Discover The Essence of St. Clair December 2019 and January 2020

The Best of St. Clair • Great Alabama 650 • Carl Coupland Local Flavors Recipes • Economic Development • Good Things in Moody

December 2019 & January 2020

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Features and Articles Discover

The Essence of St. Clair

WESTER FARMS Odenville home to champion racking horses

Page 28 Great Alabama 650 Page 8

Christmas Special Page 36 Decorating for the holidays Page 48 Shop locally this season Page 52 Kids’ wish list Page 56

Carl Coupland Page 16

Best of Discover Page 60

Business Growth trend continues Page 74 Good news for Moody Page 82 CAPTE makes a difference

Local Flavors Page 37

Page 84 Crawford Skinner recognized Page 86 Cover photo by Jennifer Barr of Barr Studios, Shelbyville, Tenn.

December 2019 & Januuary 2020

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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.

Mike Callahan Mike Callahan is a freelance photographer who resides on Logan Martin Lake in Pell City. He specializes in commercial, nature and family photography. Mike’s work has been published in Outdoor Alabama Magazine, Alabama Trucking Association and Alabama Concrete Industries magazines. Publishing his work to the internet frequently, he has won many honors for pictures of the day and week.

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.

Eryn Ellard

Eryn Ellard is a freelance writer living in Pell City. She graduated with her B.A. in Journalism in 2006 from The University of Alabama.

She was on the editorial board for The Crimson White while earning her degree and also served as the communications director for Bill Poole, (R-Tuscaloosa), who now serves as an Alabama State Senator. She has been published in The St. Clair News Aegis, Al.com and The Tuscaloosa News, which ultimately led to her securing an internship and becoming internationally published in Cosmopolitan Magazine in New York City.

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.

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.

From the Editor

Home is where the heart is

I’ve always been fascinated by St. Clair County. From the first moment I arrived – fresh from college and a journalism degree in hand – I quickly recognized the pride its people took in this place they called home. Their roots ran deep; their passion for place ran deeper.

Those were among the first impressions that turned into everlasting ones as I embarked on a journey I never saw myself taking. Through college and the time following graduation looking for that first job, not once did I peer into the future and see a life outside the big city – any big city.

But a couple of weekly newspaper editors in Pell City, a place I knew only as a small town we passed through on our way to the lake, needed a reporter. And I needed a job.

They offered. I took it, and the stage was set. It was the first spark, the first inkling I had that this could be the place for me. Under byline after byline, I began telling the stories of the people, places and things that make up this eclectic blend of St. Clair County.

Like me, they may not be “from” here, but they found their home here, nevertheless. I can’t imagine a more welcoming place. I felt – and still do – like the luckiest person in the world to tell their stories.

Newsprint eventually gave way to magazine pages and online platforms of communication as the mode of storytelling.

But they all would be sewn from the common threads of enlightenment. What does it mean to the reader? That has always been the driving force.

Who would have thought that the St. Clair County Economic Development Council would honor this Birmingham transplant

with the Chairman’s Award for promoting the county and economic development through those stories that come as naturally as putting one foot in front of the other because of the subject matter? Certainly not me.

But as EDC Executive Director Don Smith offered such kind words about the award at the annual Partnership for Tomorrow celebration, I realized once again that being “from here” and being “of here” can be exactly the same.

When we created Discover St. Clair Magazine, it was with the intent to share that sense of pride in place that we as St. Clair Countians all know. It never ceases to be a journey of discovery, and we hope to take our readers on that trek for a long time to come.

It’s stories like the ones you’ll find in today’s issue – the 650-mile paddling race across our state that took kayakers for a hefty portion of the race on our beautiful lakes of Logan Martin and Neely Henry en route to the finish line. It could be the entertaining and interesting tales told by Carl Coupland in Moody, who is like a walking, talking history book of the county. It’s also the story of the two world championship horses who found a home in Odenville.

And it is a business section of stories that underscores the notion we are a county constantly evolving and growing, and consequently, improving our quality of life.

Thank you, St. Clair EDC, not only for the honor you have bestowed upon our work. Thank you for enhancing our journey of discovery through the work that you do. St. Clair County has grown up so much in the decades I’ve spent covering its ups and downs. I have, too.

And as I look back, I see so many more peaks than valleys.

This county, our county, is well worth discovering. In the pages that follow, discover it all with us.

Carol Pappas Editor and Publisher

Discover The Essence of St. Clair

December 2019 & January 2020 • Vol. 51 • www.discoverstclair.com

Carol Pappas • Editor and Publisher Graham Hadley • Managing Editor and Designer Mike Callahan • Photography Wallace Bromberg Jr. • 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

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

Great Alabama

650

St. Clair lakes play prominent role in epic paddle race

Story by Scottie Vickery Submitted Photos Seven days, 8 hours, 1 minute and 55 seconds after launching his kayak at Weiss Lake in northeast Alabama, Bobby Johnson paddled his way to the finish line at Fort Morgan in Mobile Bay. He’d spent a little more than a week traversing 650 miles of Alabama waterways, battling the heat, alligators, exhaustion and hunger to win the inaugural Great Alabama 650, a world-class paddle race held in September. He and his 17 competitors raced along the core section of the Alabama Scenic River Trail, the longest river trail in a single state.

“It was incredible,” said Johnson, who lives in Dunedin, Fla., and first started kayaking about four years ago. “The people of Alabama are awesome, and the scenery was amazing. Every day you saw something beautiful – sunrises, sunsets, the hills, the very dense woods. The wildlife was unbelievable. Everybody I talk to; I recommend that race all day long.”

That’s exactly what organizers of the Alabama 650 like to hear. They know the state has the most “experience-diverse” river trail in the country, and they want to share it with as many people as possible. “In Alabama, we’ve got more navigable

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

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Great Alabama 650 waterways than any other state except Alaska,” said Jay Grantland, executive director of the Alabama Scenic River Trail. “There’s everything from whitewater to flat water, big lakes and small streams.

There’s just about every type of water you’d want to paddle on throughout that river system.”

Trail Angels

The success of the race, which boasted a $22,500 prize split among winners in three divisions, relied heavily on volunteers known as “Trail Angels,” including Max Jolley, who lives at Powell’s Campground on Logan Martin Lake. Competitors were required to stop at nine portage locations along the Coosa and Alabama Rivers – Weiss, Neely Henry, Logan Martin, Lay, Mitchell and Jordan dams, and Robert F. Henry, Millers Ferry and Claiborne lock and dams – as well as two checkpoints.

“The volunteers were one of the most important factors of making this race successful all along the 650 miles,” Grantland said. “As the days roll on, the racers get further and further apart so we had to rely on the volunteers to man those different portages to make sure everyone was safe and performing fairly.”

While some racers had professional crews to help carry their boats and gear around the dam, others had one person or relied on volunteers. To keep it fair, the racers had mandatory rest breaks of 30 or 45 minutes, so race officials or volunteers had to track the time they arrived and left each portage.

“Apparently this long-distance paddling is a thing out in the world,” Jolley, who volunteered at Logan Martin Dam, said with a laugh. “It was exciting, and it was a fun learning experience for me. I got to talk to each of the kayakers and the crews and learn some of their strategies, and we helped get the kayaks out and made sure everyone had some food and water. I can’t wait to do it again next year.”

Jolley especially enjoyed the digital spectator experience. Thanks to GPS transponders, race officials and anyone who was interested could track the racers on the Alabama Scenic River Trail’s website and Facebook pages. “We knew where everyone was at every minute,” Grantland said.

Competitor Salli O’Donnell was in the lead for most of the race, and Jolley was keeping tabs on his computer to see when she was heading his way.

“When I saw she was getting close, I went out and took a picture of her, and then I jumped in my truck and headed down to the dam,” he said. Because Logan Martin was one of the first portages, the racers were still fairly close together. Jolley said he stayed at the dam about seven hours and saw most of the kayakers come through during that time.

Jolley and others also posted about the race on social media, which helped stir up excitement among lake and river enthusiasts who offered encouragement from docks and boats. “Every one of the kayakers, almost to the person, were talking

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About the Race Want to know more about the Great Alabama 650, sign up for next year’s race or learn about volunteer opportunities?

Visit alabamascenicrivertrail.com for more information or follow Alabama Scenic River Trail on social media: • Facebook: “Alabama Scenic River Trail” and “Great Alabama 650” • Instagram: alabama_scenic_river_trail • Twitter: @Ala_River_Trail

650 Race kickoff

Max Jolley gets his own paddling time in.

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Great Alabama 650 about how great it was seeing people on the lake cheering them on,” Jolley said. “They didn’t expect that.”

Johnson, 41, said it was a game-changer for him.

“The people were awesome,” he said. “When you have people on the banks screaming your name and cheering you on, it’s an instant boost. It always seemed to happen just when you needed it most.

If you’re just paddling for 650 miles, and you’re not talking to anyone or seeing anyone, you’re just paddling. This made me feel like a racer.”

Jolley said he was thrilled with the racers’ reaction to the hospitality on the lake. “That made me feel better than anything,” he said. “I wanted Logan Martin to be remembered for the people and the beauty of the lake.”

He was also impressed with the attention to detail the organizers put into the race. “A lot of planning and strategy went into it, I’ll tell you that,” Jolley said.

Behind the Scenes

Grantland said the idea for the race came about in early 2018 after he and some of the nonprofit’s board members had been to an outdoor adventure show in Ontario to promote Alabama’s recreational offerings and the river trail.

The Alabama Scenic River Trail got its start about 12 years ago when Fred Couch, an avid paddler from Anniston, spearheaded the efforts to divide the 650-mile stretch of water into four sections and provide guides for each one with information on parking, camping, launch sites and emergency phone numbers.

“It was great for families because it gave everyone peace of mind,” Grantland said, adding that the guides are available on the website. “They could take the kids camping without having to do all the homework and figuring it all out on their own. It started bringing in tourists.”

That core 650-mile section got so popular that officials from other areas wanted to add information about their waterways, too. “Here we are almost 12 years later, and we’ve gone from 650 to right at 5,600 miles” of navigable waterways, he said.

The impact has been a big one. “It’s definitely a quality of life benefit,” said Grantland, who started paddling when he was 10. “You can get the children outdoors and away from the TV.” There’s an economic benefit, as well. If you’re trying to attract businesses or corporations, they’re looking for areas with a good quality of life for their employees.”

Returning from the adventure show, the group brainstormed ideas for promoting the river trail out. “We wanted to put it out there to the world,” Grantland said. “That got the ball rolling, and then I started Googling. I have a master’s degree from Google in paddle racing.”

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Stand up paddle boarder Scott Baste at Checkpoint 1.

Salli O’Donnell

Bird’s eye view

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

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Great Alabama 650 Max Jolley, Logan Martin volunteer

Winners Bobby Johnson and Salli O’Donnell

Support along the way

Tandem team Susan Jordan and Ryan Gillikin.

Photo Credit: Matthew Kimble

Kickoff participants 14

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

Serious planning began about this time last year, and Greg Wingo, who has a background in adventure racing, was hired as race director. “Between my experience in paddling and his experience in adventure racing, we were able to put together a pretty good race,” Grantland said. “It took a massive amount of coordination.”

Pushing limits

Racers could enter in three categories: male solo, female solo and two-person teams. Eighteen racers registered (some individually, some in teams), but only four finished the race: Johnson, O’Donnell and teammates Ryan Gillikin and Susan Jordan.

“This year, we really didn’t know what to expect, and we took anyone who wanted to register,” Grantland said.

“Obviously, some didn’t have the ability, but it was fine because it brought a lot of attention to the race.”

Word is spreading about the event, one of a handful of longdistance paddle races, and Grantland says he expects they’ll have to put a cap on the number of competitors next year. In addition, racers will have to qualify by completing one of several pre-requisite races prior to registration, which opens in January.

Next year, organizers also hope to host a 65-mile race in conjunction with the Alabama 650. Paddlers who can finish it in 24 hours will qualify for the 2020 Alabama 650.

