COOKIES, PLEASE
OH DARLING
SUGAR COOKIE CO.
BRINGS TASTY TREATS TO HARTSELLE
FRED AND RHONDA MOTES RENOVATE, RESTORE HARTSELLE HOMES WHILE HONORING THE PAST
Fred and Rhonda Motes restore homes to their former glory, adding modern conveniences while honoring the past. Read their story on page 11.
IIf one thing is abundantly clear, there are stories to be told everywhere you look, and our readers love stories about their friends and neighbors in Hartselle and Morgan County. We often hear how well-read and well-loved Hartselle Living is – and it’s very gratifying. We work hard to bring you a well-rounded lifestyles magazine that represents our community in the best light.
In this issue of Hartselle Living, we feature Fred and Rhonda Motes, a Hartselle couple who have spent their retirement years restoring homes from the ground up. The home featured in the bridal issue of Hartselle Living was a project they completed, and you can read their story beginning on page 11.
The story behind Oh Darling Sugar Cookie Company begins in our Food and Drink section and recipes by Southern Fried Skinny’s Emily Norris shares recipes for homemade tomato soup and (not your mother’s) grilled cheese sandwiches on page 28. YUM!
As always, our regular contributors bring you updates from Hartselle City Schools and the William Bradford Huie Library, complete with book recommendations that will keep you entertained this spring. Be sure to check out all this issue of Hartselle Living has to offer.
It’s all inside.
rebekah.yancey@hartselleliving.com
Editorial
Rebekah Yancey
Contributors
Michelle Blaylock
Susan Hayes
Jim Meadows
Sara Laughmiller
Alex VanKoughnett
Chrissy Tucker
Marketing
Baretta Taylor
Anna Baker
Terri Haston
Administration
Beth Jackson
Hartselle Newspapers, LLC
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P.O. Box 929
Hartselle, AL 35640
Phone: 256-773-6566
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Hartselle Living is published bimonthly Hartselle Newspapers, LLC.
A one-year subscription to Hartselle Living is $16.30 for 6 issues per year. Single copies are available at select locations throughout the Hartselle area. To advertise or to get more copies, call 773-6566.
Copyright 2023 by Hartselle Newspapers, LLC
Born in Georgia and raised in Tennessee, Jacob Hatcher now lives in Hartselle with his wife and three kids. Jacob is a freelance writer for the Hartselle Enquirer as well as a blogger at Son of a Biscuit Eater on Facebook where he writes about faith, family and life in the south. Jacob comes from a long line of master storytellers and porch sitters and loves few things in life more than a great story and a sad country song.
Rachel Howard is a Hartselle native who is proud to own and run a business in her hometown. Capturing moments on camera allows her to give the gift of memories, and that makes her soul smile. She is an avid fitness-lover and teaches spin classes as a side hobby. She enjoys singing, playing golf with her husband Nick and being a dog mom to Ralphie and Bud.
Jodi Hyde has a genuine love for the Lord and tries to shine His light in everything she does. Jodi loves outdoor activities and spending quality time with her family. As a photographer, Jodi manages to freeze life’s precious moments and capture them on camera. She loves meeting new people and being creative through her photography business. Hartselle is her hometown, and is currently where she resides, and where she loves to serve in the community.
Jennifer Sherwood has loved photography for as long as she can remember and has owned her own business for more than 14 years. She now owns a studio in Priceville. She most enjoys photographing people with their families and capturing their exciting and memorable life moments. She is married to Jeff and has four children, Aubrey, Emmy, Caleb and Ethan.
AAt the corner of Nance Ford and Barkley Bridge roads, there’s a small, independent bookstore where imaginations are encouraged to thrive and secondhand books are treated like golden bricks.
Cheryl and Bobby Kalhstorf are the Hartselle couple who own Branch Books and the 60,000 books inside that range from historical fiction, mystery thrillers and autobiographies.
Branch Books began as a consignment store located first in Cullman and then in Vinemont that closed and left the Kalhstorfs with more than 3,000 books in their possession.
In June 2019 the couple opened their store front in Hartselle to sell their books and have grown to resell online as well.
Cheryl said her favorite authors are Terri Blackstock and Robert Whitlow, both Christian fiction writers. She enjoys sharing her passion for reading with young patrons of Branch Books who make up roughly 40 percent of their customers.
