Discover St. Clair April and May LakeLife Edition 2020

Mustang Museum of America • Women at Work Poet and Storyteller • Cropwell Class of 1920 • Greasy Cove Store

April & May 2020

LakeLife

TWO LAKES, ENDLESS FUN

From fishing to boating, there are no limits

Special Lake Edition

Hargray Internet starting at

50

$

Connectivity for everyone in the home.

Faster Internet provides you more flexibility and options: work remotely with video conferencing, online learning and more.

per month for 1 year

Call 205.350.9227 | hargray.com Limited time offer. Promotion is for new customers only, adding Hargray services for the first time. Promotion of Internet plans starting at $50 per month is good for the first year. Additional Hargray services are allowed for additional monthly cost per service. Promotional offer cannot be combined with any other promotional offers or Hargray Rewards. Advertised price does not include equipment fees, taxes, surcharges or any other regulatory or governmental charges. Broadband speeds may not be available in all areas, are not guaranteed, are subject to a number of factors and are measured via direct connection (not via Wi-Fi). Š2020, Hargray Communications Group, Inc.; logos are registered trademarks and as such, protected property of their respective companies; all rights reserved.

Features and Articles Discover

The Essence of St. Clair Let the Season Begin!

Special Coverage Page 47 Mustang Museum Page 8

Class of 1920 A different world a century ago Page 26

Living the LakeLife Alabama’s biggest boat show Buck’s Island

Women at work Page 20

Logan Martin Lakefest Parks and recreation by the water Professional kayak fishing Zeke Gossett leads JSU to championship

Irene Latham Page 36

Page 48 Page 60 Page 64 Page 68 Page 72 Page 76

Business

Greasy Cove store a rare rural treat Page 80

April & May 2020

www.discoverstclair.com

Carol Pappas

Writers AND Photographers

Carol Pappas is editor and publisher of Discover St. Clair Magazine. A retired newspaper executive, she served as editor and publisher of several newspapers and magazines during her career. She won dozens of writing awards in features, news and commentary and was named Distinguished Alabama Community Journalist at Auburn University. She serves as president/CEO of Partners by Design, the multimedia group that publishes Discover.

Jackie Romine Walburn Jackie Romine Walburn, a Birmingham native and freelance writer, is an Auburn journalism graduate who has worked as a reporter, editor and corporate communications manager. She’s had recent writing published in the Birmingham Arts Journal and Alalitcom. Jackie is currently seeking an agent and publisher for her first novel, Mojo Jones and the Black Cat Bone.

Joe Whitten Joe Whitten was born in Bryant on Sand Mountain. When he arrived in Odenville in 1961 to teach at St. Clair County High School, he found a place to call home. He and his wife, Gail, taught across the hall from each other. He continues to live in Odenville in a 1904 house they called home for 36 years. Joe was active in the Alabama Writers’ Conclave and the Alabama State Poetry Society. The society named him Poet of the Year in 2000. Joe has also published a number of St. Clair County local history books.

Linda Long Linda Long has worked in communications for more than 25 years in print, broadcast, nonprofit promotion and special event planning and implementation. Her writing has appeared in Business Alabama Magazine, Technology Alabama, Mobile Bay Monthly, Birmingham News, Huntsville Times, Partners Magazine, Birmingham Magazine, Alabama Alive, Cahaba Talk, Hoover Outlook and Shelby Living. She served as news and special projects producer for NBC13 News, where her work won national, regional and state honors, including two Emmy Award nominations.

Wallace Bromberg Jr. Wally graduated from Auburn University where he graduated in 1976 with his BA in History and minors in German and Education.

Wally’s skills in photography blossomed during college.After a 30-year career, he decided to dust off his camera skills and pursue photography full time.

Graham Hadley

Graham Hadley is the managing editor and designer for Discover The Essence of St. Clair Magazine and also manages the magazine website. Along with Carol Pappas, he left The Daily Home as managing editor to become vice president of the Creative Division of Partners by Design multimedia company. An Auburn journalism graduate, Hadley also served as the news editor for The Rome News Tribune in Rome,Ga.

Elaine Hobson Miller Elaine Hobson Miller is a freelance writer with a B.A. in Journalism from Samford University.

She was the first female to cover Birmingham City Hall for the Birmingham Post-Herald, where she worked as reporter, food editor and features writer. A former editor of Birmingham Home & Garden magazine and staff writer for Birmingham magazine, she has written for a variety of local, regional and national publications.

She is a member of Alabama Media Professionals and NFPW (the National Federation of Press Women). Follow her weekly blog about life with a dozen four-legged critters, life in the country and life in general at www.countrylife-elaine.blogspot.com.

Leigh Pritchett

Leigh Pritchett is a wife and mother. She earned the Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Montevallo. In the late 1990s, she left a career with a New York Times Regional Newspaper to be a stay-athome mom and freelance writer. She was blessed with the opportunity to spend 22 years homeschooling her three children.

Scottie Vickery Scottie Vickery is a writer with a degree in journalism from the University of Alabama and was a reporter for The Birmingham News.

Her first assignment was covering St. Clair and Blount counties. She has more than 30 years of writing and editing experience and her work has appeared in a variety of publications. She also has worked in the nonprofit industry.

Kelsey Bain As the owner of Kelsey Bain Photography, Kelsey is a regular contributor of photos and editorials for our publications. An Alabama native and graduate of Auburn University, Kelsey now resides on Logan Martin lake with her husband Adam and their daughter, Sawyer.

From the Editor

LakeLife is the best life Some people count down the days until Christmas. Around here, we count down the days to lake season.

And with the turning of the calendar to April, it is definitely upon us – at least the beginning of it.

When lake season kicks off in St. Clair County, it is a double celebration.

After all, we have two stunning lakes to choose from. To the north is Neely Henry; to the south, Logan Martin.

Take your pick. You can’t go wrong.

Both are well known for their abundance of bass and the allure fishing holds in these parts. Take in the shimmering sunrises and sunsets. Catch a glimpse of the beautiful homes nestled along their hundreds of miles of shoreline. See the boats and personal watercrafts zipping here and there or take the wheel yourself. The enjoyment is unmistakable.

But more than that, lake life is an unrivaled way of living – that place you go to for rest, relaxation, rejuvenation, boatloads of fun, family and friends and making memories that last a lifetime.

And that’s just the people who live on or visit our lakes.

Beyond that, we have businesses lucky enough to make their living on the lake – the boat dealers, marinas, dock builders and the like.

So, when the cold and wet are finally in the rear-view mirror, and lake season is the next stop, Discover Magazine unveils its annual preview of life on our lakes – what’s new, what’s hot, what’s happening on and around them. Welcome to LakeLife 2020. Let the season begin!

Of course, that’s not all you’ll find in this issue. There’s plenty more for land lovers, history buffs and people who just like a good story about the people, places and world around them.

Go back 100 years, and you’ll find a one-room schoolhouse in Cropwell, where young girls graduated and became

Matthew Pope took our cover shot and this pic of him riding a personal watercraft with his children, Glover and Maeva.

accomplished women in a time when they didn’t even have the right to vote. Fast forward that same 100 years, and you’ll find today’s accomplished women, breaking gender barriers and excelling at jobs once thought only a man could occupy.

Step back in time to the days when mercantile stores reigned.

They’re making a comeback and in Greasy Cove, you’ll find new life pumped into what was once a central gathering spot for not only goods, but good conversation. Couple its storied history with a family legacy, and it’s a story you don’t want to miss.

How about the story of a local poet and storyteller in her own right? It’s here in this issue, too.

Whether it’s that cool lake spot on a warm day, historic looks at days gone by or what the future may hold, you’ll discover those and more in this issue of our magazine. Turn the page and discover it all with us!

Carol Pappas Editor and Publisher

Discover The Essence of St. Clair

April & May 2020 • Vol. 53 • www.discoverstclair.com

Carol Pappas • Editor and Publisher Graham Hadley • Managing Editor and Designer Mike Callahan • Photography Wallace Bromberg Jr. • Photography Kelsey Bain • Photography Dale Halpin • Advertising Toni Franklin • Graphic Designer

A product of Partners by Design www.partnersmultimedia.com 1911 Cogswell Avenue Pell City, AL 35125 205-338-3466

Printed at Russell Printing, Alexander City, AL 7

MUSTANG St. Clair celebrates an American icon Story and photos

by Graham Hadley The Mustang Museum of America is celebrating the one-year anniversary of its opening in Odenville and cementing its place as a regional go-to attraction for automotive enthusiasts from around the country.

It joins the likes of the Barber Motorsports Park and museum in Leeds and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega County.

8

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

MUSEUM

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

9

MUSTANG MUSEUM

This Mustang was a project car a father did for his daughter.

Powell says his wife is a big fan of this automatic convertible.

10

For many automotive enthusiasts, two car lines have dominated the highways in America.

One of them, the Chevrolet Corvette, has had a museum all its own in Bowling Green, Ky., for years.

Now, thanks to the efforts of one family and backed by local businesses and the City of Odenville, that other car, the Ford Mustang, has a museum right here in St. Clair County.

Housed in a huge steel climate and humidity controlled building, the Mustang Museum of America opened March 17, 2019, on Forman Farm Road in Odenville, and since then, the expansive attraction had been drawing hundreds of fans of Lee Iacocca’s famous Pony Car from across the country.

The museum is the brainchild of Robert Powell, who says, “I had been thinking about a car museum for 15 years” and finally decided to make it a reality.

Powell, who had been working for Progress Rail, was nearing retirement — which he officially took Feb. 1 — and started putting the pieces in place about five years ago.

“With the collection of Mustangs I had put together, and the help of my two sons and their cars, we started to figure out what we were going to do,” Powell said.

It was a natural move for Powell — he had been the president of a local chapter of the Mustang Club of America in Tampa, Fla. Even back then, they were thinking about the possibility of a museum.

Powell grew up in Alabama. In fact, he saw his first Mustang at a gas station in Odenville as a teen. “I thought it was the most beautiful car ever put on the road. I was in high school, so of course I could not afford one. But I started following the line. Back then, I would get together on weekends with my friends in high school, and we would drive around looking at car dealerships to see what they had on the lots.”

When work brought him back home from Florida, he and his wife and sons only thought it would be natural to open the museum here.

“We think this could be an anchor attraction for North St. Clair County,” he said. “I moved here when I was 6. I

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

Family Fun Events

MAY 8-10

Lorem Ipsum

SPRING ARTS & CRAFT SHOW

JUNE 5-7

LOWDOWN CAR SHOW

JUNE 20

SUMMER CONCERT

RESTAURANT | BAR | CATERING

140 Purple Heart Blvd Springville, AL

205-467-0111 choppin@windstream.net

THANKS ST. CLAIR COUNTY FOR 7 YEARS OF SUPPORT! JOIN US DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL AS

WE CELEBRATE 7 YEARS OF BUSINESS

Fox-body Mustangs heralded the return of the car line as an icon of the American automotive industry.,

MUSTANG MUSEUM

Robert Powell points out a magazine story about the police car in the museum lobby. grew up here, went to school here. St. Clair has been good to us. We feel a loyalty to this area.”

With the support of local civic leaders and business owners like Lyman Lovejoy, Powell unveiled his plans for the Mustang Museum of America during a special community meeting in mid-2016. They had already procured the necessary property, were starting on plans for the building, and between Powell, his wife, Carolyn, and sons Jonathon and Gary, already had upwards of 70 Mustangs in their personal collection.

Plans called for the museum to house between 100 and 120 Mustangs — a number they are already close to reaching with 102 cars on hand. “We want to have one of every model year through 2015, plus a police car version from every state that used them,” Powell said.

Thanks to the generosity of collectors and organizations dedicated to preserving Mustangs, who have either loaned the Mustang Museum cars or donated them outright, there are only a few gaps in the long rows of cars on display where they are still missing models.

And alongside the standard models are a number of specialty cars of historic note, including the Mustang test bed used to benchmark the SVO Mustangs. It is one of the compact, slantfronted Fox bodies that marked the return of the Mustang as a dominant force in American automotive manufacturing in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

That car looks rough, but Powell says that is part of the history of the test vehicle. “I wanted it left this way. It is part of what makes the car unique. This is the standard Mustang that they ran against the SVOs in tests to see how they performed.”

They also have the Fox-body Mustang Ford sent to California to be used to test the viability of Mustangs as police — and much more commonly, state trooper — cars. That test eventually opened the door for states across the country to adopt the Mustang as a go-to law-enforcement interceptor vehicle.

Other cars that were limited runs to promote brands, pace cars and race cars are also part of the collection.

And though there was a time when many die-hard Mustang fans would not admit that Ford’s smaller Mustang IIs were part of the Mustang family, the museum boasts a large collection of those, too. And that includes some of the sporty models that

We work tirelessly to help kids get well because the world needs to see what Natalie dreams up.

WE DO WHAT WE DO BECAUSE CHILDREN HAVE DREAMS.

1 6 0 0 7 T H AV E N U E S O U T H B I R M I N G H A M , A L 3 5 2 3 3 (205) 638-9100 ChildrensAL.org

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

13

MUSTANG MUSEUM

Ford made different models for different states and regions.

were seen on TV shows, Charlie’s Angels in particular.

Times have changed, Powell said, and most Mustang enthusiasts now consider the Mustang IIs as part of the Pony Car family, with a number of people who specifically seek out and restore them, helping with the museum’s collection.

In addition to the cars, the walls of the museum are adorned with advertising, magazine articles and other art – even an original, full-size billboard – that tell the story of the Mustang.