Johnson said he’ll be back and is doing his part to spread the word. “We’ve got some world-class paddlers who are going to race next year,” he said. “I personally thought it was the best thought out, well-planned race I’ve ever been in.”

It was one of the hottest, as well. Alabama recorded recordhigh heats for many of the race days, and Johnson felt the effects. “The first eight miles of that race to the first portage, I overheated and got heat exhaustion and couldn’t paddle,” he said. “At five or six miles in, my mouth was dry, and my arms were like lead. Everybody went past me, and it took me 500 miles to catch Salli.”

Along the way, he had plenty of time to enjoy the solitude, the views and the wildlife. “I felt like I was in a saltwater aquarium there were so many fish jumping in front of my boat,” he said. As he got closer to the Delta area, the fish gave way to alligators. “I saw them one after another after another after another,” he said.

Despite the mental and physical exhaustion, Johnson said he never thought about giving up. “I have an 8-year-old daughter, and I would never come back to her and say that I quit,” he said. “You’ll never know anything about yourself if you quit.

If you don’t push through that wall of misery or pain, you’ll never know what you can actually achieve. Our human bodies are only stopped by our minds, that’s it.” l

Link to map of course: alabamascenicrivertrail.com/uploadedFiles/ File/Alabama_360_Map_Guide_Book_with_ Portages_7-25-19.pdf

SPECIAL FEATURE • LoganMartinLakeLife.com

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

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Carl Coupland

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

Traveling the

BACKROADS

Carl Coupland

Historian, storyteller, family man, friend Story by Joe Whitten Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr. Submitted Photos This month’s travels along St Clair County backroads brings us to the Bethel community to stop at the home of retired Moody businessmen and local historian, Carl Coupland.

Born into a hardworking family on Jan. 16, 1932, Carl grew up with a work ethic that helped him succeed in his endeavors.

He comprehended economics early-on. “I tried raising beef cattle on a small scale,” he said, “but it didn’t take long for me to get out of that, because you could go to your local supermarket and buy a bag of dried cow manure for your flower bed or garden plants for $0.20 per pound, but live cattle was selling for $0.18 per pound. The economy was all out of balance when the manure was worth more than the cow!”

Coupland family roots in St. Clair County go back prior to 1828, the year Carl’s great grandfather, Columbus Constantine “C.C.” Coupland, was born near Cook Springs. C.C. married Elizabeth Emaline Godwin in 1848, and they set up housekeeping in a home he had built in the Bethel community. Around 1856, on today’s Coupland Road, he built another home which served Couplands for generations.

Carl’s granddad, Ira, was born in the house.

Carl enjoys telling how his parents met.

“My mother, Mary Elizabeth Sheets, was born where Oak Mountain Park is located. Then she moved with her parents to land they owned where Greystone subdivision is today.

“Daddy, Lester Coupland, was down there doing rock work on Bold Springs Church and boarding with the Standifer family. He went to a Pie Supper at the church, where folk would bid on pies the girls brought. He saw that pretty girl there, and he bid on her pie – up to $5!”

They were married March of 1929 at Rev. Hurst’s home in Taylorsberg, Alabama, near today’s Kerr Road.

Lester and Mary Elizabeth set up housekeeping in a house on Coupland land

Carl’s Service Station, Branchville

Coupland House, 1952

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

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Traveling the

BACKROADS

June Taylor Coupland where today’s Lazy V lakes are, but there were no lakes then. Two sons were born into the family, Joe (1930) and Carl (1932).

Lester plowed with a mule farmland which was terraced to prevent erosion. Carl’s earliest memory there occurred shortly before he turned four. “I was in the yard, and my Dad said, ‘We’re gonna move way over there across that mountain.’ We could see Bald Rock Mountain. …I was three years and eight months old when we moved to Camp Winnataska.”

Lester worked as stone mason and caretaker at Camp Winnataska, owned by the Birmingham Sunday School Council. The Council provided the Couplands a rent-free home. It had a fireplace and a kitchen sink, and it made no difference to them that the house had no electricity, no running water, bathroom facilities or telephone, for they were accustomed to that. Lester’s salary of $35 per month had increased to $70 a month in 1940 when he moved the family back to the farm.

Carl and Joe explored every acre of the camp while living there. They attended school one year at Stewart’s Crossroads near Prescott and then rode the bus to Moody School two years.

Carl’s memories of Camp Winnataska and Lester’s stone masonry are in Discover, June-July 2012, and can be read at this link: bit.ly/2ryrTXu On the farm, Joe and Carl plowed with mules,

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Carl Coupland, U.S .Air Force

June and Carl Coupland Family (Photo Credit: Mandy Baughn)

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

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Traveling the

BACKROADS Charles Forman, Luther Duman, Gerald Ash at Coupland Service Station

Joe Coupland at Winnataska

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helping their Dad with the farming. In 1942, Lester took a job with the Coca-Cola Co. in Leeds, driving a delivery truck in Jefferson and St. Clair counties.

After that, he drove a gasoline truck for J.W. McCraney Co. in Leeds.

In 1945, Lester bought the old C.C. Coupland home on Coupland Road. Carl’s mom and her friend Mable Moore wallpapered the house and got it move-in ready. This was their first home to have a bathroom.

Carl recalls moving day. “Daddy went off to work one morning, and Mother said, ‘Let’s move.’ I was 13 years old and Joe was 15. We hooked up the two mules, Old Jane and Old Kate, and drove that wagon and started moving our stuff. We moved all the furniture that day.”

There were two girls in the community, Carolyn Moore and Nelda June Taylor, who helped them move, and were a great help to Mrs. Coupland. She was used to boys’ help and enjoyed having girl-help that day.

Driving home from work, Lester saw smoke curling from the chimney, stopped and discovered a tidy home and supper simmering on the wood cook-stove.

Carl finishes the story. “The man Daddy drove the truck for also had a tobacco and confectionery company, and Daddy had brought home a box of Hershey’s candy. Now, chocolates were hard to come by during WWII. I don’t remember whether it was 12 or 24 bars, but those girls ate up our box of candy the day we moved.”

Carl chuckled and said, “The little 13-year-old Nelda June Taylor became my wife nine years later on 3 December 1954. As of now, I have been lucky enough to live with the best woman on earth for more than 65 years.”

Joe and Carl attended Branchville School through the sixth grade and then attended Odenville school.

Joe graduated from St. Clair County High School in 1948, attended college and eventually earned a PhD from Ohio State. Dr. Coupland served as principal of Phillips High School in Birmingham and of Morgan County High School in Hartselle. He was director of Adult Education with the Birmingham City Board of Education when he retired. Shortly after retirement, he died of pancreatic cancer in June 1985. He was the first PhD elected to the St. Clair County Board of Education, of which he was chairman when he died.

A desire to serve Carl’s interests took him in a different but productive direction. Six months’ shy of graduating high school, he joined the Air Force. Signing up before his eighteenth birthday, he couldn’t leave then because his parents wouldn’t sign for him. But, on his birthday, Jan. 17, 1950, he boarded Odenville’s Mize Bus to Birmingham and took the train for Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, for basic training.

As he tells it, “I was young and knew everything at

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

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Traveling the

BACKROADS 18 years old. My parents didn’t know anything, and I had the world by the tail with a down-hill pull!”

After Lackland, Carl went to Radio Operator School at Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Miss. The Korean War broke out in June 1950, so after finishing at Keesler in October, Carl and others were sent to Mitchell Air Force Base, Long Island, New York, for reassignment.

Carl’s family feared he was destined for Korea, but instead he landed at Ft. Meade, Md., in Aircraft Control and Warning.

One day the commanding officer asked for three volunteers to go to work in Flight Safety at Air Defense Command Headquarters in Colorado Springs. Carl volunteered.

Given a week’s furlough and having heard his buddies tell about hitchhiking, he decided to hitchhike home. He took a bus from Ft. Meade to Winchester, Va., then got on U.S. 11, put out his thumb, and the first car, a new 1950 Chevrolet, stopped.

Carl thought he recognized the driver’s voice but couldn’t place it. When they introduced themselves, it was Bert Parks, who had the famous New York radio program, Stop the Music.

He was going to Rome, Ga., for a show and had to side-track to Columbia, S.C., to get two showgirls, and Carl went with him.

Parks thanked Carl for his service and paid for all the meals on the trip. “Wouldn’t let me spend anything on the way down,” Carl recalled.

Arriving in Rome at 2 o’clock on a cold, pitch-black December morning, Carl got back on the highway to catch a ride. No headlights lit the blackness all night. “Just after daybreak,” Carl said, “I saw a Greyhound bus coming that had ‘Birmingham’ written on it. I flagged him down and rode the bus to Springville.”

Carl paid $2 to a Springville taxi driver to take him to his parents’ home. He visited five or six days, then caught a bus back to Fort Meade, and from there, the volunteers took a train to Colorado Springs.

The train trip took two days with a four-hour lay-over in Chicago where the USO Club fed the volunteers and gave each one a Bible. The men left the train in Denver and took a bus 70 miles further to Colorado Springs.

The Air Defense Command had just been started, and to be in the center of the country had moved to a Colorado Springs Army Base and was redoing it. Headquarters were completed and in use, but the barracks weren’t finished. So, for about four months, the men lived in a hotel in Manitou Springs.

Carl bought a 1936 Chevrolet for $35. He and two of his buddies drove it to and from the base until they completed the barracks.

Because Carl was a clerk and a radio operator, he was assigned to work with officer pilots who had to fly four hours a month in order to keep their flying status – their wings.

The United States had Aircraft Control and Warning squadrons as well as Fighter Squadrons stationed around the country.

Carl, promoted to the flight safety crew, tracked the locations on a large map above his desk. On it, blue pins showed the location of every Fighter Interceptor Squadron, and red ones of every Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron.

For this work, Carl knew secret information and had to have top secret clearance. The FBI investigated him, sending agents

22

Lester Coupland with his Lazy V Lakes catch the first day lake was open to fishing

to Odenville and Branchville to talk with neighbors, friends, preachers and teachers.

“My parents thought this boy was in trouble,” Carl laughs, “but I wasn’t. After that, whenever we had an accident involving one of our interceptor planes, we flew to investigate the scene.”

Carl’s crew collected wreckage. If fatalities had occurred, casualty remains had been cleared by an earlier crew. However, as he worked one site, the sun glinted off something. “I think that was roughest scene I ever went to,” Carl said. “Two F-86 Sabres flew out of the fog and right into the side of a mountain.

There wasn’t much left.

“We collected wreckage parts and pieces and got ‘em piled up. I saw something shining on the ground. It was a man’s hand with a gold ring on it. I picked up the hand and gave it to the commanding officer. He was to get the ring to the widow. I trusted him to do that.”

Such memories linger, and Carl reflects, “You know, I have sometimes thought about that hand at 12 o’clock at night.”

Carl and his buddies used free weekends exploring Colorado – Pike’s Peak, Will Rogers Shrine, Garden of the Gods, Seven Falls and parks. They made one Juarez, Mexico, excursion with

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Traveling the

BACKROADS Carl protesting it might not be a wise trip. Carl drove his car, and one buddy rode his motorcycle. At the border, Carl parked his car at a gas station and paid the attendant to watch it. His buddy chained the front wheel of his motorcycle to a telephone pole away from the station.

It didn’t take a long to realize Juarez wasn’t where they should be, and they returned to where they’d parked. “My car was fine,” Carl laughed, “but all that was left of the motorcycle was the front wheel chained to the pole.”

An interesting follow-up to Carl’s Air Force years is that his cousin, Adm. James A. Winnefeld, Jr., who had been an instructor in the Navy Top Gun School and had done the flying in the movie Top Gun, became the officer in charge of Carl’s old outfit in Colorado Springs. Adm. James A. Winnefeld’s mother, Fredda Coupland, was born in St Clair County. She married career Navy man, James A.Winnefeld Sr., later an admiral himself.

