The Road to Prosperity

S y l a cauga

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Childersburg

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Oak Gro ve

The Road to Prosperity The Daily Home • October 2011

Top of The World When you have a relationship with a strong financial partner, life just seems a little better all around. You have the comfort of knowing you’re being watched over, that your money is safe, your future is a little more secure, and that you can afford to dream of bigger and better things. In short, there’s no place to go but up!

Since 1935, Heritage South has been proud to grow with our community and become a part of so many of our members’ lives. Over the years, we’ve shared the highs and lows, the good times and bad, witnessing the determined spirit that has allowed this community to not only survive, but grow and flourish. And to our members and everyone in the community we’d simply like to say: Thank You!

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contents 6

The Road to Prosperity

October 2011

The Road to Prosperity

Businesses along U.S. 280 in southern Talladega County are thriving, but the highway’s development potential has

By Matt Quillen barely begun to be tapped.

INDUSTRY Gold 14 White An abundance of premium marble lies beneath the soil of Sylacauga.

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Editor Geni Certain

Investing in the Future

AbiBow is a pillar of the local economy.

By Lindsey Holland

Advertising Director Pam Adamson

RETAIL Passion for the Past 22 APete’s Feed and Seed is filled with the past and making way for the future.

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STAFF

By Matt Quillen

Distribution Kandi Macy

By Denise Sinclair

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A Legacy of Comfort

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The Local Grocery

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Local Pharmacies with a Family Feeling

Photography Bob Crisp Brian Schoenhals

Foote Brothers’ formula for success pairs old-fashioned service with cutting-edge products for the home.

‘Mr. Pig’ treats customers like family.

From old remedies to the latest in medications.

By Matt Quillen

By Matt Quillen

Art Direction Jennifer Mashburn

By June Winters

Graphic Design Fay Denton Jennifer Mashburn Geraldine Osburn

RECREATION Lake, the Undiscovered Treasure 40 Lay Changing seasons, changing lives make the lake a goldmine.

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By Jim Smothers

A Mini Resort with a Plantation Atmosphere

Writers

Yet FarmLinks is all about education, from golf to hunting.

LINDSEY HOLLAND DENISE SINCLAIR JIM SMOTHERS MATT QUILLEN JUNE WINTERS

By Lindsey Holland

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Rooted in History, Embracing the Future

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The Great Outdoors Meets Leisure Time

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An Alabama History Lesson

Once a thriving turkey farm, Selwood now caters to corporate hunters.

By Lindsey Holland

On the Cover

Whether clay targets or 18 holes of golf, the shooting is fine in Childersburg.

By Lindsey Holland

Hwy 280 is south Talladega County’s Road to Prosperity.

Photo by Bob Crisp

DeSoto Caverns is a place to learn, play and have fun.

A product of

The Daily Home

By Lindsey Holland

COMMUNITY LIFE 65 68

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Talladega P.O. Box 977, 35161-0977 Phone (256) 362-1000

Sylacauga 22 N. Broadway, 35150 Phone (256) 249-4311

Avenues of Opportunity

Local schools prepare students for 21st century careers.

Fame Comes Calling

By Lindsey Holland

Three of the area’s best-known celebrities came to fame in vastly different ways — basketball, television and a

By June WInters rock from the heavens.

The Glue That Holds Communities Together Cooperation makes these small towns thrive.

By Denise Sinclair

Pell City Towne Park 1911 Martin St. S., Suite 7, 35128 Phone (205) 884-3400

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Bob Crisp/The Daily Home The new IKO plant is under construction just off U.S. 280, which is quickly becoming a road to prosperity and industrial development.

The Road to Prosperity Businesses along U.S. 280 in southern Talladega County are thriving, but the highway’s development potential has barely begun to be tapped.

By MATT QUILLEN

R

oughly 30 miles from Birmingham lies the stretch of U.S. 280 that passes through the cities of Childersburg and Sylacauga.

Along that four-lane stretch, people can find places for food, function, fashion and other reasons to stop and shop. But 6

Road to Prosperity - October 2011

The Road to Prosperity for the cities leads not only to what is there, but what could be coming as well.

“I think it is just like a main artery to your body,” said Sylacauga Mayor Sam Wright. “(U.S.) 280 gets busier and busier. It doesn’t have the traffic that I-20 has, or I-59, but I bet it is mounting.”

Sylacauga Sylacauga is known as “The Marble City.” The business of mining the stone goes back nearly 200 years, and it has been noted worldwide for its whiteness and translucency for use in art and architecture.

The city’s portion of U.S. 280 fea-

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Bob Crisp/The Daily Home U.S. 280 connects Sylacauga, Oak Grove and Childersburg with the promise that the area can become even more prosperous.

tures two shopping centers across the road from each other. One is anchored

by Walmart, the other by The Home Depot.

Wright said he believed most of the highway’s businesses were thriving.

He also spoke about the areas on it that could develop, particularly a 33-acre lot owned by the city lying next to Walmart.

“I feel like anything that we do (with that land) has to be good, and something that our citizens want for the 33 acres out there,” Wright said. “I think when we do that, it will add to the viability of Sylacauga and 280.”

He talked about the potential to 8

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have something that was a “destination” for the people of other cities and towns along the highway, with the right stores and offerings.

“Will it be a reason for someone to drive from just outside Talladega?”

Wright said. “Will it be something to make somebody come from the other side of Alexander City to Sylacauga, or the other side of Chelsea? I think we could do a surprisingly good business from people that would drive 20-30 miles to Sylacauga.”

Discussions over an extended period have centered on recruiting such businesses as a movie theater and retail

center to that spot, but nothing has produced any development yet. Wright said the long stretch of highway without that kind of shopping and entertainment presented an opportunity the city could use to its advantage, but, he noted, the opportunity will not last forever.

“I think we are sitting in a great location,” he said. “But if Chelsea gets closer or Alex City gets something before we do, I think it hurts our chances of getting something like that.”

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The town located between Sylacauga and Childersburg is known for the Hodges’ Meteorite, named after Ann Elizabeth Hodges after falling from space into her home and hitting her on the leg.

Along Oak Grove’s highway stretch lies another star, the homestyle cooking found for more than 30 years at Mama Ree’s.

Mayor Charles Merkel said he expected a 40-unit apartment community near U.S. 280 to be completed in the near future. He said the addition of new residents in the apartment complex could increase the town’s population by nearly 20 percent, bringing the additional benefit of new disposable income that would accompany the growth.

He said U.S. 280 gave the town a unique opportunity that many of a similar size do not have.

“You don’t run into a small town anywhere — with 528 people — that has the revenue from sales tax that Oak Grove has,” he said.

“We are glad to have the Highway 280 Corridor through Oak Grove.

We do our best to take that money and serve the residents in the community as much as possible.”

Merkel gave as an example the Oak Grove Fire Department, which serves around 8,000 people in the county. He said they had a larger fire district than any other volunteer department in the county.

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home Childersburg, America’s Oldest City, sees growth potential, thanks to U.S. 280.

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Childersburg Childersburg is referred to as “The Oldest City in America.” It has the distinction of being continuously occupied since 1540, going back to an army led by Hernando de Soto.

U.S. 280 through Childersburg is notable not for one or two large businesses, but for an ever-growing variety of shops and eateries.

Highlights include the Central Alabama Community College campus and the aromas emanating from Hometown BBQ and Grill and Natch’s BBQ across the street.

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33230 US Hwy. 280, Childersburg 256-378-1201

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Bob Crisp/The Daily Home Historic Childersburg continues to celebrate its history with events like Coosa Fest and Hernando DeSoto’s visit to the area in the 1500s. Here the railroad overpass was painted to commemorate DeSoto’s visit.

such as us, with a population just over 5,000, we have to depend on some outside revenue coming in,” said Childersburg Mayor B.J. Meeks. “I think the development of 280 will eventually lead to more development in the downtown area too.”

Childersburg has also seen growth in its 2,000-acre industrial park, with companies Nippon Oil and NuSteel locating there. Meeks said he believed the growth of the city and its industry were tightly linked.

“We have worked really hard and developed it in a way where we didn’t get ourselves in a bind,” he said. “I think the industrial park is really going to be a benefit to this whole county, because it is going to create jobs.”

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City leaders have actively worked with the county’s Economic Development Authority to recruit new companies to the area. An IKO Shingles plant began development in 2010 outside Sylacauga and is expected to be completed the first quarter of 2012 and employ close to 75 people.

EDA Director Calvin Miller said the highway was an essential aspect of the area for recruiting manufacturers and other companies. Other industries, such as Fleetwood Metal and Harrell’s Fertilizer, have set up shop on or near U.S. 280.

“Transportation is one of the major factors for industrial location,” Miller said. “So it helps to have a four-lane highway.”

Miller said he believed the size of the Childersburg Industrial Park would enable the area to recruit manufacturers that require 100 acres or more. He also expected to see growth impacted by Sylacauga’s marble industry.

“The cost of transportation for raw materials, such as calcium carbonate (marble), will continue to go up as the cost of fuel rises,” he said. “We think that will provide an opportunity to locate those companies that use calcium carbonate.”

Whether for industry, for retail, for residential or for entertainment and dining, U.S. 280 offers development potential for the cities it touches. It is the undisputed Road to Prosperity for southern Talladega County.

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Bob Crisp/The Daily Home

White Gold

An abundance of premium marble lies beneath the soil of Sylacauga.

By MATT QUILLEN

T

he Sylacauga area’s most abundant natural resource is responsible for hundreds of jobs for local residents and found in everything from trash bags to antacid tablets.

A line of marble runs down the eastern United States and was once the continent’s coastline. Approximately 400 million years ago, the land mass now known as Africa

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pushed up to the coast, creating heat and pressure which marbleized bone fragments.

Marble, or calcium carbonate, is actually the remains of ancient organisms. Because of the mineral’s relative proximity to the earth’s surface in “The Marble City,” multiple companies call the area home, including the local industries that mine it.

