Progress 2011

TAKE A LOOK INSIDE

Progress 2011 | The Clanton Advertiser

Table of conTenTs Citizen of the year

4

Tom Brown honored for work with Peach Festival

taking a shot

6

One-handed basketball player defies odds

free on the inside

10

Prison ministry offers spiritual deliverance

seCret Club

14

World of Freeemasons shrouded in mystery

Pillar of our Community

18

Gussie Saxon dedicated life to West End students

treasure hunting

22

Bargains are out there if you look

always on Call

26

Volunteer firefighters prepare for anything

window to the soul

28

Clanton First United Methodist Church has storied history

under fire

34

Restaurant staff takes a lot of heat

family PraCtiCe

37

Jacksons have represented county for three decades

small town, big Past

38

Verbena founded by those fleeing yellow fever

the big freeze

44

Late season cold snap can destroy crop

loCked inside More families deal with effects of Autism

54

Citizen of the year

Tom Brown chosen for work with Peach Fest

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om Brown had some big shoes to fill.

For many years, Lions Club member Richard Davis had organized the Peach Festival — including the pageants, parade, auction and everything else that comes along with the event.

However, in 2010, Davis was sidelined due to health concerns, and the Lions Club looked to another member to fill that role.

The club found the right man in Tom Brown. For his work with the Peach Festival, among other community endeavors, R.T. “Tom” Brown was chosen as the 2011 Clanton Advertiser Citizen of the Year.

The honor is chosen by a committee of past Citizen of the Year honorees.

“We had a very difficult situation with Richard and his illness.

We totally regret he was ill and were hoping and praying all along that he would get better, but that didn’t happen,” said Tony Hughes, Lions Club president. “For the first time in many, many years, someone else had to step up to the plate — and Tom did just an incredible job.”

Hughes said Brown did a great job organizing club members so everyone knew what needed to be done for a successful Peach Festival.

“There’s just a thousand details. It’s impossible to enumerate all the different aspects that go into the Peach Festival,” said Hughes. “Tom was the one that had the overall organization and brought everything together in just a wonderful way.”

WriTTen By Justin averette | PhoTograPh By amy easterling

In addition to his work with the Lions Club, Brown also serves on the United Way Board and works with Habitat for Humanity.

Brown and his wife, Shirley, are also longtime supporters of the 4-H/FFA County Steer and Heifer Show and have sponsored an award every year.

Last summer, he was also named Lion of the Year by the Clanton Lions Club.

At the time, fellow member Hollis Jackson had this to say of Brown’s work: “His service this year was remarkable.”

Brown, along with fellow Lions Club members have already begun organizing this year’s Peach Festival. n

Tom Brown and the Peach Queens attend January’s inauguration of Gov. Robert Bentley.

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Fred Wright shoots a three-pointer earlier this season against Jemison, in a game the Red Devils lost.

Wright was born with an underdeveloped right hand.

Taking a shot

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One-handed basketball player defies odds Written by theadoris Morris PhOtOgraPhs by Jon GoerinG

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erbena gets the ball and rushes down the court.

A few quick dribbles and the ball is passed to No. 23 Fred Wright.

The junior guard stands behind the three-point arc, shoots and scores — nothing but net.

A minute later, the ball is passed back to Wright. With adrenaline pumping and in the exact spot as before, he releases the ball and scores again, making two threepoint baskets in the last 120 seconds of the game.

It’s clutch play, with pressure that would get to any athlete. But Fred Wright isn’t any athlete.

Standing 6 feet tall with brown hair and a lanky frame, Wright defies the odds. He was born with an underdeveloped right hand, but he has never let it slow him down.

“He’s a great kid, his personality is awesome and he never complains about anything,” said Coach Jonathan Shedd, who’s been basketball coach at Verbena for three years. “Fred hustles all the time, and anything I need done

he does it and gives everything he’s got when he is on the court.”

Wright became part of the Red Devils’ basketball team his sophomore year. The biggest challenge on the court for him was learning how to play and how to keep from fouling.

“When I first started last year (2009), I really didn’t know how to play,” said Wright. “Another player’s dad asked me to try out, so I did. I believe in not letting things get in my way and doing things the best I can.”

Wright not only applies this belief on the court, but off the court as well.

He is a straight ‘A’ student who works just as hard academically as he does outside of the classroom.

“If he makes a ‘B’, he gets upset,” said his mother, Carrie Stroud.

“He likes his A’s.”

Another hurdle Wright con-

quers on the court is facing his opponents after they’ve learned he plays with one hand.

“After finding out, the team will go at him on his right side,” said Shedd. “But when he sees that, he’s quick enough to get away from them or he gives up the ball.

He is very smart about knowing what he can and cannot do.”

He wouldn’t call himself an athlete, but Wright, who has had a passion for sports all of his life, also played wide receiver and cornerback for Verbena High School’s football team his freshman year. He is a sprinter on the track team, runs cross-country and also enjoys golf and bowling.

“He has loved sports ever since he was in diapers,” said Stroud.

“I have a picture of him when he was a little boy standing up in

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Wright talks to a teammate during a Verbena girls game earlier this season, prior to the boys match. Teammate Marquez Deramus said Wright is a “good dude� who never complains. At right, Wright drives down the court.

Progress 9 front of the TV with his hands in the air in field goal position.”

Because it was something he was born with, Wright said having one hand doesn’t bother him or isn’t even something he thinks about.

“I don’t find it too hard to do things because I was born this way and have been this way all my life,” said Wright. “I’m used to it.”

It’s normal to his teammates as well.

“Fred is just a good person,” said Marquez Deramus, Wright’s teammate. “He’s fun, has a good personality and like coach said, he never complains, he’s a good dude. Nobody ever talks bad about him or anything.”

Off the court, Wright is described as a friendly, easily likeable person and “goofy” at times.

Still, people know Wright as an ambitious person who does not let anything or anyone discourage him.

During the first game of the season this season against Isabella, he went

up to get a rebound and fell back and injured his head and had to receive five stitches.

“As he was leaving the game, he turned around and looked at the coach and said, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow coach,’” Shedd said.

He also split open his chin during the second game this season against Billingsley.

“While he was sitting down, I asked him, ‘Fred, are you OK?’ He responded, ‘yes, I’m waiting on you to put me back in,’” said Shedd. “He doesn’t care, whatever happens, he takes it in stride.”

In spite of his situation and the adversities he has come across, he holds his head up high and doesn’t let the way he was born hinder him – what you see isn’t what you get when referring to Fredrick Wright.

“I believe you should always do your best,” Wright said. “My motto is if you do good, good things will happen to you.” n

FREE ON THE

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INSIDE

Prison ministry offers spiritual deliverance

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uch of the sunlight that escapes into the Chilton County Jail seeps through narrow, tinted windows just big enough to provide a glimpse at the weather. But the kind of light Truett Maddox is trying to shine doesn’t come from an outside source.

Since 2004, Maddox has volunteered in the Chilton Baptist Association’s men’s jail ministry, going to the jail most Sunday mornings to deliver a scripturally-based message and words of hope to inmates. At age 75, Maddox describes himself not as a minister but as a layperson who felt the call to become involved in a specific ministry.

As Maddox enters a pod (the jail is divided into several sections called pods), he begins to speak with only a Bible and a pair of glasses to aid him.

