Discover St. Clair August & September 2015

Cowboy Church • Horse Whisperer • Bowman Family Mulligan Stew • Moody Growth • Travel the World for a Cause

August & September 2015

Panther Run

Athletes challenge themselves in the ultimate obstacle course

Playhouse Palaces Where imaginations have room to grow

Shel-Clair Farms A WORLD OF CATTLE DRIVES, SCENIC TRAILS

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Features and Articles Discover

The Essence of St. Clair

Shel-Clair Farms

A world of cattle drives and scenic trails Page 42

Playhouse Palaces every kid’s dream Page 8

The Horse Whisperer

Teaching a Spiritural Lesson Page 22

Bowman Family History

Page 24

Mulligan Stew A Skeeter Park Tradition Page 48

Triathlon Returns

Cowboy Church a new Sunday tradition Page 16 Panther Run puts athletes to the test Page 32

Page 54

Face of Fresh Produce

Page 56

Lights on Logan Martin

Page 60

All About The Horses Longtime Coming-Pinedale Stables Page 62

Travel for a Cause Business Review Rexall as Restaurant

Moody Retail Growth

Page 70

Page 74 Page 80

August & September 2015

www.discoverstclair.com

Writers AND Photographers Carol Pappas 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. After retiring, she launched her own multimedia company, Partners by Design Inc. In addition to marketing, design and web services for companies and nonprofits, Partners publishes Discover, various community magazines for chambers of commerce and Mosaic Magazine, a biannual publication of Alabama Humanities Foundation.

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. Long has served as a press secretary and a political reporting correspondent.

Elaine Hobson Miller

Leigh Pritchett

For almost 30 years, Leigh Pritchett has been involved in the publishing industry.

She was employed for 11 years by The Gadsden Times, ultimately becoming Lifestyle editor. Since 1994, she has been a freelance writer. Her work has appeared in online and print venues. She holds the Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Montevallo.

Jerry C. Smith Jerry C. Smith’s interest in photography and writing go back to his teen years. He has produced numerous articles, stories and photographs for local websites and regional newspapers and magazines, including the St. Clair County News, Sand Mountain Living, and Old Tennessee Valley. His photos have appeared in books, on national public television, in local art displays and have captured prizes in various contests. A retired business machine technician and Birmingham native, Jerry now lives near Pell City. He recently published two books: Uniquely St. Clair and Growing Up In The Magic City.

Wallace Bromberg Jr. Wally was born in Birmingham. He graduated from Mountain Brook High School in 1973, and went on to 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. Upon graduation, he entered his father’s business, National Woodworks, Inc. After a 30-year career, he decided to dust off his camera skills and pursue photography full time.

6

Linda Long

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 the author of two non-fiction books, Myths, Mysteries & Legends of Alabama and Nat King Cole: Unforgettable Musician.

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.

Jim Smothers Jim Smothers had his first work published in The Gadsden Times in the late 1960s when his father, sports editor Jimmy Smothers, had him take games called in from youth sports coaches and put a camera in his hands at Jacksonville State basketball games. For more than 40 years he has been a writer, photographer, graphic artist and editor at publications in central Alabama for which he has won dozens of Associated Press awards. He has degrees from Jacksonville State University and the University of Montevallo and also studied at the Winona School of Professional Photography.

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

From the Editor

Happy Trails

It seemed only natural that a horse – in this instance, two – would grace the cover of this edition of Discover. After all, horses play a feature role in four of our stories in this issue.

It wasn’t planned that way. But our motto around these parts is to follow wherever the story leads you. To put an exclamation on that point, writer Elaine Hobson Miller and photographer Mike Callahan ‘saddled up’ for a trail ride to capture the essence of Shel-Clair Farms.

Elaine isn’t new to a pair of reins in her hand. But Mike will quickly tell you he’s a bit more comfortable with a camera in his. But being the good sport he is and following where Elaine’s story led, Mike gave us our cover shot from just the right vantage point. Shooting by horseback, he captured for us all a sense of this picturesque place that sprawls across the county line between St. Clair and Shelby.

Writer Linda Long and Mike Callahan teamed up on a story about a riding stable in Springville, where scores of young people learn to ride and show horses all over the southeast. Throw in a “high-fiving” goat and a gentle giant of a horse 16 hands high as main characters, and it makes for some interesting reading and entertaining photographs.

Meanwhile, writer Leigh Pritchett and photographer Jim Smothers were led to church to get their story. But it wasn’t a typical service nor was it the usual surroundings. The St. Clair County Horse Arena served as the church building on this particular Sunday, and grandstands were their pews. The Odenville arena is the site of the county’s “Cowboy Church,” and what happens inside is a spiritual experience with a distinctly western trademark.

Of course, our four-legged friends are not the only ‘stars’ in this edition. There are stories of old traditions, days gone by, an obstacle-laden race course for runners and so much more.

Come along with us in the pages that follow and see where the stories lead.

Carol Pappas Editor and Publisher

Discover The Essence of St. Clair

August and September 2015 • Vol. 25 • www.discoverstclair.com

Carol Pappas • Editor and Publisher Graham Hadley • Managing Editor and Designer Brandon Wynn • Director of Online Services Mike Callahan • Photography Wallace Bromberg Jr. • Photography Dale Halpin • Advertising

A product of Partners by Design www.partnersmultimedia.com 6204 Skippers Cove Pell City, AL 35128 205-335-0281

Printed at Russell Printing, Alexander City, AL 7

Playhouse

Palaces

Where imaginations have room to grow Story by Elaine Hobson Miller Photos by Jim Smothers What child doesn’t want a playhouse? What adult didn’t want one as a child? It can be a fort where rebels shoot Nerf guns at intergalactic enemies, a Victorian doll house where little girls have tea parties, or a cabin with a loft for sleep-overs. The use of a playhouse, whether in the trees or on the ground, is limited only by a child’s imagination.

“I doodle on the dry-erase board and do my homework in it,” says Abby Hays, 12, ab the treehouse her dad built. “I like to play with my Strawberry Shortcake dolls,” says her sister, 8-1/2-year-old Emily.

Like many modern-day tree houses, the Hays’ version is built on pine posts because its owners lack a sturdy tree with the necessary split up the middle.

Theirs is nestled between two oak trees on their Springville property, resting three sides on 4-by-4s planted in concrete deck piers and attached to a red oak on the fourth. It’s a two-story affair with steps that make a distinct turn at a small landing.

The treehouse is wider than it is deep, with a childsize table and chairs on one side and a small cabinet on the other to house dishes and other playthings. The bow and arrows that Emily uses for target practice hang on one wall near the cabinet. The girls like to hold tea parties with their friends and plan to put sleeping bags in the loft once their Dad has installed its trap door.

Each girl has her own side in the loft, and there’s a secret compartment between its floor and the ceiling below. The ladder is attached to the back wall.

“Dad designed it, but we told him some of the things we wanted, like the French doors on the front and the shelves in the loft,” says Abby. “He wasn’t going to put any doors on it.”

Perry Hays used cedar for the exterior of the treehouse and rough-cut poplar for the front doors and the interior. He zigzagged the steps because he wanted them to go around a large water oak, and he set the main platform 10 feet off the ground.

“I always wanted a treehouse as a child,” says Perry,

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When Abby and Emily (top, on porch) outgrow the treehouse dad Perry Hays (on steps) built, baby Ella Claire (in mother Meg’s arms), will still be playing in it.

9

Playhouse

Palaces

Harrison Fausnaugh (left) and Alex Follett

a self-employed carpenter.

Alex Follett of Pell City had been asking for a treehouse for some time when his parents, David and Katheryn, decided to have one built.

“My wife and I had been talking,” says his dad. “We decided he is only 8 once, so we dipped into savings and surprised him for his birthday, which was in February.”

The Folletts gave builder Jonathan Hayes of Hayes Construction a crude pencil sketch on lined notebook paper that represented what they wanted.

Hayes took the drawing and ran with it, and the Folletts, parents as well as son, couldn’t be happier with the results.

“This is where I keep all my weapons,” says Alex of his two-story playhouse. “I have two air soft guns, four pistols and two swords.” He calls the first floor his warring room, “where me and my friends plan,” while the second floor is his “sniping room.”

Both levels are enclosed, with two ways to enter the second floor: via wooden steps and a rope ladder. The rope version can also be accessed through a hatch in the floor of the second story, making it Alex’s escape route when avoiding enemy combatants. Alex plays there two or three hours on sunny days, he says. A friend or two will often join him.

The covered porch on the upper level features a ship’s wheel that Alex refers to as his “Stargate wheel,” and both levels have simple openings covered by wooden panels that open

10

Builder Jonathan Hayes

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

James David and Jason Slay in their fort

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and close, rather than window panes. Under the porch is a peagravel playground with a seated swing and bar swing. A slide to the left of the 13 wooden steps offers another way down.

The 16-by-10-foot structure rests on a platform that’s 8 feet off the ground and anchored with 6-by-6-inch posts set in concrete. The entire house is made of pressure-treated pine, and Hayes custom-made the steps and hand rails. Total cost was $4,200, including the pea gravel and minor landscaping.

Tony Smith of Moody bought 10-year-old daughter, Anna, a Victorian-style playhouse from Coosa Valley Sales in Pell City. “I liked it because it looks like a real house, with a shingle roof and a loft where she and her friends can put their sleeping bags,” says Smith. “Anna loves it.”

The pink house sits on concrete blocks in a sloping yard, and Smith wants to put a ramp and steps on the higher end and lattice around the bottom. “I may eventually run power to it so we can put a little heater in it,” he says. “Once Anna outgrows it, we’ll turn it into a shed. It has a small front door and a big door at the end that you can’t see from the front. We can store pool cushions in it when she has finished with it.”

