A local couple and their outdoor excursions PAGE 22
8-year-old wins national award PAGE 31 FEELING ADVENTUROUS
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RECREATION
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Scan QR code or visit MyGardendale.com to stay in the know about everything happening in our thriving community!
Bill Noble Park
Luman Harris Park Beatrice Johnson Park
Kenny Clemons Park
Cover: Nancy Benz and Tanisia Moore encourages kids to dream big with their new books.
Citizen: Local couple takes adventures to a new level.
Photos: Nerf Battle at Bill Noble
The September issue will always be significant to me. After all, this marks the first time, three years ago, that we came to you on these pages and asked you to support us as we tried something new. And boy, did you show up for us. The community embraced this magazine and has made it something I hope you are all proud of. You’ve celebrated with us and haven’t been shy about telling us if we missed the mark, and we are all grateful for that feedback. I am rarely out in the community now when someone doesn’t strike up a conversation about the magazine, and I love hearing from all of you.
This issue is full of the people of the city, from young to old, who are doing things to better themselves and their community and having fun. We are always looking for ways to feature more of the people in our community who are doing impressive, inspiring or interesting things, and we have even more of that planned for you as we move into our fourth year.
Thank you for trusting us to tell your stories and for helping us grow a magazine that the community can be proud of.
Rachel Davis Karr, Content Director
/ About Us / On The Cover /
About the Cover
PHOTO BY HEATHER WARDEN, WARDEN PHOTOGRAPHY
Who We Are
Gardendale Magazine is published monthly by JBMC Media, a Birmingham-based publishing company. The magazine is available at nearly 90 locations throughout Gardendale, free of charge, and is supported by the advertisers within the pages of this magazine. Subscriptions by mail area also available for $35 per year. Email matthew@jbmcmedia.com for more information.
Gardendale Magazine is 100% local; the stories and photos are all about the city of Gardendale, its residents, its businesses, its schools, and its cultural institutions. It’s our promise to you that we will always keep it this way, so that the content and stories are relevant to everyone who calls Gardendale home.
Local authors Nancy Benz and Tanisia Moore deliver important, empowering and uplifting messages to local kids through their children’s books.
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Local author’s book teaches lessons through the story
From living as a stray dog in Oklahoma, to making waves across the world, to starring in her own children’s book, former stray, Jane, has had quite a journey.
Tom and Nancy Benz adopted Jane after she was rescued on Jane Lane in Oklahoma. Tom’s son, a major in the U.S. Air Force, was the one who found her, but then had to deploy so he sent the dog to live with his dad in Gardendale. As a former street dog, Jane had to learn to trust her new humans and about the rules of living in a house with a family.
At the time, Tom and Nancy were operating a special camp that brought orphans from the Ukraine a few times a year so they could experience America and attend churches here.
Tom had traveled to the orphanages in Ukraine for a previous job and felt led to continue helping the children there. He purchased a former church camp and hosted 10 orphans three times during the year. This helped expand their horizons and gave supporters of the orphanage here a chance to see the children they were helping. This was especially important, as orphans there often slipped into drugs, were trafficked or became members of Russian gangs.
The camps expanded their horizons and often led to potential adoptions in the churches here in the United States. The kids, who had often been through a lot of chaos and tragedy, were
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PHOTO COURTESY OF NANCY BENZ
Becky’s
Buffalo
Cheri
Fieldstown
Gardendale
Gardendale
Gardendale
Gardendale
Gardendale
Gllam
Jim
Maggie
Mordecai
Roo’s
“She had to learn to not break rules and transform as a service dog. It follows her adventures, and how she helped the kids relax, learn the rules and trust. It also talks about different rules and how they are for your protection. You never know what their potential might be. It would have been such a loss if she hadn’t been rescued.”
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also sometimes timid because of being in a new place, but the couple soon realized that Jane was able to connect with and comfort the children in a way they couldn’t.
“In about 2016, we noticed Jane was very receptive to the orphans and seemed sympathetic,” Nancy explained. “They would gravitate toward Jane and they began to trust us more.”
Jane then underwent training to become a therapy dog and would then meet the children at the airport, accompany them to activities like the Space and Rocket Center, Peach Park or various churches around the area.
After the war broke out in Ukraine, the trips were canceled as Ukraine feared the children would be lost in the shuffle and could end up being trafficked or falling victim to some other terrible fate.
“The kids had to refugee out in the middle of the night from the orphanage in Ukraine, because the Russians were shooting at the buses and stuff,” Nancy explained. “So they had to sneak
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out at night and go into Romania and take refuge in places like that. So we’re actually running an orphanage in Romania now.”
