and going with it, and if it doesn’t work out, I’ve only lost a sheet of paper, that’s it,” Singh said. “ I’ve learned maybe I need to pull back more and that probably is the biggest challenge for me, learning when to stop.” She became fascinated with the marbling rocess t e first time s e saw it on a video

online, and decided to experiment. F or about a year, Singh said, she played around with it. “ I was OK [ at it] , but it wasn’t anything to write home about,” she said. Singh then started to take a few workshops and perfect her own personal process in a studio at home through trial and error. Singh said she mostly uses acrylics in her art, but occasionally changes it up depending on the effect she’s trying to achieve. Her background of painting has aided in her use of colors, she said. “ I’m still learning, obviously we’re never qui te where we want to be,” she said. “ But I started getting better and getting some results I really like.” ing officially launc ed er tsy account, The Marbled Bee, in F ebruary 2017 , where her main focus was selling

travelers notebooks. She said that since then, she has mostly stuck to marbling sheets of heavy-weight watercolor paper and leather notebooks, which have been popular among some locals and fans of marbled products on tsy. She said the name The Marbled Bee originated from thinking about being ‘ busy as a bee’ as an artist creating and making something beautiful, j ust like bees gathering pollen. “ They make something with delicious honey for us to consume and they have a fantastic work ethic, so I was j ust thinking about taking bits and pieces from them with my colors,” Singh said. “ There’s j ust something about it t at armoni ed wit me. t ust fit. F or the last two years, she’s also showcased and sold her work at Riverchase L oves

Artists, an art show held every year at the Hoover Country Club. Singh said she’s started to branch out and push herself to do larger paper or canvas pieces, in addition to experimenting with various fabrics and felt. e difficulty in scaling her proj ects up, she said, is that a lot more factors come into play, and she only has the width of her arms to guide her art. Despite that struggle, she’s excited to get the opportunity to be creative with it. “ I encourage people if you have something you want to do or want to try, you should do it, ing said. veryone is creative, and creativity is one of the best outlets in the world, whether it is knitting, painting, marbling, writing or making a movie.” To see Singh’s work, go to etsy.com/ shop/ TheMarbledBee.

HooverSun.com

June 2018 • B5

Local auth ors p en new leadersh ip book By LEX I COON Jody Bicking and coworker Kevin McKenzie have noticed a gap in leadership books. “ Most leadership books out there, they’re written for the CEO, the person who has total control over the organization,” said Bicking, a Highland L akes resident. “ And the fact of it is, most leaders don’t have near that level of control.” So Bicking and McKenzie, a coworker of more than 12 years, decided to use their experiences as leadership executives and cofounders of c ev, a leaders i develo ment firm, to ublish “ The L eadership Drought: When the Thirsty are L ed by the Delirious.” Bicking said their inspiration came from a q uote from former Sen. Harry Reid, stating “ We won, didn’t we? ” as a way to say the ends j ustify the means. “ There are many cases where that is valid, but then that becomes the sole, the common method of thinking. … That becomes very dangerous in my mind,” Bicking said. “ Because the ends shouldn’t always j ustify the means.” After working at consulting companies for years, both Bicking and McKenzie realized — regardless of the organization — any problems they may have could be narrowed down to a selection of a few methods for improvement. So to weed through the “ hundreds and hundreds of books on leadership” that have already been authored and to help improve leadership capabilities, Bicking and McKenzie put together a list of six principles or mindsets that can improve leadership. “ It didn’t really matter what environment that you’re in, these six principles … apply no matter what,” McKenzie said. Some of the topics include holding a shared vision amongst team members, being self aware as a leader and avoiding placing blame on someone or something. Both spoke highly of “ It’s never about blame. It’s about, ‘ F ix the problem,’” as an ideology for dealing with mistakes. Communication is also an important detail.

ighland akes resident ody Bicking, left, and Drought.” Photo by Lexi Coon.

“ The leader has to communicate effectively, listen effectively and ask the right q uestions,” McKenzie said. “ Those are all the things that incumbent leadership … have woven into all of the principals.” Bicking and McKenzie said they know that most people will not be able to follow all of the mindsets they discuss in the same manner, but instead recognize that everyone will have their own way to follow the principles. They also understand that not everyone will be able to master each principle, but it’s still important “ to be capable in all of those categories,” McKenzie said.

oover resident

evin

c en ie, right, published their first book,

“ Y ou can never violate a principle. If you violate a principle, it’s going to cause a problem,” Bicking said. “ But techniq ues can be done in multiple ways.” o encourage readers to re ect on and analyze any decisions or methods they have tried to implement, each chapter ends with a selection of q uestions and exercises. It’s all put together to be easily readable for anyone who wants to improve their abilities as a leader, with a “ how to” guide in the preface, and it isn’t meant to be something that takes days or even weeks to get through. At 134 pages long, Bicking and McKenzie consider it

he eadership

an “ airport book.” “ Our purpose wasn’t to write a great big thick book,” Bicking said. They wanted it to be something that readers could easily absorb and reference in the future and something that a leader of every level could use. “ We wanted it to be really as practical as possible,” McKenzie said. Bicking and McKenzie are currently working on a second book looking at “ becoming rather than being.” Those interested in purchasing e eaders i roug t can find it online at theleadershipdrought.com, on Amazon or at Barnes and Noble.

B6 • June 2018

Hoover Sun

Jeff State program guides career changes after 50 Tamara Payne is the director of career and job resources at Jefferson State Community College and leads the Back to Work 50+ program. Photo by Sydney Cromwell.

By SYDNEY CROMWELL F or those who haven’t applied for a new j ob in decades, re-entering the hiring market can be a daunting experience. Handing out resumes at businesses door-todoor has been replaced by online application forms, among other changes, and some workers have outdated skills or aren’t sure where their e eriences can land t em in a new field. At Jefferson State Community College, the Back to Work 50+ program offers not only training in j ob hunting and new skills, but also the reassurance that others have faced the same challenge. “ Once you’re 50 and older and you think, ‘ I want to get back in the workforce or I’m trying to get another j ob,’ you think you’re the only one out there in this boat. And it’s nice to be around other people who are doing the exact same thing,” said Jefferson State success coach L ynn Chambers. Back to Work 50+ is a four-year-old program at Jefferson State funded by a grant from the AARP F oundation. Director of Career and Job Resources Tamara Payne said more than 300 people have participated at the Shelby campus, near Spain Park High School, and the Jefferson County campus, in the Pinson area. Those participants come into the program with a variety of needs. Chambers said they have helped men and women who have been laid off, need a new career field, are loo ing for a ay raise or are entering the workforce after a long absence. Some have had a high school diploma or GED, and Chambers said at least one participant had a Ph.D. but wanted a career change. There are special challenges that come with being an older j ob-seeker, Chambers said, including a lack of familiarity with more recent hiring practices. lot of times we find eo le t at ave been at a ob for years and all of a sudden t ey find themselves laid off, and they haven’t applied for a j ob,” Chambers said, adding that online

application forms and interviews via phone or video chat can be “ rather daunting.” The Back to Work 50+ program incorporates group and individual coaching sessions, resume and cover letter writing sessions, mock interviews with local employers, assistance in finding and re ing for ob o ortunities and access to training classes. Chambers said these classes run the gamut from basic and advanced computer skills to Jefferson State’s workforce training programs. ese rograms include certifications and training in everyt ing from Microsoft ffice and welding to some assistant- and technician-level medical careers. Payne said Back to Work 50+

participants are eligible for scholarships for some of these programs. ere are also benefits to t e rogram, ambers said, that don’t come in the form of a new resume or new skill. lot of it is building confidence, s e said. “ Y ou think, ‘ What can I do now? ’ It’s nice to know there’s other people in the same boat, that you can do this.” Back to Work 50+ is free to participants through the AARP F oundation grant. Payne said Jefferson State holds two introductory sessions for those interested at its Jefferson and Shelby campuses each month. They will continue until late September or early October, when the grant

expires, Payne said. After the grant ends, Payne said they are seeking additional funding sources to continue the program, possibly condensed into a weeklong “ boot camp” format rather than classes over several weeks. “ When you reinvent yourself, you can do it after . t s scary, but it s definitely somet ing that can be done,” Payne said. Jefferson State Community College’s campuses are located at 4600 V alleydale Road in Hoover, and 2601 Carson Road, near Pinson and Center Point. Call 8 55-8 50-2525 or visit j effersonstate.edu for more information about Back to Work 50+ and upcoming session dates.

HooverSun.com

June 2018 • B7

Eye surgery a ‘2nd miracle’ for Hoover’s Cedric Oden

Hoover resident Cedric Oden overcame both life-threatening illnesses as a baby and a rare, degenerative eye condition earlier this year. Photo by Sydney Cromwell.

