Mrs. Senior St. Clair • Pioneering Hemp Farm Wood’s Bend Memories • St. Clair Arena Success • Housing Boom
June & July 2021
Creedon Creek Woodcrafters If you can think of it, they can build it
Weddings St. Clair Style SPECIAL SECTION
SPRINGVILLE’S HISTORIC VENUE BECOMES SITE FOR NEW MEMORIES AND MORE
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Meet Meg Clements Specializing In: Family Law, Criminal Law, Civil Litigation, Wills, Trusts and Estates.
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Discover The Essence of St. Clair June & July 2021
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HEMP FARMING
CREEDON CREEK
ST. CLAIR WEDDINGS
Family pioneering emerging agribusiness
Woodworking at its very best
A return to normal and more
Traveling the Backroads Legacy of Wood’s Bend
Dr. Penny Njoroge
Personification of empowerment
Page 28
St. Clair Business
Page 34
Recognizing Bill Ellison’s work
St. Clair Arena
Success story continues for county attraction
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St. Clair Weddings
Making dreams come true
Cabin Bluff wedding venue Page 48 Bridal show looking to 2021 and beyond Page 50 The Woodall Building
Page 42
Business driving housing boom across the county
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Page 68 John Garrison honored for workforce development Page 70
w w w . d i s co v e r stc l a i r . co m
Writers AND Photographers Carol Pappas
Graham Hadley
Carol Pappas is editor and publisher of Discover St. Clair Magazine. A retired newspaper executive, she served as editor and publisher of several newspapers and magazines during her career. She won dozens of writing awards in features, news and commentary and was named Distinguished Alabama Community Journalist at Auburn University. She serves as president/CEO of Partners by Design, the multimedia group that publishes Discover.
Graham Hadley is the managing editor and designer for Discover The Essence of St. Clair Magazine and also manages the magazine website. Along with Carol Pappas, he left The Daily Home as managing editor to become vice president of the Creative Division of Partners by Design multimedia company. An Auburn journalism graduate, Hadley also served as the news editor for The Rome News Tribune in Rome, Ga.
Joe Whitten
Elaine Hobson Miller
Joe Whitten was born in Bryant on Sand Mountain. When he arrived in Odenville in 1961 to teach at St. Clair County High School, he found a place to call home. He and his wife, Gail, taught across the hall from each other. He continues to live in Odenville in a 1904 house they called home for 36 years. Joe was active in the Alabama Writers’ Conclave and the Alabama State Poetry Society. The society named him Poet of the Year in 2000. Joe has also published a number of St. Clair County local history books.
Leigh Pritchett Leigh Pritchett is a wife and mother. She earned the Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Montevallo. In the late 1990s, she left a career with a New York Times Regional Newspaper to be a stay-at-home mom and freelance writer. She was blessed with the opportunity to spend 22 years homeschooling her three children.
Linda Long Linda Long has worked in communications for more than 25 years in print, broadcast, nonprofit promotion and special event planning and implementation. Her writing has appeared in Business Alabama Magazine, Technology Alabama, Mobile Bay Monthly, Birmingham News, Huntsville Times, Partners Magazine, Birmingham Magazine, Alabama Alive, Cahaba Talk, Hoover Outlook and Shelby Living. She served as news and special projects producer for NBC13 News, where her work won national, regional and state honors, including two Emmy Award nominations.
Elaine Hobson Miller is a freelance writer with a B.A. in journalism from Samford University. She was the first female to cover Birmingham City Hall for the Birmingham Post-Herald, where she worked as reporter, food editor and features writer. A former editor of Birmingham Home & Garden magazine and staff writer for Birmingham magazine, she has written for a variety of local, regional and national publications. She is a member of Alabama Media Professionals and NFPW (the National Federation of Press Women). Follow her weekly blog about life with a dozen four-legged critters, life in the country and life in general at www.countrylife-elaine.blogspot.com.
Scottie Vickery
Scottie Vickery is a writer with a degree in journalism from the University of Alabama and was a reporter for The Birmingham News. Her first assignment was covering St. Clair and Blount counties. She has more than 30 years of writing and editing experience and her work has appeared in a variety of publications. She also has worked in the nonprofit industry.
Paul South
Paul South, a native of Fairfield, is an Auburn graduate with a degree in journalism and a double minor in history. He also has a Juris Doctorate degree from the Birmingham School of Law. Although sports writing was always his first love, he had a versatile career as reporter, columnist and first full-time sports information director at Samford University.
About THE Cover
The 19th Century Woodall Building in Springville has a storied history and now is making new memories as an event venue. Photo by Ryanne Noss
From the Editor
Defining St. Clair’s future
Like the metaphorical light bulb that suddenly goes bright, illuminating an idea – a vision for the future, it never ceases to amaze how many of those flickers in St. Clair County now spotlight better days ahead simply because someone asked, ‘What if …’ In Pell City, Bill Ellison saw an empty piece of property filled with nothing but woods, and he saw a thriving commercial district. Because it touched Interstate 20 and U.S. 231, he saw the potential. He developed a business there – a gas station – then another, another, and the story lives on today. Those parcels now hold everything from a Walmart Supercenter to hotels to restaurants, an entertainment center and a host of retail outlets. A family of poultry farmers in Odenville – father and son – looked at their farm and saw the future in a new trend in farming. They grow hemp to be used in over-the-counter herbal medicines. Baldrock Hemp Farm, a family affair, is now a burgeoning business. The poultry and livestock are still there, but their vision has grown an operation that ships around the country. In Springville, an historic building has been transformed into an event venue that rivals even the biggest of cities. The Woodall Building became a runway and more for an impressive bridal show, the first of its kind in St. Clair County. A piece of property on a cutoff road in Odenville now boasts a covered arena and hosts rodeos, farrier competitions, a cowboy church, a dog show, barrel racing, a vintage market and a variety of events that attract visitors from multiple states around the country all year long. In Trussville and Leeds, a father and son – as they say themselves – took “a leap of faith” and turned a gift of working with their hands and pieces of wood into a creative, in-demand business. “If you can imagine it, we can build it,” they say with pride. And many a home and business now proudly display
Discover
their imaginative craftsmanship. It’s hard not to spot those sparks turning into shimmering lights throughout the county. They essentially lie in every direction. When I look around, Henry David Thoreau’s assessment is a perfect fit. “It’s not what you look at but what you see.” That’s vision. And it’s alive and doing quite well in St. Clair County. Just take a look around. Or, turn the page and discover it all and more with us. Carol Pappas Editor and Publisher
The Essence of St. Clair
June & July 2021 • Vol. 60 • www.discoverstclair.com
Carol Pappas • Editor and Publisher Graham Hadley • Managing Editor and Designer Dale Halpin • Advertising Toni Franklin • Graphic Designer Brandon Wynn • Director Online Services
A product of Partners by Design www.partnersmultimedia.com 1911 Cogswell Avenue Pell City, AL 35125 205-335-0281
Printed at Russell Printing, Alexander City, AL 7
Bobby and Bobby Isbell Jr. inspecting their hemp plants 8
HEMP FARMING
Odenville farm family pioneer new crop Story by Scottie Vickery Submitted photos from Tiffany Roach, TNR Creative, and Scott McLeod
There were days not too long ago when Bobby Isbell looked out from the front porch of his Odenville farm and saw lost opportunity. Years before, the family had dabbled in running a Christmas tree farm, but the fields had been dormant for a while. “All we had out here was grass,” the poultry farmer of 32 years said of the six acres that make up his yard. For Bobby, who has a love of agriculture running through his veins, it was a blank canvas of sorts. The more he looked at the land, the more he could picture a lush green crop dotting the landscape. That’s why he decided to join the first wave of farmers in Alabama to grow industrial hemp, a variety of the Cannabis sativa plant species harvested specifically to make an assortment of products – everything from paper and clothing to paint and biodegradable plastics. In addition, cannabidiol, or CBD oil, is made from industrial hemp and is widely used as a natural remedy for issues such as pain, inflammation and anxiety. “I got to reading about it, and I thought we’d give it a go,” said Bobby, who opened Baldrock Hemp Farm LLC in 2019. The business, like all of his endeavors, is a family affair, and after two seasons of growing hemp and selling it to processors, the Isbells recently launched their own line of organically grown CBD creams, capsules and oils. The oils, available in different strengths, are offered with lemon, peppermint, spearmint or natural flavors. There’s even a pet food supplement with a bacon and herb flavor. “Bobby’s always looking for an opportunity to benefit his family,” daughter-in-law Haley Isbell said. “He saw an opportunity to get us in on the front end of something, and we all trusted him. We knew if anyone could do it, he could.”
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
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HEMP FARMING The Isbell Family on their farm.
Drying the plants
Acres of plants
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THE EDUCATION PROCESS Before 2019, it was illegal to grow hemp, which comes from the same plant species as marijuana, in the United States. The Farm Bill of 2018, however, reclassified hemp from a controlled substance to an agricultural commodity. The main difference between the two is the level of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical usually associated with getting high. Industrial hemp has a THC level of 0.3 percent or less while marijuana has higher levels of THC. “We spend a lot of time answering that question,” Haley, who coordinates marketing for the business, said with a laugh. “No matter how many times we say it’s not the same thing, we still get the wink-wink, nod-nod sometimes.” Before they could educate their customers, they had to learn more themselves. Bobby’s son, Bobby III, who is also a poultry farmer, jumped in with both feet. They were among the first Alabama farmers licensed to grow or process hemp in the state’s pilot program in 2019. Growers, handlers and processors must be licensed by the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI), and the regulation process is strict. According to Gail Ellis, hemp program manager for the department, the state issued 173 grower licenses for 2021, including three in St. Clair County. Bobby’s wife, Lynn, said that her husband and son participated in seminars and conferences in Tennessee, Kentucky and other places to learn more about the industry, the products and the methods for growing hemp. “We tried to pick up as much knowledge as we could before we got into it,” Bobby said. “You can read all you want, but you have to learn by doing it. The first year was all work and no play.” Besides following state regulations, the Isbells have also earned organic certification from Food Alliance. “My generation wants a more organic product with fewer chemicals, so we went through the process of being certified,” Haley said. “We wanted to offer a hemp product that was locally and organically grown so that we could provide our customers with the most natural way to address health and wellness issues.”