There is no pulpit to stand behind or platform from which to speak. Some of the men sit attentively at tables, while others on the upper level lean over the railing with their Bibles open, and still others listen from their bunks. Some carry on as if no one were there.

“There may be a time when you’re out there facing something and you don’t have a Bible with you, but if you memorize it, you’ll have it with you,” Maddox tells the men, encouraging them to memorize one verse a month.

“I carry it with me when I’m out in the cold feeding the cows,” he continues.

On this particular Sunday morning, the message comes from Acts chapters 16 and 17, in which Paul and Silas are praying and singing hymns in their prison cell. As told in the passage, an earthquake causes the prison’s doors to fly open and the prisoners’ chains to come loose.

Maddox reminds the men that despite their isolation from society, God is always near and concerned about their hearts and souls.

“What is our main goal or main purpose?” he asks.

After the sermon, Maddox invites anyone to share a testimony, or story relating some personal experience, with the rest of the group. No one answers at first. After a

Above, inmates at the Chilton County Jail bow their heads as Truett Maddox leads them in a prayer. Left, Maddox delivers a sermon one Sunday morning at the jail. few seconds, a man walks up and says, “I have a testimony.”

Forlando Floyd shares that he has been separated from his teenage daughter for a long time. His mother, however, recently gave him hope that she (his daughter) would be returning home soon.

“That’s a blessing,” Floyd says. “In the midst of all my mess, that God is working for me.”

Floyd goes on to say that Maddox has been “an inspiration” to him.

“He was always a good leader and a good teacher, someone you could count on,” he says. “He has always had an uplifting spirit.”

“I love you guys,” Maddox says after his sermon, and several echo his words.

SEEING THE NEED Perhaps the reason Maddox has remained in prison ministry for so long is because he looks past the label of “inmate” and sees a real person with a real need. He

takes what he believes to be a message of hope into one of the last places someone would ever want to go, and he does it voluntarily.

“I don’t try to pry into their personal lives or their past,” Maddox said.

Maddox has been astonished at the works of art he has seen in jail. Some inmates use ink fillers to draw because they are not allowed to have pens, which can be used as weapons.

“Some of them are artists. They have a talent that’s unreal,” he said, recalling when one inmate drew him a rose. “Sometimes they make their own decks of cards.”

Inmates also write to Maddox. While some ask for money, others write about how the ministry has encouraged them.

In turn, Maddox has been encouraged by inmates who have turned their lives around.

“They were a big encouragement to me because of the life they were living then, and, of course, I felt the Lord calling me to

Written by ScoTT mImS | PhotograPhs by JoN GoErING

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Above left, a pod at the Chilton County Jail is divided into two levels, both with bunks where inmates sleep. Above right, Maddox enters a pod, Bible in hand, from the central corridor. Despite some inmates who don’t want to hear his message, Maddox said he has never felt threatened by an inmate.

Progress 13 this ministry and saw the need. They needed someone to show concern and compassion for them,” he said.

Maddox, who is also a Gideon, gives inmates copies of Gideon Bibles and copies of a special Bible called “Free on the Inside.” He also passes out “commitment cards” that ask for basic information, church preference and type of commitment (such as the decision to become a Christian).

One might think that a person would be uneasy preaching to a congregation of men in orange and white jumpsuits, especially when there are those who don’t wish to hear the message. But it doesn’t seem to bother Maddox.

“At no time have I ever felt threatened by an inmate,” he said.

What seems to trouble him the most is the fact that, often, there is no way to follow up with inmates when they get out of jail.

“A lot of them don’t have families,” he said.

“I’ve had instances when they’ve said, ‘I could get out, but I don’t have any place to go.’”

But there is one thing that keeps Maddox motivated: his own faith.

“I think back of what Christ did for me.

That’s my motivation,” he said. n

Maddox (right, background) sits down at a table to talk to inmates following one of his Sunday morning messages. He invites them to share testimonies.

SECRET CLUB

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World of Freemasons shrouded in mystery

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WRITTEN BY STEPHEN DAWKINS PHOTOGRAPHS BY JON GOERING

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here are many things Freemasons won’t tell non-members about their fraternity.

The meaning behind the abundance of symbols in a lodge, for example, is a secret revealed only to Masons. But aspects of the group’s activities are also rarely revealed to the public, though one might wonder why.

Chilton County’s two Masonic lodges, in Clanton and Jemison, are active in the community, giving to charity and helping families in need.

The Clanton lodge donates to Operation: Santa Claus, Maplesville’s Toys for Kids program, CareNet Pregnancy Resource Center, Child Protect Children’s Advocacy Center, Raleigh’s Place, the Emergency Assistance Center and

16 Progress the Department of Human Resources’ efforts to help foster children at Christmas.

Masons also help individual families, Clanton lodge treasurer Danny Carter said, but those families usually have no idea where the assistance is coming from.

Masons might also pool their talents and resources to build wheelchair ramps for the elderly in the community.

“That’s why most people get in,” Carter said of Masons’ willingness to help others, even if without recognition. “Masonry is about taking a good man and making him better.”

To raise money, Clanton Masons hold four cookouts a year: at Thanksgiving, Christmas, the Fourth of July and Labor Day. The Jemison Lodge raises money through cookouts and also through a pancake breakfast every January, said Worshipful Master Zachary Ashley.

Jemison Masons combined with two Shelby County lodges in 2010 to raise more than $2,000 to buy toys and games for Christmas to take to patients at Children’s Hospital in

Birmingham. Ashley said this was the first time members of the Stanley Cost Lodge had participated in such an effort.

“We typically pick a family in the community that needs some help,” Ashley said. “They get referred by a member or by someone else. Maybe someone’s house burns, and there’s a church group raising money to donate and we’ll help with that.

“In most cases, the person receiving help doesn’t even know. Most of our charitable work is done anonymously.”

In fact, Ashley said the Masons are probably most visible in the community when they are performing funeral rites for a member that has passed. Ashley said the person’s family must request the rites be performed.

“That’s probably where people see us the most,” he said. “We’ve actually earned members that way.”

Gaining membership is another example of how Masons don’t market themselves.

“The whole way to become a Mason is to ask,” Ashley said. “We do not recruit. We’re always looking for new members, but we do

not recruit.”

The Jemison lodge has about 75 members, and about 90 people belong to the Clanton lodge.

Ashley said anyone interested in the group should visit the lodge 30 minutes or so before regularly scheduled meetings, which take place on the second and fourth Thursdays of every month at 7:30 p.m.

Anyone who decides to join would have an avenue opened for donating to the community—and may learn more about the Masons’ many other secrets.

“You meet very few people that don’t know a Mason,” Ashley said. “They may not know what we do, but they know that grandpa was a Mason and they have an idea that we do charitable work in the community.

“But it’s behind the scenes; it’s not done for any kind of recognition.” n

Masons won’t talk about the meaning of the many and curious symbols in their lodges. Shown on the two previous pages and at right is Jemison’s Masonic Lodge.

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A PILLAR OF OUR Community

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Saxon dedicated life to West End students

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pair of dusty chalkboards, donated by the Chilton County Board of Education years ago, are still cemented to the walls of Gussie Saxon’s garage.

