Northeast Alabama Fall Living by Consolidated Publishing Co.

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NORTHEAST ALABAMA

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Steel Magnolia Lucy Smith turns cold metal into elegant furniture

The wines of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

An Anniston home bursts with color

The secrets of Cooter Brown’s famous ribs

Bird dogs, hound dogs & hunting life

Power suits & the women who wear them

Inside Alabama’s busiest craft beer brewery

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Contents Fall 2012

STYLE 6 Power Suits: Five women making a difference in the community – with style

HOME 14 Steel Magnolia: Furniture designer Lucy Smith mixes hard metal with soft inspiration 20 Carnival of Colors: Arthur and Pam Fite’s mountaintop home is a showcase for art SOUTHERN CULTURE 26 That Dog Will Hunt: The bond between hunter and dog has withstood the test of time

32 The Libation of Fall: Bourbon and football are a match made in heaven 36 All Things Must Pass Away: Bill Wilson photographs the forgotten places of Alabama FOOD & DRINK 42 50 Shades of Grape: Drink the same wines as the ‘50 Shades of Grey’ characters 46 Cake Boss: Carol Watts, known for her elaborate cakes, turns her hand to cupcakes 50 Where There’s Smoke: Tim Johnson of Cooter Brown’s Rib Shack on the secrets to good barbecue

52 House of Brews: Back Forty Beer Company of Gadsden is Alabama’s busiest brewery GIVING BACK 58 Children’s Services Beer Tasting Red Cross Celebrity Luncheon Tigers for Tomorrow SKETCHBOOK 72 Autumn Waterfall: Gerald Woodruff

2 Fall Living

It’s Real.

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Thank you for continuing to rank us as number one in patient satisfaction in Etowah and Calhoun Counties.*

excellence with other hospitals throughout the country. We’ve long been recognized as a leader in surgical care measures, and we are now pleased to be a part of The Joint Commission Core Measure Solution Exchange Forum™. Nothing is more important than our continued quest for quality. Thank you for entrusting your healthcare to us and for continuing to rank us as number one in patient satisfaction. Recommended to the nation; recommended to our own

256-435-4970 www.jacksonvillemedicalcenter.com 1701 Pelham Road S. Jacksonville, AL 36265

friends and family. We’re always here to show you how it works. *That’s according to HealthStream Research in a comparison of all hospitals in Etowah and Calhoun counties. See for yourself how area hospitals are rated at www.HospitalCompare.hhs.gov.

Editor’s Note

have lived in Calhoun County almost nine years now, and I am still falling in love with this place and its people.

The mountains, the brilliant colors of the trees in fall, the Southern hospitality, the pork barbecue … we didn’t have that back in my native Texas.

For this special-edition magazine, I wanted to recognize the people who give this area its character: R5Lucy Smith, who started designing furniture five years ago using castoff pieces from her husband’s steel manufacturing business, and whose stylish metal tables now grace elegant homes and showrooms.

VOLUME 1, FALL 2012 EDITOR Lisa Davis ldavis@annistonstar.com 256-235-3555 WRITERS Deirdre Long Eddie Burkhalter Harvey H. Jackson Paige Rentz Ben Cunningham

R5Carol Watts, who turns cake batter and fondant into edible sculpture at Mad Hatter Cakes in Jacksonville, and who is now coming up with wickedly tempting cupcakes.

PHOTOGRAPHERS Trent Penny Bill Wilson Stephen Gross

R5Tim Johnson, who reveals some – but not all – of the secrets to the fingerlicking ribs he serves at Cooter Brown’s Rib Shack.

DESIGN Bill Adams / Potts Marketing Group

R5Rip and Roscoe and the other bird dogs and hounds that still hunt the woods of Alabama, even as the woods shrink around them. R5Jamie Ray, the brewmaster at Back Forty Beer Company of Gadsden, now the busiest craft brewery in the state. Ever wondered what a pediatrician wears underneath the white coat? Read our story on the stylish “power suits” worn by several of Calhoun County’s notable women. Hardy Jackson, one of our favorite Alabama authors, opines upon bourbon and football. We also take a peek inside the home of Arthur and Pam Fite, which is bursting with color. The story that makes me smile the most is “50 Shades of Grape.” Janet Tyson Prosser, of Tyson’s Fine Wine & Things, discovered a new niche market when she started hosting wine tastings based on the bestselling “50 Shades of Grey” books. In the back pages of the magazine, we’ve collected photos from various fundraisers about town, in celebration of the people who give of themselves to give back to this community.

Lisa Davis ldavis@annistonstar.com

4 Fall Living

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Patrick Stokesberry ADVERTISING MANAGER Dollie Robinson drobinson@annistonstar.com 256-235-9236 ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE Jessica Ledlow advertising@annistonstar.com 256-235-9222 CONSOLIDATED PUBLISHING CO. H. Brandt Ayers, Chairman and Publisher P.A. Sanguinetti, President Bob Davis, Associate Publisher/Editor Robert Jackson,VP for Sales/Operations

STYLE

POWER SUITS These women are making a difference in the community ...with style

LEE SHAFER

JULIA SEGARS

JEAN PUGLIESE

By Deirdre Long

Photos by Bill Wilson and Trent Penny

EULA TATMAN

DR. TATIANA BIDIKOV

6 Fall Living

POWER SUITS

W Julia Segars

hen it comes to fashion, Julia Segars’ outfits probably won’t ever be referred to as “electrifying.” Segars, vice president of the Eastern Division for Alabama Power, is OK with that. “Work-wise, I want to be classy,” she says. “My style doesn’t need to overwhelm my purpose for being there. I like to have a lot of basics and accessorize with small things.” Segars, who has an art minor — she has paintings on display at Classic on Noble — likes to purchase jewelry and blouses and other accessories at art shows, such as the Bluff Park Art Show in Birmingham. She prefers monochrome for work — she remembers a women’s conference she attended where a speaker told the audience to dress in white because it makes a woman less diminutive and petite — but leaves it up to the accessories to grab attention. “I like to have something that’s notable without being over the top,” she says. “But the main focal point ought to be you… you don’t want too much going on.”

Fall Living 7

STYLE

POWER SUITS

Eula Tatman

ula Tatman’s style is an oldie, but a goodie. “Classy and classic,” says the vice president of the Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama, a nonprofit organization that uses donor gifts to issue grants to communities. “The staples: black dress, black suit and a white shirt, pearls. I can go from a board meeting to dinner.” Tatman, who prefers pantsuits over dresses, likes to jazz up her outfits with accessories: shoes, necklaces, earrings and, her favorite, a watch. “I have a large collection of watches that I like to coordinate,” she says. She won’t admit to just how many she owns. “I think it’s part of your wardrobe — you have sporty ones, dressy ones with gems.” Tatman likes her style because it shows she takes pride in what she does and who she is. “Working for the foundation, it’s a professional position and if you’re dealing with clientele, it speaks volumes in the pride you take in yourself.”

8 Fall Living

ÂŠ 2012 Alabama Power Company

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Brought to you, in part, by Alabama Power.

STYLE

POWER SUITS

F Lee Shafer

or Lee Shafer, it really comes down to the shoes. As the priest for Grace Episcopal Church in Anniston, some people only see Shafer in the same outfit she wears every week: A white alb, a stole and a chasuble, the color of which changes with the season to complement the hangings in the church. The only thing that really changes? The shoes. “Unfortunately, sometimes people pay more attention to the shoes than what I say in church,” Shafer says with a laugh. “I think the way I dress has to do with breaking expectations. I’m trying to let people know that yes, I’m a priest and yes, I’m female. I can have style.” Not that her style is as risque as she implies; she’ll never wear an open-toe shoe to a service. For Shafer, always having to wear black and white just “adds to the challenge.”