By SYDNEY CROMWELL e first time wyla aylor saw er brot er edric den, e was mont s old and ad a ercent c ance of living. remember coming ome from wor one day and went into er bedroom and t ere was an infant wit w at seemed to me a ga illion tubes, aylor said. den was failing to t rive and ad a lot of ealt conditions t at were life t reatening, aylor said. er mot er, elda lar e reedlove, was is rivate nurse trying to el t e tiny infant survive. ventually s e made t e c oice to ado t im. e uit er ob and broug t im ome because e needed around t e cloc care, aylor said. e said, ad to try, aylor added. den beat t e odds and survived, and t eir family considered it a miracle. en den, now , was diagnosed wit a degenerative eye condition in late , e beat t e odds a second time. aylor and den are oss ridge residents since . den graduated from oover ig c ool in wit t e el of very su ortive teac ers. ile den is nonverbal, e as reac ed a number of milestones t at doctors couldn t ave redicted w en e was an infant e s fully mobile, can eat by mout rat er t an a tube and communicates t roug sign language and te ting. den en oys te ting and watc ing television, articularly bas etball, as well as is ob at nited erebral alsy s redding a er and

wor ing wit some of t e mac ines. e loves t e ob, loves t e eo le, aylor said, to w ic den vigorously agreed. n late , den ad a routine eye a ointment and t e doctor found t at somet ing wasn t uite rig t. den ad reviously ad some vision difficulty, and aylor said t e family ad noticed one of is eyes would deviate on occasion. More studies revealed t at den ad eratoconus, a disease t at causes t e cornea to bulge outward, leading to vision roblems as it worsens over time. e fact t at at , a degenerative eye disease t at would lead to blindness wit out any intervention, t at s w at was alarming to us, aylor said. e added t at t e fact t e diagnosis was unrelated to den s earlier ealt c allenges made it all t e more sur rising. t in ust initially we were in a state of anic, aylor said. aylor said t ey were referred t roug s alla an ye os ital to o t almologist r.

ac ar er, w o s eciali es in surgeries for rare conditions suc as eratoconus. den ad two surgeries in ecember and ebruary , to add a layer of ealt y cornea in t e eye wit more vision loss and cross lin is better eye. ross lin ing strengt ens t e cornea t roug a combination of t e vitamin called ribo avin and lig t. ere are new structural bonds t at are formed wit in t e cornea, ar er said of t e cross lin ing rocedure, w ic e described as relatively new in t e . . e layer of cornea added to one of den s eyes also rovides structural su ort, wit out t e ealing time and difficulties of a full corneal trans lant, ar er said. aylor said t eir insurance wouldn t cover t e rocedures, but ar er c ose to do t e surgery for free and contacted t e nternational etinal esearc oundation and t e com any vedro to ay t e costs of t e materials and os ital bills. ar er said e wanted to do t e

wor ro bono because den is an e tremely sweet guy, as is t e rest of is family. t really was an act of incredible generosity, ar er said of t e donations made on den s be alf. ey ust went in and wor ed a miracle for our family, aylor said. e really ad some big su ort from ot er eo le t at were interested in im doing well. t too only a cou le wee s for den to recover from eac of t e surgeries. e as returned to is ob, is obbies and s ending time wit t e ado tive mot er w o saved is life. e surgery does not reverse t e condition, but it alts t e rogression of it, aylor said. t may be years, or it may be never, t at e would need anot er rocedure. s wit is recovery as a baby, aylor said t eir family considers t e circumstances of den s surgery and recovery to be divinely in uenced. e feel t at we ave a second miracle wit im, aylor said.

B8 • June 2018

Hoover Sun

Community

Left: The Hoover Service Club awarded scholarships to four Hoover High School students at the club's luncheon at the Hoover Country Club on May 10. Shown here, from left, are Hoover High Assistant Principal Carrie Busby, students Jordan Colin, Lametrius Payne, Sabrina Virani and Grace Waters, and Hoover High college and career counselor Cindy Bond. Center: The Hoover Service Club awarded scholarships to three Spain Park High School students, from left, are Spain Park college and career counselor Tracy Prater, students Moriah Mason and Olivia Pride and Spain Park Principal Larry Giangrosso. Not pictured is scholarship winner Jessica Shaw. Right: Hoover Service Club President Paula Campbell honors Greg and Donna Bishop with the Flora Mae Pike Award for outstanding volunteer service and leadership to the community for their work with the Hoover Helps organization that provides food for needy students on the weekends and during the summer. Photos by Jon Anderson.

Hoover Service Club doles out $34,000 in scholarships By JON ANDERSON The Hoover Service Club in May awarded $ 34,000 worth of scholarships to nine students from Hoover and Spain Park high schools and honored six middle school students for outstanding academic performance and citizenship. The club gave out the scholarships and awards at a luncheon at the Hoover Country Club, with representatives from the students’ families and schools present. The Service Club divided $ 33,000 between four students from Hoover High and three from Spain Park High and awarded two Margaret Alford Memorial Community Service Scholarships valued at $ 500 each. Of the $ 33,000, $ 28 ,000 came from the

Service Club’s fundraising efforts, and $ 5,000 was a grant from the Jefferson County Commission, club member Mary Howard said. Here are the scholarship winners and their college plans: ordan olin, of oover ig , is headed to Jefferson State Community College to study business marketing ametrius ayne, of oover ig , is eaded to awson tate Community College to study nursing abrina irani, of oover ig , is headed to University of Alabama at Birmingham to study pediatric psychology race aters, of oover High, is headed to Mississippi State University to study agricultural communications Moria Mason, of ain ar

High, is headed to Samford University to study broadcast j ournalism livia ride, of ain ar High, is headed to Samford University to study international relations and law essica aw, of ain ar High, is headed to Auburn University to study accounting The two winners of the Margaret Alford Memorial Community Service Scholarships were Olivia Bishop of oover ig and anya u ta of Spain Park High. Bishop has logged more than 600 hours of community service with groups such as the Hoover Belles, am innatas a, ildren s of Alabama hospital, Riverchase United Methodist Church and the Hoover Helps program that provides food to

needy students over the summer, outgoing Service Club President Paula Campbell said. She plans to attend the University of Alabama and maj or in non rofit management. u ta, w o is ran ed o. among the 404 students in her senior class, has spent more than 420 hours in community service by volunteering at math tournaments, the Birmingham oo, t e elay for ife fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, elementary school celebrations, school competitions, Key Club and Spain Park Ambassador events, tutoring sessions and ational onor ociety proj ects, Campbell said. She plans to attend t e eorgia nstitute of Technology and maj or in computer technology. The middle school students

honored for outstanding academic performance were Joseph Mudano from Berry Middle, Olurotimi Kukoyi from Bumpus Middle and Allie F ord from Simmons Middle. Those honored for outstanding citizenship were Ramsey El-F allah from Berry, Jessica Taylor from Bumpus and Abigail Pate from Simmons. Campbell said the students recognized this year are not only intelligent but display a servant’s heart. Tera Simmons, an assistant superintendent for Hoover City Schools, commended the students for all they do to give back to the community, and Hoover Mayor F rank Brocato encouraged each of them, once they get through with their studies, to consider coming back to Hoover to be the next generation of city leaders.

HooverSun.com

June 2018 • B9

es ey itfie etstone ac ie es a e co t an Wesley Whitfield Whetstone, 17 , recently earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America. As a member of Troop 367 , he was recognized for his achievement at an Eagle Scout Court of Honor on Oct. 8 , 2017 , at Mountain Brook Baptist Church. Troop 367 is sponsored by Riverchase United Methodist Church and led by Scoutmaster David L uthin. On his trail to Eagle esley hitfield Scout, Whetstone completed 21 merit badges, camped 7 5 nights, performed more than 100 hours of service, participated in National Y outh L eadership Training (NY L T) and attended Philmont High Adventure Camp in Cimarron, New Mexico. Additionally, he held several leadership positions within the troop, including senior patrol leader and j unior assistant scout master. His peers also elected him to the Order

of the Arrow, Scouting’s National Honor Society. F or his Eagle Scout proj ect, Whetstone and his proj ect crew constructed a GaGa pit behind the missionary house at Mountain Brook Baptist Church. The pit allows the children and youth of the church, as well as the surrounding community, to participate in the game of GaGa Ball, similar to dodgeball. Whetstone is a senior at Spain Park High hetstone School, where he is an Academic L etterman. He a member of the National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta Mathematics Honor Society, Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society, cross country team, several school choirs, Engineering Academy and BEST robotics team. He is the son of Melissa and Greg Whetstone of Hoover. – Submitted by Melissa Whetstone.

Hoover High’s Grace Varner wins 2018 Congressional art competition By JON ANDERSON Hoover High School 2018 graduate Grace V arner recently won Congressman Gary Palmer’s 2018 C ongressional Art Competition. V arner was one of 64 students from 17 h igh schools in Palmer’s Sixth Congressional District who participated in the competition. She won with a graphic drawing of her brother. All of the students’ artwork was displayed at the Riverchase Galleria April 14-22, and now V arner’s piece will hang in the U.S. Capitol for a year with winners from other congressional districts. “ Each year I am impressed by the creative talents of the young people in Alabama’s Sixth District,” Palmer said in a news release. “ I would like to congratulate Grace V arner on winning the competition this year, and I look forward to seeing her in D.C. this June for the National Art Reception.” Second place in the competition went to Payton Hays of Evangel Christian School, and third place went to Bailey Gosdin of L eeds High School. Others who won ribbons were: Olivia

race arner holds her award winning artwork alongside . . Rep. ary almer. Photo courtesy of Congressman Gary Palmer’s Office.

