21 minute read
Relax and recharge
A home away from home
Perhaps no one brags on Sherling Lake Park and Campground like Bill Smith. He came out of retirement a few years ago to manage the award-winning RV park known far and wide for its friendly service and well-groomed facilities. At age 73, he still enjoys cutting grass, and when guests arrive Smith sees to it that old-fashioned Southern hospitality holds sway among the staff.
“We escort each camper to their site,” Smith says. “I enjoy the work, and I especially enjoy meeting new people. There’s a couple from England who have visited several times. They were children during World War II, and they can remember evacuating London during the German bombings. It’s like listening to the History Channel, except I’m getting the stories firsthand.”
Something for everyone
Sherling Lake Park and Campground is just off Interstate 65 and 3 miles west of Greenville. The park features 41 RV hookup sites, along with a few areas reserved for tent camping. The 30-acre facility offers a range of recreational options that can keep an outdoor enthusiast occupied for days. There are two small lakes on the property, both stocked with catfish, bass and bream. Boats are available for rent, and guests under the age of 16 fish for free.
Next door to the park is the 36-hole, four-course Cambrian Ridge golf complex, part of the highly acclaimed Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail that includes 468 holes at 11 public courses throughout Alabama.
The park also has a facility that can be rented for events. Known as The Lodge at Sherling Lake, it was built in 2017 to replace the Sherling Lake House, which was destroyed after a tornado swept through the area in 2011. The new building includes a chef ’s kitchen and a large, lake-view veranda with an outdoor fireplace built of native stone.
The city of Greenville owns Sherling Lake Park and Campground. Greenville Mayor Dexter McLendon says the new lodge reaches its potential as an entertainment space that attracts wedding parties, family reunions and corporate events.
“From a commercial standpoint, the park facilities and RV camping are economic assets we promote on behalf of the city,” McLendon says. “People who camp at the park aren’t just visiting the park — they’re checking out other things Greenville has to offer, like its restaurants and historic downtown.”
A safe place
Sherling Lake Park and Campground was closed from mid-March to early June due to COVID-19. Exceptions were granted to a handful of monthly workers who had jobs in the area and no place to stay other than their RVs. These workers had to leave their RVs parked at the campground — daytrips were prohibited — and they were not allowed outside visitors.
Except for the children’s playground area, Sherling Lake Park and Campground fully reopened at the end of June. Visitors are reminded to social distance and to wear masks. Park management say the campground was busy at the end of June and early July shortly after reopening and that they expect more activity this fall when the park typically attracts Northerners en route to Florida for the winter.
While some facets of the outdoor recreation industry have been hit hard by the pandemic, others have surged. According to the RV Industry Association, RV sales rebounded through the summer after manufacturing shut down in the spring during the initial COVID-19 outbreak. Industry officials say sales in some parts of the U.S. were up 170% over the same period last year as more travelers turned to RVs as a safer alternative to flying commercially or staying in hotels.
Sherling Lake Park and Campground is known for its friendly service and nice, clean facilities.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF GREENVILLE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
One of Sherling Lake Park and Campground’s most pandemic-friendly assets is the Philip Herring Walking Trail, a 1-mile, round-trip footpath that skirts the campground area and meanders through the woods toward the park’s two lakes. The gently rolling hills are covered in hardwoods and pines, and Spanish moss hangs from the trees.
With its mixture of forests and open areas, the walking trail attracts a diverse array of birds, including woodpeckers, songbirds, northern bobwhites and even wild turkey, which can be spotted along the neighboring golf course. As one of the few RV sites in the country that allow noncampers access to the park, Sherling Lake Park and Campground welcomes bird-watchers and nature lovers who take advantage of the trails.
“During COVID-19, more people are looking for outdoor activities they can enjoy as families,” says Tracy Salter, executive director of the Greenville Area Chamber of Commerce. “We see people fishing and renting canoes, or simply walking and enjoying the most beautiful woods you’d ever want to see.” n
With a 1-mile trail, two lakes and beautiful scenery, campers can relax and enjoy the great outdoors.
Lighting the great outdoors
An updated LED program from Pioneer Electric has generated plenty of light for its members over the past three years.
Since its inception, the outdoor lighting program has provided added security and performance while also allowing residents to extend recreational time outdoors. Pioneer Electric Warehouse and Purchasing Agent Wayne Acreman and servicemen have installed about 4,000 LED outdoor lights in the cooperative’s coverage areas.