Ruth Cook, author of A Brief History of Sylacauga Marble, said the area’s bed of marble stretches 32 miles long and 1.5 miles wide. Marble mining began around 200 years ago in the area, and geologists predict there is enough still in the ground for another 200 years.

Both Omya and Imerys dig up the stone and grind it down to be used as filler in everyday products. They have also been civically involved in several organizations and events, such as the Magic of Marble Festival, and hosted tours of the facilities.

The Omya plant, off Fayetteville Road, has been open since 1992, producing calcium carbonate filler and coatings for paper and packaging manufacturers in the southern United States, according to the company website. The facility recently installed a dry plant and began producing treated products for the paint and plastics industries as well.

A few miles away on the same road, Imerys owns and operates on about 3,000 acres of land, with the quarries making up approximately 300 acres. The company purchased the former Georgia Marble plant in 1999 and later the ECC plant, and has close to 300 people in its employment.

Calcium carbonate goes into all kinds of construction materials, paints, paper, plastics and hundreds of other items. The availability of calcium carbonate was one of the reasons Heritage Plastics and the forthcoming IKO Shingles plant located in the area.

“Basically, the material goes into anything that is not steel or wood,” said Mark Vincent, human resource manager for Imerys.

Vincent said the company’s expansion lay in finding new applications and new products for which calcium carbonate may be used. Imerys works with other manufacturers to find additional uses.

“Generally, our product can help customers reduce their costs without changing the components and nature of what it is they are making,” Vincent said. “It is a matter of finding how we can help them

File photo Master sculpter Giovanni Balderi, of Pietrasanta, Italy, made his second visit to the Magic of Marble Festival in 2010.

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File photo Alabama White marble, quarried in Sylacauga, is among the finest in the world.

incorporate calcium carbonate into their product. The future is about diversifying and getting into new products.”

In addition to lowering the cost, calcium carbonate can replace oil-based chemicals in plastics and other products.

In total, the Imerys plant produces at least 35 different products, including

those used in medicine tablets, toothpaste and chewing gum.

While the other two quarries are mining to grind marble into dust, Alabama Marble is cutting giant blocks of the stone for uses including art, architecture and home décor.

The company purchased the plant

and quarry in 1998. It currently employs around 50 people. Plant manager Francesco Vezzoni said the quarry had been mined since around the late 1980s, and the plant was built in 1995.

Vezzoni said the average size block pulled from the ground is 9 feet long, 5 feet tall and 5 feet wide. He estimated the weight of such a block to be around 2 tons.

“When you carve the blocks, you can do everything from sculptures and works of art to ashtrays, floor tiles, wall tiles and mosaics,” said Tony Musolino, office manager.

Sylacauga White Marble has been mined since the 1830s. But in the early 20th century, it was noted for its purity and beauty for use in art by classical sculptor Giuseppe Moretti.

He is perhaps best known as the sculptor of the iron Vulcan statue in Birmingham and The Head of Christ, a sculpture done in Sylacauga marble, on display at the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Sylacauga White has been used in the Lincoln Memorial, the U.S. Supreme

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The machine then turns the cover to bevel the other two sides. After a final polish, quality-control inspectors check the piece to ensure it is not cracked or damaged.

Four holes are drilled into the corners, and they are ready to be shipped. Vezzoni said the shipments are divided into cream-colored, silver cloud and mixed, to be matched up at the crematoriums by VA staff.

Whether powdered as an ingredient or polished for display, it’s all Sylacauga marble.

They also made a recent sale of 14 blocks into China, their first sale of marble into the country in four or five years.

“It is one of the few products that are going into China. It is all the same stone, but they are two distinctly different products,” Musolino said.

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Court building and other architecture in Washington, D.C., as well as in the new federal building in Tuscaloosa. Alabama Marble has supplied much of the stone used for sculpting in the city’s marble festival, and marble from the quarry has been shipped to Brazil and Italy.

Musolino pointed out the reservoir inside their quarry is used for holding rainwater. He said water is recycled throughout the cutting and processing of the stone, making the operation “as green as it can be.”

Vezzoni said the marble was cut in the shape of blocks, and the ones marked “first quality” are shipped to overseas and domestic locations. Those blocks are then fabricated into slabs and used in buildings, for countertops, or any of several other applications.

“We cut using big chainsaws, drills and diamond wires; we don’t do any blasting,” Vezzoni said. “That is how we cut without any cracks.”

Blocks are pulled from the quarry and laid onto tables set on railroad tracks, which run directly through the facility. The blocks that are not shipped whole are cut down into thresholds, windowsills and tiles at the facility and boxed for shipment.

One of the most recent developments at Alabama Marble has been the production of niche covers and markers for crematories at veterans’ cemeteries. The plant has dedicated an entire line to their production.

On the line, the covers are first sent through a grinder to match the exact thickness required. Next, the pieces are cut to the proper length and the long edge of the block is beveled.

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Investing in the future

AbitibiBowater is A Pillar

By LINDSEY HOLLAND

A

bitibiBowater’s Coosa Pines plant is an integral industry in the community of Childersburg and the area.

Though the company has seen many highs and lows, representatives say they are focusing on the future and making investments at the site.

“The investments we’re making will make the mill more efficient and will help reduce operational costs,” said Alan 18

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Sanders, vice president for U.S. operations. “The mill enjoys a high quality reputation already.”

Debbie Johnston, director of U.S. public affairs for the company, said that even though they’re looking ahead, they are still operating in a challenging market.

“We’re trying to adapt to the economic challenges in a positive way,” she said. “We still have people there in good-paying

Brian Schoenhals/The Daily Home AbitibiBowater’s Coosa Pines plant has produced paper products in Childersburg for more than half a century.

of the Local Economy jobs, and that’s definitely a positive. We’re able to continue our commitment to that payroll.”

The payroll shrank earlier this year when AbitibiBowater shut down its last paper machine and 150 employees found themselves without work. A pilot project, intended to manufacture brown-paper grade products, was deemed unsuccessful

by Richard Garneau, president and chief executive officer. The

project started in May 2010, after the parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April of that year. The company emerged from bankruptcy protection in December 2010.

AbitibiBowater continues to manufacture its fluff pulp assets, a product the plant has been making since 1979. Fluff pulp, seen in many consumer products, is made from softwood lumber and is known for its absorbency.

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members and the community at large.

“We pump a lot of money into the local economy,” he said.

“Between sales, use and property taxes, it’s roughly $1 million.

We also spend a lot of money on local purchases. The industry as a manufacturer is underpinning for the local economy.”

Sanders, who has been with the company since 1987, is responsible for the Coosa Pines facility, as well as for facilities in Tennessee, South Carolina and Washington state. He was previously the mill manager in Childersburg and knows what the industry means to the residents of Childersburg.

“We have a great team here,” Sanders said. “There are really tremendous folks who work here, incredible. Some of the best folks I’ve ever worked with, and this is my seventh mill.”

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Diapers and tissues are products that contain fluff pulp.

Sanders said that many locals may be surprised to know that a large number of disposable diapers purchased in the United States contain pulp from the Coosa Pines plant. At one time, he said, the number was quite substantial.

“This site is really a very important operation to the company as parts of its kraft pulp portfolio,” Sanders said. “Kraft is an industry term for chemical pulp. Rather than being mechanically generated, wood chips are cooked, after which they generate pulp and then are bleached. It’s pretty standard process for pulp.”

He said the Coosa Pines location was one of the few mills that produces all four major pulp grades. Fluff pulp remains the backbone of the plant’s production.

At one time, the plant had four paper machines manufacturing newsprint, the paper on which newspapers are printed.

Newsprint production at the mill started in 1949. In the summer of 2009, the company saw a 35 percent reduction in newsprint, and it ended newsprint production at the Coosa Pines plant in May 2010.

“The site made newsprint and fluff pulp for many years, but with the decline in the newsprint market, it no longer made sense to make newsprint,” Sanders said. “So we’re just focusing on fluff pulp. It’s the only site in the company that makes fluff pulp.”

Sanders said although the company has been through a lot, AbitibiBowater and its employees are important to community

Welcome to Historic Childersburg… ...worth a second look

• 570 miles of shoreline on two lakes. A sportsman’s paradise for fishing and hunting.

• The oldest continually occupied city in the United States – settled and occupied in 1540 • DeSoto Caverns – First recorded cave in the United States. The onyx draperies in this cave are among the largest free hanging formations – more than 30 feet long.

Butler/Harris Rainwater Musem

• We have more than 2,400 students enrolled in vocational tech training in this area.

• Over 2,000+ acres of land with all public utilities, dual railroad service, and a 117 acre designated Advantage Site ready for custom development in our Industrial Park with excellent access to Interstate Systems I-20, I-459, and I-65 • Located on the Coosa River which is the third largest stream east of the Mississippi River.

Childersburg City Hall

• The heart of the greatest recreation area in the entire Southeast.

Childersburg has great public schools and a community college system. Childersburg is a family oriented area with many amenities to enhance the quality of life. Church, Civic, and Sports facilities for all personal needs.

Phone 256-378-5521

Historic Kymulga Grist Mill and Covered Bridge

www.childersburg.org October 2011 - Road to Prosperity

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• Home of the Historic Kymulga Grist Mill and Covered Bridge and the Butler/Harris Rainwater Museum both listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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A Passion for the Past Pete’s Feed and Seed is filled with the past and making way for the future

By DENISE SINCLAIR Photos by BOB CRISP

A

s you step through the wide open doors, it is as if you are stepping back in time to a day when you visited the local feed store with your grandfather.

You look around and see all kinds of memories, from the horse harnesses hanging on the wall to the churns lining a shelf, and there are even two dogs and two cats to greet you plus a myriad of birds — including a 42-year-old Amazon parrot that has been known to let out a curse word every once in awhile.

Then, in the next room in a cage is Chloe, the rabbit who has a free run of the store in the wintertime. There’s even a sign warning the public of Chloe’s presence when she is out.

So much to look at, to question the owner about and to want to buy, from new organic fertilizers to seeds that will be scooped from a bin to tomato plants to remedies for a sick animal.