They both travel to the orphanage regularly to ensure things continue to operate smoothly, and a portion of the proceeds of the book go to the orphanage.
But Nancy also wanted to tell Jane’s story. So, as the book begins, Jane is a stray dog, living on the streets, who is rescued and has to learn a new way of life. Through the story of Jane learning, Nancy wove a story about the children and how they learned the same things, as well as how other children could use those lessons.
“She had to learn to not break rules and transform as a service dog,” Nancy explains. “It follows her adventures, and how she helped the kids relax, learn the rules and trust. It also talks about different rules and how they are for your protection. You never know what their potential might be. It would have been such a loss if she
hadn’t been rescued.”
The book is available at servicedogjane.com, and is dedicated to David, an orphan who visited several years ago. He kept in touch with the couple, and said he found the love of God while visiting.
“When the war broke out, he texted me the last time, telling me to pray for the Ukrainians that the Russians were doing terrible things to them,” Nancy said.
David died in the war about six months after he sent that text.
“The moral of the book is, no matter what your background is, if you’re kind to others, you can have an impact on their life,” Nancy said. “You can change their lives and have a positive effect the way Jane had a positive effect on orphans. The last sentence is ‘I did my important job. I fulfilled my purpose–to be kind to those in need. And, just like me, you have a unique purpose and, whatever it is, just remember to be kind to one another.”
All You Need To Know About Gardendale Municipal Court
Gardendale Municipal Court has jurisdiction over traffic and parking violations, municipal ordinance violations, and misdemeanor offenses. The municipal Court provides administrative support, sentence monitoring, court fines collection and case load reporting. The Gardendale Municipal Court Judge, Prosecutor, and staff strive to ensure citizens and users of the Gardendale Municipal Court fair, impartial, and efficient service in as comfortable of an environment as possible. The Court is responsible for answering only procedural type questions that are court related and does not give any legal advice.
Most Common Questions: How Much Is My Ticket And How Do I Pay?
You may or may not have a court appearance with your citation. If you do not know if your citation requires a court appearance, you may contact the Gardendale Municipal Court or you may check the fine schedule online. If you do not see your citation listed on the fine schedule, please contact the court office at 205-631-7155
If you are NOT required to appear in court and would like to take care of your citation without coming to court, you may do so by coming in-person to the office 24 hours prior to the court date on citation. You may also pay your citation online by going to cityofgardendale.com or mail in your signed citation and payment. We must receive all payments and guilty pleas at least 24 hours before the court date or you must appear in court.
You may mail your payment to: Gardendale Municipal Court 1309 Decatur Hwy, Gardendale, Alabama 35071
If your citation does not appear on the fine schedule, you MUST appear in court. You will appear before the municipal judge (Honorable Kenneth J. Gomany) at your scheduled date and time and enter a plea on the charge. If you plead guilty, your fine amount will be determined at that time. Fines are due on the day of court. If you are not able to pay your fines in full, the judge may set you up on a payment plan. If you plead not guilty, your case will be continued to a trial court date.
Some may be eligible for Defensive Driving School, which may allow you to keep a clean driving record. You must appear before the judge to see if you are eligible, and he may allow it at that time.
Act of Rebellion
Tanisia Moore breaks out of her mold
A lot of people questioned their lives and careers in 2020, some found new passions and others returned to those things they had loved but hadn’t had time for in years. For Tanisia “Tee” Moore, it meant having time to return to her first love–writing.
She had given up writing creatively when she was in law school and spent so much time writing for school and the beginning of her career. Then, when she tried to pick it up again, life got in the way.
“I started my first book–a novel–in 2012-ish,” Moore said. “I
didn’t finish it until 2017, but I just started writing. I think it was this semi-rebellious act that was brewing that I didn’t know was happening. Then I started having kids and then the pandemic happened. 2020 was that year where I needed something for me. I was just a mom, and I was just a lawyer, and I was just a wife, and it felt like I lost me in the process of all of this life. Writing was my first love, it was a thing I did as a child. Writing was my rebellious act, so to speak, it was my way to get back to me as a woman, who I was as Tanisia. I started writing and I fell back in love with that particular
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Helping Gardendale families
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passion of mine. It was that act of rebellion, it was that act of taking back my individuality and reminding myself who I was outside of these other titles that I have.”
She wrote and published her first adult book under the name Nisia Skyy, called “After the Storm” and then children’s books, “Film Makers: 15 Groundbreaking Women Directors” and “Football Fumble.” the first in the Micah Hudson series.
