From the Editor Local color all around us

Throughout my writing career, I’ve always been particularly partial to local color – describing the features of a particular place and its inhabitants. It’s how we come to treasure this place called home.

In the newspaper business as editor, my mantra was always local, local, local. I wanted our reporters to capture everyday life in the community, sure, but more important, to recognize and write about those moments that make it special.

It’s no different in the magazine business. Put everyday people from all kinds of backgrounds together in their favorite breakfast place, and you’re about to witness something special. Here comes the bantering back and forth, the unfettered laughter that emanates so easily and a constant cascade of opinions on everything from traffic on the town square to who’s going to win the big game. That’s local color.

So is the kitchen at Klarissa’s Cakery in Odenville, where a young entrepreneur is making her mark in the business world while serving up a palate pleasing assortment of cupcakes, cookies, cakes and sweets. She has taken her business to the next level – from camper to storefront – and you can’t help but imagine that this is simply the next step of many in this growing success story.

Local color can be found atop Chandler Mountain at Horse Pens 40 most any day, but on Songwriter Festival weekend, it’s not only music to your ears, it’s storytelling that touches the soul.

Living legend Coach Pete Rich provides plenty of color by simply being himself. At 88, he still works out every day and invites one and all to join him. His natural way of impacting young people’s lives for the better have made him an icon in Pell City where the high school football stadium bears his name. His former players will quickly tell you all the ways he positively influenced their lives and when you meet him, you, too, will know it was a special encounter indeed.

Then, there’s Red Hill Farms – two of them – both legacies of a family affair that continue to serve their communities generations later. Both are passing along the ideals instilled in them – a passion for the land, the animals, the bounty they produce and a love of life on the farm they want to share.

Of course, there’s plenty of local color around these parts to last a lifetime and more. In this edition, just have a sampling. Turn the page and discover a slice of local color with us.

Carol Pappas Editor and Publisher