All of this is Lauren Eszes’ dream come true.

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The store is Pete’s Feed and Seed on Norton Avenue in downtown Sylacauga. It is so well known that when Eszes bought it from original owner Pete Sumners 12 years ago, she kept the name.

“I would never move the store. I would never change its name. It would lose what it stands for,” she said.

Sumners still comes to the store Monday through Friday.

He’s there before Eszes arrives.

“I think Pete takes pride that the store is still going strong.

His name is still on the front door to call in case of an emergency,” she said.

Pete’s has been on the corner on Norton Avenue in downtown since 1968. Eszes said there has probably been a feed store downtown for more than 75 years.

Sumners started the store after working at Avondale’s dairy.

Eszes visited the store as she was growing up with her grandfather from Fayetteville.

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home For 53 years Pete’s Feed and Seed has been a fixture in downtown Sylacauga bringing customers from near and far. As you walk in the door the store takes you back in time from its farming implements lining the wall to local artists’ paintings that are reminders of the past.

She said back in those early years, the feed store was a natural extension of most everyone’s lives.

She wanted to one day own a store like Pete’s, never realizing she would get her chance when she moved back to her family’s farm 15 years ago.

She learned from the late attorney Tom Ogletree 12 years ago that Sumners might be willing to sell the store.

She immediately approached him, and they sealed a tentative deal with handshake on the street in front of the store.

The sale depended on whether another individual, who had expressed an interest in the store, wanted it, since he was the first to offer.

Eszes ended up making the deal with Pete, and her dream became a reality.

“This store was always my favorite place to come with my grandfather. I had said later on if I did anything, it would be to own a place like Pete’s,” she said.

While Eszes grew up in Dallas, she always returned home in the summers to stay with her grandparents. He father was raised on Quarry Road, her grandmother was a Gaston, and her other grandmother grew up in Marble Valley.

She said owning a feed store is just an extension of her life on her family’s farm in Fayetteville.

“I raise horses, cows, chickens and have working dogs. I

raise my own vegetables, grow hay that is sold here in the store.

There is not much I haven’t experienced first-hand when it comes to life in the country or on the farm,” Eszes said.

The store owner has led a life that has taken her around the world. Her father was in the construction business. She spent years in Iran and Saudia Arabia.

Her husband Joe is retired from the Army and she was in Bosnia with him. Today, she said, he raises the hay that they sell in the store. “We know exactly what is in it, so people get what they need. I deal a lot with real farmers, so I know it is safe and local.”

A graduate of the University of Alabama, Eszes has a degree in marketing and public relations, which has come in handy in managing the store.

Eszes relies on her life experiences, those of Sumners, and others like her cousin, veteranian Chad Baxley, to sometimes give her advice.

“Dr. Baxley shops here. He is also a microbiologist and can fill me in on things I might not know. I always send my customers to local vets if I can’t help them with their animal problems.

We do have a variety of products for cattle, horses, dogs and cats,” she said.

One new line of products Eszes has is organics. She has sheep fertilizer, bat guano, Marine Cuisine — all organic.

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Bob Crisp/The Daily Home Lauren Eszes, owner of Pete’s stands in front of a new organic section in her store. She has “green” fertilizer such as bat guano, Marine Cuisine, sheep fertilizer and much more.

“I have an organic product you can water your plants with, go away for two weeks and come back and the plants are still alive,” she said.

Pete’s seems to be the place people like to bring old seeds that are no longer available to purchase or are rare for Eszes to display in her store.

She has them lined up next to her seed bin where she can scoop you out a 25 cent bag or $5 worth of seeds. She said she is one of only a few stores that still scoops seeds for the public.

These rare seeds are in everything from a baby food jar to a fruit jar. The jars are labeled to tell what’s inside.

Eszes said her store seems to be a place where people want to bring their old items just to display so others can enjoy them as they look around for what they need.

She even has an elephant harness hanging on the back wall of the store. The harness belongs to Bill Jenkins, father of her employee, Kim Martin. Jenkins worked for Ringling Brothers Circus with elephants, and that’s how the harness ended up at Pete’s.

One of the most precious items Eszes has is a book in which she records what she learns from Sumners.

“I just ask Pete if there is something I don’t know or someone else needs to know. It has old-time remedies such as yellow root, how to mix chemicals a certain way for all kinds of things.

There are ways to cure an array of problems in this book. He has taught me so much,” she said.

Eszes’ family has been in Talladega County for five generations, starting with the Creek Indian War. She said generation after generation has worked the land she lives on.

On coming home and buying Pete’s, Eszes said she knew it was the right thing to do.

“I want to be a steward of the earth and take care of it. This is one way I can do that. I try to buy as many Alabama products as I can, from Bonnie plants to corn, wheat and grain from a company in Alexandria, Ala.,” she said.

Not only does her store carry seeds, feeds and fertilizers, it is a place local craftsmen and artists can display their work.

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She has paintings hanging on the wall by artists Shirley Pody and Judy Hartsfield. She has a work table built by wood crafter Odd Sorensen. She has a Western corner with new and used saddles and tack. Also there are pieces of ironwork by Ernie Wood.

She has a collection of model horses from across the world scattered about the crafts section of the store.

“I always say I have things to kill ants, fleas, mice and worms,” she said. “I try to help teach people how to raise things.

I spend a lot of time with birds, feeders, foods and, of course, the many birds I have here in the store, from the 42-year-old Amazon parrot that used to be at the old Walmart store in Ogletree Plaza to some canaries on loan from a friend who had to have a place for them to stay till his father got well. I always tell Kim it’s nice to have the birds singing instead of music as a way to greet visitors.”

In addition, Eszes works with the Extension Service and other experts on how to feed wildlife and manage feeding plots.

Another important piece of Eszes’ success is employee Hamp Maxwell. He has been at the store for about seven years.

Eszes said he is the most dependable person she knows and the most polite. “He’s good with customers, and they know and trust him,” she said.

Eszes said she has surrounded herself with things she is passionate about. “The store reflects what I love in life — animals, gardening and people. I love to do it.”

Pete’s is a destination you should visit on a weekday or Saturday morning.

“Some Saturdays I have to sneak out to watch Alabama play football,” says owner Lauren Eszes.

Store hours are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., unless the Crimson Tide is playing an early football game.

Santa’s Helper

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Bob Crisp/The Daily Home

A Legacy of Comfort Foote Brothers’ formula for success pairs old-fashioned service with cutting-edge products for the home

By MATT QUILLEN

F

rom your first step in the door, a comfortable atmosphere surrounds you at Foote Brothers Furniture in Sylacauga. Feel free to sit wherever you like.

Family-owned since its opening in 1947, the store has secured its place on The Road to Prosperity for the last 65 years by supplying nearly everything a person would need to furnish a home, by providing top-of-the-line customer service, and by a long-standing tradition of giving back to the community. “(We offer) anything furniture-wise, from outdoor furniture to kitchen tables, living room suites and dining room

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Road to Prosperity - October 2011

suites…” said operations manager Brian Murphree, “even full lines of accessories, wall art, to the rugs that go down on the floor. Floor to ceiling, top to bottom and room to room.”

Murphree and owner David Foote keep the business heavily involved in giving back to the people that supported its more than six decades of operation. Foote Brothers is a Chamber of Commerce member and a supporter of several local organizations and schools.

“This is our home,” Murphree said. “We live and work here, and if it weren’t for the community we would have been gone a long time ago. We want to continue to foster the com-

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munity and see it grow, for our benefit and for everybody else’s.”

At the front of the store, the cushioned sofas, loveseats and chairs are found in several colors, shapes and sizes. If you don’t see the design you are looking for, a wall of fabrics can be found to your right to choose from.

Travel a little farther into the 22,000-square-foot establishment, and you find yourself wrapped in the lap of leathered luxury. Gliding (similar to rocking) and reclining loveseats and sofas can make it as easy to talk yourself into relaxing as it is hard to talk yourself into getting back up. “(Business) has been slower recently,” Murphree said.

“We are not immune to it, just like any other business. But we are still here. We made some changes in our operations, but through all that we haven’t compromised on our quality. We are still selling top-quality furniture at a great value to our customers. And we will continue to do that.”

Placed prominently among the new are many pieces that have been “reclaimed.” Reclaimed wood dressers, tables and other items could tell their own tales of the old factory, fabric press, ship or home the wood once belonged to.

They are popular items for their appearance and originality, as no two are exactly alike.

“We have tables, chairs and occasional pieces like TV cabinets and consoles, end tables, night tables, even some larger entryway pieces and things like that,” Murphree said.

Veering a bit to the left, you see dining rooms showcasing both classic and modern styles in detail, down to the place set-

tings, buffets and china cabinets. Past those you will find the one place in the county offering La-Z-Boy chairs, as well as “Stressless” reclining chairs and ottoman combos, designed for maximum comfort whether you are sitting up or lying back.

“Most of our warranties are from manufacturers, but Foote Brothers steps out further than that,” Murphree said. “For one year, if you have any problem with a piece of furniture you buy from us, we are going to stand behind it whether it’s covered by a manufacturer’s warranty or not.”

In the back, in a secluded area set up to make you more comfortable when trying out bedding, you come upon the Foote Brothers lineup of Restonic mattresses and Tempur-Pedic beds.

The Tempur-Pedics can be found only here within the county.

Sales associates at Foote Brothers are happy to show you all the features of their products.

“Being a family-owned business, we have uncompromising standards when it comes to customer service,” Murphree said.

“We are going to do whatever it takes to make our customers happy. We have to depend on repeat business. We have got to sell to everybody more than one time to foster growth and future business.

“Some of the larger, corporate stores, if they sell to somebody one time, they are happy and done with it. Not us, we want to keep everybody coming back over and over again.”

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Bob Crisp/The Daily Home Greg Hammonds makes sure produce is fresh and attractive at the Piggly Wiggly on Ala. 21 in Sylacauga.