“Lee Iacocca had to really fight to get the Mustang built,” Powell said. Ford had just taken a big hit with the failure of the Edsel, and when Iacocca said, “We need a new car line,” he was told he must be crazy. But Iacocca, who passed away in 2019, was known for his dogged determination, and the first Mustang was built — the 1964 1/2 model. The official launch of the 1965 Mustang would be Ford’s most successful roll-out since the Model A. The museum is a non-profit effort overseen by a seven-member board of directors. Powell serves as the managing director. His son, Gary, is the manager, and his other son, Jonathon is the assistant manager.

Powell admits it has been a learning curve for him, his family and everyone else involved in the project, but their hard work is paying off.

Visitors from around the country are making their way to Odenville, some just go a little out of their way while passing through the area, others as parts of organized car clubs and similar events. They even had a Honda Goldwing motorcycle enthusiast club make it a point to put the museum on one of their routes.

That is exactly how Powell had originally envisioned the project – not just as a museum,

14

The billboard behind this Mustang is actually an original.

Mustang IIs similar to the ones seen on Charlie’s Angels TV show

The test Mustang that Ford used to benchmark the Fox body SVO cars

Pell City’s Landmark Steak House for over 55 Years!

LOOK GREAT. SEE GREAT. with

James W. Bedsole, O.D. EYECARE

DAILY LUNCH SPECIALS 10:30-4:00

OPEN 10:30 - 9:00 7 DAYS A WEEK

PELL CITY STEAK HOUSE RESTAURANT

2401 Comer Avenue, Corner of Hwy. 231 & Comer Avenue 1.3 miles south of I-20

Serving Pell City and St. Clair County families since 1991.

VOTED BEST LUNCH SPOT

Dr. James W. Bedsole

EYECARE

1723 Cogswell Avenue Pell City, AL 35125 www.drbedsole.com

205-884-2020 Fax: 205-338-8840 Emergency: 205-753-6221

205-338-7714 • Menu Line 205-338-7724 Locally owned and operated by Joe Wheeler

Tender Choice Steaks | Hamburger Steaks | Jumbo Shrimp from the Gulf VOTED BEST ONION RINGS Fresh Catfish (Whole or Filet) | Southrn Fried Chicken (worth the wait) VOTED BEST Home Fried Onion Rings | Homemade Pies and Cobbler BEST PIES

“Book your special event or corporate meeting in our private dining room”

Real People. Real Life Stories.

“When my mother had the beginnings of dementia, she was in Birmingham, and I was in Pell City. Working full time, I couldn’t be there. But Always There could, and they helped her with the things she needed to remain independent -- taking her grocery shopping, making sure she got the right medications at the right time, being a companion. Always There allowed her to stay in her own home and took the worries away from my siblings and I when we couldn’t be there for her.”

-- Carol P.

• Companionship • Care Management • Errands • Laundry • Light Housekeeping

• Bathing and Grooming • Dressing • Escorts for shopping and appointments • Meal Preparation

When you can’t be there, Always There can.

30 Comer Avenue Suite 1 Pell City, AL 35125 Visit AlwaysThereInc.com

205-824-0224

MUSTANG MUSEUM

This pace car required a detailed and complete restoration.

but as a venue with large outdoor spaces and plenty of parking to host crowds and bring events to St. Clair County.

He also readily admits the business they are seeing now is just a small part of what the museum can mean to the community. They did a soft opening and have gradually been seeing business ramp up as word gets out about the museum, something Powell says will be key to its success.

And he was quick to point out that they are part of a much bigger picture – drawing motorsports enthusiasts to the region. Races at the Talladega Superspeedway and events at Barber Motorsports Park are part of that draw, especially since both of those tracks also have museums on site, with more on the way at Barber.

Powell said the people at Barber have been especially helpful.

One of the rarest cars in the museum, this Mustang was used as a chase car for the U-2 spy planes to make sure their wings were level on takeoff and landing.

16

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

L A I C N A N I F E K TA Control e t a d i l o s n o C — today!

PLATINUM REWARDS VISA Rates as low as

1.99% APR

Spring into Financial Control with the Platinum Rewards VISA Credit Card.

Heritage South Credit Union is happy to offer the PLATINUM REWARDS VISA CREDIT CARD. Now through June 2020, take advantage of 1.99% APR introductory rate. The promotional rate of 1.99% APR is valid on new HSCU Visa platinum rewards credit cards for all activity (purchases, balance transfers, and cash advances) completed during the promotional period and that rate will remain in effect on that promotional period activity through the final billing cycle of June 2020, at which point the balances on that promotional period activity will convert to the standard card rate of 9.90% APR – see credit union for details.

The promotional rate of 1.99% APR is valid on new HSCU VISA Platinum Rewards credit cards for all activity (purchases, balance transfers, and cash advances) completed during the promotional period and that rate will remain in effect on that promotional activity through the final billing cycle of June 2020, at which point the balances on that promotional period activity will convertto the standard card rate of 9.90% APR – see credit union for details. Promotional offer good from 1/1/2020 – 7/1/2020. APR = Annual Percentage Rate

MUSTANG MUSEUM “When I first started thinking seriously about doing this, I talked to the people at Barber, and they were very supportive,” he said. They have even talked about creating a regional motorsports museum pass to cover several of the museums on one ticket.

His sons have been bringing some of their cars to events at Barber and reached out to the venue for guidance and the possibility of cross promoting their attractions. The response and support have been more than Powell ever could have expected, he said, lauding them for taking the big-picture approach to making the museums and tracks regional and national attractions.

Other local businesses, like BEI Electronics and Graphics and SVP are also important parts of the community effort that have made the museum possible, helping with paint or custom decals to return even the most worn-out Mustang to original condition. Powell tries to keep cars in as close to original condition without restoration as possible, but some vehicles need a full bumper-to-bumper rebuild before they are suitable for display.

The Mustang Museum of America is open Thursday through Monday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., but Powell said they will open pretty much any time to accommodate visitors; they just need to call ahead and let them know they are coming. l Keep up with the Mustang Museum of America online mustangmuseumofamerica.com and follow them on Facebook

The sign on the hood of this police car would light up when pulling someone over.

A sign fills a slot where the museum is still looking for a model.

The Mystic paint was created for this Cobra. Access to the paint, even for restoration, is carefully controlled by Ford.

18

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

Get Ready for Smart Summer Travel THE WORKS® Synthetic Blend Oil Change and More, $49.99 or less*

$

49

99

• Synthetic Blend Oil Change • Tire Rotation and Pressure Check • Brake Inspection • Vehicle Checkup • Fluid Top-Off • Battery Test • Filter Check • Belts and Hoses Check

*Up to six quarts of Motorcraft® oil and Motorcraft or Omnicraft™ oil filter. Motorcraft® is a registered trademark of Ford Motor Company. Omnicraft™ is a trademark of Ford Motor Company.

Taxes, diesel vehicles and disposal fees extra. Hybrid battery test excluded. Offer valid 4/30/20. Offer not available in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Quick Lane® and Motorcraft® are registered trademarks of Ford Motor Company. See participating U.S. Quick Lane® Retailers for exclusions and details through 3/31/20.

COOLANT

Buy Four Select Tires, Get up to a $130 Rebate by Mail when you use the Quicklane Credit Card.*

FLUSH $ 99

119

On these name brands: Goodyear, Dunlop, Michelin®, BFGoodrich®, General Tire, Pirelli®, Bridgestone, Firestone, Yokohama®, Toyo®, Nitto®

*Quick Lane®-installed retail purchases only. $80 tire rebate on Pirelli; $70 tire rebate on Michelin, Bridgestone, Toyo; $60 tire rebate on Goodyear, Dunlop, BFGoodrich and General Tire; $50 tire rebate on Yokohama, Firestone and Nitto. Tire rebate and $50 credit card rebate by prepaid debit card. Subject to credit approval. Not valid on prior purchases. Complete purchase must be made on the Quick Lane Credit Card for $130 maximum rebate. Offer valid 4/30/20.

Submit rebate by 4/30/20 by mail-in rebate form or online at quicklane.com. Limit one rebate per account. Cannot be combined with any other tire manufacturersponsored or Quick Lane Credit Card rebate/offer. Offer not available in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Quick Lane® is a registered trademark of Ford Motor Company. Quick Lane Credit Card is issued by Citibank, N.A. See participating U.S. Quick Lane® Retailers for vehicle applications and rebate details through 3/31/20.

Visit Pell City Quicklane.com for details.

Motorcraft®

Brakes

$

17999*

* Most vechicles. Visit Pell City Quicklane.com for details.

Motorcraft®

Wiper Blades

$

2798*

* Most vechicles. Visit Pell City Quicklane.com for details.

Motorcraft®

Batteries

$

11999*

* Most vechicles. Visit Pell City Quicklane.com for details.

Stephanie Foster is St. Clair County’s first femal certified bus mechanic.

20

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

Springville Police Chief Belinda Crapet

St. Clair women blaze trails in male-dominated fields Story by Elaine Hobson Miller Photos by Kelsey Bain The year 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the one guaranteeing women’s right to vote. It could also be the year that the Equal Rights Amendment, which guarantees equal legal rights for all Americans regardless of sex, becomes the 28th amendment.

While legal experts debate the uncertainty of the consequences of Virginia’s ERA ratification years after the original deadlines, along with the recisions of five other states, a couple of trailblazing women here in St. Clair County continue doing their jobs in male-dominated fields without concern for equal treatment.

In fact, Stephanie Foster, St. Clair’s first certified female school bus mechanic, and Belinda Crapet, the City of Springville’s first female police chief, say they got where they are with the help and encouragement of their male counterparts. For them, equal rights have never been an issue.

“The mechanics here (at the Pell City Schools bus shop) encouraged me to take the certification test, and they keep telling me I can do this,” Foster says. “Other mechanics sometimes make derogatory remarks at conferences and mechanic classes, but no one at the shop does.”

Foster, the second woman in the state to earn a school bus mechanic certification, is shop assistant for the Pell City Schools Transportation Department. Her primary job is behind a desk,

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

21

WOMEN WORKING

Stephanie Foster at her desk where she handles morning dispatches and deals with parents calling about kids missing buses and drivers calling about fights among students.

She checks images that are captured from security cameras and sends digital copies to the Police Department when a video shows a driver not stopping while a school bus is loading or unloading. Occasionally, she fills in as a bus driver. A big part of her job is ordering parts, and being a certified mechanic comes in handy for that.

“Before, when a driver reported a problem, I had to get a work order to a mechanic, he would look at the bus, then a lot of times, I had to call a parts manufacturer for a diagram of the area where the problem was. Then the mechanic would identify which part was needed from the diagrams, and I would place the order,” she says. Now, she looks at the bus and diagrams, which she keeps on file, and determines herself which part to order. “It’s much more efficient this way,” she says. “The quicker we can get that bus back on the road, the better.”

She has been with the department since 2013 and was certified in January of last year. “You have to work in a shop five years before you can take the certification test,” she says.

The three-part exam included an on-site, hands-on portion that involved a state instructor “bugging” a school bus. Foster found nine of the 10 changes the instructor made to the vehicle. “I missed the easiest one — the oil dipstick was missing,” she says.

Although she knows a piston ring from a push rod, she can’t rebuild an engine. But she is familiar with all its parts. She helps with the state-required monthly bus inspections, hooking her laptop to the bus to find what’s causing engine lights to

22

come on. She replaces fluids, light assemblies and switches.

She is qualified to replace brake chambers, hazard and turn signal switches, and one of the most common problems in school buses — door switches. “They tend to break a lot on our new buses,” she says.

Drivers have to do safety pre-checks before each trip, mornings and after school. If they hear air escaping, or the air pressure gauge shows it isn’t building enough pressure, they know there is a leak. “I got certified because I wanted to be able to walk out to the bus and know what it is that’s leaking, not just say we have an air leak, but to tell them it’s the right rear brake chamber of a door that’s leaking air, for example,” says the 2010 graduate of Pell City High School. “Safety is important to me, and I wanted to make sure when I talk to our mechanics that I know what I’m talking about. I wanted to speak their language.”

The 27-year-old has always liked taking things apart to see what was inside and to learn how they worked. Her interest in mechanics developed as a teenager, when she hung out with her best friend, Patrick Ferguson, who worked on race cars, fourwheel drives and rock crawlers. “I was his sidekick, and he taught me a lot,” she says. She worked at Advance Auto Parts in Pell City and Leeds for two years, then as a painter’s prepper in a body shop.

Her husband, Joshua, paints vehicles for a living. The couple has two children. Their son, 7-year-old Tristan, thinks it’s cool to hang out at the shop with Mom each morning while awaiting his bus ride to school. Five-year-old Emma has shown no signs of following in Foster’s footsteps.

Kristy Lemley, shop secretary, was impressed when Foster

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

did a road-side repair on a recent trip. “We were taking two buses to Transportation South, a bus dealer and repair shop, and the air line going to her seat busted,” Lemley said. “It made a loud noise, and Stephanie jumped. Then she hopped out of the bus, looked around and found the problem and fixed it. We went on with our trip.”

“They were air-ride seats, and mine dropped to the floor,” Foster recalls. “I couldn’t have driven the bus like that.”

“She doesn’t give herself enough credit,” says Lemley. “She can do my job, her job, the supervisor’s job and most of the jobs of our mechanics.”

Justin Turner and Greg Davis, the other two shop mechanics, spent a lot of time helping her prepare for the state exams.

“Without those two, I would not have made it through the test,” Foster says.

Davis says he and Turner “think the world of her” and that she has been a definite asset to the shop. “If just any woman had come up to me and wanted to be trained, I would have had reservations, but I knew Stephanie’s character,” Davis says.