“I love for kids to be reading and to learn to love reading,” she said. “They’re on tablets and in
front of TVs these days – we have kids’ books all over the place trying to encourage children to get back into reading.”
Reading more at an early age, Cheryl said, helps children as they build their vocabulary. As children learn and grow, reading also helps them be more creative. For Bobby, his love of reading comes directly from his mother and grandmother.
“We always had books around the house,” he said. “Back before social media, we had newspapers and magazines to peruse – and that was our entertainment.
“Reading is important because the knowledge gained raises IQs and stimulates neural connections in your brain,” Bobby added. “If you’re like us, you go home in the evening and flip on the TV to relax and the next day you can’t even remember what you watched the next day. With a book, you’re engaged. You use your mind and your imagination.
That’s probably why I love old radio shows now,” Bobby added. “They paint a vivid picture for you in your mind that is unique to every individual. Each person develops a snowflake image of what a character looks and sounds like. The brain is marvelous in how it fills in all those details.”
Bobby said he especially enjoys historical fiction and anything that can be easily reread.
“I have a long list of favorite books,” he said. Despite their accumulation of half a million books through the years, the couple still travel in their spare time to estate sales to procure more books of all kinds – so many now that the majority of their inventory is stored in a warehouse and accompanying storage unit.
“It’s fun and it’s good to give them a new life,” Bobby said. “People love their books and we love the idea that we can give them a new home.”
This spring, the couple plan on finishing an expansion project that is underway now, giving Branch Books more retail space –and allowing them to move more books to their store. A bookshelf that separates the two storefronts will soon become a doorway that joins the rooms of bookshelves together.
While most of the books the Kalstorfs buy and sell are not rare, the couple once came across a first edition of A Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry that was worth $500.
While Branch Books is a business, the Kalstorfs say they don’t do it for the money, but rather for the love of reading and for the love of the independent bookstore.
“After four years, we still get people from Hartselle come in regularly who say ‘We didn’t know you were here,’” Bobby said. “We don’t want the independent bookstore to go the way of the dinosaur – we’re very thankful for our customers, especially our regulars.”
Branch Books is located at 701 H Nance Ford Rd., Hartselle. It is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
For more information, find them on Facebook or visit www.branchbooks.net.
AA farmhouse built in 1912 was the first house in Morgan County to be revitalized by husband-and-wife team Fred and Rhonda Motes in 1998.
The Motes own and operate CHA Homes, LLC, and the endeavor keeps the pair busy in their retirement years. Having finished their eighth house that was a top-tobottom rebuild, Rhonda says the journey into the home restoration business has been a process that has taken 35 years.
“We completed home renovation projects for ourselves for 30 years,” she said, attributing their knowledge mostly to Fred’s learned skills from Morgan County High School and years of experience.
“It’s been a growing process; a 35-year learning curve.”
Fred retired from General Motors after three decades with the company, and the couple moved back to Morgan County from in Kansas City, Missouri in 2016. While in Missouri they completed a from-the-ground-up rebuild of their home there.
“That house was inspiration to us because when we put it on the market, it sold in 15 days,” Rhonda says.
“The people who bought the house said they didn’t know what we planned on doing in our retirement, but home renovation looked like our calling.
“It was an old house; we renovated it to add modern conveniences while keeping its character,” she added.
Rhonda said her love of all things vintage began earlier in life when she owned an antique business for 14 years.
“We like old things; we like restoring the past,” she said. When the Motes returned from Missouri, having never sold their family home, they purchased a house close to West Hartselle Baptist Church and it became the couple’s next project. Since that time, they have completed two houses on Sparkman Street and one on Day Street.
“When we first started out, I would take pictures of the before and after and we gave the new owner a (keepsake) book,” she said. “It’s great to be able to look back and see where a project began once its finished.”
Rhonda said the houses they choose to renovate are usually not livable – and they’re chosen that way for a purpose.
“It sounds strange, but the worse they are, the better we like them,” she said with a laugh.
“For instance, if somebody goes in, and remuddles something –just does the surface and doesn’t address the root problem –you’re paying for their labor and their materials of what they did that is going to have to come out to get it back to its original state,” she said.
The majority of the work is done by Fred and Rhonda themselves, with specialized services like HVAC work and spray foam insulation being contracted out.