10 Fall Living

POWER SUITS

Jean Pugliese

ean Pugliese knows the importance of good fashion. “Image is everything,” said the associate dean of the College of Graduate Studies at Jacksonville State University. “The image you present is one of the first things people notice about you. You always need to portray a good image.” As a representative of the university who often travels for work, Pugliese knows where to shop for favorites that won’t break the bank. She likes the Willow Tree in Jacksonville, Macy’s, and White House Black Market website, but she also shops high-end consignment stores in Gadsden and Birmingham. “Beautiful clothes with tags still on them,” she says. “If you shop smartly, you can get some very nice namebrand shoes for $20-$25.” She’s filled her closets with those purchases. Pugliese estimates she has 100 pairs of shoes to go along with her many outfits. “If you organize your closet with someone who knows how to do it, you stop spending money on items you won’t wear,” she says. “I organize by color, so it’s easy to put together a nicelooking outfit.”

Fall Living 11

STYLE

POWER SUITS

Dr. Tatiana Bidikov

s someone who spends most of her day on her feet and working with children, comfort is a must for Dr. Tatiana Bidikov. But that doesn’t stop the Anniston pediatrician from having style underneath her white coat. “I’m traditional, with a little modern twist,” Bidikov says. “I need something that fits well, and I like. It has to be comfortable, especially the shoes, although I’m pretty well rounded with heels.” Bidikov teaches herself about fashion by clipping photos from magazines and reading the fashion section of the Wall Street Journal. “I like to be dressed up well, decent and appropriately.” Bidikov says she’s a bargain shopper, but “every once in awhile I splurge, but even then the prices are reasonable.” But the doctor owns at least one expensive accessory. Every year, the nurses in her office pool their money to buy her a high-end tube of lipstick. Currently, it’s Giorgio Armani’s Rouge 400.

12 Fall Living

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HOME

STEEL

Magnolia

Furniture designer Lucy Smith mixes hard metal with soft inspiration By Deirdre Long Photos by Bill Wilson

ne might not expect to find beauty inside the steel walls of a metal fabrication company. It’s a place that breeds dirt and dust, and there’s constant noise: a forklift beeping, men yelling, equipment roaring and, of course, the clang of metal. But at Interstate Steel in Oxford, which makes metal pieces that range from the hooks on shelves at Old Navy to golf cart parts to pieces of Redbox movie machines, Lucy Smith finds beauty in the dirtiest place of them all — the trash. continued

14 Fall Living

HOME

Birdwell Table

Alice Foot Stool

“I’ll weed through the dumpster of skeletons for inspiration,” says Smith, creator of a line of high-end steel furniture. It’s not as grisly as it sounds: A skeleton is the castoff of a metal creation, such as a sheet of metal with shapes stamped out of it. It was such a castoff that inspired Smith’s “Vogue Rounds” table, a bright yellow steel accent table stamped with a honeycomb design. It’s the juxtaposition of hard steel against soft — the

intricate, laser-cut designs, the leather upholstery or wood tops — that makes Smith’s collection so eye-catching. Smith, an interior designer of 15 years, started designing furniture about five years ago when she decided to become a stay-at-home mom. Her access to those steel skeletons and a welder was pretty easy; her husband, Hank, is the owner of Interstate Steel. Smith describes her style as “classic modern.” “The patterns are age-old,

Hank Cigar Table

but I’m putting a fresh spin on it.” The lines are clean and simple, “with a little detail.” Like her “Hank Cigar Table.” Named after her husband (one of the perks of owning a business, Smith says), it’s a simple, 2-foot-tall steel frame personal table. But the gold finish and laser-cut wave design adorning the tabletop is what really makes it a memorable piece. “It’s a practical man’s table,” Smith continued

16 Fall Living

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HOME said. “And one of my best sellers.” The design process begins in Smith’s studio, her office inside Interstate Steel. From there it’s a short walk “out back” to the laser cutter. There her sketches are turned into computerized drafts that the machine can read, and her design is cut. The pieces are then handwelded and sent to a garage in Anniston’s Entrepreneurial Center, where they are hand-sanded and finished. Until recently, this process, save for the laser cutting and welding, was done by Smith alone. “Up until now I’ve done everything — books, shipping, packing, painting,” she says. “Getting a piece of furniture across the U.S. is an undertaking.” But after a successful trip in April to the High Point Market in North Carolina, which is the largest furnishings industry trade show in the world, Smith picked up stores in Connecticut, Arizona, Florida and Maryland, and has recently hired two employees to help her keep up with all the new business. As the head of a small business, Smith can take as much time as she needs to spend with her family — her goal when she quit the interior design industry five years ago.

“I do want to be a mom first of all,” she said. But being a mom doesn’t slow this designer down. She’s preparing to launch a fall line with six new pieces, which she hopes will be out in October. The ideas for the new designs could come from just about anywhere, including Smith’s favorite trash piles. She

Vogue Round Table

18 Fall Living

is constantly looking for inspiration. “It could be jewelry, could be fabric, it could be stuff off the side of the road.”

THE DETAILS Lucy Smith Handcrafted Metal Furnishings, www.lucysmithdesigns.com, available regionally at Hiltz Lauber in Birmingham.

Vogue Round Table

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HOME

20 Fall Living

Carnival of colors Arthur and Pam Fite’s mountaintop home is a showcase for art By Lisa Davis Photos by Trent Penny

The homeowners’ love for New Orleans is reflected in bold colors and a series of sculptures from the Willitts Designs series “All That Jazz.”

Fall Living 21

HOME

ABOVE: Pam and Arthur Fite built a wall of windows and an expansive deck to take advantage of the view from the mountaintop. RIGHT: The gray stone entrance gives no clue to the bold color scheme inside the house. OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE: The drummer is from the Willitts Designs series “All That Jazz;” Caribbean Teal walls in the intimate studio frame a “soft painting” in fabric by Israeli artist Calman Shemi; at nighttime, a bank of windows in the master bedroom frames the lights of downtown Anniston; a chest covered in silver leaf is one of many reflective surfaces.

22 Fall Living

he purple mailbox is the first clue that Arthur and Pam Fite’s house might not be quite what you expected. From the outside, the Fites’ mountaintop home blends into its surroundings. The gray stone exterior echoes the boulders that dot the landscape. The wind rustles through the trees. But inside … the house is awash in a joyous profusion of color, a celebration of the artworks that the couple has collected over the years. The Fites love New Orleans, and their home is bright with the colors of Mardi Gras – purple for justice, green for faith, gold for power – along with teal and red. The calming influence of black, brown and lots and lots of white keeps the colors from becoming riotous. Arthur, a lawyer, designed the house

himself – sketched it out on a napkin while at a restaurant one night. He drew in lots of angles – a challenge for the engineers who had to figure out how to keep the roof up – and a vastly open floor plan. “There’s only one door on the top floor, and that’s to the bedroom,” Arthur said. “I don’t like a lot of closed rooms.”

It is a house designed for entertaining. It can easily accommodate 200 people for parties. Arthur likes to crank up Motown on the sound system to get people dancing. “It’s a fun house,” said Pam, a sales executive with ERA King Real Estate. “We didn’t want it to be stuffy. We wanted people to walk in and feel they could put their feet up.”

