Happy anniversary

| Alabama Snapshots |

Golden anniversary

Don and Jenny Westbrook’s 50th wedding anniversary, December 14, 2021. A surprise celebration given by their children and grandchildren. From left, Lige Wyatt, Donny, Paula, River, Boone, Jenny, Don, Luke,

Bennett, Beverly and Carter Westbrook. SUBMITTED by Jenny Westbrook, Wetumpka.

Jimmy and Bobbie Pugh’s 66th wedding

anniversary. SUBMITTED by Linda Casey, Montgomery.

John and Louise Bensinger. SUBMITTED BY Beth Mclarty, Arley.

Jack and Diane Harden celebrated their 50th Anniversary in Decem-

ber 2016. SUBMITTED by Allison Peacock, Ariton.

Jerry and Renee Redd celebrating their 50th anniversary on October 18, 2020, with a gifted beach photo

shoot. SUBMITTED by April Redd, Coker.

Kenneth and Jimmie Pell celebrated 50 years of marriage in August 2021, pictured at their farm in

Sylvania. SUBMITTED by Leslie Harris, Rainsville.

August theme: “My boat”

SUBMIT to WIN $10!

Deadline to submit: June 30 RULES: Alabama Living will pay $10 for photos that best

Online: alabamaliving.coop Mail: Snapshots P.O. Box 244014 match our theme of the month. Photos may also be published on our website at alabamaliving.coop and on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Alabama Living is not responsible for lost or damaged photos. Send a self-ad Montgomery, AL 36124 dressed stamped envelope to have photos returned.

North Alabama highlighted in new Agriculture Adventures Trail

‘The Miracle Worker’ play begins this month

Explore the rich and diverse world of farmers, growers and makers in north Alabama with the Agriculture Adventures Trail, a new initiative to bring visitors to the area while providing family-friendly activities and supporting local businesses. The trail was unveiled in May at a ceremony at Sullivan Creek Ranch in Vinemont, a 300-acre cattle ranch that is also open to RVs and campers. The new trail includes orchards and farms, wineries, a farmers’ market and agriplex, agritourism-related festivals and craft breweries and distilleries. For a free travel planner, visit northalabama.org or call 800-648-5381.

1818 Farms in Mooresville is one of the members of the North Alabama Agriculture

Adventures Trail. PHOTO COURTESY 1818 FARMS

‘The Miracle Worker’ is performed on the grounds of Ivy Green in Tuscumbia. PHOTO COURTESY OF COLBERT COUNTY TOURISM

The drama “The Miracle Worker,” the award-winning play that recalls the childhood of Helen Keller, will be performed at the outdoor theater on the grounds of Ivy Green, Keller’s historic birthplace, on several days in June and July.

Keller, who was left deaf and blind after a childhood illness, learned, with the help of gifted teacher Anne Sullivan, to read several languages in Braille. She went on to attend college, wrote 11 books and numerous articles and lectured in 39 countries on five continents.

She became known as “America’s First Lady of Courage” and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Ivy Green is now a museum dedicated to her memory, and thousands gather for the annual performances of the play at the home. The play will run June 3-4, 10-11, 17-18, 24-25, and July 8-9 and 15-16 at 300 North Commons W., Tuscumbia. For tickets and more information, visit helenkellerbirthplace.org.

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

Barbershop memories

I just read your excellent story (“Hardy Jackson’s Alabama”) in the April 2022 Alabama Living and wanted you to know that it put a smile on my face as well as conjuring up my old memories of my own barbershop experiences throughout my 72 years.

I have been otherwise enabled (I prefer that to disabled) for more than a decade and it was uplifting very nice to read your storytelling article this afternoon. So THANK YOU for that meaningful story, perhaps we’ll meet in a barbershop some day.

Steven Schwartz, Decatur

Your column brought back memories from a simpler yet wonderful time. My best memory from the old barbershop was the day I no longer had to sit on the board across the arms of the barber chair. I had “grown up.” The second and less pleasant memory was the day I decided to change my “hair style” from a GI cut to a flattop cut without consulting my Daddy. Judging from his reaction, you would have thought I was a “back from the future” refugee from Woodstock. It was a tense couple of days for me, but a source of great amusement in later years. Thanks for bringing back great memories.