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
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G N I L CAL
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HEMP FARMING
Bobby Isbell shows off a young plant, below
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LEARNING CURVE In addition to growing hemp, Bobby and his son are both still poultry farmers. Bobby raises about 125,000 chickens while Bobby III has about 127,000. “That first year, we were like single women,” Lynn said. “We didn’t really see them that much.” Bobby and his son worked from daylight to dark, plowing the field, tilling the soil and preparing to plant hemp seeds in six acres. “That was way too much,” he said. “Now we just grow four acres, which is about 10,000 plants.” The planting process takes place in late May, and the crops are harvested in September or October. The first year, they planted the seeds by hand. Last year, they germinated the seeds in the greenhouse and planted the seedlings. “That way you know you’ve got a plant in every hole,” rather than a seed that may or may not grow, Bobby said. Like the vast majority of hemp grown in Alabama, the Isbells’ crop is grown for CBD oil. “Once the days start getting longer, they start sending out flowers and buds,” he said. “That’s what we want – the flowers to produce the oil. Out west, a lot of hemp is grown for the fiber. Carmakers make seats out of it.” This year’s crop is the Isbells’ third, and they’ve learned a lot along the way. The first year, they planted the rows too close together and couldn’t get a mower through, so they had to cut the grass with a weed trimmer. This year, they made sure to leave enough space for a riding lawn mower. Although the Isbells use organic methods to control bugs, Alabama hemp farmers have to be careful about the types of pesticides they use. “If you spray with something you’re not supposed to and take it to a processing plant, they’ll kick it out,” Isbell said. In addition to approving seed sources and pesticides, the ADAI tests each crop in the state for THC levels, as well. If the level is higher than 0.3 percent, the field will be destroyed, according to information on the agency’s website. Growers must also submit GPS coordinates, which are forwarded to law enforcement so that officers can differentiate between a legal hemp crop and an illegal marijuana crop. Bobby said he talked with the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, the district attorney’s office, and the Moody and Odenville police departments before planting for the first time in 2019. They also put up a fence with a green screen to keep animals out of the field and to discourage curious visitors. “Lots of people have stopped and looked, but we haven’t had any issues so far,” Lynn said.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
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HEMP FARMING Bobby and Haley Isbell
Inspecting the seedlings
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
Children born into all kinds of circumstances have dreams and dreams are powerful. Finished products WE DO WHAT WE DO
THE FINAL PRODUCT Once the hemp is ready to be harvested – about 100 to 110 days after planting – the workload really increases. Last year they hired extra help, and it takes about two weeks to get it all out of the field. “We cut it by hand, and we try not to ever let it hit the ground,” Bobby said. “We unload it by hand, and then we hang it in the drying shed by hand.” The Isbells hung netting from ceiling to floor in the climatecontrolled building and they stand on scaffolding to hang the hemp upside down in the nets. The crop dries for 7-10 days, and it takes two or three cycles to get all of the hemp dried. “It’s like cooking. If you rush it, you don’t get a good end product,” Bobby said. Once dried, the hemp is stripped by hand, and they collect the finished product in 75- to 100-pound bags. The first year, they loaded up the bags and took them to a processor in Colorado since there weren’t many options in Alabama at the time. Last year, they used a processor in Huntsville. The Isbells launched the Baldrock Hemp Farm line of CBD products in February, and the oils, creams and capsules are produced from their hemp by Sustainable CBD in Selma. “We definitely believe in what we’ve got, and we have lots of repeat customers,” said Haley, who designed the label and launched the website, baldrockhemp.com. “It’s a natural product that a lot of people have found relieves anxiety, joint pain and other symptoms.” The family is some of its own best customers. Bobby III has found it helps him sleep when his body can’t shut down after a full day of physical labor. Bobby’s 87-year-old father uses the cream for joint pain, and Lynn takes it every night. “Sometimes, if I’ve been anxious, I’ll put a dropperful of the lemon flavored oil in my tea, and the anxiousness just goes away.” A family friend with a stressful job said that it helps keep him calm, Bobby said. Although adding a hemp farm to the demands of poultry farming has been a tremendous undertaking, the Isbells said they are glad they took the leap of faith. “I enjoy it,” Bobby III said. “It gives me something to do in the summer.” The comment doesn’t surprise his wife. “They can’t sit still,” Haley said of her husband and fatherin-law. “If they hadn’t done hemp, they would have found something else.” l
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
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Traveling the
BACKROADS
Wood’s Bend
A legacy of ferries, family and friends
Benson, Clovis, Edward, Eugene, Otis Boswell and Nancy Ellen Boswell, grandmother
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
Story by Joe Whitten Submitted photos The Coosa River coils and loops through St. Clair County like a lazy anaconda in Alabama summer sunshine. In one of the river’s half-circle loops south of Ragland, John Wood established a ferry in the late 19th or early 20th century. A community developed there known as Wood’s Bend. William Duke Benson Boswell and his wife Velma Irene Reaves Boswell lived there, and to them was born on May 11, 1928, the first of 5 sons, Otis. After him came Clovis (1929), Benson (1931), Edward (1933), and Eugene (1934). Today, 93-year-old Otis has many memories of Wood’s Bend and the ferry. “I was a young child, and I remember riding across the river on the ferry. Mr. Britton ran it, and he could put two cars at a time on the ferry for the crossing.” The Bend was one of the poorer settlements in St. Clair County in those days. Otis’s Daddy farmed – sharecropped – and got other work wherever he could. He landed a job at the cement plant, but that job was short-lived because of the Great Depression which caused the plant to shut down for several years. The 1929-1939 decade of the Great Depression dragged lives through horrific years of misery and poverty. When the plant closed, and William Boswell needed work, his brother came from Georgia, Otis said, “loaded up a truck with our furniture and moved us to his farm where Daddy helped with the farm work.” Around 1934, William Boswell heard that the cement plant in Ragland had started production, so he moved his family back home. However, the plant didn’t hire him, and he returned to sharecropping and working for Mr. M.O. Jones, a Ragland lumberman. “Mr. Jones owned a lot of timber, and Daddy got a job cutting the big, tall pine trees for telephone poles and scraping the bark off the poles. He did that until the plant started full production, and he got his job back. He worked there until he retired.” Two sons were born in Georgia, and when the last one was born, Otis’s mom began a slow decline into mental withdrawal. Eventually, this resulted in Velma’s being admitted to Brice’s Hospital. Otis was nine years old and helped with taking care of his brothers after his mother was hospitalized. At Brice’s, Velma remained almost noncommunicative until sometime in the 1960s when lithium was approved for psychiatric use in the United States, and this new medicine brought her out of her long night. Her condition improved so much that she came to live at a nursing home in St. Clair County. She had a good relationship with her sons, daughtersin-law and grandchildren until her death. Otis attended first grade in Georgia, but when his dad moved the family back to St. Clair County around 1935, he attended the one-room Wood’s Bend School where Mrs. James taught grades 1-4. At the end of Otis’s third grade, the Wood’s Bend School closed, and students attended school in Ragland. One of Otis’ vivid memories from Wood’s Bend days concerns a near drowning. “We had a lake back there where we lived at, down the hill,” he reminisced, “and we’d all gone swimming in the buff – as boys did in the olden days. And our Black friend, Ell Reese, about 12 years old, came by and said, ‘Can I swim with y’all?’ We said, ‘Yes, but don’t go any further than right here where I’m showing you because there’s a big drop off, and it’s dangerous.’ So, he got to playing around, and sure ‘nough, he went too far and dropped off. He started
Otis and Dolly in the 1940s fighting the water, and me and my brother went to get him. He fought us, too, but we finally pulled him out.” After that, if Ell came by when Otis and his brother were cutting wood for the cookstove and the fireplace, Ell would pitch in and help the friends who saved his life. “We were good friends,” Otis observes. “Fact of the business, all of our next-door neighbors were Black, and we were all good friends. We’d all play together – just one gang of kids.” Children, then, grew up being taught how to work, and Otis got his first job at age 15. “Mrs. M.O. Jones, who owned the Strand Theater there in Ragland, came and asked me if I’d like to be the projectionist at the movie theater. I said, ‘sure,’ and I worked as projectionist for about two years.” In the afternoons, Otis would get the movie set up for the evening show. Sometimes, he’d let his buddies into the theater and run the entire movie for them – a trial run, so to speak. If Mrs. Jones found out, Otis never knew it. Otis’ projectionist pay was $12 a month, and with that wealth, he laughed, “I started smoking, and I bought my first bicycle.” After about two year at the theater, Otis applied at the cement plant and was hired. Child labor laws precluded Otis working with moving machinery, so he worked away from machines. He recently reminisced about that job. “My Daddy had the job of filling up cloth bags with cement and stacking ‘em up on buggies and rolling the buggies to the boxcars. Whoever received the bags of cement would return the empty bags to the Ragland plant. The train would throw ‘em out,” Otis said, “and Mr. Lowe would load ‘em on his wagon and bring ‘em back to the plant. At the plant, the bags were run through a “wheel” that knocked residue cement dust out of the bags. I shoveled the shaken-out dust into a sack and sent it back up to the plant to be sold again. They didn’t waste anything.” So, at 16, Otis attended school and worked in the cement plant. In the 1940s, Ragland had a number of businesses, Otis recalled – grocery store, barbershop, dance hall, ten cent store, a bank and two hotels, the Ledbetter Hotel and the Ragland Hotel. “A lot of people were in the log business,” Otis said.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
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Traveling the