James David Slay, 8, and his brother Jason, 6, sons of Josh and Jennifer Slay of Moody, were the lucky recipients of the fort their grandmother, Christy Finch, won in a raffle at Shops of Grand River last year. The raffle benefitted the St. Clair CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates), a volunteer child advocacy program. “We call it our Alabama War House,” says James David. The top half on three sides can be opened and propped up, and the boys enjoy “shooting” two wooden machine guns mounted at one end.

“I like the loft, the windows and the fireman’s pole,” says 8-year-old Gabriel Rodriguez, naming the main features of the treehouse he and his 3-year-old brother, Matias, share at their grandmother’s house in Ashville. “I can’t wait until NaNa gets the slide put up.”

Built by Gary Liverett of Alpha Ranch, the 8-by-10-foot structure is set on 6-by-6-inch posts that are concreted 30 inches in the ground. Their grandmother’s yard slopes, so one side of the porch is 7.5 off the ground, while the other is 9 feet. Liverett made the 10-inch rough-sawn lap siding at his own sawmill.

He framed the Plexiglass windows with pine boards, allowing the boys to see out whether the windows are open or closed. He

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13

Playhouse

Palaces

also built a long slat in one side that opens out and down, through which the boys can shoot their Nerf guns.

He also put in a stationary screened window in the loft to allow air to circulate.

“I used Plexiglass for the windows because it’s less likely to shatter and is more economical than glass,” Liverett explains. “The house has a 29-gauge, low-rib metal roof, and we hand cut the pickets for the porch.”

Liverett is letting the pressuretreated pine age before applying a stain to protect the wood from the weather. He used a galvanized 2-inch pipe that he had on hand for the fireman’s pole. He said he went over the contract price of $3,000 by $700 because it took much more time than he had estimated. “It has a lot of detail in it, and took as much time as some larger buildings,” he says. “I wouldn’t build another one for less than $4,000.”

Matias and his grandmother, who happens to be the writer of this article, have held a tea party in the house, using the same Fisher-Price tea set his mother had when she was his age. Gabriel, his grandmother and his friend Walker Griffith of Ashville have slept in the house twice, the first time in November before it was finished. “We almost froze to death,” Gabriel admits. l

James David and Jason Slay’s “Alabama Warhouse” 14

Anna Smith peers from the doorway of her Victorian playhouse.

Emily (left) and Abby Hays enjoy the windows in the loft of their treehouse.

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

Cowboy Church A new Sunday Tradition

Story by Leigh Pritchett Photos by Jim Smothers As people gathered for worship time, the words of an old, familiar hymn floated through the church.

“I surrender all; I surrender all. All to Jesus, I surrender; I surrender all.”

The music and the male voice from the soundtrack had a decidedly western flair.

Of course, that was quite fitting because this church is a cowboy church.

Called St. Clair County Cowboy Church, it meets at St. Clair County Arena in Odenville each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. – rain or shine.

The first worship service was in December 2014 and, during the winter months, congregants met in a building on the arena grounds.

Rob Richey of Chelsea, who has preached frequently at the worship services, said a cowboy church is a “congregation of God’s people” where the “gospel of the Lord and Savior” is presented in a western atmosphere.

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

17

“It is a gospel church,” James Dailey, Jr., of Springville said in explaining why he goes there. “It preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ, and it just feels like home.”

Gina Rich of Odenville has found it to be different from any other church she has attended.

“These people are just like us,” she said. “They’re just normal, everyday people. We have the same interest with horses and farming and things like that.”

Richey said a cowboy church does tend to appeal to people who have horses. But “we have people who come to the worship time who really don’t ride (and) don’t have horses.”

It does not matter what a person wears or where he is financially or spiritually, added Angie Cleckler of Springville.

“It’s a church where you can come as you are … in everything.”

That casual atmosphere is one aspect that appeals to Clark Thompson of Moody and his wife, Missy. “We feel real comfortable coming,” Thompson said.

Jamie Kuhn even drives from Childersburg to go to the church.

Although it currently is not a member of the American Fellowship of Cowboy Churches (AFCC), St. Clair’s cowboy church operates on the same model, said Johnny Caradine of Springville.

Caradine was instrumental in establishing the St. Clair church.

“Actually, God started it. He just used me to do it,” he said.

He explained that his family went to a cowboy church in Cleveland, Ala., four or five years. Then, Caradine began to feel God prompting him to establish a cowboy church in St. Clair County, he said.

This church that began with 10 to 15 people eight months ago has now grown to 45 or 50. Plus, visitors come to the worship time almost every week, said Caradine.

At many churches, a gymnasium is one means for reaching out to people in the community. For a cowboy church, the arena is a ministry tool.

That is why congregants of the St. Clair cowboy church will readily change their worship time in order to minister to groups using the arena for events, said Dale Stubbs of Odenville.

He gave as an example a Sunday that the arena was rented for a rodeo.

Members of the cowboy church met that day at a time that would allow the rodeo participants to attend as well.

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Cowboy Church Don King of Cullman preaches at a worship service of St. Clair County Cowboy Church.

Cody Stubbs of Odenville leads a horse as Chyanne Kuhn of Childersburg rides after a church service.

Lily Caradine of Springville practices roping A fellowship follows the church service.

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

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“That was neat,” said Stubbs, who has been part of the church since its first service. “We just changed our time on the church service to include them.”

Another feature of a cowboy church is that the arena does not have to be the only location for worship time. Caradine said members might decide to go on a trail ride and have their worship service at some place along the way.

“We’re flexible,” Caradine said.

“We’re cowboys.”

On any given Sunday On a Sunday morning in June, Don King of Cullman – an evangelist with a 40-year radio ministry in Arab – sat with his Bible open, going over his sermon notes once more. He was dressed in jeans, western boots and a white shirt.

Attendees took their places on the bleachers, and Caradine opened worship time with prayer requests. Before prayer, the males removed their hats in reverence.

No offering plate was passed. Instead, a saddlebag that was hanging on railing was where offerings could be placed.

Caradine’s daughter, Lily, sang a cappella: “My chains are gone; I’ve been set free. My God, My Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood, His mercy reigns. Unending love; amazing grace.”

King’s sermon was about that amazing grace, which comes upon a person’s life when he asks Jesus Christ into his heart to be Savior and Lord.

Man, on his own, is unable to keep God’s commands, King said.

Each and every person does wrong, and punishment is due for those wrongdoings.

Jesus Christ – God’s Only Son — was beaten, had a crown of thorns pressed down upon His head and was nailed to a cross to take the punishment for all the wrong that each person has done, King said. Jesus endured all that, shedding His blood and giving His life, to save people from their sin.

“It’s amazing what the Lord can do in a person’s life,” King said, explaining that God had pulled him from a “pit” of sin. God can straighten out any life, he said. “Without the Spirit of God (in you), you can’t go to heaven.”

As he shared his Bible message in the open arena, the sights and sounds of creation were all around. Trees swayed in the breeze and birds chirped their summer songs. Horses waiting patiently

20

Cowboy Church

Don King of Cullman preaches at a worship service of St. Clair County Cowboy Church. inside the arena occasionally gave a snort or stamped the dirt.

This particular Sunday just happened to be the day for the church’s monthly fellowship. So, after the worship service came a time to enjoy barbecue, potato salad and conversation.

Yet, that did not end the church gathering.

After dinner on the grounds, more horses were led into the arena, where some adults, teens and children rode them. Other young people honed their skills for different competitive events.

Many of the youths who attend the church participate in rodeos, team roping, obstacle challenges and other types of events.

Cason Davis of Odenville, one of those teens, said the youths generally practice after the worship service each week. “Everybody helps each other” and encourages one another, he said.

That is one of the great aspects of the cowboy church, said Colby Dodson of Remlap, another teen competitor.

“People understand what we like.”

The fact that the church appeals to youths is a definite advantage, said Caradine. “If you can get the youth involved, the parents will come,” he said. “Our youths love to come to church.”

In June, the church added a

Wednesday-evening Bible study to its ministry. The Bible study starts at 6:30 p.m. and is followed by an open-arena time for riding, roping, running barrels and the like.

Caradine said there is a special time for young people. “We have a youth message, then play in the dirt.”

Richey, who leads the Wednesday ministry, said everyone is welcome to attend the Bible study or come simply to ride.

Follow St. Clair County Cowboy Church on Facebook

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

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Lenora Daily Schopp, left, and Alex Schopp

Alex Schopp rides Jordan CR. 22

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

Lenora Daily Schopp

Cowboy Church

Ask The HORSE WHISPERER C o a c h Teaching a Spiritual Lesson Story by Leigh Pritchett Photos by Jim Smothers

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A 3-year-old Arabian horse was led into the round pen at St. Clair County Arena in Odenville. Spirited, he was, and not ready to bear a saddle or rider.

Denise Trimmier, farm assistant at Aradon Farm in Odenville, said the horse, named Jordan CR, had only limited career showing in halter.

The horse had no way of knowing it, but he was about to be brought under submission in less than 75 minutes.

And along the way, he would be an object lesson. His transformation would depict the change that happens when a person asks Jesus Christ to come into his heart as Savior and Lord.

As Paul Daily of Wild Horse Ministries explained each step in transforming Jordan CR, he illustrated how it was also applicable to every individual.

Daily, a “horse whisperer” from Trout, La., confessed to the audience that particular Friday evening that he was once like a bucking, kicking horse.

“God showed me myself in one of these ’ole horses one day,” he recounted. “God said, ‘See that horse? That’s what you’re doing.’ I see myself in every horse I work.”