The Local Grocery ‘Mr. Pig’ treats customers like family

By MATT QUILLEN

A

grocery store company that billed itself as “downhome” and “down the street” is exactly that for residents in the Sylacauga and Childersburg areas.

Locals have been greeted by Mr. Pig, mascot of Piggly Wiggly, for nearly 20 years.

Vince Culotta owns and operates the Sylacauga locations on Alabama 21 and the corner of Fort Williams Street and U.S. 280.

The Fort Williams location opened in February 2010, with the Alabama 21 store in operation since July 1992. Culotta said the keys to his stores’ successes were “customer service, a good clean store, a good variety and a decent price.”

The Sylacauga locations employ around 100 people combined. Culotta expressed his appreciation for everyone who kept the grocery stores going strong.

“We appreciate everything the city of Sylacauga has done

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Road to Prosperity - October 2011

for us,” he said. “We appreciate all of our good customers, and we hope to keep them for many years to come.”

Ronnie Baker owns and operates the Childersburg location, as well as two Piggly Wiggly supermarkets in Talladega and another in Goodwater. The Childersburg location, on First Street, has been open since June 1992.

Baker said “perseverance” was the main factor in the success of his grocery stores.

“You have to work a little harder sometimes when things are adverse,” he said. “We have different challenges, if you will, from inflationary challenges to labor challenges to all types of challenges from time to time. You just have to adapt and go forward.”

The Talladega County grocery stores have seen an increase in challenges in recent years, with the influx of the “Supercenter” in both Talladega and Sylacauga. Baker said he

October 2011 - Road to Prosperity

31

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home April Cleveland provides Piggly Wiggly’s well-known customer service in the checkout line at the Childersburg store.

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October 2011 - Road to Prosperity

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Bob Crisp/The Daily Home Alvin Brooks keeps demanding meat customers happy at the Piggly Wiggly on U.S. 280 in Sylacauga.

believed the customers choose Piggly Wiggly because they show concern for the customers’ needs.

“We feel for our customers,” he said. “Most of our customers are in an extreme economic squeeze right now, and we know that. To the best of our abilities, we are trying to hold the line on prices and treat them like we would like to be treated as much or more than ever.”

Mr. Pig turned 95 in September, according to the corporate website. In 1916, Clarence Saunders founded the “first true self-service grocery store” in Memphis.

Information on the site stated Saunders’ reason for choosing the name remains a mystery, as he was “curiously reluctant” to explain the origin.

“Someone once asked him why he had chosen such an unusual name for his organization, and Saunders’ reply was, ‘So people will ask that very question.’ He wanted and found a name that would be talked about and remembered.”

One of the signatures of Piggly Wiggly has been its quality and selection available in the meat department.

Both owners talked about how the attention to detail kept them “a cut above” the competition.

“We do cut our meat fresh daily,” Culotta said.

“Some of our competitors pass it already cut and packaged. But all of our meat and all of our grinding for beef happens every day. So you know what you are getting here is fresh and top quality.”

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Local pharmacies with a family feeling From old remedies to the latest in medications

By JUNE WINTERS

B

ack before chain stores with pharmacies, folks always went to their locally owned family drug stores to have prescriptions filled, to get something for their colds or anything else that ailed them. Shelves were lined with home remedies such as Hadacol, Lydia Pinkham’s women’s remedies, B.C. and Stanback headache powders, Vick’s salve — you name it.

Today, a lot of people still depend on their local pharmacy, and wouldn’t change, no matter what. The shelves of most of these family-owned stores still contain some of the familiar oldtime remedies, and the same pharmacists have been behind the counter for years, taking care of needs for you and your family, just like he did for your parents, and most likely your grandparents.

Dixie Drugs Mention the name Dixie Drugs to anyone in Sylacauga — young or old — and you get the same statement — “there’s been a Dixie Drugs in Sylacauga forever.”

And “forever” is since 1930, when W.S. McDiarmid and his wife Ruby opened the store. It stood in the same area where the Municipal Complex is now located.

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Road to Prosperity - October 2011

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home Dixie Drugs has been in business in Sylacauga for 82 years and in its current location on North Broadway since 1945.

The Army Ammunition Plant in Childersburg was in full operation, and Dixie Drugs featured a soda fountain and sandwich shop in the front. The soda fountain and sandwich shop became an immediate success. Many new people had come to the area, and they flocked to the store each day for lunch.

Ray McDiarmid, present owner and pharmacist, says that at one time his parents had 25 people working in the front, feeding the masses. “I remember, they had a hotplate where hamburgers, hot dogs and grilled cheese sandwiches were made. The man who operated the hotplate was called Hot Plate Charlie, because he could really turn out the food.”’

In 1945, the McDiarmids purchased the present building that houses Dixie Drugs on North Broadway from the City National Bank. “It had been a nightclub and a drive-in service station before we got it,” said McDiarmid.

As soon as Ray McDiarmid graduated from Howard College (now Samford University) in 1959, he took over operation of the pharmacy at the store.

The elder McDiarmid died in 1969, but Ray says his mother remained beside him until she died in 2001.

“I’ve been filling prescriptions here for 52 of the 82 years the store has been opened Ray said. “It’s the only job I have ever known.”

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October 2011 - Road to Prosperity

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Bob Crisp/The Daily Home Originally called Morgan Drugs, a change of ownership also changed the name of Childersburg’s venerable pharmacy to J&J Drug Co. in 1956.

J&J Drug Co. What is now the familiar J&J Drug store in Childersburg opened its doors many years ago in a small, dilapidated building next door to the city’s old ice house. It was owned and operated

by Doc Morgan, who was the pharmacist. He was assisted by his nephew, John Morgan. The Morgans were always there for their customers, and business flourished.

In 1956, Doc Morgan died, and John put out word that he was looking for a partner with a pharmacist’s degree.

Meanwhile, Jack Ham, who had recently graduated from Auburn’s School of Pharmacy and gone to work in a drug store in Brewton, was already thinking about going into business for himself He heard about John Morgan’s plea, and he and wife, Bill, drove up to look over the business and talk things over with John. Jack liked the store, and they both loved the town and knew immediately this was where they wanted to live.

Jack became John’s partner in Morgan Drugs.

The partners decided early on they wanted to change the name of the store, and after much debate, they chose the first initial of each of their first names. On that day, Morgan Drug became J&J Drug.

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The next thing the two owners wanted was a new location.

They found out a variety store was moving from a corner location downtown, and they bought the property right away. This is where the drug store stands today.

Jack Ham died suddenly 10 years later, and his widow sold his share in the store to Wallace Shoemaker, who later bought out John Morgan and became sole owner.

In 1976, pharmacist Royce Warren joined Shoemaker, and when Shoemaker sold the store in 1995, Warren stayed on with the new owner, Bill Crew, a pharmacist from Rockford.

Warren says Shoemaker is the best friend he has ever had.

“He hired me right out of school, and I’ve enjoyed being a part of this store ever since.”

Crew owned and operated the store until he sold it just recently.

Warren now works beside new owners, Doug and Lashane Calvin, both graduates of Auburn School of Pharmacy.

Lashane has remodeled the front of the store and added a lot of new items. It’s refreshing to the customers, but they are quick to tell you the confidence they have in their familyowned pharmacy will never change

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Bob Crisp/The Daily Home Sylacauga has seen many changes over the last 115 years, but Palace Drug Co. has been in the same spot on North Broadway through them all.

Palace Drug In downtown Sylacauga, there’s a lot of coming and going every day at Palace Drug, just as it has been since they opened in 1896, right where they are now — on North Broadway.

Fred Hebson, father of the present owner, Tommy Hebson, began work at the store in the late ’40s. He and Ken Sims bought the store from Dr. Rob and John Robinson in 1966.

Hebson died in 1968, but his wife Judy stayed there as Sims’ business partner, patiently waiting for her son Tommy to graduate from Auburn University’s School of Pharmacy.

In 1976, Tommy graduated and bought his father’s share in the business.

His sister Brenda Hope and his wife Donna Hebson are co-buyers for the drug store’s front end, and it has become one of Sylacauga’s most popular places to shop for special gifts.

The Hebsons’ son Will is a student at Auburn’s pharmacy school and will graduate soon.

The family expects he will join his father’s smiling face behind the counter as soon a he can, adding another link to the Hebson family chain, which has made Palace Drug Co. so strong over the years.

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October 2011 - Road to Prosperity

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Lay Lake, the Undiscovered Treasure Changing seasons, changing lives make the lake a goldmine

By JIM SMOTHERS

F

or 49 miles the Coosa River winds its way south from Logan Martin Dam to Lay Dam, which spans the river between Coosa County and Chilton County. Lay Lake has its own personality, offering a different lake experience to those who come to sample its charms.

Lay Dam, originally known as the Lock 12 dam, was Alabama Power Co.’s first major hydroelectric plant. It was completed in December 1913 and began generating electricity the 40

Road to Prosperity - October 2011

following April. It was renamed for company founder, William Patrick Lay, in 1929.

Today the lake has a surface area of some 12,000 acres with about 289 miles of shoreline.

The Lay Lake Home Owners and Boat Owners group organized in 1997 to preserve and improve life on the lake.

Members have sponsored annual cleanup days in the spring and boat parades to celebrate the Christmas season.

Photo courtesy of Dave Cunningham A fisherman is silhouetted against the sunset at the end of the day on Lay Lake.

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Jim Smothers/The Daily Home Named for the founder of Alabama Power Co., Lay Dam was the first hydroelectric dam built by the electricity producer.

Dave and Lynn Cunningham are lake residents who have headed up the group’s water-testing program for about 10 years.

Dave said that repeated testing from the same sites over a long period of time is the only way to keep track of water quality, and from the testing he’s done he is confident the water in the lake is good.

“We have a good idea now what the trends are for the parameters for the tests, and it’s staying about the same or improving in some areas.”

The Cunninghams are both military retirees who selected Lay Lake as the site of their retirement home.