“Everything else that we can do, we do ourselves,” Rhonda said.
Their son Johndale Motes works with them along with one employee, Noe Morales, who is a framer by trade. Johndale,
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Rhonda said, has his homebuilder’s license and he and Morales are especially looking forward to the time when CHA Homes takes on their first new construction. There are current plans to purchase a vacant lot close to Day Street that will be the site for the build.
The job can be a hard one, Rhonda said, but so far, they haven’t come across a house that was too big or too much work.
“I’m not a quitter,” she said. “I’ve got grit, and if there’s ever a problem we come up against, there’s always the next day.”
It is apparent to Rhonda that people like vintage things if they’re updated, have modern-day conveniences and spotlight the true character of the home – it is to that fact that she attributes their success in selling each home they have taken on.
Rhonda reconfigures each house before the building begins, moving walls, adding bathrooms and expanding kitchens virtually. A plan is put in place on paper far before the first swing of the hammer hits a nail, she said.
Design wise, she said she likes to leave certain aspects up to the buyer so they’re able to add their touches.
Rhonda said each house they have rebuilt has taken a minimum of six months to complete, with some projects, like 808 Sparkman, featured in the January/February issue of Hartselle Living, stretching longer.
“Each house becomes its own story,” Rhonda said. “I pray for these houses and the people that are coming.
“Just like we take these houses – quite literally that we down to their foundation and work on them one day at a time – God is working on our lives,” she said.
BY REBEKAH YANCEY PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
Eve Cheatham is in her eighth year at Hartselle Junior High School where she teaches seventh and eighth grade mathematics. Her career in education spans three decades. She was chosen by her peers as the Secondary Teacher of the Year for Hartselle City Schools. Eve has been married to her high school sweetheart and Air Force retiree, Jeff Cheatham, for more than thirty years. She is a proud mother to Katherine, an AP English teacher at Austin High School, and mother-in-law to Hayden, an oncology nurse at Huntsville Hospital. She has two golden retrievers and a mean fluffy cat. She enjoys ringing with her church handbell choir, tailgating in Tuscaloosa on football game days, watching Marvel, Star Wars and Harry Potter films/tv shows, and traveling to the Smokey’s or Disney.
What made you go into education, specifically secondary education?
Eve says building relationships is what led her to her career in education. As an elementary and secondary student in the Hartselle City School system, she was one of those kids who truly loved her classes, her school and her teachers. A graduate of Hartselle High, Athens State and the University of West Alabama, Eve says she continues to find joy in teaching her junior high students the importance of forging lasting relationships within a building. Her experiences as an educator, military wife, and mom have taken her from the diverse communities of Valdosta, Georgia, and to the island of Guam.
How has your role as a teacher evolved over the 22 years you’ve been in the classroom?
Eve says there have been terrific technological advances that provide much
more support for struggling students. There are also higher expectations for teachers.
What advice would you share with people who are interested in becoming teachers?
“You have to be willing to think, walk and talk teacher for the better part of your life,” Eve says. “You are defined by our profession; you are a teacher and a role model. You have to truly love what and who you teach. The commitments are many- but immeasurable in quality.”
Did you have a teacher or teachers who made a special impact on you in school?
Eve says several Hartselle teachers impacted her school years in various ways. “Charlotte Riddlehover (third grade math) showed me that I was pretty good at math, Glenda Wright (fifth grade math) made me fall in love with Geometric constructions, Nancy Pressnell (seventh
grade math) showed me that girls could be great and even competitive in math through math team competitions, Sylvia Teague (ninth grade and Algebra II) demonstrated to me that a math teacher must work just as hard as her students; teach bell to bell, leaving no time to play.
Donna Legg-Battles (ninth-12th grades) taught me that we must champion one another in all our endeavors; she remains my biggest cheerleader as a professional mathematician; William Booth (11th-12th grade) showed me that teachers can make errors, laugh at themselves, be silly, yet professional, and be at ease with oneself.
If you had to teach a class on a deserted island, what are the five indispensable things you would take with you?
Mechanical Pencils (I call them Penskiies), College Rule Paper, Calculators (I have named mine Root-y), Trident Tropical Twist Gum and Gatorade (Fruit Punch or Cherry!)