The Cree Lighting-produced LED lights now used by Pioneer Electric take the place of high-pressure sodium and mercury vapor lights. The LED lights, which also feature failsafe switches as protection against lightning strikes, are installed when the older lights need repairs or replacement.
“Members have accepted these newer lights over the high-pressure sodium and mercury vapor lights we had previously installed, so it’s been really good,” Acreman says. “The new LED lights provide better illumination, in addition to cost savings for the member and the cooperative.”
On its website, Cree Lighting touts its LED lights as the “perfect replacements for high-pressure sodium lights,” and Acreman says they have proven to be a perfect fit for Pioneer’s area.
Lease charges for the standard 50 watt LED outdoor fixture are $11.50 per month, added to a member’s monthly bill. Other fixture sizes are available, and can be obtained from customer service.
To learn more about an outdoor lighting contract, contact Pioneer at 800-239-3092. n
Is your contact information up to date?
Have you recently moved or changed your phone number? If so, please contact Pioneer Electric to make sure your contact information on file is up to date. By having this up-to-date information, Pioneer Electric can send your capital credits check to the correct address, respond timely to any power outages and, overall, better serve you! Give us a call at 334-382-6636 or visit pioneerelectric.com to update your info!
Fall Foliage
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Cullman county in 2018. SUBMITTED BY Debby Boyd, Addison. Cades Cove 2019. SUBMITTED BY Charlene Coleman, Brewton.
3. Changing of the seasons. SUBMITTED BY Arthur J. Davis, Bay Minette. 4. Golden leaves at Birmingham Zoo. SUBMITTED BY KJ Sharpe, Andalusia.
Submit “Christmas vacation” photos by October 31. Winning photos will run in the December issue.
SUBMIT and WIN $10! Online: alabamaliving.coop Mail: Snapshots P.O. Box 244014 Montgomery, AL 36124
RULES: Alabama Living will pay $10 for photos that best match our theme of the month. Photos may also be published on our website at alabamaliving.coop and on our Facebook page. Alabama Living is not responsible for lost or damaged photos. Send a self-addressed stamped envelope to have photos returned.
A grateful young person in Louisiana made a hand-written thank-you note for a line crew from Marshall-DeKalb Electric Cooperative, based in Boaz.
Alabama co-ops help others hit hard by hurricanes
Hurricane Laura made landfall Aug. 27 as a category 4 storm and caused widespread damage to western Louisiana and eastern Texas. The storm caused massive damage to electric transmission structures and caused a system-wide outage that knocked out electricity to more than 1 million people.
In true cooperative fashion, Alabama’s rural electric cooperatives made arrangements even before Laura made landfall to help restore power after the storm. More than 175 men – mostly linemen, but also mechanics and warehousemen – from 14 Alabama cooperatives drove to Louisiana with needed equipment as soon as the storm passed and set to work.
The Alabama co-ops traveled to Beauregard Electric Cooperative, Inc. (BECi) based in DeRidder, Louisiana, to join more than 1,000 linemen to restore power to the co-op. All 43,000 members were without power; the co-op had more than 5,000 broken poles on its system.
Safety is always the top priority in any restoration effort, so several members of the safety staff of the Alabama Rural Electric Association (AREA) went to Louisiana to help the crews work safe and stay healthy. (AREA publishes Alabama Living.)
For the crews, the 16-hour days are long, the weather is hot and humid and the work is difficult. But restoring electricity to people who have not had it for weeks lifts the crews’ spirits, as do the expressions of gratitude – sometimes hand-written cards, or snacks or water – they receive from thankful residents.
The crews were still working in Louisiana when Hurricane Sally formed and strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico, with a path that directly impacted Mississippi and Alabama. The Alabama cooperatives brought their crews back to the state to be ready to respond to outages caused by Sally. BECi completely understood the need for the crews to prepare to help their own members and was grateful for their assistance.
As this issue was going to press, co-ops in southwest Alabama had requested help as Sally was set to make landfall, and several crews coming back from Louisiana volunteered to help those co-ops before heading back to their homes in other parts of the state. We’ll have more on the response to Hurricane Sally in the November issue of Alabama Living.
Whereville, AL
Identify and place this Alabama landmark and you could win $25! Winner is chosen at random from all correct entries. Multiple entries from the same person will be disqualified. Send your answer by Oct. 7 with your name, address and the name of your rural electric cooperative. The winner and answer will be announced in the November issue.