In President Obama’s administration, Adm. James Winnefeld Jr., became vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was the second highest ranking military person in the United States at that time, serving under Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman.

While Carl served in the Air Force, Nelda June Taylor earned her nursing degree. She had worked her way through three years training at the Jefferson Hillman Hospital in Birmingham, when the University of Alabama bought Hillman Hospital, and it became UAB Hospital. June’s graduation ceremonies were at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Carl and June married Dec. 3, 1954. As a registered nurse, June worked at ACIPCO Medical Group and at Dr. Davis’ Clinic in Leeds.

Before settling full-time as a realtor, Carl worked at different jobs. Gulf Oil Co. put him at a station on Highland Ave and 20th Street, with gas islands all the way around the corner.

He had the 11-to-7 shift and was by himself from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. “I had a money changer on my belt, a roll of money in my pocket, and was there by myself pumping gas at night. I felt safe back then,” he recalls.

Then he opened a service station in Branchville, at the location of the car lot today on the corner of Hurst Road and U.S. 411. He and June bought a house and nine acres across the road from the station.

Their son, Mike, was born there in 1957, and they lived there until 1968 when they moved to the property where their home is today. Eventually, he divided the Branchville acreage into lots for a subdivision there.

For a while, he had an insurance debit route from Cahaba Heights to Sylacauga. Realizing that wasn’t for him, he took a job with Leeds businessman, Judge McCraney, who owned McCraney Tobacco and Confectionary Co. Asked about his real estate work, Carl said, “I started buying land and farms in 1955, while I was working other jobs. I did this until 1968 when I got my real estate broker’s license and opened an office in Leeds across from the Pants Store.”

While Carl was building his real estate business, Mike graduated from high school and married Jeanie Kerr. They

24

Carl, Lester, Joe and Elizabeth Coupland at Lester and Elizabeth’s house

Coupland House at today’s Lazy V Lakes property

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

Simpson-Strange House

Rev. J. B. Hurst’s home where Lester and Elizabeth Coupland got married.

became parents to twin daughters. Carl said of his daughter-in-law, “She is the nicest person you could have ever imagined in your life.”

Mike became a union carpenter and had worked his way to a superintendent’s position. Advancement sometimes brings relocation, and in 1985, the company wanted Mike to move to Florida. However, he told his father, “I really don’t want to go.” Carl said, “Come into the real estate business with me, and we’ll see how you do.” Mike runs the business today.

Carl stayed in Leeds until 1985, then moved to Moody and opened Moody Realty. He and Mike together ran Moody Realty Co. until Carl retired at age 84 in 2016.

Recalling his work, Carl said, “My business was great.

People were coming out of Birmingham and moving to Leeds, Moody and Odenville. I remember selling five houses in one day.”

Catherine Lovejoy worked in the gas company in Leeds next door to Carl’s office, and the Lovejoys and Carl became friends. “Lyman (Lovejoy) was selling real estate part time and holding down a full-time job,” Carl said.

“He came in my office one day and asked me, ‘Do you think if I got into the real estate business full time that I could make it?’ I said, ‘Lyman, the time is right. People are moving out of Birmingham. Get you six months’

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

25

Traveling the

BACKROADS

Carl is last one on the right. grocery money ahead and jump into it.’

“He didn’t take my advice. He got a year’s grocery money ahead and jumped in. Well, it wasn’t long until he had enough business that Catherine had to quit work and help him. … Lyman was always honest with me. We trusted each other. He just had more nerve than I did. I made a living, and he made a fortune.”

Some land sales Carl remembers with pride, and rightly so. Leeds Memorial Park is enjoyed today on land he sold to the city through Mayor Jack Courson.

Carl worked with the St. Clair County Board of Education to obtain land for the Moody High School, Junior High School and Middle School – and land for a second road into the school property. Shortly before he retired, he worked with Moody’s Mayor Joe Lee for the Jack’s Family Restaurant site to be located on Moody Parkway. And we all know that the problems of the world have been solved over breakfast at a Jack’s round table, Anywhere, USA. Of his son and Moody Realty, Carl says with pride, “Mike has done well with the business. Paula Krafft is his right arm, and Allie, her daughter-in-law, works in the office. Paula and Allie are the most knowledgeable real estate people I have ever known. Mike could go off fishing three days, and they could run the place.”

On occasion, a real estate person has not been above-board and honest with Carl, but he never retaliated. He quietly wrote the person’s name on a piece of paper, dropped it in his bottom desk drawer, and never did business with them again.

Today, June and Carl are doting grandparents and

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Mike Coupland and granddad, Lester Coupland

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

Carl Coupland, earns bragging rights on his tomato plants.

June and Carl Coupland (Photo Credit: Mandy Baughn)

great-grandparents to Beverly and husband Alex Armstrong with their daughters, Allee June and Caroline, and to Ginger and husband, Jeremy Gilbert, with their children, Jackson Cade, Kinslee Morgan and Ellison Kate.

This younger generation is growing up hearing Carl’s memories of the past. But in case he doesn’t share this Halloween tale, we record it here.

One fateful Oct. 31, many years ago, Carl and three friends had the prankish idea to put a cow in their ball coach’s house while he and his wife were at a party. This they did and skedaddled – home free, they thought. However, when Mrs. Coach found a cow in her living room, she exclaimed, “Carl Coupland and (name withheld to respect the dead) did this!’

She guessed two correctly, but Mrs. Coach never told the pranksters’ parents. She had boys of her own.

Should you have an hour or two to visit him, Carl can tell you St. Clair County history that he learned from listening to his father and grandfather tell of their lives and from reading anything he can get his hands on.

Carl Coupland: father, grandfather, businessman, historian and conversationalist. Listen to him. He’s a St. Clair County icon worth knowing and hearing. l

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

27

Reserve Champion Cadillac by Jazz (left) with World Grand Champion High Sword

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

Wester Farms

Odenville home to four-legged world champions

Wester feeds Gen’s Title Lady and her stud colt, sired

by Gen’s Black Gen, twice a day like the rest of the horses.

Story by Elaine Hobson Miller Photos by Mike Callahan Contributed Photos As horse farms go, Wester Farms in Odenville doesn’t look out of the ordinary.

A 21-stall barn houses the horses and their tack. Several horse trailers are parked nearby. Huge round hay bales and several square bales are stacked in a slightly smaller barn next door, along with bales of pine shavings to line the stall floors.

The usual farm equipment is scattered about, such as tractors, horse trailers, a backhoe, a telehandler with 40-foot telescoping lift, a skid steer with a fork and a walk-behind loader that is used to clean stalls.

It’s not a glamorous place, but it is home to two very glamorous horses who have set records in the racking horse

Roy Wester (holding wreath), his wife Joan (left of him), trainer Jamie Lawrence (in formal show attire) and members of the Wester Family join Hey Tomcat at one of his championship racking horse shows.

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

29

Wester Farms There’s always plenty of hay at Wester Stables.

industry. When High Sword won the World Grand Champion title in October, Cadillac by Jazz won the Reserve World Champion title at the same show in Decatur. Roy Wester owns both horses, marking the first time in the history of the racking horse industry that horses owned by the same person took the two top spots at the championship show.

High Sword, ridden by trainer Jamie Lawrence of Vinemont, was World Grand Champion in 2014 and 2015, too, making him the only horse in racking horse history to win that title three times. Roy rode Cadillac by Jazz in the championship competition.

Both horses competed in qualifying classes to get to the championship level. “These two horses won separate qualifying classes prior to competing for the World Grand Championship that crowned the world’s best racking horse at the 48th annual Racking Horse World Celebration in Decatur,” he says.

Racking horses are derived from the Tennessee Walking Horse, and most are registered as both walking and racking. About 80,000 racking horses are in the industry’s national registry, Racking Horse Breeders’ Association of America (RHBAA), which began in 1971 and is located in Decatur.

During show season, which is April through November, Wester works with the horses four or five days a week. He participates in about 20 shows per season. During the rest of the year, colts and

30

Horses graze at Wester Horse Farms.

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

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Wester Farms José On Call (center) keeps some of the mares and their babies company.

Top Honors is another champion racking horse who lives at Wester Farms.

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unfinished horses are made ready for the next season. He raises about 20 of his own colts and buys 10-20 more starts that he trains and re-sells.

“It’s a lot of tough work for trainers and all involved, a lot of late nights, and you don’t get many days off,” he says of the racking horse business. “But I just love it.”

At 70 years old, Wester still mounts a horse from the ground, as opposed to using a mounting block, because he has been doing it all his life. He confesses, however, that he lowers the stirrups to mount, then raises them to their proper length.

His two sons show along with him, and his wife, Joan, goes to shows and cheers them on, helps with advertising and is the wardrobe mistress. “She dresses me,” Wester says. But she does not ride any more. Wester has a couple of employees that help train and show, and some of the horses are trained by Jamie Lawrence.

As many as 24-30 horses occupy the farm at foaling time, which occurs in the fall and in the spring. Only 30 percent of his foals are born in the fall, because it’s too expensive to winter them. Wester’s horses go through 200 round bales and 2,500 square bales per year, along with 80 pounds of pellets and corn per week, as it is.

“That does not include 100 round bales for the cows and 22 horses we keep in Cherokee County,” says Wester, who owns his and his wife’s family farms there.

Retired from Arlington Construction Co. in Birmingham, for which he built 50,000 apartment units, until last year, Wester

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

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Wester finds a fork on the front end of a tractor to be a necessity when dealing with round bales of hay.

Wester and trainer Jamie Campbell were as proud as new papas when Cadillac (left) and High Sword won at Celebration.

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

Wester Farms

C

ongratulations to Odenville’s Wester family on the Racking Horse Breeders Association World Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion, a feat that made history and brought honor to our county!

Commissioner Tommy Bowers (205) 753-8246

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

to all St. Clair Countians. It is my honor to serve!

Wester bred and raised this Spinzone colt at his farm. showed as an amateur because he does not train horses he does not own. “An amateur can show in any class, but a professional, who trains horses for other people, can only show in the open classes,” he explains. “I get a lot of people every month who call wanting me to train their show horses, but I don’t do that.”

He has won amateur Grand Champion on Cadillac by Jazz three times and the men’s amateur four times. “Jazz has won more blues (first-place ribbons) in his career than any horse I have ever shown,” Wester says. “He was also a world champion Tennessee Walking Horse in Shelbyville prior to starting his career as a racking horse in 2014. He has been showing since he was four, and he will be 14 next spring.”

Another one of Wester’s horses, 16-year-old Tears, was the 2016 World Grand Champion racking horse. “I rode him myself, and I won three amateur world championships on him and three amateur world grand championships,” he says. “I have shown Cadillac myself since 2015 and now train him here.

Both Tears and Cadillac have been winning all their lives.”

Wester got the horse bug from his father, who raised Tennessee Walkers with S.W. Beech Stables in Tennessee. “We didn’t show, we just got them ready, and they (the stables) sold them for show work,” he says. “I deal mainly with racking horses on pads with no action device, which is a requirement for the RHBAA World Grand Championship.”

Some of his stallions, including the two latest champions, go to Campbell Stables in Cullman during breeding seasons (fall and spring). “They do our shipping and breeding,” Wester says.

“We don’t live-cover any mares at the breeding barn. It’s all through artificial insemination, except for the stallions who stay at my barn (Spinzone, Tears and Gen’s Rocky Road).”

Another winner is now enjoying life as a pet for his granddaughter and a companion for mares and their foals. The 15-year-old sorrel gelding is José On Call, and Roy won the 2012 men’s show pleasure championship on him. That horse’s show career ended when Wester’s 9-year-old granddaughter claimed José as her own. She’s 16 now, and José is still her horse.