Lynn said, “We came here because we wanted to retire on the water full time where the water doesn’t go down in the winter. We didn’t want to be looking at a mud flat half of the year.

We found that some lakes are flood-control lakes and some are run of the river lakes where they keep the water up all year. We like being able to go out in a boat any time we want.”

“The reason we love Lay Lake so much is that it is always peaceful. It facilitates and intensifies peaceful pursuits such as kayaking, sailing and exploring the vast areas of wild shoreline by boat, watching bald eagles and ospreys fishing, having a quiet

lunch on the dock, enjoying the view from the porch or sneaking up on that big fish. Even in the rare times of severe weather, it is still uniquely beautiful and most impressive.”

Lynn said the 11 years she and Dave have lived on Lay Lake is the longest she has ever stayed in one place.

“We’ve never regretted the decision,” she said, noting that it is much quieter than some of Alabama’s other lakes, which can sound like speedways on weekends. We see occasional fishermen on the slough, and on popular weekends there might be three or four boats out there, but most of the time it’s really pleasant. It’s just a great place to live.

“Every day you look out the window, it’s always different — a different color, a different cloud pattern, a heron out there — and it’s famous for its fishing. It’s a great fishing lake.”

Several varieties of crappie and catfish inhabit Lay Lake, along with bluegill, freshwater drum and others, but it’s the bass that get the most attention.

Saturdays in the spring and fall, and sometimes during the summer, are times that quite a few bass fishing tournaments are held on the lake, including some pro tournaments sponsored by Bassmaster.

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Photo courtesy of Raymond Webster Watching Canada geese as they migrate through the area adds to the pleasure of living on the water.

Raymond Webster wonders if there might be too many tournaments held on the lake where he was a fixture for 38 years as a Marine Police officer with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources before his retirement.

He patrolled the lake in all seasons and bought a home on Cedar Creek, just off the main channel, to be able to enjoy the lake and get to work more conveniently. His home is near Sunset Marina, not far from Fayetteville, which may be why he hears the bass boats cranking up early on Saturday mornings.

But that’s something he’ll live with.

There are more homes on the water now than when he moved here in 1989, with other people who agree.

“More full-time residents live here than the ones who have vacation homes or who come on weekends,” he said.

Webster said the lake had remained an “undiscovered treasure” for years until the major bass tournaments came, and now it seems there are three or four tournaments going on at a time.

“I’d rather live here on the lake than in town,” he said. “I can sit on the pier looking at the sunset or water, watch the boaters go by having a good time. In the winter it’s really quiet — no bass boat noise at 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning — that’s the only disadvantage. It’s really enjoyable.”

He said the lake is also safer now than it used to be, since the state has had regular patrols on the water. He was also

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Photo courtesy of Dave Cunningham Changing seasons provide a different look for the lake throughout the year.

instrumental in getting channel markers in place to warn boaters of submerged tree lines.

“When I first started, there were four or five fatalities on the lake per year. We started working it regularly, and now it’s more like one in five or 10 years. I think it’s one of the safest lakes in the state now.”

Webster enjoyed watching wildlife on the lake, including bald eagles, otters, migrating ducks and pintails. There are beavers in the lake, too, and he has seen deer and snakes swimming in the lake.

“Rattlesnakes hold their rattles up out of the water to keep them dry,” he said.

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He had reports of an alligator up above Alabama Power’s steam plant at Wilsonville, but he never saw one. He saw signs on the riverbank where one might have entered the lake. Once he saw a swan.

He has also made note of the different types of watercraft on the water.

“Everybody’s got their preference,” he said. “Lay Lake does not have the bigger boats like some of the other lakes have. It’s more of a fishing, skiing and personal watercraft type lake, and it’s a very popular lake for pontoon boats. One time I counted 27 pontoon boats within sight.”

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Photo courtesy of Dave Cunningham Seeing Lay Lake from the air is a reminder of what a wonderful natural treasure lies along the southwestern edge of Talladega County.

cross the lake, and that is in Childersburg.

“To me it’s such a good natural resource that flows almost through our city,” said Pete Storey, director of the Childersburg Chamber of Commerce. “We probably don’t utilize it like we should. The city owns 200 acres on the river across from the industrial park that could be developed to take advantage of the river, and we’ve got plans for some development right at the bridge.

“We’ve talked about having ‘Christmas on the River,’ but no one has made that happen yet.”

There are a number of homes in Childersburg with water frontage.

“Home prices seem to be down a little, but still have pretty good resale value, and for the most part the homes on the river have stayed pretty full,” Storey said.

He added that the city had purchased some canoes and

was exploring the idea of having a canoe trail from the Kymulga Grist Mill down the Talladega Creek toward the lake.

Sales have slowed with the housing slump, and prices on some properties have been reduced. A number of lots in the Water’s Edge development were sold at auction two years ago.

But you don’t have to own waterfront property to enjoy the lake. Several public boat ramps and private marinas offer access to Lay Lake.

In the northern part of the lake, there are public ramps at Glovers Point near Alpine Bay, and in Childersburg there is a ramp just off of Alabama 235 on Hollywood Boulevard, between U.S. 280 and the AbiBow paper plant. Closer to Fayetteville are Sunset Marina and Cedar Creek Marina, and near the southern end of the lake in Coosa County is Little Tom’s Fish Camp.

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Photo courtesy of FarmLinks

A Mini Resort with a Plantation Atmosphere Yet FarmLinks is all about education from golf to hunting

By LINDSEY HOLLAND

T

he destination in Southwest Talladega County does not exist anywhere else in the world. David Pursell calls his vision — his research and demonstration golf course — truly unique. He calls it FarmLinks.

Pursell says he is a forward-thinking man. Taking his six children out on a four-wheeler, he envisioned the golf course long before it came to fruition. The course opened in 2003 and has hosted 10,000 of the 16,000 golf course superintendents in the country.

“We have an experienced group over in the Solutions Center, and we bring in superintendents from all over the world,” said Tim Spanjer, director of marketing. “They come and get educated on the techniques that are employed, so that your grass is growing full, disease-free, and receiving the right

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Road to Prosperity - October 2011

kind of fertilizer. We explain the science behind growing grass, and they do all that here through a series of classes. They learn what it takes to run a golf course.”

Pursell says no other entity exists for the reason that theirs exists.

“We have the top superintendents from all across the land come here to learn, and that puts a lot of burden on us,” he said. “Everything has to be right all the time.”

Pursell learned to play golf as a child at the Sylacauga Country Club. He majored in commercial art at Auburn University and said it was easy for him to visualize the idea of FarmLinks.

“It’s a real journey to get out here,” he said. “Once you turn off the road onto Pursell Farms, we control everything on the

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Bob Crisp/The Daily Home FarmLinks, ranked the state’s No. 1 course by Golfweek magazine, hosted the 95th Men’s State Amateur Golf Championship in June.

left and on the right. You see cattle, you go across a bridge, you pass the hills, you see the golf course and you go through the woods. We’re trying to paint a picture of who we are and what it is that we’re trying to do. Of course, we had to do something pretty spectacular in order to draw people in, to get someone to leave their home course in Arizona to come to Alabama. It was a recipe for disaster if you underwhelmed them once they got here.”

Pursell says he built his business up through customer loyalty and friendships. Today, FarmLinks is run like a mini resort, he said. He said they are focusing more and more on hospitality.

The plantation now offers quail, duck, deer and turkey hunting in addition to golf.

“It’s a very, very hard economy, and we are a destination location,” Pursell said. “Most people that come here come from an hour away or more, and to continue to be a draw to get people here, we have to be special, which means we have to continue to be better every week. We have to get better at what we do. We have to figure out what other amenities might we need to get us up to that level.”

Spanjer said whatever those amenities may be, a main focus of FarmLinks will always be education.

“Whether you play golf or are shooting or hunting, whether you’re here for an event we want to gear everything around an 52

Road to Prosperity - October 2011

educational element,” he said. “We’re adding more amenities to the property such as lodging and hunting. We want to establish even more of the educational elements, but we’re just not there yet.”

Golf aside, Pursell said FarmLinks is heavily involved in charitable ministry work.

“We work with a lot of nonprofits, and we’re pleased about being able to give back to the community, especially to nonprofits” he said. “We support that type of thing.”

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Bob Crisp/The Daily Home FarmLinks CEO David Pursell

tainable life changes to those living in poverty in third world countries. The ministry creates centers in povertystricken regions, enabling local children to participate in a soccer league and establishing water wells so clean water is readily available to residents. The organization plans to construct 40 centers by 2017.

“The only way we’re going to be able to continue doing what we’re doing from a nonprofit charitable standpoint is if people continue to support us,” Pursell said. “In an offhanded way, if someone comes here to play golf, they’re also helping organizations such as Vapor Sports.”

FarmLinks Grille

Down-home Goodness with the Flavor of Cordon Bleu

By LINDSEY HOLLAND

“I

t’s about taking something good and making it great,” said Tim Spanjer, director of marketing for FarmLinks.

FarmLinks’ Grille was good before, but now it’s great, in part due to the addition of Executive Chef Aaron Saturday.

“He has certainly elevated our quality,” Spanjer said. “We were already receiving good feedback from our patrons and guests, and Saturday has elevated that. He added a twist to our Southern, home-grown meals.”

Saturday has been employed at FarmLinks since June 3. He said one of his desires in his executive chef position is to make the food he serves memorable.

“It’s about adding that touch that makes it the best you’ve ever had,” he said. “I approach food that way every day. I want to make people remember it, because if it’s not memorable, then what’s the point?”

Greg Bolton, director of farm operations, worked with Saturday on a one-acre garden that will incorporate fresh produce from the farm straight to the menu.

54

Road to Prosperity - October 2011

Chef Saturday

“To me that’s important because we have the land, we have the conditions, and it’s something we can do year round,” Saturday said. “Just going back to those roots is important because when I grew up, work wasn’t always there. So we went out and picked wild blueberries and sat together as a family and canned and froze stuff, because that was a mode of survival. Being able to bring back those roots that promote the farm and that family concept is important.”