During the next half hour or so, Daily methodically used simple, gentle measures to show his authority to the horse and to earn its trust. As the horse understood more and more of what was expected of him, Jordan CR became willing to please Daily.

Occasionally, the horse did exert his own will. Yet, he would come to understand that his way only made his situation more difficult.

Eventually, the horse learned that Daily was his friend.

Time and again, the horse would encounter “trials,” such as ropes and saddle pad.

As the horse learned to overcome these “trials,” he was actually preparing for the next step in the process.

This journey to being brought under control had begun at 6:30 p.m. By 7:15, Jordan CR was willing to be led by a rope about his chest. Nineteen minutes later, he allowed placement of a saddle pad. Then, 60 seconds after that, he agreed to a saddle being put on his back.

At 7:40, the lead rope was removed, at which time Daily declared, “I see a completely different horse here.”

At 7:43, just an hour and 13 minutes after Daily began working with the horse, Daily’s assistant, Alex Schopp, was able to mount and ride Jordan CR. “All he needed is someone to aim him in the right direction,” Daily said of the horse. “In just a short time, look how far he has come.”

The horse that came into the arena high-spirited and untrained had received a new direction in life, Daily said. The same can be true of humans, he added.

“Salvation is so simple, we stumble over it every day,” he said. “If you want to be a winner, this horse just showed you how. Jesus Christ is the One Who can make a difference in your life.”

That evening, some did seek change in their life and asked Jesus to come into their heart to be their Savior and Lord, said Chuck Lackey, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Odenville.

Trimmier said Jordan CR was changed as well. “He’s a lot calmer,” she said weeks later. “He’s easier to handle.” l Editor’s Note: The event was sponsored by Calvary Baptist Church in Odenville with the assistance of St. Clair County Cowboy Church.

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23

Family History

Bowmans came to St. Clair ... and stayed Story by Jerry C. Smith Photos by Jerry C. Smith and contributed

Frank “Buddy” Bowman sings Precious Memories.

Shonda Bowman Wright at her grandparents ‘ marker 24

Frank Bowman has experienced enough of life to fully appreciate Southern family customs, such as Decoration Day and dinner on the grounds.

He cracks a few jokes while tuning his guitar, then amuses his audience with a song about family gatherings that he wrote himself. A natural musician, Frank quickly claims the crowd’s attention as he segues to a more traditional hymn that’s virtually a theme song for such gatherings: “Precious memories, unseen angels, Sent from somewhere to my soul…”

Nearly three dozen people, all with kinship or marital ties to one of St. Clair’s original families, become respectfully quiet.

“How they linger, ever near me, And the sacred past unfold.”

This “sacred past” is why these folks have gathered here today in the Bowman Family Cemetery near Eden, as they have for more than a century. As the chorus opens, heads nod assent, and eyes moisten.

“Precious memories, how they linger, How they ever flood my soul.

In the stillness of the midnight, Precious sacred scenes unfold.”

BOWMANS COME TO ST. CLAIR The American progenitor of this pioneer family, Andrew Bowman, emigrated in 1730 from Germany to Savannah, Ga., where he quickly prospered, eventually owning three plantations in the Carolinas. Not long before the American Revolution, his descendants acquired hundreds of acres of rich Carolina farmland through Royal Grants, which required them to develop the land and pay taxes on its bounty.

Bowman, Ga., and Bowman, S.C., are named after them. Among their scions who migrated into Alabama, Will T. Bowman settled in the area that is now DeKalb County, while his brother, Drewry, brought his own family to St. Clair County in the early 1820s, about the time Alabama became a state. The first Bowman born in St. Clair was Zechariah, who is considered the patriarch of generations that followed.

His son, Zechariah Jr., married Mary Sweatt, also of St. Clair. Their 14 children established

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a local dynasty that melded with many other pioneer families, including well-known St. Clair names like Bradshaw, Creel, Barber, Ensley, Truitt, Hubbard, Perry, Inzer, Hardin, George, Hazelwood, Hendrix, Ritch, Mize, Pruett, Crumpton, Vaughn, Moody, Stewart and Brown.

Bowman families tended to be large, as was customary among farm folks in those days. Several had more than a dozen children, most of whom survived into adulthood. In short, anyone of third generation lineage in southern St. Clair could easily possess Bowman DNA. According to Pearl Bowman Brown and Sarah Brown Bain in Heritage of St. Clair County, “The Bowmans were big farmers. … They raised cotton, corn, hay, pigs, cows and chickens … also huge gardens. Their tables were full of vegetables, fruits and meat. It was a treat to sit down and eat.”

They owned and cultivated several sections of fine farmland near a settlement called Stewarts. Named for a prominent local family, it’s still seen on certain maps, and includes the area around Mineral Springs Baptist Church. A school named Stewart Academy once stood on the church grounds. Bowmans also attended Tanyard and Cane Creek Schools. All three have been defunct since the early 20th century, their locations lost even to the memory of most locals.

Pell City Library Director Danny Stewart explains that there were many small schools in the Stewarts/Tanyard area because creeks often became impassable during rainy seasons, so children needed schools on both sides of the watersheds.

Benjamin Bowman was a farmer, but also served as a minister and politician. Harold Bowman was an inventor

Bowman family

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

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Bowman Brothers Singers at Mt. Carmel, 1911 who holds several patents on industrial equipment and is still living today. After a short stint with the FBI, Raymond Bowman opened Bowman Building Supply/Ace Hardware, near the Martin Street viaduct. The store was a business landmark for decades, but closed after Raymond’s passing.

Linda Bowman still runs her beauty shop on Mineral Springs Road, across from one of the family farms whose photogenic old barn still stands amid pastures that explode with golden color each spring.

THE SINGING BOWMANS Almost from Day One in St. Clair, this family has been known for making music. In Heritage, Jack and Mary Crumpton relate, “In 1899, Zechariah and Mary founded the Bowman Sacred Harp Singing. … (It) began in their home, later moving to Tanyard School Building, then to Pell City Courthouse and over the years … to several area churches. The Bowman children are all remembered for their love of the art of Sacred Harp singing.”

Pearl and Sarah added to Heritage, “Lon Bowman was a talented singer. He had perfect pitch. The groups depended on him to get them in tune. He would sound the notes before (they) began to sing.”

Sacred Harp, also known as Fa-So-La singing, is a country tradition older than America. Instead of words, the first stanza of each hymn is sung by pronouncing the names of its musical notes; i.e. Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do, instead of lyrics.

Words are sung only during the hymn’s latter verses.

Sacred Harp is always performed a cappella; in fact, the term “Sacred Harp” refers to the human voice, considered the only instrument pure enough for true spiritual music. Singers are divided into voice ranges, seated in four groups that face each other across an open square of floor or ground. Each singer takes a turn leading the group in his favorite hymn and, when each has done so, the session usually adjourns.

Annette Bowman Hendrix tells of her father, Emris, loudly belting out sacred music while working their farm, adjacent to Mt. Carmel Church. Annette says, “People often stopped on Wolf Creek Road to listen to him singing to the mules as he plowed his fields.”

Perhaps the most famous entertainer of this family was Norma Jean Bowman, better known by her professional name, Jeanne Pruett. Raised near the intersection of AL 174 and Mineral Springs Road (then known as Odenville Cut-Off), Norma Jean often harmonized with her nine siblings at home,

28

Zechariah Jr. and Mary (Sweatt) Bowman, founders of Bowman Sacred Harp Singing and enjoyed singing for audiences in high school programs.

Annette recalls Norma Jean’s Minnie Pearl act, complete with gingham dress and flowery hat with price tag still attached.

Jeanne Pruett’s biggest hit from 1973, Satin Sheets, topped both country and pops charts. It’s still a staple among traditional country music fans.

She once played a gig with Mississippi comedian Jerry Clower at Pell City Civic Center.

She also worked with Porter Waggoner and the Grand Ole Opry and made a couple of movies. Her husband, Jack Pruett, was a guitarist for Marty Robbins, while Jeanne worked for Robbins as a secretary while writing her own songs.

According to Wikipedia: “Jeanne Pruett currently lives on a farm outside Nashville, Tenn., with her husband of many years, Eddy Fulton. She also had made a houseboat … named Miss Satin Sheets … (She) retired from the Grand Old Opry and from performing in 2006, … intending to remain active with behind-the-scenes work in the music industry, such as publishing.”

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

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Family History DINNER ON THE GROUNDS AT BOWMAN CEMETERY Today’s reunion singer, 79-year-old Frank Bowman, jokes, “They call me Buddy Bowman. There are actually four of us who are named Buddy, because that’s what the family called all of its ugly kids.” His song continues: “Precious father, loving mother, Fly across the lonely years.

And old home scenes of my childhood In fond memory appear…”

While the women folks lay out a fine meal of traditional “Baptist food” under the cemetery’s permanent shelter, others meander among the markers on well-tended grounds. Some, like Kristin Duke, work at their family plots, raking fresh pine bark and placing wreaths, while others just stand and reminisce, occasionally tearful as cherished memories come to mind.

There’s a story for every stone; a whole lifetime that’s been condensed into a mere hyphen between birth and death dates. Some markers, however, carry much more information.

Shonda Bowman Wright explained the special significance of her grandfather’s marker, whose reverse side lists the names of all their nine children. “I could never remember all my aunts and uncles at once,” she explains, “so when I had to make up a list for something like invitations, I came to this stone to be sure I didn’t miss anybody.”

Shonda paraphrased a saying which she credited to William Gladstone, once prime minister of the United Kingdom: “You can judge a community, or a nation, by how well they take care of their dead.” She added, “We take a lot of pride in our family and our heritage”, a claim clearly evinced by those present.

The family shares a special reverence for their old folks.