Merrill Shell, Brewton

Disappointed in circus column

It is standard practice in circuses to hit, beat, shock, chain, and whip elephants, lions, tigers, and other wild animals behind the scenes in order to scare them into performing pointless and dangerous tricks. Animals used by circuses spend most of their lives in cages or chains. They are often forced to perform while injured or ill. Being a journalist, you can discover all these claims true and learn why Ringling Brothers circus was finally put out of business due to dwindling profits because people do not want to support the cruelty. I enjoy reading your articles, but your pro-circus article (March 2022) is very disappointing.

Kathryn Dalenberg, Valley Head

Hardy Jackson replies: Thank you for writing. Your point is well taken. The column was written through the eyes of a child who did not know what was going on behind the scenes. Happily, today the care of animals is more carefully controlled and from what I found out, circuses today (what few are left) are better regulated.

A great role model

Hardy, I so enjoyed your article about Coach Prim (May 2022) and his nickname for you. It brought back fond memories of HUP as the football players called him when I was in high school. I can still picture him standing in the hallway of CCHS wearing his white, short sleeve (even if it was 20 degrees) starched shirt, tie, khaki pants and his trademark saddle oxfords. Most of the time he had a toothpick in his mouth. It was rumored that he liked to watch “As The World Turns” during lunchtime as many of our mamas did!

Coach Prim was a kind, wonderful man who cared about all of his students and was a great role model for his football players. Thanks for sharing this story about his influence on you. I always enjoy your stories and especially the ones about Grove Hill.

Jackie Gibson Summers, Huntsville

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. Be sure to include your name, hometown and electric cooperative, and the location of your photo.We’ll draw a winner for the $25 prize each month.

Rebecca McCarter of McKenzie took her Alabama Living along on a recent trip to Vermont where she visited the Von Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, VT (“The Sound of Music” tells the story of the Von Trapp Family Singers). She’s a member of Pioneer Electric Cooperative.

Terese Goodson of Montgomery, a member of Dixie Electric Cooperative, enjoyed a trip to Opatija, Croatia, and had this photo taken in front of the Operetta across from the botanical gardens.

Dr. Tib Parnell shares his Alabama Living with his great-grands Mason, Heidi, Pierce, and Banks, while vacationing in Seaside, Fl. Dr. Parnell lives in Orange Beach and Laton Hill. He is a member of Baldwin EMC and ClarkeWashington EMC.

Bob Cooper of Cullman EC served with a volunteer team from Alabama Southern Baptist Disaster Relief in Romania in April helping feed and shelter Ukrainian refugees. This photo was taken on the border near Siret, Romania.

Ron and Olivia Smith, members of North Alabama Electric Cooperative, traveled with their magazine last September to Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands.

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 with your name, address and the name of your rural electric cooperative, if applicable. The winner and answer will be announced in the July issue.

Submit by email: whereville@alabamaliving.coop, or by mail: Whereville, P.O. Box 244014, Montgomery, AL 36124.

Contribute a photo you took 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.

May’s answer: According to the historical marker near the bridge: This reinforced concrete river bridge, thought to be the first in Alabama, was erected over Pea River in 1920-21 at a cost of $92,108.97. It was dedicated on Aug. 3, 1921 as a memorial to the 57 men from Dale County who lost their lives in World War I. The bridge is on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage. (Photo by Mark Stephenson of Alabama Living) The randomly drawn correct guess winner is Karen Milton of Pea River EC.

Find the hidden dingbat!

Our motorcycle-loving readers had no trouble finding the cycle we’d hidden on Page 26 in the May magazine. Look between the curtains and you’ll see it in the photo, just like Roxanne Riddle of Opelika, a member of Tallapoosa River EC. Roxanne was one of several readers who enjoyed the scene, “since my husband and I enjoy our Harley. We even rode it to the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone Park!”

Our randomly drawn winner, Dale E. Arbush of Montgomery, a member of Dixie EC, is another cycle rider who spotted the bike: “I got my first scooter in 1960 and have had many cycles over the years,” he wrote. “I still ride and have a Harley Davidson Heritage shorttail. So, I am really glad I found the motorcycle on page 26 out in the yard through the curtains.” We also enjoyed hearing from Arina Ellard, 14, of Foley: “Now that I’ve taken time to find the dingbat,” she told us, “I should probably start on my homework.”