The colors are what people notice the most. It is a bold statement to paint a wall deep purple, or upholster a piece of furniture in lime green. “Color scares a lot of people. But not Arthur and Pam; that’s just their personality,” said Scott Skinner of Anniston, the interior designer who pulled all those colors together. It works because the colors are balcontinued

Fall Living 23

HOME anced with plenty of black and white. Most of the walls are white, to keep attention on the colorful paintings. Most of the sofas and chairs are white. The dining room ceiling is painted black. Skinner brought it what he calls “pops of colors” – a deep purple wall to set off a white artwork. Throw pillows that echo the colors of the paintings. Accent chairs in bold tones. Natural light floods the rooms via a wall of windows along the back of the house, framing the view from the mountaintop. Metallic surfaces – including a chest of drawers covered in silver leaf – gently reflect the light. The paintings and sculptures are the soul of the house. The Fites own works by artists from places far – Vietnam, Israel, South America – and near – New Orleans, Atlanta, Oxford. They primarily buy from galleries in Atlanta and New Orleans. The heart of the house, however, may be the spacious deck that runs the length of the back. Furnishings include a sleek fire-pit table, an outdoor kitchen and a flat-screen TV mounted on a sheltered wall. There’s even an outdoor shower tucked in a private corner. The Fites spend as much time as they can out on the deck. “It’s our favorite place,” said Pam. “Unless it’s 110 degrees, we’re out there.” The view goes on for miles. “The sunsets are gorgeous. And the storms … We love to watch the storms roll in from the west,” said Pam. “The clouds, the ever-changing sky – this out here, this is a work of art.”

TOP: The painting over the mantel was purchased in New Orleans. The small painting to the right was purchased just down the road in Oxford. BOTTOM: The artworks don’t just hang from the walls. The colorful lamp suspended over the kitchen table is from a gallery in New Orleans.

24 Fall Living

SOUTHERN CULTURE

that

dog will hunt

Alabamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hunting tradition is threatened by change, but the bond between man and dog remains the same By Eddie Burkhalter Photos by Trent Penny

26 Fall Living

labama is still a place where dogs run the woods, where parents teach their children how to train a hound to follow a scent. It’s still a place where the pines echo with the braying of Blueticks, where hunters stand on the outskirts of fields, shotguns in hand, as their beloved setters point towards unseen quail hidden in the brush. But hunting with dogs is falling out of favor. Laws, landowners and changing land use have combined to make it harder to hunt with dogs. There are fewer places to practice the sport, hunters say, and fewer animals to hunt when they get there. Wendell Reid and Stan Jones are bird men. Quail, to be exact. The two have been hunting Piedmont’s woods since the 1960s. Reid, now in his 70s, said they use an ATV now. “That’s our legs, because we can’t walk like we used to,” said Reid, describing how he readies Rip – half Llewellin, half English setter – and sets him off toward where he hopes to find the elusive little birds, before riding along behind. It’s getting harder to find quail, Reid said. Land that was once open to hunters has been sold or leased. They’ve adapted as best they can, but Reid said it just isn’t the same. “It’s not even close. What little private land we can hunt has very little quail on it at all anymore. We have to cover so

Some call it the gentleman’s sport. Vice presidents hunt quail, though with questionable aim. Stan Jones of Piedmont – whom everybody knows as Coach Jones – and Roscoe, his Llewellin setter bird dog.

Roscoe, a Llewellin setter bird dog belonging to Stan Jones of Piedmont, comes running after taking a dip in the water.

much territory to find them, you’ve got to ride in the pulp woods,” Reid said. When their hunting spot off of Alabama Highway 278 was leased, they joined a hunting club. They told the group they couldn’t care less about deer. They’re bird men. Some call it the gentleman’s sport. Vice presidents hunt quail, though with questionable aim. Historians think that Native Americans in what is now Georgia gave Hernando DeSoto a gift of quail during his 1557 expedition. Quail hunting is something that families pass down like a cherished shotgun. It’s something that once you see done, you won’t forget. “When I went on my first quail hunt and saw the dog work, I said I had to have me one of them,” Reid said. “I’d never seen anything as amazing. And I still get excited when

I watch them work. “He’s out looking for the quail, and you see him when he first smells them and he’ll start working to them, lock down on a point. It’s pretty.” Jones is a longtime local basketball and football coach. Everyone knows him as Coach Jones. He got hooked on quail hunting by listening to the oldtimers. “Just loved to hear the old stories. They’ll tell you the same stories about 200 times,” Jones said. But what he loves most is the connection between him and his dog Roscoe, Rip’s brother. Like a good coach, Jones said it’s not about him. It’s about Roscoe. “You train a puppy and go out into the field, and you watch him do what you trained him to do,” Jones said. “There’s a sense of well-being in that, in continued

Fall Living 27

SOUTHERN CULTURE seeing your dog do what he’s supposed to do.” Jones and Reid are far from the only bird hunters in north Alabama, but Jones said there are far fewer than when he began. He recalls the bird population dropping sharply during the 1980s. Many conservationists believe the decline in quail population is due to the use of pesticides, and a loss of habitat as land use has changed. “A good day now is four or five birds,” Jones said. Jones and Reid are bird men, but some are dog hunters – the term for hunters who use dogs to hunt deer. Chris Cofield has been dog hunting for the last four years. The lifetime outdoorsman and Wellborn resident said hunting deer with dogs has been around as long as dogs have. Hounds have been used to hunt bear and fox, rabbit and deer, raccoons and runaway convicts. Cofield’s never hunted a convict, but he does hunt deer. On a typical hunt, some eight to 10 hunters gather with their dogs, their two-way radios and their guns. Sometimes there are three to six dogs. Sometimes there are two sets of dogs. When the first batch runs so hard and so long that they tire out, the second string is ready to take up the chase. The hunters fan out across the woods in a web, talking by radio, waiting until the dogs latch onto a scent trail and flush the deer out in a full run. “When the deer comes through you shoot the deer, and try not to shoot the dog,” Cofield said. It’s a long tradition, running deer with dogs, but it’s falling out of fashion with some hunters and landowners. Just like quail hunters, dog hunters are finding their old hunting grounds are being bought up, and the new owners don’t take kindly to a gang of barking hounds mussing up their fields and chasing continued

Piedmont resident Dallas Whorton poses with his favorite hunting dog, a two-year old bluetick hound named Jo Jo.

28 Fall Living

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SOUTHERN CULTURE their deer away. And there are concerns over the fairness of it all, and of the plight of the dogs, many of which are injured running through heavy brush. Some get lost in a hunt, wander onto the wrong piece of property and are shot. Some hunters say the deer they kill while dog hunting are smaller, less healthy than when they stalk-hunt. And with as many as four or five crews of dog-runners hunting in the same area, populations of deer in those spots can become simply worn out from the chase. There are only nine states that allow dog hunting: Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, California and Hawaii. Not every state that allows dog hunting does so with a blanket regulation. In Alabama, for instance, out of 67 counties, 35 have either heavily restricted or banned hunting deer with dogs. Calhoun and Talladega counties still allow it. Cofield said he still likes to dog hunt, but a lot of hunters are giving up on the sport and going back to stalk hunting. “I don’t want to say that I don’t like it, but gas prices being as high as they are, you run up and down the road all day long chasing dogs,” Cofield said. Dallas Whorton and his father have a dozen dogs, Blueticks, coonhounds and Walkers. The recent Auburn graduate grew up dog hunting. His father did as well. It’s partly because of those who dog hunt irresponsibly, Whorton said, that landowners are beginning to refuse access, and hunting spots are drying up. “Everybody gives dogs a bad name, but it’s like anything else. You have to do it responsibly,” he said. Whorton only hunts with a tight group of friends and family. They have to travel to south Alabama now, where there are still places he can hunt the way he was raised. Jo one of of aa dozen dozen hunting hunting Jo Jo Jo is is one dogs owned by Dallas Whorton dogs owned by Dallas Horton and father. and his his father.