In 2020, Moore was home and reading books to her children when she realized there weren’t a lot of books that showed children who looked like them.
“I was like ‘there aren’t enough books that feature black children as the main character, just doing regular things,’” Moore said. “So I thought ‘I can write a picture book’ and I found out I could not write a picture book. They are not easy to write.”
But she persisted and found an illustrator for her first picture book, “I am my Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams,” which was published in 2023 by Scholastic Press.
The first draft of that book was written in about 30 minutes at the kitchen table after she locked her kids, husband and dog out of the room and ignored them. It was just after the deaths of Chadwick Boseman and Kobe Bryant.
“When someone dies, there is always that reminder for me that life really is short, it really is that quick,” Moore said. “If I never do the things I set out to do, this is it. This is not a dress rehearsal, this is the main show.”
The idea of the book is that people now–women, people of color, etc.–are able to achieve and exceed what their ancestors could only dream of back then.
“It’s the idea that I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams,” Moore explained. “I really wanted to play with this idea of what it meant to be your ancestors’ wildest dreams. It’s very cliched to say, but what does it really mean to be your ancestors’ wildest dreams? It kind of just flowed out of me.”
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PHOTOS BY EMILY HENDERSON
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Her second Scholastic Press book will be released in October and it is titled, “When Black Girls Dream Big.”
“It is the love letter I needed for myself growing up in California as a brown-skinned girl who needed to know that I could be more than what was out there,” Moore said. “I could be an astronaut like Mae Jemison, I could be a mathematician like Katherine Johnson, but math and I have a very touchy relationship.”
Then, next year, her third Scholastic Press book, Wash Day Love will be released, about “the sacred rite of passage in Black culture–the hair wash day routine” and the way it happens in one household.
When she isn’t writing, Moore spends time with her husband and three children. She hosts a podcast called “The Other Side of Momming” as well as running her company, MomTings.com.
Setting the Bar
I was seven when I started gymnastics. Ballet just wasn’t for me. I had too much energy for slow and steady and graceful. I needed to run and bounce. And to flip and bend. So, gymnastics was perfect.
I remember the distinct smell of the gym. Chalk and sweat and equipment—specifically, the floor. We’d sit and stretch toward our bare toes, not being able to reach far at first, but the longer you held that painful position, the tiniest bit further you could reach. The splits were the ever-elusive goal.
As we stretched, I’d watch the girls who were older and much more advanced than I, one-on-one with their coach, as they would perform a “giant” on the bars. This move was perfectly named, because only a real giant would have the courage to attempt one. You’d start with your body mounted up on the top bar—almost eight feet from the very hard ground—and swing your legs down and then, with the building momentum, you’d launch yourself into a handstand. As if that weren’t enough, you’d then swing your body completely around the bars and land, miraculously, back in your same handstand. Like a human windmill.
I never tried one of these. I know you probably thought that was where I was headed, but it’s not. I never made it that far. But the bar exercise, or just “the bars,” were my jam. Out of the four events— bars, beam, floor, and vault—I excelled most at bars. Mostly because that was where I felt most confident and consistent. Bars were much less scary than the beam and required less flexibility than the floor exercise. And this is where I would score the highest, leading to blue ribbons or the occasional medal being sent my way. So, this event took a lot of my focus because, even if I fell off the beam or landed on my rear on the floor exercise, well, bars were my constant—and that’s pretty big when you are 11.
Well, until they weren’t. I can remember this moment like it was yesterday and not 27 years ago. It was the State Championships for youth gymnastics in Alabama. I had trained all year as a level 4 gymnast, which isn’t very high in the skill ranking overall but still took me a few years to get to. I had actually spent two long years training at this level because, when it was time to “move up,” my coaches decided I just wasn’t ready, so I had to stay behind as my peers and buddies moved up to level 5. Talk about embarrassing, but that story is for another day. So I was pretty good at this bar routine by the time the State Championship came around the second time. I knew I could win bars.
There’s a lot of pressure on you, at 11 or any age, when you are expected to do well at something. I was so nauseated as we moved to the bar exercise. It was the third event, with bars and beam left for me. I was doing well. My coach told me to eat some chalk to settle my stomach, but the thought of that was worse than my nausea. I saluted the judges and stepped up to the bars. I did the beginning of my
routine—so ingrained in my muscles and brain from repetition—and as I was thinking of the landing and “sticking it” so as not to lose any points, I completely choked and fell backwards out of a routine move. I couldn’t believe it. I was so shocked because I had done that simple move so many times, and it wasn’t something I should have messed up. I regrouped, finished the routine, and did stick the landing. But I was devastated. That fall backwards was a half-point deduction. I was so incredibly angry at myself for choking when this was supposed to be my year. I got second place and missed the 1996 State Champion title by two-tenths of a point. Sheesh. By the time 1997 rolled around, I was doing regular 12-year-old things and not thinking about eating chalk and spending three hours in the gym. And, as an adult, watching the summer Olympics leaves me in awe of the tenacity of these athletes.