“She has always been wise beyond her years and driven to be successful at things she does, so I had no qualms about showing her how to become a mechanic. She’s a bulldog, and when she gets something into her head, she does it. Those qualities are hard to find in any gender these days.”

THIS WOMAN ANSWERS TO ‘CHIEF’ Belinda Crapet Johnson has those same “git-‘er-done” qualities. She didn’t grow up wanting to be a police officer.

She stumbled into law enforcement for lack of something to do and discovered her true calling. “My youngest child was in kindergarten, and we lived across the street from Moody City Hall,” says Crapet, who uses her middle name professionally.

“I walked over to see whether the city was hiring. I got a job as part-time dispatcher. I was trained on the job.”

As a dispatcher, she would take a call, then send an officer to investigate. “I often wondered what happened on those calls,” she says. That curiosity led her to attend the Reserve (Weekend) Police Academy in 1992. “They don’t change anything in the academy because you are female,” she says. “Physical agility, firearms, all of the requirements and tests are standardized.”

She prepared herself for the physical demands of the academy by running to get into shape.

Sometime during the early 1990s, central dispatch came into the county, eliminating her job with Moody. She went to work in the county probate office. She had already finished the academy by then, so when Moody had an opening for a police officer, she joined the force.

“I was was there six or eight years and was one of the first school resource officers in that city,” she says. “This was around the time of the Columbine (Colorado) school shooting.”

She was a police officer in Odenville from 2001-2008, served briefly on the Ragland police force, then went to Springville in 2010. “I started as a patrol officer, was promoted to investigator, then I was appointed chief in 2018,” she says. “I had the rank of sergeant in Odenville but was hired as a patrol officer here.”

Although she’s the first female police chief for Springville, Crapet is quick to point out that she isn’t the first woman police chief in St. Clair County. “Branchville has had two women police chiefs, Wendy Long and the late Joann Lowe, and Argo has had one, Rebecca Downing,” she says.

According to a recent article by the Associated Press, only five of the nation’s 50 largest police departments are led by women. A 2013 survey by the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives showed only 169 women leading

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

23

WOMEN WORKING

Police memorabilia on a table in Chief Crapet’s office.

the more than 1,500 law enforcement agencies across the United States that responded to the survey. A 2018 survey reported by Statista, an online business data platform, said only 26.7% of law enforcement officers are female. Springville has two females out of 11 officers, including Chief Crapet.

Even though she’s the chief, Crapet doesn’t wear a full or Class A uniform all the time. “That’s for dress-up,” she says.

She usually works in a Class B uniform, which consists of a Polo-type shirt and black or khaki pants. Her five children grew up seeing their mom in a police uniform, but her eight grandchildren and two great-grands are still getting used to the idea.

“The grandkids don’t usually see me with gun and badge,” she says. “One day I walked into the house of my 3-year-old grandson in full uniform and he said, ‘Nana, what are you doing?’ I said, ‘I’m a police officer.’ He just looked at me.’

Another grandchild had to do a history project and chose female law enforcement officers in Alabama as her topic.”

As for how she would feel about one of her grandchildren going into law enforcement, she says she would support her — or him. So far not one has expressed an interest in it. “I was school resource officer at Moody High School when my kids were there,” she says. “That was awkward for them.”

Her job requires a lot of administrative work in her office at City Hall. That office could best be described as “executive unisex.” A four-month dry-erase calendar hangs on a wall behind her large desk. “A Policeman’s Prayer” banner hangs on another wall, alongside a painting of rocking chairs and an American flag on a country front porch. Facing the desk is a flat-screen television hanging next to a Back-the-Blue wreath.

A vacuum cleaner sits next to a coffee pot.

Theoretically, Crapet only has to spend 40 hours per week in her office or in her unmarked patrol car. Realistically, she is on call 24 hours a day. She doesn’t get called out much in the

24

middle of the night, though. “I had to go out more when I was an investigator,” she says. “My husband hardly knew when I was gone.”

She likes getting out of the office, talking with business owners, their employees and people on the street. She wants them to know she cares. “I go to school events, too,” she says.

“I’m best at community relations. I love that and working with children.”

Frank Mathews, a police investigator for Springville, has known Crapet for 17 years. “She’s a great chief, she’s doing an excellent job,” he says. “It’s the experience she has behind her that makes her so good. She’s been there, done that. She has come up through the ranks. Blue is blue — male or female.”

Springville Mayor William Isley says he recommended Crapet to the City Council upon the recommendation of former Chief Bill Lyle when Lyle retired. “She wears the hat well,” he says. “She works hard to retain the officers we have and makes sure they stay up-to-date on all their certifications. I’m impressed with her. She’s in a male-dominated profession, but this lady has walked into it and stood tall. She demands the respect of all who work for her. I fully support her in all she does.”

Crapet says she and Cathy Goodwin, a lieutenant with the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, have been around longer than any other female law enforcement officers in the county. “I’ve got 29 years of service, 25 of them on the street,” she says. In all that time, she has caught no flack about being female, neither from fellow officers nor from people in the communities in which she has served. “I’ve had a lot of good mentoring from male officers through the years,” she says.

“I’ve seen a lot of women come and go. I’m still here because I’m just stubborn. When you come into this field, as long as you realize you are held to the same standard as male officers, you will be fine.” l

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

2206 Martin St S Pell City, AL 35128-2356 Phone (205) 884-3470 (205) 473-9080 Fax (866) 666-8481 Proudly serving Alabama communities in Pell City, Ragland, Odenville, Branchville, Cropwell, Alpine and Vincent.

415 Cook Springs Rd. Pell City, AL 35125

• Assisted Living • Specialty Care Assisted Living • Skilled Nursing • Independent Living • Short Term Rehab

Village at Cook Springs offers a unique setting for senior living – where the serenity of country living comes together with personalized services and amenities to meet your needs.

Village at Cook Springs is a multi-level care retirement community nestled on 200+ acres, offering serene country living with all the conveniences, and services of city life. Whether you are gathering around the piano, or sharing a meal with family and friends, you will always know you are part of a truly special community.

Phone: (205) 814-3254 | www.villageatcooksprings.com

Class of 1920 Cropwell students lived in a very different world a century ago The class of 1920 in front of the school

26

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

Story by Leigh Pritchett Photos by Wallace Bromberg and submitted The graduating class of 2020 has grown up in a digital age that puts the world at their fingertips.

Even as they prepare to go into a future full of technological advances once thought impossible, President Donald Trump is forming the U.S. Space Force (the sixth branch of the military) and speaks of manned missions to Mars.

The counterparts to the class of 2020 – the class of 1920 – lived in a vastly different world.

Automobiles were a new thing and World War I was raging. Women were not yet able to vote. Fireplaces and wood-burning stoves provided heat, while candles and oil lamps were the source of light. Radios were a novelty, and fewer than half the homes in the U.S. had a telephone or complete indoor plumbing.

Six females – Annie and Addie Scott, Elizabeth Knight, Mary Mays, Sallie and Ethel Boley – made up the Cropwell High School Class of 1920. They studied all their subjects in one classroom and were taught by one teacher, Roy Gibson.

The six students also were the entire girls’ basketball team; Gibson was their coach.

The small, frame school was situated where Mays Bend Road and Alabama 34 meet. A former fire station currently sits about where the school was.

In that little school, “they were taught a variety of subjects ... including English, Grammar, Arithmetic, Agriculture, Health, Spelling, Reading, Geography, Alabama and United States History, first-year Latin, Cicero, Caesar, Algebra, Plane and Solid Geometry, Rhetoric, Ancient, Medieval and Modern History, and History of England, the works of Shakespeare and Dickens and other English writers, and Literature,” notes a St. Clair NewsAegis article from Nov. 7, 1968. The occasion for the article was the class’ 48th-year reunion.

Emma Scott Milam of Pell City, whose mother was Elizabeth Knight Scott, said the math the girls took was equivalent to calculus.

Emma said the six girls took a test after completing eighth grade to see if they qualified to teach. All six were awarded teaching certificates that allowed them to teach up to third grade.

In addition, all six attended college after high school, and some received college degrees, Emma said.

Mindy Milam Manners of Ragland, Emma’s daughter, noted that each of the girls, in adulthood, made positive contributions to their community.

The girls posing on a ladder in a field.

50-year reunion: Ethel B. Morris, Addie S. Gray, Elizabeth K. Scott, Anne S. Stephens, Roy Gibson, Mary Mays and Sally b. Goodwin

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

27

Class of 1920

The basketball team

Elizabeth Knight Elizabeth, known as “Lib,” was senior class secretary.

She and classmate Mary Mays were first cousins and roommates at Judson College.

After a year of college, Lib married Clarence William Scott, the brother of Lib’s high school classmates, Annie and Addie Scott.

Clarence would team with his brothers, Leonard and Earnest, to operate Scott Bros. Hardware in Pell City for many years.

Lib and Clarence had four children – Bill, Bettie, Martha and Emma. When the Scott children graduated from high school, their diplomas were signed by Roy Gibson, who by that time was St. Clair County’s superintendent of education.

A private person, Lib focused on being a wife and mother.

She instilled honesty and dependability in her children and taught them not to gossip, Emma said.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better mom,” said Emma.

Mindy described her grandmother as “selfless.”

An example was Lib’s kindness toward a new mother who was sick. According to Emma, Lib washed diapers, hung them out to dry, folded them and ironed the baby’s clothes ... everyday ... for months ... until the mother recovered.

Each afternoon, Bill was expected to put coal and firewood for the next day inside another neighbor’s house.

Looking out for neighbors was such a part of their fiber that all four children made it a career. Bill Scott became an attorney in the banking industry and was married to Margaret Parrish

28

Scott until her death. Margaret had an extensive tenure as an English teacher at Pell City High School. Bettie Scott was city clerk, and Martha Scott Weeks taught higher math at Pell City High School. Emma assisted hundreds of families in her 30 years with Pell City’s Housing Authority and helped to form what is now the local Boys and Girls Club.

Lib and Clarence also were quite involved at First Baptist Church in Pell City, a legacy their children continued.

“They were always at church and made sure their children were in church,” Mindy said.

Annie Scott Annie was treasurer of the senior class, a post that foreshadowed her career.

She and classmate Addie Scott were sisters.

After high school, Annie graduated from Florence Normal School (now the University of North Alabama). According to the newspaper account, Annie “later taught in various counties throughout the state.”

But she is remembered most as “Miss Annie,” the bookkeeper at Pell City Drug Company (the corner Rexall Drug Store).

At that time, customer accounts were written by hand and tabulated without computers, said Carolyn Hall of Pell City.

As far back into childhood as Carolyn can recall, Miss Annie was working at the Rexall.

“I knew her all of my life,” Carolyn said. “She was part of the drug store.”

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

WE KNOW WHEN TO BE THE BANKER, AND WHEN TO BE THE FARMER.

JIM TOLLISON

TODD SEAY

KARLEE TUCKER

KENNEDY GIBBS

205.812.3193 jim.tollison@alabamafarmcredit.com

205.218.5694 todd.seay@alabamafarmcredit.com

205.863.8460 karlee.tucker@alabamafarmcredit.com

205.239.6594 kennedy.gibbs@alabamafarmcredit.com

VP BRANCH MANAGER

LOAN OFFICER

LOAN OFFICER

LOAN OFFICER

TALLADEGA BRANCH

Serving Calhoun, Clay, Cleburne, Randolph, Shelby, St. Clair & Talladega Counties 65696 AL HWY 77 TALLADEGA, AL 35160 OFFICE - (256) 362-0507 | TOLL FREE - (888) 305-0098

AlabamaFarmCredit.com

© 2020 ALABAMA FARM CREDIT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

GET IN ––––– GET OUT ––––– GET BETTER –––––

A D I V I S I O N O F N O RT H S I D E M E D I C A L A S S O C I AT E S

We offer the most comprehensive primary and specialty care in area.

The

Difference:

ONSITE DIAGNOSTIC LAB ADVANCED IMAGING

Trusted Urgent Care 7 days a week

ONSITE RETAIL PHARMACY

205-814-9284

D r. J e r e m y A l l e n

7 0 P l a z a D r i v e Pe l l C i t y, A L | N o r t h s i d e M e d . c o m

M o n d a y – S a t u rd a y 8 : 0 0 a m – 8 : 0 0 p m S u n d a y 1 : 0 0 p m – 6 : 0 0 p m

Class of 1920 Carolyn grew up at the store, which was run by her parents, Ben and Mary Ruth Kincaid. Mary Ruth had inherited it from her father, Dr. R.A. Martin. When Carolyn and husband Bob Hall acquired the store, Carolyn became the third generation to operate the Rexall.

Miss Annie’s presence at the store was “a tradition,” Carolyn said. “... She knew all the people by name.”

Miss Annie remained single until her 50s, when she married K.V. Stephens.

Addie Scott Addie was the class historian.

She and Annie were two of 10 children born to sharecropper parents, who farmed land on “Jaybird Hill” along Alabama 34. Addie would practice her Latin while picking cotton.

She married Cecil Gray Sr. and raised three children.

“And I’m the baby,” said 93-year-old Elaine Gray Goodgame of Pell City. Elaine worked in the county agent’s office and the unemployment office, and her sister, Mary Gray Fleming, was a postal worker.

Elaine’s husband, J.D. Goodgame, and her brother, Cecil Gray Jr., operated Gray and Goodgame Garage in Pell City for many years.

With the teaching certificate awarded after eighth grade, Addie began teaching during World War II at the school from which she had graduated in 1920.

“She didn’t teach school while we were growing up,” Elaine said. Addie became a substitute teacher while many male teachers were called to serve in World War II. When the Cropwell school was closed, Addie transferred to South St. Clair School (now Iola Roberts Elementary School).