30 Fall Living

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By Harvey H. Jackson

Bourbon and football are a match made in heaven

f football is the quintessential Southern sport (and you know in your heart that it is), and if bourbon is the quintessential Southern “beverage” (and your heart tells you that is true), then it is only natural that as fall approaches Southerners from all walks of life begin making plans that involve the two, together. Now I am not suggesting that Southerners are incapable of enjoying one without the other, but it is undeniable (by me at least) that the subconscious connection is strong, even among non-drinkers and soccer fans. Think about it. What do you put in a flask to smuggle into a game? Gin and tonic? Of course not. Beer? Be serious now. Scotch? The thought of Scotch mixed with a stadium Coke makes me gag. No, it is bourbon. And into what sport do you smuggle it? Baseball? Basketball? Heavens no. You smuggle it in to warm the blood on a chilly afternoon, to celebrate the victory in the stands or make the agony of defeat just a little easier to bear. Or maybe you are not the smuggling sort – or realize the penalty for getting caught is loss of ticket privileges. Maybe, instead of smuggling, you simply fortify yourself tailgating before the game, then go back to celebrate or

32 Fall Living

commiserate afterward. Either way, it is bourbon with which the dedicated, the devoted start and to which they return. Why is this? When Faulkner in “The Bear” wrote of how “fine fierce instants of heart and brain and courage and wiliness and speed were concentrated and distilled into that brown liquor,” he may have been writing about hunting, but it could have been football, and it certainly was bourbon. And while not everyone can see the link, for those who do it is anything but imaginary. I come from a long line of bourbon

drinkers, on my father’s side, and when I think back on the best of our times together the weather was cold, the Poutin’ House was warm, Auburn was on the TV, and bourbon was covering the ice and beading on the side of the glass. Not expensive bourbon, but not cheap either. Not a high proof, which seemed to us a deterrent to the slow, reflective sipping that comes from a lower proof that mellows the drinker. We did not drink to get drunk, but drank (quoting Faulkner again) “moderately, humbly even, not with the pagan’s base and baseless hope of acquiring thereby the virtues of speed

Harvey H. (“Hardy”) Jackson is Eminent Scholar in History at Jacksonville State University and a columnist and editorial writer for The Star.

“

which

bourbon?

ow let me say up front that I am not a connoisseur of bourbon. Just about every bourbon drinker knows more about brown whiskey than I do. I almost didn’t become a bourbon drinker at all. Back in the 1960s, when I was at the age to experiment with bourbons, Gov. George WalPEGI KSX MRXS E ½KLX [MXL the major liquor distributors over a tax being imposed upon them, and most of the big distillers pulled out of the state. As a result, the best bourbon around was something called Old Mr. Boston – I think. The name says it all. In bourbon, place matters, because that is where the ingredients are found. I was told that if you check the label of a bourbon and it is distilled in or around Nelson County, Ky., then

By Harvey H. Jackson

the cheap is as good as the costly. And bourbon can get expensive. A recent issue of “Garden & Gun” announced that the “World’s Best Bourbon” came from the Van Winkle distillery in Frankfort, Ky., which is in Franklin County, which is just up the road from Nelson County. At $60 a bottle, I will likely never know. A polling of my bourbon-drinking friends did not produce a consensus on brand; Jack Daniel’s, Jim Beam, Wild Turkey and Old Forester led the list. Nor was there consensus on how to drink it; neat, over ice, with a little water and with Coca Cola all got votes. When asked which bourbon is appropriate for smuggling into a game to mix with a stadium Coke, my answer is always, “the cheapest,”

for the soft drink kills any subtle distinctions. But obviously some of my friends don’t agree, and when faced with such a dilemma, I always side with my friends. As for me, I pick Evan Williams, green label, 80 proof, over ice, no water, no Cokes, nothing else. It is not expensive – you can get three bottles for what you pay for one Van Winkle – and it is not trendy. I have never heard someone tell a bartender, “I’ll have Evan on the rocks,” but even without asking, there is a pretty good chance that Evan is what you would get. It’s a bar whiskey – good enough to keep the customer happy but cheap enough to keep the bar in business. And for the record, it is distilled in Bardstown, which is in Nelson County, Ky. Place matters.

Bourbon is the greatest medium known for the purpose of permitting man to forget, at least for a little while, the shortness of life and the ludicrously helpless and infinitesimal part he plays in the functions of the universe. – Attributed to Elijah Craig, the Baptist minister who is said to have invented bourbon

“

and cunning but in salute to them” -- to enhance the moment and at the same time stir the memory of “those fine fierce instants” we felt when we played the game. It was a bonding not just with each other but with the boys who once took the fields with us and the girls who waited for us when the last whistle blew and of the men and women who watched with us from the stands when our playing days were done and who sat with us that day, physically and spiritually. So it seems to me that drinking bourbon, like playing or watching football, is ceremonial, sipped to celebrate those things done on the gridiron. People can and have lived full and honorable lives without one, or the other, or both. Other people have been so consumed by one, or the other, or both that honor and even lives have been lost. But together, in moderation, with respect for oneself and for others, in homage to the season and to the sport, bourbon and football are natural companions. So it seems to me that, to paraphrase Howell Raines in his tribute to Bear Bryant, to be in a football stadium on a crisp fall day, with your arm around the one you love and your stomach warmed by the flavor of Kentucky, is about as good as it will ever get.

Fall Living 33

SOUTHERN CULTURE

36 Fall Living

All things must pass away Forgotten places of Alabama Photographs by Bill Wilson

Fall Living 37

SOUTHERN CULTURE

38 Fall Living

SOUTHERN CULTURE

40 Fall Living

“Autumn wins you best by this, its mute appeal to sympathy for its decay.” Robert Browning

Fall Living 41

By Lisa Davis Photo by Bill Wilson

You, too, can quaff like Christian Grey 42 Fall Living

After women kept coming into the store asking for wines from “the book,” Janet Tyson Prosser of Tyson Fine Wine and Things held a ‘50 Shades of Grey’ wine tasting.

t was the strangest thing, thought Janet Tyson Prosser, of Tyson Fine Wine and Things in Anniston. People – women – kept coming into the wine store asking for Sancerre, an obscure white wine from France. “I’d had it sitting on the shelf for almost a year, and hadn’t sold any,” Prosser said. “Suddenly, people were coming in and asking for it. They had the name written down on scrap pieces of paper.” After the fifth person come in,

Prosser asked where they’d heard about this wine. She thought maybe she’d missed a recommendation in a wine column in the Anniston Star, or in the Wall Street Journal. “It was in the book,” was all the customer said as she headed out the door. It wasn’t until the sixth person came in looking for Sancerre that Prosser got the chance to ask, “What book?” “50 Shades of Grey.” “At that point, I thought it was a book about wine,” Prosser said. She

downloaded a copy of the book to her Kindle. “I was into Chapter 6 before I realized it wasn’t a book about wine.” No, it is most definitely not a book about wine. For those of you living under a rock, 50 Shades of Grey chronicles the torrid affair of the young Anastasia Steele and the billionaire Christian Grey, who has a taste for, shall we say, erotic activity involving handcuffs and whatnot. Lots of whatnot. Apparently, much of this whatnot is helped along by the presence of wine. continued

Fall Living 43

FOOD & DRINK Sancerre (aka Poully Fume) is said to be Christian Grey’s favorite wine. Prosser decided to host a wine tasting featuring nine wines mentioned in the 50 Shades trilogy. An embarrassingly large number of people showed up. So Prosser will probably host another one.

and creamy mouth feel adds complexity and firm acidity with a clean finish. Pinot Grigio, Book 1, Chapter 10, the small restaurant on the way back to Portland.