Richard Williams celebrated his 93rd birthday at this gathering.

When asked the inevitable longevity question, he replied, “I got to be this old by minding my own business.” Enough said.

Richard’s eyes are clear, his expression alert, and his speech totally articulate; quite notable for a nonagenarian who has seen so much in his lifetime. He fought in World War II, and has many a battle tale to tell. On D-Day, he went ashore at Omaha Beach, Normandy. His brother was shot down while flying a B-29 bomber over Germany, but miraculously survived.

The oldest lady present was Frances Carlisle Hughes, at 79.

She took special pride in telling of her family while standing next to her mother’s grave, before joining her contemporaries for photographs.

WHAT OF TOMORROW? Frank’s hymn enters its final stanza: “As I travel on life’s pathway Know not what the years may hold.

As I ponder, hope grows fonder, Precious memories flood my soul.”

A bittersweet part of any family gathering happens just before people start to leave. Everyone gets a prolonged hug, with few words spoken. No pretense of allergy is needed to excuse red noses and damp eyes, particularly among elderly siblings and cousins.

Your writer’s own memories of family meetings echo the same sentiments; “… It was so good being with you today, but who knows when we will all see each other again?” For the

30

Good food and family fellowship

Bowmans, that fear materialized much sooner than expected.

On Tuesday, May 12, just days after the reunion, Shonda unexpectedly lost her life to an affliction she’d been battling for decades. She’d never tried to conceal her condition, but shared it openly in her writings, sometimes going one-on-one with those whom she thought might find her experiences beneficial.

Indeed, there are some who say her unselfish counsel literally saved their lives.

For more than twelve years, Shonda was well-known to thousands of morning listeners as the third member of a team of “morning monkeys” at our local radio station, WFHK 94.1 The River. Their on-air shenanigans are legendary, with Shonda usually playing the role of a naturally blonde straight lady to Adam Stocks’ and John Simpson’s gibes. Her Southern accent and demeanor were the sort of thing that makes visiting Yankees reluctant to return home. Shonda’s professional persona served the station’s sponsors well; who could ever forget, “… Is your fridge fried? Does your dryer set off the smoke alarm?”

For those who’ve met her personally or read her columns in The St. Clair News-Aegis, it was patently evident that, while her endearing accent was genuine, the rest was contrived purely for radio. She was well-educated, highly intelligent, warmly personable, and will be missed for a very long time.

A few days after her passing, a Celebration of Life service was held at the Beacon facility of First United Methodist of Pell City. Hundreds were in attendance, a small fraction of her admirers. At its conclusion, a box full of colorful butterflies were released outdoors.

The symbolism was unmistakable for those who knew something of the battles Shonda had endured. Each butterfly, upon seeing the light, left the confines of a dark box and spread its wings to the clear sky. l

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PANTHER RUN Story by Graham Hadley Photos by Michael Callahan and Graham Hadley

32

Brutal fun at

The Ridge

Starting with a yell and a cheer, the participants in the 2015 Panther Run at the Ridge were ready to face just about any obstacle.

It’s a good thing — because there were more than 30 of them between the runners and the finish line at the specially designed course on a Springville mountaintop in St. Clair County.

Normally an off-highway vehicle, nature and outdoor park — sometimes even a concert venue — the Ridge is converted once a year into a long, winding obstacle and mud-run course that attracts fitness enthusiasts from near and far, with some competitors coming from all over the country.

For that one day, July 13 this year, the Ridge, which is most famous as a top destination for off-road vehicles, is closed for riding and open for running (and climbing, crawling, rolling and whatever else it takes to get over the obstacles).

The Ridge started hosting the Panther Run three years ago, said park owner Jason White. What started out as a small event has reached epic proportions. With every entrant slot for the race sold out last year, they added more for this year.

And sold out again.

“We sold out. We sold out last year, so we added about 50 more slots, …” he said. “We had 800 tickets we sold, plus there were around 30 volunteers, and then there were spectators, too.”

White estimates they topped 900 to 1,000 people in the park for the race.

The Ridge is normally run by a handful of people — mostly White and his family and close friends — but it takes a small army of helpers and volunteers to get the facility converted from an OHV park to the grueling 5K mud and obstacle course that

33

PANTHER RUN has made the Panther Run such a big draw.

“It takes over a month to prep the course, including building the obstacles. It takes a lot of work, but anything worth doing is worth doing right,” White said.

Particular attention is paid to the obstacles. Organizers spend days looking at what has worked at previous races, what has worked at other venues, and then they group brainstorm all of those ideas into what unique obstacles they can feasibly — and safely — build for the Panther Run. “Everyone gets together and brainstorms. There are six of us whose job it is to go over all the ideas and weed out the ones too hard to build or that are too complicated,” White said.

“Though we look at what other courses do, we tweak their ideas, then make them different to try to make them unique to us. We want everyone to experience something different when they come here.”

That attention to detail, their location and the facilities at the Ridge create a special experience that White credits with making the Panther Run so widely popular.

“I think it has reached out to people. We are piling in runners from all over the Southeast. Word of mouth and positive reviews online and on social media are pulling people from farther and farther out,” he said. “We have been compared to big events like the Warrior Dash and the Tough Mudder.”

The start of one of the heats

Resting after the mesh bridge

Jason White

Sliding toward the finish

The competitors

34

One of the key components to the success of the Panther Run is that everyone who competes is a winner.

The fastest man and the fastest woman get special recognition, but everyone who takes part receives a medal and shirt, regardless of when they finish or if they were able to complete every obstacle on the course.

And there are different difficulty levels, from beginner all the way up to special endurance passes that let those runners continue lapping the course as long as the event is going on.

Rope obstacles

John Archer

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

PANTHER RUN

Topping the rope climbing wall is no easy task.

36

“We had the unlimited pass at this race.

We sold about 20 of those where they get to keep running the course. I don’t know why they did it, but they did,” White said.

Some of the runners come alone, but more often they are part of groups — many times made up of experienced obstacle runners, traditional runners and beginners.

First-timer Shawna Stokes of Birmingham smiled, pointed to her teammates, Alania Stokes, Miranda Fohner and Wendy Thompson, and said, “I thought it would be fun to watch, and then I got sucked into running it.”

Miranda said they were going to work together as a team, especially since not everyone had done this before — “We are not going to be pushing anyone down.”

Though Shawna said she had a more competitive perspective on things. “You’re not pushing anyone down,” she clarified with a smile, adding, “I tried to do this a couple of years ago, but none of my guy friends wanted to do it.”

A number of local businesses were on the scene to support groups of employees and staff. CrossFit and other exercise centers from Alabama and surrounding states were particularly well represented.

Jay Stackhouse from Priceville and Staci Clemons from Summerville were there, both running in the early elite heat. Then, they helped other competitors they brought from the gym where she is a fitness trainer.

“It was pretty brutal, with some extremely challenging obstacles. The netting was particularly hard,” he said.

“The two of us came as a team to compete; then we came back to the course to help everyone we have with us.

They may hate us while we are pushing them to finish, then they love it.”

Pell City-based Northside Medical Associates had around 40 runners in the race, something they said was a good way for the co-workers to have a day out together while promoting the importance of exercise and fitness.

“This is our first year out here organized as Northside,” said Ronnie Harris, human resources manager for Northside, speculating that Laura Gossett and Dr. Michael Dupre would end up leading their heats.

As much as the Panther Run is a competitive event, the underlying theme is for everyone to come out and have fun — and for many runners, that meant costumes.

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

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outfits from the Pixar movie of the same name, was made up of four family members and two friends.

For Majesta Bishop of Huntsville, who learned about the event on Facebook, it was her first race, though she is a hobby runner. One other member of the Incredibles team had done the obstacle run before.

As they donned their costumes and got ready for their heat, the team kept pumping each other up with encouraging words — a common theme for the day.

Sporting brightly colored hair and face paint, John Archer from Albertville said he was there with Sand Mountain CrossFit. John, who did competitive swimming for nine years, said, “This is my first run and I am very excited. The face paint and the hair, I did it because I thought it would be fun.”

Another group of runners were facing off along more traditional Alabama lines — in friendly fashion — made clear by their team name: Three tigers and an elephant.

Larry Turner, Cambria Ware, Sidney Ware and Brandi Turner were all there to support each other, though there would be some friendly internal competition.

After the race heats, the tired but happy runners gathered for food and company along the various paths at the Ridge.

Buddy Spidle, a loan officer from Birmingham, said his experience was “outstanding.”

This was the first obstacle race for the physically fit former U.S. Marine. “It certainly tapped all my physical resources.

It was very demanding; it was very thorough. It was fun, and I will be back,” he said.

More to come?

The Panther Run has become so successful, White is considering doing another race in the fall.

“We might do a second race — not necessarily the exact same thing, but we are definitely looking at some kind of race in the fall.

Whether it is putting together that race or preparing for next year’s Panther Run, White said none of it can happen without all the volunteer help they receive.

“I want to say thanks to all the volunteers — from people who help build obstacles to volunteer fire departments.

This would not be possible without everyone coming together,” he said, adding that many of the people helping

38

Crossing the finish line The Incredibles Northside’s Dr. Michael Dupre

Buddy and Mary Ellen Spidle make the Panther Run a reality are former participants who have stepped up to keep the event going.

“We build relationships with people, become friends with people who want to come out here and see the park stay open and the race happen,” he said.

One of those — Billy Findeiss of Odenville (sporting a kilt for the run) agreed. He is one of those runners who also volunteers his time to make the event happen.