PHOTOS BY RACHEL HOWARD
WWhen Victoria Tutwiler made her first batch of sugar cookies in 2016, she would have never dreamed she would find herself sitting in her own retail cookie shop, decorating cookies while she discussed the beginnings of her business.
“I tried to do sugar cookies for Christmas and didn’t realize they took six hours – and I started an hour before we had to leave,” Tutwiler said. While the cookies did not turn out quite as she expected, Tutwiler’s spirit was not broken and for Easter 2017 she decided to make another attempt at her own tasty treats.
“I thought we needed something to hand out at church, so I texted the church leadership and asked if they would like me to make some cookies. They said they would love that and asked me to make 300 packets of cookies. I’d never done anything like that before but I said, ‘Sure! I’ll do it!”
The next year Tutwiler made cookies for Easter again, and then began to get requests from friends and family for birthday parties, baby showers and bridal parties. What started as a batch of very basic sugar cookies made on a whim turned into royal iced character cookies in short order. Tutwiler says her husband raised an eyebrow when she began buying expensive equipment after having only made a few batches of cookies, but she knew she was onto something.
“At the start of this I owned and ran a cleaning company. I’m doing all of these cookies on top of that and hadn’t really thought about doing this for a living, but then I lost childcare in February 2019 so I just decided to do cookies. I had the stuff to do it, so I decided I would just do it.”
For a couple of years, orders came pouring in from friends and then eventually she was being contacted by people she didn’t know who had seen her cookies on social media and at mutual friends’ events. In 2020, Tutwiler purchased a screen printer and, after a significant learning curve, she found herself being connected with a group in Huntsville called Trade Bank.
“I went to a Trade Bank gathering and made a cookie with all of their companies logos on it, but I didn’t know the Trash Pandas were going to be there,” Tutwiler said, “but the finance executive for (team) had one of my cookies and called me two or three weeks later wanting cookies for her food service director, park director and a few others because they wanted to try my cookies.”
That was in August 2021, and in October, the Trash Pandas reached out wanting Tutwiler to be the cookie vendor for their Winter Wonderland, a forty-seven day event with Christmas lights, vendors and entertainment. When she agreed to take on the Winter Wonderland event, she had two weeks to prepare for having a cookie hut with decorating sets fully stocked daily as well as having a booth to sell cookies in for four hours each night.
“I was staying up after I got home baking cookies, waking up and baking cookies,” she said. “Just to have stuff there. It was bananas.”
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All of this baking was still being done in Tutwiler’s home, and she knew that if she was going to continue on the trajectory she had been on, she would need a commercial kitchen. After a few leads for a commercial kitchen fell through, Tutwiler received a call with an opportunity she never saw coming. Following a whirlwind weekend, a deal was finally struck for retail space in downtown Hartselle.
In early October 2022, Oh Darling Sugar Cookie Co. opened its doors on Main Street.
“I just started baking up cookies I had and making more and thought, ‘I’ll open up and just see what happens.’ Our first day we sold 900 cookies,” she said. “I had fifteen people at one time just standing here waiting for me to bake cookies because I had nothing left.”
Tutwiler said she never had any aspirations to have a retail store. When she first started baking cookies, it was just something fun to do, and she never imagined being where she is today. “I’ve learned to just never say never, because it’s probably going to happen.”
Having been hunkered down in her home all of these years, Tutwiler finds having a retail space in Hartselle surprisingly refreshing.
“Hartselle has been very welcoming. It’s been nice to have people come in and to have people stand in my window and watch me decorate. And God’s really had His hand in every situation. That’s why I can stay motivated, because God wouldn’t have given me all of my these opportunities for me to fail.”
Oh Darling Sugar Cookie Company is located at 307 Main Street W.
An article dated Sept. 9, 2022 in The New York Post asserted teachers have such a strong influence on our lives that six in ten adult parents claim they can name every teacher they had in their childhood.
The article went on to claim that “three in four parents credit their former teachers for positively influencing their lives (76%) — such as showing them how to be a better person (58%) or impacting the hobbies they picked up (52%). Half even saw [a teacher] as a role model (51%).”
So imagine the influence that a teacherparent has on his or her own children – and perhaps even on their choice of career.
BY SUSAN HAYES HARTSELLE CITY SCHOOLS FEDERAL
Hartselle has many excellent teachers whose only tie to Hartselle schools is the job they hold right now, but we also employ a surprising number of teachers who are legacies.