Though she has been retired from teaching for 24 years, there was a time Saxon put those chalkboards to good use — tutoring and mentoring students from West End during the summer and after school.

For most of her life, Saxon has dedicated her time and made it her personal duty to make sure the children of her community received a good education.

“I made a vow with God that if I could get my degree, then I would give it back,” said Saxon. “And teaching was the only way I could think of returning it to him.”

Before integration, Saxon began her career substituting at the City School, which became West End Elementary School. After integration, she was sent to Thorsby High School, where she taught for 22 years.

“I truly love teaching, especially first grade because back then they didn’t have technology,” said Saxon. “The first grade teacher was the television. It was something about when they came into class with blank minds … and they learned to write, read and do math — that was most

gratifying.”

Common during that time period, Saxon dealt with discrimination and adversity. Being black and being an educator did not alleviate the situation, but she did not let anything stop her from doing her job.

“I had to swallow a lot, but when I stood up and told them, they knew I wasn’t a toy,” said Saxon. “I had to be a role model for the black kids, and it’s about equality and being respectful.”

Saxon is viewed as a pillar in her community and is known for her numerous acts of kindness, but perhaps her biggest impact on children’s lives was her free six-week summer school program.

For nine years, Saxon taught preschool through eighth grade in her garage for absolutely no charge.

“She would open her home in the summer and teach students for free,” said Greg DeJarnett, principal at Chilton County High School and a Clanton city councilman. “She’s been a resourceful woman to the people of West End and has been a good example to young people through the years of what one person can do in their community.”

Her summer school made such a big difference that the Chilton County BOE allowed her to get books from schools for

different grade levels and donated chalkboards, tables and chairs.

“The superintendent during that time period was most helpful in this effort,” said Saxon. “I just wanted to give the children who were having problems that I could help a chance, and I enjoyed it – I truly enjoyed it.”

One of many examples of her successful teaching occurred after she retired.

Saxon was asked to tutor two boys from Clanton Elementary that were not achieving, she said.

An administrator called her and asked her if she would work with the two students, and she said yes. At the end of the six weeks, the boys had progressed from ‘F’ students to ‘B’ students.

Some of Saxon’s former students or their parents stop by her home and visit her at various times, she said.

“Somebody is here every day to check on me and bring me stuff,” said Saxon.

“Even Clara’s Café brings me dinner every week. Blacks and whites come to see me and check on me, and I appreciate that.”

Saxon, who is 90, retired from education in 1986. She is the founder of the West End Neighborhood Watch group, is active in her church and has received numerous

WrittEn by theadoris morris | PhotograPhS by Jon GoerinG

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Numerous plaques and awards for her work in the community cover a wall in Gussie Saxon’s home. honors, awards and recognition for her accomplishments.

Saxon founded the neighborhood watch in 1991 because young people kept breaking into older people’s homes, so she went to the City Council about it, she said.

Now, Clanton Police Chief Brian Stilwell, Clanton Fire Chief David Driver and other group members assemble once a month in Saxon’s living room for the neighborhood watch meetings.

“I would describe Saxon as an even-tempered, very likeable person who is easy to get along with,” said Jessie Binion, Neighborhood Watch secretary. “She is just a good stable person in the community and in the church.”

Saxon holds numerous positions in the church. She serves as a Sunday School teacher, steward and trustee. She has held numerous programs in the church to help raise money for the community.

“Saxon’s personality is one of assertiveness, a take-charge type of person and a compassionate individual,” said DeJarnett. “As a representative and a city councilman, I would like to thank her for all that she has accomplished and for all the things she has done to help me as a councilman.” n

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TREASURE HUNTING WRITTEN BY STEPHEN DAWKINS PHOTOGRAPHS BY JON GOERING

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Bargains are out there if you look Touch of the Past antique store (above) and the Jemison Trade Center (left) offer items of interest both for the collector and the bargain hunter.

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any Chilton County residents may think they have to drive to Alabaster or Prattville to shop, but Janet Anderson knows better.

While some may prefer large department stores and chain restaurants, Anderson likes her shopping trips to include a flea market and a local eatery.

Anderson and her friend, Deegee Schroeder, are regulars at the Jemison Trade Center, a flea market in Jemison that provides a sort of alternate shopping experience for those not interested in a long drive and fighting a crowd.

“Why do you want to drive around the world and give money to someone you don’t know?” Anderson asks, and she definitely knows the staff at the trade center because she and Schroeder visit about twice a month.

“We drive up, walk through and say, ‘There’s just nothing here today,’” Anderson laughs. “Then we come out, and we can’t even get the doors closed on the vehicle.”

Anderson’s and Schroeder’s trips usually include eating lunch at a local restaurant, such as Smoky Hollow restaurant in Jemison.

“She just motors on down here (from Calera) and we have a big ol’ tour of Jemison,” Anderson said.

Anyone interested could probably make a full day or more out of visiting all the flea markets and antique stores in Chilton County.

Anderson said she and Schroeder will occasionally visit KayeCee’s Flea and Antique Mall in Clanton, and there are also a variety of antique stores.

Possibly the oldest such store is Touch of the Past Antiques in old downtown Jemison. Store owner Bobbie Giles bought the location in 1982. The space was formerly used as a dress shop, and it has also served as a grocery store and bank among other occupants.

Giles specializes in Depression-era glassware, the kind of merchandise sought out more by collectors than bargain hunters.

For example, a 9 1/2-inch dinner plate that may have cost a quarter when new Giles now sells for $65 because of the rarity of such an item. A coupon for the plate

Vendors pay $130 a month for the right to display their wares in a 10-feet by 12-feet space at the Jemison Trade Center, while everything at Touch of the Past belongs to Bobbie Giles (opposite). would have been included in bags of flour during the Depression. Giles said the plate would have cost about $25 when she first opened her store, nearly 30 years ago.

Giles accumulated a large collection of the plates—which can be found in pink,

green, blue, crystal or amber hues—before opening her store.

“I used to do mall shows and flea markets, and I just run out of any room to put my inventory,” she said. “I said if I didn’t make it with the store, I’d at least have a

C U T T I N G ED GE S IGN S FO R C H I LTO N CO.

storage space.”

Giles said she used to be able to purchase large quantities of the plates from someone who would bring them down from Ohio, but now she has to look for caches for sell on eBay. That’s OK because the demand for her wares has decreased also, probably due to the downturn in the national economy. Giles’ store is open only the first Saturday of every month and by appointment, but not more than 10 years ago it was one of Chilton County’s busiest businesses.

“I would have open houses, and half the county would come in,” Giles said. “I had a lady from Tennessee that would play the piano, and I had good refreshments. I haven’t done that in a long time.”

The Jemison Trade Center has suffered some also. Lisa Cofer, who works at the center, said about 40 vendors pay the rate of $130 a month for a 10-feet by 12-feet space to display their wares.

Five to 10 years ago, that number was about 100, with more on a waiting list. Two of the mall’s five wings are

not used. A restaurant inside the Trade Center sits with chairs permanently stacked on tables.

“Right now, with the economy the way it is, things have slowed down,” Cofer said.

But the flea market still has its loyal customers, such as Anderson.

The Jemison resident said she will spend anywhere from $5 to $200 each trip to the Trade Center. Mostly, she has found tables, baskets and quilts (“My house is full of it,” she said). She said she enjoys the challenge of finding something new, or thinking about something she saw but didn’t buy the last trip and whether it will still be there in two weeks.