“She just pets him and rides him, she doesn’t show him,” Wester says. “I made a lot of money on that deal, didn’t I?” l

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

35

Christmas IN ST. CLAIR COUNTY

Celebrating a special season with food, gifts, decorations and much more

36

DISCOVER Christmas Special • 2019

Local Flavors St. Clair’s ‘Best-of’ cooks share their family recipes

Story Scottie Vickery Photos by Toni Franklin and Graham Hadley When Polly Warren starts baking her melomakarona cookies during the holiday season, she’s instantly transported to her childhood Christmases in Greece. “At Christmastime, we made hundreds of them,” she said. “I call it a honey cookie to other people here. It’s my mother’s recipe. I grew up with it, and I’m still making it myself.”

Most of us have that one dish. Whether it’s part of the main course or dessert, that’s crucial to our holiday celebration. Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without Aunt Mary’s sweet potatoes, Grandma’s sugar cookies or Dad’s pecan pie. It evokes memories, warm feelings and family stories that have been told and retold for years.

We decided to ask some of the winners in the food categories of this magazine’s annual “The Best of St. Clair” contest for the recipes of some of their families’ favorite holiday dishes. After all, they clearly know a thing or two about good food and what makes it special.

As for Warren, her family so loves the melomakarona that they’ll take it any way they can get it. “I send it to Florida to my children,” said Warren, who left Greece when she was 18. “My son told me, ‘I don’t care how it comes. If they become crumbs, I will eat them with a spoon.’”

Warren, who caters and owns the KFC in Pell City, isn’t a bit surprised. Although she makes a variety of cookies, baklava and tea cakes for friends and family during the holidays, the melomakarona is the favorite. “You have to taste it to know it,” she said. “If I only could make one thing, that would be it. The aroma is just wonderful.

It reminds me of Greece, it reminds me of home.”

Melomakarona

Polly Warren 2 ¼ cups vegetable oil 2 tsp orange rind 2/3 cup orange juice 2 tbsp brandy or whiskey 4 tbsp sugar 2 tsp cinnamon (plus extra for sprinkling) 4 tbsp honey 1 ½ tsp baking soda 2 ½ pounds plain flour (or less) Ground pecans Syrup for Melomakarona 2 cups water 2 cups sugar Juice of 1 lemon 1 stick cinnamon

Polly Warren

To make the syrup, combine ingredients, stir and bring to a boil.

Simmer to soft boil stage.

To make cookies, place oil in pan, beat with spoon about 10 minutes. Gradually add orange rind, orange juice, brandy or whiskey, sugar, cinnamon, honey and baking soda. Blend well and add flour gradually until dough can be handled without sticking to your hands.

Roll out dough to ½ inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter. Yields 65 cookies.

Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Dip cookies in warm syrup, drain. Sprinkle with ground pecans and cinnamon.

DISCOVER Christmas Special • 2019

37

Christmas

Lasagna

IN ST. CLAIR COUNTY

Lasagna

Christine Leonardi, Three Earred Rabbit, Leeds For owner Christine Leonardi, Christmas dinner is all about lasagna. “A lot of families have turkey, dressing and ham, but I’m from a large Italian/American family,” she said. “Lasagna was the star.” Leonardi, who grew up in Brooklyn, said the whole family – aunts, uncles and cousins – would gather for the holiday meal. “There would be 30 or 40 of us, and sometimes there were so many of us we’d have to eat dinner in the basement because there wasn’t room upstairs,” she said. “It was a really good time, and I have lots of fond memories.” Her family’s lasagna is often served at both the Leeds and Trussville locations of the restaurant during their Italian Nights on Fridays.

Charlie’s BBQ

Lasagna 3 tbsp olive oil 2 lbs ground beef (or 1 lb ground beef and 1 lb ground sausage) 4 cloves of garlic, chopped 3 large cans crushed tomatoes 2 tbsp dried onion 2 tsp Italian seasoning No bake lasagna noodles Sauté ground beef in the olive oil. Add the garlic and let it cook about 3 minutes. Add crushed tomato and all seasonings.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. The longer it cooks, the better the flavor.

Filling for lasagna 2 lbs ricotta cheese 1 egg 2 cups mozzarella 1/4 cup of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese Salt and pepper Mix all together in a large bowl.

Add a little hot water and sauce to the bottom of a 9x13 deep dish roasting pan or aluminum tray. Layer noodles and add a little more sauce. Add half of ricotta mixture on top of noodles, add more sauce, and top with more Parmigiano and mozzarella to taste. Repeat. Two layers will make a good lasagna. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, covered. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Apple Cake

Scott Holmes, Charlie’s BBQ, Odenville No matter how big the feast during holiday dinners, owner Scott Holmes always saves room for dessert. That’s because Thanksgiving and Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without his mom’s Apple Cake. “It’s a family favorite, and it has been for at least three decades,” he said of the recipe that his mother, Charlene Holmes, got from her mother.

Just the smell of the baking cake, which counts cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves among the ingredients, is enough to remind him of days gone by when the holiday favorite could only be made certain times of the year.

“Back in the day, you couldn’t get apples year-round, and you

38

could only get the good ones in the fall,” he said. “It just has that holiday taste and smell. We generally have a chocolate pie and sometimes bread pudding as well, but that’s my favorite.”

Apple Cake 1 cup oil 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup white sugar 2 eggs 2 cups plain flour 1 tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt 1 tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp ground nutmeg ¼ tsp ground cloves 3 cups chopped cooking apples (Winesap or honeycrisp) 1 cup chopped pecans Combine oil, brown sugar, white sugar and eggs. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Add dry ingredients to sugar mixture and blend well. Stir in apples and pecans. Bake in greased and floured bundt pan at 350 degrees for 1 ¼ hours. Check for doneness with a toothpick after 1 hour.

DISCOVER Christmas Special • 2019

Christmas IN ST. CLAIR COUNTY

Cornbread, and Chicken and Dressing Brenda Hamby, Louie’s Grill, Cropwell

The secret to good dressing is a simple one, according to Brenda Hamby, operator of Louie’s Grill. “If you start with good cornbread, you end up with great dressing,” she said.

And thanks to Big Mama, the cook at Hamby’s first restaurant, (Even Odds Bar & Grill), she’s got both covered. “Everybody enjoys it,” she said. Diners at Louie’s can enjoy the cornbread every Friday when it’s served with alongside fried chicken, chicken livers and calf livers. The dressing, which includes lots of chicken, makes its appearance during the holiday, when they also prepare it for pickup, Hamby said. “There’s nothing more Southern or more important” to the holiday meal. “I only concentrate on it during this time of year, so it makes it more special,” she said.

Louie’s Grill

The Ark

Cornbread 5 cups Stivers white self-rising cornmeal 4 eggs 2 cups mayonnaise ½ cup liquid butter About 2 cups Buttermilk (more or less) Mix first four ingredients together and add buttermilk until it is thick cake consistency (may be a little more or a little less than 2 cups). Use oiled cake sheet pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes until golden.

Dressing 4 Chicken leg quarters for meat and broth Cornbread 1 large onion 3-4 stalks of celery, including leafy tops Butter 8 eggs 1 large can cream of celery soup Poultry season to taste Sage to taste Boil chicken in enough salt water just to cover for a rich broth. Crumble cornbread in large bowl. Tear chicken and add to cornbread. Sautee onion and celery in butter until transparent. (I like lots of both). Add to cornbread. Add eggs, soup, poultry seasoning and sage. Take broth and moisten cornbread to thick batter. Makes two sheet cake pans of dressing. Bake at 350 degrees until golden and firm in the middle

Buttermilk Pie

Shirley Abts, The Ark, Riverside When owner Shirly Abts mentions one of her favorite holiday desserts, she’s often met with blank stares, especially from the younger generation.

“When you tell people Buttermilk Pie, they look at you like you lost your mind,” she said. “They came up with this recipe, I’m sure, during the Depression when people didn’t have any

40

money. I can remember my grandmother making it, so it’s been around for a while. It wouldn’t be the holidays without at least one slice.” Abts used to travel to visit family at Christmas, and “I hauled this pie all over.” Now that everyone has moved closer to home, she doesn’t have to worry about logistics as much. So, what’s her biggest challenge with the pie now?

“Staying out of it,” she said with a laugh.

Buttermilk Pie 1 ½ cups sugar 3 tbsp all-purpose flour 3 large eggs 1 cup buttermilk ½ cup butter, melted 1 tbsp lemon zest 3 tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp vanilla extract Pie crust (either bought or homemade) Fresh berries and whipped cream for garnish Preheat oven to 350. Whisk together sugar and flour. Whisk eggs, buttermilk, butter, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla.

Pour into flour mixture and mix well. Pour into pie crust and bake 35 to 45 minutes. Let cool 1 hour. Top with berries and whipped cream.

DISCOVER Christmas Special • 2019

Triple T’s

Piña Colada Poke Cake Peggy Tollison, Triple T’s, Pell City

Sometimes the simple recipes are the best recipes. That’s certainly the case with Peggy Tollison’s Piña Colada Poke Cake, which she got from her grandmother. “It’s very, very good,” she said. “It starts with a box mix, but it’s what you do after that that makes it so delicious.”

Tollison, the restaurant’s kitchen manager, was born and raised in upstate New York and often visited family in Pell City during the holidays. This cake quickly became a favorite. “It makes me think of my dad’s Southern family,” she said. Her father’s work kept the family up north, but Tollison headed south after graduating from high school. “I was supposed to be coming for a visit, but I met family every time I turned around and realized I just liked being around family.” These days, the cake is a hit with customers, as well. “They all fell in love with it,” she said.

Piña Colada Poke Cake 1 box butter cake mix (plus ingredients needed to make cake – softened butter, eggs, water) 1 15-oz can cream of coconut

1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk 1 15.25-oz can crushed pineapple in juice 2 cups heavy whipping cream 2 tbsp powdered sugar 1 tsp coconut flavoring Topping 2 cups heavy whipping cream 2 tbsp powdered sugar 1 tsp coconut flavoring Prepare butter cake according to package directions. While cake is baking, drain crushed pineapple into bowl (saving juice). In separate bowl, whisk together cream of coconut, sweetened condensed milk and pineapple juice. Mixture will be thin.

When cake is done, take out of oven.

While cake is still warm, poke holes in the top using a fork.

Pour cream of coconut mixture evenly over cake. It will look saturated.

Cover cake and refrigerate overnight.

For topping, combine all ingredients and whip until fluffy.

Top cake and enjoy.

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Christmas IN ST. CLAIR COUNTY

Rack of Lamb with Blood Orange Reduction Craig Frickey, J&S Country Store, Pell City

Sometimes you have to get creative if you want your children to fall in love with good food. That’s what owner Craig Frickey and his wife, Michelle, discovered worked best with their daughter, Mary. A notoriously picky eater, she only liked steak.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, so one Christmas they told her the rack of lamb was steak. She ate it all and quickly declared it to be the best steak she’d ever eaten.

“Of course, we confessed that it was a rack of lamb, and she was 100 percent hooked,” Frickey said. “This dish became a holiday staple at the Frickey Christmas table.”

Rack of Lamb with Blood Orange Reduction 2 7-8 boned Frenched racks of lamb Kosher salt Coarse black pepper 4 cloves of garlic (minced) 4 or 5 sprigs of fresh rosemary 1/2 cup white wine 3 cups blood orange juice 1/4 stick of real butter 1 large shallot 4 slices of applewood smoked bacon Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Finely chop shallots, mince cloves of garlic, and finely dice bacon. Set aside. Take 1/2 of the minced garlic and rub generously over the racks of lamb. Gently press the kosher salt and black pepper on lamb.

Place cast-iron skillet on stove to heat while lightly coating with olive oil until it begins to smoke. Gently place racks of lamb bone side up in skillet. Sear for 3 minutes to get a goldenbrown crust. Turn lamb over and repeat on opposite side.

Remove from heat. Add shallots, bacon and remainder of garlic in skillet. Put sprigs of rosemary on top of lamb and place in preheated oven for 8 minutes (for medium temperature).

Remove skillet from oven and place lamb on a cookie sheet to rest. Return skillet to stove on medium high heat. Add white wine to deglaze the pan, then add blood orange juice and reduce by half. This should create a nice thick sauce. Add butter and whisk until melted into the sauce.