Here are Prosser’s notes from the 50 Shades of Grey wine tasting:

$16.75 - Classic Chablis scents of sea, minerality/rocks and citrus zest. This lacks in the complexity department, but that’s to be expected from a wine in this range. A great summer seafood wine. White wine, Book 1, Chapter 12, Christian’s visit to Anastasia’s duplex. Chablis also mentioned in Book 1, Chapter 18.

Domaine Frank Millet 2011 Sancerre

$19.50 - Made from sauvignon blanc. Quite stony with a long finish and super balance. The intensity comes from skin contact and chilling before crushing. Book 1, Chapter 6, the first visit to Escala; Book 1, Chapter 13, at the Heathman Hotel in Portland; Book 1, Chapter 25, while dining at Escala; Book 3, Chapter 11, “Christian Grey’s favorite wine.”

Montmartre Rose Sec

$10.75 - Palate is refreshing. Lasting flavors of red currant. Very fresh and mineral with very fine bubbles. Red fruit aromas. Cheap fizzy champagne, Book 1, Chapter 14, after graduation reception at the marquee.

Jean Marc Brocard 2010 Petit Chablis

Honoro Vera 2010 Garnacha

$8 - Intense aromas of sweet cherries and dark plums with an exotic finish of white peppers. Cheap red wine, Book 1, Chapter 10, sharing a meal of lasagna with Kate at the apartment; Book 1, Chapter 13, while packing up the apartment; Book 1, Chapter 16, with Kate in the duplex after graduation.

Hedges Family Estate Red Mountain 2008

$16.75 - Aromas of grapefruit, kiwi, guava and blooming orange blossom. The fruit-forward theme continues onto the palate with tropical flavors set against a soft citrus background. A crisp and refreshing finish rounds out with a mouthwatering touch of lime. Sauvignon Blanc, Book 3, Chapter 7, with Gia and Christian at Escala.

$25 - 36 percent Cabernet Sauvignon; 33 percent Merlot; 14 percent Syrah; 11 percent Cabernet Franc; 6 percent Malbec Flagship wine of the estate, the HFE Red Mountain consistently displays dense color, firm tannins and well defined acidity. This wine is suitable for drinking upon release, but will reward those with the patience to age it. Book 1, Chapter 19, at the Grey home when Anastasia and Kate meet the Grey family for the first time.

Seghesio 2010 Pinot Grigio

Nine Stones Barossa 2010 Shiraz

Napa Cellars 2010 Sauvignon Blanc

$17.50 - Enticing bouquet of bright, pure varietal essence. Flavors of sweet melon and juicy white peaches, rich 44 Fall Living

$13.50 - The color is dark berry with purple hues. On the nose are revealed blackberries, dark cherries and choco-

late, with cedar and a hint of clove. The taste is multi-layered, very sweet fruit flavors, with powerful yet supple tannins; excellent supple, fleshy middle palate and a long satisfying finish. Barossa Valley Shiraz, Book 2, Chapter 2, in Portland at the restaurant after Jose’s opening at the art gallery.

Roederer Estate Brut

$23.50 - Crisp and elegant with complex pear, spice and hazelnut flavors. It is fresh and lightly fruity with depth of flavor and finesse. Roederer is a part of the Cristol family of wines and is its most affordable sparkling wine. Cristol, Book 3, Chapter 14, in Colorado with Kate, Elliott, Mia and Ethan.

Bollinger Grande Annee Rose 1999

Not available in Alabama, but if you could get it, it would cost between $180 to $200 per bottle. Book 1, Chapter 15, drinking from tea cups with Christian at the Duplex in Portland. THE DETAILS Tyson Fine Wine & Things, 3326 Henry Road, Anniston, 256-236-9910, “Tyson Art and Frame” on Facebook.

Honoro Vera 2010 Garnacha

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FOOD & DRINK

CAKE BOSS

Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s created a beer bottle cake, an X-box cake, a bulldog cake, a Converse cake. Now Carol Watts of Jacksonville has turned her hand to cupcakes. By Paige Rentz Photos by Bill Wilson

46 Fall Living

arol Watts barely breathes on wedding days. She thinks of all the multitudes of things that could go wrong as she loads up her car, drives carefully to the location and securely plants a multi-tiered masterpiece on the cake table. As the owner of Mad Hatter Cakes in Jacksonville, Watts has seen her share of stressful deliveries. She is now expanding her business to a more relaxing endeavor: cupcakes. Sitting at a coffee table in the cozy shop she shares with a photography studio, Watts spoke about the recent changes to her business and the journey to her current operation. Like many, Watts began her business as a hobby. She had been working as a medical coder in South Carolina and longing for a creative outlet. Her husband took the initiative to sign her up for a cake decorating class at a local community college. “I caught the bug,” said Watts. After her move to Jacksonville about four years ago, a Sunday School Social at Jacksonville First Baptist Church propelled her hobby into a business. Watts took a cake, and the feedback was incredible. “It just went like wildfire after that,” she said. In January 2010, Watts took a leap and signed paperwork to secure her space on Coffee Street, and by May she was open for business. Initially, she had a few hurdles to overcome, especially because people didn’t always understand that she was running a custom cake shop, not a walk-in bakery. Because of the time and attention to detail the cakes require, Watts kept very limited walk-in hours. She spent most of her time in the shop focused on cake creations, including a wide array of complicated wedding cakes as well as cake replicas of a Scrabble board, an X-box, even the bulldog mascot of Mississippi State. Because her work is so complicated, Watts is limited in the number of

Carol Watts of Mad Hatter Cakes in Jacksonville now sells cupcakes in such flavors as State Fair, Christmas in July, Weegle Weegle, Crimson Velvet and Peanut Butter Madness.

projects she can take on each week. “When it’s custom cakes, it takes time,” Watts said. “We do it from beginning to end. We make the filling, we bake it, we fill it, we tort it, we ice it, we cover it with fondant … and then you get to the decorating, which takes forever.” And then there’s the stress. Watts said it’s nothing for her to be working in her shop until the wee hours of the morning, or pulling all-nighters on Fridays in advance of her big cake days on Saturdays. After serving cupcakes at an open house for her shop in July, the feedback from friends and strangers was so positive that Watts decided to expand. She held a grand opening for her new cupcake business at the end of August, and is now opening her shop for walk-in cupcake customers from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

She is also now offering delivery of cupcakes Tuesday through Friday. She takes orders between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. on the Cupcake Hotline (256458-5600), then delivers to businesses in Jacksonville, Oxford and Anniston between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. If all goes well with the expansion, Watts may eventually trade one medium for another. “Cupcakes to me are like a light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. “I can see a life where maybe I’m not so stressed. And I can have a life on the weekends again, and I can see my husband and kids again.” THE DETAILS Mad Hatter Cakes, custom fondant cakes and carry-out cupcakes, 30 Coffee St. SE, Jacksonville, 256-452-2486.

CAKE GALLERY NEXT PAGE Fall Living 47

photos courtesy Mad Hatter Cakes

A Gallery Of Mad Hatter Cakes

LOLLIPOP BIRTHDAY CAKE

JSU GRADUATION CAKE

RAINBOW BIRTHDAY CAKE

“This mom sent an email with pictures of party decorations she was using. The cake design is totally based on the decorations. All the lollipops are made from fondant. The gumballs are real.”