“That’s the fun of it,” she said. “You might get to thinking about that little something you saw and didn’t get it, and you might go back and find it—or somebody else might have already got it.”

But it’s also important to Anderson to save money and keep her tax dollars in the county.

“Especially the way the economy is,” she said. “I’d much rather help myself and those vendors.” 

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ALWAYS on CALL

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Volunteer firefighters prepare for anything

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itting in his office at Clanton Fire firefighters arrived on the scene. days, but it is otherwise a volunteer crew.

Station No. 1, Fire Chief David “We get dispatched ‘for a wreck,’ (which When not responding to calls, Driver and Driver hears a sharp ring, letting turns out to be) a propane truck on its side the part-time squad work around the stahim know a dispatch call is about in front of Chilton County High School,” tion or town. They must test hydrants and to be relayed.

Driver said. “That’s a big difference.” keep the department’s trucks and other A few seconds later, a voice comes over It takes a special person to be able to han- equipment in tiptop condition. They check the loudspeakers, letting him know about dle chaos and unpredictability and keep inventory, do business inspections and the call. his or her composure and remain level- prefire plans and teach fire prevention in It’s always a tense moment, because fire- headed. It’s especially hard when someone the community. They also try to do some fighters never know what to expect. has died. type of training daily.

“You never know — when that tone goes “We sometimes go on calls when there’s During rescue calls, the department deoff, we never know pends on its dedicated what we’re going to volunteers, which numbe doing,” said Driver. ber about 20. Volun“You never know what teers carry a pager at you are going to drive all times and take turns up on.” handling medical calls In worst cases, fireovernight. fighters are responding Clanton’s firefighters to house fires and bad vary in age from their car accidents. In lightearly 20s to mid-60s, er moments, it’s small with a good number in grass fires or, even as their 30s and 40s. Four clichéd as it sounds, a of them are career firecat stuck in a tree. fighters with full-time Most of the time, departments outside however, Clanton Fire Chilton County. and Rescue responds Many of them are to medical calls. That self-employed; others too varies greatly, from work jobs with underheart attacks, strokes standing employers and drug overdoses to who allow them to anless serious problems. swer calls as needed.

Medical calls account- Clanton Fire Chief David Driver (shown with duffel bag in the bottom left photo) Anyone above the ed for about 80 percent and his volunteer department crew responded to 1,430 calls in 2010, ranging age of 19 can be a fireof the department’s from fires and car accidents to medical calls. fighter in Clanton. An 1,430 calls in 2010.

EMT basic license and Today’s call is about volunteer firefighter a woman experiencing neck pains follow- a loss of life,” Driver said. “It’s hard, espe- certification are also required; firefighters ing a recent surgery. Earlier in the day, cially children. I’ve got two children of my must also live within two miles or work the department responded to a call about own.” within the city limits and pass a physical a woman found unresponsive in her yard Firefighters have to find a way to deal and medical test. following a seizure. with these tense situations, Driver said.

Driver comes from a family of firefightIt’s just impossible to know what to an“You can’t dwell on it; if you did, you’ll ers and started as a volunteer at age 19 and ticipate, Driver said. Sometimes even with never answer another call again,” he said. says he can’t imagine doing anything else. information from dispatch, calls can prove Driver is Clanton’s only full-time fire“I don’t want to do anything else,” he to be a big surprise. fighter. The department has a few people said. “It’s all I’ve ever known. I want to reA wreck in October seemed normal until who help on a part-time basis during week- tire here.” n

Written by Justin averette | PhotograPhs by Jon GoerinG

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WINDOW tO the SOUL

Clanton First Methodist has storied history

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rom the outside, Clanton’s First United Methodist Church is visually appealing, built in a classical revival style with handsome white columns and intricately designed stained-glass windows.

But to truly appreciate the resplendence of its sanctuary, one must view it from the inside.

According to church records, a Methodist society has existed in Clanton since the early 1870s, originally meeting in a local schoolhouse on Second Avenue. In 1873, the church paid $1 to purchase the land on which the current building now stands, temporarily meeting in a tent on the property until a permanent structure could be built.

The small, white, one-story frame building was used until 1887, when growth prompted the building of a second structure. The simple church in which the Methodists had worshipped for four years was purchased and moved to a different location, clearing the property for the building of a larger church.

Dedicated in May 1888, this larger building, still one story, boasted a steeple and bell tower. According to a compilation of

the church’s history written by the late Helen Parrish, who served as church secretary for many years, the bell housed in the tower produced “the clearest, sweetest sound ever heard in Clanton,” and the children of the church took great delight in helping the pastor ring the bell each Sunday morning.

Two pot-bellied stoves provided heat during the winter months, and a pedal organ gave music for the services. In her compilation, Parrish writes about the ladies of the church who “vied with one another to see who could wear the fanciest hats to the choir” and the commotion that ensued when a bat flew in through an open window during the evening service, landing in the “large be-ribboned hat” of the preacher’s wife.

She notes that summer revival services with singing and dinner on the grounds were held on property belonging to the church located several miles outside of town on Enterprise Road. “Hell-fire and brimstone” sermons lasting two or more hours were delivered by visiting preachers, and services often lasted an entire weekend.

It was in the early 1920s that the church,

led by the Rev. C.C. Wilkerson, decided to demolish its building and erect the ornate church that now stands on the property.

Going from a simple one-room church to a large brick structure built in the classical revival style was no small undertaking, and it was expensive.

Architect W.S. Smith was hired to design the impressive new church envisioned by the congregation and its pastor.

In her notes, Parrish writes enthusiastically about the fundraising efforts, which were not without controversy, “Pledges for the financing of the new church were raised in the one the most thrilling campaigns ever seen by the people of Clanton! “ The well-known Evangelist Bob Jones was brought to town for a three-day series of sermons designed to raise pledges.

For these three days he was paid $300, an amount thought by many to be extremely large for such a short series of preaching.

However, the fiery messages of Bob Jones paid off. At the end of the three days, the people had pledged $50,000 toward the building of the new church. An additional $13,500 was borrowed from the bank, and the work was underway. Addi-

Written by Catherine COUSinS | PhotograPhs by JOn gOering

Progress 29

32 Progress tional funding was provided through bake sales, ice cream socials and barbecues.

When the old church was torn down, its cherished bell was donated to the A.M.E. church of West End. Church members, now without a building in which to meet, gathered for services in the courthouse during the construction of their new church.

Neighborhood children provided a sentimental gesture, each bringing a jar of mementos, the contents of which were spread on the ground of the basement floor just before the concrete was poured.

The Methodists saw their new church completed in 1923. It housed 11 Sunday School rooms, a study for the pastor, and a large fellowship hall complete with a kitchen and sanctuary that could seat 500 people.

The congregation must have stood in awe when first viewing the interior of their new church, a site to behold given the simplicity of their previous building.

The dark-stained wooden prayer rail and its richly detailed white plaster ceiling, more prevalent in European architectural

designs, serve to enhance the impressive leaded stained-glass windows adorning the sanctuary.