Williams from Spain Park High; Raven Harrington from Hoover High; Gabriella Priolo from Briarwood Christian School; Ginger L livina from V estavia Hills High; Abigail Donovan from Hewitt-Trussville High; and Eliza Black from Indian Springs School.

Public invited to center’s Ramadan fast breaking through June 13 The Muslim community of the Greater Birmingham area invites the public to a Ramadan fast breaking any weekday or weekend evening through June 13. The Hoover Crescent Islamic Center, located at 2524 Hackberry L ane, hosts individuals and groups to observe activities during this Muslim holiday. The evenings begin by watching the evening prayer at sunset, which is followed by a brief presentation on Islam (including a q uestion and answer session). Join members of the Birmingham Islamic Society in sitting down for dinner together to break the fast. To make a reservation, call 8 7 9-4247 , ext. , or email rita.taufi ue bisweb.org. ere is limited ca acity and t ese dates usually fill up q uickly, so visitors are encouraged to call soon to reserve a spot. – Submitted by the Birmingham Islamic Society.

enna Richardson

HHS’ Jenna Richardson elected to Girl Scout board Jenna Richardson of Hoover was elected to the board of the Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama in April at the council’s annual meeting. Richardson is a sophomore at Hoover High School and a Girl Scout with Troop 30516. She is in the Hoover High School choir and the dance company at the Bella Prima Dance School. She attends and volunteers at Discovery United Methodist Church. – Submitted by Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama.

B10 • June 2018

Hoover Sun

School House

Prince of Peace gains director of family life in Dale Wisely By LEX I COON In an effort to provide more services for its members, the Prince of Peace Catholic Church has introduced a new role to its system: the Director of F amily L ife. The goal is to offer additional adult education and family programs. The church has selected Dale Wisely for the position. Wisely earned his master’s and doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Memphis and a master’s in theological studies from Spring Hill College. He spent time teaching as a visiting assistant professor at the University of Alabama and was the senior psychologist at Children’s of Alabama hospital’s V aughan Clinic. F or the past 12 years, Wisely has been the director of student services at Mountain Brook Schools. There, he focused on mental health services for both students and families, community education, professional development and All in Mountain roo , a community non rofit designed to “ enhance and protect the lives of Mountain Brook youth.” He has also held numerous informational sessions and conducted presentations at many monthly Board of Education meetings. Mountain Brook Schools Superintendent Dicky Barlow said Wisely has been a leader in mental health and family issues during his time with the school system.

Daley Wisely speaks at part one of a three-part series about ADHD awareness Jan. 12, 2017 at Crestline Elementary. Wisely was recently selected by Prince of Peace Catholic Church to be its newly established director of Family Life. Photo by Ron Burkett.

“ In his 12 years in this position, Dr. Wisely served the community as a champion for the well-being of youth,” Barlow said. “ His focus on mental health has helped countless students and parents. He has been a great friend, co-worker and leader to many in the Mountain Brook community.”

While Wisely will be continuing to work with MBS on a contract basis, Jill Spero, stewardship coordinator with Prince of Peace, said, “ In the newly created role of family life director, Dale will use his counseling skills to guide the parish and its school and offer expanded adult

education and family programs on wellness and mental health.” t in it s an unusual fit for me, again, because I have the theology background, the mental health background and the school background,” Wisely said. “ It’s going to be a challenging j ob because I think there’s a

lot of things going on at a big church, and I look forward to working in a private school environment.” He has helped facilitate programs at Prince of Peace in the past, Spero said, with which they have had great success. Wisely said he will continue to do many things at the church that he has done through MBS, including seeing people for short-term counseling and referring individuals to mental health resources. He’s also going to promote student health and help families access helpful resources, and Spero said he will serve as a “ professional resource to whom our pastors can refer parishioners when the need for individual or family counseling is discovered during spiritual counseling.” With his blend of education and experience, Spero said Wisely is ualified to bridge t e ga between temporal and spiritual counseling. Wisely said his time at MBS will help him work with the Prince of Peace students, too. “ Because there’s … a large school there, I’ll be involved there and some things that are sort of consistent with the student services role I’ve had here,” Wisely said. “ I’ve had this really peculiar skillset; I j ust think working in a large church environment is a good fit for me. really loo forward to kind of expanding some of what I do.” Wisely is set to retire from MBS on July 1, after which he will begin his position at Prince of Peace.

HooverSun.com

June 2018 • B11

7th-grader reaches national math, spelling competitions By SYDNEY CROMWELL

Above: Altamont School seventh-grader and Hoover resident Sid Doppalapudi competed in both the MathCounts national competition and the Scripps National Spelling Bee in late May. Right: At the MathCounts national competition, Doppalapudi had the chance to trade and collect pins with competitors from other states. Photos by Sydney Cromwell.

Hoover seventh-grader Sid Doppalapudi recently had two opportunities to compete on the national stage. Sid, who is a student at Altamont School, earned spots in the MathCounts national competition and the Scripps National Spelling Bee, both held in late May with middle school contestants from across U.S. states and territories. This is his second time in the MathCounts national competition. “ Math really comes to me sometimes and it’s fun,” Sid said. “ I like how there’s multiple ways to solve a problem, and it’s not j ust one thing you can do.” Sid placed second in the state MathCounts competition, earning one of four places for Alabama students to compete nationally. Prior to the competition, he said he was studying math nearly every day to prepare with the help of his teachers at Altamont, the Birmingham Math Academy and his father, Harish Doppalapudi. Sid said his mother is the one who keeps him organized and makes it possible for him to participate in these competitions. He said there’s less pressure for him at the national level than at the state and chapter levels of competition. “ F or national competition, since t ere s no ressure on me to get first or anything, I can j ust do my best,” he said. He placed in the top 30 percent of 244 students at the national

competition, held in Washington, D.C. May 12-15. The Alabama team placed 16th in the nation. Meeting the other contestants and exchanging the special pins each state receives was one of his favorite parts of the national competition. “ It’s going to be new problems we’ve never seen before, so it’s going to be fun to see how many know and see if I can solve them,” Sid said as he was prepping for the competition. He also earned a spot in the Scripps spelling bee through the RSV Bee program, which allows school bee winners to apply for spots in the national bee along with the winners in each sponsored region. “ We applied and we were lucky to get in,” said his mother, Harini Doppalapudi. Spelling is not as much of a focus for Sid as math, Harini Doppalapudi said, but he often has a book in his

hands and has been competing in bees since fourth grade. Sid said he spent more time preparing for MathCounts than the Scripps bee, especially when balanced with classes, final e ams, laying soccer and is other hobbies. “ It’s exciting. Math has been his focus. He’s also very good at spelling, but we can’t do both at that level, so you’ve got to pick one,” Harini Doppalapudi said. The Scripps bee was scheduled for May 27- June 1, after the Hoover Sun’s press date. Sid said he wasn’t too worried about trying to win, but he wanted to enj oy the experience of competing and watching the other students on stage. “ I don’t know how it will be because I’ve never been before,” he said. L earn more about MathCounts at mathcounts.org and the Scripps bee at spellingbee.com.

B12 • June 2018

Hoover Sun

BORN TO

Berry Middle School science teacher Lincoln Clark, left, and Greystone Elementary School second-grade teacher Carol McLaughlin were honored as finalists for 2018-19 Alabama Teacher of the Year at the RSA Plaza in Montgomery on May 9. Clark was in the top 16 and McLaughlin was in the final four. Photo by Jon Anderson.

TEACH

Greystone teacher Carol McLaughlin honored among best in state By JON ANDERSON Carol McL aughlin grew up in a teaching family. Both her mother and father were teachers. Her grandmother was a teacher, and she has three aunts and an uncle from the teaching profession. When she was growing up, she would help in her mother’s classroom, and she thought that would be the best j ob in the world — to get to inspire children to learn, she said. “ I love seeing their eyes spark up when they learn something new.” McL aughlin, a second-grade teacher at Greystone Elementary, now has 27 years of teaching under her belt and was honored this past month in Montgomery as one of the top two elementary teachers in Alabama. e was one of t e final four teachers competing to be the 2018 19 Alabama Teacher of the Y ear. Gov. Kay Ivey announced Z estlan Simmons, an English teacher at Booker T. Washington Magnet High School in Montgomery County, as the overall winner. Meghan Allen,

a special education teacher from Minor Community School in Jefferson County, was named the 2018 -19 Elementary Teacher of the Y ear and Alternate Alabama Teacher of the Y ear. Blake Busbin, a social studies teacher from Auburn High School, was the other finalist in the top four. Berry Middle School science teacher L incoln Clark was among the top 16 and also was recognized in Montgomery. While McL aughlin didn’t win the overall competition, she said it was an honor to be considered and still loves her j ob. She has taught second grade at Greystone for 13 years. All but one year of her career has been in Alabama schools. McL aughlin began her career using mostly traditional teaching methods but has sought out ways to make her instruction more creative and engaging, according to a biography she wrote after being named her school’s Teacher of the Y ear this year. She creates a classroom environment where the students become

leaders and are encouraged to be active in their own learning. She also tries to inspire other teachers to re-evaluate their teaching methods and create more innovative learning environments in their classrooms. “ I think you have to engage students in the learning process,” she said. “ Y ou have to know them as individuals. Children, at 7 and 8 — they are j ust little people. They may j ust be 7 and 8 , but they’re still people with their own interests and their own passions and their own needs. We have to find out w at t eir strengt s and weaknesses are and what they want to do and make sure you have lessons that engage them in those things.”