“This mom wanted the perfect cake for her son’s graduation party.”

“This mom sent a pic of the birthday decorations to help inspire a really colorful, fun Sweet 16 birthday cake.”

COORS LIGHT GROOM’S CAKE

WHITE PAISLEY WEDDING CAKE

PURPLE AND PEARLS WEDDING CAKE

“This bride found a cake on Pinterest that had a similar paisley design and wanted this incorporated on her cake, as well as the diamond pattern with sugar pearls. The paisley design was hand-piped and the cake was topped with real red gerber daisies.”

±8LMW FVMHI [ERXIH E ½ZI XMIV [IHHMRK GEOI with alternating round and hexagon tiers. We used a damask stencil and edible sugar pearls to embellish. The bow is purple fondant brushed with luster dust, with a pearl and gemstone brooch in the center.”

“The mother-of-the-groom said her son requested a Coors Light beer bottle cake, but she wanted a unique way to display it. The cake was a little over 3 feet long. We came up with the idea to spray paint a kiddie pool and added rope handles for a tub look.”

48 Fall Living

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Randy fully supports small business and economic development.

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FOOD & DRINK

Where there’s smoke... Tim Johnson of Cooter Brown’s Rib Shack on the secrets to good barbecue. Well, not all of the secrets. By Ben Cunningham Photos by Bill Wilson

im Johnson had never used a smoker before he and his wife Barbara decided to buy Cooter Brown’s Rib Shack in 2000. Obviously, he’s learned a bit along the way, as evidenced by the cult-like following the Jacksonville restaurant has developed since. “It was just a trial-and-error thing,” 50 Fall Living

Johnson says. “We did a lot that wasn’t good.” That’s been remedied, at least as far as the Alabama Board of Tourism and Travel is concerned. The board has twice named Cooter Brown’s ribs to its list of “100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die.” Honors have also come from Calhoun County Chamber

of Commerce tasters’ fairs and from Anniston Star readers’ “Best of Calhoun County” picks, as well. All of Johnson’s experience is with Cooter Brown’s big commercial smoker, and he wasn’t sure at first that what he’d be able to share would be of use to a backyard chef. But he agreed to pass along a few of the lessons he’s learned

in 12 years of smoking up some of the region’s most popular pork. Good wood, good food Johnson has another confession: Before his Cooter Brown’s days, he wasn’t a big fan of barbecue. To him, the smoked pork at most barbecue joints tasted too much like burned wood, not enough like meat. As he later learned, that was the result of the wood most barbecue chefs turn to. “That’s what you get with hickory, to me,” Johnson said. “Most places, to me, it was just over-smoked.” Cooter Brown’s previous owners had used a mixture of hickory and pecan. The Johnsons decided to ditch the hickory, and use only pecan wood. It’s a little sweeter, a little milder, Johnson said. That experiment worked well, but another didn’t. Walnut smoke, it turns out, is pretty bitter. “It was the worst mistake of my life,” Johnson said. “I quickly went back to pecan.” Johnson suggested experimenting with fruit woods such as apple and peach, which may lend milder, sweeter flavors to smoked meat. “We’ve had a lot of people that don’t

like ribs or barbecue that like ours,” he said. “When they get something a little more mild, it suits their tastes.” Rub it in, why don’t ya? Cooter Brown’s for years bought its dry rubs and barbecue sauce from a supplier, but since December the Johnsons have been making those themselves. As with the wood, it took a little experimenting to get things right. Along with the wood, Johnson says the rub is the most important part of enhancing meat’s natural flavors. As with the wood, he prefers mild over hot-and-spicy. For folks who want to make their own rub, the basic ingredients won’t really change, Johnson says. Paprika, brown sugar, white sugar and salt will be in just about every successful recipe. The trick is in mixing everything to please the palate of the cook. Adding ground pepper and cayenne can add extra flavor and individuality, especially for those who like it hot. And as long as a backyard chef is cooking in small batches, there’s a license to experiment with every cookout. “In the end, a lot of it comes out good,” Johnson said.

So, how does Cooter Brown’s make its rub? That’s a secret, Johnson said. The ingredients are listed on the packages of rub the restaurant sells to its fans, but knowledge of the right proportions will be harder won. “They can see what’s in it, but they’ll have to do it by trial and error like we did,” Johnson said. Listen and learn Whether it’s wood, spices, sauces, cooking times or different cuts of meat, Johnson said the key is to try what others suggest, and keep what works while adding your own ideas. Talk to other chefs, watch cooking shows and TV channels like the Food Network. “I try to listen to a lot of people and take a little bit from each one,” Johnson said. “Come up with something that suits you.” And if that doesn’t work out, Cooter Brown’s is more than happy to serve. THE DETAILS Cooter Brown’s Rib Shack, 8464 Alabama Highway 204, Jacksonville, 256-435-1514, cootersribs.com.

Fall Living 51

FOOD & DRINK

52 Fall Living

Back Forty Beer Company of Gadsden has become Alabama’s busiest brewery By Ben Cunningham Photos by Bill Wilson

amie Ray peers into the boiling cauldron, then turns and climbs down from the platform. The hum of shiny machinery makes inaudible the footfalls of his boots. He brushes past a reporter and a photographer, grins, and offers an explanation that is not quite an apology. “I’m on a time schedule here,” he says. The brewmaster has mouths to feed, millions of microscopic organisms — yeast — that must turn the hot slurry of barley, water and hops in the stainless steel vat into beer. Ray’s yeast must be fed on time, and it must eat exactly the right recipe.

Ray’s focus, his spectacles, his trimmed hair at first glance seem out of place at Back Forty Beer Company’s headquarters and brewery in downtown Gadsden. A few dozen yards away, in the main office, workers’ desks sit in a loose oval around the center of a large, open room that oozes informality. Folders, computer screens, cardboard boxes sit askew on second-hand office furniture.

Beyond that is the taproom, where fans of the company’s craft brews will relax later that evening, sipping a pint or two before wandering over to Broad Street for a burger or a steak dinner. But if Back Forty’s office gives the impression of being a little haphazard, that is likely because there has been little time for straightening up. Less than a year ago, this brick warehouse in a quiet corner of Gadsden’s downtown was mostly vacant, abandoned since Sears closed its appliance repair center. Since cranking up in January under the leadership of Back Forty founder Jason Wilson, the building has become Alabama’s busiest brewery. An idea brewing Back Forty’s deceptively casual atmosphere may have its origin in Wilson. His desk doesn’t add any clutter to the main office, because he doesn’t have one. His laptop sits on a small, wheeled

continued

ABOVE: Jason Wilson, founder of Back Forty Beer Company, at the company’s headquarters and brewery in downtown Gadsden. LEFT: Brewmaster Jamie Ray – the most experienced brewer in Alabama – pours hop pellets into a brew kettle.