So, here’s to all the 2024 Olympic athletes—the ones returning with medals and the ones without. Your grit and focus are inspiring, and we’ve all enjoyed watching. Way to go, Team USA!
Alana Smith is a boy mom (ages 9 and 4), nurse anesthetist, and writer in Birmingham. She shares her writing at Holy Moly Motherhood (on Facebook and Instagram), where she tackles all things motherhood and marriage.
PHOTOGRAPH BY SSJ414 ON ISTOCK
Love
THE SKIN YOU’RE IN
Local, licensed estheticians offering a full lineup of services:
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• Hydra facial
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• iS Clinical and Elta MD products available
Carla Heron, Owner
2722 Mt. Olive Rd. | Gardendale (205) 567-8376
Love
THE SKIN YOU’RE IN
Licensed Estheticians, Permanent Makeup & Tattoo Artist
Local, licensed estheticians offering a full lineup of services:
Kathleen Phillips is a food blogger, food stylist, cookbook author, and former Oxmoor House test kitchen director (Southern Living cookbooks). On her food blog, GritsAndGouda.com, she creates Southern shortcut recipes. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest.
20-Minute Chili
Prep Time: 2 minutes / Cook Time: 18 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Get that slow-simmered flavor with this quick and easy 20-Minute Venison Chili. The secret to all that hearty flavor is in 3 of the ingredients during the first step. This shortcut comfort food recipe has less than 10 ingredients! No deer hunters in the family?
Substitute any lean ground meat or even turkey.
Ingredients
2 pounds ground venison (deer meat), ground round, elk or turkey (or combination half venison and half ground chuck)
2 cups chopped onion about 1 large 3/4 teaspoon garlic salt
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 (15 to 15.5-ounce) can small red beans chili beans, pinto beans or kidney beans
1 cup beef broth or stock (optional) 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Start with a cold pot. Cook ground venison, onion and garlic salt together in a Dutch oven or large pot over high heat until no longer pink, stirring occasionally, about 7 minutes. (Do not drain unless substituting high-fat ground beef.)
Stir in remaining ingredients to the pot except for toppings.
Bring the mixture up to a boil over high heat; reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, 9 minutes.
Add desired toppings and serve warm.
Notes
If using half ground beef (70/30% fat ratio) and half venison or lean meat, drain the meat mixture at this point. No draining necessary when using all venison or 90/10% lean meat.
• Instant Pot Instructions: Cook venison, onion and garlic salt in the Instant Pot. Stir in remaining ingredients except for toppings. ADD an additional 1 cup of broth or water. Cook on HIGH pressure for 10 minutes. Quick Release.
• Crock Pot Instructions: Cook venison, onion and garlic salt in a large skillet. Some slow cookers have the capability of browning meat right in the slow cookers. Stir in remaining ingredients except for toppings. Cook on LOW for up to 8 hours or HIGH for 2 to 3 hours.
• Substitutions: Any lean ground meat can be substituted for venison. If you don’t have garlic salt, substitute 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder.
• Make ahead meal prep tip: Cook ground meat, onion and garlic salt together and let cool completely. Freeze in a freezer Ziploc bag or vacuum seal with a FoodSaver to be used later for chili, spaghetti and Sloppy Joes.
STEPHEN P. ULMER GENERAL MANAGER
Invest in Adventure
Local couple bonds over shared love of travel
Helen Hays and Andy Shirey love adventure. In fact, that love of adventure is how the couple met years ago.
“We met each other on the river literally,” Hays said. “We met through that hobby, so we loved doing that together.”
Hays had begun kayaking in her 30s as a way to escape stress.
“I enjoyed it as a way to get away and disconnect from work,” Hays explained. “I never had a hobby prior to that.
She said that when she tells people she kayaks, they assume it’s at the lake or in other slow water, but the couple actually white-water kayaks. In fact, Hays has been an instructor in kayaking for about 20 years and they regularly plan trips all over the world for their adventures.
The couple also got certified in open-water diving last year after rediscovering the activity on a vacation. A planned trip to British Columbia in 2022 was canceled when Hays got COVID following the World Games, so they took an impulse trip to Cozumel and went diving.