Mariann Evans Parker teaches first grade at Barkley Bridge Elementary School. She is the daughter of Hartselle teacher Sarah Ann Evans and the granddaughter of teacher Kathryn Thompson Poole. Parker says her teaching legacy has given her great personal and professional satisfaction.
“I saw how much [my mother and grandmother] loved helping children grow in academics and in character. Their joy led me to want to be a teacher, as well,” Parker said.
Hartselle High School’s Randall Key sees his personal teaching philosophy as stemming directly from his teachermother Annie Jo Key.
“From my mother I learned discipline, diligence, consistency and compassion,” he said. Key works to bring these qualities into his own classroom and professional practice. When these teacher-mothers and teacher-fathers were working to take care of the children in their classrooms, it is doubtful that they were even aware of the influence their words and actions were having on their own children at home.
Hartselle Intermediate School’s Brooke Pettey Tankersley says, “From my stepmother I learned a valuable lesson that I carry with me today. Don’t sweat the small stuff. If I am
frustrated by spilled coffee or a jammed copy machine or a missed email, I remind myself that what matters is that moment when a struggling student grasps a difficult concept, or that hand-drawn Christmas card from my shy, quiet student.” In her role as special services coordinator, Lee Anne Pettey was reaching more young people than she realized at the time.
Collin Hanners was moved by the former students with fond memories or words of thanks who would approach his father, HHS teacher Jeff Hanners. The younger Hanners credits witnessing these moments with moving him to “serve [his] community as an educator.” On occasion, these teacher-mothers and teacher-fathers get to watch their children stand before their own classrooms.
Advanced geometry teacher Donna Legg-Battles gushed, “It is the grandest privilege of my teaching career to have my daughter teach with me in the math department at Hartselle High School. She is a fabulous teacher and I learn just as much from her as she learns from me. I know the future is in good hands in this school I love so much.”
Daughter Sarah Ellen Battles Anders is equally exuberant. “Growing up as a student in Hartselle City Schools, I dreamed of one day coming back to Hartselle to teach. I never imagined that my math classroom might be near my mother’s. My mother has taught me everything I know, and I am learning everything from her that I can in this time we have together at HHS.”
The real power in teachers who come from generations of teachers is an understanding of the lasting effects a teacher can have. Teachers must carry this understanding to school with them every day just as they carry a lesson plan or a gradebook.
Crestline’s Olivia Godsey Gillette, daughter of BBES second grade teacher Amanda Godsey and former football coach Bob Godsey, says, “Nothing makes me more proud than continuing the legacy [my parents] began and doing my best to contribute to the legacy of this great school system.”
Hartselle is proud of its traditions. This is simply one more.
RRemember a toasty, buttery, cheesy grilled cheese your mom used to make when she didn’t want to make a big dinner? This will give you all the sweet nostalgia of your childhood, but you’ll feel like a 5-star chef when you’re done!
INGREDIENTS
• 1 Loaf of Sourdough Bread
• 1 stick salted butter, softened
• ¾ tsp. garlic powder
• ¼ cup shredded mild cheddar
• 2 slices provolone
• 2 slices Colby jack
• 2 slices Havarti
Cream cheese mixture
• 1/3 cup cream cheese
• 1/5 tbsp mayonnaise
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• ½ tsp. Italian seasoning
• ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
Thickly slice bread. In a bowl, mix butter, garlic powder and shredded cheddar. Spread on outer side of each slice of bread. Flip bread over and add one slice of provolone and Colby jack. Spread cream cheese mixture on top of sliced cheese. Top that with one slice of Havarti and second piece of bread to close sandwich. Melt a tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium low heat. Add in sandwiches, cover with a lid and allow the bottom to crisp up. Flip and repeat.
By Emily Norris Southern Fried Skinny
• 4 tbsp. salted butter
• ½ cup diced carrots
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 tbsp. minced garlic
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 ½ cups chicken (or vegetable) broth
• 28 ounces fire roasted tomatoes
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/3 cup roasted red peppers
• 2 tbsp. sundried tomatoes
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• ½ tsp. onion powder
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
LLooking for some chilly day comfort food but don’t want boring? Impress yourself and family or guests with this homemade tomato soup! No need to worry about sodium or processed junk from a can. This recipe is easy and has such a broad flavor profile. It’s even customizable so you can tweak to add more of what you like.