Fall Living 53

FOOD & DRINK cart instead. On a busy afternoon, the 32-year-old Southside native plops into a chair, wheels the cart in front of him, checks a few things, then stands to speak. Wilson rattles off the oft-told tale of his brewery, beginning with a 2001 visit to his brother in Colorado. Dining at a local brewpub, he remarked aloud on the quality of the beer, was overheard by the brewer, and was soon on a tour of the facility, learning his first lessons about brewing. Wilson was then early in a career with Georgia-Pacific, using the logistics and supply-chain-management degree he earned at Auburn University to oversee shipments of raw materials to a Louisiana paper mill. Later, the company moved him to Montgomery. That’s where he met Ray, then with Montgomery Brewing Co., a downtown brewpub. Wilson began brewing at home on a small scale, with an eye toward launching the company that would become Back Forty. He had Ray sample his creations. Wilson jokes today about that guidance. “I’d send him four full bottles and he’d send back three and a quarter.” Wilson realized that he couldn’t learn brewing quickly enough to do it commercially. He needed someone who already knew it. He needed Ray. By 2009, the company was ready to start serving, though it didn’t yet have a brewery of its own. Back Forty’s Truck

Stop Honey Brown Ale and Naked Pig Pale Ale were first brewed under contract by Lazy Magnolia Brewing of Kiln, Miss., and trucked to Alabama for sale. Crucially, Back Forty was able to secure a deal with Anheuser-Busch’s statewide network of distributors. That move, a coup for such a young company, made Back Forty’s beers available across Alabama. Earlier this year, Wilson says, Back Forty began working with Mississippi distributors to begin selling its beer there, making it the first Alabamabrewed beer to be exported out of state. Coming to a head By the time Back Forty began selling beer in 2009, Wilson had climbed Georgia-Pacific’s corporate ladder to the 52nd floor of the company’s Atlanta

headquarters. In 2011, he walked away from that career to manage Back Forty full-time. He doesn’t miss it, he says, even though he’s working much more. Four people worked for the brewery when it opened in Gadsden in January. In August, Wilson hired his 22nd employee. Wilson’s older brother, Brad, 33, moved back to Gadsden to join the company. Among his responsibilities is the taproom, where the public can buy and sample Back Forty’s beer. “We strive really hard not to be a bar,” he says. Besides the two rows of tap handles, works by local artists line the walls. The hours are limited and there’s no food, in hopes that customers will have just a taste before heading out to a local restaurant or bar to buy more Back Forty beers. But fans seem to have found the laidback, smoke-free environment to their liking. Atop a safe left by the building’s earlier tenants sits a recently installed TV, a concession, Wilson says, to football season. continued ABOVE: Back Forty’s manufacturing facility includes a new taproom, where the public can buy and sample the company’s beers. LEFT: Back Forty brews include the award-winning Truck Stop Honey Brown Ale.

54 Fall Living

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“Our fans have said ‘This is where I want to watch the game.’ But this is primarily a manufacturing facility, and always will be.” A practiced hand The most crucial step in that manufacturing process is overseen by Ray, at 48 the company’s oldest employee. Wilson and others in the state’s fledgling beer industry are quick to point out that Ray is Alabama’s most experienced brewer. He’s been honored multiple times by judges at the Great American Beer Festival, the country’s biggest annual craft brewing event. His most recent award was a silver medal in 2010 for Back Forty’s Truck Stop Honey. An Idaho native, Ray studied business and then agriculture and crop science at the University of Idaho while getting started as a hobbyist homebrewer. He later helped launch a brewpub in South Florida before following his wife’s job to Montgomery. Brad Wilson moved to Gadsden to join the beer company, which was founded by his younger brother. Among Wilson’s responsibilities is running the taproom, where the public can buy and sample Back Forty’s beers.

56 Fall Living

Ray speaks quietly, especially compared to Wilson’s loud baritone. That’s not a surprise, considering what he says about the traits it takes to work well in a brewery. In the beer business, even a small misstep can ruin a batch that costs thousands of dollars in materials — malted barley, yeast and hops. “You have to not let it get you too wound up. You have to stay in control, but stay relaxed,” he says, before conceding, “That’s sometimes a challenge.” Another round Jason Wilson says Back Forty hopes soon to begin sales in other nearby states. He’s not concerned about competition, at least not for now. There’s a booming market for craft beer in Alabama, he says, which is still in the midst of liberalizing its beer laws. His company is letting beginning brewers make their beer in Back Forty’s plant under contract, just as Back Forty started out at Lazy Magnolia in Mississippi. Huntsville-based Old Black Bear Brewing and Beer Engineers both brew in the Gadsden plant, as does the new Railyard Brewing Co., which occupies the site of Ray’s former brewpub employer in downtown Montgomery. At Lazy Magnolia, the owners left the keys to the brewery under the mat so the Back Forty folks could get in to work, Wilson says. “The camaraderie and collaboration in the craft beer industry is amazing,” Wilson says. The percentage of the state’s beer market going to craft labels is tiny, Wilson says, about 4 or 5 percent. Given that, there’s plenty of room for more players. In the meantime, Back Forty hopes to keep growing to meet that demand. “As fast as we can,” Wilson says.

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Children’s Services Beer Tasting

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Children’s Services held its annual beer tasting and pizza party at Mellow Mushroom, with proceeds benefiting the Parris Home for Children. Guests enjoyed a variety of beers, especially the Alabama-brewed selections, along with pizza and music from the band “No Penalty.” Photos by Sammi Jo Dickson

Shannon Cain-Woodard, Janice O’Dell-Rang

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Fall Living 59

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Red Cross Celebrity Luncheon

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Tigers for Tomorrow Indian, an 11-week-old Siberian-mix tiger cub, was the star of a fundraiser at the Anniston home of David and Lesa Cummings, benefiting Tigers for Tomorrow, a sanctuary for exotic animals in Dekalb County. Auburn fans were invited to come decked out in orange and blue. Alabama fans were encouraged to bring toy elephants for Indian to play with. Photos by Terry Lamb

66 Fall Living

Susan Steffens, founder and president of Tigers for Tomorrow

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The anniston star 310991

Water Worksin Alabama Pound-for-pound the bestAnniston newspaper rEgiOn, 6B

SPOrTS, 1C

inSigHT, 1B

Area kids learn first-responder EMA techniques

Crimson Tide one win away from Omaha

An open letter to Tony Hayward, the CEO of BP

A home-owned newspaper

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Print • Online

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FOOD sports time to e D It’s pick som WE FOUN LL blue berries R ThRi region The Anniston

Oil on Alabama beaches worst since spill Dave Martin/Associated Press

Crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill washes ashore Saturday in Orange Beach.

between about 40 million gallons to 109 sheen and brown patches of oil floating for By JAy rEEVES AnD rAy HEnry million gallons of oil have gushed into the miles off the Alabama coast. Boats trying to Associated Press Gulf since a drilling rig exploded April 20, remove the oil before it hit the coast worked ORANGE BEACH — Alabama’s beaches killing 11 workers and triggering the worst about three miles out. took their worst hit yet from an oil spill in oil spill in U.S. history. “The Gulf looks like it has chicken pox,” the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday as globs of The oil washing up on Alabama’s shores Brumley said. crude and gooey tar — some the size of pan- was the heaviest since the rig explosion and The oily sheen covered the pass leading cakes — lined the white sands and crews came just as the summer beach season was into Perdido Bay near the Alabama-Florida worked to try to keep a giant oil sheen just a picking up. state lines. Globs of brown oil floated in few miles away from reaching the shore. During a flight over the Gulf, Sean BrumPlease see OiL ❙ Page 11A Scientists have estimated that anywhere ley, an aerial spotter, said he saw an oily

Star

The Anniston

.com, nistonstar Page 4A Davis, ldavis@an 16, 2010 • Editor: Lisa Wednesday, June 55 • 256-235-35

The Anniston

Sunday,

June 13,

2010 • Page

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June 13,

2010 • page

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Does council’s infighting hobble Anniston’s progress? By LAurA CAMPEr

AnALySiS

lcamper@annistonstar.com

During an Anniston City Council meeting, the audience reaction to the council’s disagreements can vary from deep sighs and rolling eyes to whispered expletives to delighted comments like, “This is better than TV.” Council members passionately argue and threaten each other. One council member even