BACKROADS “They’d go out with their crosscut saw and axes during the week, and on Saturday afternoon, Ragland was buzzing with loggers and at least one street preacher.” Otis recounted a weekend when he helped out the preacher’s singers. “Mrs. Fambrough owned the café with a dance hall where kids could dance. This Saturday we was all setting on a bench in front of Mrs. Fambrough’s Café, and the preacher’s bunch got to singing, Working on a Building. Now, I was a little bit tipsy, so I started working on the building with them. I was showing out for all the logging men sitting around, having a good time watching me. Mrs. Fambrough was watching, too, and she came out there and got me and took me back to their living quarters and put me to bed. And I lay back there until I kinda come to. That was just before I went into the Marine Corps.” Mrs. Fambrough going into the mothering mode show how community and family blended in those almost forgotten years. World War II “I was about 14 years old when I heard on the radio that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor,” he recalled. “Not long after that, a guy came walking up the road by our house, and he had his blue uniform on and fancy cap. I made my mind up right then that I was going to join the Marine Corps when I grew up.” Otis finished the 10th grade and joined the U.S. Marines in June 1945, right at the end of WWII. “I went down to the Marine recruiting office in Birmingham and joined and got on a train for boot camp that afternoon. Just so happened that the train went through Ragland and passed the Ragland High School baseball field. I saw my brothers out there playing baseball, and there I was on a troop train heading for Parris Island, S.C, and I thought to myself, ‘What have I done?’ I found out what I’d done later.” Otis graduated from boot camp the day the war ended in Japan. “That was a miraculous thing,” he observed, “because I’m sure we were being trained to invade Japan. I’m probably still here today because I missed that.” Lights Out in China After boot camp, the Marines sent him to several places in China – Tin Tsin, Peking and Pego Beach. At Pego Beach in north China, his first sergeant needed him to drive. “I was 17 years old, and I’d never been under the steering wheel of a vehicle. So, he carried me out for a road test, and I passed it and got my driver’s license. “That evening, I hauled the troops to town for liberty. At 10 o’clock, I went to pick ‘em up. They loaded up in the truck and when I started to turn around, I backed into a power pole, and I put out every light in the city!” After a hearty laugh, Otis said, “That’s the night the lights went out in China.” Home Again When Otis’ military tour of duty ended, he returned home and attended GI school at Ragland High School taught by Coach Leatherwood and finished high school in 1953. “I was a oneman graduating class,” he laughed. He also returned to work at the cement plant with the help of the union. “When you got back from WWII service,” Otis recounted, “you could claim your old job back. The companies
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Otis and Dolly’s 50th wedding anniversary
had to honor that. When I went to the plant superintendent and said, ‘Mr. Thomas, I’m ready to get my job back.’ He said, ‘Sonny Boy, you haven’t got a job.’ I said, ‘Yes, I have a job.’ Then I got the union representative, and we went together to see Mr. Thomas. When we walked out of his office, I had a job.” His pay was 52 cents an hour – about the same as when he joined the Marines. Otis worked at the cement plant until he retired in 1990, on his birthday and continued helping them out for 17 years after he retired. Of his progression of jobs there, he said, “We had a bidding process, and when a job came open, you could bid on it. I bid on jobs and ended up in the machine shop as a machinist. I did that for a while, working for Mr. Bill Moses, foreman. He passed away, and the head man of Woodward Iron (who owned the plant then) came and asked me if I’d like to be a supervisor. And I said, ‘Yes, I sure would.’ So, I got the job as supervisor and worked at night then as a shift supervisor.” In the process of time, as death and retirement opened positions, Otis continued up the ladder until he was promoted to be head maintenance supervisor. Then he had charge of maintenance over the entire plant. “That’s what I had been working for, and I finally reached that goal about 20 years before I retired. At the top of my crew, I had 28 men and four supervisors working for me. I was in charge of the maintenance of everything connected to the cement plant.” At the request of the company, for 17 years after he retired, Otis helped during the winter two-week shut-down for maintenance or with start-up of new equipment. Love and Marriage Otis married Dolly Syvilla McDill on Aug. 9, 1949, but according to family legend, the love story started when Dolly was about 6 years old and Otis 12. They were walking to school one day, and Otis picked up Dolly and carried her across a muddy place. Either that day or soon after, Dolly announced, “I’m gonna marry you, Otis Boswell.” However, Otis remembers the announcement coming later, with Dolly announcing that to Otis’ dad. Mr. Boswell, considering that
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
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Traveling the
BACKROADS
Boswell Bunch at Otis’ 90th birthday Dolly was six years younger than Otis, told her, “Little Lady, you’re too young for him.” Otis’ brother had married Dolly’s sister, so, when he visited his brother, it seemed Dolly was always there visiting as well. “She was pretty regular down there,” Otis laughs. “I didn’t wonder what was going on because I knew. One day I asked her, ‘You want to go to the Ark and have lunch?’ She said, ‘Who? Me?’ I said, ‘Yeah, you.’” After that first date, “We couldn’t hardly be separated. I had a car, and we’d go places, eat together, and I asked her to marry me, and she said, “Yes.” Dolly and Otis were together for 65 years, and four daughters blessed their home, each of whom has childhood memories of Daddy. Debbie Ford, married to Steve Ford, admires his succeeding in spite of childhood poverty. She told of his even temper and his helpfulness to others. “He always had us in church, taught us well and loved us so much,” she reminisced. Pam Phillips, who married Johnny Phillips, recalls how “We would lie on a blanket some summer nights, and Daddy would point out the constellations. I learned about the natural world from him.” And she fondly recalled his reading poetry to her. Angie married Greg Cobb. She says daddy taught us our relationship with Jesus Christ is foremost in life and then family. She sees her Daddy “as the most humble man I know, who taught me a strong work ethic.” Along with that, she remembers, “He sang us old songs, recited poetry, and every night, he would ride me on his shoulders through every room in the house and ended in the girls’ room where he tucked us in bed, said our prayers, and sang Go to Sleep My Little Buckaroo to us. He did the same with my son Stedman. No matter how bad a day I’d had, when I walked in the door and heard Daddy whistling, I knew everything would be alright!” Jennifer Clark, married to Bill Clark, fondly remembers Otis taking her on nature walks on Blue Spring Mountain. “He would find a big vine and cut it so I could swing high over the mountain. Once I fell, and he came running, but I wasn’t hurt. Also, he would drive me to gymnastics, and we would listen to Q104 there and back, so he knew all the latest songs. Neither of us were big talkers, so we’d sing along with the radio. On the way home from gymnastics, we’d stop at McDonald’s, and he’d get me a chocolate milkshake and fries.”
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‘Best Decision I Ever Made’ Those good memories no doubt result from the best decision Otis ever made. After he and Dolly were married, Otis confessed, “I spent my time fishing and hunting and working. She kept the kids. I didn’t help. I didn’t do nothing. But when I accepted the Lord as my Savior, that changed my life. It changed Dolly’s life. It changed the whole family. That’s the best decision I ever made in my life.” That life-changing event happened in 1957 during a sermon preached by Bro. Doug Ford. Otis shared two spiritual experiences that greatly affected him. One happened when he was stationed in Guam. “Bananas grew in Guam, and one day I was headed to the jungle to find some. I got to the amphitheater with the benches carved out in the dirt, and I felt carried away, nearly. I stopped, and I prayed that my mother would come home. And the next letter I got from Daddy, my mother was home for a weekend for the first time since she’d been in Brice.” The other event happened after his 55-year-old brother retired and died on the same day. During a Sunday afternoon singing at Ragland Methodist Church, a group from Gray’s Chapel were singing, I’ve Never Been this Homesick before. “Probably nobody’s gonna believe this,” Otis says quietly, “but I was sitting there listening, and all at once the church was gone, the choir was gone, everything was gone. I was outside a gate, looking inside, and there was my brother sitting at a table in Heaven, and they were having a feast.” This “vision” was a great blessing to Otis and gave him comfort. And Otis himself has blessed friends and family as his years have accumulated. At family gatherings, stories are told and retold and enjoyed as often as they are recounted, and it makes no difference that data may be added or subtracted, for Southern folk love stories, old or new. l Writer’s Note: And though there may be days, Otis, when sitting quietly you remember the words of that song, “This world has been a wilderness / I’m ready for deliverance / I’ve never been this homesick before,” just start whistling a happy tune, like “Working om a Building” and stay with us for many years to come. Ragland and St. Clair County need you.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
ST. CLAIR COUNTY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
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From live-edge shelves to cutting boards, if it is made of wood, Creedon Creek can make it.
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
Andy and Creed Stone keep legacy, craftsmanship alive Story Elaine Hobson Miller Photos by Graham Hadley Submitted Photos Andy Stone has developed an eye for beautiful wood. He sees character where others see beetle tunnels and discolorations. He takes so-called faulty pieces and turns them into unique tabletops, floating shelves and mantels. It’s a gift that propelled him from a hobby to making a living with wood, despite starting his business during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I started woodworking as a side business in 2006, while I was with Bill Harbert Construction,” says Andy. “Later, while I was at Coca-Cola, I prayed about it for two years, then in October of 2020, I stepped out on faith, trusted God and decided to do it. It was kinda scary, starting a business at that time.” His Creedon Creek Woodworking began near his home in Trussville, but he quickly outgrew that shop. He moved to the Leeds headquarters of W.C. Wright Heating, Air, Plumbing and Generators because he needed more space. “Wright is a longtime friend who has plenty of warehouse space,” Andy says. “But we’re looking for something closer to home, in the Trussville or Springville area.” The “we” to which he is referring includes his father, Creedon, who works with Andy and for whom the company is named. It’s just the two of them right now, but they hope to hire a helper soon. They build dining room tables, custom furniture, outdoor furniture, built-in bookcases and cabinets, mantels, conference tables, office desks and more. They do a lot of charcuterie boards, which are glorified cutting boards, because they are “all the rage now,” says Andy’s mom, Brenda Stone. “Most of them are out of hickory and walnut,” she says.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
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CREEDON CREEK
Andy and Mackenzie
Creed working on a project
A special map of the United States with cutouts for each state
Andy shows off a piece of work for a client. 24
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
Andy and Creed in their shop
Epoxy tables are quite popular now, too. “Wood will have a live edge (where the bark was) and a straight edge (cut side),” Andy explains. “You put the live edges together and use resin to fill the gap between them. It can look like a river flowing through the length of the wood.” He says “Welcome” and scripture signs are also popular for dens and front porches, and he has done a few mudroom benches. “We built a mantel from a pine log that came from the bottom of Lay Lake,” says Creed, the name the elder Stone goes by. “We like to have never got a hole drilled in it, it was so hard.” Andy wants to get into the wedding industry by making custom wedding gifts as well as serving pieces such as cake platters and tabletop risers for caterers to use at receptions. Some people go to Creedon Creek with photos of what they want, others with only vague ideas and dreams. Andy will draw something up or send them to the internet in search of a picture for inspiration. “If you can dream it, we can make it,” is Creedon Creek’s motto. “I keep a folder of plans that I draw for people, in case I need something to reference,” Andy says. “I’m the only one who can read them, though,” he adds, referring to his drawing skills and penmanship. Most of their machinery is portable, i.e., shop tools mounted on wheels. They have the usual table saw, router, planers and sanders, drills and track saw, as well as a fiber laser machine that’s used to cut out designs or cut them into a piece of wood. They would love to own a portable sawmill and just might try to buy out their supplier when he retires. “We use a sawyer
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
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CREEDON CREEK A custom table
Creed shows off his shirt. The company is dedicated to maintaining woodlands.