“I have been here every year, every year helping build the obstacles. These are great people, Jason and everyone are great people,” he said before having to go make sure one of the water-wall obstacles was working properly. Then, he took on the Panther Run himself in one of the later heats. l

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

For more photos and video, check out the story online @ discoverstclair.com Check out The Ridge online @ ridgeriding.com and the Panther Run @ pantherrun.net or follow them on Facebook

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

Shel-Clair Farms A WORLD OF CATTLE DRIVES, SCENIC TRAILS Story by Elaine Hobson Miller Photos by Mike Callahan

Bella Rae Kemp and Madison Sharp head toward a hollow in pursuit of the cows.

With the strains of “Rawhide” swelling inside their heads, 18 intrepid cowpokes slap their hands on their thighs, kick their horses and yell, “Head ‘em up, move ‘em out,” as they ride off to round up the herd.

“I’ve always wanted to say that,” one of the cowgirls remarks.

It’s all part of the annual cattle call at the Shel-Clair Farms, a 1,000-acre spread that straddles the borders of Shelby and St. Clair counties off U.S. 231 South. Owned

by Ralph, Randy and Wayne Bearden, the farm and ranch is home to row crops, horse boarders, trails and fishin’ holes. It’s also home to 150 to 200 cows that have to be mustered for weaning, pregnancy checking and vaccinating every spring.

“I started the roundup in 2009 as a way to get the cows to the barn and have some fun at the same time,” says Randy Bearden, farm manager. “We skipped last year because someone got hurt in 2013. But we decided to try again this year.”

No one got hurt this year, and everyone seemed to have a great time. Twelve of the 18 riders were Shel-Clair boarders, who are accustomed to cantering among the cattle without incident. Rounding them up from the various fields and meadows and pushing them to the pasture near the old corn silo is another matter.

“Stay behind them, because they’ll turn the opposite way if you don’t,” Randy tells the group before it heads out one steamy Sunday afternoon in May. “Don’t run them, because some of them are pregnant.”

After these basic instructions, the weekend drovers take off in search of their hoofed subjects. Some of the cows are down in the hollows; others are in the woods cooling off. As soon as a few are spotted, the whooping and hollering begins.

“Woo-hoo, get on out of there, girls,” riders yell at the reluctant cows and calves.

“Giddy-up, whoop whoop. Move along.”

Once a few of the animals start moving, the

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

43

Shel-Clair Farms Randy and Blue stop to rest at a picnic table by the former trout stream.

others follow. A handful are insubordinate, however, and try their best to avoid the horses. They double back into the woods and stop in the streams to avoid capture, forcing mounted participants to split into teams to rally them.

During the three-hour event, riders pass an abandoned, barn-shaped house built during World War II that has almost been reclaimed by Mother Nature.

They climb a ridge, where a bunch of folks watched Alabama play the University of Florida several years ago on a giant, flat-screen TV run by a gas generator.

They stop briefly at the creek that was full of trout until the river otters ate them, then listen to cows bellowing from a nearby pasture. A slight breeze moves the tree leaves and tall weeds, making the humidity a little more bearable.

“The creek runs out of a spring where the water is crystal clear and never gets above 63 degrees,” Randy says. “It has a few bass and bream now.” The Beardens also have an 8-acre lake on the opposite side of the farm where they allow the public to fish for a fee.

It’s their day job and more

Randy cuts about 400 round bales and another 1,000 square bales of hay each year to feed the cows. If there is an abundance, he will sell some hay, but the herd uses most of it. The number of cows varies when some go to market or have babies. He tries to keep 150 mama cows and two bulls all the time. “Most cattle farms in the state have only 30 to 40 head,” he says. “But this is how I make my living. I don’t have an off-farm job.” He says the money he gets from leasing 110 acres for row crops pays the taxes.

He sells the cows at the Ashville Stockyard, and one obstreperous specimen is about to make that trip a trifle early if she keeps trying Randy’s patience. “That’s Number 36,” he says of the stubborn mama who insists on running away from the horses and the herd with her calf at her side. “She does this every year,” he adds, as disgusted as a mother who can’t control her toddler’s tantrums.

Randy’s family started farming in Shelby County in 1929 when J.E. “Ned” Bearden opened a dairy farm in Helena. Ned and his wife, Irene “Ma” Bearden, raised six children on that farm. Their son Ralph and Ralph’s sons, Randy and Wayne, started Shel-Clair Farms in 1972. Tired of getting up before dawn for milking or at 2 a.m. to repair a broken well pump, they closed their dairy business in 2005 and transitioned to a row-crop and beef-cattle operation. They added horse trails and boarding in 2007.

They have developed 12 miles of scenic trails that cover rolling hills, cross small creeks, ramble through forests and pass by a waterfall. The trails have names like Open Range, Ridge Mountain and Hurricane Mountain. The Haunted Swamp, part of the Hurricane trail, is so named because of the cow skulls hanging from trees and various bones scattered about. At least, that’s Randy’s story.

The trails are well-marked, unless the cows have knocked down some of the signs. Day riders, who are just as welcome as the boarders, can’t pass the farm’s

44

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

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Shel-Clair Farms Riders at Shel-Clair’s annual roundup head out to find the cattle.

A team of riders heads for a group of cows.

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

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Sycamore Sally without stopping for photos in the huge tree’s hollow trunk. That may change, though, because Randy found a snake inside the tree recently.

When he’s not rounding up cattle by horseback, Randy rides through the property in a red Ford pickup with a Blue Heeler named Blue on the bed’s tool box. Blue paces back and forth, trying to keep his balance. Randy says he has only fallen off once.

After the roundup, which took twice as long this spring as it normally does because some of the cows were less than cooperative, Randy treats riders to pizza and soft drinks at his new barn.

Sharon Jones of Leeds, one of the farm’s original boarders, is a veteran at the Bearden roundup. “I ride by myself a lot, so I really enjoy riding with a group,” she says, between bites of pizza. “It hypers my horse up, too, so he’s more fun to ride.”

Madison Sharp, 18, a recent graduate of the Alabama School of Math and Science in Mobile, is another boarder who has done several roundups. “It’s fun,” she says. “It’s interesting to watch my horse think.”

It was Jackie Cockrell’s first roundup, and she brought along her 11-year-old son, Colton. “It was very exciting,” says Cockrell, who keeps their horses at her own farm in Leeds. “I would do it again next year.” Colton agrees. “Yeah, that was fun,” he says. l

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

47

Mulligan Stew

A distinctly Skeeter Park tradition

Shanghai and Dubb stir the stew.

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

Story by Jerry C. Smith Submitted photos from Hazelwood Family What’s Mulligan Stew? Well, it’s a big potful of boiling water, loaded with whatever meats and vegetables one has on hand, and cooked until safely edible. However, for St. Clair’s Skeeter Park folks, it’s always been a fine excuse to get together for a grand party on a creek bank somewhere near Eden, pig out on Mulligan and enjoy a tradition that’s occurred non-stop since the 1930s.

You won’t find Skeeter Park on any GPS, nor talked about in society columns, but hundreds of St. Clair folks will agree it’s a culinary and fellowship delight for lucky invitees. While the cuisine has varied over the decades, the camaraderie has remained.

There were actually two distinctly separate groups who held similar events in the same general area: one, a private annual reunion begun in the 1930s that’s still celebrated today, and the other a more frequent but less structured community affair that got together in the 1960s and 70s.

The original group was organized by two local residents, Frank Patterson and John Willingham. They were soon joined

by Frank’s brother, Willard “Shanghai” Patterson, and their close friend, W.T. “Dubb” Hazelwood.

These fellows had hunted and fished around Wolf Creek as boys, often camping there overnight to rest and cook their prey.

As the youngsters grew into men, their outdoor meals became well-known and, before long, friends started drifting in to share their rustic fare.

Dubb’s son, Ben Hazelwood, soon joined the fun, later taking an active role in food preparation, with help from his own son, Benjamin, then called Little Ben but now 36 years old. The elder Ben recently passed away, but younger Ben continues the Mulligan tradition in memory of good times with his father, and because it’s so much fun.

The official Skeeter Park venue is an unimproved clearing in the woods near Wolf Creek, on land always owned by the Jones family. The park is only about 40 yards wide and 50 yards long, but has a good spring for cooking and drinking water. Dubb’s daughter, Marion (Hazelwood) Hultgren, currently of Tucker, Ga., says the area was a wondrous place to visit any time of the year, abounding with wildflowers. Mulligan Stews became generally popular during the Depression, when roving bands of hobos and others seeking work would gather into camps, often alongside railroad tracks. They had little, but usually shared it for the common good.

Various campers might contribute a couple of onions or a few ears of corn “borrowed” from a nearby farm, a chicken of similar origin, maybe some potatoes and carrots. Separately, not much of a meal, but when cooked together, they became a nourishing sustenance for all.

The Skeeter Park guys found Mulligan easy to make and serve, universally accepted, and impossible to criticize because there is no official recipe. Cooked in 5-gallon steel lard cans which were bought new every year for the purpose, these versatile stews could contain anything edible, including squirrels, rabbits, chickens, turtles, even beavers, but they never added pork until later years when it became plentiful. Nor was venison used, as deer were quite scarce in those days.

Young Ben recalls camping out at the site overnight so he could clean out the spring and be ready the next morning to build a fire big enough to heat two kettles full of water. He says his father expected that water to be boiling when he showed up

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

49

Mulligan Stew

Roy Evans and Ben Hazelwood stir the Mulligan Stew

Ben Hazelwood displays Skeeter Park Mulligan T-Shirt

50

a few hours later to start the stew.

Ben remembers that, even in latter years, they sometimes used freshly-killed whole squirrels, including heads but without entrails or skins. Side dishes included Southern-reunion staples like cornbread, biscuits, white loaf bread, green beans, sliced tomatoes, and occasionally a potato salad and other party fare.