CONNECTING GLOBALLY

McL aughlin also tries to help her students connect with children from other countries. In 2015, she started a worldwide Twitter educational chat

called #2ndchat for teachers to share innovative ideas, and she makes sure her students do proj ects with children from around the globe through Skype or Google Hangout. “ We’re in a world where everything is connected. Y ou can’t j ust close it off, and so we need to use it for educational purposes and get them to see the power in connecting globally,” McL aughlin said. Mc aug lin was infield ity Schools’ Teacher of the Y ear in 2005 and Greystone’s Teacher of the Y ear both this year and in 2006. The Greystone Parent Teacher Association also named her its Teacher of the Y ear in and . e was certified by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards in 2008 and named a PBS Digital Innovator in 2016. Greystone Principal Stacey Stocks said in a recommendation

letter that when she became assistant principal in 2013, she q uickly noticed McL aughlin as an exemplary teacher. “ Carol demonstrates her understanding of children and how they learn by creating lessons that provide opportunities for every learning style,” Stocks wrote. “ Carol is passionate about eq uipping her students with 21st century skills, such as collaboration, creativity, communication and problem solving.” Alison Parker, the mother of one of McL aughlin’s former students, said McL aughlin is strongly committed to her students. “ They know that she loves them and that they are her passion,” Parker wrote in a nomination letter. “ Miss Mac teaches the whole child, not j ust their brains, but also their hearts, and they leave better students and people for being in her classroom.”

HooverSun.com

June 2018 • B13

PBS names Bumpus teacher a Digital Innovator All-Star Bumpus Middle School computer science teacher Vinny Chiaramonte helps eighthgrader Garry Richardson with a programming assignment on May 16. Chiaramonte was named as one of 30 PBS Digital Innovator AllStars this year. Photo by Jon Anderson

By JON ANDERSON V inny Chiaramonte, a computer science teacher at Bumpus Middle School, continues to rack up national recognition. The Public Broadcasting Service, better known as PBS, has named Chiaramonte as one of 30 PBS Digital Innovator All-Stars this year. The award is given annually to teachers in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade who are education thought leaders and classroom change makers and whose innovative use of technology and media create exciting learning experiences for their students. The All-Stars receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the PBS Digital Innovator All-Star Summit in Chicago on June 23-24 and a day pass to the International Society for Technology in Education Conference in the same city on June 25. It gives them an opportunity to connect with fellow innovators and learn from renowned education experts. The All-Stars also will receive support and tools from PBS and PBS stations such as Alabama Public Television so they can share ideas on how to integrate technology and digital media into instruction with peers in their own communities and across the nation, according to the PBS website. Bumpus Middle School Principal Tamala Maddox said that pretty much everything Chiaramonte does is innovative. He’s constantly reading articles and keeping up with the latest trends in education technology, she said. e s always out t ere trying to find t e ne t thing to support our students in having good digital citizenship and preparing them for our 21st century j obs,” Maddox said. He has an extensive network of contacts, and it’s not unusual for him to be communicating with educational professionals in California, L ouisiana or even other countries, she said. “ His learning community is global.” Chiaramonte also does an excellent j ob of building relationships with students by having continuous dialogue with them, she

“

He’s always out there trying to find the ne t thing to support our students ...

”

TAMALA MADDOX

said. He starts each school day by writing to his students in the Google Classroom tool and engaging them with q uestions, and when they answer him, he responds to each one individually, she said.

He helps write the Hoover school district’s computer science curriculum, and he is constantly assisting other teachers and staff with technology issues and helping them implement new technology tools in their instruction, Maddox said. Chiaramonte in November was named as one of 45 teachers in the United States — and the only one in Alabama — to receive the prestigious 2017 -18 Milken Educator Award given to outstanding teachers. The award includes $ 25,000 in cash. In 2016, he was named the alternate Alabama econdary eac er of t e Year after first being selected as Bumpus Middle School’s Teacher of the Y ear and the Secondary Teacher of the Y ear for Hoover City Schools.

Chiaramonte, a 38 -year-old resident of Green V alley, has been teaching for eight years and is in his fourth year at Bumpus. He previously taught two years as a Bible teacher at Hilton Head Christian Academy in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and later two years as a seventh-grade social science teacher at Montevallo Middle School. He dropped out of high school as a second-year freshman but went on to get his General Educational Development diploma and entered college the same time as his former classmates, eventually obtaining a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree. Chiaramonte, who wears a Batman mask in his faculty picture on the school website, also is known for his sense of humor.

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HHS’s Jordyn Johnson finalist for national scholarship Hoover High School j unior Jordyn Johnson as been selected as a finalist for t e ational ecurity anguage nitiative for Yout Y sc olars i , funded by t e . . e artment of tate. e goal of t is rogram is to romote crit ical language learning t oug e osure and immersion in t e cultural life of a ost coun try. ordyn, along wit a grou of students from across t e . ., will travel and reside in

engdu, ina, for seven wee s. ere, ordyn will reside wit a ost family, engage in t e daily interactions and be e osed to t e cultural resources of t e region. Most im ortantly, s e will receive e tensive class room instruction to im rove er Mandarin lan guage roficiency. ordyn is e tremely grateful for aving been e osed to t e Mandarin language t roug oover s ilot language rogram during t e

sc ool year. er instructor, teven rost, did an e cellent ob of teac ing t e language in a manner t at ca tured ordyn s interest and evo ed a assion for continuing t e language. ordyn as ires to im rove er Mandarin roficiency so t at s e can introduce a lan guage rogram to elementary and middle sc ool ids. – Submitted by Angelia J ohnson.

Jordyn Johnson

Tom and Maria Kilgro with Perseverance Award winners Anthony Aspito and Anna Grace Lalisan at Prince of eace atholic hurch. Photo courtesy of Prince of Peace Catholic School.

Prince of Peace Catholic School gives Perseverance Award Bluff Park Masonic Lodge No. 856 in Hoover is pleased to announce it will award its first scholarship to arl Brownbridge, a resident of Bluff Park and recent graduate of Hoover High School. He will be attending the University of Alabama in Huntsville this fall to major in mechanical engineering and eventually work in the automotive industry. He is an Eagle Scout and plans to continue playing hockey. Photo courtesy of Howard Poarch/Masonic Lodge No. 856.

e rince of eace at olic urc ig sc ool yout grou leaders om and Maria ilgro onored graduating seniors nt ony s ito and nna race alisan, bot of oover, wit t e atricia ilgro erseverance ward. e award was given at t e year end gat ering of t e member grou on May at t e c urc . is award was given by t e ilgros in memory of om s mot er, w o assed away in .

e yout grou also celebrated all of t e graduating seniors va ourn, Maggie nig ton, nna race alisan, nnemarie ac er, abi arron, onnelly rwin, deline olomon, le eary, a e erg, nt ony s ito, eegan Mc art y, ara e a en, eff Murai, dam usino, onor lannelly, ilun ousins, nna Meyers, ari ala s, at ric Mc abb and Melea Montgomery. – Submitted by P rince of P eace Catholic Church.

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June 2018 • B15

HOOV ER AL UM WINS JAV EL IN CHAMPIONSHIP

2017 Hoover High School graduate and four-year track athlete Will Clark is making a name in collegiate athletics. Clark is a freshman at Harding University, a Division II school, in Arkansas. At the reat American onference track and field meet, lark won the avelin event with a throw of feet, inches. is win helped the arding Bisons place third overall at the meet. Photo courtesy of Jay Clark.

SPHS alum sworn in as midshipman at US Merchant Marine Academy Spain Park High School alumnus Davis Kale Holley was recently sworn in as a midshipman in the U. S. Naval Reserve at the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) at Kings Point, New Y ork. Holley was nominated by Congressman Gary Palmer of Alabama’s 6th Congressional District, Senator Richard Shelby and former Senator Jeff Sessions. The United States Merchant Marine Academy is a federal service academy that educates and graduates licensed Merc ant Marine officers. In addition to the rigorous academic and physical req uirements for admission, applicants must be nominated by their congressman or senator. All USMMA graduates earn both a Bachelor of Science degree and a Merchant Marine fficer license, and t ey incur an obligation to serve t e country as an active or reserve officer in the U.S. armed forces.