A double dog kennel
named Larry Ferguson of Cook Springs to cut wood from logs,” says Creed. “Ferguson Sawmill was started by his daddy, and my daddy bought from him.” They use a variety of wood, including hickory, walnut, pine, cedar, maple and teak. They know the difference between ambrosia, curly and spalted wood and used all of those in a dining room table that is Andy’s favorite achievement so far. “Ambrosia wood is where you see little tunnels made by the ambrosia beetle,” Andy says. “Curly refers to the way the piece is cut: it’s quartersawn. Spalted is a discoloring caused by a fungus.” Then there’s “buggy blue” pine, where a fungus that grows on pine trees causes a blue stain in the grain. Teak and sapele are their choices for outdoor furniture, because both are highly weather-resistant. “Sapele looks like mahogany but it’s as durable as teak,” Andy says. “We seal our outdoor furniture with Thompson’s Water Seal, like you would a deck, although they don’t need anything.” Stacks of boards are scattered about the workroom, along with piles of cross-cut timber or “cookies.” Andy puts the latter together to make end tables and coffee tables. One particular flame-box elder cookie displays a red coloration that was made by love bugs. “We’ll probably put together two slices, a large one and a smaller one that broke off, using epoxy and pieces of wood cut in the shape of bow ties and inlaid between the slices,” Andy says. He’ll set the bow ties opposite to the grain in the pieces he joins, to keep the wood from expanding and contracting too much. “You never know how wood will act,” says Andy. “Certain wood goes this way or that, and you have to tame it to go the way you want it to by the way you cut it and finish it. We’re just glorified wood tamers.” Under one of his work benches is a small tool bag that belongs to Andy’s daughter, 3-year-old Mackenzie. It contains real pliers, a hammer, ear protection and safety glasses. When Mackenzie visits her dad at the shop, she pulls out her tool bag and pretends to work right alongside him. When she tires of that, she zips around the room on her plastic car. “She’s the reason I stepped out on my own, to make her proud, to leave a legacy,” Andy says. Prominently displayed on one vertical support beam is a 3D map of the United States, with each state recessed. Fifty pieces cut out of the map are in the shape of the 50 states, and they fit together like a puzzle. When someone orders such a map, Andy donates the pieces to a school or day care so the kids can paint them and learn about the states. “My silent business partner came up with this idea,” Andy says. It was his idea, however, to donate a tree to onetreeplanted.org, an organization that plants trees around the world, for every product sold. “My great-grandfather was a master woodworker, and he and my grandfather were contractors,” says Andy. “One of my main goals is to start a mentorship program. I would love to teach some younger kids the trade, so it doesn’t die off.” l Follow Creedon Creek on Facebook
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
If someone is aging in to Medicare (turning 65 this year) or is currently on Medicare/Medicaid, schedule an appointment with our Patient Engagement Center at 205-891-9965 to see what additional benefits may be available for you.
Contact your Pell City Member Service Representative
Dianna McCain (205) 891-9965
Dr. Penny Njoroge Ms. Senior St. Clair is personification of empowerment Story by Scottie Vickery Photos by Graham Hadley Submitted Photos
Dr. Penny meeting with cardiologists from St. Vincent’s and Nairobi when she was critical care chaplain and psychologist for cardiology patients.
Interview on Kenyan television
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Growing up in Kenya, Dr. Penny Njoroge wanted nothing more than to get an education. The oldest of 10 children, she longed to learn and had big dreams, but they seemed to be out of reach. “In my village, girls were raised to get married, raise families and serve the extended families in the communities – never to go to school,” she said. “I pestered my father until he got tired and registered me in school at age 11. As a result, he was kicked out of his family and clan, disinherited and forced to take us from our ancestral home. We ended up in the poorest slums of Nairobi.” In the decades that followed, Dr. Penny, as she’s known to most people, survived domestic violence, depression and other hardships before finally starting college in the United States when she was 56. The reigning Mrs. Senior St. Clair County, she’s a psychologist, counselor, mental health advocate, award-winning motivational speaker and life coach. “My desire is to empower, equip and encourage people not to quit,” said Dr. Penny, now 74. “I want to inspire people to dream big and pursue their life goals, regardless of how old or young or how rich or poor they may be.” The path from Kenya to Trussville, where Dr. Penny lives with her son and his family, was filled with challenges and heartache, but her experiences have equipped her to be a compassionate advocate. “I can understand,” she said. “I’ve been there. Things may be bad today, but they can be better tomorrow.” Life in Kenya Dr. Penny’s desire to go to school cost her family, and life was hard. There was no sanitation in the slums they called home, and they constantly struggled, “selling scavenged bones and metal pieces for food, clothing and tuition.” She had promised her father he would
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
Dr. Penny Njoroge in her crown and one of her award sashes
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
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Dr. Penny Njoroge
Flagging a group to climb Mt. Kenya, the highest in the country.
Dr. Penny says pictures from her younger days remind her how far she has traveled.
never regret sending her to school, so she worked hard, became a top performing student and earned a spot in her country’s top girls’ high school. “Being the first of 10 children, my parents couldn’t afford to send me to college, so I started educating my siblings and working in the corporate world,” she said. She married at 22 and had four children – three boys and a girl. She loves her children dearly – “they are my backbone,” she said – but she endured a lot in her marriage.“ I survived 30 years of serious domestic abuse and violence, 25 years of depression and two attempted suicides until I ran for my life,” she said. Her escape came by way of Servants in Faith and Technology (SIFAT), a Christian nonprofit founded by Ken and Sarah Corson, an Alabama couple who were missionaries in Bolivia. They started SIFAT in Lineville in 1979 and have trained church and community leaders from more than 80 countries to help meet basic needs in developing countries. Dr. Penny’s church sponsored her 6-month community development training at SIFAT, and while she was in Alabama, she met some fellow Kenyans, including one who worked at Carraway Hospital. She was inspired to become a hospital chaplain, and after getting a visa, she moved to Alabama permanently in 2000 and began training at Carraway. New Beginnings Dr. Penny enrolled in college at 56 and earned a bachelor’s degree through distance learning from Carolina University and a master’s degree in Christian Counseling Psychology from Carolina University of Theology. She also earned her
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DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
Dr. Penny Njoroge
Dr. Penny with her Most Motivating Woman Award
Ms. Senior St. Clair and her family
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doctorate in Clinical Psychiatric Counseling Psychology from the Cornerstone University of Louisiana and worked as a board-certified trauma, hospital and psychiatric chaplain at St. Vincent’s East Hospital for 16 years before retiring as lead psychologist. “The U.S. has been a God-given home for me; it gave me a second chance in life,” said Dr. Penny, who became a citizen in 2017. “I have loved Alabama. To me, it is a place of healing and advancement.” Not one to sit still, Dr. Penny opened Angel Counseling Services. “My greatest passion is to remove the shame and stigma of mental illness,” the trained telehealth provider said. “Given a chance, anybody can survive and make a difference. People have a great sense of endurance if they have just a bit of a chance. I want to be able to offer compassion, to give a listening ear to someone, to give hope to someone.” Some of Dr. Penny’s co-workers from St. Vincent’s encouraged her to enter the Ms. Senior St. Clair County pageant, and after winning that she was first runner-up in the Ms. Senior Alabama event. She also won Ms. Congeniality and People’s Choice honors. “They said they were not looking only for beautiful faces, but also a beautiful story,” she said. “I wanted to share my inspirational story of great struggles, shame, rejection and deprivation accompanied by a spirit that refused to quit on my dreams.” Dr. Penny said her children and grandchildren are her biggest supporters and sources of strength. “I would not be anywhere without that team,” she said. “We must intentionally cling to our families so we can face storms. I’ve gone through many storms, but it has been worth it because I am able to stand with people today and give them hope.” l
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
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ST. CLAIR
ARENA
As COVID slows, one of county’s premier attractions blossoms again Story by Paul South Submitted Photos Staff Photos 34
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
As spring emerged and COVID-19 ebbed, the St. Clair County Arena was bustling and blossoming once again. In the simpler pre-pandemic days of 2019, the 750-seat facility hosted a full calendar of weekend events and welcomed recreational riders and their mounts for a fee. Then, the coronavirus pandemic hit close to home and activity across the county slowed from a gallop to a near standstill. But the covered arena is back in the saddle again, welcoming socially distanced spectators. On March 6, the St. Clair Cowboy Church hosted its inaugural Ranch Rodeo and the following weekend, the arena welcomed The St. Clair County Cattleman’s Association’s second annual St. Clair County Cattleman’s Rodeo While folks might immediately think of the pungent aroma of livestock, mud and wet sand when they think of the arena, the county doesn’t just horse around when it comes to hosting different events. Lude Mashburn, chairman of the county’s recreation committee and a driving force behind the county’s purchase of the 25-acre site that is now the arena’s home, says it’s a perfect fit for all kinds of events. Mashburn, who taught agriculture in St. Clair County schools for 40 years, believes the arena can be a tool for teaching town kids the lessons of life on the farm. The arena hosts an annual Agriculture Day for young students, but it hosts more types of events. “We’re basically able to have any kind of event we want to,” Mashburn said. “We haven’t had a singing event, but we’ve had the dog shows and the rodeos and a circus, a vintage sale and roping and all that. I know when people think of an arena, they immediately think of a horse. But you’ve got to get past that because we’ve got other events there. I never realized there’d be an event like a vintage sale.” One vintage sale hosted in the spring and fall – colorfully named The Cozy Nest Rustik Bucket Vintage Market – underscores that the arena is not just agricultural. It has been a hit with market founder Vanessa Durham, who was holding a market there in March. It attracts artisans, craftspeople, antique and
Rustik Bucket Vintage Market a newcomer to arena, diversifying events held there
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
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ST. CLAIR ARENA
A past farrier competition
Vintage market draws crowds in spring and fall
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vintage dealers and food vendors from Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. The COVID-19 outbreak prompted the market’s move south from Gadsden to Odenville after the pandemic forced Gadsden officials to shut it down. The spring market held three weeks before Easter was a huge success, and the Rustik Bucket returns in the fall with even higher expectations. Visitors purchased everything from freshly dipped, gourmet candy apples to antiques, artwork and home accents. Newly crafted and vintage items also draw big crowds. “There are true artisans there,” Durham said. “I was so thrilled to find the arena, because it’s a gorgeous drive to get there, what I call a scenic country drive,” Durham said. “It is open air and is a new, covered arena with new restroom facilities. It is the perfect venue.” The market has attracted “a great response from the area,” Durham said, from vendors and customers from the Birmingham area, Trussville, Pell City and even from the market’s former home in Gadsden. More than 50 vendors show their wares. “(Visitors and vendors) were commenting on how much better they liked the facility because of the space and the ability to move around. They were not as crowded. I love an outdoor
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
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ST. CLAIR ARENA
Barrel racing
market, but also, it’s covered. You don’t have to worry about the elements if it’s freezing or raining.” As she readied for the March market, she said, “We’re praying for good weather, but other than the parking lot, it’s covered. You can’t beat it.”