Each window is designed to reflect a different biblical scene. Little information about the windows exists, but it is believed they were made locally. Each window holds a plaque engraved with the name or names of those who donated the funding for each one. A recent insurance estimate for replacing the windows, should one or more become damaged, determined the windows to be irreplaceable.

The origin of stained-glass windows is unknown, but they were seen in the 10th century churches of France, Germany and England. While beautiful, the windows also served another purpose. Centuries ago, when the majority of the population was illiterate and the Bible had not yet been translated into English or put into mass production by the Gutenberg press, these intricately designed works of art illustrated the story of Christ for those who could not read. As Europe came out of the Dark Ages and the Bible was made avail-

able to the common population, stainedglass windows, because of their beauty, remained popular aids to worship.

The windows in Clanton’s First United Methodist Church contain various depictions of the life of Christ. Among them, the 12 year-old Jesus in the temple courts; The Good Shepherd; Jesus knocking on a door, symbolic of Christ knocking at the door of our heart; and Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. The small, half-round windows at each corner of the sanctuary are likened to the All-Seeing Eye of God. Belle Malmede, a church member and wife of an accomplished artist, envisioned something more for the sanctuary — something beautiful, remarkable and impressive — additional works of art that would also lend themselves as aids of worship in the new church. It took her husband, artist C.V. Malmede, three months to complete the two trompe l’oeil murals, which grace either side of the altar.

Trompe L’oeil in French means “to fool the eye.” It is an illusionary style of painting, dating to around 50 B.C., that depicts

Progress 33

The stained glass windows at Clanton First United Methodist Church were recently determined to be “irreplaceable” by one insurance estimate. The windows depict various scenes from the life of Christ, including 12-yearold Jesus visiting the temple courts and Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane. objects as three-dimensional.

The painting to the right of the altar is of Jesus with Mary Magdalene after his resurrection. On the left, he is talking with the woman at the well. Each scene appears to be surrounded by an ornately gilded frame, an illusion attributed to the trompe l’oeil style.

The only expense incurred by the church for this detailed work was Malmede’s room

and board at a local hotel.

Eighty-eight years have passed since the church was completed, and it remains one of the most beautiful in Chilton County, but a building, no matter how beautiful, does not constitute a church. People make up the church, and there is still life in this one.

According to Pastor Larry Anderson, the reason for the church’s growth is, “because

we offer ministries that meet the needs of the 21st century – practical needs for the lives of people today.” In addition to the “vital traditional service (which is) held in a beautiful building,” the church also offers a contemporary service, called Hydrate; a Hispanic service; AWANAS; and Upward Basketball. Divorce care and the Dave Ramsey course on financial freedom have also been offered at the church. n

34 Progress

under fire

Restaurant staff takes a lot of heat

WRitten by Stephen dawkinS PhotogRaPhs by Jon GoerinG

T

he restaurant business is not for everyone. Actually, the restaurant business is not for most people.

Gunay Clay, owner of Cattleman’s Steak House in Clanton, estimates 90 out of 100 people that show interest in serving food can’t handle the rigors associated with the job: remembering the requests of several tables worth of customers, working with the kitchen staff to get orders out as quickly as possible, and handling complaints as they arise.

“Anybody can handle a table or two,” Clay said. “But you can’t make money or make a career waiting on two tables at a time. The stress

Progress 35 level gets real high if you want to make money, and it takes handling 30-40 tables in a short time to make some money.”

As is common practice in the industry, rookie servers spend their first few days following around a seasoned co-worker. That’s enough for some to decide they should look elsewhere for employment; others at least make it long enough to begin working on their own.

But it’s clear that most servers don’t last long; Clay said he’s read the average expectancy for a server to remain at a restaurant is 42 days.

And serving is just one aspect of running a restaurant. There’s also cooking the food, ordering the ingredients and marketing.

“It’s the hardest business in the world,” said Clay, who has run Cattleman’s for 13 years now, after managing many other restaurants.

“People don’t have a clue about restaurants. They think you walk in and order a hamburger and that’s it. But you’ve got to buy the meat, you’ve got to cook the meat, you’ve got to buy the bun, the lettuce, the tomato. Then you’ve got to hire someone to take the hamburger to the customer. You’ve got to buy the napkin.

“It’s a totally different breed of business, the hardest in the world.

I don’t wish anybody to get in the restaurant business—for the simple reason of all the items you have to buy, all the ingredients you have to put together to make a hamburger.”

Clay’s experienced opinion of restaurant management makes the success of Nickki Gore even more impressive.

Gore and her father, Larry, bought the restaurant that is now Main Street Café seven years ago with the plan of running the establishment together.

Larry found out the business wasn’t for him and went back to his former job outside the food industry. Nickki, though she had never worked in a restaurant before, loved the experience and has no plans to

Recipes used at Main Street Cafe are either dishes traditionally cooked at the location or were brought by owner Nickki Gore when she bought the restaurant in 2004.

36 Progress give up her restaurant anytime soon.

“I loved cooking at home; I grew up cooking,” Gore said, “but I never knew what hard work it was running a restaurant.

When you go in and eat in a restaurant, you don’t realize what work is behind it.”

Gore is the manager, but she performs every duty required to run such an establishment, right down to washing the dishes.

Gore brought some recipes to Main Street Café, but others are courtesy of a longtime

employee, Louise White, who worked in the location for more than 40 years when it was Strength’s Country Café and even before then. That’s her tomato and okra gumbo on the menu, as is the chicken and dressing.

“I couldn’t have done it without her,” Gore said about White, who is retired now and living in Verbena. “I’m blessed. Almost everybody that works here worked for the previous owner.

“They feel like part of the family. I try to treat them as I would want to be treated.”

Holding onto longtime employees, at least for two local eateries, is the only way to avoid the resources wasted in training new servers who usually don’t last.

“The way I see it, you spend a lot of time and money training somebody,” Clay said.

“If you don’t keep them, you wasted your money and you trained them for your competitors.” n

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FAMILy PRACTICE

Progress 37

Jacksons have represented county for three decades

J

ohn Hollis Jackson didn’t grow up necessarily planning to be a lawyer.

“I think it was one of the interests I had at the time,” said Jackson. “I decided to apply and was admitted.”

For his son, Hollis Jackson, the legal profession is something he has been around since birth.

“This is a family business, which I was always around growing up,” said Hollis.

“I would come here in the afternoon after school and do odd jobs.”

Together, Jackson and Jackson, LLP, represents the government of Chilton County and all four municipalities in it: Clanton, Jemison, Thorsby and Maplesville.

The elder Jackson decided to return to his hometown in the early 1970s, after completing an undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama, a two-year stint in the Army and UA’s School of Law. Jackson has represented the county for more than 30 years and moved into his current office on Second Avenue South in 1975.

Hollis said his father inspired him to become a lawyer.

“He truly enjoys the legal profession,” Hollis said.

After completing degrees at Southern Methodist University near Dallas and Faulkner University’s Jones School of Law, the younger Jackson said there was never any question about where he would practice law.

“I’m not sure I would be interested (in practicing law) if I could not practice with my dad,” said Hollis. “If I couldn’t have done it on those terms, I’m not sure I would have.”

In addition to representing local governments and the Chilton County Board of Education, the Jacksons also do a fair amount of probate and real estate law.

John Hollis Jackson and Hollis Jackson in front of their law office in Clanton.