She had a heart for learners who struggled academically.

“She always read the Bible before she taught,” Elaine said.

In 1964, Addie received her college degree. “She was teaching (during the school year) and going (to college) in the summertime,” Elaine said. “My mother graduated from Alabama College (now the University of Montevallo) after I was married and had children.”

Addie churned butter that sold at the Cogswell Avenue store of Elaine’s grandfather, C.D. Gray. She preserved her own food and did not even venture into a large grocery store until her children were grown and married. Nor did she drive until her children were adults.

Addie taught Sunday school and was

30

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

More class photos from the yearbook.

Teacher Roy Gibson poses with the girls

Logan Martin & Neely Henry

Visit our store in Pell City at 1911 Cogswell Avenue or see us at Lakefest

THE ESSENCE OF LIVING ON THE WATER Shop online at LoganMartinLakeLife.com and NeelyHenryLakeLife.com SEE LAKELIFE247.COM FOR OUR FULL LIST OF PRODUCTS FOR OTHER ALABAMA LAKES

Class of 1920 church clerk at Cropwell Baptist Church. She and classmate Ethel Boley Morris were close friends for life.

Addie retired as a teacher in 1976 and lived to be 88.

Mary Mays Mary was the senior class musician.

Her relatives are the namesake of Mays Bend and operated the clothing store Mays & Jones in Pell City for decades.

Mary not only graduated from Judson College but also attended Randolph Macon College in Virginia, states the newspaper account.

Florence Compton of Pell City, a Mays & Jones employee for 31 years, said Mary worked a long time in a department store in Washington, D.C. Mary remained single. “Her nieces were like her children,” Florence said.

Mary left her mark on the community in several visible ways.

A report prepared for the U.S. Congress titled The Bicentennial of the United States of America: American Revolution Bicentennial 1776-1976 reveals that Mary was project coordinator or chairwoman for Pell City Bicentennial Commission. One of the events the commission coordinated was the placing of the historical marker at Cropwell Historical Park on Mays Drive across from Cropwell Baptist Church.

Mary also helped St. Simon Peter Episcopal Church in Pell City to get established. According to the church’s written history, Mary served on early organizational committees and opened her home for adult Sunday school classes prior to the church’s construction.

The 1981 plaque at the church’s entrance recognizes those who contributed to construction, “including notably Mary Arminda Mays, a member of one of the pioneer families of the Cropwell community.”

In addition, Mary gave the church a long, wooden table that dates from about 1895. The table is from the Old Brick Store in Cropwell and sits in the church’s fellowship hall. The Rev. Mollie Roberts, St. Simon Peter’s rector, called the table a “prized possession.”

Ethel Boley Ethel was prophet of the senior class.

Classmate Sallie Boley was Ethel’s aunt.

Ethel knew how to drive a Ford Model T and a Model A, according to son Pat Morris of Navarre, Fla. The imprint of Ethel’s family upon Cropwell High School was quite significant.

“My granddaddy (Ethel’s father, James Perry Boley) helped to build that frame school,” said Pat. After high school, Ethel attended Florence Normal School, notes the newspaper article.

Ethel later taught for two years in Riverside, said daughter Yvonne Wilson of Panama City, Fla. In fact, Ethel was the only teacher in Riverside and, therefore, taught first through sixth grades.

Then a man named Oscar Morris came to town.

Oscar was an attorney educated in Virginia who practiced and taught law in Georgia. But he had to change careers after a tick bite left him with a condition for which his doctor prescribed lots of fresh air. A sand pit and brickyard across the river from Riverside offered that opportunity.

Candace Smith, Riverside city clerk, said Riverside Brickyard

32

Elizabeth and Clarence Scott

Pat Morris, son of Ethel boley Morris.

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

NEW LOGO | NEW COLORS

SAME BANKERS You may know us as Valley National Bank. Now, just call us Valley. The way we refer to ourselves may be new. But what isn’t new is our dedication to helping you achieve your financial goals. As a mid-sized regional bank, we’re proud to offer you all the advantages of a large financial institution with the personalized service of a small one. This is banking with flexibility—how, where and when you want it.

PELL CITY 1930 Martin Street South

© 2018 Valley National Bank. Member FDIC. Equal Opportunity Lender. All Rights Reserved. VCS-8270

Valley.com

800.522.4100

Class of 1920 was co-owned by Oscar and his brother, Mercer Morris.

This business venture allowed Oscar to meet and marry Ethel.

Pat, who worked for AT&T, and Yvonne, who was a crisis counselor, are two of Ethel and Oscar’s five children. The other three were Patricia Jordan, who was a homemaker; Boyd, who worked in construction; and Hamilton, who was a municipal mechanic.

The Morrises brought up their family in an 1890s home that still stands in Riverside.

According to city records, Oscar was mayor of Riverside for a time in the 1930s.

Yvonne remembers her mother as being independent, “courageous” and “always busy.”

Ethel was resourceful, too. Although Ethel had married a “well-to-do” husband, the Depression hit the family hard. Ethel prepared huckleberry cobblers, watercress salads and other creative dishes to make certain her family had food during those lean years.

Ethel taught her children many valuable things, but especially about honesty and proper English, Yvonne said.

“If you dropped a participle, you might as well have spit on the floor,” Yvonne said with a laugh.

“She received a good education in English,” Pat said of his mother. “She would critique me if I wrote a letter to her in technical school.”

Ethel’s desire to help people master English spanned her entire adult life. At 94, when she was living in a long-term care facility, she was instructing individuals who had asked her to help them learn to speak proper English.

Ethel lived two months past her 100th birthday.

Emma Milam

Sallie Boley Sallie was class president.

She was the sister of Ethel’s father, James Perry Boley.

In adulthood, she was known as “Aunt Sallie.”

Yvonne said Sallie Boley Goodwin taught for a while.

By 1968, according to the newspaper article, Sallie was a homemaker.

Yvonne said Sallie had one son, Charlie.

“She was such a sweet lady and caring,” Yvonne recalled.

“She would do anything for anybody.” l

Yvonne Wilson, daughter of Ethel Boley Morris

Elaine Goodgame 34

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

Facelift Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Rejuvenation) Abdominoplasty Breast Augmentation Breast Lift Liposuction

Make the right choice

When you choose a plastic surgeon, you want an experienced surgeon you can trust.

Dr. Shelby Eich is a board certified plastic surgeon and a third generation Alabamian, who specializes in putting his patients first.

With plastic surgery as his exclusive practice, he knows the special needs and desires of his patients.

His office is an accredited surgery center which enables most patients to never step foot in a hospital, offering them the privacy they want.

Choosing the right plastic surgeon for you is a monumental decision. Make it easier with Dr. Shelby Eich, a plastic surgeon with the skills and experience you can trust.

Mommy Makeovers Body Contouring after Weight Loss Rhinoplasty Botox & Juvéderm Treatment of Skin Cancers

200 Pilot Medical Drive, Suite 100 Birmingham, AL 35235-3445

(205) 856-6155

www.eichplasticsurgery.com

T

oday, while we may use more modern tools to do the job, our core mission is still the same.

Provide reliable service at the most affordable price possible.

We are your electric cooperative.

Irene Latham Poet and Storyteller

From music to quilts and more, Irene Latham is a true artist.

36

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

Traveling the

BACKROADS

Story by Joe Whitten Submitted photos When Irene Latham tells of her childhood, her eyes glow with happy memories, and you realize it’s no wonder she’s a successful poet and children’s book author.

Her father, Ken Dykes, grew up in small-town Port St. Joe, Fla., and her mom, Mary Hedden Dykes, grew up on a central Florida citrus farm.

Ken and Mary met at Florida State University, fell in love and married.

Ken earned a degree in business administration, and eager to move beyond Port St. Joe, took far-flung jobs for the adventure of it. One of those jobs landed him in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for two-and-a-half years as a hospital administrator.

As Irene tells it, her parents understood the value of adventure in education. “There were five of us kids, and my mother was a teacher.

So, rather than packing up and immediately coming back to the United States, we traveled worldwide for several months – my mom doing flash cards with us on the plane and in and out of hotels all over the world.

That had a huge impact on me. It gave me an interest in other cultures and taught me that not everybody looks like me or lives like me.”

Returning to the United States, the family lived in Florida and other southeastern states before settling in Trussville in 1984. Irene graduated from Hewitt-Trussville High School and then from UAB, earning a degree in social work.

When asked where she and Paul Latham met, Irene told the story.

“In the social work department at UAB, the program drew a lot of folks who’d had hard times in their lives. There were a lot of older people in that school, which I loved, because they had stories to tell. I became really good friends with a blind woman. She was good friends with Paul’s sister; so, they set us up on a blind date. My blind friend arranged the blind date. I knew Paul was something special during the first

37

Traveling the

BACKROADS Paul and Irene show off a quilt.

telephone conversation, and that evening told my sister he was the one.” Paul and Irene were engaged within about three months of that first date and married in 1991.

In addition to soaking up experiences from adventurous travels in other countries, the stories her mother shared about growing up on the citrus farm gave her a love of the stories others could tell. “My mother has great stories,” Irene recalled. “Stories of 4-H and frost and cows in the back pasture and feeding them grapefruit.” Additionally, her mother’s love for sewing set the stage for Irene’s passion for quilts. This caused her to research the quilters of Gee’s Bend, a project which resulted in a novel set there.

But who influenced and encouraged her the most? She quickly said it was her dad and his reading to his children and confessed she probably enjoyed it more than her siblings did.

Irene had a lilt in her voice as she reminisced about her dad. “He was one of those super readers who read a book a day on an average. So, from as early as I can remember, he was reading to us. There were five of us kids, but I’m really the only one that stuck with. And I have so many vivid memories of him reading to me, and poetry was what he started with – poets like Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss and later Khalil Gibran. I remember him reciting many poems.

“My Dad was my great encourager” she continued. “He would give me writing challenges. He was a stamp collector, and a favorite memory is when he gave me an envelope that he’d bought for the stamp.

It was addressed to Charles Lindberg. He said to me, and he did this often: ‘Write something about this envelope. What’s in it; what’s the story behind the envelope?’ So, I got to invent who sent it and what it was about. He was constantly encouraging me to be inventive and creative. In school, I was taught to have proper grammar and use the correct punctuation, but he helped me think about the story.”

Sometimes her dad would have her read a story and rewrite it from a different perspective. John Steinbeck’s The Pearl was one such story. When her dad read her version, Irene recalled, “He said it was too similar to The Pearl, and that it needed to be more different and updated … It always broke my heart if he was critical in any way, and he wasn’t very often.

“Papa was my greatest cheerleader. I still hear his voice urging me on.”

38

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

ST. CLAIR COUNTY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

SERVING THE RESIDENTS OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY SINCE 2009

IF YOU NEED A RIDE, GIVE US A CALL!

205-338-1352

Traveling the

BACKROADS Irene loves the simple act of creating stories and poems.

40

THE MAGIC OF POETRY Children love poetry because of its musicality – the cadence and rhyming words, and Irene started writing poetry early. “My first poems were love poems to my Mom. I wrote tons of little poems for her; she still has a box of them.” She continued to write through her teen years. “But I was really shy,” she said, “I didn’t share what I wrote with others. It was personal, and I did it for fun.”

After she and Paul married and lived on Beaver Creek Mountain that overlooked Beaver Valley on one side and Shoal Creek Valley on the other, Irene wrote many stories and poems simply for the pleasure of creating with words – the love of the creative process which her father awoke in her.

The pages accumulated. “I wrote a lot between college and having kids,” Irene admitted. “I remember Paul, looking around the house one day, and he said, ‘Are you ever going to do anything with all this paper?’ The stories were stacking up! And I thought, ‘Hmm, maybe now I could try.’”

Irene signed up for a UAB community education freelance magazine writing class, and recalled the first session, “I remember sitting at this big table, and we all went around the table (and I was very shy) to say why we were there. I said something like, ‘I’m Irene and I write poetry.’ I can remember the instructor, Cheryl Wray, saying, ‘There’s no market for poetry.’ I realized at that point that

freelance was not for me.”

But, around the same time, Irene joined the Alabama State Poetry Society (ASPS), in which many St. Clair County poets participate.

This society conducts poetry writing workshops in the spring and fall of each year, and at those meetings announces the winners of the poetry contests they sponsored.

In recalling her first meeting with the ASPS, Irene said, “I remember coming there with my infant son in arms and getting plugged into the poetry community. I started attending the meetings, entering the contests and getting feedback from other poets, and then I started the self-publishing process.”

Her contest poems and self-published poetry books got high praise from other Alabama poets who became familiar with her work. ASPS named her Poet of the Year in 2006. In 2007, Negative Capability Press in Mobile published her poetry collection, What Came Before.

Fellow poets respect her skill. “Irene’s poetry is a rare blend of openness and intelligence, original thought and honesty,” said Barry Marks, a past president of ASPS and a published poet. “There’s nothing opaque or difficult about her verse, but it is never sentimental and is often surprising.

“When people complain that they don’t like poetry because it’s too contrived or difficult to understand, I suggest they read a few of Irene’s poems.”

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

We’ve Moved!

Centrally located with all our services under one roof to better serve you!

We’re your hometown doctors and so much more …

• • • • • • •

Primary & Specialist Care • Onsite Physical Therapy from ATI Jotani Aesthetics • Walk-ins Welcome Family Wellness Care Women’s Health Sports Medicine EXTENDED HOURS Outpatient Care Saturday & Sunday clinics now open Onsite Diagnostics

Established in 2012, PCIFM continues to grow with the region, adding specialties and services to better serve the needs of our patients.