Slice lamb into desired serving size. Place on top of favorite vegetable – asparagus or green beans. Spoon reduction sauce over the lamb and serve.

J&S Couuntry Store farm,” said Wheeler, who grew up in Mt. Pisgah and bought the restaurant in 1961. “We raised all our vegetables and we raised all our meat,” he said. “I think the old-fashioned way of doing things makes the difference,” he said.

Chicken and Dressing 1 hen (save the broth) Medium size pan of cornbread 3 slices white bread 1 medium onion, diced 12 eggs 1 stick margarine, melted 1 tbsp poultry seasoning 1 tbsp parsley flakes 1 tbsp black pepper Bake cornbread and hen. Let cool, pick chicken from the bones and set aside. Crumble cornbread and mix with white bread. Cover with chicken broth and set aside. Combine onion, eggs, margarine, poultry seasoning, parsley and pepper. Pour into cornbread mixture and stir well.

Add chicken pieces, pour into a 13x9x2 casserole and bake at 375 degrees until center of dressing springs back when pressed.

Serve with giblet gravy and cranberry sauce.

Chicken and Dressing Joe Wheeler, Pell City Steakhouse

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The chicken and dressing at Pell City Steakhouse is such a customer favorite, owner Joe Wheeler said they just can’t wait on the holidays to serve it. It’s on the menu every Sunday and sometimes, during the week. “If we didn’t serve it, they’d be mad at us,” he said. “We use the same recipe my grandmother and mother used.”

The dish is so popular, in fact, that customers buy it by the gallon at Thanksgiving and Christmas for their own family celebrations. “We use the recipes that came from the family

Pell City Steakhouse

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Christmas IN ST. CLAIR COUNTY

Sausage Balls, Roasted Shrimp, and Ambrosia Polly Green, Caterer and owner of Café Royale

Polly Green’s family has one rule for Christmas morning: Don’t get between them and their sausage balls. They have been pairing the holiday delicacy with Champagne for at least the past two decades, and they top the family’s “must-have” list.

“Oh, my goodness, if we didn’t have sausage balls on Christmas morning, I might get thrown in the lake,” she said. “There would definitely be grumbling.” The family also couldn’t do Christmas Eve without roasted shrimp, or Christmas dinner without ambrosia, using Green’s late mother’s recipe and serving dishes. “She had these footed dishes with snowmen, and we can’t do the table without them,” Green said of her mother, Frances Green. “It’s our way of keeping her with us, having those dishes at the table.”

Sausage Balls 6 cups Bisquick 1 lb Jimmy Dean Mild Sausage 1 lb Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage 1 lb freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese (grate Cabot by hand, it makes a big difference) 1-1 ½ tsp cayenne pepper

Polly Green

Mix all ingredients loosely and refrigerate for two hours. Roll into quarter size balls. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until medium brown. Drain on paper towels and cool. Serve with great Champagne or sparkling wine.

Roasted Shrimp 10/15 or 16/20 headless gulf raw shrimp* Olive oil Coarse sea salt Freshly ground black pepper *Treat yourself to a trip to Joe Patti’s Seafood in Pensacola, Fla., for the shrimp, if possible. Peel, devein and pat dry.

Lightly sprinkle with olive oil on a sheet pan. Stir with your hands to coat shrimp.

Spread evenly on the pan – be sure not to overlap.

Generously sprinkle with salt and not quite as generously with pepper. Broil at 400 degrees for 3-6 minutes. (This is NOT the time for refreshing your beverage … watch closely, as all ovens vary.) Shrimp will be a bright reddish pink.

Remove the pan from the oven and serve right away and/or in an hour or so. They are delicious at all temperatures.

Ambrosia 4 peeled and pithed navel oranges, pulled or sliced into bite size pieces (reserve any juice they release) 3 red apples (my preference is Fuji) 1 diced mango or 1 container packaged diced mangoes from the refrigerated produce section 1/3 cup roasted pecan pieces 2 bananas Ginger ale or champagne Toasted coconut flakes, if desired Mix oranges, apples, mango and pecans in a medium bowl. Sprinkle with reserved orange juice. Dice bananas into stemmed dessert dishes right before serving and add fruit mixture.

Pour about 3 tbsp ginger ale or champagne into each dish.

Top with coconut flakes for garnish. Serves 8-10.

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And enjoy a delicious Merry Christmas from our readers’ best cooks!

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MERRY CHRISTMAS

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& HAPPY NEW YEAR

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Experts tell you how to deck the halls the easy way

decorating for the holidays

Christmas IN ST. CLAIR COUNTY

Story by Eryn Ellard Photos by Gerald Ensley Jr. It can be the most wonderful time of the year, but the stressful pace of the holiday season seems to heighten during the holidays when decorating worries are in the mix.

Take it from the experts. It doesn’t have to be.

According to two top preforming retailers, both of whom specialize in décor and gifts, and one creative interior designer, if its gets to be too overwhelming, it isn’t worth doing, and if you’ve tried, and things didn’t turn out as planned, the sun will still rise in the morning, as the old saying goes.

From timeless classics to eclectic, over-the-top interior designs and everywhere in-between, some of the county’s top talent share some tips and tricks of the trade when it comes to decorating for Christmas, so that you can get back to the real meaning of the season.

Well-known local retailer Jordan Morton of Magnolia’s Gift Shop, which has now grown into three separate locations, says she learned her ways of decorating from her mother, and it was always a family tradition preparing for Christmas. “When I was a little girl, my mom would put a tree in every room and decorate every spot of our home,” Morton said. “It was so magical!” Morton’s business is probably most well-known for their trademark giftwrapping, and their “go big” approach when it comes to Christmas, in both decorating and unique gifts.

As far as trends for this holiday season, Morton says it is both a challenging and unique experience to gather what customers really value in each of her stores. “Each store has its own little personality, so we can tailor certain things to the local communities,” she said. “We try to create a space where you can enjoy finding a really nice gift or decoration for any occasion in life.”

Morton’s tips for decorating seem easy enough to follow, but just as easy to create a mess. The biggest mistake she sees her customers making is trying to figure out decorating all at once.

“Whether you’re just starting out, or wanting to refresh what you already own, it’s best to take it one step at a time,” Morton said. She also believes that a good Christmas tree is a great investment, as well as mantle garland.

“Then, next year you look to build off that look by adding garlands for your staircase or decorative items for your centerpieces,” she added. By doing smaller areas at a time, Morton says it also alleviates the stress and cost of decorating by trying to do it all during the busiest time of the year. It also gives you room to experiment with different themes, greenery or statement pieces that you may not even like the next year.

This year, Morton says the buffalo check pattern has been a strong seller, and it seems to be sticking around. She also added that the “vintage” Christmas feel is making a comeback, “… and of course you won’t ever be out of style with red and green decorations.” Morton also points out that a good rule of thumb is to have a few “statement pieces” incorporated within your home. “These can be large trays, pottery pieces, lanterns or pottery pieces you can dress up or down throughout the year, and you can always give them a different look based on the time of year, just by adding different floral pics or ribbon.”

SPECIAL DECORATIONS FOR SPECIAL PLACES For the last 29 years, Gerald Ensley, owner of Southern Manor Interiors in Pell City, has been decorating and designing special spaces for his clients. Always dressed to impress and driving what he has dubbed the “glitter van” because he always carries glitter and other special touches with him to use in his plans – from simple to elaborate. Ensley loves to see his client’s vision come to life, all year long, not just during the holiday season. However, Ensley stays booked every year for the six weeks of Christmas with design work he delivers to his clients.

“As far as decorating goes, don’t ever be afraid to try something new. If it doesn’t work, don’t be afraid to try again.”

Ensley believes it is easy for people to see a vision or an idea they would love to see in their home for Christmas, but can often be hard to execute, so they become overwhelmed and quit altogether.

Known for his eclectic and larger-than-life creations, Ensley also believes in working with what you have. “Anything can be used in a tree,” said Ensley. “I’ve put lanterns in trees, signs, statues meant for tables, you name it.”

When asked if he had to choose a few key pieces that are

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Christmas IN ST. CLAIR COUNTY

timeless and necessary for Christmas decorating, he responded that a good tree that actually “fits” the room it will be in is always a great investment, along with a good nativity scene and a good wreath. “When I start decorating a tree, I always start with the topper, which doesn’t always have to be at the top of the tree, and work around that,” Ensley said. “From there, I am able to see what (clients) have and what I have to work with, and what I need to bring in.”

He also advises not to be afraid to mix different types and sizes of greenery, ribbon, beads, lights, anything you’ve got when decorating your tree, mantle, tables, anywhere you are planning to place something as a decoration.

Everyone is different, and their decorating should reflect what they want. Flocked trees have been very popular in recent years, but there really aren’t any “one size fits all” Christmas trends, it just all depends on each client. “I just don’t think inside the box,” he said. “I don’t look at it as a one-size-fits-all type job, but rather creating spaces where you can make new and special memories with family and friends.”

Just down the road a piece, flustered decorators and perfect gift hunters can be found at Main Street Drugs, a pharmacy and gift shop, also with three locations.

Owner Jennifer Eddy ascertains a strong love for family – especially children. “I know my son loves the color blue, and he loves football,” Eddy said. “So, I know we will have a blue football-themed tree somewhere in our house just for him.”

Her personal take on decorating is just that – what she likes. That might include classical looks with a traditional topper and heirloom ornaments, to just downright fun decorations, like an upside-down elf tree topper. Or it might be festive threads of ribbon and ornaments with clever sayings, that when you see it all set up, you can’t help but feel happy.

With signature wrapping of red and green polka dots, to themed trees, she carefully plans and budgets each year, in order to remain pocketbook friendly, as well as effective with her decorating pieces. She, too, also shares her love of adding different styles of accents – from greenery, to peacock feathers, to floral pics, she believes it should express who you are and what you like.

Eddy also has searched for special pieces from local vendors, ranging from Mississippi to Pell City.

While Christmas can become a stressful time, Eddy admits, it is all about its magic to the children. “Kids love to help,” Eddy said. “Buy a box of plastic shatterproof ornaments and a small tree for them to decorate themselves. It means the world to them and makes them feel included.”

She loves the look on a customer’s face when she creates a custom bow or helps pick out a great gift. It is what she loves most about this season, and it’s her way of giving back to the community.

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WHY SHOP PELL CITY FOR CHRISTMAS?‌ THE MONEY COMES RIGHT BACK TO YOU Where does the money go?

The sales tax from every dollar you spend in Pell City comes back to you in services, schools and community.

SHOP LOCAL THINK LOCAL IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE!

Community Investment. Every dollar you spend at home turns over 7 times in local economic activity. $100=$700 more invested back into community.

Grow Jobs. When you support local business, businesses create jobs.

Personal Service. Local merchants believe in customer service, stocking what you want when you want it.

Grow Nonprofits. Local businesses invest in nonprofits in our community, helping them help others.

Grow Business. Local businesses are more likely to use local sources, growing other businesses in the process.

Better Services. With additional funding from shopping local, the city is able to provide better services – roads, recreation, infrastructure.

Support Schools. Through the dollars you spend locally, our schools profit.

A percentage of every dollar goes to support our schools!

Buy Local + Support Local = Making a difference in your community

Christmas IN ST. CLAIR COUNTY

Handcrafted decoratons at Mainstreet Drugs

For the best unique gifts, friendly service

Shop locally this holiday season

Story by Jackie Walburn Photos by Graham Hadley Submitted photos Christmas season is the best and smartest time to shop locally, say local merchants who offer unique decorations and gifts, handmade and homemade gifts, hard-to-find items, plus friendly, no hassle service.

A canvass of local retailers’ top gift items for adults for Christmas 2019 reveals an abundant selection of practical and charming gifts available just down the street and

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around the corner. Local merchants usually offer free gift wrapping and promise customer service that follow-up shoppers will not find online or at big box stores.