Dubb’s children, Marion (Hazelwood) Hultgren, Kent Beavers and Freddy Hazelwood, were quite specific about the way their father ran the proceedings. Everyone who handled raw food had to wash their hands vigorously and keep them clean during its preparation.

He was very particular about who handled food and stirred the pots, usually doing most of it himself. The pot had to be stirred in perfect figure-eights, lest it burn. Further, Dubb insisted that stirring sticks had to be hickory saplings of a certain diameter, with just the right size fork at the end.

The stew was boiled and stirred for hours, until all meat had fallen off the bones which, coincidentally, helped disguise the species of whatever animal was in the pot.

Kent said, “If you didn’t know what you were doing, you just sat over there in the shade and drank beer with the others.”

Marion added, “If you really messed up and burned the stew, you got thrown into Wolf Creek.”

Attendance was widely variable — as few as a half dozen to more than a hundred, including several regional dignitaries whose names would be easily recognized. Mulligans drew visitors from the ranks of many noted St. Clair families, among them Beavers, Castleberrys, Bowmans, Footes, Bynums, Ginns, Hazelwoods, Robertsons and Cornetts.

For the first three decades or so, participation was limited to men and boys, but in the “liberated” 1970s, they occasionally allowed family ladies to attend. Marion, who was 25 at the time, recalls being among the first girls on the scene. She

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

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helped memorialize those days with her photos, some of which appear with this story.

Naturally, these fun-loving folks didn’t confine their activities to eating. According to Freddy and Kent, the guys played poker, took bets on football scoreboards, pitched horseshoes and washers, even shot a few dice.

Singing and guitar playing was usually part of the festivities, although they didn’t bring instruments on very cold days, as it could make the strings break.

Alcohol was usually present, but didn’t cause the kind of problems one might think, because Dubb and Ben kept strict order.

Lawmen occasionally showed up, but only for food and fellowship. Whether certain attendees fell into Wolf Creek or were actually thrown in to help sober them up is still open for debate.

It’s rumored that Shanghai once asked some poker players for a share of the pot to help finance their meal. If more than $30 was spent on supplies in the old days, it was considered an especially lavish party.

In later years, another group began meeting nearby, at first along the north bank of Wolf Creek, then under a pole shed that still stands behind a convenience store in Eden. This gathering was started in the late 1960s by the store’s owner, Troy Bannister. Longtime Pell City resident Fred Bunn recalls going there in the 1970s, and seeing the late Tootie Hare and both Ben Hazelwoods among others who frequented both gatherings.

Fred says these events were held at random intervals, averaging about once a month, and usually ran all day long, averaging about 20 to 30 people at any one time, with others drifting in or out as opportunity allowed. Fred adds that they didn’t restrict themselves to Mulligan Stew, often substituting more basic country fare like chitterlings, barbecue or local game animals.

Under the leadership of young Ben, the Hazelwoods still follow the Mulligan tradition, usually every November at the old Skeeter Park site. They’ve been selling printed T-shirts and ball caps among their group since 1992 to help raise money for basic expenses, with the surplus going into a mutual aid fund to help members with unexpected hardship.

Ben mentions one fellow who got his hand chopped off in a work accident. The Mulligan fund helped this man’s family through some rough times.

The family says this year’s Skeeter Park Mulligan will be an especially poignant one, as they recently lost their beloved father and brother, Ben Hazelwood. Your writer has been invited, and I’m certainly looking forward to it.

No, I will NOT say when or where. l

52

Mulligan Stew

The elder Ben Hazelwood at Skeeter Park

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

Willard “Shanghai” Patterson and W. T. “Dubb” Hazelwood chatting over some Mulligan

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Toughman Alabama, Blues & BBQ COMING TO LAKESIDE PARK

Hundreds of the nation’s toughest triathletes will swim, bike and run their way through St. Clair County in the Toughman Alabama 2015 Aug. 15, and local organizations and volunteers are cooking up a sizzling celebration for competitors and partygoers alike at the finish line.

The City of Pell City and the Greater Pell City Area Chamber of Commerce will host the inaugural Logan Martin Blues & BBQ Bash shortly following the 2015 Alabama Toughman Half-Triathlon. The all-day event will take place along the serene waters of Logan Martin Lake at Pell City’s Lakeside Park Aug. 15.

Highlights of this year’s event will include performances by sought-after blues musicians from the Birmingham-metro and Pell City areas, a barbecue cookoff that will pit St. Clair County’s seasoned grillmasters against each other for annual bragging rights, and there will be dozens of food and retail vendors, adult beverage offerings, arts exhibits, kidfriendly attractions and much more.

Live entertainment for the Blues & BBQ will feature Todd Simpson and Mojo Child, The Elijah Butler Band and Jamison Taylor’s Gypsy Cab Company.

Organizers expect this free event will bring thousands of people from across the region through the gates at Lakeside Park.

The half triathlon includes a 1.2-mile swim, a 54mile bike race and a 13.1-mile run. l

54

Tough Man Event Schedule

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• 6:30 a..m.: Triathlon Race Starts • Estimated 3:15 p.m.: Toughman Alabama Awards

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Friday • 4 - 6 p.m.: Welcome Dinner and Music for Triathletes at Lakeside Park Saturday • 4 - 10 p.m.: BBQ Cookoff, Live Music and Vendors

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

The place for

Fresh Produce

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Story by Sam Jackson Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr. The first frost ushers in autumn, and the initial bloom means spring has arrived. But Pell City has a different kind of seasonal litmus test for summer: the opening of Kerry Joe Foster’s produce stand.

Pell City Produce, located a stone’s throw away from the Pell City Civic Center and Logan Martin Lake on Stemley Bridge Road, opened for the summer on April 1 this year. It will remain open until the end of September, with May through August typically acting as his busiest months. As spring turns to summer and into fall, he sells fruits, vegetables, Amish cheeses, local honeys and much more from his tent. If a food is grown in season, you can find it at Foster’s stand.

He hasn’t always been in the fruit-and-vegetable business, though. Foster previously worked with a construction company he opened with his father, but after suffering a heart attack, Foster was forced to step away from a 31-year construction career. In 2008, his outdoor produce stand opened its doors — figuratively, of course — for the first time. Since then, it’s become somewhat of a Pell City institution.

He doesn’t grow the products he sells, rather, he acts as a kind of farmer’s market conglomerate, buying fresh produce from close-to-home markets throughout Pell City, Vincent and Birmingham to sell under one roof at his stand in Pell City.

The array of growers he purchases from gives him a varied spread of 15 to 20 different kinds of products to offer on a given day.

These trips to purchase fresh goods aren’t monthly or weekly for Foster — they’re daily. His stand is open Wednesday through Saturday at 10 a.m., so Foster wakes up at 4:15 a.m. each of those days to make his rounds from market to market before arriving back at his tent. He usually drives about 100 miles each day when collecting products to sell, but the more miles he drives, the fewer miles his stand’s visitors have to log. “(Customers) appreciate me being here,” Foster said.

“They’d rather buy like this. You can hop out and get right back into the car. They like the openness of it.”

And how the customers do like it. A typical day at the stand sees more than 100 shoppers, many of who are repeat customers. Watching Foster in action, it’s easy to see why so many come back time after time. He jauntily smiles, chats and laughs with people and turns even the most routine transaction into a friendly interaction.

Jean Phillips, a weekly stand patron, sees his helpful

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

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The place for

Fresh Produce demeanor and constant presence as an important part of his stand’s success.

“He’s always friendly and very helpful,” Phillips said. “He’ll even help you to your car with vegetables. I don’t think I’ve ever been by when he wasn’t there.”

It’s not uncommon to see customers purchase items in bulk, especially tomatoes, which Foster says are the most popular seller and his personal favorite product. Many people come from out of town to purchase them.

“A lot of people say, ‘We’ve heard your tomatoes are the best,’” Foster said. “That really means a lot to me.”

The stand’s notability draws customers from Pell City and the surrounding area, and Foster wouldn’t have it any other way. His favorite part of the job is meeting people from all walks of life, especially those who may come from farther away.

“I’ve had a lot of people from different states who are visiting — Oklahoma, California, Michigan,” Foster said.

“They hear about (the stand) and have to come by to see what I’ve got. That’s always fun for me.”

Foster also loves that his job gives him the chance to remain outside and has always considered himself an “outdoors guy.”

Although his stand is only open from Wednesday to Saturday, Foster doesn’t take a three-day weekend. On Mondays and Tuesdays, he usually sells tomatoes to restaurants like nearby Good Ole Boys and The Shack and delivers unsold, though still edible, products to widows from his church. He says there is nothing wrong with these donated items, but he would rather give them away than let them go to waste.

This all may sound like a busy week for Foster to handle by himself, and that’s not far from the truth. Luckily, he has some help with the stand. Although Foster makes all productpurchasing runs on his own, Frank Boyanton, known as “Mr. B,” and Foster’s wife, Tanya, assist with some of the stand’s day-to-day operations. Mr. B is especially helpful, volunteering at the stand every Wednesday through Saturday.

In addition to his wife’s help, the stand’s family affair continues with his mother-in-law, Frankie Underwood, who makes a variety of fried pies to contribute to the stand’s product supply.

If you’re wondering how Foster maintains the will power to be around succulent fruits, vegetables and pies all day without being tempted to snag a bite or two, worry not. To prevent selling subpar products, he samples every item he displays.

This commitment to excellence comes across in the products he sells, Phillips said.

“I stop by because he has really nice vegetables,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever gotten any that were not fresh and good.”

The fruits and vegetables on sale are impeccable. Banners advertising “fresh produce” are draped near a picturesque spread of colorful southern garden favorites.