Saturday recalls growing up as the oldest of five children in his family. With a sevenand-a-half-year age gap between him and his next sibling, he said spending time in the kitchen with his mother was very important to him.

“That was our time when she was away from the other kids,” he said. “I slowly began to take over some of her recipes and experiment. I used to do family meals myself.”

Saturday said he officially began working in the business from a professional standpoint when he was 15. He was waiting tables and

working as a cook and called himself a “jack of all trades.”

“I worked my way up the ladder,” he said.

“I worked in Tuscaloosa when I was in school there. I was doing prep work and was also a server.”

From there, Saturday says he started a catering business where he was exposed to large events. After that he had a few contract jobs and gained experience in catering weddings. He then took a job as a chef at a restaurant in Birmingham.

When he finally made the decision to pursue the culinary profession, the opportunity arose for Saturday to study in London at Le Cordon Bleu.

“I realized that this was really where my gifts are and where I wanted to be and felt like I got enjoyment out of it,” he said. “It’s hard enough for people to find something they enjoy, much less love and are passionate about. It has always been about those family meals especially here in the South. There’s no better place to be than here for that, so I’m excited about where we’re headed.”

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Photo courtesy of Selwood Farm

Rooted in History, Embracing the Future Once a thriving turkey farm, Selwood now caters to corporate hunters

By LINDSEY HOLLAND

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elwood can trace its roots back to the original settler in 1832. He kept a journal, one, maybe two sentences of what happened on the farm every day from 1834 until his death in 1877.

Selwood is now a hunting preserve, featuring sporting clays and a country house in Alpine. Owners Dell and Carolyn Hill say there’s history here.

The front door is the original front door of James Mallory’s Civil War plantation home, and the name Selwood can be traced back to England in the 1600s, with the name meaning 56

Road to Prosperity - October 2011

“King’s Hunt Land.”

“We thought that was appropriate, come forward 400 years, with what we’re doing now,” Hill said.

Hill’s family has owned the property since 1948 when they purchased it from the original settler’s heirs. The land was an agricultural operation, with turkeys being a big part of the agricultural income in Talladega County in the 1950s and early 1960s.

“When my father died, we quit raising them but continued with the mail-order business and continued that up until 2006,”

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1998 the Hills took on major renovations. They took the roof off one end, added a second floor and built a porch and deck.

Selwood hosts a variety of charity events, social functions and corporate meetings. Hill says the most fun event all year is the Annie Oakley Shooting Day when the Baptist Health Foundation hosts a women’s shooting day.

“It is fabulous,” Hill said. “They want to do four things — ride in a golf cart, have a good meal, shoot a gun and hit a target at least once.”

When corporations come, Hill says it’s easy to combine business and pleasure.

Carolyn Hill pointed out while they do have overnight accommodations, they are not a bed and breakfast.

“We have a lot of people that come to hunt and they spend the night, so we do a package deal.”

She also said while lunch is often provided for the hunters and meals are cooked for dinner, they’re not a restaurant.

Mrs. Hill, a home economics major and graduate of Auburn University, prepares meals including steak, twice-baked potatoes and pies for the guests.

Meals can be catered as well. Bustling about the kitchen, she says she simply takes it one day at a time.

She’s even authored a cookbook called Beyond Selwood’s Door.

“For whatever reason, God’s been gracious to us,” Hill said.

“Our prayer back is that we’re good stewards of what’s been entrusted to us.”

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Hill said. “Then it was time to stop.”

In 1984, the hunting operations began.

“At that time, fee hunting was sort of a new idea,” Hill said.

“It was a new concept because, why would people pay to hunt when they already had access to free land? But a lot of things have changed over the years in land use. We’re more of a transient population now, and people have less and less access to land. People also have less time to devote to pure hunting. They want to show up, have a good time and then go home. That’s what fee hunting amounts to.”

Hill says his generation grew up hunting and fishing and had a familiarity when it came to guns.

“Generations now are less inclined that way,” he said.

Selwood incorporated its sport and clays range in 1990. Fee hunting is offered October through March, and the sporting clays shooting is offered year-round. Every target presentation will be different. The stations come with a menu, telling guests what they’ll be shooting at each station.

Selwood also offers a resident certified shooting instructor and will furnish the guides and dogs for game hunt.

“As a spinoff from hunting, we started the sporting clays, which is clay target shooting,” Hill said. “The sporting clays range is 18 stations scattered about 50 acres. We change them on a regular basis to make them varied and challenging.”

The country house was built in 1952.

“The turkeys would come in the far end alive and come out this end ready for the table,” Hill said.

Minor renovations were completed in the 1970s, and in

Brian Schoenhals/The Daily Home

The Great Outdoors Meets Leisure Time

By LINDSEY HOLLAND

T

hose with a love for the great outdoors will find themselves with numerous leisure activities to take part in when in Childersburg. Red Eagle Skeet and Trap Club, located on Hollywood Boulevard, close to the river and the boat launch, offers recreational skeet and trap shooting. Coosa Pines Golf Club, off Plant Road, is an 18-hole golf course with 120 members. The club also borders the Coosa River.

Members at Red Eagle say their club isn’t widely known in the community.

The gun club, previously headquartered in Sylacauga, moved to Childersburg in 1981.

“We had only had two fields,” Red

Eagle member Philip Daniels said.

“There was nothing out there.”

The machines used to propel the targets were powered by an old Army generator, the restrooms were Port-a-Potties and the clubhouse was a funeral home tent. Nonetheless, Daniels said they had a great time.

“A lot of work has gone into this place over the years,” he said. “A lot of money, too. This is one of the best gun clubs in the entire country. We have people from every state that come every year for our shoots, and they keep coming back, so we feel like we must be doing something right.”

The club, situated on a little more than seven acres, now has six skeet fields,

three trap fields and is in the process of building a five-stand field. The club hosts skeet trap tournaments every month, and members say they are an advocate for community service through their hunter safety programs. Youth in the Boy Scouts can visit the club to earn their merit badges, and those with disabilities can participate in their disabled sportsman shoot. The grounds are handicapped accessible.

Club President Jesse Yarborough said the public is welcome to come shoot, even though the club is for members only.

“Of course, we’ll encourage them to join, though,” he said.

Yarborough said he understands why October 2011 - Road to Prosperity

59

Brian Schoenhals/The Daily Home Red Eagle club member Philip Daniels takes aim at a clay target.

newcomers might feel intimidated watching those who have been practicing for years.

“They’re breaking 90 percent of the targets, but they don’t realize that those people have been at it for 20 years,” he said. “The majority of the people that come out come to practice for dove season or to see what we’re all about.

They’ll either love it or they’ll hate it, depending on how well they shoot.”

Yarborough said one of the beauties of skeet shooting is the instant gratification he receives when he hits his target. He said he knows his friends will be there to help him cry about his bad scores and congratulate him on his good scores.

“I’m shooting moving targets, shooting with my friends, I’ve got four or five people around me, and when you see that little bird break — instant gratification,” he said. “I don’t have to stop and think, ‘Did I hit it? What’d I do wrong?’ I know

what I did was right.”

Daniels said there are very few gun clubs left in the United States.

He said while clubs elsewhere keep closing down, Red Eagle is expanding.

“The people that come here don’t come to just shoot, they go to be with their friends and have fun. That’s what’s great about any club you go to in shooting sports.

You can leave a $10,000 shotgun out there on the rack and nobody will bother it.”

Besides the laid-back environment, there’s always something to eat or drink.

“The atmosphere is extremely friendly,” Yarborough said. “And we have major events (where) we serve really good food. Good barbecue or catfish.

Daniels said shooting sports enthusiasts tend to be predominantly male, although a husband and wife from Calera both recently joined.

It’s been said the fastest grow-

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Bob Crisp/The Daily Home Coosa Pines Golf Club has 120 members and is home to the golf teams of three area high schools.

a number of charitable events throughout the year. The course is home to the golf teams at Childersburg High School, Fayetteville High School and Chelsea High School.

The course has a full-service bar

and restaurant overlooking the 18th hole that’s open six days a week.

“We’re a really nice course for a community of this size,” he said. “To have a course of this quality right here in your backyard is somewhat unusual.”

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The Coosa Pines Golf Club has been operating since 1952 and recently underwent management and other changes.

“We’re in the middle of an irrigation restoration project,” said General Manager Doyle Blankenship. “We are redoing all the irrigation here on the golf course, and by January of 2012, we’ll be 100 percent operational as far as irrigation goes. As far as the golf course goes, it’s only as good as the quality of irrigation that’s on the course. Over the years as the course has aged, it’s lost some of its ability to irrigate in some areas. This will enable us to fertilize the grass, keep it nice and keep the weeds under control by the water.”

The course is open every day of the year except Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The club is private but open to outside play. Tee times are required on weekdays and holidays.

The club has 120 members and hosts

October 2011 - Road to Prosperity

61

Brian Schoenhals/The Daily Home

An Alabama History Lesson DeSoto Caverns is a place to learn, play and have fun

By LINDSEY HOLLAND

I

t’s like an Alabama history lesson — except there are no textbooks, no classrooms and no students — just those eager to learn a little more about the cave that is nestled in their very own backyard.

When visiting DeSoto Caverns Family Fun Park in Childersburg, you learn about the Indians that used the cave for a burial ground 2,000 years ago. You learn about Hernando de Soto coming to the area in 1540 searching for gold. You learn about the Confederate soldiers making gunpowder during the Civil War, and you learn about the Honky Tonks during the days of prohibition when whiskey was made deep in the cave.

62

Road to Prosperity - October 2011

“It’s an incredibly big room that you walk into,” said Al Mathis, owner of the caverns. “It’s larger than a football field.

You see all these beautiful formations. It’s really very unique and very inspiring to go out there. The cave is amazing and has a lot of history to it. We give guided tours that take about an hour to hear all the science and history.”

Mathis said the cave has been in his family for 100 years, although it hasn’t always been a budding attraction park.