However, their work with municipalities takes a good portion of their time — and requires them to be on call 24/7. They help with day-to-day problems, paperwork and all sorts of other things that pop up.

“All these people have to deal with an incredible amount of red tape,” said John Hollis Jackson.

Over the years, the law firm has worked with many, many different leaders, but the elder Jackson said they all had one thing in common.

“I don’t think I’ve ever worked with a public official who wasn’t dedicated to the task,” said Jackson.

Hollis said technology has changed significantly, too. He contrasts having to go to the probate office and check hand-written deeds done in days past to how everything is done on computers today.

“The county has grown so much,” said John Hollis Jackson. “The technology has helped us tremendously.”

Despite being on call around the clock, the Jacksons say they try to keep work and family separate — they’re not talking about cases and files around the Thanksgiving table.

“That’s usually not in our discussion (at home),” said Hollis. “We like to leave it at the door when we leave.”

John Hollis Jackson said his firm’s work with local governments sometimes makes it more visible in the community, but that Chilton County has a great legal community, which deserves credit for the work it does.

“I think we have a good bar here and do things to help people every day,” said John Hollis Jackson. n

Written by & PhotograPh by JusTIn AvERETTE

Progress 39

SMALL TOWN, big past Written by stephen dawkins | PhotograPhs by Jon GoerinG

40 Progress

Verbena founded by those fleeing yellow fever

F

or a small community, Verbena is packed with history.

The village was founded in the 1870s by affluent Montgomery residents escaping the ravages of yellow fever in what was then the largest city in Alabama.

People that intended to stay only a summer in the area decided to make it their permanent residence, and the community was named after a purple, fragrant flower that grew in abundance in the area.

Verbena was once home to hotels, a train depot, stores, doctor’s offices and a bank.

Even before the Montgomery transplants, Verbena was the site of history.

Poet Sidney Lanier, suffering from tuberculosis, lived in the area for a year trying to regain his health, according to an article published in the Independent Advertiser in 1988. Two of Lanier’s poems, “A

Ballad of Trees” and “The Master,” were said to have been based on Lanier’s time in what would become Verbena.

There are many such stories of the small, unincorporated community in Chilton County, and the Verbena Historical Society is working to keep today’s residents aware of this rich history.

“We started out as just trying to let people have a touchstone with their hometown,” said Mary Kate Weir, a member of the Verbena Historical Society. “A big part of the club is wanting children to know what the history of Verbena has been.

Kids now have so little connection to their hometown.”

The club has developed two websites, verbenahistoricalsociety.org and a Facebook page. The sites allow current and former residents to connect and become involved with the club.

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Progress 41

The town of Verbena has a long and rich history. The community was founded by affluent Montgomery citizens fleeing yellow fever in the 1870s. The Verbena Historical Society works to keep today’s residents aware of the town’s unique heritage.

Progress 43 The society itself was founded in the 1970s around the time of the country’s bicentennial celebration.

Verbena has since been designated as a historic site. In 2010, the club held four Music in the Park events at the historic gazebo in the center of town. At the last of those events, a sign was erected that tells some of the history of the village.

“We have found that music is the common language (of all the community mem-

bers),” Weir said. “Our core project is to get people to talk to one another. Music in the Park has come a long way for that.”

Weir and her husband, Bob, moved to Verbena from Birmingham and live in one of the oldest standing structures in Verbena. Their house was built circa 1876, and a cabin on their property goes back about 45 years earlier. Perhaps the most recognizable structure is Verbena Methodist Church, which was built in 1873.

There’s likely more Verbena history than even the historical society can confirm. For example, the article in the Independent Advertiser mentions a mine in the community that was the largest producer of gold in the state. The mine was supposedly named Repito and was worked by William Lanier, uncle of the poet Sidney, from 1835 to 1849.

It’s one more chapter in Verbena’s long, and perhaps surprising, history. 

44 Progress

The big freeze

Late season cold snap can destroy crop

M

uch work goes into the production of peaches, Chilton County’s most famous crop.

But factors beyond the control of peach growers play just as important a part.

“You do the best you can,” said Jim Pitts with the Chilton Research and Extension Center, which aids local growers in their efforts to produce the best harvests possible.

During winter, peach trees need a certain amount of time—at least 1,000 hours, depending on the variety—with temperatures near freezing. Chill or dormant hours are calculated from Oct. 1 through Feb. 15. Temperatures need to be below 45 degrees to count toward the total.

If trees don’t receive enough cold temperatures, they will display an extended bloom period, and the peaches will be long and pointed. An ideal amount of dormant hours produces a “popcorn bloom,” where trees bloom suddenly and all at once, and fruit that is desirable in appearance.

If the middle of February is approaching and growers know their trees haven’t had enough dormant hours, they may consider a product that is applied to trees that makes them behave as though they’ve had more dormant hours.

“They’re all the time looking at what variety they’ve got and when they’re coming off, and they’re all the time juggling to see what is going to be the best thing to do,” Pitts said.

If trees receive too many dormant hours,

they may bloom too early and be subjected to the growers’ worst fear: the late freeze, occurring in late March or early April.

Two to three weeks after the bloom, the fruit has begun to grow, shedding petals and the shuck that protects the bud. That’s when the peaches are most vulnerable.

They can withstand some cold, but temperatures at 28 degrees or below for as long as two hours will begin killing the fruit.

“You may have some trees that are up against a tree line or close to a barn, and you may have some that are in a low lying

area. That can affect the temperature,” Pitts said. “But you don’t want to get close.

That’s why you’ll bring in a helicopter and use wind machines.”

Pitts said two years out of every five will see a late freeze that damages a year’s crop.

Some late freezes are worse than others.

Pitts said there have been about four remarkably damaging freezes since he came to the Extension Center in the 1980s.

2007 was one such freeze.

Peach grower Henry Williams has seen plenty of freezes. His father purchased an

Written by Stephen dawkinS | PhotograPhs by advertiSer Staff

Progress 45

Chilton County peach grower Henry Williams and other growers use several techniques to protect their crops, including burning coal piled up throughout orchards. Frost presents a threat in late spring after peach trees have already started producing fruit, which would be available for harvest in late May or June. Above, a basket of June peaches from last summer.

46 Progress orchard in 1955, and Williams was born in 1956. Other than seven years Williams spent in school, he’s spent his whole life in an orchard.

“I got out [of college at Auburn University] on Valentine’s Day in 1982, and I started working in a peach orchard the next day,” he said.

Williams, who works orchards in the Collins Chapel community and at the southern edge of Thorsby just off Highway 31, said hail is also a concern during the formative stages of the peach crop. Williams remembers a year in the early 2000s when a late freeze was forecasted and he used his wind machines and borrowed helicopters to save his crop.

“Maybe three-fourths of the county lost their crop that year, but I actually made a full crop. I was very, very fortunate,” Williams said but then remembers how there is no room for complacency in the peach growing business. “Everything I saved that year, I lost the next year to hail.”

Even if a freeze kills some buds, growers will go through and thin the trees of excess fruit so what is left can grow big-

ger and so the tree can be picked more efficiently. This step requires more hired labor than actually harvesting the fruit,

Williams said.

Pitts said an average tree produces about 4,000 flower buds, but growers keep only

Progress 47 about 5 percent, knocking the rest off within a six-week time period with a plastic wiffle ball bat or a piece of piping.