Clowning around 38
EARLY VISION The seeds for the popular site were planted in part by one of the most famous outdoor arenas in the world, the Celebration Grounds in Shelbyville, Tenn., home to the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. The 11-day event attracts more than 250,000 visitors annually. In a 2014 story in Discover St. Clair, writer Mike Bolton reported that a $5 million outdoor arena in the south Alabama town of Andalusia also sparked interest in a similar venture in St. Clair County. The $1 million, 25-acre venue on Blair Farm Road is a 125,000-square-foot site that has also hosted circuses, vintage sales, Cowboy Church services and other events. After purchasing the site from a private landowner for $350,000, the county commission invested an additional $650,000 to build covered seating, a concession stand, restrooms and showers. Mashburn believes the county’s next step should be to install camper hookups that give access to water, sewer service and electricity, which will make the venue more attractive to out-of-towners. “We’ve got to have camper hookups,” Mashburn said. “We can’t be a bigger venue than we’ve got now, because we don’t have camper hookups.” Other items on the county’s wish list for the facility include
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
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It’s Time!
Riding the bull
Cowboy Church 40
Learning early DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
ST. CLAIR ARENA additional parking for horse trailers and running water to horse stalls. Like Mashburn, Durham believes the arena – as well as her event – will grow in the coming years. And she plans for the market to be at home in Odenville now and in the future. “This is only our second one (market in Odenville). We’ll have another in the fall,” Durham said. “As word gets out, I believe it’s going to grow. I really do. I love the facility. I don’t have any intention on moving it. I will just add to it.” Blair Goodgame, tourism coordinator for the St. Clair County Economic Development Council, believes the arena’s future in boundless. Other businesses – like motels, gas stations and restaurants, benefit from out-of-town visitors for events like movie nights, 4-H events, leadership programs and more. “Even though it was a big investment for our county when it went in, it has definitely continued to draw people in and host a number of different events, especially some of the larger ones, like the rodeos and the vintage markets,” she said. “There’s such a variety of events that are pulling such different demographics in. We are so happy to have people coming into St. Clair County and spending their money on the way in and on the way out.” She added, “With all the facilities that we have there, we can do anything.” l
SUMMER READY = water fun ready
Farrier competition DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
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St. Clair Weddings
St. Clair has no shortage of venues and services for that special day.
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Creating your dream
Wedding Story by Linda Long Submitted photos and information from Griffins Jewelers, Weddings at Cabin Bluff and Pell City Flowers Weddings look a little different these days as couples and wedding planners work around the challenges of COVID-19 to plan their special day. To borrow a phrase from the Marines, couples are improvising, adapting and overcoming whatever the pandemic throws at them, seizing their special day. No longer are we seeing the 200-plus wedding guests and oversized receptions with bands and sit-down dinners. Today, couples are embracing the idea of what is sometimes called the micro wedding. Guest lists number 30 to 50 people, generally family and close friends. Technology is playing its part in 2021 weddings. Wedding photography and videography are more important than ever before. Couples are livestreaming their wedding ceremonies to folks who can’t attend due to space restrictions. No one can say when weddings as we’ve always known them will return, but there’s one thing we know for sure – the bride will be beautiful, the groom handsome and at least one mom, maybe both, will shed happy tears.
Engagement and Wedding Rings
As the world emerges from COVID, couples realize just how important relationships are, said Michael Abernathy, vice president of Marketing and Sales for Griffins Jewelers in Pell City and Talladega. “Couples are cherishing their special moments together more than ever before. They are marking these moments with quality diamond engagement rings that will become heirlooms for future generations. These diamond rings symbolize the heart and commitment of the relationship.” Trusted jewelers like Abernathy play a critical role
in helping make those moments in time last a lifetime. Ring selection traditionally follows trends, but the round brilliant cut diamond is timeless and always the most popular. Round diamonds or fancy cut, like oval or pear, make beautiful solitaires or can be complemented nicely with diamond accents or halos. “Solitaires are very popular,” Abernathy said. “And composite clusters can often give the ring a bigger look for the money,” but some brides are trending toward vintage styles with colored gemstones like sapphire or ruby. Many Couples choose to design their own custom ring with the aid of (CAD) design. “Every piece of jewelry has a story,” he said. “Let us help you create yours.” White gold is out. Yellow gold is in. That’s the word from Alisa Hutto at Agnew Jewelers in Trussville. “A year ago, we were selling completely all white. Now I’d say it’s 75 percent gold. That’s what the young people are trending toward, and they’re leaning more toward a solitaire as opposed to a halo style ring,” she said. “I always say stick with a classic instead of following the trends when it comes to engagement rings because that’s something you’re going to have forever. “I remember when I was trying to choose between an oval and a round stone. I loved both, but I chose round because it is the all-time classic. When I’m 80 years old, I want to look down at my hand and be just as happy with my stone as I was the day I got it.” Hutto says there are those people who prefer gold no matter what and others who prefer white. Ann Mitchell at Elite Jewelers in Trussville is also seeing yellow gold making “a strong comeback.” Popular diamond shapes, she said, “are round, asscher and cushion but ovals, pear and marquis are beginning to trend. Styles range from a simple solitaire to lots of accent diamonds forming a halo around the center diamond to elaborate mountings with diamonds everywhere and even two stone engagement rings. Custom to heirloom, it’s an individual choice for each couple,” said Mitchell.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
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St. Clair Weddings
Diamonds are still the standard for engagement rings.
Looking at other wedding trends in 2021, Hutto said it seems that the groom is more often picking out the stone by himself, resulting in a choice of smaller, but more perfect stones. “For a while, there was a tendency for the bride to come in with the groom and pick out her own stone. They would choose the larger stones, like two carats, but the boy, couldn’t afford that in a quality stone, so they had to settle for lesser quality in a larger stone.” Hutto, who has been in the business of helping brides and grooms make this allimportant purchase for 42 years said she works because she loves her job. “And what woman wouldn’t love being surrounded by diamonds all day,” she laughed. Diamonds are not trending in men’s wedding bands and gone are the days when men only had two choices – gold or silver. Elite’s Mitchell said some grooms still prefer the traditional gold, platinum and silver bands, “but a more popular choice these days is an alternate design. There’s titanium, cobalt, meteorite and steel as well as ceramic and silicone and wood. I’ve even seen one carved from deer antlers,” she said. Explaining that while some of these materials, like silicone, won’t last forever, “they still will withstand things like working on a car or going to the lake. Practicality wins out over sentiment.”
Flowers
Interesting is one word that describes wedding flower choices in 2021. Florists are seeing more of a demand for color, foliage, unusual blooms and even grasses. Bohemian or (boho), a style that’s been called a freespirited mix of fun and unpredictability, is another way of describing this year’s bridal bouquets. Cindy Luby at Pell City Flower & Gift shop says she’s seeing a lot of brides choosing bohemian for their wedding theme this year. “It’s the natural look with a lot of greenery and succulents,” she explained. “We’re also seeing blush pink make a big comeback.” Hydrangeas and eucalyptus are also big this year, she said. “One thing we are seeing that is very different is a sand-colored rose. It’s very pretty in an odd way. But when we mix the sand rose with the blush pink, we have a very beautiful bouquet.”
Destination Weddings &Honeymoons
Due to COVID’s mandated crowd restrictions, many couples are keeping their weddings smaller. That observation came from Kathy Richards at Ash Travel in
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Metal and wood rings for the groom.
Bohemian flower arrangements are popular this year.
Springville. “Because it’s just real difficult to plan a traditional wedding with a huge guest list, many couples are opting for a destination wedding,” she said. “Typically, the couple goes. The bridesmaids go and the parents. Maybe some siblings. So, what we have is about 20 people. The guests have their long weekend at a resort, and the couple stays on for the honeymoon.” Richards added that many resorts now offer a videographer so they can livestream the wedding. “This way, everybody at home can be together and watch the ceremony. Later, the couple might plan the reception and have all the family and friends there.” She is booking weddings only for Mexico, Jamaica and St. Lucia. “They are big enough to handle travelers in this pandemic situation, so I’m not sending people to the smaller islands. They’re just not as equipped to take care of it. And I want to absolutely be sure that I have contact with the tourism board and the government to make sure that everything I need taken care of with my people and my families – that they can handle it all. One bonus to the destination wedding is easier planning and less work, Richards said. “It’s much easier to have a wedding at one of the resorts rather than at home. The bride gets on the phone with the resort’s wedding department. She tells them everything she wants – from flowers to candles to music to food. The resort takes care of it all.” Some of the higher-priced properties offer these services free of charge. “You must limit your guests to 10 and book your reservation for seven nights. Also, you must pay extra if you’ve chosen music as part of the service.” Closer to home, Richards said, the beach is always a favorite destination.
Jamaica and Mexico, right, are opening up to destination weddings. 46
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St. Clair Weddings
Cabin Bluff
Mountaintop makes for special wedding venue The barn at Cabin Bluff
Fire dancers entertain
Dancing on the lawn
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British theme from London
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
Dana Ellison and
for ALL Your Real Estate Needs Leaving by carriage When Randy and Wendy Ryals built their cabin home high atop a bluff above historic Springville, overlooking a picturesque valley below, they counted themselves lucky. When their oldest daughter wanted to get married there, they already knew it was a blessing, not realizing it would spark a brand new business for the couple and their family. But once the daughter posted her wedding photos on social media, the response was immediate. “Where is that venue?,” people asked. The answer soon turned from “Mom and Dad’s home” to an idea that grew into Weddings at Cabin Bluff. When the next daughter was to be married, she wanted a barn wedding. So, they built a red barn in October 2016, and it and the field overlooking the valley have been the setting for dozens upon dozens of weddings and events ever since. “It just took off,” Wendy Ryals said. With 30 years of experience in the medical meetings industry, the couple translated their experience as meeting planners to planning weddings. “We transitioned from doctors to brides,” she said. From all-inclusive packages to a-la-carte services, Weddings at Cabin Bluff caters to the makings of an unforgettable day for wedding celebrations, larger corporate and “milestone” events with stunning, panoramic views from the Red Barn to the expansive field with room for hundreds of guests. From the bluff, you can see for 50 miles. While the business has grown exponentially, family remains as its centerpiece. “We still treat it like our family. It’s basically our daughters and their husbands. It’s very much a family affair,” and their clients get that sense as well. “They get to know us,” she said. Along the way, these Springville natives have many a story to tell about memorable events held there. One was a couple who lived in London, who came to Springville to say ‘I do,’ bringing 50-60 Londoners with her. The wedding party and guests were staying in Birmingham, and it was noted that in London, they don’t have school buses. For a slice of Americana, the guests arrived by big yellow school bus. British traditions were incorporated as well, the U.S. flag and the flag of Great Britain flying high out front. “It felt like a royal wedding,” Wendy said. There have been carriage rides, conventional arrivals and departures and even a performance with fire since this venture began, she said, and the memories made there have been special. “We’ve met so many great families through this process and look forward to meeting many more in the future.” And she looks forward to the comment she hears most often: ‘This wedding is the most beautiful wedding I have ever attended.’ Her reply is always the same, “I know, it really is.” Until the next weekend, of course.