The stand’s location is in the heart of Pell City. Yet it’s Foster’s charm and friendliness that make his stand the destination point for return customers.

The next time you see his truck drive past, overflowing after a morning farmer’s market run, you’ll know he’s bringing good food and Southern hospitality to what has become an iconic institution. l

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

59

Pirate Ship

Coosa Cantina

Summer lights on With Summer Lights on Logan Martin Lake Boat Parade no sooner completed, organizers were already working on the 2016 version.

The June 20 event truly did light up the lake with dozens of boats – large and small – bathed in lights and delighting crowds who watched from boats and miles of shoreline all along the parade route.

The parade began at Woods Surfside Marina and traveled to Pell City Lakeside Park and featured decorated boats as everything from a floating cantina to a pirate’s ship.

The winners were: Prirate Ship, Susan Wall, first place; Coosa Cantina, Julie Murphree, second place; and Black Light Party, Stephanie Bain, third place. Best Decorated Boat Dock went to Pam Hendricks l

Logan Martin Pre-parade docking

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Black Light Party

Best Decorated Dock 60

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

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Rhonda Bell ‘high fives’ stable mascot, Peggy Sue

All about the horses ... mostly Story by Linda Long Photos by Mike Callahan Some folks might think it strange to see a sidewayswalking, high-five giving goat named Peggy Sue greeting visitors at a horse farm, but for Rhonda Bell and her crew at Long Time Coming - Pinedale Stables, it’s just business as usual.

“She is a very special goat,” laughed Bell. “We actually have folks pull up and say, ‘We just came to see the goat.’

She runs out to greet everybody who comes here, but for some reason, she runs sideways. I don’t know why. Yes, everybody loves Peggy Sue.” Bell said the goat also rides in the car and has been to a hair salon.

Peggy Sue is only one member of Bell’s menagerie, or “Noah’s Ark,” as she calls it. The feline-canine-bovineequine group includes five cats, five dogs, 25 cows, nine chickens, two fish and 17 horses, but for Bell, it’s mostly about the horses. “It is who I am. I love these animals,” she said So much so, that working with horses and children has become her passion, not just a business, but a mission to make children’s lives better by combining riding lessons with life lessons. The business is aptly named, “Long Time Coming,” for it is, indeed, a dream that was a long time coming for the little girl whose love of horses grew

63

Sydney Vanhoughton (left) and Jade Bell with Dolly 64

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

Longtime Coming-Pinedale Stables Kayla Bryant and Little Rose

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into a way of life.

Bell remembers how it all began. “His name was Rocky. He was a paint, white and brown, a Welsh pony.� According to Bell, Rocky was not originally intended to be her pony. He was actually bought as a surprise gift for a neighbor’s child, but, thanks to some four-legged bullies, that arrangement didn’t work out. “They put Rocky out in a pasture with some other horses,� recalled Bell. “Those older horses ran him and ran him. They wouldn’t let him near the water. They wouldn’t let him eat, wouldn’t let him graze. Now, Marissa, the little girl who owned the horse had absolutely no interest in him. Me, on the other hand, I went down there every day to try and kick some. Keep in mind, I was only seven years old at the time.�

Finally, thanks to some parental intervention, “a lot of begging my Daddy,� Bell got her pony. “I rode that pony every day,� she laughed. “Oh, my goodness. There was no way you could have kept me off a horse. As my daddy puts it, I would have stolen one had he not gotten me one.�

But, there was no need for any such drastic measures. With reins in hand and horse in tow, Bell entered a show ring. As a child, “I showed very competitively and at a very high level,� she said, but then college beckoned and her love for horses took a back seat. She graduated with a nursing degree and began her career at UAB Hospital. She met her husband, got married and “had my babies.� “Finally, I think we had been married about nine years, I looked at my husband one day and said, ‘I’ve got to have a horse.’ �

The rest, as the saying goes, is history. Today, after having outgrown her first two locations, Bell is settled into a large gray barn on Pinedale Road, where she offers lessons for every riding level, both western and English. She also offers training, boarding, and she fields a show team.

The site is home to her horses and home away from home for Bell and her two daughters, 13 year-old Ivy and 12 year-old Jade. Both girls have inherited their mother’s love for horses, and both are fiercely competitive in the show ring. “They’re accomplished horse women even at their young ages,� said Bell, “and they both work and train very hard.

They along with their mother take leadership roles in the Alabama Quarter Horse Association and the Alabama Quarter Horse Youth Association.

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Longtime Coming-Pinedale Stables From left, riding lesson group Brooke Melvin, Sydney Vanhoughton, Ivy Bell, Kayla Bryant, Jade Bell and Ava Dickey

So far, Bell’s show team has traveled all over the southeast and Ohio for world-class competitions.

The team competes in such categories as showmanship, hunter under saddle, equitation, western pleasure, horseman trail and ranch horse pleasure.

The equestrian life is a family affair for the Bells.

Well, almost. According to Bell, “My husband avoids horses.” So, how does he survive in this horse-impassioned family? “Well, he does his best,” said Bell. “He is very supportive and comes to most of the shows. But, as for actually liking horses? Not so much.”

As Chistopher Bell puts it, being the only one in the family who doesn’t ride is still a little fun. “As a husband and a dad, you want to see your family enjoy what they do. I see the hard work my wife and daughters put into their passion, and the results of their hard work are a blessing.”

Though their barn is in Springville, the Bells live on a 70-acre farm in Ashville. Rhonda Bell and the girls make the trip to the barn seven days a week.

“Horses are not for the faint of heart, I tell you,” said Bell. “It’s early hours, late nights, and it doesn’t matter what the temperature is, you’ve still got to go. We get here in the morning at 7 a.m. and leave at 7 at night. But, we do it because we love it.”

Bell has had many horses throughout her career,

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Ivy Bell on Seven and Kayla Bryant on Little Rose

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

St. Vincent’s St. Clair Named Top Performer St. Vincent’s St. Clair has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval. The Joint Commission has also recognized St. Vincent’s St. Clair as a 2013 Top Performer on Key Quality Measures® in pneumonia. The Top Performer program recognizes hospitals for improving performance on evidence-based interventions that increase the chances of healthy outcomes for patients.

At St. Vincent’s St. Clair we offer inpatient, outpatient, and advanced diagnostic services together to enhance the quality of life for families in our community.

Our specialized services include an emergency department, surgical services, orthopedic services, neurological services, physical therapy, occupational therapy, occupational medicine, sports medicine, pain management, a sleep disorders center and advanced wound care.

For more information, visit www.stvhs.com/stclair. For a physician referral, call Dial-A-Nurse at (205) 338-3300.

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Longtime Coming-Pinedale Stables

Jade Bell and Charlotte Dickey riding Dolly

Show team member Abie Lee there supporting her team even with a broken foot

Big man scratches Preacher’s face for him.

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Jade Bell, Rhonda Bell and Ivy Bell

but when asked to name her favorite, she hesitates. “I can’t do it. That’s like being asked to name your favorite child. They’re all different with unique personalities.

She does admit, however, that she’s particularly fond of one currently in her stable. “His name is Big Man, 16 hands high and a gentle giant. The biggest horse is ridden by the smallest child, my daughter, Jade. He loves her, but simply tolerates the rest of us.”

Bell recently discovered that Big Man also has a somewhat misplaced protective side to him. Here’s how she tells the story: “We have a lake here in the pasture and unbeknownst to me, the property owner put fish in the water. Well, as I always do, I turned Big Man out into the pasture. I watched him run toward the lake to get some water. All of a sudden, he just spread eagles, with his legs straight out. He turned around and ran away from the lake. Then he eased his way back up to the water, stopped, turned around and ran off again. This went on all day,” laughed Bell. “I don’t know if he ever got brave enough to get some water.”

That was in early spring last year when he did this, she continued, “So the next day, my kids wanted to get out and about, and I suggested they go look for one of our lost horseshoes in the pasture. They put on jackets and headed out.

“They decided to head to the lake to see the new fish, when suddenly Big Man appears. He grabs them by the backs of their jackets and pulls them away from the lake. There was a monster living in the lake that had not been living there before, and he didn’t want the girls anywhere near those dreaded fish. We’re still laughing about that one.”

Of the time spent at the stables, “Yes we’re here a whole bunch,” said Bell, “but, we love it.

“This is an outreach mission for us. I tell my kids all the time, if we’re not representing God, then we don’t have any business doing what we do. I try to show all my students the love of Christ every day.

“My goal is for every kid who walks through this barn and every adult who walks through here to leave having a better day than when they got here.” l

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TRAVELING ABROAD HELPING AT HOME

Sherri Moore in Santorini

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

Group using vacations abroad to help raise money for local causes

When you can’t be there.

Always ere is…

Story by Carol Pappas Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr. Submitted photos Their travels have taken them to the heights of Greece’s Mt. Olympus and the shores of Italy’s Amalfi Coast. They have followed in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul, and they have experienced the lore of Ireland and Scotland.

But their paths always lead back home in more ways than one.

This group of mostly Pell Citians travel to distant destinations each year to learn more about the world. And the proceeds raised as a group from their trips follow them home to provide funds so that others may learn. Benefitting from their travels each year are the Pell City Schools Education Foundation and the Pell City Library Guild.

This year, the innovative fundraiser, begun by Deanna Lawley a few years ago, took groups on two different trips. The Education Foundation trip toured Italian Lakes, Greek Isles and Venetian Canals.

The Library Guild travels took them through northern Greece to trace Apostle Paul’s travels so many centuries ago.

The trips raised $5,000 for the Library Guild and $10,000 for the Education Foundation, but the travelers will quickly point out that the rewards were all theirs.