Holley As part of his four-year education, Holley will spend one year training as a cadet aboard ocean going vessels. USMMA is the only federal academy where students train on commercial vessels traveling around the globe. Holley is also a member of the USMMA Mariner’s baseball team. – Submitted by Stev e H olley.

middle schoolers participated in Diocesan ield Day in Peace Catholic School.

ay. Photo courtesy of Prince of

POP students participate in Diocesan Field Day rince of eace at olic c ool s fift t roug eig t grade students laced first in division at t e annual diocesan field day held at John Carroll on May 4. e students com eted in trac and field events at the high school, as well as the softball throw and shot put. Eleven diocesan schools were at the event. The two other schools in Prince of Peace’s division were Our L ady of Sorrows and St. John the Baptist

of Huntsville. It was a beautiful day of friendly competition between the schools. Congratulations to the following high point scorers at field day fift grader aine Minic sixth-graders Emma Kirkpatrick, Aden Malass and am onegan and sevent graders Aaron Malpass and Alex L eath. – Submitted by P rince of P eace Catholic School.

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Sports

A DREAM COME TRUE

Spain Park alum enjoying success with NBA’s Hawks

By CH RI S MEG G I NSON On Oct. 18 , 2017 , Josh Magette pulled up on the left wing and hit a 3-pointer to extend a lead for his team on the road in the season opener. It wasn’t any season opener, though. It was Magette’s NBA debut as an Atlanta Hawk. Dirk Nowitzki, a 13-time NBA All-Star, former league and NBA F inals MV P, inbounded the ball for the Dallas Mavericks. “ It was pretty incredible to have my arents, my brot er and fianc e there. [ The shot] was icing on the cake. It was a night I will never forget for sure,” Magette said. “ Y ou grow up watching all of these guys, and Dirk is a legend. To be on the same court was awesome. I was j ust happy to be out there and kind of arrived.” TV cameras q uickly found Magette’s family in the arena, with a close u of is dad, immy, ig fiving those around him, even Mavericks fans. “ I felt like I was shot out of my seat,” Jimmy Magette said. “ I j umped out of my seat so fast. It was a wonderful, unbelievable, unexpected experience. It was outstanding.” t was t e first moment by a Spain Park High School or University of Alabama in Huntsville men’s basketball player. The family was invited down to the court after the game, where former Hawk Dominiq ue Wilkins made it a point to introduce himself to the Magettes, and the family was invited to dinner with the team. The night was the culmination of a six-year professional j ourney for Josh Magette, that has included time in Holland, a stint in L os Angeles with the NBA D-L eague (now G-L eague), a year in Greece and then the last two years back in the D-L eague in L os Angeles. “ It’s been a dream come true. The culmination of the last 20 years of playing basketball, especially the last six of my professional career. It’s something I never would have imagined happening, but obviously it’s something you have to pinch yourself sometimes to remind you where you’re at and how far you’ve come,” Josh Magette said. Magette’s j ourney began in the Hoover Rec L eague, where he was part of an All-Star state championship team. After playing on the freshman and JV team at Spain Park High School, he was the backup point guard for the Jags when they scored

Josh Magette of the Atlanta Hawks takes a shot against the LA Clippers on Nov. 22 at Philips Arena in Atlanta. Photos courtesy of Scott Cunningham/NBAE/Getty Images.

more than 90 points in an upset of Gadsden City, in front of a packed house at the AHSAA Northeast Regional final to advance to the Class 6A semifinals. He was named MV P for the tournament. “ We had no business beating them, but we shot like 60

“

percent from 3,” Magette recalled. “ It was one of t ose confidence t ings. Once it happens it’s like, ‘ I can do this every night.’ Once you do it against the really good competition, it instills some confidence in you. At the time, he was 6-foot, 140 pounds on a good day. “ Y ou looked at him, and he’d be the last one picked in a pickup game,” said Brian Moon, former Spain Park

boys basketball coach. “ But when we subbed him in, we knew we were better. He made everybody better. He’d make an average player good and a good player great, and I think that’s his No. 1 q uality. He’s very crafty — he understands the game and he knows where his teammates are. He’s always looking to pitch the ball ahead to get it to the right person.” UAH, an NCAA Division II

program, was the only school that offered Magette a scholarship and planned to redshirt him until the players convinced head coach L ennie Acuff otherwise. Now in his fourth seasons in the NBA D-L eague/ GL eague, Magette has dished out more than 1,600 assists in the G-L eague, including leading the league in assists per game the last three seasons. As a two-way player in 2017- 18, he collected more than 430 assists between Erie and Atlanta, including 57 i n 18 ga mes played in the NBA. As a two-way player, Magette’s sc edule was always uid during the season. He opened the season with the Hawks in Dallas and played eig t games in t e first two mont s with the team, one game in January, one in F ebruary and then eight more in Marc and ril. n is final eig t NBA games, he averaged 4.3 assists and 18 m inutes played. While each year has left uncertainty about what’s next, Magette said he’s not once thought about cutting his j ourney short. “ I’m having fun and truly enj oy playing the game every year. It hasn’t really felt like a j ob for me. I get to go out and play basketball,” Magette said. “ I felt like every year I was getting closer to getting that shot at the NBA. I felt like I was improving and gaining ground on achieving a dream. I didn’t feel like giving up on that until I saw it all the way through or until I regressed. I felt like I was on the rise at all times.” Moon said he is proud to have Magette as ain ar s first player. “ He’s the most competitive kid you’ll ever see,” said Moon, who spent the last seven years in the Atlanta area at North F orsyth High School. “ He’s going to keep going. I don’t think this is a one-and-done deal … It’s pretty cool to say you’ve coached a kid in the NBA. Not everybody can do that, and it’s good to be able to relay messages to a kid who may think he can’t succeed that Josh is a great guy to point to and say, ‘ This guy did, and he looks like you.’ Josh is a great example of how you can reach excellence.” Josh said the support has been great, from calls and texts from former teammates and coaches, to seeing people he knows show up at cities all across the nation. His dad said the same is true back home in Hoover. “ I’ll see somebody I haven’t seen in a long time, and t e first t ing t ey want to talk about is Josh. A lot of people have kept up with him, and I appreciate that,” Jimmy Magette said. – P ortions of this story w ere pr ev iously publ ished on gscspor ts.org.

I’m having fun and truly enjoy playing the game every year. It hasn’t really felt like a job for me. I get to go out and play basketball. I felt like every year I was getting closer to getting that shot at the NBA. I felt like I was improving and gaining ground on achieving a dream. I didn’t feel like giving up on that until I saw it all the way through or until I regressed. I felt like I was on the rise at all times. JOSH MAGETTE

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Chris Laatsch hired as SPHS basketball coach By K YLE P ARMLEY The Spain Park High School boys basketball program has found its new leader. The Hoover board of education named Chris L aatsch as the Jags’ new head coach on Tuesday, May 8 , taking over for Donnie Q uinn, who retired following the 2017 -18 season. “ It’s a little bit surreal,” L aatsch said. “ I’m j ust humbled and honored that they would entrust this program to me. I grew up in Hoover and remember watching Spain Park get built.” L aatsch has served as the head boys basketball coach at Helena since 2014 and spent the past year as the school’s athletic director. He spent 16 years at Briarwood Christian School prior to that. During his time there, the L ions reached the F inal F our once and won four area championships. L aatsch remains the winningest coach in the school’s history and was an assistant coach for four years at UMS-Wright before then. He boasts 37 8 career wins. “ Coach L aatsch brings a lot to the table for Spain Park,” Spain Park Athletic Director Patrick Kellogg said. “ He is not only a great coach, but a great leader, program builder and has an excellent vision for our boy' s basketball team.”

L aatsch started the program at Helena and led the Huskies to the playoffs each of his four seasons. His inaugural team posted a 17 -14 record in 2014-15, while his 2017 18 team went 30-3 and advanced to t e regional semifinals. aatsc was named the Birmingham Tip-Off Club Coach of the Y ear. “ It’s tough to leave Helena, a program that I was there when the doors were o ened and was t e first coac of the school. That community is so special to me and my family,” L aatsch said. Spain Park struggled to a 5-20 overall record last season, but has been to t e state semifinals as recently as 2016. “ Of course, in high school athletics, there’s ups and downs,” L aatsch said. “ Those years do happen, but I j ust believe that the overall pedigree, character and things that are in place here will hopefully give us a chance.” The girls basketball team’s state championship in March is the Jags’ most recent blue map, but L aatsch said he is excited to j oin a school with successful teams throughout the athletics department. He said, “ Watching the body of work for so long, they’re so competitive across the board in so many other athletic programs. I have a lot of respect for a lot of the coaches here

Chris Laatsch, left, was named the boys basketball head coach at Spain Park High School on May 8 after four years at Helena, where he led the Huskies to the playoffs each season. Laatsch was named the Birmingham Tip-Off Club Coach of the Year for the 201718 season. Photo courtesy of Todd Kwarcinski.

and what they do.” In order to elevate his new program to that standard, he will use the same formula he has found success with in previous stops. “ We’re going to work hard and we’re going to try to put a good product on t e oor. ut most im ortantly, we’re going to try to have a program

that develops character in men, that they’ll be great men, husbands and fathers one day,” L aatsch said. “ That’s going to be the foundation of our program.” L aatsch grew up in Bluff Park, so the move is in essence a homecoming. “ I’m coming home to Hoover,” he said. “ It’s a great school system, a

great city, a great community, great athletic program. I j ust think it’s one of the top in the state. When you get the opportunity, you have to take it.” L aatsch is a 1994 graduate of the University of Montevallo. He and his wife, L eigh, have seven children and a daughter-in-law..