A Perfect Match for first time homebuyers Dana Ellison (205) 369-1413 danaellison@lahrealestate.com
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118 N Broadway | Sylacauga 256.369.1446 | McClendonBridals.com @mcclendonbridals
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St. Clair Weddings
Bridal show looks to future
More than just a return to normal
Story by Leigh Pritchett Submitted photos and information from Ryanne Noss, Woodall Building, All About That Dress, My Sweet Addiction, Mac & Meg Collective, Wired Owl, Deb & Alli Wedding Services Ryanne Noss was determined that the 2021 bridal season would be a good one. The anxiety and disappointment of the 2020 season had meant that many brides had to have a tiny ceremony or put their nuptials on hold indefinitely. After a year of social distancing and hibernating, “people were closed off emotionally from everything,” Noss said. To bring excitement back into planning and having weddings again, Noss held a Bridal Expo on March 13, 2021, at her venue – the Woodall Building, Inc. in Springville. The free expo – that adhered to health practices in force at that time – connected about 40 brides and their wedding parties with area gown retailers, florists, caterers, photographers, calligraphers, honeymoon planners, hair stylists and others. Many of the vendors were local to Springville, Noss said. About 150 people in all took part in the day’s activities, which also included live music, a scavenger hunt, and a fashion show by All About That Dress in Springville. “My whole goal ... was to get people excited about living again,” Noss said. As a result, prospective brides made connections with people gifted in turning wedding plans into reality. The flipside is that vendors received actual bookings that day for weddings or got leads on future business. One of the expo vendors was Brittany Skyler, wedding cake decorator and owner of My Sweet Addiction in Argo. “That day, I booked 12 (weddings).” Ultimately, she netted 17 bookings from the event. Some were for both the bride and groom cakes. From the challenges of the 2020 bridal season grew some new approaches to weddings that are likely to continue for years to come, say observers. One is the “microwedding” – a small, intimate ceremony with a guest list pared down to family and a few close friends. “Your small, intimate weddings are very popular now,” Noss said. Another is a trend toward simple, but elegant. That applies across the board – from wedding dress, to wedding party attire, to decorations, to floral selections, to bride and groom cakes, to reception foods, to venue. In 2021, weddings may exhibit more of the personalities of the bride and groom, follow the principle that “less is more,” and juxtapose unlike elements that blend to produce cozy, unique settings.
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Dresses take center stage at the bridal show.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
Meghan Frondorf, photographer and co-owner of Mac & Meg Collective in Steele, gave as examples real and dried flowers used together in arrangements, bridesmaids’ dresses unlike in style and color, and aisle runners that are actually rugs in varying colors and patterns. “I love it,” said Frondorf, whose photography business also was a vendor at the expo. Her business partner, Mackenzie Free, said those kinds of touches make the ceremony and wedding experience “more unique than it used to be.” Brides, for instance, are using selections other than Felix Mendelssohn’s Wedding March for their procession or may inject fun into their wedding with a “flower dude” throwing petals from his waistpack, Free said. Plus, couples are expressing themselves through the style and flavor of cakes or sweet treats at their reception, Skyler said. They are focusing more on what is important for their day, instead of being bound by tradition, said Kristi Russell, florist and owner of The Wired Owl in Margaret, which also exhibited at the expo. Russell finds that grooms are interacting more in the planning process. “I am excited to see that.” Allison Cambre, who along with Debbie Gossett comprises Deb & Alli Wedding Services, has noticed, too, that weddings may be on days other than Saturday. Here is more about current and future trends for weddings.
The perfect dress
The wedding dress remains highly important and has to be perfect. However, the definition of “perfect” has changed. According to Cambre, who is owner of All About That Dress in Springville, a new generation of brides does not want to spend a huge amount on the dress. Instead, these brides accessorize their dress. “Simplicity seems to be a big trend.” While Cinderella-type dresses with crinoline are still available, brides are preferring simple, tailored designs. By “simple,” Cambre means soft chiffon or satin dresses accented with lace, but not heavily beaded. “They definitely look like designer dresses, but they are not overwhelming,” Cambre said. Designers, she continued, are giving brides greater flexibility in gowns and bridesmaids’ dresses, with some lines carrying sizes up to 32. With the added variety, the bride can choose a designer and a color and then, let each bridesmaid select a style that fits her body type. White or some version of it continues to be the widely chosen color for wedding dresses, Cambre said. Nonetheless, brides are incorporating other colors into their gowns. “Nude is becoming a popular color,” particularly underneath a lace overlay of white or candelight, she said. The “Bohemian” style combines nude and lace for a rustic look, Cambre said. Bridal veils continue to have interest. Nonetheless, brides might skip the veil and opt for beads in their hair, she said. As for the groom and groomsmen, sophistication is still the look. A dash of color or a print can be added to coordinate with bridesmaid dresses, Cambre said. For the mother-of-the-bride and mother-of-the-groom, current designs let them show their personality, without drawing attention away from the bride. Cambre said designers are offering mothers more “fun” and fitted styles, rather than matronly attire.
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St. Clair Weddings
The show also highlighted the perfect foods for that special day.
The perfect pictures
Wedding photographs of today are no longer posed shots concentrating solely on the bride, groom and wedding party. Frondorf and Free said brides want their photos to chronicle their day: they want behind-the-scenes snapshots, candid photos of interactions, whimsical pictures of guests and sweet reminders of everything to the smallest of trinkets and details. They want their story to be told by capturing authentic, precious and humorous moments, Frondorf said. As a result, brides are giving photographers a longer timeframe to take photos and the freedom to be creative, Frondorf said. Years ago, the groom did not see the bride until she walked down the aisle. Then after the ceremony, wedding party and family photos were made, meaning guests had to wait awhile for the reception to begin. Not so these days, the ladies said. Most wedding party photos are taken before the ceremony. That includes pictures of the bride and groom together. This “first look,” the ladies said, is an intimate moment between the bride and groom when he sees his bride in all her wedding-day beauty for the first time. “It’s a sweet moment to be part of,” Free said.
The perfect florals
White is still very much a go-to color for wedding florals, said Russell. It may be paired with greenery, even mixing and matching various shades of green. Greenery, whether a lot or a little, is quite in vogue, she said. When the bride carries the only flowers present and all other bouquets and boutonnieres consist of greenery, the bride becomes the focal point, she said. Another effective look is called “Boho” (Bohemian). Russell said this one incorporates pampas grass, neutral shades, asymetrical organization and organic elements for a desert, barn or creekside feel. These arrangements go well with Bohemian gowns that have crochet panels or overlays. In fact, Russell likes to see a photo of the bride’s dress in order to make the arrangements complement the look. Though hints of blush are still chosen to accent wedding arrangements, blues are definitely gaining in interest, Russell continued. She said she is seeing a return to more vibrant colors in a couple of bookings she has for fall. In larger arrangements, artificial or silk flowers may be a cost-saving measure, but brides still seem to prefer to carry a live bouquet, Russell said. She has found that couples like to customize corsages and boutonnieres, and she is delighted
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to see the “new and inventive ways brides and grooms are doing that.” She has seen boutonnieres incorporating special touches like golf tees or shotgun casings. Creativity may be even more necessary this season because last year’s situation has produced supply shortages this year, Russell said.
The perfect cake
There are as many wedding cake personalities as there are brides and grooms. Skyler said the cakes can be elaborate, simple, elegant, woodsy, whimsical, minimalistic, rustic, “Boho” or 3D sculpture. By and large, though, brides are choosing “simple,” she said. She tries to incorporate the personality of the bride and groom into the cakes. If the bride likes bling, that is what Skyler brings to the wedding cake. She created a superhero cake for one groom. For a particular wedding this season, she will fashion the groom’s cake as a sheriff’s deputy uniform. “I am real excited about their whole cake,” Skyler said. One cake she decorated had a fairytale motif with mosses and mushrooms and so many other intricate pieces that she spent 15-20 hours on it. Cakes might even be “slightly naked,” “half naked,” “undressed,” or “very bare,” depending on whether they are mostly covered with icing, somewhat covered or totally uncovered. Naked cakes might have butter creme between the layers, and fruit or icing elements on the very top. They may have side icing ringlets or a piping border and a few icing flowers. Whatever the design and degree of icing, “they are clean and elegant-looking,” Skyler said. “... The naked cakes with the floral are very popular.” The fact that naked cakes are less expensive has a financial appeal to brides, she said. At the pricier end of the spectrum are cakes using fondant – a very smooth icing that looks specially crafted for that particular layer. Lace or sashes, she said, may be added around each layer for a graceful, majestic appearance. Even if the brides choose a more traditional cake, they sometimes add a burst of flavor – strawberry, raspberry, berry medley or lemon curd – between the layers, she said. Chocolate, peanut butter with chocolate, and German chocolate are the top flavors for the groom’s cake, she noted. But even so, many brides are reducing the need for servers to touch foods by having individual, grab-and-go treats instead of a groom’s cake. This, Skyler said, is one of the new ideas born out of pandemic necessity. And it has given great flexibility and creativity to reception fare. Banana pudding bars, cookie towers, doughnut walls, cheesecake shooters, cobblers and countless other possibilities can take the place of the groom’s cake. Petit fours – tiny cakes covered entirely with poured icing – are much in demand, particularly for showers and afterrehearsal dinners, she said. While they are technically grab-andgo fare, they have a polished, exquisite look when displayed on towers or platters. Two styles that may be trending in the future are painted cakes and silhouettes. Skyler said those have interest in the North and West right now and may come South at some point. For the time being, though, “we (in the South) like a lot of flavor versus a lot of style,” Skyler said.