Meet our new team member, Misty Ralyea, CRNP

205-884-9000

www.pcifm.com

41 Eminence Way, Suite A, Pell City, Alabama 35128

Traveling the

BACKROADS Irene and Paul Latham

THE STORY WITHIN The success with poetry gratified and encouraged Irene, but, “the stories that lived in my heart – aside from poetry – were the stories I had read as a kid, like Little House on the Prairie, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Black Stallion – a lot of animal stories. I was writing a lot of that kind of stuff.

“I would show those to my sister, who also loved those kinds of books, and get some encouragement. So, I was thinking, ‘You’ve only got so much time!’ By then, I was a parent and thinking, ‘Where do I want to put my energy as a writer?’ I saw myself as having dual roads with poetry and children’s fiction.”

Irene still longed to write stories for children and pre-teens, so with that in mind, she searched for children’s fiction writing groups and found The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

“I started attending their conferences,” Irene relates. “At their conferences, you meet agents and editors, and you can submit your work for feedback from professionals.

“The very first time I did that, an editor … wanted to see the full manuscript. It was a great shot in the arm. I thought, ‘I’m on the right track!’”

That editor did not buy the manuscript, but it was professional validation, and the author never looked back.

“Then, Ludelphia and quilts entered my life,” Irene said. This story of Ludelphia of Gee’s Bend and the quilts of that community evolved from a visit to New York City. “I believe it was 2002,” Irene reminisces, “and we were on the airplane – just us, no kids. I was looking at the New York magazine and figuring out what to do with our time. … There was a blurb for the Whitney Museum and The

42

Quilts of Gee’s Bend, Gee’s Bend, Ala. We love quilts and we love Alabama, so we decided to go, and as it turned out, that was the closing day of the exhibit.”

That exhibit’s closing date required the Lathams to go that day.

They did, and the waiting line stretched around the block. It took an hour and a half to get in to see the quilts. Irene had grown up with a love for creativity with fabric and knew she’d enjoy the quilts because of her mother’s sewing.

As they entered the gallery, they heard the glorious sounds of African American women singing songs in those minor keys reaching back into days of bondage and the longing for freedom. “I got chills,” Irene recalled. “It was so beautiful … and my heart was open to the experience when I walked into the room and saw the quilts.”

The curators of the exhibit hung the quilts from the ceiling so that visitors could see both front and back of each quilt. Posted placards gave information about each quilter. “I was absolutely enchanted,” Irene said. “I came home with that big coffee-table book, The Quilts of Gee’s Bend, with all these first-hand narratives – it had been well researched. I am a person who loves Alabama and loves these stories.

I was hooked.”

FINDING HER VOICE Irene set out on a research journey that took her to Gee’s Bend several times to meet and talk with the quilters themselves. Between taking children to school and being back in time to pick them up in the afternoon, she followed the Gee’s Bend quilt exhibits around Alabama.

“After a couple of years,” she continued, “this little voice emerged

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

Detect it sooner.

Treat it earlier.

Enhance Your Outcomes.

Hologic Bone Density Scanner

Did you know?

Women are more likely to get osteoporosis compared to men Risk factors: • Family history of broken bones or osteoporosis • Early menopause • Smoking • Having a small body frame • Have broken a bone after age 50 • Had surgery to remove their ovaries before their periods stopped • Had early menopause • Have not gotten enough calcium and/or vitamin D throughout their lives • Had extended bed rest or were physically inactive • Take certain medications, including medicines for arthritis and asthma and some cancer drugs • Used certain medicines for a long time Knowing your bone density is key to effective treatment and a healthier you!

Call Northside Health and Wellness for an appointment today!

Covered by insurance for all women at risk, as well as those that have had a fracture within the last 6 months.

74 Plaza Drive, Pell City | NorthsideMed.com

205-814-7249

HAVE YOU BEEN COUNTED?

If you have not responded to the 2020 Census, IT’S NOT TO LATE You can respond at www.my2020census.gov or your local library, city hall or the Extension Office located inside the St. Clair courthouse in Pell City.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

• Funding for local libraries & our schools • Funding for highway planning and construction • Funding for infrastructure projects • Community Block Grants & Public Park Grants • Homeland Security Grants for our First Responders • Congressional Seat & Electoral Vote

Together, we can make sure all of ST. CLAIR COUNTY COUNTS!

Traveling the

BACKROADS

A quilt hangs on the wall over their bed.

44

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

… and finally, I said, ‘I’m gonna follow this voice. I’m gonna see where this takes me.’ When I shared my progress with my children’s writing community, I got positive feedback about the historical value.

This was a story that needed to be told.”

In her meticulous research, she learned of Gee’s Bend’s slave history and their abject poverty in the 1930s when the widow of a Camden businessman foreclosed on the entire community and came and took by force their pigs, cows, horses and household goods.

She learned of the closing of the Gee’s Bend Ferry that provided a nearer connection to the county seat than the 36-mile round trip by road. The county closed the ferry for one reason only: to stymie voter registration.

She learned the quilters’ stories firsthand and how the quilts originated for warm cover in unheated homes. The women used good parts of worn-out overalls and other garments, piecing the tops spontaneously without any drawn or paper patterns. Without their knowing it, they produced works of modern art with quilts, and when they were discovered, museum galleries across the United States exhibited them and flew the quilters to be at the exhibits and meet museum attendees.

The outcome of Irene’s passion for quilts resulted in G.P. Putman’s Sons (an imprint of Penquin) publishing in 2010 Leaving Gee’s Bend, a novel for pre-teen readers. The story inspired by the quiltmakers of Gee’s Bend and actual events, tells a powerful story of love, family and resilience. It’s about a courageous 10-year-old girl named Ludelphia in 1932 Gee’s Bend, who loves her life and her mama more than anything. When Mama gets sick, Ludelphia sets out to find medical help, leaving Gee’s Bend for the first time. Along her journey she meets friend and foe, learns about the world and the value of her own community as she tells her story by stitching fabric pieces into a quilt top – just like mama.

Gee’s Bend quilter Claudia Pettway Charley and her mother met Irene over a decade ago when they showed their quilts in Birmingham. “We immediately hit it off,” Claudia recalled. “She was an established author, and my mother, Tinnie Pettway, had written a book of poems and short stories. … Irene expressed her love and interest of Gee’s Bend and wanting to write a book about our community. It was definitely special for me. I was also once a little girl who grew up in Gee’s Bend. That was my home. Moreover, she understood what the quilts were all about. Our quilts were a source of survival first.”

Claudia and Irene have given programs at high schools and libraries in Alabama, telling their stories of Gee’s Bend quilts and the story of writing the novel. Audiences respond to Claudia’s stories about Gee’s Bend’s history and how that community and her people inspired Irene to write Leaving Gee’s Bend.

Leeds novelist Ramey Channell made this observation: “Irene Latham is a multi-talented writer whose award-winning prose and poetry are crafted with wonder and clarity. Irene’s Leaving Gee’s Bend is an intriguing story of a spunky young girl in Depression-era Alabama, bravely facing a challenging world.

“Since its first release in 2010, Irene has given hundreds of presentations about the people and arts of Gee’s Bend. She’s also passionate about helping others write their poems and stories. I’m always delighted when I open my mailbox and find one of Irene’s beautiful postcards exhorting me to ‘Live Your Poem.’ Irene Latham is a treasure.”

Irene’s second book set in Alabama is Don’t Feed the Boy, published in 2012. This current-day story about a boy who lives at a fictional central Alabama zoo was inspired by the Birmingham Zoo and Irene’s serving there as a teen volunteer.

The boy, Whit, is unhappy with his life, and when he meets the Bird Girl who comes each day to the zoo to escape her difficult homelife, he finds a friend. Together they struggle through big feelings, like feeling unseen, unimportant, and big issues like family addiction and violence. Whit and Bird Girl have grand behind-thescenes adventures at the zoo, eventually figuring out where they belong in the world.

PUT OUR EXPERIENCE TO WORK FOR YOU

The Robinson Law Firm rlflaw.net

205-594-5133

Voted St. Clair County’s Best Lawyer 2018

ASHVILLE ASHVILLE Sixth Avenue-Court Avenue-Court Street Street West West Sixth PELL CITY CITY PELL 1911 Martin Martin Street Street So, So, Suite Suite BB 1911

“No representation is made as to the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than those performed by other lawyers.”

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

45

Traveling the

BACKROADS Following the stories of Gee’s Bend quilters played a key role in Irene’s development as an author.

BOOKS KEEP COMING In 2019, her third Alabama-locale book rolled off the press.

Meet Miss Fancy, a children’s book about the elephant that lived at Avondale Park from 1913 to 1944. The Alabama Library Association chose Meet Miss Fancy to receive The Alabama Author’s Award for Juvenile Fiction for 2019.

Irene’s inspiration for this story came from an article, “Miss Fancy of the Avondale Zoo,” in Alabama Heritage written by Jim Baggett, archivist at the downtown Birmingham Library. This launched her into another research journey of learning more about difficulties faced by African Americans in the South.

“I was initially drawn to write about Miss Fancy because she was so beloved by the community and she had all these adventures. She got out and ate the pies off the windowsill. I tried writing several whimsical stories about Miss Fancy, and my agents’ response was, ‘No, no, not quite.’ I kept looking for a unique angle.”

Her patient research paid off when she came across an obscure reference to the 16th Street Baptist Church having petitioned to visit Miss Fancy at the Avondale Park.

Until that point, she’d not thought of the Jim Crow laws which restricted where the black citizens could and could not go. They couldn’t meet Miss Fancy.

“Instantly, this little boy Frank popped into my head,” Irene recalled. “This little African-American boy who loved elephants, and there was one nearby, but he wasn’t allowed to get close to her.”

The story revolves around Frank’s problem and how he solved it with help from his family, church and pastor. Of this book and its characters, Irene says, “My heart broke for Frank. I liked his courage

46

and determination. Also, the kindness of the people that showed up in that book. Even though it’s at a terrible time in our history, kindness did exist and does exist. And there’s hope in that.”

In 2019, Jamie Twente, director of Springville Library, arranged for Irene to give a presentation to all Springville Elementary School fourth-grade students about Meet Miss Fancy and how she came to write the story. Principal Gregory Moore arranged for every fourthgrader to receive a take-home copy of the book.

Irene currently has nine published books with three more scheduled for 2020 publication. Her latest, co-written with Charles Waters, and released Feb. 4, is titled Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z. Scheduled for April 2020 release, The Cat Man of Aleppo, co-written with Karim Shamsi-Basha, is based on the true story of Mohammed Alaa al-Jaleel who lived in war-torn Aleppo, Syria. Instead of fleeing the beleaguered city when so many did, he stayed and cared for the abandoned cats and pets.

He created a pet sanctuary that has flourished. Mohammed Alaa alJaleel’s personal note to the book is printed in English and Arabic.

Paul Latham’s question about those accumulated reams of stories and poems at their home atop Beaver Creek Mountain, “Are you ever going to do anything with all this paper?” set Irene on the journey of becoming a well-published children’s author. Today, she still does intensive research for her stories and writes them at the Latham’s home above Springville at Highland Lake.

Emily Dickenson wrote, “Success is counted sweetest by those who ne’er succeed.” You’ve proved her wrong, Irene. Enjoy your sweet success. Keep those stories and poems coming from your creative soul. Papa’s voice urges you on. l

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

Let the Season Begin!

Discover The essence of St. Clair

Special Magazine Section April & May 2020

l BOAT SHOW: Page 48 l BUCK’S ISLAND: Page 60 l LOGAN MARTIN LAKEFEST: Page 64 l RECREATION BY THE WATER: Page 68 l PRO KAYAK FISHING: Page 72 l JSU AND ZEKE GOSSETT WIN: Page 76

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2017

Maeva Pope tries out a paddleboard.

Photo by Matthew Pope

47

Best of the Best

Local dealers dominate Alabama’s biggest boat show Story by Jackie Romine Walburn Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr. St. Clair-based boat dealers and local dock and boat house builders accounted for about a third of the more than 20 exhibitors at the 49th annual Birmingham Boat Show, the oldest and largest in the state.

And rightly so. St. Clair is blessed with two lakes and a host of businesses to make the lake season an understandable favorite for getting out on the water and making the most of it.

Exhibiting at the boat show allows dealers to show off the newest in design and amenities in boats they sell – including fishing, pontoon, deck, ski, wakeboard, wakesurf and leisure boats – to thousands of visitors during the four-day event at the Birmingham Civic Center Jan. 23-26. The annual exhibitioon also brings “boat-show” pricing from manufacturers.

Among those showing were Poor House Branch Marina in Lincoln and Rodney’s Marine, Trident Marine Group and Woods Surfside Marina from Pell City and Cropwell. All brought their top sellers for 2020 to show off what’s new and unique, take custom orders and often sell the exhibited boats, too.

“This is not your daddy’s pontoon boat,” says Trident Marine Group co-owner Jeff Tolbert, pointing to the Trifecta 900 hp double-engine pontoon boat, Trident’s most unique offering at the boat show. “There are only three in the U.S. right now,” Tolbert said. The 30-foot fiberglass “tri-toon” with its twin 450 hp Mercury engines can push the luxury ship up to 83 miles per hour.

Armed with lighted speaker systems and matching under lights, front and rear cameras that display on a state-of-the-art touch screen and two deluxe leather captain seats, the new Trifecta combines luxury with horsepower and was boat show priced at about $254,000. Trident had already taken two custom orders for the Trifecta boat, which is being manufactured in northern Indiana.