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June 2018 • B19

Left: Hoover players celebrate a Jordan Moore grand slam during a Class 7A, Area 5 game between Vestavia Hills and Hoover on April 18 at Jim Brown Field in Hoover. Photo by Kyle Parmley. Right: Sonny DiChiara (27) steals a base during a game against Buckhorn on March 28 at Hoover High School. Photo by Sarah Finnegan.

Bucs baseball, softball teams conclude seasons By K YLE P ARMLEY The Hoover High School baseball and softball teams wrapped up their seasons recently, each campaign ending slightly earlier than hoped. The Bucs baseball team ran into one of t e to teams in lass in t e first round of the playoffs in Hewitt-Trussville. The two teams s lit t e first two games of t e series on F riday, April 27 , and the Huskies rallied from behind to win the decisive third game the

following day. ewitt russville advanced to t e state final series May 18 -19. The Hoover careers of 13 seniors came to an end wit t e series defeat, t e first four year class that head coach Adam Moseley has seen t roug t e rogram from start to finis . s j uniors, that group helped the Bucs win the state championship in 2017 . “ They’re like sons to me. They’re great representatives of our school and they’re going to be great leaders in the community. I’m very

proud to coach them,” Moseley said. e ucs finis ed t e season wit a record and won t e rea title wit swee s of Thompson and Tuscaloosa County to go along with a series win over V estavia Hills. The Hoover softball team’s season came to a close in t e rea tournament. e ucs earned the No. 3 seed in the area but fell to Thompson and V estavia Hills in the tournament. Pepper Nichols, Paige Williamson, Mallory Mus, F ran F ernandez and Hannah Minor were t e ucs five seniors. e team finis ed t e

season with a 23-22 overall record. “ I’m tremendously proud of the hard work and fig t t is team s owed, ead coac e i Shrout said. “ I asked a lot from them this year with workouts, conditioning and a tough schedule. I’m honored to have coached our seniors w o left an im act on our team and m e cited about the future of the Hoover Bucs softball team.” Nichols will play college ball at South Alabama, while Mus and Williamson will continue their careers at Birmingham-Southern.

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Hoover Sun

Bucs sweep outdoor track and field titles By G ARY LLOYD

Above: Riley White competes in pole vault during the AHSAA Class 6A-7A Sectional meet on April 27. White cleared 12 feet to place first. Right ichelle Nkoudou competes in the 400-meter. She placed third with a time of 57.61 seconds. eft arion umphrey competes in the 110-meter hurdles. e finished first with a time of 14.18 seconds. Photos by Sarah Finnegan.

The Hoover High School outdoor trac and field teams cruised to victory in t e lass tate utdoor rac and ield am ions i s, eld May in ulf ores, as t e boys and girls teams won t e state title. e ady ucs scored oints to claim t eir sevent title in a row and t overall. uburn was second wit . . ain ar s girls finis ed t . oover s boys won t eir nint state title since , outscoring runner u mit s tation . ain ar tied for t . or oover, Marion um rey set a new lass record in t e meter das wit a winning time of . seconds. um rey also won t e meter intermediate urdles, cloc ing . seconds to brea t e revious mar . set by manuel aite of om son in . or um rey, t e record too on even more significance as t e overall best meter intermediate urdles time in state meet istory, erasing t e . time cloc ed by is older brot er Marlon um rey for oover in t e lass state meet. um rey won t e urdles as well, cloc ing a second at time, followed by oa illiams . . . . elson finis ed second in t e meter das , w ile teammate le eary finis ed t ird in t e meter run. e boys also won t e relay wit a record time of . in er a s t e fastest overall relay race in istory. entral eni ity set t e revious

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June 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ B21

Above pain ark s ac en ie ulpepper competes in the , meter run on April . he finished third in the girls , meter run with a time of . . eft yle mith competes in the triple ump on April . mith placed first in both long and triple ump with distances of . feet and . feet.

record (3:19.94) in 2017 . The Bucs also clocked the fastest time in the 4x100-meter relay. James Courson won the pole vault by clearing 16 feet, 9 inches, j ust three inches shy of the state record set by Sean Collins of McGill-Toolen in 2015. Courson defeated the second lace finis er by more t an two feet.

n t e long um , yle mit finished second with a length of 22-7 .5. mit finis ed second as well in t e triple j ump, followed by teammate o n at ins. am ort finis ed second in the j avelin throw. The girls won the 4x8 00-meter relay in . and finis ed second in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:52.78.

Michelle Nkoudou won the 100meter urdles, finis ing ust a ead of teammate Chakiya Plummer. Plummer won the 300-meter hurdles, and oudou finis ed t ird. nna ay lar finis ed second in the j avelin throw. In the high j ump, Genesis Jones placed second. Riley White won the pole vault competition by clearing 12 feet.

Spain Parkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s MacKenzie Culpeper finis ed t ird in t e girls , meter run with a time of 11:20.1. Matt ew ray finis ed second in the boys shot put with a distance of 50-7.75. Other athletes participating in individual events for Hoover were Melanie Hall, Reagan Hendricks, Sydney Steely, Emma L angley, Ava Weems, Caroline Sall, Haley Stallworth, Adetola Koiki, Alexandria Stone, Amanda Jones, Jordan L ogan, Natalie Tashman, Alex

Inglis, Amber Bury, Erin Williams, Dej a Washington, Rosalind Staie, Z ach Elam, Jonathan Martin, Joe L eventry, John McCrackin, Kennon Johnson, Julian F ore, Anthony Davis, Justin Toth, Jonathan Snell and Ryan L ee. F rom Spain Park, Sydney Taylor, Holland L idikay, Makenna Kuhn, Anna Collins, Katelyn McClure, Cole Dillard, Jacob Warner, Will McCrite, Steven Pate, Jake Pughsley, Josh Wallace and Z ac Shaw participated in individual events.

B22 • June 2018

Hoover Sun

Metro Roundup 280 CORRIDOR

Junior roller derby team comes to Magic City By ALYX CH ANDLER Birmingham’s adult roller derby league, the Tragic City Rollers, started in 2005. Now, there’s a chance for younger derby fanatics to j oin in the fun. The Tragic City Trouble Makers, a j unior roller derby league open to girls between 7 and 18 years old, kicked off earlier this year. Brought to F or Tragic City Trouble you by our Maker Brianna Parmley, sister paper: known in the rink as Ridin Derby, playing for a roller derby team has been has been on her radar ever 280living.com since she watched her first bout. “ As soon as my mom mentioned it to me, I was ready and I wanted to go play,” said Parmley, who is 15 years old and attends Chelsea High School. “ We actually got skates that week.” Tragic City Trouble Maker Head Coach Rachel F allin, who also goes by Road Rach, said parents and girls have been asking for a j unior league for years, and she’s thrilled to be chosen to coach it. Tragic City L eague President Heather Meadows, also known as Claw and Order, was the one who got the j unior league going. So far, the j unior league is made up of around 45 girls in the Jefferson County area. Since F ebruary, the Tragic City Trouble Makers have practiced at 28 0 Skates for an hour every Wednesday night, with players learning how to start and stop, and then advancing at different paces. As of April, F allin said the league has been a hit in Birmingham, and community members have been showing support by reaching out to offer the girls sponsorships. “ Roller derby is really a great sport for kids because anyone can do it. We take them even if they don’t know how to skate, they’ve never

Left: Members of the Trouble Makers, the junior roller derby league in Birmingham, work on their speed during a practice April 4 at Skates 280. Below: Brianna Parmley poses at the edge of the rink before practice. Photos by Sarah Finnegan.

been an athlete,” F allin said. Roller derby is a contact sport where two teams of five face eac ot er in t e rin . ac team has four blockers, who try to keep the opposing team from scoring, and one j ammer, who aims to score a point by making it around the rink. Players can use their hips and shoulders to block people from scoring, but it is against official rules to get more roug t an t at. ven t oug t e ragic ity rouble Ma ers are o ing to ave t eir first bout wit anot er j unior league in August, F allin said they’re going to have to wait and see how much they’ve progressed. veryone is on different levels rig t now. There’s people trying to get good at skating, and there’s people who are trying to perfect