WEDDINGS•ENGAGEMENT•LIFESTYLE Email: macmegcollective@gmail.com Facebook: @macmegcollective Instagram: @macmegcollective
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
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St. Clair Weddings Exterior of the Woodall Building at night
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The Woodall Building Springville’s historic venue becomes site for new memories Story by Leigh Pritchett Submitted Photos Ryanne Noss of Trussville walked past a building in Springville and was instantly smitten with its history, character and ambiance. So captivated, she was, that she bought it. Since 2019, she and Scott Farris of Trussville – who actually spotted the structure first – have been co-owners of the Woodall Building, Inc. and have turned it into a venue for intimate weddings and parties. The building is nearly as old as Springville, which was incorporated in late 1880. Aaron Woodall constructed the building in 1881, Noss said. Originally, it housed a carriage assembly plant. Through the years, it has been a hardware store, arcade, gym, venue and restaurant. On St. Clair County’s website, the Woodall Building is listed among Springville’s historical structures and is described as “one of the oldest hardware stores.” An event planner for years, Noss decided she wanted to do that full time and have her own venue for the events. Six months of work went into readying the building to be a venue. Care was taken to maintain period style and colors. “We wanted to preserve history, ... keep history alive,” Noss said. Mackenzie Free, half of the photography duo, Mac & Meg Collective in Steele, said the historical nature and architecture of the building make it an ideal backdrop for pictures. The building’s 1,500 square feet include a first-level reception area with dark, vintage wood flooring. Chandeliers hang from organzadraped rafters. Noss said the draped ceiling is reminiscent of the elegance in a Victorian hotel lobby. “I really think that makes it.” The mezzanine between the first and second levels is the bridal suite, furnished with period pieces. The mezzanine has actually held as many as 14 bridesmaids at one time, Noss said. On the second level is the groom’s suite, featuring a brick accent wall and leather furnishings. Noss has chosen an “old English hunting lodge theme” for that room.
The interior of the historic building is perfect for weddings.
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St. Clair Weddings
Plenty of room for dining
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Beyond that suite is the chapel area set off with classic iron railing. The chapel’s metal ceiling and string lights – coupled with vintage flooring and painted brick – create what Noss calls an “industrial and antique” atmosphere. The bricks, holding 140 years of history, were handmade in Springville. Billows of natural light pour into the chapel through seven large windows, much to the delight of photographers. “I think it is a great place for a wedding,” Free said. The three windows at the front of the chapel are framed in distressed turquoise blue. Brides sometimes incorporate those windows as art elements in their wedding decor, Noss said. To the rear of the building is a private, outdoor courtyard with stringed lights and a stage. The building and courtyard can accommodate 100-125 people. Noss said one event at a time is held at the Woodall Building so that she can devote to it her undivided attention. The building opened for events on March 5, 2020. Ten days later, the global pandemic closed it for a time. The first wedding was held in May 2020 and, by that August, Noss was seeing a definite uptick in business. To reassure prospective brides, Noss guaranteed the return of deposits if pandemic measures required that the building be closed. She also worked with brides whose original venues canceled because of the pandemic. Two months before her wedding on April 24, 2021, Paige Windham of Trussville lost her wedding venue for a different reason – storm and water damage. Because the caterer was part of the rental package, she lost that, too. She found the Woodall Building through an internet search. With Noss’ help and Noss’ contacts, Windham was able to get her wedding replanned in less than two days. What attracted Windham to the Woodall Building was “... everything. The exterior is gorgeous. I love the flooring. The flooring was perfect,” Windham said on April 23 when she and husband-to-be Trent Furlow came to leave some wedding items. The character and amenities of the Woodall Building were a perfect fit for the small wedding with family and friends Windham said she wanted from the beginning. Windham added that she felt more like Noss’ friend than a client because Noss has an accommodating spirit and goes “above and beyond.” From May 2020 to June 1, 2021, the Woodall Building was the site for 10 weddings, five sweet-16 parties, numerous other birthday parties, baby showers, after-
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
Outdoor space is also an option
rehearsal dinners and sundry events. “Total, we had 36 events last year,” Noss said. “... I was proud of 36.” As of late April this year, Noss already had another 36 booked for 2021. She works to make certain weddings are “affordable, yet elegant.” Setup and cleanup are included in the venue’s rental fee. She said the brides who rent the venue are not confined to just a couple of visits. Rather, they are welcome to come sit, think and visualize what they want for their day. When a bride chooses the Woodall Building, she not only secures a venue, but also a wedding coordinator. After the bride selects the florist, caterer and other vendors and makes her wishes known to them, Noss takes over from there. Noss assumes the work of advance preparations and serves as the wedding day coordinator. Brides, she explained, want to depend on someone who will make their wedding dreams come true, and Noss tries to be that person. “I just love my brides. I just do! ... I try to make it as stressfree as possible. ... So far, we’ve had drama-free weddings. That’s what I like!” Noss has been delighted with the reception her business has received locally. People who have held events at the building are so excited about it that they volunteer to help her with other events, she said. “Springville has been absolutely fabulous,” Noss said.
DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • June & July 2021
Lighting can set the mood for any occasion.
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Business Review
Aerial shot of new houses going up at Horizons on Logan Martin Lake in Pell City
58 • DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • Business Review • June & July 2021
Story by Paul South Photos by David Smith, Graham Hadley and Carol Pappas
Housing Boom
Rooftops on the way across St. Clair County
Residential real estate is rockin’ at record levels in St. Clair County. Don Smith, executive director of the St. Clair County Economic Development Authority, illustrates the surging seller’s market with the help of a joke circulating among the county’s real estate pros. “The joke is that there are more real estate agents in the county than there are available properties to sell,” Smith said. Interestingly, the seller’s market that sparked bidding wars for homes that began in 2019 has continued in 2020 and 2021. It’s an economic silver lining despite the dark cloud of COVID-19 that transformed kitchens to classrooms and guestrooms to home offices. The market is so hot, not only are existing homes flying off the market, but new homes are selling even before foundations are poured. “It’s a regular occurrence,” said Pell City Manager Brian Muenger. “Some of those homes are sold before a slab is poured. That’s indicative of a lot of pent-up demand, not something that you saw just a few short years ago. We’re certainly in the midst of a housing surge.” It’s a sign of the times. “2019 was a record year for residential home sales in our county,” Smith says. “Then surprisingly, 2020 was as good, which no one really expected. A lot of that had to do with the fact that interest rates were low and a lot of people were looking to get out of the overpopulated urban areas where they could safely go outside and still work from home. St. Clair County had all those things.” Too, there were factors that have fueled growth in the county in pre-pandemic times: Open spaces, low crime rates and traffic, improving schools and welcoming neighborhoods. And the new purchasers are not from a single demographic. As more people shifted to working from home, everyone from young families to mid-career folks and retirees are moving to the small towns, lakes and placid rural areas. “People started coming out here and visiting the lake, and they started visiting the creeks and the ballfields and the parks that we have and started looking at the prices of property and thought, ‘Hey, this is a place I wouldn’t mind living,’” Smith said. “So COVID opened up a lot of opportunities to experience what we all know and love here.” During the coronavirus lockdown, while many retailers shuttered, the sounds of homebuilders at work still rang in the air. “While a lot of businesses were taking precautions, the homebuilders never stopped, never even paused. There was no consideration of deviating from the plan. So homebuilding continued unabated and obviously, home sales continued unabated throughout the pandemic,” Muenger says. “The 2020 calendar year was the largest number of new home permits that we’ve ever done on record in a year here in Pell City.”
More rooftops in Springville In 2020, the city issued 152 residential construction permits and in the previous year, we had 100 permits. In the three years prior, the city issued 55 permits on average, a steady rate of growth. “From 2016-2020, we’ve seen our permits triple,” Muenger says. The proof is also in sales tax revenue, Smith says. Even in a pandemic, the local economies on the whole were surging. “Our sales rate of people buying things in our county was up 8 percent,” Smith says. “Groceries, food, anything you pay sales tax on, was up 8 percent. “Where some communities (around the country) had an 18-20 percent decline, it was up here. People were leaving what they consider to be a high density, somewhat dangerous environment and coming out here to the suburbs and really liked what they saw.” The town of Springville is just one example of the kind of housing boom seen throughout the county. Residential construction across the economic spectrum is happening from one end of the municipality to the other and beyond. New rooftops ranging from “affordable housing” to $400,000 homes are rising in Springville, a trend seen countywide. “It’s great if you’re a seller,” Springville Mayor Dave Thomas says of his town’s property picture. “It’s definitely a challenge if you’re a buyer. We’ve got new homes going up from one end
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Housing boom
of town to the other. Builders apparently can’t build them fast enough to meet the demand and desire. I believe the secret’s out – and has been out – on St. Clair County.” Like many who moved to St. Clair County to flee the crowded conditions of the Birmingham metro area, Thomas remembers the days – “before every child had a cell phone in his back pocket” – when commuting to and from the county from Birmingham seemed like a drive around the world. No more, because of proximity to Interstates 20 and 59. “It’s close enough to be convenient,” Thomas says. “Moody, Pell City, Riverside, they’re all convenient to Birmingham and Atlanta. Springville, Argo, Steele, we’re convenient to Birmingham, Atlanta and Chattanooga. It’s just growing and growing in popularity.” Odenville, with its proximity to I-59, I-20 and U.S. 411, casts the largest geographic footprint of the county’s municipalities. And like the other towns, homebuilders are anxious to construct new subdivisions. Mayor Buck Christian, the mayor since 2004, said three brand new subdivisions are being built, each with 150 to 200 homes. It’s relative proximity to Birmingham and the Honda plant in Lincoln – along with companion businesses to the auto industry in St. Clair and neighboring counties, has made Odenville attractive to commuters. “I’m going to attribute the attraction to Odenville largely in part to the St. Clair County EDC that’s focused on bringing jobs to the county,” Christian says. Christian moved to Odenville at 18. His wife, a native of metro Atlanta, quickly fell in love with the town. “Your neighbors are caring individuals,” Christian said of the town. “When they hear of a need in the community, they always respond in force. We also have a high quality of professional services provided within our small city. I commend our police and fire chief for the job they’ve done in protecting our citizens. It is a safe community. We’re not immune to some of the things that other towns are exposed to, but we react in a professional manner and in my opinion, second to none in most cases.” Not only is the boom a boon for sellers, but for retail as well. Pell City developer Bill Ellison relentlessly tries to recruit new retailers to Pell City, considered an economic hub for the region. A hot real estate market and strong overall growth are catnip to retail prospects who think long-term viability in the never-ending hunt for new locations. St. Clair County is Alabama’s eighth fastest-growing county. And it’s currently the 16th largest in the state – and growing. The county grew by more than 9 percent between 2010 and 2020. New home construction is one of the demographics retailers consider. “It’s real important because Pell City competes with every other town its size in the United States for retail. Every other town in the United States is competing for the stores that we’re trying to get,” Ellison says. “These retailers are looking for growth areas. They’re looking to see where the new rooftops are being built.” He added, “It really means a lot,” Ellison says. “If we’re not growing, and we don’t have residential growth, (retailers) are going other places.” While rooftop expansion is good for retail prospects, it also comes with its share of challenges as municipalities and the county work to manage growth effectively. Local governments have to walk the fine line between fostering growth, while
New home construction continues in Fox Hollow in Pell City.