This month, we’ve hidden an airplane, so take your copy on your next plane trip and use that time between stops to find the dingbat! You might be our next winner of a prize package from Alabama One Credit Union!

By mail: Find the Dingbat Alabama Living PO Box 244014 Montgomery, AL 36124

Sponsored by

By Emmett Burnett

Aclassic movie line comes to mind when massive Franklin County gates swing open, revealing 85 acres of prehistoric beauty: “Welcome to Jurassic Park.” But it is not Jurassic Park. It is real and like nothing else in Alabama. Welcome to Dismals Canyon.

With the exception of designated areas, the sandstone sunken world is untouched by man. Trails weave through fern forests. Waterfalls cascade through house-size boulders. Grottos, caves, and bluffs are negotiated at every turn.

“It is truly a different world,” says wildlife biologist and tour guide Britney McCaffrey, about the land that time forgot. “It never ceases to amaze me.” She is not alone.

The state wonder off Highway 8 in Phil Campbell, Alabama impressed the Discovery Channel crews so much, they filmed an episode of “When Dinosaurs Roamed the Earth” in this very domain. “They added raptors,” McCaffrey recalls. “It looked very real.”

Dismals Canyon does not need movie effects to look real. It is real but at times hard to believe it is not an enchanted forest. “Visitors often comment, ‘I can’t believe this is here,’” McCaffrey says. “And it’s often followed by, ‘I can’t believe this is in Alabama.’”

First time explorer Greg Downs, from Tupelo, Mississippi, sums up the experience. “It is just beautiful, the canyon walls, the plants, everything. I can’t describe it.”

At times it feels like fantasy. Explorers gaze skyward at “rocks” wider than your house and three stories taller. Trees with attitude grow 10 feet tall before turning sideways to continue sprouting at 90-degree angles. Canyon visitors meander through labyrinths, negotiating sandstone fissures, wooden bridges, and gurgling streams.

And the insects? They glow.

Dismalites – not to be confused with fireflies – is the local name for North American orfelia fultoni – i.e., very rare glow bugs. They congregate on rock cavern walls emitting bright bluegreen light. At night, it’s like looking up at the stars, at times so thick they form constellations. Others claim it is as if the caves are adorned with crawling jewels.

Awaiting your exploration

During the day, visitors explore at their own pace. For most people, the 1.5-mile walking trail can be accomplished in two hours. No experience is necessary. There is no rock climbing, but paths are on uneven terrain, so watch your step.

Side trails and maneuvering among sandstone fissures are downright fun. First timer Joseph Glasgow of nearby Red Bay says, “One of my favorite parts of the walk was squeezing through two giant boulders. It was impressive now that I’m through.”

From the Canyon House, one descends the stairway outdoors into the Paleozoic Era. Light diffuses and dimly filters through lush treetop canopies shrouded in mystery. Even the name, “Dismals,” evokes mystery. Two theories prevail:

One: The name derives from Scotch-Irish settlers, after a spot in Scotland with the same title – Dismals.

Two: Visitors named it after some of the paths, dark, foreboding, and dismal.

Deep in the canyon, on the canyon floor, you’ll find the geological and biological splendor that makes Dismals Canyon worthy of its National Natural Landmark designation. At right, this 138-foot tall Eastern Canadian Hemlock is one of the largest in the world.

Rainbow Falls contradicts the latter. When sunlight hits just right, the falls become a liquid prism, throwing rainbows on everything around it. The Dismals are dismal no more.

In the 1800s, area churches baptized members in a pool at the falls’ bottom. By contrast, 1800s outlaws also hid just down the path to evade capture.

Other bluffs, caves, and boulders are experienced throughout the journey. Grottos formed 10,000 years ago by earthquakes await exploration.

Temple Cave is one such beacon of investigation. Paleo Indians found shelter here centuries earlier. They used a large rock to grind corn. It is still here.

Dismals Canyon also houses sadness. Weeping Bluff has a nature-carved likeness of an Indian maiden’s face. Rain or shine, water streams from the bluff which legend says is canyon tears shed for Chickasaw Indians.

In 1838 U.S. troops rounded up the Chickasaw and held them captive in the canyon before herding them to Muscle Shoals, where they began the Trail of Tears. Over 90 percent perished during the journey. The bluff cries in their memory.