DEGREES OF HEAT-RELATED ILLNESSES SYMPTOMS

VESTAVIA HILLS

Staying safe this summer: As heat rises, so does need for caution By EMI LY F EAT H ERST ON As spring transitions into summer and t e days turn warmer, estavia ills first responders hope all V estavia Hills residents, but especially senior citizens, will pay attention to their health and safety. Brought to According to the you by our Centers for Disease sister paper: Control, on average more than 600 people a year succumb to a heat-related illness, vestavia even though it is usuvoice.com ally preventable. V estavia Hills F ire Department Capt. Ryan F arrell said older adults are more susceptible to the heat and humidity Alabama experiences each summer because of age and certain medications. “ That can affect your body’s ability to deal with the heat,” he said. There are varying levels of heat-related illness, including heat cramps, heat exhaustion and ultimately heat stroke. Dehydration is the most common concern, F arrell said, and folks should increase their uid inta e regardless of w et er t ey feel thirsty.

skating backwards and doing all the tricks,” Parmley said. ne of t e first t ings allin and assistant head coach Bethany Snow explained was that although roller derby is an aggressive sport, F allin said, “ it’s not a sport where you bring your aggression to the tracks.” Rather, it’s a full contact sport with rules j ust like in any sport with physical contact, she said. Practices for the j unior leagues are run the same way as they are for the adult league, F allin said, with the team eventually scrimmaging each other. The Tragic City Trouble Makers are hoping to ave t eir first bout wit anot er unior league in ugust. mail uniors tragiccity rollers.com to get involved.

Symptoms of heat-related illness can be minor at first, arrell said, and many will try to “ push through” and keep working in the yard or exercising in the heat, when in reality those experiencing any symptoms should seek shelter as soon as possible in a cool place. Those who think they might be suffering from heat exhaustion should seek shelter, loosen clothing, place cool cloths on the neck and sip water slowly while monitoring for symptoms of heat stroke. The CDC and F arrell warn that anyone experiencing shortness of breath, extreme dizziness, nausea or heart palpitations should seek medical help immediately. After calling 911, those experiencing heat stroke symptoms should not be given anything to drink, as this might cause vomiting, but a cool cloth should be placed on the back of the neck and behind the knees until help arrives. F arrell said the summer months are also more active for other safety concerns, particularly falls both outside and inside the house. Seniors should make sure tripping hazards are minimized and appropriate handrails are in place, especially if the individual has balance concerns, he said. en in doubt, e said, give first res onders a call.

There are varying levels of heat-related illness, including heat cramps, heat exhaustion and ultimately heat stroke:

HEAT STROKE HEAT EXHAUSTION HEAT CRAMPS

Heavy or excessive sweating, especially during exercise Pain or muscle spasms

Excessive sweating Cold or clammy skin; paleness Fast, weak pulse Minor nausea or vomiting Muscle cramps Tiredness or weakness Dizziness and headache Fainting

Body temperature of 103 degrees Fahrenheit or higher Sudden ceasing of perspiration Hot, dry or red skin Fast, strong pulse Severe headache Dizziness Nausea or vomiting Confusion; memory loss Losing consciousness or fainting

HooverSun.com

VESTAVIA HILLS

ocal engineering firm, arc itect el ing to re uild Sut erland S rings urc By ERI CA T ECH O Over the next year, Scott Gurosky and his team at Myrick, Gurosky & Associates Inc. (MG+ A) are working to help rebuild a community. The V estavia Hills firm, along wit ot er design partners, is working to build a new church for the Texas town of Sutherland Springs. On Nov. 5, 2017 , a The design for the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs 26-year-old gunman includes materials that are intended to signify strength, like native Texas limestone, in the sanctuary. Rendering courtesy of opened fire on the Restore Sutherland Springs. F irst Baptist Church, killing 26 and inj uron there,” he said. “ ... Their ing 20. Brought to response has been, obviously, uros y was first a roac ed you by our with great heartache, but they about the proj ect in December sister paper: have stayed steadfast in their 2017 , when the North Ameristrength in God.” can Mission Board asked if they Construction started immediwould be interested. ately following the groundbreake first ase of t e ro ect, vestavia ing, and they aim to have the new which includes a new worship voice.com buildings open in spring of 2019. center and education building, This new building is a way to broke ground May 5 and is being “ put a new stake in the ground” funded by NAMB. After j oining the effort, Gurosky asked Mt L aurel-based for Sutherland Springs, Gurosky said. “ They want the legacy of these 26 architect Michael O’Kelley about donating people who were killed in their facility to his services as well. The community, Gurosky said, has been be remembered decades and decades from now,” Gurosky said, adding that there will inspiring to work with. “ They’ve been amazing. They’ve been be a small memorial inside the church in the inspiring. It’s really hard to explain the victims’ honor. “ That hopefully will move depth of the evil associated with what when this congregation forward.”

June 2018 • B23

QUICK HITS

Highlands Bar & Grill, chef win Beard Awards BIRMINGHAM – Birmingham’s growing reputation as a foodie paradise got another big boost on May 7 when The James Beard Foundation announced its Restaurant and Chef Awards for 2018 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Brought to Highlands Bar & you by our Grill in Five Points sister paper: South was named Outstanding Restaurant and Dolester Miles, the restaurant’s pastry chef, won the ironcity.ink award for Outstanding Pastry Chef. This was the 10th year in a row that Highlands – known for its classic French technique and fresh ingredients – was a final nominee for est restaurants, and the third year in a row that Miles had been nominated. The Beard Awards, which have been given since 1990, are thought to be the highest honor for food and beverage professionals in the United States.

50-acre wildflower preserve opens access HOMEWOOD – The Freshwater Land Trust has opened 50 acres of property in western Homewood to the public, for those interested in spotting salamanders or atching ildflo ers loom. he ild ood ildflo er reser e, located at the end of Forest Brook Circle, opened to public access April 29. The land was originally acquired by the Land Trust in 2001, Communications Director

Mary Beth Brown said, and opened as the l aso ildflo er Preserve in 2012 for appointments and private tours. The property inthehomewood cludes a 1.6-mile loop star.com trail with benches and bridges for visitors to walk and enjoy tree coverage and an array of spring ildflo ers. Stewardship Director Jeffrey Drummond noted a number of native plants and wildlife isitors can find in the preser e. t s also ecologically important to filter runoff from nterstate 6 efore it reaches Shades Creek. Learn more about the Wildwood Wildflo er reser e and the or of the land trust at freshwaterlandtrust.org. Brought to you by our sister paper:

Local schools named among top in state BIRMINGHAM METRO – U.S. News & World Report recently named several local high schools among the top in the state in its recent rankings. Mountain Brook High School placed second in the state, beaten only by Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School in Montgomery. Homewood High School placed third, followed by a ountain igh School in fifth place, Vestavia Hills High School in sixth place and Hewitt-Trussville High School in seventh place. Ramsay High School in downtown Birmingham ranked as the 12th best high school in Alabama, and Spain Park High School ranked 14th. Chelsea High School landed at 19th on the list, while Hoover High School was ranked 26th. The 2018 rankings are based on data from the 2015-16 school year.

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Hoover

Real Estate Listings

2111 Chalybe Drive

MLS #

Zip

Address

Status

Price

816200

35226

2111 Chalybe Drive

New

$329,000

816366

35226

2308 Bluff Road

New

$235,000

816262

35226

721 Sussex Drive

New

$395,000

816248

35226

24 Shades Crest Road

New

$254,999

815982

35226

325 Cambo Lane

New

$225,000

815904

35226

605 Twin Branch Drive

New

$330,000

815879

35226

4782 Red Leaf Circle

New

$299,900

815821

35226

2504 Montauk Road

New

$369,000

815797

35226

1029 Castlemaine Drive

New

$229,000

815733

35226

1524 Berry Road

New

$425,000

815651

35226

345 Shades Crest Road

New

$624,900

816048

35226

582 Founders Park Drive

New

$775,000

815633

35226

3942 Village Center Drive

New

$389,900

815487

35226

2333 Brookline Drive

New

$299,900

815485

35226

701 Staffordshire Drive

New

$364,900

816388

35244

6209 Black Creek Loop

New

$274,900

816334

35244

237 Russet Woods Drive

New

$199,900

816320

35244

1957 Strawberry Lane

New

$258,900

816270

35244

741 Heatherwood Drive

New

$467,999

816083

35244

1248 Lake Trace Cove

New

$879,000

Real estate listings provided by the Birmingham Association of Realtors on May 11. Visit birminghamrealtors.com.