“I had been back in the 90s, a long time ago, and I used to be certified to scuba dive, but it was an expensive hobby for someone in college,” Hays said.
They did eventually get to take their kayaking trip to see the whales and that, coupled with her new diving certification has led Hays to a new goal.
“Now my goal is to see whales from underneath the water,” Hays said. “They are so huge, and I think it would be cool
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF HELEN HAYS
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to see that. I’m not sure how I’m going to do it because that water is really cold.”
They also snow ski and go caving regularly, when they can plan trips around their work schedules.
“We love to travel, we love to do adventures,” Hays said. “We love new things. We just got back from the middle fork of the Salmon River trip, it’s the second time we’ve done that trip. It’s kind of a week-long expedition trip, where we flew into Boise, Idaho and there is an outfitter there called ‘Canyons.’ You spend the night there and the next morning you go to the airport and get on this 4-person plane and it flies you out into the Frank Church Wilderness and to where you’re going to put into the river. All the guides and their rafts meet you there, and you load up and spend five days going down the river. We did 75 miles in five days. We love it. It’s class 3+ white water. It’s just a lot of fun.”
“You sleep out under the stars,” Hays continued. “It’s amazing. You see all sorts of things like long-horned sheep on the side of the river, eagles and osprey. It’s one of the last places where the Indians lived. In American history, we started rounding up all the Indian tribes and one of the last tribes was down there. They were called the ‘Sheep Eaters.’ There are
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petroglyphs on the rocks that you can see that were left by Indians. It’s still unique to me that there is still a place in our country that’s that untouched by anything, and it really is out there in the wilderness.”
As they look forward to 2026, they are considering another once-in-a-lifetime trip— paddling the Grand Canyon. The trip is 70 miles and takes 21 days.
“Our philosophy on it is that some people wait until they retire to a lot of these things, but we don’t want to wait,” Hays said. “We have friends that got sick and have had health issues and couldn’t do things anymore. So, we save up our vacation time and our money, and we invest in adventure. We always like to have something on the books. I kind of like the philosophy that you always have something to look forward to.”
That philosophy has been helpful to the couple as they have navigated extensive loss of family and friends over the last few years, losing both Hays’ mom and both of Shirey’s parents over the last two years, as well as several friends.
Those losses were heavy on Hays when she agreed to do one thing she had always sworn she wouldn’t—skydive.
“I always said I would never jump out of a perfectly good airplane,” Hays said with a laugh.
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But a friend talked her into going around the holidays, and Hays decided to face the fear, although she told herself the entire time that she could just back out. In the air, her instructor helped her let go and fall from the plane.
“The holidays can be a not-so-great time as you get older,” Hays said. “I had been experiencing that around the holidays. I didn’t expect it, but it was a really cathartic experience. The moment I left that airplane, all that baggage I had carried from all of those losses went too. It was a spiritual experience for me. Which is probably going to sound crazy to some people. I loved it. I would do it again.”
When they can’t get away for a trip to an exotic locale, they find plenty of ways to enjoy their hobbies here at home. They said they can do most things within a couple of hours of their Gardendale home.
“A lot of people don’t realize how local and accessible most of these things really are,” Shirey said. “The snow skiing we have a hard time with in Alabama, but the kayaking, we have tons of it, even during the summer we can go to Montgomery and they have a white water park down there. We have a lot of caving in north Alabama. Even scuba diving, they have a quarry there at Bluewater in Pelham. Whatever people want to do, there really is access to it around here. The opportunities are endless.”
“People think you have to travel to have that adventure, but there is a lot to do here,” Hays reiterated.
NERF Battle
Photos by Amber Skufca
Queen of the Coop
Susanna “Possum” Nation (or just “Poss” to her friends) was recently named the American Bantam Association Junior Exhibitor of the Year. Susanna had the most wins of any exhibitor 18 years old or younger across the country. The win, in her fourth year of showing, opens up the door for her to compete against adults in the open, something she has just begun and really enjoys. Her mom, Kelly, said she likes the challenge of competing against adults. But Susanna has another challenge coming her way–third grade. That’s right, all the success and accolades are made that much more impressive by the fact the champion is only 8-years-old.
Four years ago, a family friend told the Nations that they should get their daughter some show chickens, but her mom, Kelly laughed the idea off. They had backyard chickens, horses and other animals, but the idea of showing chickens seemed ridiculous.
“He ended up gifting her 2 little show birds,” Kelly said. “I thought to myself ‘those are the ugliest things I have ever seen in my life,’ but she just fell in love with them because they are bantam size–which just means they are small like a miniature version of a chicken. She just fell in love with them, because they were easy to carry around, and they took up with her and followed her around. She was just in heaven at 4 years old.”