Trident’s Cropwell business is one of three locations where they sell Trifecta, South Bay and Berkshire boats, the pontoon boat lines produced by Forest River, a Berkshire-Hathaway company associated with financier Warren Buffett.

Geared toward families, with free admission for

48

The step-down bow of this boat is perfect for entertaining on the water.

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

Woods Surfside at the show.

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

49

Boat Show

children 12 and younger, the boat show dedicates 250,000 square feet of exhibit space to highlighting the latest in boats, motors, boathouses, piers and boat-lift design, plus fishing gear, guides and outfitters.

For local boat dealers, the investment in the boat show exhibits pays off in new and returning customers and brand recognition.

“The boat-show pricing brings in customers, and the quality of the products often drives customers to our stores,” says Eddie Rush of Poor House Branch Marina and Boat Outlet on Logan Martin Lake. They specialize in Avalon boats, which are manufactured in Michigan.

“The boat show is also a chance for us to see what customers are looking for,” he says. Most dealers bring top 2020 boats to show and share information about other offerings, including used boats, available at the dealer locations.

The newest Avalon offering – the Avalon WakeToon-Surf series that’s designed as a wakeboard surfing boat – was not on display at the boat show. The new WakeToon is in production and won a 2020 national innovation award from the National Marine Manufacturers Association, says Mark Semino of Avalon boats.

Aside from the new WakeToon, Avalon has made few changes in its design in recent years, Semino says. “We’ve been very successful with our core boat, so there are not many changes,” just new color offerings and the popular addition of a center console pontoon the company introduced in recent years, he says.

Poor House Branch Marina, located on Logan Martin at Lincoln, also offers service and repair, boat storage and boat rental.

Over at Woods Surfside Marina’s boat show exhibition, co-

50

Boat dealers can help you match the perfect motor for your pontoon.

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

51

This boat has a premium sound system, with speakers mounted overhead as well as along the deck.

54

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

Boat Show

FREE 5 YR .

2020 Tahoe T16

$15,995 owner Eva Hildebrant pointed out Bennington’s new Bowrider pontoon, which has a step-down U-lounge seating area in the front of the boat. The Bennington Bowrider, available in 20and 24-foot lengths, also placed in the 2020 national innovation awards.

The new design won an honorable mention for the industry’s first bowrider-style pontoon, with innovation judges noting that “the stadium-like seating increases driver sight lines while providing a sporty and elegant look not seen before.”

Woods Surfside Marina also brought along Xpress Aluminum fishing boats and highlighted a variety of Bennington Pontoon boats, the No. 1 brand pontoon in the U.S. The 14-acre Marina at Cropwell has more than 300 dry storage stalls and three piers of wet slips, offers full-service gas and a valet boat launch service. Woods Surfside also carries Yamaha and Mercury motors and sells pre-owned boats.

Rodney’s Marine Center in Pell City brought to the boat show Starcraft tri-toon and Silver Wave pontoon boats and Blue Wave and Carolina Skiff-Sea Chaser center-console boats.

But the star of Rodney’s boat show offerings was the new 300 hp Silver Wave fiberglass tri-toon boat equipped with RGB lights, Bluetooth control and a touch-screen system with forward and back camera. RGB lights are red, blue and green LED lights that combine the three colors to produce more than 16 million hues of light.

“It ain’t your grandfather’s pontoon,” says co-owner Rodney Humphries. An innovative design allows for expanded passenger seating or playpen room with more space per square foot. The new 24-foot Silver Wave is a top seller and can be customized. “It’s a $100,000 look for $50,000.”

Rodney’s, which is a full-service marine stop with service, sales and storage with valet services, also sells fishing boats, Alweld duck boats and Suzuki engines.

Personal watercraft remain popular at the boat show, with attendees lining up to register to win the show’s grand prize, a

WARRANTY

+ freight, prep & tax

2020 Tracker Classic XL w/Mercury 50 4S & Trailer $11,390 + freight, prep & tax

2020 Tracker Offroad in stock

2020 Tracker Classic XL W Mercury 50 4S & Trailer

$11,345

+ freight, prep &tax

2020 Nitro Z18 w/ 1504S & Trailer $31,995 + freight, prep &tax

Lorem Ipsum

2020 Regency 250LE3 Sport w/Mercury 2504S

$75,995

+ freight, prep & tax

Like and Follow Us on Facebook

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

55

Boat Show

The boat show has something for everyone.

2020 Yamaha Waverunner EX, being given away by Big #1 Motor Sports of Birmingham.

At the Big #1 exhibit, the newest and fastest-selling option in personal watercraft was the SeaDoo Fish Pro, a three-seater designed for sport fishing. Equipped with a Rotax 1630 ACE 170 hp engine and 70-liter fuel tank, the SeaDoo Fish Pro comes with a 51-liter LinQ Fishing cooler with rod holders, a fishing bench seat, watertight phone box, trolling mode, Garmin ECHOMAP Plus 62 cv fish finder, direct access front storage, a boarding ladder, extended rear platform, LinQ attachment points, angled gunwale footrests with a stable and predictable hull. The boat show price for the SeaDoo Fish Pro was $16,000, including a four-year warranty and a SeaDoo trailer.

“We’ve sold some,” Hairston says, noting that by Saturday of the boat show, Big #1 had sold more than 20 personal watercraft – both SeaDoo and Yamaha – to boat show attendees.

Three St. Clair County-based dock and boathouse building companies – Tradesman, Mackey and Lakeside Boathouse – exhibited at the event, showing off their latest designs and meeting new customers.

Specializing in custom boathouses, sun decks, boat lifts, docks and seawalls, Tradesman Company’s exhibit at the boat show highlighted Tradesman’s attention to detail and long-lasting structures. Sales manager Ryan Wooten says Tradesman owner and founder Fred Casey’s original innovative designs for boathouses remain the standard at Tradesman.

“The hipped metal roof, 8-by-8 support beams and braces made of pressure-treated pine” are unique to Tradesman

56

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

PELL CITY MON.-FRI. 7:30-5:00 SATURDAY 7:30-12:00

(205) 338-2821

210 HARDWICK RD., PELL CITY, AL PELLCITYCOOP2017@GMAIL.COM FACEBOOK.COM/ STCLAIRFARMERSCOOP

We are your local source for all your lawn, garden & farm needs.

•Chemicals •Gun Shop •Nursery •Archery Shop •Feed •Seed •Fertilizer •Equipment

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

57

Rodney’s Marine carries the Silver Wave line of boats.

Personal watercraft were also on display.

58

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

Boat Show Mackey Docks and Boathouses

Shoreline

Crea ions Concepts & Construction

Custom Design boathouses, he says. He adds that Tradesman is the “only boathouse builder statewide using hand-picked No. 1, 34MCQ pressure-treated lumber from the water level up to the roof.”

Being at the boat show helps in Tradesman’s expanding market, Wooten says. In addition to custom boathouses with single or double slips, boat lifts and sundecks, Tradesman’s offerings include floating piers, seawalls and docks. They also build aluminum boathouses and commercial and residential floating piers.

Today’s boathouses can include all the bells and whistles owners want, including entertainment decks plus boat lifts and storage for personal watercraft, kayaks and paddle boats, says Eric Mackey of Mackey Docks and Boat Houses, a thirdgeneration dock builder.

He says Mackey builds docks and boathouses that last a lifetime. Located in Ragland and in business since 1983, Mackey specializes in high-end boathouses at an economical price. The goal is to build durable structures with low maintenance that meet the needs of folks who live on and enjoy lake and waterfront living.

With standard and custom designs in piers, docks and boathouses, Mackey’s promotional material states, “Even our competition loves our work.”

Serving Logan Martin with dock and boathouse work on most Alabama lakes down to the Florida Panhandle, Mackey’s work includes pile driving, dock and boathouse construction, boat lift installation, seawall construction, and repair of existing shore structures.

Lakeside Boathouses in Cropwell exhibits at the boat show most years, says Lakeside partner Chris Hoover. “We see existing customers and meet new ones,” Hoover says. He notes that Lakeside sees repeat customers and enjoys strong referrals.

“That lets us know that we are doing a good job.” Lakeside builds boathouses, decks, boat lifts, piers and seawalls.

“Our philosophy is to do a good job for a fair price and exceed expectations,” Hoover says, noting that word of mouth and outreach at events including the Birmingham Boat Show have helped Lakeside grow its market.

It is expanding services and has completed building projects on lakes and rivers from the Tennessee Valley to the Gulf.

Lakeside also provides staining and pressure washer services, sells Wet Steps and, most recently, introduced a new travel service business. Lakeside also plans to open a new Lakeside Grill at Coosa Island in May 2020.

Boathouse / Dock Renovations Boathouses

Piers / Docks / Boardwalks Boat Lifts Maintenance & Repairs

Contact us today and we’ll help you create Seawalls / Rip-Rap your dream shoreline.

205.884.SAFE shorelinecreationsal.com shorelinecreationsal.com

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

59

Buck’s Island Family tradition keeps growing on Neely Henry

Bass boats on display under cover.

60

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

Story by Jackie Walburn Submitted photos At the family-owned and operated Buck’s Island Pontoon and Bass Boat Warehouse, new for 2020 are the Bentley Pontoon line, the Caymas Bass Boat line, plus three new Skeeter fishing boat offerings and expanding selections – including kayaks and accessories – at The Loft at Buck’s Island, the pro-level tackle store.

Located in Southside on Neely Henry Lake, Buck’s Island is a full-service, new and used boat dealership that specializes in pontoon boats, bass boats and aluminum fishing boats. In business on the Coosa River lake in Etowah County since 1948, Buck’s Island also sells new and used outboard motors and has 18 dedicated service bays providing maintenance, service and repairs on all types of boats. Buck’s also welcomes tradein boats and offers used boats of all varieties.

An on-site, pro-level tackle store called The Loft carries full lines of reels, tackle and clothing and accessories. Online ordering is available at shopbucksisland.com.

Founded by Buck Lumpkin 52 years ago, Buck’s Island remains in the family, says co-owner Mary Lumpkin, who operates Buck’s Island with husband Tony, Buck’s son. “And we are proud to say that our daughters and son-in-law are going to carry on the business, as the third generation.” Daughter Angela and husband Israel and daughter Katie are already working at the business founded by their grandfather, The Loft at Buck’s Island, opened in fall of 2018, is geared to professional tournament anglers with a professional buyer helping to stock the tackle store that sees customers from throughout the state, Mrs. Lumpkin says. With a huge selection of tackle, reels and lures, The Loft also carries clothing and hats from all the brands they sell, plus sunglasses and clothing from Costa and Calcutta Outdoors.

Added to The Loft’s offerings in late 2019 were kayaks, the fastestgrowing market in boating. The Loft carries Jackson Kayaks, a brand founded by Olympic kayaker

From shirts to fishing supplies to pontoon boats, Buck’s Island has it all.

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

61

Buck’s Island

A wide range of kayaks are also available.

Eric Jackson and made in Tennessee, and YakAttack, USA-made fishing gear and accessories for kayaks.

Brand name boats offered at Buck’s Island include Bentley and Crest Pontoon boats, Caymas Bass Boats, G-3 Boats, Polar Kraft fishing boats, Stingray bowrider boats, Falcon Bass Boats, and Suncatcher Pontoon boats by G-3, a Yamaha marine group company. Buck’s also specializes in Yamaha and Mercury outboard motors.

Of the new lines and models for 2020, the Bentley Pontoon “is a lot of pontoon for the money,” Mrs. Lumpkin says. “We’re happy with the line and how it looks, the quality and the pricing.” The same goes for the Caymas Bass Boat line that’s new to Buck’s Island this year.

She says the new tri-toon standard for pontoon boats, with three pontoons and up to 300 hp motors that allow for pulling skiers or tubers, are becoming the preferred family and friends boating option for Buck’s customers. But runabouts, like the Stingray bowrider boats, remain popular. Fiberglass bass boats generally outsell aluminum fishing boats at Buck’s, depending on how customers like to fish, with the new fishing kayaks now in the mix for fishing the Coosa River and its lakes.

62

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

Mackey Docks

Quality Built • Trusted Experience • Competitive Pricing

Docks and Boathouses• Boat Lifts • PWC and Kayak Ports • Long Term/Low Maintenance Decking Options

Cell 205-369-1569 | Eamackey7@icloud.com | Instagram: @mackeydocks MackeyDocks.com DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

63

Story by Linda Long Submitted photos Is anything better than a day on the lake? With a boat? How about a day on the lake with 80 boats? That’s the plan from organizers and sponsors of this year’s Logan Martin’s LakeFest and Boat Show, May 15-17, at Pell City’s Lakeside Park.

Produced by the Logan Martin Charity Foundation, the popular event marks its 10-year milestone with what is billed as the largest inwater boat show in the Southeast.

“It’s a lot of fun. We have vendors, crafts and music all weekend long, said Eric Housh, event coordinator, “but the centerpiece of the whole thing is the boat show. For this 10th anniversary, we’ve got some really special things planned.”

Boat dealers will present over a dozen lines of boats with some 80 models, from pontoons to speed boats and personal watercraft and just about everything in between.

Those interested in buying a boat can get “up close and personal.”

They can even kick the wheels, so to speak.

“So, they get in the boat and take it out for a test drive,” said Housh. “It’s a try it before you buy it sort of plan.

It’s really a great opportunity to try it

Guests gather for live music.

Celebrating 10 years bigger and better than ever 64

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

65

out see how the boat feels while it’s actually on the lake.”

Housh says he was brought on board as event organizer “back when the thing was just an idea.”

That was 10 years ago, which means he’s now been planning, organizing, communicating and coordinating for the past decade.