Odenville growing again.
preserving a small-town feel, the goose that laid the golden egg for St. Clair in the first place. A symptom of growth is already evident. Just ask any parent of a school-age child about traffic at the beginning and end of each academic day. “We’ve got our own growing pains,” Thomas said. He recalls a recent trip to a local big-box retailer during a retail “rush hour.” “I was like, ‘Where did all these people come from? This is a small town. And yet it’s just bumper to bumper as far as we can see in any direction’” Thomas says. “It’s not just Springville residents … But it was one of those visual ‘aha moments’ when you realize this town really is growing.” Like other public and private sector leaders, Thomas sees that same interest in terms of economic development in his
60 • DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • Business Review • June & July 2021
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town. And like them, he wants to preserve what attracted newcomers in the first place. “We’ve got economic developers that are just chomping at the bit,” he says. “But they’ll come to town on our terms, not theirs. This is our town, and we want to see it develop in a particular manner. That’s going to happen.” Thomas also wants to focus on what he terms, “the eye candy,” those quality-of-life amenities that enhance and define a town. An example is improving the Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve, developing it into a regional attraction. “I think that is a diamond in the rough that with proper investment can become the crown jewel in Springville’s crown of jewels, and be not a local, but a regional draw.” In Odenville, Christian sees the challenge of governance – with or without residential growth – is budgetary. “Rooftops create population. They don’t necessarily generate revenue long term, unless those who reside in those rooftops keep their dollars local, either in the county or specifically spend their dollars within the city,” Christian says. “The challenge in Odenville is to grow commercial development to a point where individuals do have choices and can spend dollars locally. Long-term, the only way you can maintain city services is with a steady income.” The city is engaged in a major capital project on U.S. 411 and wants to expand on that work, as well as improve municipal streets and improve parks and recreation to meet the anticipated demand of new homes. Christian expects the town will have growth along both 59 and 411, but will maintain its small-town, rural character. “We are certainly excited about our residential growth,” Christian says. “We recently broke ground on a new automobile dealership on the I-59 corridor, and we are positive that our economic future lies out on that I-59 corridor.” The bottom line? Housing expansion is only a part of a bright economic picture for St. Clair County and its municipalities. “It’s not just residential growth,” Ellison says. “I mean our whole economy is just booming. Our medical industry is just enormous. Our industrial manufacturing, our tourism, Jefferson State Community College being here – all these things make this a better place to live and make people want to live here.” For Thomas, a 30-year resident of Springville and a former state lawmaker, the growth is a byproduct of the county’s success. “Springville,” he said, wants to “raise the bar” in every aspect of town life. “What do they say? What does success breed? Competition. Well, people are out here competing for the same limited number of homes and properties, and they want a little piece of this paradise as well. So, it attracts even more people who appreciate the amenities we have to offer.”
62 • DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • Business Review • June & July 2021
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Bill Ellison
Recognized for driving economic development Take a look around Pell City’s commercial districts, and you cannot help but see the brick and mortar results of the city’s public relations firm, retail recruiter and commercial developer all rolled into one man – Bill Ellison. His relentless quest to bring commercial growth to his adopted hometown is seen in the Bankhead Crossings development, which features a Walmart Supercenter, dozens of retailers and outparcels that include fast food establishments as well as other businesses. Nearby are Home Depot, a pair of hotels, City Market Restaurant, Buffalo Wild Wings, Zaxby’s and Premiere Cinema and Entertainment Center. South of there, take a look at the Publix shopping center, more retailers, Bedsole Eye Center, Bojangles, Dairy Queen Grill and Chill and other businesses and know Ellison laid the groundwork for it all. And there appears to be more on the horizon with plans not yet finalized for a large, new shopping center on the old hospital property fronting I-20. His developments over the years now account for a hefty portion of the city’s sales tax revenues and budget, and those projects have contributed greatly to the successful economic development and growth of St. Clair County as a whole. In May, St. Clair Economic Development Council honored Ellison with its Chairman’s Award, given in recognition of individuals who have played a significant role in economic development of the county. “His passion and love for his community are only matched by his competitive desire to win,” said EDC Executive Director Don Smith. “He has such a positive outlook for the future of this community, many times it takes retailers a number of years to see what he’s been telling them is true.” It’s as if they must catch up to his vision and eventually, they locate here because he sells Pell City as an economic hub, which has drawn in business, residents and services from all around. The award, he said, “means an awful lot to me.” He noted the work other award winners have done to promote and develop the county. “Now, I’m part of that group.” He credited any success he has had in bringing business to the unrivaled teamwork found in St. Clair County. “Everybody has played such a big role in the growth” that has landed the county in the number six spot for fastest growing county in the state. With the EDC in the lead and municipalities, the county commission and Metro Bank playing pivotal roles as a team, Ellison said, “what we’ve done here is set the bar for what an EDC is supposed to do. Everything we’ve done has been a team effort. Other counties want to emulate what we do here.” He noted that at a national shopping center convention he attended in Las Vegas as a recruitment/outreach effort to bring jobs and retail to the county, “it was obvious to me that our EDC was looked at with high esteem.”
Bill Ellison, left, with award presented by EDC Executive Director Don Smith
Ellison was the catalyst for this sprawling development anchored by Walmart Supercenter, above, and the Publix development. When he came to Pell City in 1985 after doing development work in his native Lexington, Ky., he went to work to build a better future in his new hometown. “I did some development in Lexington, but nothing of this scale.” A countywide EDC had formed and helped him put his first development together. It was a gas station and convenience store on the massive acreage he had acquired fronting U.S. 231 North and I-20. Today, that fledgling development is Bankhead Crossing. “There was very little retail at the time,” he said. “You had to go to larger cities.” But by working together with EDC, the city and the county, one project after another began to fill that property. “Once we had that success, it never stopped. It was because of everybody coming together.” The idea of working together spread countywide, he said, and other successes followed. “Everybody needs to continue that. My motivation is to make St. Clair County better every day – a better place to live – that’s my motivation.” And his motivation has turned into sizable benefits reaped across St. Clair County for residents and businesses alike. “There is still a lot of work to do, but as long as our team building keeps going, the county can have whatever it wants,” Ellison predicted. “We’re putting people together, chasing dreams and making dreams come true.”
68 • DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • Business Review • June & July 2021
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John Garrison
Honored for strides in workforce development These days, when the sparks fly from a young welder’s tool or an ironworker, barely out of his teens, climbs atop a steel beam to wait on the next one to secure, it’s hard not to see the foundation for today’s scene. For years, retired president and CEO of Garrison Steel has traveled the state and the country preaching almost evangelically about the need to recruit and train young people in the industry as baby boomers aged with a shortage of skilled workers to replace them. But he didn’t just talk about it, he mobilized colleagues and mentors to fund and teach in programs that produced young, skilled workers that earn them $50,000 to $75,000 a year in entry level positions. Why? Because they’re trained. And Garrison has been the catalyst. Recognizing his strong influence throughout St. Clair County and beyond in arming young people with the skills they need to be successful, St. Clair Economic Development Council honored Garrison in May with its Workforce Development Award for 2021. “Every one of us was at one time 17, 18 or 19 years old and if you’re like me, we didn’t have a clue what we would do for a career,” said Garrison. “The night of the award, I looked around the room full of leaders, movers, shakers, creative thinkers and contributors that have helped our society be better.” That certainly applies to Garrison. He not only pushed for recruiting and training young people, he created a school – Ironwork Skills Institute – funded it and located it on the property of his highly successful industry, Garrison Steel. “We all were this age in our lives. Our students will be the next generation of movers and shakers if given a good starting platform,” he said. “When I think of these young students and their short stopover with us on their long journey through life, I think of the incredibly fulfilling honor we at ISI have to help send these young people out into the competitive world so they can have a chance at success with opportunities one day to sit amongst their peers and feel the sense of good they contribute to their personal skills, their industry and society as a whole.” The opportunities are in front of them, but they need to seize the moment by fine-tuning their skills. “Someone higher up the career ladder must select them for their extra skill set in order for future advancement opportunities. It’s how we have all gotten to our place in life. We teach that,” Garrison said. His philosophy is, “Life is a journey, and I tell our students you can say it has four quarters like in football. Each quarter is 20 years long plus or minus. The first quarter is one year old to 20 years old (plus or minus). Someone has raised you, clothed you, put a roof over your head and fed you. You are about to enter likely the most important quarter in your life, the second quarter where you decide what your career will be and how serious you are with your choice. No one gets anywhere without sacrifice, and you are young, energetic and strong. You develop the habit of hard work and sacrifice now so you can compete with every other person out there in your age group.” From 20 to 40, “you are learning, competing and honing skills
EDC Executive Director Don Smith, Garrison with award, and Bill Ellison, honored with Chairman’s Award
Garrison with a workforce development class that are sellable to society. When you reach 40 and on to 60, plus or minus, one should be secure in his or her field. You should be a leader, a crafts person, capable contributors. That’s the third quarter of this life game.” As for himself, “I’m in the fourth quarter – a time when one can look back and should be pleased with one’s race in life. A time to give back to society what society has so graciously given to me. Pay it forward!,” he urged. “I am honored and humbled to be called out to receive an award from my peers. I’m glad to be amongst some of the greatest, most generous and creative people any community could have.” “John Garrison is the example of someone who worked hard but has worked harder to improve himself with training and education,” said Don Smith, executive director of St. Clair EDC. “He is a self-built individual who continues to look at how he could become a better person.” Smith recalled, “When people were saying you can’t create a training program that is effective and self-funding, he decided to put his money, resources and time in to prove it could take place.” Today, ISI is an independent, not-for-profit training facility producing dozens of ironworkers each year, equipping them with the knowledge and hands-on skills needed to secure good paying careers with unlimited opportunities for advancement. It is a path Garrison began long ago. He started with an entry level construction job out of high school and retired as president of a company that has “built incredible buildings throughout the U.S.,” Smith said. “He has walked that path, and he wants to make sure others have that same opportunity to have success and greatness in their life.”
70 • DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • Business Review • June & July 2021