Shopping locally “provides a more personalized shopping experience,” says Michael Abernathy, vice president for marketing and sales for Griffins Jewelers in Pell City. “We want to give you that hometown, oneon-one shopping experience that’s memorable, and to help you get what you want,” he says. “We stand behind everything we sell, so if there is a problem, we make it right. You can’t say that about online shopping or the big-

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name stores.”

“Being local helps us serve our community in a unique, personal way,” says Jordan Hardy, manager at Magnolia’s Gift Shop, which has stores in Pell City, Sylacauga and a new location in Chelsea in Shelby County. Convenience is another plus of shopping locally, especially during the busy holiday season. “But, at Magnolia’s we really strive to be the best experience all year round. We don’t expect people to shop with us just because we are local. Instead, we strive to be able to earn our customers’ business by bringing the very best to their doorstep.”

Diamonds always in fashion At Griffins Jewelers, Christmas gift options include unique jewelry and gift items plus the gift that never gets returned – diamonds. “Diamonds are always in fashion. You never have to worry if you are getting the right thing if you buy diamonds,” Abernathy says.

Specific jewelry destined to be popular for Christmas gifts include the LeVian fine jewelry collection that includes rings, earrings, neck and wrist wear from the family-owned jewelry company that dates from the 15th century. Griffins is the exclusive local dealer for Levian, which offers its unique chocolate and vanilla diamonds, designer gemstone items and donates 10 percent of all its before-taxes profits to charity.

Stackable rings and dainty stackable bracelets will be in demand for Christmas. Plus, Griffins will be the local contact for a nationally promoted jewelry line to be announced soon, Abernathy says. “We’ll have the inside scoop on that.”

Other exceptional offerings at Griffins includes Wolf leather products, including jewelry boxes and watch cases that are handmade and handstitched. The jewelry encasement products have a special lining that blocks gasses that cause tarnish, a protection that’s guaranteed for up to 35 years.

Also shop at Griffins for the special solar powered world globes that spin using earth’s gravity and magnetism and for the Tennessee Whiskey collection of items, including rings, bracelets and pendants made from whiskey barrel wood.

Christmas gift and decorating items include Christmas trays and platters from Magnolia Lane. All gift wrapping is free with a purchase at Griffins, located at 1903 Cogswell in Pell City.

Stackable rings at Griffins

Faceplant pajamas at Magnolias

Magnolias aims at magical holidays At Magnolias Gift Shop, Christmas is on display with unique decorating ideas and inspiration, says manager Jordan Hardy. “I remember when I was a little girl, my Mom had a Christmas tree in almost every room, transforming our home into a magical place during the holidays. That’s what we want our stores to feel like for our customers.”

Magnolias offers everything needed to decorate for the holidays – from ribbons and floral pics to garlands, wreaths and Christmas lights. “In fact, last year, we got so many requests for trees that we invested in a spectacular variety of high-end Christmas trees this year,” Hardy says.

Always aiming to be the shop for distinctive gifts for any occasion, Magnolias’ variety of high-quality gift items “makes us unique and convenient for the community,” Hardy says.

New for Christmas giving are additions to Magnolias’ bath and body collection, three new brands of luxury pajamas from Faceplant, P.J. Harlow and Barefoot dreams. “We’ve found that this addition really helps fill in the gap for our customers when they are trying to find a gift for someone special ‘who

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already has everything.’”

Whichever gifts you select at Magnolias, expect its “over the top” complimentary gift wrapping, Hardy says. “We think that no matter if a gift is $5 or $500, presentation matters. And it’s more fun to give (and receive) a beautifully wrapped gift. So, we hand make every single bow for every gift that comes across our counter.”

Handmade at Mainstreet, Odenville Drugs At MainStreet Drugs and Gift Shop in Pell City, Christmas shoppers can find handmade items, including toys, jewelry and pottery, says co-owner Jennifer Eddy. Handmade items available at the gift shops at MainStreet Drugs and sister store Odenville Drugs include door hangers, shirts, spirit wear, fine soaps and bath and body items. Also look for new blankets and throws.

“The majority of the gift items are local and handmade, if not locally, then regionally in the South,” Eddy says. Particularly popular items include vintage angels, Rae Dunn pottery and Corksicle drinkware and accessories. The fullservice pharmacy and gift shop at 2219 Cogswell Avenue carries baby items including WubbaNub pacifiers and blessing beads for nurseries. Gift wrapping is free and includes fancy bows.

Pell-City-specific decoratons at Mainstreet Drugs

Bells, chimes and more at Warren Family Nursery At Warren Family Nursery located in the MoodyLeeds area, gift options include woodwork, metal art and painted glass and a birding section with feeders, feeds and bird houses – in addition to the full line of nursery items including Christmas trees and plants.

The family-owned nursery and gift shop at 1009 Old Cedar Grove Road in Moody grows and sells plant to individuals, businesses and landscapers with seasonal specialties including Christmas trees, plants, trees, bulbs and seeds.

The gift shop’s special gift items include Corinthian Bells, handmade chimes, crosses, wall plaques, door hangers, fairy gardens, moss-coated statues, Nature’s Garden Bells, ornamental garden stakes and hand-chiseled recycled steel oil drum sculptures.

They have some hard-to-find plants and have amaryllis bulbs planted and ready for gifting along with other flowering plants and greenery that can be gift packaged for the holidays.

Artscape for handmade art and gift items A nonprofit arm of the Council of the Arts that serves St. Clair County, the Artscape Gallery features the work of local artists and craftspeople, much of it for sale in time for Christmas giving.

Located in Pell City’s historic downtown on

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Yard art at Warren Family Nursery

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Cogswell Avenue, Artscape is a cooperative gallery that consists of about 20 local artists. In addition to art classes in many mediums, an art camp for youngsters and an annual Artscape Festival, the gallery offers artwork and crafts for sale.

Artscape features handmade pieces from the artists and craftspeople of St. Clair County and surrounding areas. Items for sale include paintings, woodworking, ceramics, jewelry, stained glass, mosaics, basketry and digital art.

Artists who showcase and sell some of their work at Artscape include Nana Boner, Bruce Day, Janice Entler, Julie Funderburg, Dave Gunkel, Sundi Hawkins, Judy Lockridge, Sherri McKendree, Linda Meadows, Tracey Nunnally, and Steve and Sally Smith, according to the Arts Council website, www.artscouncilpc.com. Hours are listed as 10 a.m, to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.

“It’s a cooperative gallery,” says arts council president Jane Entler. “We all kind of own it; we all work here.

Everyone works one day a month,” she says, noting that establishing the gallery took a leap of faith when it opened in 2001, and that determination has helped the project grow and flourish.

Music and more And finally, there is always the gift of music. From guitars to electric pianos, amplifiers, accessories and more, you can find it all at Ron Partain’s World of Music in Pell City .

Partain has been in the business in downtown for decades, and he and his staff can help you find exactly the right gift to put under the tree this year. They have a huge in-store inventory of brandname guitars like Alvarez, Ovation, Ibanez and more. And what they don’t have in the store, they can order for you at prices to beat the online competition.

You can pair your musical instrument gift with lessons. World of Music offers guitar lessons and more.

If the musician in your life already has the perfect instrument, they can always use more accessories — music stands, guitar straps, pedals, mixing boards and other sound equipment.

Partain prides himself in carrying something for everyone. Whether it is a ukulele or a resonator guitar, a bass amp or an effects pedal, World of Music can match your musician with the instrument, accessory or equipment they want most.

Artwork and more at Artscape

Everything for the musician at Ron Partain’s World of Music

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Christmas IN ST. CLAIR COUNTY

Kids’ List From Star Wars to dolls, some help finding that perfect toy to put under the tree

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Story by Jackie Romine Walburn Submitted Photos When it comes to most-wanted toys and gifts for children, every holiday season brings new toys and trends. And, for Christmas 2019, in-demand toys include retro and back-to-basic offerings plus the latest in electronic and interactive toys and games.

This year, stuffed animals take on new life as interactive friends, robots come to life and traditional games, dolls and building sets get upgrades.

Among the top 30 most popular new toys for Christmas 2019 listed at hip2save.com are an interactive sloth, the Baby Shark Dancing Doll and new LEGO adventures. In addition, toy gift buyers will find the latest toys from popular movies including Toy Story and superhero series.

Top new toys include: The Fisher-Price Linkimals Smooth Moves Sloth, yes, a sloth that has lights, music, song and dance moves. Aimed at children 9 months to 4 years, the sloth introduces counting, colors, opposites and the alphabet as it claps its hands and bobs its head. About $30 retail.

The Baby Shark Dancing Doll is a cuddly toy that dances to the popular Baby Shark song. Children can prompt the doll to make sounds by tapping on his head, clapping or calling its name. About $30 retail.

The animated Toy Story Walking Buzz Lightyear comes to life with lights, sounds and signature action movies. He walks forward and backward, too. About $30.

In the hidden surprise toy department, CuteTito are stuffed animals wrapped and hidden in a burrito blanket ready to be unrolled and discovered. Available in 12 collectible styles, each CuteTito pet comes with a burrito blanket and collector card with additional information about each pet. About $10 each.

The Barbie Dreamplane is the latest accessory for Barbie and friends. The airplane taxies on wheels and opens up to reveal realistic touches like reclining seats, working overhead compartments and a snack cart with removable trays. Barbie not included. About $70 retail.

Preschoolers learn about coding with the Fisher-Price Code ‘n Learn Kinderbot. Different codes control the robot’s movements, lights and phrases, offering coding challenges that teach about early math concepts, colors and shapes. About $50.

A toy that partners with a mobile device to play music is Sphero Specdrums, app-enabled music maker that turns colors into sounds. Connect to the spectrum mix app and tap on anything – your clothes, drawings or the included playing pad – to create and mix any sounds, beats and loops that all play through your mobile device. Priced at about $100.

Pets, robots, Barbie and Hot Wheels Topping the list of most realistic toy pets, noted at finder.com, are the FurReal pet toys and a new Pocket Pet Robot Dog. FurReal Ricky is an interactive pet toy with more than 100 sound-and-motion combinations. He makes happy sounds, tilts his head, shuffles his paws, eat treats and poops them out. For ages 4 and up, FurReal Ricky and pet dinosaur, Munchin’ Rex, run on batteries, not included. Prices vary from about $75 to $100.

The Sound Original Pocket Pet Robot Dog is interactive.

It talks, dances, wags, blinks and can learn to repeat what its

Christmas IN ST. CLAIR COUNTY

owner says. Retails for about $18.

Barbie remains in demand in 2019, according to Finder.com, especially the new Color Surprise Barbie with color changing hair. She retails at about $18.

Hot Wheels is taking to the air with its new Hot Wheels Sky Shock Drone. Priced at $58, the Sky Shock Drone takes off and lands and has enhanced stability and impressive speed.

Other remote-control toy options include remote control Bumper Cars, available in several versions, for ages 3 to teen.

A LEGO set ready for Christrmas 2019 is the Star Wars Millennium Falcon. The model set has 1,351 pieces and comes with seven LEGO Star Wars character action figures: Finn, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, C-3PO and Boolio minifigures, plus fan-favorite D-O and BB-8 LEGO figures. The model has rotating top and bottom gun turrets, two spring-loaded shooters, a lowering ramp and an opening cockpit. For boys and girls 9 and up, the set retails for about $160.

More than Monopoly New versions of the traditional Monopoly game include a Fortnite edition, based on the popular video game. Other Monopoly options include a “cheaters” edition and games based around Disney characters, national parks, the Millennial generation, Game of Thrones, World War II, the Avengers and the Zelda video game.

These retail at from about $20 to $60 or more.

Even the classic Monopoly has additions in 2019, with new tokens, a dinosaur, penguin and rubber ducky.

Music making and building basics Keyboard Play Mats, available from several manufacturers, top the Christmas 2019 toy list at womensday.com. The Click N’ Play retails at about $75 and is a colorful mat that lets kids play and explore the sounds of guitar, piano, clarinet, trumpet, saxophone, violin, banjo and xylophone.