“I think the first year we had maybe five to seven hundred people, over the whole weekend,” Housh recalled. “In year three, we got flooded out. Last year, we had close to 20,000 over the course of the weekend. We’ve grown from meager beginnings of just a few hundred people to a great event. We’re proud of it.”

No admission is charged, since the entire event is funded by sponsorship dollars. America’s First Federal Credit Union is one of the lead sponsors and does onsite financing for the boat show. Others are “local businesses,” Housh explained.

“Whatever we don’t use to produce event we donate back to local charities,” he said. “Over the course of the event, we’ve donated over a quarter of a million dollars. Last year, we gave $31,000. This year we will probably double that. We’ve set aside funds for the past several years to do some massive improvements to Lakeside Park.”

Those improvements include a new park pavilion and some enhancements to one of the piers for public safety and to facilitate boat parking.

Housh said his favorite part of the three-day event is set for Friday night when local veterans will be honored with a dinner and a fireworks show.

And, as always, the event is “flush with giveaways,” including a boat and an ATV, Housh said.

66

Realtors and vendors gather from across the area for Lakefest.

Boats of all kinds are there for visitors to check out.

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

LAKEFEST 2020 PRESENTED BY

celebrating 10 years on logan martin lake!

may 15-17 at lakeside park in pell city in- water boat show, live music, vendors, food, kids area, massive giveaways, and a special appearance by

JAMES SPANN

platinum sponsors

aultman dental ~ bennington ~ caribe club and marina ~ coca-cola the daily home / st. clair times ~ era king ~ lakeside boathouse lea corley exp realty ~ main street drugs ~ maria price remax southern homes martin’s family clothing ~ nicole anderson lake homes realty ~ tradesman docks remax hometown properties ~ skier’s marine gold sponsors advantage plus tree service ~ interstate batteries ~ pruitt and richardson ~ river rat ~ southland golf carts united-johnson brothers

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

67

Recreational

spaces by the water

Parks aplenty on Neely Henry & Logan Martin

Fireworks over Lakeside Park on the Fourth of July

68

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

New play area at Double Cove

Story by Linda Long Discover Archives photos Submitted photos Each year thousands of people flock to one of the public parks on Neely Henry and Logan Martin lakes. Alabama Power operates two of those parks, Ten Islands at the Henry Neely Dam, and Logan Martin Park, now named Double Cove, next to Logan Martin Dam. But that’s not all to choose from. Lakeside Park, located adjacent to the Pell City Civic Center and run by the city, is another popular spot.

Josh Yerby of Alabama Power explained that in addition to providing hydroelectric power to its customers, the company also provides all kind of opportunities for recreation, which is why it has begun a new initiative called “The Preserves.”

“The nature of Alabama Power land holdings lend themselves to extensive green and natural spaces that can play host to and offer a variety of unique outdoor activities,” he said “The Preserves are core to the Alabama Power ideal of merging nature with crafting special places. These lands allow people to enjoy, learn and grow a deeper appreciation of our state’s ecology and natural landscape.

“They allow our citizens to access and enjoy our lakes. They are inclusive and open to all. The Preserves will be located throughout our service territory with varying amenities, such as playgrounds, trails, boat ramps, picnic areas and fishing piers.”

Those amenities are exactly what draw visitors to both Ten Islands and Double Cove. Yerby says the newest addition at Ten Islands is an almost 2-mile nature trail complete with rustic designed gazebos sporting their tin roofs.

“This park is a very popular place for people to go,” said Yerby. “It’s part of the Alabama Birding Trail, which always draws a lot of visitors.”

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

69

Lake Spaces Double Cove

Logan Martin Park, known as a mainstay of Alabama Power-operated parks was renamed Double Cove by Alabama Power as part of The Preserves.

Yerby says the park offers a two-and-a-half mile hiking trail and a new playground for the kids and is completely handicapped accessible.

It’s equipped with a boat launch, swimming area, picnic areas and fishing piers.

Both Alabama Power Parks are day use, free admission and are open from dawn until dusk.

Yerby explained that while Alabama Power is required to provide recreational opportunities for stakeholders, according to their license, “we go above and beyond those requirements with additional facilities and by exceeding the industry standard for recreation sites. Our mission is to create and maintain amenities for people of all interests to enjoy while promoting healthy lifestyles, economic development and adding positive contributions in each community.”

Lakeside Park

Lakeside Park in Pell City is another favorite. Picnic areas and pavilions are available along with an approximately one-mile, non-motorized walking trail and Kids Kastle, an impressive and imaginative playground the community built in a single weekend.

The park is a popular spot for fishing tournaments, including national and state brands, like Bassmaster Classic, Crappie USA and Alabama Bass Trail. It most recently hosted the inaugural Huk Bassmaster B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series powered by Tourney X presented by Abu Garcia. It drew 243 boats and anglers from around the country.

The park itself is 67 acres fronting Logan Martin and features dozens of ways for the entire family to enjoy the outdoors.

From picnics to swimming at the park’s beach to fishing from its docks or launching your own boat, Lakeside Park is quite a destination point for outdoor enthusiasts.

There are four pavilions for rent, an Alabama native plant walking garden, the Wetlands Project with viewing platform, an amphitheater and outdoor exercise equipment.

But arguably the most popular destination point of all is the splash pad. With its 40-plus water features, there’s no mistaking the fun in the sun for kids. It features pavilions for rent for events, like birthdays, and it even has afterhours, private party opportunities.

It’s closed on Mondays for maintenance, and it is open seasonally from May to Labor Day.

70

A gazebo at Ten Islands

Lakeside Park thrives all year.

Christmas lights at Lakeside Park draws visitors in the winter.

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

Fish Neely Henry Lake at Coosa Landing in Gadsden, AL

May 7-9, 2020 2020 FLW Series Southeastern Division

May 21-23, 2020 2020 Basspro.com Bassmaster Central Opens Division Saturday weigh-in Will take place at Bass Pro Shop in Leeds

90 Walnut St. • Gadsden, AL 35901 • greatergadsden.com

1-888-565-0411

1-256-549-0351

@GreaterGadsden #GreaterGadsden

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

71

Pro kayak fishing B.A.S.S. tournament puts Logan Martin on national map

Competitors brave the rain and cold to get on the lake.

72

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

Story by Carol Pappas and Bassmaster Writer Thomas Allen Photos courtesy of Bassmaster Even the rain couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm on and around Logan Martin Lake as more than 200 anglers from all over the country and Canada launched the inaugural 2020 HuK B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series powered by TourneyX presented by Abu Garcia March 5.

The historic event, held during the Bassmaster Classic weekend on Lake Guntersville and the BASS Collegiate Series Championship on Lay Lake, chose Logan Martin as its inaugural site for the up-and-coming sport of kayak bass fishing.

Hosted by the Greater Pell City Chamber of Commerce, local officials quickly recognized the impact this national tournament had on the region. “We had over 200 anglers from all over the United States and Canada visit Pell City, stay in our area and patronize our local businesses,” said Chamber Executive Director Urainah Glidewell. “We heard so much positive feedback about how welcoming, warm and accommodating Pell City has been from the anglers. We appreciate being a part of this inaugural event.”

Chamber President Caran Wilbanks agreed. The Chamber, she said, was “honored and proud” to have hosted the inaugural tournament. “Over 222 kayakers, along with some of their families, came here from across the nation and as far away as Canada to fish in our beautiful lake and to shop and dine in our wonderful city.

“The comments and feedback we received from the anglers were all positive and enthusiastic about their Logan Martin Lake and Pell City experiences. We hope this tournament will be the first of many in the years to come.”

City Manager Brian Muenger cited the economic impact of the lake and tournaments like these. “We were extremely pleased at the turnout for the event. The total registration for the event was more than double the initial estimate we received from B.A.S.S., which speaks to the unique appeal of the event,” he said.

“More than two-thirds of the 222 fishermen came from outside of the area, and most came several days in advance to pre-fish for the event. The lake is a major economic driver for our area, and events that bring in outside anglers for long periods of time help increase that impact even further.”

Chasing the big fish and the trophy

Davis topped the field of 222 anglers with a strong fivebass limit measuring 87 3/4 inches.

Davis’ big fish measured 20 inches to cap off his winning limit, earning him the $10,000 first-place purse.

Logan Martin is the third reservoir along the Coosa River, which begins in northwest Georgia and runs south to the Alabama River. The Coosa River is home to the legendary Coosa spotted bass, one of the strongest fish that swims.

However, to win on Logan Martin, a big largemouth or two are necessary.

Davis caught nearly 40 bass during official competition, but his limit consisted of three solid largemouth and two spotted bass.

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

73

Pro kayak fishing Clear Creek hot spot for tourney

“I launched in Clear Creek, along with many other kayakers, and spent the day working a short length of bank,” Davis said.

“This part of Alabama is saturated, and there was plenty of current rolling through the lake, which helps the fishing. I got on a short stretch of rocky shoreline and literally fished it all day long.”

He said the current was positioning the bass along an edge that seemed to reload with fish by the minute.

“I spent seven hours on that little section and never moved,” he said. “I used a Storm Arashi spinbait the entire time, which is unusual for me because I typically throw a Senko. However, the spinbait was the only lure I had that matched the baitfish I was seeing. The fact that I was fishing from a kayak forced me to slow down and focus on a specific area, and it worked.”

Davis fished out of an Old Town Predator PDL that he’s had for two years.

“I sold my bass boat and bought a couple of kayaks. The Old Town has been incredible,” he said. “I’ll be fishing from a kayak as long as I can. I love it.”

Mark Edwards from Pipestem, W.Va., wrapped up his event in second place after a solid day on Logan Martin where he produced a five-bass limit measuring 84 3/4 inches. Edwards runs a Native Watercraft Titan and attributes his success to its stability and accessories.

“I run a Torqeedo kayak trolling motor, which was critical to covering a lot of water and dealing with the current running through the lake right now,” Edwards said. “I started in Clear Creek on both days of practice. I found fish in the main lake pockets, but in a kayak, I couldn’t cover enough of those pockets to be competitive. So, I focused on the fish I found in Clear Creek and it paid off.”

Edwards’ limit consisted of two largemouth and three spotted bass.

“The spotted bass were schooling all day long in Clear Creek and I managed to catch some nice ones throughout the day,” he said. “This was a great event on a great lake even though it rained nearly the entire day. I’ve been fishing competitively from a kayak for three years and I’m super excited to see it getting national attention from Bassmaster. That’s going to take this community to new levels and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

Jonathan Lessmann of Madison, fished out of a Bonafide 127 rigged with a Torqeedo trolling motor, YakAttack accessories and a Humminbird Helix 7.

“I launched in Clear Creek and watched the water muddy up as the day went on,” Lessmann said. “But as the current picked up, I was able to catch fish from a mudline on a consistent basis. I threw a custom white spinnerbait with a hybrid skirt in two feet of water or less to catch most of my fish. After several passes, I was able to narrow down the specific area where the bulk of the fish were staging, and it really paid off.”

Lessmann is a disabled Army veteran and found that competitive kayak bass fishing is good medicine for the body and soul.

“I can’t really stand for long periods of time, so a kayak is a natural fit,” he said. “I’ve always been an avid fisherman.

Without fishing I don’t know what I’d do. Thankfully, a veteran friend of mine introduced me to the sport, and I’ve been crazy about it ever since.”

Rounding out the Top 10 were Eric Siddiqi (84 1/2 inches) of Ohio, Lance Burris (84 1/4) of Missouri, Dave Sewell (84)

74

From fishing to judging, technology plays a key role.

of Indiana, Jimmy McClurkan (83 3/4) of Tennessee, Mark Brinkley (83 1/4) of Tennessee, Rus Snyders (83 1/4) of Tennessee and Corey Racer (83) of Texas.

Most Basssmaster kayak events take place and wrap up in the same day. But because this was Classic week, B.A.S.S. invited the top 10, competing for more than $30,000 in cash, to cross the Classic Stage at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center in Birmingham the next day. Organizers thought it would bring more excitement and exposure to the inaugural event.

The B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series continues on Lake Fork in Texas, Tennessee’s Chickamauga Lake, the Upper Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wis., and wraps up at Clear Lake in Northern California..

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

75

Hometown hero Zeke with parents Curtis and Laura

Zeke Gossett leads JSU team to top spot in college fishing Story by Carol Pappas and Bassmaster Writer David A. Brown Submitted photos from Bassmasters When Pell City’s Zeke Gossett began his fishing career, he was only 10. With 35 high school and three college championships plus dozens of opens and charity tournaments behind him, Gossett certainly wasn’t finished with his winning ways.

On March 9, he hoisted the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Championship trophy high in the air with teammate Lucas Smith of Southside as proof.

They competed in the championship on Lay Lake, and they were presented the trophy for Jacksonville State University on the Classic stage in Birmingham during the Bassmaster Classic festivities.

“I really worked hard for this win, for sure,” Gossett said.

“We qualified for this tournament a couple of weeks ago through the college bass tournament on Smith Lake. They took the top 10 from that tournament,” which had 250 boats in the field.

76

“Getting to weigh in on the Classic stage in front of all those people was amazing and winning on top of that made it that much more special,” he said. “Getting to represent JSU on such a big stage was an awesome thing as well as spreading the word about our fishing team.”

Couple that with winning in his senior year – with a freshman – and the moment was indeed one to savor. “My partner is a freshman this year, so I was happy to win it with him and watch him soak up the experience with me.”

And Gossett isn’t through by any means. When he graduates in December, he plans to fish the Bassmaster Opens and guide around the Coosa River.