• ¼ tsp. black pepper
• ¾ tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1.5 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• ¼ cup packed fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese
In a Dutch oven (or large stock pot) over medium heat, melt butter and add in carrots, onion, garlic and thyme. Cook until veggies begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add in chicken broth, tomatoes, tomato paste, peppers and spices. Stir and let ingredients come to a simmer. Cover and reduce heat to low and let simmer about 15 minutes, continuing to stir every few minutes. Stir in basil leaves. Remove from heat and add soup mixture to a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. Return soup back to Dutch oven over low heat. Add cream and parmesan cheese and stir well. Serve immediately!
Kitchen notes:
• Don’t worry with finely dicing carrots and onion. Your food processor will take care of it for you.
• You may add more or less cayenne pepper, depending on the level of heat you like.
• No blender or food processor, or just don’t want to dirty one up? Grab your immersion blender! Soup can be as chunky or smooth as you prefer.
• If preparing this and not quite ready to serve yet, just let it sit on warm or low in your Dutch oven on the stove. Add in cream and cheese just before serving.
WWhat do you think of when you think of the library? Do you think of books, audiobooks or DVDs? Yes, it is true. We do have books, about 30,000 of them. We also have 835 DVDs and 620 audiobooks. Since October we have added about 850 books and 47 DVDs. However, that is just the beginning of what we offer.
We provide patrons with the option of two digital platforms, Hoopla and Libby for digital books and audiobooks. Hoopla also has movies, music, television series and educational programing available for streaming on phones, tablets and some TVs. Patrons can choose to use one or both of these platforms. Libby provides up to ten checkouts per month, while Hoopla offers seven checkouts per month. These platforms are available to anyone with a William Bradford Huie Library card.
BY MICHELLE BLAYLOCK LIBRARY MANAGER WILLIAM BRADFORD HUIE LIBRARY OF HARTSELLE
We have a terrific story time for our pre-k children on Wednesday mornings. Sarah Laughmiller does an amazing job planning these. She picks out engaging
books and combines them with an age appropriate activity. Sarah also started a Children’s Book Club that meets on Thursday afternoons at 4 p.m. This book club is geared for children in the third through fifth grades. We have two painting classes each month one for kids ages 4-10 years old and one for adults. Adults also have a book club led by Chrissy Tucker. We also have free resources through the Alabama Public Library Service. Homework Alabama and Learning Express that offers ACT prep and AP test prep are available to students. Career prep resources including prep for tests in nursing, teaching, real estate, military, hospitality, cosmetology, CDL and more. If you are interested in any of these or curious about other resources please stop by the library our librarians will be happy to help you. We aren’t just about books! We hope to see you soon at the library!
Spring is in the air and these books are some much needed reading! Spring into the library to check out them out.
By
Bryony Rosehurst
The William Bradford Huie Library of Hartselle is proud to offer readers recommendations from our librarians. These books are picked by Sarah Laughmiller, Chrissy Tucker and Alex VanKoughnett. Come into the library to check these out and more.
Brennan O’Keeffe and Quinn Hayes always cross paths on St. Patrick’s Day. However, they are perfect strangers. On one St. Patrick’s Day, they finally decide to stop being strangers. This leads them to falling in love and falling apart very quickly due to their secrets. Now, years later, Quinn finds Brennan at his bar on St. Patrick’s Day. She decides that maybe she can change their fate with a little luck and determination. Maybe their fate isn’t set in stone just yet.
By Carolyn Hart
On a South Carolina island there is a quirky book shop with an equally quirky shop owner. Annie Darling owns Death on Demand Bookshop and tries to boost sales in the most interesting ways. She offers a free book to anyone who can solve about a popular ‘whodunit.’ Flyers for the event and the clues are handed out all over. It’s a twist on a murder mystery game, but when a counterfeit flyer slanders her name and business, Annie has to act fast before this April Fool’s joke no longer becomes a joke. Anyone who enjoys a fun, cozy mystery will surely enjoy this one.