Submit by email: whereville@alabamaliving.coop, or by mail: Whereville, P.O. Box 244014, Montgomery, AL 36124.
Contribute your own photo for an upcoming issue! Send a photo of an interesting or unusual landmark in Alabama, which must be accessible to the public. A reader whose photo is chosen will also win $25.
September’s answer: The Waldo Covered Bridge, built in 1858, is 115 feet long and located in the Waldo community in Talladega County. Also known as the Riddle Mill covered bridge, it is the second-oldest covered bridge in Alabama and was constructed to allow commercial and private traffic across Talladega Creek. (Information from Encyclopedia of Alabama) Photo submitted by Tammy Riley of Southern Pine EC. The randomly drawn correct guess winner is Donna Hill Grice of Arab EC.
Take us along!
We’ve enjoyed seeing photos from our readers on their travels with Alabama Living! Please send us a photo of you with a copy of the magazine on your travels to: mytravels@alabamaliving.coop. Please include your name, hometown and electric cooperative, and the location of your photo. We’ll draw a winner for the $25 prize each month.
Brothers David and Samuel LoDuca took their copy to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where Samuel reported to USMA as a new cadet in the class of 2024! Their parents, Paul and Summer LoDuca, are members of Baldwin EMC. Vicky Hollenbeck of Wetumpka visited the Kansas City Zoo with her favorite magazine. She is a member of Central Alabama Electric Cooperative.
Letters to the editor
E-mail us at: letters@alabamaliving.coop or write us at: Letters to the editor P.O. Box 244014 Montgomery, AL 36124
Required reading
Your article in the September issue (“Getting a second opinion,” Hardy Jackson’s Alabama) was one of my favorites! The last two sentences were powerful!
“Though Methodism is fine for me, I always like to get a second opinion.”
Of such an attitude, religious toleration is born.
This article should be required reading in every college (and high school) history class.
You are an especially gifted writer and I look forward to your articles each month.
Thank you for sharing your God-given talent with us!
Jackie Campbell
Somerville
Was amazed to see that in the latest issue not one single individual was pictured wearing a mask. So sorry to see you do not support the curbing of COVID-19 in our great state. I am a 77- year-old customer and was deeply distressed that you show such a callous attitude towards this serious virus that has in some way affected all the citizens of Alabama.
Roy Gamble
Flat Rock
Ed. note: Many of the photos in the September issue were taken before the statewide mask directive was in place and indeed, before the COVID-19 pandemic was known. We at Alabama Living comply with all directives of the Governor regarding the pandemic and agree with you that we must work together to curb the spread of the virus in our state.
Disputes football stats
The article by Brad Bradford (August 2020) had Tua Taguvailoa being the number 1 efficiency rating and Joe Burrow being number 2. It couldn’t be further from the truth. Only one player in NCAA history barely beat Joe with almost an 78% efficiency and Tua was not even close.
Tua did not receive the Heisman, Unitas Gold Arm, Davey O’Brien, Lombard, Maxwell, Walter Camp, Manning and AP National Player of the year awards, Joe Burrow did!
Yes, I’m an LSU alum living here in Alabama and I have followed LSU since I was 5 in 1953. And OBTW, your prediction will be way off the mark!
Raymond G. Dougherty
Decatur
Distressed by photos
Brad Bradford responds:
Using the football database final rankings as of January 13, 2020, my article stated passing efficiency: Tua 206.9, Burrow 202, Jones 186.8. Burrow WAS the best in the SEC. That was not up for debate. It had to do with Mac Jones' rating and returning as the starter. Burrow threw for 5,671 yards- 1st by far; threw for 60 touchdowns/1st by far, completion percentage of 76.3/1st.
Passing efficiency takes into account completion percentage, touchdowns thrown, interceptions, yards per completion, touchdown percentage. If the article had stated anything except passing efficiency, I would send a retraction. I stand by the above stats.
Find the hidden dingbat!
More than 600 of our readers found the hidden pencil on the red placemat on the table in the photo on Page 17 in the September issue. Apparently the fresh ly sharpened pencil inspired some of our younger readers who may have been look ing forward to using their own pencils when they got back to their school class rooms. Robert Barrentine of Wiregrass EC wrote us that as soon as he got the mail, “the first pair of hands on your Alabama Living was my granddaughter’s, Katie Von cile Adams. I laughed, for in three minutes she found the pencil.” Kathy Hickman of Greenville, a member of Pioneer EC, had help from her granddaughters as well: “It was so fun letting them find it.”