There was a “major learning curve” for the family, Kelly said. They were totally new to the idea of showing chickens, but they learned quickly and now travel all over the southeast.
“We travel all over the Southeast and beyond showing chickens. We traveled thousands of miles in 2023 showing in Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and Oklahoma,” Kelly said. “Susanna competed at the 2023 ABA Nationals hosted in Shawnee, Okla., back in December, where she was Reserve Show Champion out of over 400 entries with her Lemon Blue Modern Game hen she calls ‘Shine.’ This same hen also won Modern Game National Champion for 2023.”
Susanna still has her two original birds and even shows one of the hens on occasion, but she is also hard at work breeding and showing new chickens each year. This year, they hatched about
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100 chickens, which is less than most years, but still a significant responsibility.
“We currently have over 150 chickens,” Kelly said. “Some are retired show birds, some are being prepped for the upcoming Fall show season and some are young hopefuls.”
Caring for that many birds is a lot of work, but the whole family helps, especially as shows approach.
“We actually let all of our show birds free range a good bit, we dont keep them penned up all the time,” Kelly explained. “We like to let them loose and let them be chickens–scratch and eat bugs and all that. Usually about a week before a show, we put them in what we call our conditioning pens. We just keep fresh bedding in there, and we work with them.
“Some breeds are required to pose for a judge so we’ll work with them on that and get them freshened up with their station. We bathe them a few days before a show. Wash the dirt out of their feathers and keep them warm while they dry.
“The rest of it happens on the day of the show,” Kelly continued. “We have to get there really early and she gets all of her birds out, and it’s a process–you’re cleaning feet, you’re cleaning their face, you’re oiling their face, you’re oiling their legs, you’ll spray their feathers down with a sheen conditioning spray that brings out the color and repels dust and get them in their show pens. Then you just step back and hope for the best. It’s not like a dog show where you are parading your chicken
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MEDICARE MADE EASY
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in front of the judge. You’re putting them in a pen with an exhibitor number so the judges don’t know what birds belong to who. They just go around and judge them based on a standard. There is a standard for all breeds, all colors in those breeds, and you get points and deductions according to that standard.”
In addition to shows, the family takes some of those chickens to Mt. OIive Elementary so Susanna can share her love for the birds with her classmates. They raise and show five types of bantams: Modern Game, Old English, Dominique, Belgian d’Anvers and Sebright.
“Chickens are Poss’s favorite animal,” Kelly said. “She even shares some of her retired show birds with her school where the kids and staff alike enjoy watching and spending time with them. Most of her schoolwork comes home with chicken drawings on the back.”
When she grows up, Susanna hopes to be a musician and songwriter, but that doesn’t mean she’ll give up her love for showing chickens.
“Susanna would like to obtain an American Bantam Association judge’s license once she’s of age, so she can travel around the country and enjoy a different side of exhibition poultry,” her mother said. “She also wants to work towards developing a new variety (‘variety’ is the word used for ‘color’ in the poultry world) of Modern Game.”
When she isn’t showing her chickens, Susanna plays soccer and golf, rides her bike and hangs out with her friends.
“She’s just busy all the time,” her mom said.
NATIONAL NIGHT OUT
by Gary Schultz
Photos
Fultondale Founders Day
Fultondale hosted its annual Founders Day event in August. The event features the high school band, cloggers and more entertainment, as well as vendors, chances to meet first responders, a car show and more.
Photos by Gary Schultz
Fultondale High School Health Sciences Class
Mrs. Snow’s Health Science classes have been discussing medical safety. Recently, they practiced the proper way to apply and remove PPE.
North Jefferson Middle School Ambassadors
North Jefferson Middle School has an Ambassador program this year, and they represented the school at registration.
Mortimer Jordan Bowling
Tristan Peacock and Cooper
Myl from Mortimer Jordan High School competed at the 2024 Junior Gold Championship in Detroit, MI over the summer. They competed in 16 games over four days while meeting with prospective colleges and pro athletes. They even got to test out some new demo bowling balls.
Small Business Award Winners
The North Jefferson Chamber of Commerce hosted its first ever Small Business Awards Luncheon. The winner of the 1-10 Employee category was Stephen’s Hotdog Wagon, the winner of the Emerging Business category was Musicality Studio and the People’s Choice category winner was Foundation Fitness of Alabama.
Fultondale Police Honor Officer
The Fultondale Police Department recognized Officer Collice Howard for his outstanding work ethic and dedication to fighting crime in Fultondale.