Quest for the championship

Despite a slow start, Gossett and Smith capitalized on a morning flurry that yielded a five-bass limit of 17 pounds, 4 ounces, which led the JSU team to victory in the championship tournament presented by Bass Pro Shops on Lay Lake.

Gossett, a senior majoring in parks and recreation, and Smith, a freshman business management major, fished the lake’s south end and targeted main-current seams. Their first half-hour was frustratingly fruitless, but then the bite ignited, and the winners boxed their weight by 9:30 a.m.

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

DISCOVER - LEARN - COMPETE

CMP x

The Home of Marksmanship Welcome to CMP Talladega, the American public’s country club, without country club pricing.

Discover, learn and compete alongside your peers AND national champions!

TALLADEGA MARKSMANSHIP PARK 4387 Turner Mill Road, Talladega www.TheCMP.org 256.474.4408

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

77

Zeke Gossett Zeke and teammate Lucas Smith show off their catches.

Zeke, also sponsored by Pell City-based LakeLife, displays the championship trophy.

78

“At one place where we actually caught three of our keepers, we ended up catching four more in a row, and we had to stop fishing to cull,” Gossett said. “That kind of hurt us because the school was fired up, but we couldn’t figure out which one to cull.

“We hit a flurry — I caught two in a row, then he caught two in a row. It was crazy. Our biggest one today was a 3-13.

Our smallest was barely 3 pounds.”

Gossett and Smith alternated between 1/2-ounce Z-Man Jack Hammer ChatterBaits with Reaction Innovations Little Dipper trailers and those same Skinny Dippers rigged on 1/2-ounce swimbait heads.

“Some places were better for the ChatterBait and some places were better for the swimbait,” Gossett said.

“Anywhere the ChatterBait would get hung up a lot, we’d throw the swimbait.”

Smith said being at the right place at the right time was key. Strategic site selection was also an important element of their game plan.

“There were two feeding windows; one at 7 and one about 9:30,” he said. “After 9:30, we didn’t cull anymore.

“The current definitely played a role, for sure. We targeted spotted bass because the current was so strong, and we knew we could catch them in the current breaks.”

Gossett said told reporters the victory was particularly gratifying, given its redemptive backstory. During his sophomore year, his team fell short in what he considered an ideal scenario.

“We had a tournament back in 2016 on Lay Lake in June, which is my favorite time of year, and we absolutely bombed,” Gossett said. “I put in a lot of hard work practicing for this tournament, and it paid off.”

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

Dana Hits The Mark!

Trust the Realtor who knows the market and delivers results:

• • • •

Top Producer Experienced ‘Can Do’ Attitude Civic Leader – Civic Outreach Award • 2018 St. Clair Realtor of the Year • Silver Level in Sales Dana Ellison 205)369-1413 danaellison@lahrealestate.com

Buying, Selling?

Residential, Commercial?

DANA ELLISON & LAH FOR ON TARGET REAL ESTATE SOLUTIONS

DISCOVER LakeLife • LET THE 2020 SEASON BEGIN

79

St. Clair Alabama

Business Review Louis

A new era begins at Northside

80 DISCOVER Essence St. Clair •••August & September 2013 of St. ClairThe •The Business Review DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair October && November 2017 DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair •August February &July March 2016 80 2016 DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair & September 2017 DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair June & July 2017 80 DISCOVER DISCOVER Essence The Essence of St. Clair of St. ••Clair Clair December June 2016 & 2015 2017 Essence ofof St. Clair December 2017 & January January 2018 DISCOVER The Essence of St. •••April May 80• DISCOVER The Essence St. Clair April & May 2020 80 DISCOVER The St. Clair 2019 2020

Specialty goods line the shelves at Greasy Cove General Store

Story by Scottie Vickery Photos by Kelsey Bain

Greasy Cove General Store This is their grandfather’s store ... and more Andrea and Bubba Reeves grew tired of the rat race, so they decided to build their future on the past. The couple, who live in the Greasy Cove community of Gallant, recently reopened the store that her grandfather, Jesse “Junior” Smith, ran for decades.

In the six months it’s been open, Greasy Cove General Store has once again become the place where neighbors can catch up on news, buy milk or eggs and find a sense of belonging.

“This doesn’t feel like a job to me, it just feels like home,” Andrea said. “We’re bringing family and community back together. We have a lot of people who come in and get teary-eyed and emotional because they have so many memories from when they were young and used to come in.”

Andrea knows how they feel. Her grandfather, who always gave her a cold drink in a glass bottle and a Zero candy bar, closed up shop in 2015, about a year before he died. Bringing his store back to life has been even more meaningful than she expected. “I can imagine him sitting here and me and my brother running around when we were kids. Everyone comes in and says, ‘Your granddaddy would be so proud of you,’” Andrea said and grinned. “I think he’d be mad I messed with his store.”

While there are many nods to the past – the original pine floors have been restored, the old checkout conveyor belt serves as the lunch counter, and old cash registers and oil cans are part of the décor – there have been many changes, as well. For starters, the Reeves changed the name from B&B Grocery, which it had been long before Andrea’s grandfather took it over, to better capture the eclectic mix of merchandise they’ve offered since opening last September.

Vintage coolers line the wall.

A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING

“We try to carry something for everyone,” Bubba said. There’s produce, including oranges, apples, tomatoes, cabbage, rutabagas and 3-pound bags of peanuts. They’ve got the basics covered, as well, stocking items like Amish butter, hoop cheese, bread, corn meal, sugar and coffee.

There’s also a line of jams, jellies, syrups, salad dressings and pickled foods that carry the Greasy Cove General Store label.

You’ll find gift items – many handmade – including jewelry, soaps, paintings, leather goods and wooden trays, puzzles and crosses. They carry

The store is a family business for the Reeves

DISCOVER The Essence St. Clair •••August & September 2013 Business Review •July DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • 81 DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair October && November 2017 DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair •August February &July March 2016 2016 81 DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair & September 2017 DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair June & 2017 DISCOVER DISCOVER The Essence The Essence of St. Clair of St. ••Clair Clair December June 2016 & 2015 2017 81 Essence ofof St. Clair December 2017 & January January 2018 DISCOVER The Essence of St. •••April May St. Clair April & May 2020 81 DISCOVER The St. Clair 2019 2020 81

Business Directory

Business Cards

82

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

83

Business Directory

Business Cards

84

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

85

Business Review

Greasy Cove

Andrea’s Dad’s restored truck out in front of the store.

You can find a little of everything in the general store.

86

typical convenience store items, like chips and candy bars, as well as a mix of the old, including Circus peanuts, wax bottle candies and old-fashioned stick candy. Antique coolers are filled with glass-bottle drinks, including Coca-Cola, Sprite, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper and Grapico, and there are canned drinks, orange juice, buttermilk and bottled water.

Merchandise in the parking lot changes with the seasons.

Fall mums, hay bales and pumpkins gave way to fresh-cut Christmas trees, wreaths and garland that Bubba brought back from the “World’s Largest Christmas Tree Auction” in Pennsylvania. Spring bedding plants, hanging baskets and herb and vegetable plants are making an appearance, and furniture such as Adirondack chairs, rocking chairs, porch swings and Bubba’s handmade cedar tables have been a huge hit with customers.

“If we can save someone a trip into town, we want to do it,” Andrea said. “This has been a tremendous leap of faith. We just jumped in with both feet and haven’t looked back.”

The Reeves aren’t exactly sure how long the store, which changed hands several times before Junior took over, has been a fixture in the community. Some say the original store opened in 1939; others say it dates back later than that. It’s been part of Andrea’s family history, however, since 1980 when her father, Carl Smith, started working there part-time as a high schooler, pumping gas, changing oil and fixing brakes.

A year later, the owners put it up for sale. “I talked to Mom and Dad about buying it, and they co-signed with me on the

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

When a team has been together as long as we have...You know we’re COMMITED.

YEARS

YEARS

Commiied to each other Commiied to our product Commiied to YOU!

1920 1st Ave N, Pell City, AL (205) 884-1670 • unionstateinsurance.com

Union State Insurance

Let us show you what commiied service looks like.

YEARS

220 Kings Circle Pell City, AL 35128

• 24 Hour Nursing Care • Specialized Activity Programs • Three Nutritious Meals A Day • Housekeeping & Laundry Services • Medication Administration • Beauty/Barber Shop On-Site • In-Room Kitchenette

• Private Deluxe Rooms • Emergency Response System • Wheelchair Accessible Bus Outings • Satellite TV Service Provided • Covered Screen Porch • Secured Courtyard • Complimentary Wi-Fi

Village East is a Specialty Care Assisted Living community designed for senior adults in need of Memory Care.

Village East is a satellite campus of Village at Cook Springs, and offers a unique and tranquil residential setting to maintain both the physical and social aspects of life.

Phone: (205) 814-3199 | www.villageatcooksprings.com

Business Review

Greasy Cove

Special store brands, like pecan syrup, are a key draw to the store.

Handmade furniture at Greasy Cove General Store.

88

loan,” Carl said. He planned to run the place himself, but his parents wanted him to finish school. He continued to work there after school and during summers until college beckoned, and his dreams began to change. “I’m kind of a wanderer, and I like to go and do,” he said. “If you’ve got a store, that’s not going to happen. Dad was content being out there at the store, so I kind of left it with them.”

The store soon became Junior’s baby. After retiring from the Navy, he did some “truck farming,” growing produce and selling it in Birmingham-area farmer’s markets, so it was a natural fit for him. “My dad was the kind of person who didn’t meet a stranger,” Carl said. “You’d stop in the store and by the time you got ready to leave, you were one of his best friends.”

Under Junior’s care, the grocery quickly became a gathering place for the “old-timers,” who swapped stories and tall tales, Andrea said with a smile. “If Granddaddy didn’t know the whole story, he made up the rest of it. Before there was Facebook (and pages like) What’s Happening in Gallant and What’s Happening in Ashville, it was ‘What’s Junior got to say?’”

Chances are, he’d be proud that Andrea and Bubba chose a family-centered lifestyle for themselves and their three boys, Eli, 14; Casey, 12; and Colton, 8. They weren’t thinking about the store until Carl broached the subject. “It had been sitting empty, and it needed to be torn down or fixed up before it fell down,” said Carl. “I asked them if they wanted it.”

Bubba, who grew up on a farm on Straight Mountain, was working full-time for Carl, who now owns a machining and fabricating company. He was also farming on the side, running his produce stand in Ashville and longing for a simpler routine.

“My whole life was flying away, and I wasn’t getting to enjoy it,” he said. “People are in too big of a hurry nowadays, and

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

Business Review

Greasy Cove

Fresh fruit and vegetables are plentiful. sometimes you just need to slow down.”

Andrea, a registered nurse, had worked for a hospital and rehabilitation facility and felt like she was missing her sons’ childhoods. “By the time we’d get home, they’d already told someone else about their day and didn’t want to tell it again,” she said. While they’d planned for Bubba to run the store while she continued working, she quit her job two days before it reopened.

“We’re happiest when we’re here,” she explained. “My kids get off the school bus here just like my brother and I did. It’s one of those things you just hope God will make a way for you, and He did.”

LABOR OF LOVE

90

The community shared their excitement. “We started cleaning it out by the truckloads and people were stopping by and saying, ‘What are you doing to Junior’s store?’” They also shared their memories with the family, recounting the store’s many lives. “It’s been here since my Dad was a kid,” Carl said.

“It used to be right up the hill, but when they built Gallant Road, they rolled that building down on logs and turned it to face the new road.”

Although he eventually quit selling gas, Junior didn’t make many changes to the store. “It was in bad shape,” Andrea said.

“We pretty much gutted it and took it to the studs.”

Bubba, who also has a background in cabinetry and custom woodworking, rebuilt the walls with wood from fallen trees and added the front porch that houses produce, furniture and sleds. He built the front counter and the bathroom vanity and

covered the ceiling in old tin that came from the roof of Junior’s mother’s house.

Antique wagons are used to display merchandise both inside and out. The original bottle opener is attached to the new counter, and an old door featuring handwritten party line phone numbers of neighbors, the Post Office and the Sheriff’s Department is propped nearby. An old corn-husk hat made by Andrea’s great-grandmother is framed and hangs in a prominent spot. “There’s a lot of history in this place,” Bubba said.

While Andrea and Bubba are happy to honor the past, they want to create new memories, as well. After paintings by Andrea’s mother, Cindy Smith, flew off the shelves, she began offering painting classes a few times a month. “When the ladies leave here with their artwork, they feel so accomplished,” she said. “It gives them a good two hours to come and visit and forget their troubles.”

Andrea, who is also a licensed cosmetologist, has been known to give a haircut or two in the front yard, and now they plan to update Junior’s fishing shack to make it a regular offering.

They’ve hosted community events like Christmas in the Cove, complete with Santa, bluegrass music, arts and crafts, cookies and hot apple cider. They also have plans to open the kitchen and start serving soups, deli sandwiches and burgers soon.

Although she and Bubba have been fighting over who gets to do the cooking, Andrea isn’t sweating the details.

“We’re just going to wing it like we’ve done since this whole thing started,” she said. “This has been such a blessing, and the community has been so supportive. We’re loving every minute of it.” l

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • April & May 2020

More than a Doctor’s Office...

We’re your very own

Health Care Network Moody

2834 Moody Parkway 205-640-2808

Trussville

7201 Happy Hollow Rd (205) 655-3721

Pell City

Springville

70 - 74 Plaza Drive 205-814-9284

e Primary Car Urgent Care macy Onsite Phar aging Im d e c n a v d A e Comprehensiv Specialties ellness Health & W

480 Walker Drive, Springville 205-467-7654

Patient Centered.

Patient Focused.

Northside Medical Home

northsidemed.com