We got a few more poems, including this one from our prize winner, Ian Shreve of Hartselle, a member of Joe Wheeler EMC. Ian, who is 9 years old, even set his poem, written in couplets, to music! “If you have a piano and a person who can read music (like myself) then you can listen to it,” he wrote. When I had seen The magazine, I found the pencil (Without a stencil!)
As I have now seen On page seventeen.
This pencil is new, Used just a few. I had such great fun Searching for this one!
As I have now seen On page seventeen.
Congratulations, Ian! We appreciate all the letters we get from our readers of all ages! This month, we’re hiding a candy corn. Good luck! The deadline is Oct. 7.
By email:
dingbat@alabamaliving.com
By mail:
Find the Dingbat Alabama Living PO Box 244014 Montgomery, AL 36124
Mayberry town barber
Beloved character lives on, thanks to tribute artist
By Jeremy Henderson
Allan Newsome pretends to give a haircut to a young fan held by David Browning, a now-retired Barney Fife impersonator. PHOTO BY HOBART JONES
All of a sudden Allan Newsome’s wife, Jan, will point at him: community of “The Andy Griffith Show” aficionados large enough “There — you’re doing it right now!” to spawn multiple annual fan events, a dozen or more books, a
He doesn’t hear it. In his mind, when he gets back from popular Bible study curriculum (born in Huntsville’s Twickenham a Mayberry Days event and it’s time to hang up the coat and put Church of Christ), and even an upcoming quasi-documentary of away the scissors, that’s it. He’s back to being regular old Allan sorts (which Newsome stars in). He is, to reference a Season Two Newsome, a 54-year-old Huntsville man with a mustache that he’s classic, a keeper of the flame for fellow fans, having maintained had since high school, an IT guy at Redstone Arsenal who hap practically every major Griffith fan site for more than 20 years, pens to run a couple of personal including WeaversDepartment websites on the side, not a barber Store.com, an online emporium shop. (named for Aunt Bea’s favorite
But he’s outnumbered. His son place to shop) of Griffith kitsch Adam swears he hears it, too. and collectibles that is currently
They’ll all be at the dinner table pushing a line of “The Andy Grif or on the couch and Allan won’t fith Show”-themed coffee and baeven be talking about the show. con. Jan handles the orders. It might just be a quick comment And, of course, there’s his pod about the weather, or something cast, “Two Chairs No Waiting,” he saw on the news that he can’t another Season Two reference. wait to forget, and Jan will stop He’ll be recording the 586th ep him and say, “Now, come on, Al isode tonight. Should be a good lan. That sounded just like him.” one. There’s been a bombshell
He’ll laugh. Sometimes he’ll development in the mystery of argue. Hey, if it’s true — if he oc “Nice Dress Nellie,” the nickname casionally forgets that he’s not on Newsome visits with Betty Lynn, who played Barney Fife’s girlfriend, of a recurring show extra. A fan stage and lapses back into charac Thelma Lou, on “The Andy Griffith Show.” PHOTO BY HOBART JONES claims to have a solid lead on the ter — then, well, that just comes woman’s last name. That may not with the territory. That’s what sound quite as thrilling as when nearly three decades as the world’s premiere (and only, as far as he Allan got the guy in Indiana to isolate and reverse the audio of the knows) Floyd the Barber tribute artist will do to a man. rewinding tape recorder in Season One’s “Mayberry on Record,”
Allan Newsome is one of the top powerbrokers in a thriving but it’s still pretty sensational stuff.
But his greatest contribution to the culture, by far, is Floyd Law- son, the Mayberry town barber.
In the beginning
It all started in 1994. He was at Mule Day in Gordo, Alabama, and a group went out to eat, David Browning included. Until his recent retirement from the impersonation circuit, Browning was the king of Griffith tribute artists. His spot-on Barney Fife was a must-have at Mayberry meetups for 30 years.
So, they’re all just waiting for a table, quoting the show to each other, doing voices and everything like always, and Allan does Floyd’s “Bobby Gribble hates Emma Larch” routine from the “Case of the Punch in the Nose” episode. He nailed it. Browning loved it.