“Back in 1912 my great-grandmother became involved with some other investors to clear the title on the land and buy it,” Mathis said. “By the time they got the title, a war was going

on and the economy was different. They never did develop it.

She then bought out the other partners and tried to sell it, but nobody wanted it.”

Through the generations, it has been passed down. When Mathis graduated from college, the land and the cave were offered to him.

“I prayed about it a good bit,” he said. “I felt like that’s what the Lord wanted me to do at that time in my life.”

Not knowing anything about business or caves, the recent college graduate decided to give it five years. After that, five more years, he said.

“It has been 35 years, 36 really now,” he said. “It has grown over the years and become one of Alabama’s great attractions.”

At first, Mathis said he had to operate on a shoestring budget because he had no capital. So he went around knocking on doors, asking people if they would allow him to put a sign on their property.

“Signs, brochures and word of mouth were the main things that brought people to the cave back then,” Mathis said.

Today, the Internet helps a bit, he said. But perhaps the most important advertisement he has are the visitors. The caverns host approximately 50,000 guests a year, and visitors come from all over the country and even the world. The park employs as many as 30 individuals in the summertime.

“It’s about people having a good time here and telling their friends and neighbors,” Mathis said. “It’s really designed around good, clean family fun. Being a rural attraction, it’s hard and sometimes, well, not everyone wants to see a cave. So we’ve

added a butterfly house, mazes, wall climbs, bumper cars and putt-putt golf. We have over 26 different activities for families, and some are unique, like gemstone panning.”

DeSoto Caverns Family Fun Park is one of the few in the country that offers guests both attractions and a cave tour.

Mathis says the cave is still the major draw, but they add more attractions each year.

“We have a cave crawl box and other things you don’t usually see anywhere else,” Mathis said. “We have water attractions in the summertime, including paddle boats.

The park operates on 43 acres. Of that land, Mathis said the attractions, gift shop, parking, campgrounds and pavilions occupy 25 acres. Admittance to the park is free, but guests must purchase tickets to tour the cave or take part in the attractions.

Mathis said the locals who haven’t been in awhile might be pleasantly surprised.

“There have been a lot of improvements,” he said. “The grounds are amazingly beautiful. We have lots of waterfalls and fountains for the children to play in, and there are streams running through the park. The landscaping is just beautiful. We also have two large pavilions and picnic areas.”

The gift shop has also recently been renovated and the selection of gifts has expanded.

Mathis said the state owns two caves in Alabama, and a lot of well-known caves are owned by the government. But, he estimated, of the hundreds of caves that are open to the public, 90 percent are privately owned.

The park officially changed its name a couple of years ago

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Bob Crisp/The Daily Home Visitors to DeSoto Caverns park find may find their way through an extensive wooden maze and enjoy many other attractions in addition to the historic cave.

to avoid confusion with state parks and to advertise that the park offers more than a cave tour.

“We wanted to communicate that it’s more than just the cave,” Mathis said. “Even though people come for the cave, they stay for the attractions. There are all kinds of fun things to do.”

The park hosts a variety of events such as Grandparent’s Day, when tickets are available at a reduced price, Father’s Day, when dads get in free, and a sound and light show in the caverns at Christmastime and July 4. Mathis pointed out that in 1995 a ramp was added to the cave so it is now wheelchair accessible.

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Avenues of Opportunity Local schools prepare students for 21st century careers

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home Students bring Talladega County Commissioner Kelvin Cunningham, center, up to the minute in high-tech learning at the fourth-annual 21st Century Interactive Technology Showcase at Childersburg High School.

By LINDSEY HOLLAND

W

hen parents of school-age children make the difficult decision to uproot the family and move to a new town, education plays a major role in their choice.

When they look at the schools in southern Talladega County, the area becomes even more attractive.

Sylacauga has its own city school system, while other schools in the area are part of the larger Talladega County system. Both the city and county school systems here provide parents with the

right resources to educate their children, leading to prosperity for future generations.

“So many great things are happening in our schools,” said Renee Riggins, superintendent of the Sylacauga City School System. Riggins said the city schools were focusing on technology and constantly improving their students’ way of learning through that avenue.

In the county system, the core purpose is to “ensure high student performance and exemplary citizenship” in

conjunction with a vision to “provide a challenging, rigorous curriculum empowering all students to be successful,” Superintendent Suzanne Lacey said.

In the county schools as well as in the city schools, students find widespread, innovative learning opportunities.

Take, for instance, Lori Reed’s Childersburg High School classroom, where her students actively use their computers while Reed teaches through her Smart Board. The Smart Board, which is an interactive whiteboard, October 2011 - Road to Prosperity

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Bob Crisp/The Daily Home Students use laptop computers and iPads in 21st Century learning projects at Winterboro High School.

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enables Reed to enhance the learning experiences for her students. Reed, who teaches English, says the resources students need are right in front of them.

Carol Sprayberry teaches students at Sylacauga High School to communicate through digital media. In January, students in her journalism class streamed live basketball games at the county tournament.

Winterboro High School, about 10 miles north of Sylacauga on Ala. 21, was recently nominated for the Panasonic School Change Award for integrating advanced technology in its classrooms. The administrators have been instructing with project-based learning for several years.

And where does it all come together? At the 21st Century Interactive Technology Showcase that’s been held on the campus of Childersburg High School for the past three years. The students in these schools get a chance to demonstrate their knowledge at this annual event. At last year’s showcase, rockets exploded into the air, students participated in a presentation competition, and posters lined the rows of booths where students explained their technology. Some talked about Echo Pens and some used their iPads. There was even a learning lab and fitness arcade.

“A high priority is to design quality 21st century instructional programs,” Lacey said. “Our district has been visited by hundreds of educators throughout Alabama and the Southeast to closely examine our project-based learning and innovative technology programs.”

Jennifer Barnett, an English and history teacher at Fayetteville High School, said local schools understand what students need to be successful in life. She said the first step in creating successful students is to create knowledgeable educators.

“Teachers in our district are known throughout the state of Alabama as enthusiastic leaders who incorporate cutting-edge practices and technology into their teaching practice,” she said.

“Our teachers routinely share resources, encourage one another and extend themselves beyond the school day. Leaders and teachers plan for student success and passionately work toward making these goals a reality for every student.”

Lacey agrees. She says the forefront of local schools’ expertise has been the teachers.

“Turning a commitment to student success into a reality for our graduates requires tremendous planning and effort,” Barnett said.

Andy Keith, assistant principal at B. B. Comer Memorial High School in Sylacauga, is prepared to take on that challenge.

Keith assumed his new administrative position this school year.

He said he wants to lead by example and teach his students to be successful.

“When these students leave here, one thing I hope they learn is that whatever they want to do in life — whether it’s entering the job force or attending college — whatever they want to do, they know how to do it and they know how to do it well,” he said.

Not only are the teachers and administrators working

toward producing productive citizens, but community leaders are as well. And the emphasis starts well before the students reach high school.

The Sylacauga Alliance for Family Enhancement, a community-based, nonprofit organization, has worked together with Sylacauga Grows, a community garden, to bring hands-on education to elementary students. The community garden is one of multiple programs run through SAFE. Bill Roberts, garden director, said SAFE is putting in gardens at five local elementary schools. SAFE Executive Director Margaret Morton said they are targeting second-graders. She says she hopes the program will influence the children’s life choices early on.

Another program targeting the youngsters is the ‘Leader in Me’ curriculum, which focuses on citizenship and leadership.

Talladega County Elementary Schools are implementing the skills-building program, and Sylacauga City Schools are soon to follow. Riggins said she hopes to have the program up and running in the city schools by Christmas.

“The principles of responsibility, vision, respect, teamwork and balance are based on a book by Sean Covey, author of Seven Habits of Highly Successful People,” Lacey said. “Being immersed in these timeless traits will build courage, confidence and integrity in our students.”

Lacey said their goal was not only for all students to earn a high school diploma and master traditional academic skills, but also to prepare students for an economy where 21st century skills are necessary.

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Fame Comes Calling Three of the area’s best-known celebrities came to fame in vastly different ways — basketball, television and a rock from the heavens

By JUNE WINTERS

W

hat do Gerald Wallace, Jim Nabors and the late Ann Elizabeth Hodges have in common?

They were all raised in this area, and now their names are known around the world!

Gerald Wallace Basketball great Gerald James Wallace says that’s pretty amazing to him, but he really enjoys it.

He says the special times are when he comes back home to visit and gets so much special attention.

Wallace was born July 23, 1982. His mother, Alice Castleberry still lives in Childersburg. He has two brothers and one sister.

Wallace graduated from Childersburg High School, and attended college at the University of Alabama.

Photo courtesy of Portland Trailblazers Childersburg’s own NBA star Gerald Wallace.

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He was drafted by the National Basketball Association in 2001 and played first for the Sacramento Kings. In 2004, he was traded to Charlotte Bobcats, and this year, he moved to the Portland Trailblazers. The famous basketball player’s nickname is “Crash” because of his reputation for a somewhat reckless way of playing.

He says when he comes home to Childersburg to visit, he always likes to spend a lot of time with the kids. “I love children. I always have. Every time I have a chance, I always tell them that no matter how small the town they come from or how small the school they go to, they can become whatever they want to in this world. It just depends on how hard they want to try.”

He recently established The Gerald Wallace Foundation, which provides opportunities to underserved children and their families in his hometown.

File photo Sylacauga’s Jim Nabors as “Gomer Pyle, USMC.”

Jim Nabors Actor and singer Jim Nabors’ name is familiar wherever you go.

Nabors was born June 12, 1930, in Sylacauga, graduated from Sylacauga High School and the University of Alabama.

His father was Fred Nabors, a Sylacauga policeman, and his mother was Mavis Nabors. The little frame house he grew up in still stands just inside the Sylacauga city limits.

The Isabel Anderson Comer Museum in Sylacauga has a room devoted to Nabors.

Nabors still has family living in the area, closest relative

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his comedy between songs. He invited Nabors to do a guest appearance on his show, and right away, “Gomer Pyle” became a full-time member of the cast.