Over 350 types of flora and 27 species of trees including hemlock, tulip poplar, sweetgum, big leaf magnolia and beech are on the path. Ferns and moss carpet everything adding a green coating to towering stones.

A Champion Tree is here. At 130 feet tall and about 400 years old, it is one of largest known eastern hemlocks in the world.

The almost unblemished canyon owes its untouched existence to the massive stones that are more than majestic. They are guardians. Through decades, loggers tried to harvest the canyon’s old growth trees but reluctantly gave up. The terrain was too rugged and inaccessible for wood cutting machinery. Thank you, boulders. You rock.

Above: Water roars into the canyon at Rainbow Falls. Below: The entrance gate welcomes visitors to the Dismals Canyon on Highway 8 in Phil Campbell, Alabama.

PHOTOS BY EMMETT BURNETT

In addition to walking trails, site offerings include cabins/ camping, a country store and night tours (to see glowing dismalites). However, like everything else in the world, before visiting, check the site’s website – dismalscanyon.com – for the latest COVID-19 compliance status.

The canyon is not a national or state park, but privately owned. In 1975 it was designated a National Natural Landmark, administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Allow at least a half day to visit and take your time. There is no need to hurry. Dismals Canyon will wait, just as it has for 300 million years.

Left: The exterior of one of the cabins on the property. It appears rustic on the outside, but inside boasts luxury and privacy. Above: the country store features a comfortable gathering area. Below, a 1.5-mile hiking trail on the canyon floor follows a stream through boulders, past waterfalls and into a secret world filled with ferns and giant trees.

PHOTOS BY CHRIS GRANGER/ALABAMA TOURISM DEPARTMENT

Explore state’s natural beauty

Alabama is home to a rich landscape of geologic treasures, of which the Dismals Canyon is but one. During 2022, the National Parks Service is celebrating the International Year of Caves and Karst, making it the perfect time to get out and explore the terrain of our state by visiting a cavern, canyon, cave or karst (land formation formed by the dissolving of limestone) location near you.

And June 5-11 is National Cave Week, with some venues planning special events and discounts during that time. Among them is Majestic Caverns in Childersburg, formerly known as DeSoto Caverns which will kick off its name change celebration June 3-6 (see “Around Alabama,” page 29, for details).

More information is available at northalabama.org or alabama.travel.

Country comedian Steve Hall’s

legacy lives on

Two friends continue cooking up fun on “Shotgun Red” show

At top, comedian Steve Hall with his stuffed sidekick, Shotgun Red. The wise-cracking puppet was Hall’s co-host on the TV talk show “Nashville Now” from the 1980s through 1993. Shotgun Red had a role in another show Hall created, called “The Shotgun Red Variety Show,” co-hosted by “Miss Sheila” (Sheila Keeton). Below, Keeton and friend Jennifer Bruce currently star in “Cooking with Shotgun Red” on the show’s YouTube channel.

PHOTOS COURTESY SHEILA KEETON

By Jennifer Kornegay

From 2014 to 2018, Sheila Keeton could often be seen joining her fiancé, musician and comedian Steve Hall, at the end of his cooking show, “Cooking with Shotgun Red.” He’d offer her a bite, and she’d happily taste whatever Hall had whipped up, be it a homemade chocolate malt, a frozen lemonade pie or a Tex-Mex tater tot casserole.

Then, in 2018, Hall passed away. Keeton, who lives in Red Bay, Alabama, and is a member of Franklin Electric Cooperative, knew Hall, the consummate entertainer, would want the show to go on. So, she asked their friend Jennifer Bruce to join her, and the duo decided to keep the oven on. “I just knew he’d want the show to keep going; he was so proud of it,” Keeton says.

In 2018, the “Cooking with Shotgun Red” had 116,000 YouTube subscribers. Today, it has close to 400,000, and both Bruce and Keeton credit this success to their adherence to Hall’s no-fail recipe for a successful show: Mix equal parts food and fun. The two ladies are always laughing, and every episode has a friendly, almost festive feel.

Fun was an integral ingredient in everything Hall did, including the creation of his stuffed sidekick, Shotgun Red. Starting in the early 1980s, Hall’s wise-cracking, joke-telling puppet was a fixture in the country music world. Hall happened upon

Comedian Steve Hall loved cooking for others. After making a few videos for Alabama-based Buckmasters, Hall created “Cooking With Shotgun Red” that featured his country cooking.

the puppet that he turned into Red in a hobby store. He bought him, put a cowboy hat atop his head, and created (and voiced) the Red character to help his band at the time stand out.