First Responder Class
Fultondale Police Department and Fultondale Fire & Rescue along with multiple other agencies hosted Hostile Incident training. Over 50 police officers, firefighters and other first responders trained together.
Fultondale High Chemistry Classes
In Mrs. Godfrey’s chemistry class, students explored the distinctions among isotopes, ions, and neutral atoms. They engaged in a card sorting activity to determine the quantities of protons, neutrons and electrons present in various atoms.
Coming Events
N. Jeff Chamber of Commerce Luncheon
The September luncheon will be September 19 at 11:30 at the Fultondale Event Center. The speaker will be Mark Colson of the Alabama Trucking Association. The cost is $15 for members and $20 for non-members.
State of the Cities Address
The North Jefferson Chamber of Commerce will host a State of the Cities Address for Morris and Kimberly on October 21 at 7 p.m. at Enon Baptist Church in Morris. Morris Mayor Joe Pylant and Kimberly Mayor Bob Ellerbrock will speak.
First Responder Banquet
A banquet to honor first responders will be held September 26 at 6 p.m. at the Fultondale Event Center. The banquet is hosted by the Central Alabama Fire Chiefs Associaation, The Kindness Club and the American Foundaiton for Suicide Prevention.
Morris Fourth Friday Food Truck Nights
The Town of Morris will host Food Truck Night on September 27. The event will last from 5-8:30 p.m.. The events will be in the Morris Town Park at the intersection of Morris Majestic and Glenwood Road.
Kimberly Founders Day
The second Kimberly Founders Day will be September 28, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Kimberly Truck Stop. There will be a silent auction, pooch parade, cornhole tournament, vendors, food trucks, touch-a-truck and more. If you are interested in being a vendor or food truck for the vent, email kimberlytruckstop@gmail.com.
Warrior Day
Warrior Elementary School Store
The new “Be Warrior Ready School Store” lets students make purchases because of their good character: Being Responsible, Being Respectful and Being Safe. The school expressed appreciation to the businesses, community stakeholders and parents for making this possible.
The annual Warrior Day event will be held in downtown Warrior on October 19, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. There will be food trucks, vendors of all types, live entertainment and a car show. Applications for vendors are already being accepted.
Barking at the Moon
The annual Barking at the Moon Festival will be held at the Fultondale Bark Park on October 27, 1-5 p.m. The event is free and there will be entertainment, kid and dog costume contests, vendors and more.
Warrior Farmers Market
A Farmers Market will be held the first and third Friday from May to October from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The location will be 550 North Main Street. For more e information, call city hall at 205.647.0520 or email jtanks@cityofwarrior.com
Kimberly Farmers Market
The Kimberly Farmers Market will be held on Tuesdays from 2-6 p.m. and Saturdays, August 26 from 8 a.m. - noon. The market will be at the Kimberly Truck Stop at 9178 Old Highway 31.
Kimberly Truck Stop Food Truck Event
Kimberly Truck Stop hosts Third Thursday Food Truck Events each month. The Kimberly Truck Stop is at 9178 Old Highway 31.
6U Win World Series
Miracle League Luau
The annual Miracle League End of Summer Luau was held recently at the Gardendale Civic Center. The opening day of the fall season will be September 12.
The 6U Gardendale All-Stars won all of their 8 games in a 5-day stretch in Baton Rouge to bring home the REC All-Star World Series Championship. The team members are: Macallen Brooks, Braxton Cousins, Stiles McKinney, Kevin Jackson, Eli Ingram, Bryson Stewart, TJ Clay, Colt Lanier, Tucker Walden, Holcomb Parker and MJ Wilson. The head coach is Steadman Stewart.
Golden Eagles host FBI agents
Gardendale’s Golden Eagles hosted an FBI agent to discuss current trends in fraud and scams and how they could avoid becoming a victim to one of the scammers, as well as what to do if they did fall victim to a scam. The group was also invited to tour the FBI building in Birmingham during one of their upcoming outings. For more information on the group, reach out to the Gardendale Senior Center at 205-6317240.
Fall Paddle Classic
The Gardendale Pickleball Club will host the Fall Paddle Classic at Bill Noble Park, September 6-8. There will be singles, men and women’s doubles and mixed doubles for all skill and age divisions. For more information or to register, visit PickleballBrackets.com.
Little Rockets Cheer Clinic
The Little Rockets Cheer Clinic will be September 6 from 4-6:30 p.m. Learn skills and cheers with the GHS cheerleaders, then perform at the stadium before the football game. The cost will be $25.