Nabors ventured out on the “Gomer Pyle, USMC,” show in 1964, and the series ran for the next five years.

Nabors is semi-retired now and lives on the island of Maui in Hawaii.

File photo Ann Elizabeth Hodges suffered a severe bruise when the Hodges Meteorite fell through her roof and bounced off her hip.

being Rick Danelutt, a son of his sister, the late Freddie Nabors Danelutt.

Nabors was discovered in 1962 by actor Andy Griffith while doing a caba70

Road to Prosperity - October 2011

ret act at The Horn, a popular Santa Monica, Calif., café.

Griffith liked Nabors’ singing but quickly said he was most impressed by

Ann Elizabeth Hodges The true story of Ann Elizabeth Hodges is almost stranger than fiction.

The 31-year-old housewife took an afternoon nap on her couch at the Hodges’ home in Oak Grove Nov. 30, 1954, and that nap turned into an event that would make history.

At 2:46 that afternoon as she slept, a meteorite fell and a fragment came through the roof of the Hodges’ home and struck the young woman on the hip and hand. She was bruised but not injured seriously, but the object, said to be the size of a grapefruit, made Mrs. Hodges the first human ever struck by an extraterrestrial object.

Reporters and magazine writers from throughout the world converged on the little frame house in Oak Grove, causing Mrs. Hodges to become so upset she had to be hospitalized.

After much wrangling and several lawsuits between the Hodgeses and their landlord over who owned the meteorite, the Hodgeses were declared owners.

Mrs. Hodges’ husband turned down an offer from the Smithsonian Institution to purchase it, saying the offer was not enough money.

Interest was soon lost in obtaining the object for money, and Mrs. Hodges eventually donated it to the Alabama Museum of Natural History. She died in 1972.

The only money winner in the whole incident was a farmer named Julius K. McKinney, who lived near the Hodgeses. The day after the incident, he found a second fragment of the meteorite in the middle of a dirt road nearby.

He sold his “piece of the rock” to the Smithsonian for enough money to buy a small farm and a used car.

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The Glue That Holds Communities Together Cooperation makes these small towns thrive

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home South Talladega County’s Relay for Life is just one of the many events that bring together organizations and volunteers to support local causes.

By DENISE SINCLAIR

W

Whether you live in Sylacauga, Oak Grove or Childersburg, there is a sense of community that brings everyone together. These are towns where generosity and kindness thrive. Small town life proves to be at its best here.

On a Friday afternoon in the sweltering heat of summer, 72

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you and your child can visit Blue Bell Creameries for a free ice cream cone or taste an on-site offering of samples of Buttermilk Hill Restaurant’s peach bread pudding with Blue Bell ice cream on the side as you help celebrate National Ice Cream Day. Then there is Make Your Own Tomato Sandwich Day at Central Park. Sandwiches were given out on a day in the peak

Brian Schoenhals/The Daily Home Some 1,000 children got free schools supplies through Sylacauga’s Promise School Supply Drive.

of tomato season through an initiative with the local Farmer’s Market. Vendors donated the tomatoes, while local businesses provided the bread, mayonnaise, salt, pepper and cold water.

Only in a small town in the South could you make your own tomato sandwich from locally grown produce.

In the spring, the Magic of Marble Festival shows the importance and history of what marble means to the area and

especially to Sylacauga, the “Marble City.”

But the festival is just one of the many events for which the community comes together to make successful. And it is one of the many festivals that can be found up and down the U.S. 280 corridor from Sylacauga to Childersburg. These festivals bring thousands of people to the area.

The success of the Magic of Marble Festival, which just

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File photo Promise Day each spring in Sylacauga provides fun for young and old alike.

completed its third year, is closely tied to the concept of total community involvement using the proven technique of “networking,” said Ted Spears, who heads up the event.

Spears says that without collaboration, the myriad of people and entities needed for so many tasks would have gone lacking.

“Networking has helped make the three previous festivals very successful, and we are approaching the fourth festival with more experience and confidence,” he said.

Some the agencies that were essential to the festival’s success include: • Alabama State Council on the Arts provided grants and established a relationship with Pietrasanta, Italy, and Italian sculptors.

• The city of Sylacauga provided manpower, financial support, equipment and back-up service.

• B.B. Comer Library wrote grants, provided lectures and space for displays and published a brief history of Sylacauga marble as well as brochures.

• Sylacauga Arts Council dedicated seed money for the project and took a leadership role by coordinating activities of 74

Road to Prosperity - October 2011

the festival.

• Marble quarries — Imerys, Omya and Alabama Marble — furnished materials, supplies and financial support as well as tours of their quarries.

Spears said the Sylacauga Marble Festival has created a new sense of pride in marble and its importance to the social, historical, financial and cultural aspects of the community.

Most importantly, he said, the festival has raised an awareness of “this wonderful, unique resource that has been mined in the Sylacauga area since 1840.”

“All aspects of marble — from its use in building and construction, products of the world, artistic creations, and now as an important part of the green movement — are a source of pride to local residents as a result of the attention that has resulted from the Marble Festival,” he said.

The towns of Oak Grove and Childersburg have their own festivals celebrating their heritage and bringing visitors from around the area.

Oak Grove hosts an annual Heritage Homecoming Festival.

The next one is set for May 5, 2012.

Bob Crisp/The Daily Home The public got an opportunity to taste the best ice cream during National Ice Cream Day at Blue Bell Creameries.

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The festival is centered around the Hodges Meteorite, which is on display at City Hall during the festival.

The meteorite feel to earth in 1954, striking Ann Elizabeth Hodges in her Oak Grove Home.

Oak Grove Mayor Charles Merkel said, “It is the only occurrence ever in the history of something coming from outer space, surviving through the atmosphere and actually striking a human.”

The festival includes many activities, from an arts and crafts show to entertainment for children.

Childersburg’s biggest annual celebration is Coosa Fest. It has been moved to May for the coming year to coincide with nearby Oak Grove’s Heritage Festival.

Coosa Fest celebrates Childersburg’s distinction as the oldest city in the United States, predating St. Augustine, Fla., by 25 years. In 1540, Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto came through the area searching for gold, and

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File photo Live music was among the entertainment options at the first Grits Festival at Kymulga Grist Mill in Childersburg.

the site has been inhabited ever since. In 2012, Coosa Fest will mark the city’s 472nd anniversary.

Pete Storey, president of the Childersburg Chamber of Commerce, says this is “our city’s birthday celebration. It is important for us to recognize that and then celebrate it. It brings a sense of our history to light.”

It takes people from the community volunteering to make as Coosa Fest possible, Storey acknowledged.

Among the volunteers are the Chamber of Commerce High School Ambassadors and Diplomats, Storey said. “We do this to instill in them the idea of ‘giving back’ to their community,” he said.

The Chamber Ambassadors and Diplomats are not the only volunteers, however. “We actually have people that do not live here volunteering to help organize and work at the festival,” Storey said.

The festival has events for everyone in downtown Childersburg.

In addition to festivals, residents in each of these cities work together to provide for their neighbors’ needs in a variety of ways that cement the bonds of community.

In Childersburg, for example, the city has implemented a program called DREAM, which stands for Downtown Revitalization Enrichment and Marketing.

“We created this about five years ago to give our downtown a sense of identity,” Storey said.

“We have a color scheme we ask the business and building owners to adhere to if they paint their buildings. So far, every76

Road to Prosperity - October 2011

SYLACAUGA UTILITIES BOARD

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Bob Crisp/The Daily Home The Farmers Market in Sylacauga gave the public an opportunity to purchase fresh produce each Friday through the summer months.

one has cooperated. It is great to see downtown as colorful as it is,” he added.

A big event that brings out Sylacauga’s sense of community is the annual Thanksgiving dinner.

In 2010, Sylacauga Alliance for Family Enhancement along with the Sylacauga Promise Committee and Footwash Ministries partnered with local schools, businesses, churches and individuals to provide a warm Thanksgiving meal to the needy on Thanksgiving Day. The event served more than 2,100 meals with the help of 250 to 300 volunteers.

Taylor Logan of Sylacauga’s Promise put into perspective what this communitywide event means to Sylacauga.

“It is a true testament to the community of Sylacauga. It is really an event that depicts everyone coming together from various walks of life, and sectors of the community put together this huge event.”

The Rev. Henry Looney’s church, Reaching the World Bible Church has hosted the event since the first year, when some 150 to 200 people were served.

Looney said the dinner can become a spiritual experience for people giving their time, even if only for an hour or two, simply to help someone have a warm meal at Thanksgiving.

Unique to Sylacauga and Oak Grove are their community gardens.

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Sylacauga Grows community garden just completed its third year of harvesting and growing vegetables. This garden covers four to five acres near the Sylacauga Alliance for Family Enhancement Services Center. It is one of multiple programs SAFE runs.

The food goes back to the community, and there are also 40-foot sections available for families or individuals to use. The group sells produce baskets for $5 apiece, and qualified applicants can receive vouchers for the baskets through Care House.

To volunteer or learn more about Sylacauga Grows, call 256-245-4343.

Oak Grove started its own community garden, Comet Grove, two years ago. During the last two summers, volunteers working with an intern from Auburn have produced vegetables that were distributed to those who needed them in the community, also through Care House.

In 2010 the garden provided more than 15,000 pounds of fresh produce to 4,000 people in the Oak Grove and surrounding communities.

The garden was the brainchild of former mayor Bloise Zeigler, and it is on his 20-acre former Christmas tree farm.

Comet Garden needs more volunteers if it is to continue next year. For more information on Comet Grove, contact Oak Grove City Hall.

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How we build them is a reflection of where we build them.

The quality we put into our vehicles isn’t simply a reflection of a corporate philosophy.

There’s much more to it than that. The pride and integrity our associates display daily has its roots in the communities they call home. And that’s something Honda Manufacturing of Alabama is very thankful for. While it’s often said that an industry can lift a community to new heights, we recognize that the community also lifts us.