Volume 3 | Issue 11 | March 2016
TRAILBLAZERS
Ham Hobby
Mountain biking team plans new trail at McCallum Park By SYDNEY CROMWELL
Amateur radio operator makes global connections listening to what’s going on around the world.
See page A20
From Rebel to Brave
Hard work of former Vestavia baseball standout takes him to spring training with Atlanta.
See page B16
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M
ountain biking is a growing sport at Vestavia Hills High School, but the team can’t really fit practices into the school gym. For the 15 to 20 middle and high school students on the Vestavia Hills team in its second season, that has meant driving to Oak Mountain State Park or attempting to avoid traffic while riding in Liberty Park. Right behind the high school, however, was an ideal site for practices that head coach Tina Chanslor and team director Doug Brown never knew existed. “I’ve lived in Vestavia forever and I’ve never gone down the little road to McCallum Park,” said Chanslor, who is also president of the Birmingham Urban Mountain Pedalers. At McCallum Park, Chanslor and Brown see the potential to build a new trail, not just for mountain biking, but also for anyone looking to walk, hike or run in the area. The mountain bike team is in its second year and is one of 23 Alabama leagues in the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA), with the race season running from November to May. Chanslor said the team competes in several locations across the state, in races anywhere from five to 20 miles depending on the riders’ skill level. The sport is not just about being the first to the finish line. Riders have to deal with challenging
See BIKING | page A30
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High school and middle school members of the mountain bike team ride the trails of Oak Mountain State Park. Photo by Ron Burkett.
Sharing the gift of sight By SYDNEY CROMWELL
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Through Operation Saving Sight, Dr. Stephen Hamilton performs cataract and other eye surgeries at no cost to people living under the poverty line. Photo courtesy of Stephen Hamilton.
For Dr. Stephen Hamilton, sometimes it takes less than half an hour to give someone their vision back. A 1980 Vestavia Hills High School graduate, Hamilton is an ophthalmologist at Eye Consultants of Atlanta. He specializes in corneal transplants, Lasik eye surgery and complicated cataract removals, but his faith and upbringing, Hamilton said, inspired him to use his medical talents as an opportunity to help others. This started with medical missions around the world, but when it became more difficult to travel, he found there was great need for eye care in his own city. “My whole career I’ve always taken care of people. I’ve never turned a patient away if they
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can’t afford the care,” Hamilton said. “There’s lots of need here.” It began with treating patients who came to his Atlanta office but, with or without insurance, couldn’t pay for eye surgery. This was especially common for cataracts, which Hamilton can remove in a 10- to 15-minute procedure. Then he decided to give his work a formal name to help spread the word: Operation Saving Sight. “I had a lot of people coming to me that were completely blind from cataracts, and it’s so easy for me to help them,” Hamilton said. Beginning in spring 2015, Operation Saving Sight has held two free surgery days per year for patients below the poverty line. Hamilton and the fellow training with him — who this year is Dr.
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