“He wanted to have something to get them some attention, to be different,” Keeton says, “so he’d do these little comedy bits with Red. People loved it.”

Red was funny enough to get himself and Hall noticed in a “battle of the bands” competition, which earned Red the co-host spot on The Nashville Network’s television talk show “Nashville Now” from 1983 to 1993. Hall and Red also made regular appearances on “Hee Haw.” On a country music video show that Hall hosted called “Country Clips,” Red often conducted the interviews, chatting with crooning legends like Garth Brooks and Randy Travis.

Hall then created another program to showcase Red as well as other talent, “The Shotgun Red Variety Show,” which Keeton, called “Miss Sheila,” co-hosted. It aired for four seasons, until 2014. For 15 years, amid all the TV shows and appearances, Hall and Red also did their musical comedy act aboard the “General Jackson Showboat” in Nashville. Bruce was a vocalist in the Shotgun Red Band and managed “The Shotgun Red Variety Show.”

From the small screen to the computer screen

While Hall loved making folks smile with both his music and Red’s humor, he also loved to cook for others. “Sharing his food with people was truly one of his favorite things to do,” Keeton says. Plus, he was an avid hunter and fisherman. So, when Jackie Bushman, founder of the huge Montgomery, Alabama-based hunting brand Buckmasters, asked Hall and Red to make a few cooking videos for his television show, Hall was excited to oblige. That experience sparked the idea for a new venture, and “Cooking with Shotgun Red” was born.

In 2014, Hall created the show’s YouTube channel, and for four years, he walked viewers through his favorite “country cooking” dishes, filming and airing more than 300 episodes.

Keeton felt the work and devotion Hall had put into the show deserved to be honored. “We started it all from scratch, and I helped, so I didn’t want to let it go,” Keeton says. “I wanted to carry on his legacy.”

“And people were asking for it,” Bruce adds. “They were fans of the cooking and of Sheila too.” Bruce brought her years of friendship, her background in music and video production and her own cooking skills to the table to help. “I just felt like it was a great way to honor Steve,” she says.

Together, they are continuing to share Hall’s food, using some of his recipes, some of their own and some from family and friends. They’re also paying attention to what their audience wants and giving them more of what really resonates. “We recently did a slow-cooker lemon chicken and got more than 100,000 views in the first week,” Bruce says. Another popular show featured chicken-fried chicken with homemade gravy.

The first 307 episodes, all featuring Hall, are still available on the channel, and show him making his greatest hits, like rabbit stew, seared flat iron steak with butter, beer-battered onion rings and his take on how to make copycat McDonald’s French fries, which now has more than 3.5 million views.

No matter where each recipe originated, Keeton and Bruce ensure Hall remains a focal point. “We’ve heard from viewers how much they love still feeling like he is a part of it, so we make an effort to do that,” Keeton says. “He always told stories and jokes while he cooked, so we do that too, tell his tales and his jokes.” But Red is now retired. “Shotgun Red is our mascot, but we didn’t feel it was right to have him back on the show,” Bruce says.

“Steve was Red,” Keeton adds.

Today, fans can find more than 430 episodes, and the number keeps growing. “We put a new episode up pretty much every week,” Bruce says. And they feel that they’re continuing to grow too. “It’s rewarding to try and make every show better than the last for our viewers. That keeps us going, and the comments we get from them, telling us how much they love the recipes and just the show itself, that’s very rewarding,” Keeton said.

Hall actually makes an appearance at the end of each episode, signing off with his signature line: “Is this the best? If it ain’t, it ought to be!” According to Keeton, keeping Hall’s memory alive, and sharing his zest for life with the world, is the best part of her work. “He loved this show so much, and we feel his presence every time we film,” Keeton says.

Chicken fried chicken with homemade gravy, one of Hall’s creations for the show.

Tune In

You can watch “Cooking With Shotgun Red” any time by visiting the YouTube channel at youtube.

com/c/CookingwithShotgun-

Red/featured. And, if you want more, visit shotgunred.com to check out the two “Cooking With Shotgun Red” cookbooks. Both are filled with recipes featured on the show, including appetizers, burgers, entrees, desserts and even some wild game recipes.