By Adams Media
Farming and being self-sustaining isn’t for everyone – and that’s okay! But, for those who may want to pick up a new hobby or take on a whole new lifestyle, this book can help. It’s a lot of hard work, but very rewarding. From raising chickens, to beekeeping, to growing vegetables and how to preserve them year-round, Back Yard Farming is a wonderful tool help guide you there. Just remember, wherever you live, check with your city or town to see what ordinances might be in place before perusing.
By Chitra Soundar
Illustrator: Darshika Varma
Holi is a celebration of Spring time in other cultures. Wearing white, friends and families gather to eat and splash each other in the most vivid colors that they each create. In Holi Hai! Gauri is so excited for Holi. She can’t wait to throw colors on everyone. However, when Gauri does not get the color she wants, she gets very mad. Will Gauri learn how to deal with her anger? Maybe she will come to see the beauty in a color she deemed ugly.
By Francine Rivers
Told in the perspective of a child in the Appalachian Mountains in the mid 1850s, this is a story of how redemption comes to a village through the most unlikely source. Cadi Forbes is only a child when her grandmother dies and was told that the sin eater would come to follow them to the graveyard. It was said that he would eat the tray of bread that was her Granny’s “sins” so that she could rest in peace. But there was danger in this – don’t look at the sin eater, or the sins would transfer to you. At the ceremony, all eyes are closed. Except for one instant, when Cadi opened her eyes from shear curiosity and locked eyes with the sin eater. Cadi is so distraught that she becomes desperate for hope that someone can save her. On her mission to find and talk to the sin eater, she comes across a man in the woods with all the answers she is looking for. But what will it cost her to share what she has learned?
• Johnson Partners, Inc. DBA McDonald’s
• Luke 145, Inc. DBA Kinney’s Pro Glass
• March 9 – B.O.S.S. Breakfast
TThe Hartselle Chamber began its second year of the IMPACT Student Leadership Program Jan. 18. IMPACT Student Leadership is a program for high school sophomores and juniors and is designed to promote classroom and community leadership among high school students in Morgan County. IMPACT was created to grow life-long community leaders in the Hartselle area through mentorship, experiential and peer learning, community networking, service projects and problemsolving opportunities.
The first session in 2023, sponsored by Horizon Point Consulting, consisted of team-building at GoFar USA Park, STRONG training by Horizon Point
Consulting and workforce development teaching by Hartselle City Schools Director of Operations, Rocky Smith, and HACC President/CEO Missy Evans.
Our 2023 IMPACT Student Leaders are:
Will Booth (Hartselle High School), Kennedy Cataline (Hartselle High School), Micah Cobb (Brewer High School), Brook Collins (Hartselle High School), Reece Cowart (Danville High School), Alyssa Dobbs-Langford (Hartselle High School), Amelia Lopez (Falkville High School), Aleah Greenhaw (Danville High School), Virginia Hoyle (Hartselle High School), Mary Frances Istede (Hartselle
High School), Leah Johnson (Hartselle High School), Livvie Jones (Danville High School), Alyssa Legg (Hartselle High School), Laura Lundy (Hartselle High School), Aitemir Melisov (Hartselle High School), Reese Newton (Hartselle High School), Zoe Nagel (Hartselle High School), Connor Simmons (Hartselle High School), Hannah Summerford (Falkville High School), Skyler Thompson (Priceville High School), Alivia Wiley (Danville High School)
Thank you to our IMPACT Presenting Sponsor:
• Maegan Jones – Broker/Realtor, MarMac Real Estate
TThe Hartselle Chamber is pleased to introduce its 2023-24 Ambassadors. Ambassadors are a highly visible, prestigious group of volunteers who give their time to provide a crucial link between the Chamber its members, and the community. Our ambassadors are passionate about the Chamber, and their involvement not only benefits our organization, but their participation helps their own business exposure as well. Ambassadors are an essential front-line representative of the Hartselle Area Chamber of Commerce at public and Chamber-sponsored events and help to ensure that all members receive the maximum benefit from their investment. They enjoy the rewards of making new contacts, strengthening relationships, and accessing a wealth of information and resources that lead the way to greatly enhancing any business or organization’s success.
Our 2023 Chamber Ambassadors are:
• Jamie Bates (President) – Jamie Bates and Associates, Inc.
• Nikki Tallent (Immediate Past President) – Habitat for Humanity of Morgan County
• Laura Watson (Secretary) – Hartselle Utilities
• Brittany Powell – PeckGlasgow Agency, Inc.