Not long after that, Allan and Jan were at the Mayberry Squad Car Rendezvous in Bradford, Ohio, a town that boasts a full-sized replica of Wally’s Filling Station. And, of course, Browning was there.
“He kept getting me to come over and talk to people like Floyd,” Allan says. “Then he took me aside and said ‘Hey, you want to dress up and come to Mount Airy as Floyd for Mayberry Days?’”
Mayberry Days is the big one. It’s held every year in Andy Grif fith’s hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina, which has capitalized on the show’s phenomenal syndication success by billing itself as the real-life Mayberry. The Snappy Lunch diner down - town? It’s actually mentioned in an episode. And of course, so is Mount Pilot, Mayberry’s slightly larger sister city. Only, on an ac - tual map, it’s Pilot Mountain, southeast of Mount Airy by 11 miles.
Griffith pilgrims can visit the Andy Griffith Museum, tour the town in a vintage squad car, pose in a replica courthouse, and yes, have their bangs trimmed at Floyd’s Barbershop. The town’s offi - cial website is VisitMayberrry.com, and you don’t have to scroll far to find a photo of Allan Newsome.
He thought dressing up for that event would be a one-time deal. Instead, he’s become a fixture. You don’t come back from Mayber - ry Days without a selfie with Allan Newsome.
Allan got hooked on “The Andy Griffith Show” while a student at Auburn in the late 1980s. He’d seen it before heading off to col - lege, obviously, but something about the simplicity of it, and the clockwork regularity — 5 p.m., 10 p.m. — seemed tailor-made for an electrical engineering student trying to keep sane between ex - ams.
“We’d need a break from studying and you’d just pop some popcorn and sit down and watch ‘The Andy Griffith Show,’” Allan says. “It would just relieve some of the stress that you had from just trying to do all that dadgum homework.”
Reminders of home
Plus, it reminded him of home. He’s from Henegar, a DeKalb County town of 3,000 people or so. Aunt Bea’s friends — Clara Edwards and Myrtle? They might as well have been ladies from his church. And he can’t watch an Ernest T. Bass episode without thinking of this one farmer down the road he’d see as a kid.
Allan’s dad, Wayne, laughs at that one.
“Yeah,” he says, “that’s a pretty fair assessment.”
Wayne and his wife Ann still live in Henegar, and, yes, they now hear traces of Floyd in their son’s voice, too. The first time Wayne met Allan’s alter ego was at a Huntsville Stars baseball game years back. Allan and David Browning were both there, in character, as part of the team’s perennial “Mayberry Night” promotion.
“I said ‘I can’t believe I sent him to Auburn to do that,’” Wayne laughs. “It just didn’t seem like him. He’s always been a matter-offact guy, but to see him as Floyd, it’s like a totally different person.
But he loves it.” that’s what he’s gathered from watching the show.
And the more Allan stuck with, the more it Wayne may not know that the new kid in town made sense. What he said about seeing Henegar framed Opie for busting the streetlight with in Mayberry, and vice versa? Wayne sees it, too. an apple rather than a rock — that would have He still sees it. knocked him out of the Mayberry Days trivia
“Allan grew up in that type of town. It’s still preliminaries in a heartbeat, I told him — but a Mayberry town,” he says. “No one locks their he’s definitely a fan. doors. Everybody’s friendly. Everybody knows “Oh yeah, it still comes on, it’s a great show,” he everybody. And, yeah, we definitely have a few says. “Mayberry is just the place you want to be.” characters around here.” Exactly, Allan says. That’s the reason the show If we’re talking Mayberry parallels, Wayne ac tually might be one himself. Newsome “trims” a fan’s hair for a photo at a Mayberry fan event. endures. It’s not just because it’s good. It’s because it’s an escape to simpler times. In 2020, that’s
For starters, he was police commissioner for a PHOTOS BY HOBART JONES something that grows more valuable by the day. short while in the ’80s. Almost by the hour.
“We had more than one police car, though,” he says. “We had But it sure is hard on his ties. two or three.” “A lot of times we don’t even call him on doing the voice any
He also even used to own Stone’s Department Store, which more, but that’s the other thing he does now,” Jan says. “He fiddles might as well have been a Weaver’s come to life, he says. At least with his ties all the time, just like Floyd.”
Floyd (Allan Newsome) and Barney (David Browning) ride in a Mayberry fan event parade.