“If you don’t go through there and do that, you’ll get those ‘ping-pong’ peaches,” Pitts said, referring to the peaches’ small size. “Folks want them big, and the bigger they are, the better they are.”

There are 30-40 commercial peach growers in Chilton County, claiming between 2,500-3,000 acres of land. Pitts said there was a time, as recent as the 1960s, when that number was more than 30,000 acres.

An average acre contains 100150 peach trees, and the average tree produces about eight baskets of peaches per season.

So, Chilton County land yields about 2.75 million baskets of peaches every year.

Pitts is a friend to the grow-

ers, and his advice is usually treasured, but one of his points probably falls on deaf ears.

“The growers would all do better if we all ended up with half a crop,” he said. “Then, your supply doesn’t exceed your demand, you can set the price where you want it. You don’t have to thin them as much.

“It can be a blessing (for a late freeze to kill a portion of the crop). Of course, you hope that you have all of yours and your neighbor doesn’t have any, and that averages up to a half.”

In addition to growing and picking the peaches, Chilton County’s growers must develop relationships with grocers that will sell the fruit to the public, work out a way to deliver the fruit in a timely manner and market their product.

“It ain’t for the faint of heart,” Pitts said. n

Peach trees typically bloom in early spring, turning fields a pretty shade or reds, purples and pinks. Trees have bloomed as early as February during mild winters.

On page left, Chilton County peach grower Henry Williams demonstrates how to tell if young peaches have been damaged by freezing temperatures.

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48 Progress

SEEING IS BELIEVING

Lions Club works to help people see

Clanton Lions Club members gather for a photo following a recent meeting.

L

ooking into Clanton’s 40-member Lions Club, you will find a group of men who are passionate and dedicated to their organization and to helping others see the world more clearly.

“The Lions Club International is all about sight,” said Bob Stone, Clanton Lions Club member. “The tentacles of eye care are far reaching in serving the community.”

The Lions assist needy individuals in

the community who are at risk of losing their sight with obtaining glasses, eye treatment, exams, surgeries and other vision correcting solutions.

“The motto of the Lions Club is ‘We Serve,’” said Stone.

The Alabama Lions Sight Conservation Association, a non-profit state project of the Lions Club of Alabama, is the No. 1 service project for the club and has funded the necessary eye care for low-income adults and children for more than 60 years.

The Lions work close in partnership with Clanton’s local optometrists to provide patients age 18 and under with the proper eye care.

“This service is important, especially today more than back then because of the economic times,” said Jim Driggars, O.D., who has been practicing since 1976 and was the first local doctor the Lions Club partnered with.

“It is important for children, especially because first through 12th grade is the

Written by thEadorIs morrIs | PhotograPh by stEphEN dawkINs

Progress 49 time the child is getting prepared for the next 50-60 years of their lives, and if the child cannot see, then it will put them in a deficit in the classroom — then they are crippled for life,” said Driggars. “There is a time frame, and if you lose that time frame, you cannot get it back.”

“Children can’t afford their own destiny, and some parents can’t afford it, so the Lions Club steps in and provides the children with the examinations and consultations they need,” he said.

Local Clanton resident Debbie Lockhart knows exactly how big of a help the Lions Club and Sight Savers can be.

When Lockhart’s son, Geoffery, was in the fifth grade, he became legally blind with 24/100 vision. He was born with ocular albinism, an inherited condition in which the eyes lack melanin pigment. The Lions Club and Sight Savers were able to assist Geoffery in getting a Closed Circuit Television System (CCTV), a magnifying tool for individuals with low vision.

The CCTV is a video camera connected to a monitor, such as a computer.

The reading material is placed under the

camera, and an enlarged image is shown on the screen. The images and other features, such as color, text and auto-focusing, can be adjusted.

“The CCTV kept my son from having to go to the Alabama School for the Blind in Talladega,” said Lockhart. “The CCTV allows him to put the book under the light so he can see it on the screen. It made a world of difference and was a lifesaver.”

Bobby Martin, Chilton County Probate Judge and Lions Club member, referred the family to Sight Savers and was eventually helped by Sarah Hayes, OD, who works at UAB and Clanton Optical.

The Lions Club provided a quick turnaround for the fifth grader. Within approximately a month, he had the $5,000 - $7,000 CCTV, Lockhart said.

“We had no idea where to go or who to talk to about something like this,” said Lockhart. “The Lions Club helped us twice, and Sight Savers helped put it together. They didn’t hesitate; they started that night and worked with us in every way they could. We will never be able to thank them enough.”

Before, Geoffery could not take notes for school and depended on his mother to read, and now he can do those things on his own, said Lockhart.

The CCTV helped the fifth grader gain back his independence.

Since then, Geoffery vision has progressed to 20/100, and he is a college graduate from Jacksonville State University.

The Clanton Lions Club has helped more than 1,000 patients over the years and about 70 to 80 patients a year, said Martin, who is also involved in the club’s Eye and Tissue Bank.

The eye and tissue bank provides tissue and eyes from donors for research and transplantation to those in need.

Clanton Lions Club participates in numerous drives and fundraisers to help and support better eye sight. A recent drive was the “Mission for Vision,” where the Lions collected more than 100 pairs of eyeglasses at Martin Funeral Home and the Chilton County Probate Office in support of the Alabama Sight program. The glasses were given away during mission trips to people who needed them. n

LEE HELMS ASSOCIATES

50 Progress

window shopping

What makes small town downtown work?

O

wner Danny Edwards makes numerous phone calls to customers regarding their merchandise, while salesman Brian Wyatt places jewelry in its proper casings.

After the daily cleaning rituals, repairing jewelry, checking emails, calculating totals and daily book readings, Edwards Jewelers illuminates its neon “Open” sign and starts the day.

“It takes a lot of prep time to get the store ready for business,” said Wyatt. “Presentation is key.”

Edwards Jewelers is a multigenerational family business located in downtown Clanton established by Eddie Edwards and his brother-in-law, Buck Daniel, 60 years ago.

Customers can find the latest jewelry trends and order custom made pieces at Edwards Jewelers, whose showroom is blanketed with some of the finest name brand jewelry and timeless pieces.

Well-known companies such as Sara Blaine, Pandora, Natalie K. and five stateof-the-art watch brands can be found in its showroom.

In 1950, what used to be Edward and Daniel Credit Jewelers began with two showcases located in Chilton Home Furnishings. Between 1951 and 1952, the duo rented the store next door on Sixth Street, but in 1953, Eddie Edwards bought out his partner and changed the store’s name to Edwards Credit Jewelers.

In 1968, the store moved again to its present location, the old Wright Drug Store.

“The first four years of business I can imagine were pretty hard,” said Stacey Watson, Eddie’s grandson, who took over the store in 1991 with his uncle, Danny.

“But for the past 20 years we’ve had it made. We’re lucky to have the citizens of

Stacey Watson repairs jewelry in Edwards’ repair trade shop located in the back of their multi-generational jewelry store located in downtown Clanton. this community and the pull in surrounding areas because we have been here for so long.”

The store hasn’t seen too many struggles throughout the years and prides itself on being strong and successful, said Watson.

“We’ve always done pretty well,” he said.