582 Founders Park Drive

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Calendar Hoover Events Wednesdays: Travel the World Through A Camera Lens. 10:30 a.m. to noon. Hoover Senior Center. Visit olli.ua.edu. June 1: Friday Night Flicks: “The Last Jedi.” 7 p.m. Veteran’s Park. Visit hooveral.org. June 8: Friday Night Flicks: “Wonder.” 7 p.m. Veteran’s Park. Visit hooveral.org. June 15: Friday Night Flicks: “Beauty and the Beast (2017).” 7 p.m. Veteran’s Park. Visit hooveral.org. June 22: Friday Night Flicks: “Peter Rabbit.” 7 p.m. Veteran’s Park. Visit hooveral.org. June 29: Friday Night Flicks: “Despicable Me 3.” 7 p.m. Veteran’s Park. Visit hooveral. org.

June 4-8: Mason Music Camp for Beginners. Mason Music, Bluff Park. For ages 6-9 with little or no music experience. $175. Visit masonmusicstudios.com. June 5: Minority Business Council Meeting. 8:30 a.m. Hoover Area Chamber office. Visitors welcome. Visit hooverchamber.org for more information. June 7: Economic Development Committee. 8:30 a.m. Hoover Area Chamber office. Visitors welcome. Visit hooverchamber.org for more information. June 9: Hydrangeas Under the Stars. 6-9 p.m. Aldridge Gardens. Annual fundraiser and garden gala. Reception and silent auction begins at 6 p.m. Dinner and live auction begins at 7:30 p.m. Visit aldridgegardens.com.

June 14: Coffee & Contacts. 7:30-9 a.m. Heatherwood Hills Country Club. Visit hoover chamber.org for more information. June 16: Members Only Guided Bird Walk. 8 a.m. Aldridge Gardens. Visit aldridge gardens.com to register. June 20: Monthly Ambassadors Meeting. 3:30 p.m. Hoover Area Chamber Office. Visitors welcome. Visit hooverchamber.org for more information. June 21: Hoover Chamber Luncheon. 11:15 a.m. networking; noon lunch. Hoover Country Club. Visit hooverchamber.org for more information. June 28: Business After Hours. 5:30-7 p.m. Galleria Woods Retirement Community. Visit hooverchamber.org for more information.

Stardome Comedy Club Hoover Library Mondays: Karaoke Nights with Rickey Smiley. 7 p.m. $12.

June 8-9: Cristela Alonzo. 7:30 p.m. Friday and 6:30 and 8:45 p.m. Saturday.

Fridays: Tim Spinosi’s Colossal Comedy Side Show. 7:30 p.m. Open mic. $8.

June 14-16: Bert Kreisher. 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 9:45 p.m. Friday; and 6:30 and 8:45 p.m. Saturday. Tickets $33.50-$43.50.

June 1-2: Frank Caliendo. 7:30 p.m. Friday and 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets $33-$38. June 7: Damon Williams. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $17.

June 17: Ira Coleman. 6:30 p.m. $15. June 22-24: John Witherspoon. 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 8:45 p.m. Saturday; and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. $25-$30.

KIDS June 4: Storytime Dance Party – Blue Suede Shoes. 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. Storytime for children under four. June 5-7: Page Turner Adventures presentsThe Great Pizza Contest. 10:30 a.m., 2 and 6:30 p.m. Supersized stories and slapstick steampunk. June 7: Infinity Library Wars. 4 p.m. Ages 6-12. June 10: Young Artist Reception. 3-4 p.m. Join us

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Hoover Library (Cont.) as we honor South Shades Crest Elementary student artists. Awards at 3:30 p.m.

June 28: Summer STEAM – John Scalici Drums. 4 and 6:30 p.m. Ages 8-12.

June 11: Storytime Dance Party – Wild Thing. 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. Storytime for children 4 and younger.

June 29: Movers & Shakers – Rock n’ Roll Rumble. 9:30 and 11 a.m. Movement, music and more. All ages.

June 12-14: Lee Bryan presents Circus Fanta-Sea. 10:30 a.m., 2 and 6:30 p.m. Emmy-nomintated, Atlanta-based puppeteer. June 14: Summer STEAM: Musical Collages. 4 and 6:30 p.m. Ages 8-12. June 15: Movers & Shakers – We Got the Beat! 9:30 and 11 a.m. Movement, music and more. All ages. June 16: Incredibles Training. 10:30 a.m. Hone your powers and help the Supers save the day. Crafts and games for all ages.

TEENS June 4: Mario Kart Tournament. 6:30 p.m. June 11: 2000s Trivia. 6:30 p.m. June 18: Breakout of the Hoover Library. 6:30 p.m. June 25: The Science Lady presents – Hogwarts Academy. 6:30 p.m. ADULTS

June 18: Storytime Dance Party – Land of a Thousand Dances. 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. Storytime for children 4 and younger.

June 3: Kids Lit Coffee Break. 3 p.m. Adults who love children’s literature get a chance to relax and talk about books.

June 19-21: Arthur Atsma. 10:30 a.m., 2 and 6:30 p.m. June 19; 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. June 20 and 21. Sleight of hand artist, magician and entertainer.

June 3: Sunday NovelTea Fiction Book Group. 3 p.m. Plaza Reading Room. “Lady Cop Makes Trouble” by Amy Stewart.

June 21: Dogman to the Rescue. 4 p.m. He p fi h cr me h o r favor e cr me b canine. Ages 6-12. June 22: Bring Your Own Baby. 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. Music, movement and interactive stories Ages birth to 24 months. June 25: Storytime Dance Party – Happy. 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. Storytime for children 4 and younger. June 26-28: Rolie Polie Guacamole. 10:30 a.m., 2 and 6:30 p.m. Clever family-friendly tunes.

June 7: First Thursday Fiction Book Group. 10 a.m. Adult Program Room. “Fierce Kingdom” by Gin Phillips.

Area Events

June 11: 20 Feet from Stardom. 2 and 6:30 p.m. The Library Theatre. Free admission and refreshments.

June 1-3: USGA U.S. Women’s Open. Play begins at 8 a.m. daily. Shoal Creek. Visit usga. org.

June 11: Helping Hands. 3-8:30 p.m. Adult Program Room. Drop in to make newspaper rolls for a local humane society. Teens and adults.

June 1-3: The Importance of Being Earnest. South City Theatre, Pelham. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Visit southcitytheatre. com.

June 14: Second Thursday Fiction Book Group. 10 a.m. Adult Program Room. “The Little Paris Bookshop” by Nina George. June 14: George Griffin & the Firebirds. 7 p.m. Library Plaza. Blues and Southern rock band featuring a mix of classic covers and originals. June 15: After Hours @ the Plaza: Library Bingo. 7 p.m. Library Plaza. Compete for prizes during this classic game with a library twist. June 16: Insatiable Readers: Adventurous Travel. 0:30 a.m. era ee oom. ear abo o fic o e . June 17, 19 and 21: Glue Gun Gang: Happy Hoops for July 4th. Adult Program Room. 3-5 p.m. Sunday, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday and 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. Use buttons, burlap and embroidery to create a rustic patriotic decoration. Free. Adults only. June 21: Pop Culture Trivia Night. 7 p.m. Library Plaza. Compete for prizes.

June 9: Free Knitting Class. 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Space is limited and registration is required. Register at bit.ly/hplknit.

June 22: After Hours @ the Plaza: Game Nite. 7-10 p.m. Library Plaza. Put your game face on and team up with your fellow gamers.

June 9: Free Crochet Class. 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Space is limited and registration is required. Register at bit.ly/hplcrochet.

June 25: Monday at the Movies. 2 and 6:30 p.m. The Library Theatre. Free admission and refreshments.

June 9: Purl @ the Plaza – 8th Annual World Wide Knit in Public Day. 1-5 p.m. Library Plaza. Spinning, weaving and tatting demonstrations. Win door prizes.

June 28: Nighttime Nonfiction Book Group. 7 p.m. Adult Program Room. “God’s Wolf: The Life of the Most Notorious of All Crusaders, Scourge of Saladin” by Jeffrey Lee.

June 3-4: Gem, Mineral, Fossil & Jewelry Show. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tannehill State Park. Showcasing gems, minerals, fossils and jewelry. Admission $3-$5, children 5 and younger are free. Visit lapidaryclub.wordpress.com. June 4-11: Lights, Camera, Action! 4:30 and 7 p.m. The Kevin Wayne Acting Studio. Shelby County Arts Council Gallery, Columbiana. June 8-10: Magic City Con. Hyatt Regency – Wynfrey Hotel. Noon to 8 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Tickets $15 children, $35 adults. Visit magiccitycon.com. June 9: Woodlawn Street Market. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit facebook.com/woodlawnstreetmarket. June 9: Magic City Caribbean Food and Music Festival. 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Linn Park. Free. Visit cacaoonline.org or shelbycountyarts council.com. June 16: SliceFest. 1-11 p.m. Slice Pizza and Brew. Admission $25-$35, children 12 and younger are free. Visit slicefest.com. June 16-17: Tannehill Trade Days. 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park. Featuring over 350 vendors. Tickets $5 adults, $4 seniors, $3 children 6 and older. June 19: Southern League All-Star Game. 7:05 p.m. Regions Field. Visit milb.com. June 23-24: Family Camp Out Night. Railroad Park. Visit railroadpark.org.