Magnetic block and tiles and a stacking game both sneak in STEM lessons as children build and play.

Idoot Magnetic Blocks are blocks and tiles that create shapes, animals and houses, retailing for $30 and up.

CLACK! is a magnetic stacking game the whole family can play. Roll a pair of dice, and one will tell you a color while the other will give you a shape.

Then, you all race to make a stack of discs that fit the criteria; the discs are magnetic, which makes the stacking easy and fun. About $17 retail.

Or try Playstix by Popular Playthings, colorcoded building pieces that interlock. Playstix allows you to build the ordinary and extraordinary. Priced at about $20 to more than $50 for deluxe sets.

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Capture memories instantly The Fujifilm Polaroid Camera instantly captures holiday memories with advanced technology not seen in your parents’ Polaroid. The colorful instant camera has a new selfie mirror shutter, a close-up lens and automatic exposure measurement, uses two AA batteries and Fuji instant film packs. Retails at about $70; film pack options include a $30, 60-image value pack.

Stocking stuffers and more Stocking stuffers ideal for Christmas 2019 include Fingerlings and Pomsies, both little and interactive.

Fingerlings are back for 2019 with the Fingerlings Interactive Monkey, priced at about $15 each. Fingerlings react to motion, touch and sound.

Pomsies, recommended by goodhousekeeping.com, are described as Fingerlings with fur. The interactive toy clips on to an arm, backpack or clothes, so kids can carry it with them all day. Retails for about $14.

Be creative Among creative gift ideas at uncommongoods.com are coloryourself maps and a kit for kids to create an original comic book or flipbook.

My Comic Book Kit contains everything needed to turn your original comic book drawings into a bound book. Sells for $30.

Kids can make their own movie-like books with the Flipbook Kit, for $12.

Another top seller at the site is the World Map Coloring Tablecloth. Kids (and adults) can learn geography and world facts by coloring the globe with this illustrated tablecloth. $30. A USA Coloring Tablecloth is also available at uncommongoods.com, also for $30.

A Build Your Own Robots kit, $15, lets kids follow instruction to make three different robots per kit, then use their own creativity to make more and different robots. There’s also a Build Your Own Animals kit for $15.

THE BEST OF ST. CLAIR

2019

In August, Discover asked readers to choose their favorites in a wide variety of categories.

In October, they picked the winners in our first ever Discover the Best of St. Clair Awards.

We’ll be back next year in August, asking who will get the most votes in 2019! Stay tuned.

For now, meet the faces and places behind the Best of St. Clair Awards for 2019:

Hamburger Charlie’s

Barbecue Charlie’s

Cake Pell City Coffee Catfish Ark

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Cake Three Earred Rabbit

Pie Pell City Steakhouse

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

Coffee Pell City Coffee

Restaurant Charlies

Lunch Spot Pell City Steakhouse

Fast Food Dairy Queen, Pell City

Onion Rings Pell City Steak House

Dinner Spot Heart of Dixie

Fast Food Jack’s Odenville

French Fries Charlie’s

Seafood The Ark

Fast Food Chick Fil A, Pell City

Wings Big Deddy’s

Ribs Charlie’s

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

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Pizza Carpenetti’s

Country Cooking Triple T’s

Salads Heart of Dixie

Mexican Food Guadalajara

Steak Louie’s Grill

Buffet City Market

Meat ‘n Three Triple T’s

Mexican Food El Cazador

Asian Food Oishi

Sandwiches J&S Country Store

Breakfast Spot Jack’s, Pell City

Kayaking & Canoeing Yak the Creek

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

THANK YOU VOTERS!

Thanks all our readers for ‘discovering’ the Best of St. Clair for 2019.

See you next year!

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Boating Logan Martin

Biking Pell City Lakeside Park

Scenic Spot Looney House

Gift Shop Main Street Drugs

Fishing Logan Martin

Scenic Spot Horse Pens 40

Scenic Spot Logan Martin

Farm Hardwick

Hiking Horse Pens 40

Scenic Spot Inzer House

Scenic Spot Pirate Island

Skiing Logan Martin

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

Park Pell City Splash Pad

Personal Watercraft Riding Logan Martin

Church Group Friendship Baptist

Recreational Group Pell City Gateway Garden

Professional Group Pell City BPW Park Pell City Picnic Area

Park Pell City Lakeside Park

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Recreational Group Pell City Parks and Recreation

Non Profit Group Moody Miracle League

Civic Club National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Broken Arrow Chapter Pell City

Recreational Group Springville Youth Soccer

Recreational Group Birmingham Sailing Club

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

Pell City’s Landmark Steak House for over 50 Years!

Lake Homes Realty and Nicole Anderson …A winning team Thank you, St. Clair County!

- Nicole

DAILY LUNCH SPECIALS 10:30-4:00

Lake Homes Realty chosen Best Real Estate Company and Nicole Anderson voted Best Realtor in the Discover The Best of St. Clair Awards for 2019 by the readers of Discover St. Clair Magazine for two consecutive years.

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

205-338-7714 • Menu Line 205-338-7724

Locally owned and operated by Joe Wheeler VOTED BEST MEAT N THREE 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

Serving Logan Martin Lake, Neely Henry Lake and Lay Lake and the surrounding communities.

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

We live, work and play in Pell City And we are here to help keep you and your family healthy and enjoying our community, too!

Hands on Care, Close to Home.

The team at TherapySouth has served the Pell City community for more than 32 years. Steve Foster, Doug Cole and now Tyler McGrady have loved working here to provide physical therapy for friends in our community.

TherapySouth is an outpatient physical therapy practice with a fun, family-oriented environment.

Our experienced physical therapists know our patients by name and strive to help them achieve their physical goals. We know you have a choice for your healthcare, and we’d love to be your physical therapists.

PELL CITY | 205.338.6106 www.therapysouth.com

Nicole Anderson Realtor, Lake Expert

(205) 753-0225

www.NicoleAnderson.com

Pharmacist Curt Eddy Recreational Group Pell City Line Dancers

Dentist Dr. James Roe

Pediatrcian Dr. Hunter Russell, Northside

Pharmacy Main Street Drugs Library Pell City

Doctor Dr. Michael Dupre, Northside Medical

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Orthodontist PT Orthodontics

Chiropractor Weber

Pediatrcian Purohit Pediatrics

Pediatrcian Springville Pediatrics

Lawyer Erskine Funderburg

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

C

LOOK GREAT. SEE GREAT. with

James W. Bedsole, O.D. EYECARE

rating b e l e C Years 5 1 iness in Bus

HOT BAR Mon-Fri 10:45-6:30 BREAKFAST Mon-Sat 5-10:00 am

Thank you to our loyal customers for doing business with us.

VOTED BEST COUNTRY COOKING & MEAT ‘N THREE in St. Clair County by the readers of Discover Magazine.

SANDWICHES, SALADS AND MORE, TOO!

Left to Right: Jayme Nickens, Heather Myers, Gaitlin Roberson, Ariel Herren, and JP Dailey AUTO • HOME • PROPERTY BUSINESS • LIFE • HEALTH BANKING • ANNUITIES

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

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

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Jeweler Griffins

Hair Salon Shear Genius, Odenville

Nail Salon Le Nails

Massage Therapist Renee Collier

Florist Flower Art by Vanessa

Hair Salon Southern Roots

Manicurist John at Tranquil Spa

Massage Therapist Andrea Brown

Photographer Kelsey Bain

Hair Stylist Ashley Windham

Physical Therapist Tyler McGrady

Insurance Company MB Financial

DISCOVER The The Essence Essence of of St. Clair Clair •• December December 2019 2019 & & January January 2020 2020 DISCOVER

Insurance Agent Cayce Wilson

Realtor Nicole Anderson

Antiques Tims

Boat Mechanic Paul Davis, Trident

Boat Dealership Rodney’s Marine

Home Builder Charlie’s Construction

Boat Sales Executive Rodney Humphries

Automobile Dealership Town and Country

Mortgage Company Coosa Valley Mortgage Insurance Agent Brooke Tollison

Bank Metro Realty Company Lake Homes

DISCOVER Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020 DISCOVER TheThe Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

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Automotive Sales Executive Adam Green

Automotive Sales Executive Doug Bailey Norman Wilder

Automotive Sales Executive Chris Cole, McSweeney

Automotive Sales Executive Ronald Beavers

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Automotive Sales Executive Mark Johnson

Historic Site Looney House

Interior Designer Gerald Ensley

Upholstery Echols

Clothes Store/Boutique Uptown Girls

Caterer Polly Green

Caterer Polly Warren

Automobile Repair Willie’s Garage, Odenville

DISCOVER The The Essence Essence of of St. Clair Clair •• December December 2019 2019 & & January January 2020 2020 DISCOVER

Grocery Store or Market Publix, Pell City

Artist Anita Bice

Artist Sondra Carlisle

Woodworking David Foote

Artist David Foote

Potter Tena Payne, Earthborn

DISCOVER Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020 DISCOVER TheThe Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

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St. Clair Alabama

Business Review Louis

A new era begins at Northside

74 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 74 2016 DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair & September 2017 DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair June & July 2017 74 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 74• DISCOVER The Essence DISCOVER The St. Clair 2019 2020

Story by Carol Pappas Photos by Graham Hadley

And the trend continues County continues to score big in economic development If anyone is keeping score of late, St. Clair County’s tallies in the economic development column looks enviable from most vantage points.

Calling activity in the investment and jobs creation arena “robust” in 2019, St. Clair Economic Development Council Director of Industry and Workforce Development Jason Roberts also hints at a just as lively start to 2020.

“We are working on two large projects with international companies that we hope to be successful in recruiting in the very near future.

One of these projects could be potentially the largest private investment in St. Clair County’s history.”

St. Clair EDC Executive Director Don Smith took it a step further, saying that it underscores that St. Clair is not only competing statewide and regionally, it is competing on a global stage. And, it’s doing quite well.

Like an accountant calculating record sales, Roberts recounts the activity and announcements for year-to-date, where St. Clair has experienced growth in existing industry – TCI, Ford Meter Box, WKW’s two expansions, Allied Minerals, Benjamin Moore, Unipres, J&M Exotic Foods and Advanced Tank.

Investments amount to more than $103 million and approaching 150 newly created jobs over the past 18 months.

WKW, which is in the automotive sector, completed its second expansion at the end of September and brought another business line from China. The new line will begin production in 2020. WKW, already in St. Clair’s top five employers, is adding another 30 jobs through its $13 million investment.

Allied Minerals represented a $12 million investment with retention of 60 jobs plus 30 new ones created by consolidating a facility from the east into the brand-new Pell City construction.

Unipres in Steele completed a large expansion at its stamping facility for metal automotive parts. Add $40 million in investments and 70 new employees to St. Clair’s economy in just that one project.

Benjamin Moore is adding a 10,000-gallon latex reactor to its paint facility, generating eight new jobs, $33 million in investment and illustrating the county’s successful venture into high tech

DISCOVER The Essence St. Clair •••August & September 2013 Business Review •July DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • 75 DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair October && November 2017 DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair •August February &July March 2016 2016 75 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 75 Essence ofof St. Clair December 2017 & January January 2018 DISCOVER The Essence of St. •••April May DISCOVER The St. Clair 2019 2020 75

Business Review

economic development

competition. “The last couple of years, the community has been able to flex its muscles when competing domestically and internationally,” Smith said.

J&M Exotic Foods in Moody is doubling the size of its facility that produces spices and herbs with custom blending and packaging. Figure in another $2 million investment and 11 new jobs to St. Clair’s credit.

Roberts called Advanced Tank’s growth a “relatively small, but important expansion.

St. Clair competed with a site in Colorado, the base of Advanced Tank’s operation, for the upgrading of its plate processing and sandblasting.