• Ginger Cataline –Daystar ChurchHartselle Campus
• Dewayne Eddy –
LPL Financial
• Dan Odle – The Piedmont Group
• Anna Baker – Hartselle Enquirer
• Kristie Berry – Boxwood Roofing and Restoration
• Steven Bumpers – Bumpers Excavation Services LLC
• Nancy Busby Solberg – 209 Railroad St. SW Yard Sale
• Jade Chowning – MeritHouse Realty
• Courtney Hamm – Sonoco Reels & Plugs
• Annette Dean – Cattle Farmer
• Brandon Evans – Cullman RegionalHartselle Health Park
• Stephanie Farris – McCutcheon Dental
• Malinda Hall – Peoples Bank of Alabama
• Sandy Johnson – Hartselle Historical Society
• March 21 – W.E.L.L. (Women Engaging in Leadership & Learning)
• April 21 – Chamber 101
• April 28 – Annual Meeting & Awards Gala
For more information and to register for upcoming events, visit hartsellechamber.com/ events/calendar
• Kimberly Lewis – Angel Keepers
• Laura Miller – Hartselle Historical Society
• Larry Murphree – Ambassador Emeritus
• Dena Nagel – Journeys by Design Travel & Tours LLC
• Christina Sirten – Main Street Mortgage, Inc.
• Glenn Stokes – J.T. Ray Company
• Ashley Thompson – Thompson Homes
• Teri Watson – MarMac Real Estate
• Jennifer Williams – Kiwanis Club of Hartselle
• Nathan Whitfield – Whitfield Family Practice LLC
• Brent Gosnell – Redeeming Solutions
• Bettye English – Hartselle Historical Society
More than 2,000 6-12th grade students and their parents gathered at Hartselle High School Jan. 30 for the second annual Finding Your Future event. Businesses from across North Alabama, as well as schools, armed forces representatives and other career field organizations were present with booths for attendees to gather information as they begin to consider their future after graduation.
Photos by Jodi Hyde
1. Grace Drake, Austin Vest, Cade Pressley, Brody Tapscott and Aaron Barley
2. April Wills, Esther Hong, Isabella Featherstone and Lucian Demike
3. Daxton Maze and Dr. Brian Clayton
4. Eleanor Snyder and Marilynn Snyder
5. Chief Justin Barley, Lt. Linda Fox, Officer Joseph Harris and Lt. Alan Dearmond
6. Amelia Featherstone and Eli Jett
7. Ella Talavera, Ella Grace Putman, Bella Eubanks and Kyla Blackwood
8. Maisie Waynick and Lynne Shelton
9. Crystal Jones and Lindsay Gosnell
10. Tucker Stewart and Margaret Ann Prayter
11. Laura Watson, Bo Cowart, Carter Korda, Blake McNutt, Grace McNutt, Jesi Chittam and Camryn Hyde
12. Jesi Chittam
13. Leslie Phillips and Eli Moore
14. Lainey Weaver and Cooper lang
15. Cory Wilbanks, Lauren Ferguson, Rachel Groves and Beth Stough
16. Avie Broom and Caroline Sparks
17. Jake Hanes, Brody Leathers, Dalton Green, Kyle Burden, Cole Marter, Grant Glasscock, Kate Glasscock and Meredith Glasscock
18. Sarah Ellen Anders and Donna Legg Battles
19. Maghan Seagraves, Sydney Button, MacKenzie Cottingham and Nick Brooks
20. Shaun Atkins and Tad Montgomery
Living in Hartselle is special. Great schools, charming city, friendly neighbors – and healthcare you can trust. Since we broke ground at Hartselle Health Park in 2020, we’ve invested in leading physicians, modern facilities, and important services like imaging and urgent care. Taking care of you and your family is a privilege, and that’s why we bring healthcare to you
Urgent Care · Physician Specialists · Imaging
Pediatrics · Primary Care · Occupational Health
S u r g i c a l E x c e l l e n c e .
The da Vinci Robotic Surgical System offers surgeons enhanced visualization and precision control. This advanced technology available at Decatur Morgan Hospital provides surgeons and patients with an additional choice for minimally invasive surgical procedures. Talk to your doctor today about your surgical options.
Close to You. Close to Home.
decaturmorganhospital.net