“Visiting the Meteora monasteries built on sandstone pinnacles – on their very peaks – was awe inspiring,” said Sherry Moore. “The construction was an incredible feat.”

Lynn Ervin spoke of the museum statues built by hand and the site of the very first Olympics being among her precious memories.

For Connie and Jimmy Hollis, it was their first trip with the group. It was their 50th wedding anniversary, and they celebrated in grand style even though there was but a single piece of cake surprising them at dinner. They divided the piece of cake into 23 portions to share with their traveling friends.

Besides the anniversary celebration, Connie’s favorite memory was on the island of Santorini, a town built atop a dormant volcano. “It’s like seeing Venice for the first time. It takes your breath away.”

Santorini was a favorite of Donna Watkins, too. She, like Cindy Goodgame, Barnett Lawley and Sylvia Martin traveled to the top by donkey, a Santorini tradition. “It’s something I’ve seen in my mind, but when you actually see it, it’s amazing,” Donna said. “The donkey ride was a delight,” added Cindy.

Barnett was moved by a chance meeting in a northern Italy wine shop of a woman who was a child during the Nazi occupation. So powerful was her story, he and a group returned the next day and videoed her recollection of the frightening Gestapo and the joys of the liberation. “It was a very special part of our trip.”

Myra Courtney described the Footsteps of Paul as “an amazing tour with meaningful religious sites and interesting Greek cultural experiences.”

Gladys Louise Deese echoed the sentiment, calling it “the

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

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TRAVELING ABROAD

Cindy Goodgame ascends Santorini by donkey.

Venetian canal

Monastery at Meteora

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Where to in 2016?

Tours are coordinated by the national travel company, Collette Vacations. In 2016, commissions from Summer Escape to the Canadian Rockies and Calgary Stampede will be designated 100 percent for teacher classroom grants. Each traveler will receive a 501 (c)3 tax donation. The Canadian trip is July 7, and features glacier fields, snowcapped mountains, a stay at the iconic five-star Banff Springs Resort and attendance at the largest rodeo in the world – “all at 72 degrees.”

In May, commissions are designated for the Library Guild from Springtime in Top European Destination Cities: London and Paris.

It will feature an exciting connection on Chunnel Eurostar, attendance at a London play, dinner in the Eiffel Tower – “bucket list dreams.”

Itineraries may be obtained at the Pell City Library.

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

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2nd Location on 231 South Opening Members of the Pell City Schools Education Foundation travel group

scriptures coming alive.”

“I am grateful to God for allowing me the opportunity to visit the places I’ve always read about in the Bible,” said Annetta Watts Nunn. “It enabled me to see and experience the Bible and His word in a whole new way. What a wonderful spiritual trip.”

With the donation for the Education Foundation, President Jason Goodgame said $18,000 in grants to teachers will be possible. “Teachers would have had to pay out of their own pockets” for the extras to enhance classroom learning that these grants provide. “There are no other options.”

The Library Guild donation will go toward the city’s new library. The Guild’s Barbara Fincher called this “an exciting time” as construction begins to renovate the CenturyLink building for the library. “We love the library and what it does for our community.”

And the donation helps move the dream to fruition, according to Guild member Laurie Regan. “It’s an incredible gift.” l

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St. Clair Alabama

Business Review Louis

The Rexall Drugs building is now home to El Cazador.

74 • DISCOVER The EssenceDISCOVER Essence of St.ofClair • August && September of St. Clair •The Business Review DISCOVER The Essence St. Clair • June July 20152013

Story by Graham Hadley Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

New life for downtown historic Pell City building Thank to the efforts of Jose Ramon and his family, one of the most iconic buildings in downtown Pell City is once again home to a thriving business.

The old Rexall Drug building, which has stood vacant off and on for years, is now a Mexican Restaurant, El Cazador.

Ramon, who manages the business for his family, said the historic downtown building was the perfect place for their restaurant to relocate. El Cazador had been located on Vaughan Lane for the past five years.

“That building was huge. We felt the Rexall building would create a more intimate and cozy dining atmosphere,” Ramon said.

The fact that the former drug store already had been largely retrofitted as a restaurant by a previous tenant only made it more attractive to El Cazador.

“We were looking for a new location and thought this would be perfect.

“We were looking for something smaller and found this building and thought it would be a great idea to put the restaurant here,” he said.

Like many other businesses that have opened their doors recently in the historic downtown, El Cazador is benefitting from the location — lots of walk-in traffic from nearby government offices and businesses combined with people who are attracted to the ever-growing revitalized commercial area along Cogswell.

And then there are the loyal El Cazador customers from the previous location. Ramon said they had been closed for several months while they got the new restaurant ready to open its doors June 3, but they are starting to see a return of familiar faces from their old restaurant.

“We are still getting back our customers from the old location,” he said, “and we are always hoping to build a new regular customer base.”

He says that should not be a big problem for El Cazador, which prides itself on customer service and a broad menu, everything from Tex-Mex to more traditional Mexican dishes.

“We have a pretty big menu — a bit of both styles. And we always try to give the best service possible. We want our customers to be satisfied,” Ramon said.

With business at its new quarters steadily building, Ramon is very optimistic about the direction his family’s

Business has been steadily growing since opening

business is taking.

“Business has been steady since we opened and has been picking up. I think we are going to be successful in the future,” he said. l El Cazador is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. and on Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m.

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DISCOVER The Essence of St.ofClair • August && September Business • DISCOVER DISCOVER The Essence St. Clair • Review June July 20152013 The Essence of St. Clair • 75

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

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Business Review

Moody on the map

Retail development driving city growth

Work continues on the new Publix building.

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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

Story by Graham Hadley Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr. Things are continuing to come up roses when it comes to growth for the City of Moody.

In some ways, quite literally.

The Warren Family Garden Center and Nursery is under construction at the 144 interchange off I-20. The sprawling nursery will not only bring new jobs and tax revenue to the region, it will also serve as a beautiful horticultural vista for people coming into Moody off the interstate.

“It will be the first thing people see when they come off the interstate. That was one of the things we talked about with owner Wirt Warren when we talked about the business going in there,” said Mayor Joe Lee. “He is going to dress up that entrance just by him being there.”

Aside from the high visibility and traffic through the interchange, the property is an ideal location for a nursery because much of it lies in a flood plain.

“We have talked to many people over the years trying to promote that land for sale for business. But because it was a flood plain, that was hard to do. The garden center and nursery is a good fit for that piece of property because you can put plants there — there are not any structures in the flood zone.

The sales office is out of the flood plain. It makes a perfect fit,” Lee said.

The city has been working hard to improve the appearance of the community, especially along the roads where people are coming into Moody. Officials want to make a good first impression, and Lee says the garden center will do just that.

“We have put together a lot of ordinances addressing how things are built, new construction, focusing on making the community better over time. Things are transitioning on how it looks when you first come into Moody,” Lee said.

Another part of that transition is an effort to make the city more of a shopping destination. City and business leaders want to not only keep local residents shopping locally, they want to bring in retailers that attract people from miles around.

And the new Publix going in at the shopping center across the way from Warren’s will do exactly that, Lee said.

“We have been very fortunate. Everyone wants a Publix. I actually worked on this project for more than eight years with three developers. We were finally able to make it happen with George Barber and his company.”

The new store will create 120 new jobs in the city, with a projected $22 million in sales.

Publix will also anchor a 20-year-old shopping center, something that is key to keeping businesses in the adjacent property.

“By doing this, we revitalized the entire shopping center. That will promote other properties in the area,” Lee said.

The existing shopping center is now 100 percent full — all the store fronts are leased. Now the city is looking at developing nearby property for more retail. The city owns 26 acres for development on one side, and there is other property next door that can be developed.

“We have identified all the adjoining properties, and those are also being promoted for retail development,” Lee said. The city is already getting calls about some of that land, and the mayor

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

81

Business Review

MOODY

Warren Family Garden Center and Nursery

expects that, when Publix opens its doors, it may mean a retail boom for Moody.

“I think, when Publix actually opens up, we will get a lot more people looking at the area and opening up businesses here,” he said.

It will be up to the city to take point in making those businesses feel welcome in Moody, something it has already done for Publix.

“We are going to have a job fair in Moody, hosted by Publix, that will last all week in early September. We offered up City Hall for them to do that,” Lee said.

That attitude, combined with the location and growing residential base, makes Moody very attractive to new businesses.

“The unique thing about the City of Moody is our location.

We are between Barber Motorsports and the Talladega Superspeedway, between Honda and Mercedes. So people can work and visit those places and live in Moody,” he said.

“We get a lot of young professionals and families moving here because of all we have to offer, things like the new splash pad and civic center.”

That growing population base is a key factor in attracting retail — which in turn attracts more people to the area.

Other businesses are opening their doors in Moody as well.

Retail giant Dollar General is opening a new store on U.S. 411 on the north end of the city.

“I think they picked the perfect location. All the traffic coming from the north goes right by there. It is going to be a good revenue producer for that end of town,” Lee said.

O’Reilly Auto Parts is scheduled to open Aug. 20.

“They just built one in Pell City,” Lee said. “About the time they were finishing that one, they started on this one. It will be the first auto parts chain store to open in our city.”

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Moody’s new Dollar General

He also points to the Love’s and Valero travel centers that are thriving at the I-20 Brompton exit.

“Moody is a popular place right now because we have a lot of commercial property that people are starting to look at. We get a lot of calls from developers,” Lee said.

“I think, in the next five years, we are going to be getting a lot of development, especially in retail. … That means more tax dollars going to important things like public safety, fire and police. It helps the city grow in a good way.” l

DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • August & September 2015

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