“Even when the market crashed three years ago, we were only down for a couple months.”

The store was remodeled in 2010, and the

latest diamonds, watches and silver trends have been added. The store has a full-scale jewelry repair trade shop with the latest laser repair technology in place. The store buys, sells, appraises and repairs jewelry.

“We were here yesterday, today and we will be here tomorrow and for the next 60 years and beyond,” said Watson. “We want to serve the community and meet their needs. We’re dedicated to staying here.”

In contrast to the multigenerational

Written by theadoris morris | PhotograPhs by Jon goering

52 Progress business located in downtown Clanton, The Nerd Guy is quickly finding its place in the community.

“We do not sell computers,” said Rebecca Montalbano, co-owner, as she laughed.

“Other than that, we do everything for computers from repairs, upgrades and virus cleaning to virus protection upgrades.”

Customers who have damaged their laptops and have data they want retrieved off the laptop’s hard drive can take it to The Nerd Guy, located on Second Avenue, and have it retrieved.

“A lot of times when people bring us a machine, it’s an older machine and we only charge $25 for a diagnostic,” said Montalbano. “We do not charge by the hour and that has helped our business out a lot here in Clanton.”

Chris and Rebecca Montalbano started The Nerd Guy in Vestavia and operated there from 2001 to 2006. They established their niche early on because of Chris’s work with Southern Networking Services, a large networking firm that solely worked with large corporations. The couple noticed the lack of companies addressing the home market, so they chose to specialize in home network, single office and home office. They provide service to doctors’ offices and individuals, and have had a couple of large accounts.

“We came to Clanton because I’m from here; I graduated from Verbena,” said Montalbano. “This is a great solution for us without having to move all the way to Montgomery for his job.”

Shortly after, Chris, “The Nerd Guy,” who has been in networking for 20 years, landed a contract with Colonial Bank, so the couple shut down their operation as a business but kept their corporate identity.

After the collapse of Colonial Bank a year ago, Chris’ contract ended, so the couple decided to get The Nerd Guy back up and running.

“There has been an amazing number of clients that have done business with us right here in Chilton County,” said Montalbano. “It’s deceptive because we have such a large area and it’s far in between businesses so you don’t think there are that many businesses, but our client list here is a completely separate group of people from our Birmingham client list and it’s almost as big.

We are really thrilled with that and thrilled to be able to be here and be a service for the community.”

What The Nerd Guy lacks, unlike an older business, is word of mouth advertising, which is vital in a town like this, said Montalbano.

“But what we lack there we have in expertise and experience with technology,” she said.

Chris has numerous advance certifications. For example, he is a Microsoft certified engineer. The company’s lead tech, Tammy Carden, has worked as a tech for Staples for four years and while working for them performed internal training and gained expertise.

“It’s one thing to know something; it’s another to have a plaque on the wall that says

you know something, so that’s a really big deal for us, establishing this business as we do know what we’re doing here and we’re here to stay.”

The business has two full-time techs, Carden and Patrick Banks. Stacy Owens is the manager, and they all have their areas of expertise.

Since moving to Clanton, the business has had its struggles trying to stay afloat in the economy.

“When we started, we had some really slow months, so slow that we had to tell our landlord when we moved here to please start us out on a six-month lease,” said Montalbano. “The slow months are a part of any business. We’ve had so many people in the community come and say, ‘We’re so glad you’re here; we need you here,’ and that’s a huge encouragement when everything else is not looking well,” she said.

One of the business’ short-term goals is to expand its hours so students can use its free unlimited Wi-Fi connection, and a longterm goal is to add more services for businesses, such as a place to make copies because that is a complete void for the Chilton County area, said Montalbano. n

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More families battle effects of Autism WRITTEN BY THEADORIS MORRIS PHOTOGRAPHS BY JON GOERING

I

t’s a condition that some parents are embarrassed to discuss, but families and teachers are facing the challenges of Autism every day.

Ginger Welch, a local Clanton mother who has been dealing with Autism for four years with her son, opens the doors to their home and allows the world to take a look inside.

Welch’s son, Casen, will get over-stimulated in an active environment and withdraw, and when he is feeling a lack of stimulation he will start “stimming,” doing little things to stimulate himself, such as tapping on things, jumping up and down or making noises.

“He needs a lot of physical activity so we try to keep him occupied,” said Welch. “When he needs deep pressure, he hits and jumps. We do the wheelbarrow, where I hold his feet and he walks on his hands. This puts pressure on his shoulders and is playtime for him because he does not have ‘pretend play.’”

Autism does not stop once a child leaves the home; teachers who teach special classes also face unique challenges in the classroom.

“Each child is unique; no child is the same,” said Amanda Anderson, resource at Jemison High School. “There are behavioral and communication differences, and it’s a trial and error process on how to communicate with each child individually.”

The biggest test is to challenge students without making them feel challenged, because if it stresses the student, he or she will throw tantrums, get frustrated and quit working with you, said Anderson.

“With their perception, we don’t always understand how they will perceive something,” Anderson said. “They may perceive something totally

56 Progress

Willie and Ginger Welch prepare activities for Casen as he waits patiently. On the previous page, Welch consoles her 5-year-old son, who has been diagnosed with Autism. Right, Casen cleans up after enjoying playtime with his parents after school.

Progress 57

58 Progress different. It’s a lifelong commitment with the child and parents because everything they do has to revolve around the child and the behavioral challenge they face. Everything has to be planned on how the child will respond.”

Other challenges in the classroom include fire alarms, running out of something on the menu, liking or not liking something someone else likes, interaction with other children and having to eat certain textures of foods.

“Each child that I have worked with had certain foods they wouldn’t eat. It is known that autistic children like breaded foods, such as chicken nuggets and French fries. It deals with the sensory receptors and how the texture of the food feels in your mouth.”

Each child is an act of patience for everyone involved in the child’s life, said Anderson.

One in every 150 children has autism in

the United States, said State Senator Cam Ward, who formed the Alabama Autism Task Force and is also involved with the ASA and Autism Council.

“A lot of people rely on teachers, and the teachers wish they had more knowledge,” said Ward. “I have a child with autism, and it has allowed me to get involved with other groups and involved with the Autistic Society of Alabama, statewide advocacy for relations.

“It tugged at my heart for me to get involved with the legislative process. It is very important to me and is the highest on my agenda. There are a lot of shortfalls with the government with how we help them, and there are not enough programs or assistance to help those on the autism spectrum.”

With the Welch family, days early in Casen’s childhood were spent trying to regulate his body sensations so he could make it through the day. Their days started

at 2 a.m. because his body no longer knew if it was night or day.

“During the day, I would laugh and make jokes of the obstacles we were facing, and then at night I would cry myself to sleep,” she said. “We did sensory integration therapy and floortime until he could function well enough to try other options.”

At the age of 4, Casen was able to attend PALS preschool class at Clanton Elementary and has had breakthroughs between the ages of 4 and 6.

Casen is now in Kindergarten and loves school, Welch said, with a smile on her face.

“If nothing else, this is the message that I would like every parent to remember,” said Welch. “Try everything, and don’t get discouraged when it fails because 99 times out of 100 it will. But when that 100th thing works, the other 99 things will be forgotten. My goal will always be complete recovery.” n

Read Progress online at www.clantonadvertiser.com

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