Civic Center Food Truck Nights
The Food Truck night at the Gardendale Civic Center will be held each second Thursday of the month, 5-8 p.m. A variety of food trucks from the area gather at the Civic Center and there is music or other entertainment each month. Come sample the food truck offerings and socialize with friends and family. Bring blankets or chairs to enjoy the evening. Visit the Civic Center Facebook the week of the event to see a food truck lineup.
GHS Band Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser
The Gardendale High School Band will host their pancake breakfast on Saturday, September 21 at 8 a.m. at LongHorn Steakhouse in Gardendale.
Gardendale Farmers Market
The Gardendale Farmers Market will be open every Thursday until September 26, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. This year it will be at Bill Noble Park. Every year, farmers and local vendors come from all over the area to sell their products and produce in Gardendale.
GES PTA Fall Festival
The annual Gardendale Elementary School PTA’s Fall Carnival will be September 27, 5-9 p.m. at the Gardendale Civic Center.
Chamber of Commerce Luncheons
The Gardendale Chamber of Commerce Luncheons will be September 12, October 10, November 14 and December 12. Sponsorships are still available.
Merry Market
Merry Market hosted by The Arts in Gardendale will be held on Friday, October 18, and Saturday, October 19, at the Gardendale Civic Center.
Pumpkin Palooza
Bill Noble Park will host its quarterly event with vendors, activities for the whole community and food trucks will be October 25, at the park.
Grits and Gouda Holiday Cooking Show
The 7th Annual Holiday Cooking Show will be October 28, at 6 p.m. at the Gardendale Civic Center. The show serves as a fundraiser for the Outdoor Ability Foundation. Tickets will go on sale in early September at GritsandGouda.com.
Quilt and Craft Show
East Gardendale Baptist Church will host a Quilt and Craft Show on November 1 and 2, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 360 Tarrant Road. The quilt show will be November 1 and 2 and presented by the North Jefferson Quilter’s Guild. On November 2, there will also be craft vendors at the show. There will be food trucks both days. For more information, email eastgardendalebaptistevents@gmail.com.
Christmas Village
Bill Noble Park will host its quarterly event with vendors, activities for the whole community and food trucks will be December 3, at the park.
Stock Little Free Library
Help us stock our Little Free Library! We are in need of children’s and young adult books in good to perfect condition to stock our Little Free Library (LFL) located by the soccer fields off of Fieldstown Road. Donations can be placed directly in the LFL or you can bring them to the front desk at the library and we will take them to the LFL when we visit weekly.
Library Food Pantry
Our library food pantry always need the following items: hearty soups/stews/chili, varieties of canned chicken/tuna/ ham, single-sized and normal cereal, granola type bars, fruit cups, peanut butter, jelly, oatmeal/grits packets, pasta and Alfredo and other sauces and any toiletries. We take food only if it is not outdated and not opened.
Historical Museum Hours
The Kermit E. Dooley Gardendale Historical Museum (170 Bell Street) will be open to the public every Thursday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
MyGardendale
For a complete list of events and happenings, visit MyGardendale.com to see an interactive calendar.
To have an item added to our calendar, please send information to rachel@jbmcmedia.com.
For kids like Gwen •
Because Gwen came to Children’s for the diagnosis and treatment of her blood disorder, she received the best care available thanks to ground-breaking research made possible by clinical trials for cancers and blood disorders. The research happening today will lead to future cures, and it is happening here at Children’s of Alabama.
Meet
Kent Glover, D.C.
Chiropractic Manipulation
Dry Needling
DOT Physicals
Physio-Therapeutics
Originally from Sumiton, Alabama, Dr. Kent Glover earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Samford University in 2012. Dr. Glover went on to complete his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Life University in Atlanta in 2016, graduating with honors. After practicing in Gardendale for six years within a group setting, he decided to branch out on his own. In spring of 2023 Dr. Glover purchased his practice from Dr. Scott Wood, who served the North Jefferson community for more than twenty years.
Dr. Glover has certifications in physiotherapeutics, activator technique, and dry needling. He is also a certified medical examiner for the Department of Transportation.
Using a problem-centered approach, Dr. Glover ensures he is addressing the current needs of his patients in the most ethical and moral way possible. Providing quality, evidence-based care and education to his patients is his top priority.
In his free time, he loves to spend his days with his wife, Kayla, his son, Samuel, and their ten year old golden retriever, George. In addition to being a jazz musician and disc golfer, he and his wife are self-proclaimed “foodies” and love to travel the world. He hopes to continue to serve the Gardendale and north Jefferson areas and is excited to be a part of the growth Gardendale continues to see.
Dr. Kent Glover with his wife Kayla, son Samuel and daughter Rosie.