LifE, 1D

I’m boooored! THE SUMMER LIST: 46 things to do with the kids this summer, besides go to the pool.

admits he avoids going to City Hall because of the arguments he might find himself in. “It certainly is intimidating,” said Councilman John Spain. “I avoid coming down here to the building altogether just simply because I don’t want a confrontation with the mayor.” Please see AnniSTOn ❙ Page 10A

ITEMS or LESS

inSiDE: Bob Davis: gauging the dysfunction of Anniston’s city council. PAgE 3B

PArTLy CLOuDy HigH: 94 LOw: 72 Alex Bryant, Sacred Heart

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66000 22222

frances Stephens Borders, Anniston Marquis fain, Talladega rachel P. Kohn, Pensacola, Fla. Emma M. nixon, Anniston rosa Ogletree, Jacksonville Bobbie Huddleston Turner, Anniston

+ Anniston, Alabama

Photos by Trent Penny/ The Anniston Star

New director fills hole in local charity Sister Jane O’Connor assumes leadership of Center of Concern By DAniEL gADDy Star Staff Writer

wEATHEr, 12A

From top left: Councilman Ben Little, Mayor Gene Robinson, ViceMayor John Spain, Councilman Herbert Palmore and Councilman David Dawson during last Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Sister Jane O’Connor, the new director of a long-standing charitable organization in Anniston, fires a quick response when asked about her predecessor. “I’m taking her position, but I could never fill her shoes,” she said. O’Connor recently took over Sister Mary Roy’s duties at the All Saints Interfaith Center of Concern. The organization helps Anniston residents in need of food, clothing and financial assistance. Roy served as director of the center for 27 years, earning in that time not just accolades from other civic leaders but also a ceremonial “Key to the City” and The Anniston Star’s 2009 Citizen of the Year Award. “She [Roy] is the nearest thing to a saint we’re going to find in this lifetime,” said Charles Doster, advisory board member of the Center of Concern. “She is the Mother Teresa of Anniston, but saying that brings out the worst in her.”

Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star

Sister Jane O’Connor took over Sister Mary Roy’s responsibilities at the All Saints Interfaith Center of Concern in Anniston. Roy left the center after breaking her hip in March. She relocated to the Connecticut headquarters of her order, the Daughters of the Holy Spirit, where she receives medical care. O’Connor said she hopes to meet the needs of her clients with the same compassion and love Roy displayed. “I feel like I’m treading in the joys

and sorrows of all she experienced here,” she said. Robin Gladd, office manager of the center, said O’Connor eased into her new job as if it was second nature. “She just took it and started running with it,” she said. “She’s given them hope and spiritual guidance. I think they’re walking out of here better than when they came in.” O’Connor said her success is due directly to the work of staff members like Gladd and Sandra Hall, the assistant director of the center. “They’ve been very helpful and very friendly; I couldn’t do it without them,” O’Connor said. In addition to food and clothing, the nonprofit Center of Concern also provides financial assistance with medical bills, prescriptions, utilities and transportation for those in need. O’Connor transferred to the center from St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Prattville, where she served as a pastoral assistant. However, she was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and reared in Washington, D.C. and Maryland. She has a master’s degree in religious education and has worked in Catholic social services in Philadelphia as well as parishes in Virginia and Mississippi. Please see DirECTOr ❙ Page 11A

www.annistonstar.com +

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RMC’s commitment to quality is evident in a variety of ways - from our physicians and well-trained staff to our services and our technology. From accreditation by The Joint Commission, being ranked in the top 5% by the Commission on Cancer, and our designation as a Baby-Friendly Hospital to being voted among U.S. News & World Report’s Best Regional Hospitals, RMC’s commitment to quality in Northeast Alabama is far-reaching.

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SKETCHBOOK

Autumn Waterfall Artist: Gerald Woodruff Medium: Watercolor 2005

As a longtime Anniston pediatrician, Dr. Gerald Woodruff spent 50 years caring for generations of children. He retired in 2006, which has given him more time to paint. Many of his watercolors still hang on the walls at Anniston Family Practice.

72 Fall Living

section

Small dream nearly 100 years ago changed Calhoun County’s history

By Susan Moore

hen Susie Parker Stringfellow dreamed of helping fund a hospital for her hometown over 100 years ago, she couldn’t have known her idealistic leap of faith would help shape Calhoun County’s medical history. Today, Stringfellow Memorial Hospital in Anniston is one of the most comprehensive hospitals in the state, with leading physicians and surgeons in over 30 medical specialties.

A familiar landmark in the heart of Anniston, Stringfellow Memorial Hospital includes 120 beds and is staffed by more than 200 of the area’s top physicians, nurses and skilled caregivers. The hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, a distinction that is awarded only to those health care facilities that maintain the highest standards of quality and in 2011 became the only hospital in Calhoun County to receive Chest Pain Accreditation from the Society of Chest Pain Centers. Stringfellow Memorial provides comprehensive acute care in-patient services, offers 24-hour emergency care; general and specialized surgical services including laparoscopic, laser and robotic surgery; same day out-patient surgery and procedures; a full-service rehabilitation department; Sleep Center; Wound Care Center and diagnostic testing procedures including MRI and CT scanning, digital mammography and gastrointestinal tests. Professionally-trained staff, modern facilities, state-of-theart technology and dedication to quality care are coupled with Stringfellow’s commitment to offer treatment for the entire family. Whether providing specialty care to women, performing complex orthopedic surgery, or offering skilled primary care, Stringfellow delivers excellence in healthcare with a strong dose of compassion and caring. From the very beginning, the human factor has been a vital factor in Stringfellow Hospital’s mission, said Barry Keel, chief executive �� “Our healing ministry goes hand in hand with the latest medical �� needs of each patient, from the physical to the spiritual,” Keel said. Stringfellow’s commitment to patients is illustrated through consistently high patient satisfaction scores, ongoing clinical performance initiatives, excellent medical outcomes and national designations and awards. At the same time, the hospital has maintained its commitment to the original goal of offering quality healthcare to Calhoun Countians established by Susie Stringfellow over 100 years ago. At Stringfellow, technological capability is unlimited and everchanging. Physicians practice aggressive medicine with outstanding

clinical results. As part of the hospital’s commitment to the total wellbeing of each patient, a range of specialized services is offered, as well as special healthcare programs for each special patient group. From new surgical procedures to major progress in the hospital’s operating room expansion, Stringfellow continues to make advancements in improving the healthcare of the communities it serves. Among the advances that keep the Stringfellow’s Medical Center on the forefront of innovative technology is the addition of the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System. Based on U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals of 2009” ranking, 100% of the top ranked hospitals in the United States own at least one da Vinci Surgical System. The revolutionary da Vinci technology allows surgeons to perform complex procedures through just a few tiny incisions. As a result, patients may get back to their lives faster without the usual recovery following major surgery. “The da Vinci System has been used successfully worldwide in hundreds of thousands of procedures to date, so we are very proud to offer this technology to our surgery patients,” Keel said. “The enabling features of the da Vinci System raise the standard of care for complex surgeries. This translates into numerous potential patient �� Care Center equipped with a hyperbaric oxygen chamber and other innovative therapies. A comprehensive team of physicians and medical professionals provide healing and relief for patients who previously thought their wounds were irreparable or would ultimately result in amputation. Through nearly a century of growth, change and transition, Stringfellow has remained true to its mission, which includes a commitment to offer compassionate care, continually improve innovation and performance and serve the community. Stringfellow offers community outreach programs that provide medical care to underserved populations in the Calhoun/Cleburne �� area schools as well as community and neighbor events.

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