Advanced Tank has had a presence in Pell City since 1978, and while the $3.5 million investment and 12 new jobs created is impressive enough, “that we got it to come here is pretty important. New investments in new facilities usually are the last to suffer cuts” if there is a downturn, he said. “New investment means viability in the future.”

In other economic news, Smith pointed to an improving housing market, a new car dealership announced for Odenville and a half dozen or so retail and restaurant projects as reasons to be optimistic about the future.

A major retail development is hoped at I-20 at the site of the old county hospital, but there are no final plans or announcements to be made right now.

“We have had good announcements in nearly every community in the county in the past 18 months,” Smith said. And those without announcements thus far, “we’re working on very large projects. Hopefully, it will be a record-setting end of 2019 and beginning of 2020.”

Why all the focus on St. Clair? “We have all the amenities of a large, urban area like Birmingham combined with safety and low cost of a rural community and the closeknit family friendly aspects of a suburban community,” Smith said. “We’re able to market all three of those.”

Geographically, St. Clair sits in an enviable spot with two major thoroughfares – Interstate 20 and Interstate 59 running through it.

“Our leadership throughout the county works extremely well together,” added Roberts. “It makes it easier to operate here.

It is an unparalleled level of collaboration and cooperation.”

Tally it all up, and it appears St. Clair County continues to be in the economic driver’s seat.

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

Every Journey Should Begin With Us… We build our reputation on customer service – before and after the sale.

Our dealership has achieved the highest level of Customer Experience Recognition by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US LLC and is certified by J.D. Power for 2019.

Winner of the Customer First Award for Excellence

Where our customers always come first mcsweeneychryslerdodgejeepram.com 2605 Dr. John Haynes Drive Pell City, AL 35125 205-484-9085 SALES (205) 594-6285 SERVICE (205) 722-6797 PARTS

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

Business Directory

Business Cards

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

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Business Directory

Business Cards

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

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Business Review

All good news in Moody Economic trend continues with new openings

Story by Linda Long Contributed photos Ribbons may soon be in short supply in Moody thanks to a flurry of grand openings and ribbon cutting ceremonies. The old tradition of putting scissors to ribbon symbolizes a new start that says, “come on in, we’re open for business.” And Moody is definitely open for business.

Proof lies in the sounds of the times: That annoying, but necessary, ‘beep-beep’ warning as a construction foreman lets folks know his heavy bulldozer is backing up. The nearby rata-tat-tat of a noisy jackhammer is heard playing its raucous tune. And the cement trucks maintain a steady drone as concrete is smoothed out for a new foundation.

Some might call it noise. But for Moody Mayor Joe Lee, it’s music to his ears.

And, why not? Lee loves seeing the town grow from barely a blip on a map to the second largest city in St. Clair County.

He has been in public service for the past 27 years, first as a member of the Moody City Council, then as mayor for the past 16 years.

Commenting on the number of building projects, both commercial and residential, under way right now, Lee said, “I’m real proud of what I see happening here. I’ve been part of the leadership of this city for a long time, now. I’ve put a lot of effort into making sure we have grown and grown in the right way.”

The new Metro Bank building, which opened its doors officially with a ribbon cutting in November, is testament to that growth. It’s the newest and, perhaps, brightest gem in Moody’s economic crown.

“They were leasing a spot in the Professional Building, and people couldn’t find them,” said Lee. “Now, they’ve got their own brick-and-mortar store and the location is promoting new business. People drive by them every day. They say Moody has a Metro Bank that’s here to stay.”

Although the bank building is new, Metro Bank has been open in Moody for the past 10 years. Still, Metro Bank President and CEO Jason Dorough agrees with the mayor predicting new customers will come with the new location built by Goodgame Co. “We really needed more exposure,” said Dorough. “We had people tell us they didn’t even know we were in Moody.”

That problem should be eliminated with the building’s new location, right on Moody Parkway and its 6,500 square feet.

The bank’s lobby is graced with a stately cathedral ceiling with lots of cheerful windows to bring in the light.

“What can I say?” laughed Dorough. “We’re a newer, bigger, prettier facility.”

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He was quick to point out that despite moving upscale, the one thing that will not change, is Metro Bank’s commitment to remain Moody’s only community bank. “All of our employees are Moody people.

“They live here, shop here, work here. They’re making a big commitment here,” Dorough said.

“Most of the other banks are larger, not headquartered in St Clair County. We try to leave the bank business to the people who run the branch. They are all good people, with a lot of experience. We let them make their own decisions. If they need our guidance, we’re here for them.”

One of the biggest pluses with the move is “we’ve got room to grow. In all of our other locations, we’ve wished we had more offices and things of that nature. Moody is a growing town, and we want to grow right along with it. We feel like there’s a lot of potential here in Moody.”

MORE GROWTH AHEAD FOR CITY

Apparently, Metro Bank isn’t the only investor seeing potential in this St. Clair County community. According to Lee, several new businesses are in varying stages of completion.

A 95-room Holiday Inn Express is under construction fronting Interstate 20. According to Lee, “the same folks building the Holiday Inn are also building a new Exxon station with an additional two new store fronts for lease, though we don’t know yet what’s going in there.” Those structures are located on U.S. 411, across from Adesa Auto Auction.

Popeye’s Fried Chicken, located on U.S. 11 and Markeeta Spur Road was 90 days away from opening in November and according to Lee, another yet to be identified, retail store will be built on property located between Popeye’s and Bojangles.

“We’re expecting a real shopping hub to develop in the area around Popeye’s,” said Lee. “We’ve got more property for sale around there and behind Bojangles, there’s eleven commercial acres for sale. We look for it to develop in the near future.”

Two other business developments that are expected to bring new jobs to Moody include a supermarket located in the shopping center at Moody Parkway and an expanding J.M. Exotic Foods, located in Industrial Park.

“We’re in negotiations right now with a supermarket to try to backfill the space left vacant when Fred’s went out of business.

That’s going to create 55 new jobs, Lee said. “Also, Exotic Foods has a new packing contract that’s going to double the size of their operation.

That will bring in 11 more jobs.

The growth is seen well beyond retail and industrial, though.

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

Metro Bank is just one of many businesses to open locations in Moody recently.

“All the commercial growth we’re having is pushing residential growth as well.” A 58-unit senior citizen complex is under construction for those 55 and up. Completion date is expected around the first of the year. “It’s a little village in itself,” said Lee. “It has a clubhouse and common areas, and each unit is for rent.”

The mayor said some new subdivisions under construction include 120 new homes at The Reserve in the Highlands and 135 houses being built in Oak Hills.

Population in Moody following the last census was 12,457.

According to Lee, the projected population following the next census in 2020 is expected to be 15,000, underscoring the fact that Moody has long since shed its status as a blip on the map.

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

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Business Review

CAPTE makes a difference

Improving employment opportunities, producing skilled workers

Story by Linda Long Submitted Photos She was young, probably in her mid-20s, homeless and abused.

Her most recent address was a shelter for battered women. On the day she walked into the Pell City Career Center, the physical scars had healed; the emotional ones, not so much.

Granted, life had not been kind. Still, the

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girl had grit, the pick-yourself-up-by-yourbootstraps kind of grit. And at her side, she had another weapon for success – LaTonya Williams.

Williams is manager of the Pell City Career Center, which works in conjunction with the Central Alabama Partnership for Training and Employment (CAPTE), a federally-funded program that helps people looking for a job, including displaced workers and young people who are not in school.

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

In her 32 years managing the Career Center, Williams has seen and helped “too many to count.” It’s the success stories she likes to talk about.

“We are all so proud of this young woman. She came here needing our assistance to re-enter the workforce,” said Williams. “She was so determined to complete her training.

She wanted to make a better life for herself.”

And, according to Williams, she did just that, completing a training program and getting her certificate from Jefferson State Community College. She moved to Florida, where she now has a job in dentistry.

Nigel Roberts, deputy director of the CAPTE region (St. Clair, Jefferson, Shelby, Chilton, Walker and Blount) says, “We’re trying to enhance the skills of workers who are unemployed and underemployed living below the poverty level, thus creating a workforce of highly skilled and selfsufficient workers.”

As Roberts explained, the program focuses on adults, 18 and older who need training to become employed or to retain employment. It also aids dislocated workers who have been terminated or laid off or have received a notice of termination or layoff. The third area is a program for young people aged 17 to 24 who need help with education or employment.

“We try to tailor the youth program to the needs of each individual,” said Roberts. “It could include anything from tutoring or training in study skills to dropout prevention and help with services, such as childcare and transportation.”

Jason Roberts, director of Industry and Workforce Development for St. Clair County’s Economic Development Council, is also a member of the CAPTE board of directors.

He explained that CAPTE dollars focus on the individual – from on-the-job training to paid tuition at a community college.

“I believe the on-the-job training program is one of the best programs out there. It allows companies to receive compensation during their time of training,” he said. “They can do that with new hires as well as upskilling employees, allowing the employer of a company with up to 50 people to receive 75 percent of an employee’s wages for six months. For companies of over 50 employees, that amount would be up to half.

“So obviously that allows a company to either hire more people or upskill current entry level people to move up, then hire new people. It’s a fantastic plan. I personally believe every company that hires people on a semi-regular basis should be using this plan. It’s a win-win for everybody – those who need training as well as the employers.”

Commenting on the historically low unemployment rate, Nigel Roberts said, “In my career in workforce, I have never seen such low rates. St. Clair County is 2.5%.

With the unemployment rate being so good, it becomes a constant problem to find a good and trained workforce. It is critical that CAPTE assist with helping the unemployed and underemployed and those with barriers to employment with training and employment opportunities.”

“The labor participation rate in Alabama is so low that even if we could move it a half percent, it would make a significant difference in strengthening our workforce,” EDC’s Roberts said. “Those are real people and real jobs. Just that percentage move could mean 50,000 more people employed.”

Alabaster Career Center

109 Plaza Circle - Phone: 205.663.2542

Birmingham Career Center

3214 4th Ave. South - Phone: 205.582.5200

Blountsville Career Center

68644 Main St., Suite 5 - Phone: 205.429.4311

Pell City Career Center

311 Miles Parkway - Phone: 205.338.5440

Walker County Career Center

2604 Viking Drive - Phone: 205.384.4557

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

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Business Review

Staff from left are Sid Nelson, Michelle Eddings, Ashley Green, Alyssa Skinner and Brian Skinner.

Crawford Skinner Agency receives national recognition Crawford Skinner Agency is part of an elite group of independent insurance agencies around the United States participating in the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”) “Best Practices” Study Group.

Each year since 1993, IIABA and Reagan Consulting, an Atlanta-based management consulting firm, join forces to study the country’s leading agencies in six revenue categories.

The agencies comprising the study groups are selected every third year through a comprehensive nomination and qualifying process and awarded a “Best Practices Agency” designation.

The selected “Best Practices” agencies retain their status during the three-year cycle by submitting extensive financial and operational data for review each year.

More than 1,300 independent agencies throughout the U.S. were nominated to take part in the annual study, but only 267 agencies qualified for the honor. To be chosen, the agency had to be among the top-performing agencies in one of six revenue categories.

The agency was nominated by either a Big “I” affiliated state association or an insurance company and qualified based on its

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operational excellence.

The Best Practices Study was initiated by the Big “I” in 1993 as the foundation for efforts to improve agency performance.

The annual survey and study of leading independent insurance agencies documents the business practices of the highest performing agencies and urges others to adopt similar practices.

The Crawford Skinner agency was founded in 1944 and can offer insurance products from a number of different companies including Auto Owners, Travelers, Progressive, Penn National, Alabama Home Builders and many others.

Founded in 1896, IIABA is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers and their employees nationally.

Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance – property, casualty, life and health – as well as employee benefit plans and retirement products.

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • December 2019 & January 2020

First Bank of Alabama would like to thank our employees for their dedication and hard work. We would also like to thank the community for a year of great success.

We wish all of our employees, customers, friends and their families a blessed holiday season!

256.362.2334 – ďŹ rstbankal.com