Alabama NewsCenter August/September

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ALABAMA NEWSCENTER REPORTS...

ALABAMA POWER HAS A NEW LOOK Alabama Power unveiled a new look, along with its parent company, Southern Company.

The new look follows Southern Company’s recent merger with Atlanta-based AGL Resources, which has been renamed Southern Company Gas. The merger expands the Southern Company system to more than 9 million customers and operations in 18 states.

It’s the first design change in more than 20 years for both Alabama Power and Southern Company. It is the result of a research process that included employees, company leaders and other stakeholders.

“After much consideration and study, we have decided to create a new brand mark that unifies the full portfolio of companies,” said Mark Crosswhite, Alabama Power chairman, president and CEO. Crosswhite also serves as a member of Southern Company’s management council.

He emphasized that Alabama Power, which has served Ala-

bamians and the state for 110 years, is not changing its name. The company’s logo, however, has been modernized to better reflect the more diverse companies within the Southern Company family.

In addition to the merger with the newly renamed Southern Company Gas, Southern Company recently acquired PowerSecure, a company that provides energy technologies and services to electric utilities and their large industrial, commercial, institutional and municipal customers. Southern Company also announced Sunday a strategic venture with Kinder Morgan, Inc. through which Southern Company will acquire a 50 percent equity interest in the Southern Natural Gas pipeline system.

The new look for Alabama Power and for Southern Company will be rolled out over the next few months.

ALABAMA BUSINESS DOLLARS ROLLING IN FOR RETURN OF UAB FOOTBALL Trailblazers are helping the Blazers come back better, stronger than ever.

By Wayne Hester In early December of 2014, UAB shut down its football program.

It wasn’t a popular move, to say the least.

Students protested, fans wailed, coaches and players grieved.

And the Birmingham community, which had shown little interest in Blazer football before, realized it had lost something good.

There was such an outcry that UAB President Ray Watts, who had announced the program’s demise, came back six months later and announced that it was coming back – if the community would get behind it and pledge donations to make it a first-class operation.

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Now, a little more than a year later, Athletics Director Mark Ingram told Alabama News Center, “We are making great progress in terms of fundraising.”

Gifts and pledges are coming in for a 46,000-square-foot foot-

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ball operations center.

The center will include offices for coaches, meeting rooms, locker rooms, weight rooms, film rooms, a training room and nutrition room.

“We’re planning for success,” Ingram said.

Legacy Federal Credit Union is donating $4.2 million – the largest sponsorship in UAB athletics history – for the operations center and an open-air pavilion. The donation will give Legacy naming rights for 20 years.

Legacy was founded by a group of UAB employees to serve faculty, staff, students and the community.

“Since UAB had the vision to charter us, and is the largest employer and most dynamic economic driver in the state, we believe an investment in UAB will yield returns for Legacy members and the entire community,” President and CEO Joe McGee said.

Last month, retired businessman and Blazer fan Jimmy Filler made a $1 million donation for the operations building.

“UAB football is good for the city of Birmingham and is good for UAB,” Filler said. “A strong UAB means a strong Birmingham, and football is an important component in declaring that message.”

Hatton Smith, CEO emeritus of Royal Cup Inc., is chairman of

a fundraising task force for new facilities.

“We will need $21 million for the football operations center,” Smith said. “There will be two fields initially and a covered pavilion” so the Blazers can practice in inclement weather.

Construction should begin in late August and be finished June 2017, a couple of months before UAB begins playing football again.

Smith said he took on the task of raising money because “I believe in our city, and abolition of football was not good for our city.”

Several large donations have been made in support of football, including $500,000 each from Protective Life, Alabama Power, Medical Properties Trust, Mike Thompson of Thompson Tractor and Harold W. Ripps of Rime Capital Account Inc. The Birmingham City Council, which previously paid $250,000 for UAB football tickets, last year approved a resolution pledging to commit $500,000 a year for tickets, if UAB football returns.

Smith sets high goals. He is hopeful and optimistic that a 45,000-seat stadium will be built in Uptown, across the street from the Westin Hotel, to host not only UAB but also the Magic City Classic, Birmingham Bowl and the 2021 World Games.

He estimates a stadium would cost about $150 million.

BIRMINGHAM’S BATMAN STILL CHANGING LIVES 31 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH Willie J. Perry Foundation gives away two cars to recipients in need of Wheels of Change.

By Solomon Crenshaw Jr. Bianca Donerson rode the No. 8 bus to Old Car Heaven Wednesday night, carrying a stroller, car seat, diaper bag and her 1-year-old son.

When the Mobile native left for her Hoover home, she was driving a 2002 Nissan Xterra, courtesy of the Willie J. Perry Foundation’s Wheels of Change car giveaway.

The foundation celebrated Willie Perry Day in conjunction with Secret Stages, the two-day walking music festival. But the theme of this night was secrets revealed as Donerson’s ride was one of three cars going to new homes.

The other vehicles were a second car that went to a single father of two, and the Rescue Ship Batmobile, which is going back to the family of the man known as Birmingham’s Batman because of his selfless acts of assistance to stranded motorists and others.

Donerson was at a loss for words when she stood beside her vehicle following the announcement.

“I am so excited,” she said. “I just feel so blessed right now.”

The 26-year-old said she and her son, Xavier, have been in the Birmingham area the past five months, living first in shelters before moving into an apartment. They moved to Birmingham so Xavier could get better treatment for biliary atresia, a rare disease of the liver and bile ducts that occurs in infants.

“I’m overwhelmed,” Donerson continued. “God knows I needed this.”

Barry Jefferson was the only man among the six finalists. He said he wasn’t disappointed when he didn’t win the Xterra.

“I kind of felt that’s what Willie would have wanted,” he said. “I know I’m going through a lot but I figured there were some women

who needed it more than I did.”

Jefferson had not had a very happy birthday on Wednesday. The 30-year-old suffered with a headache and chills that left him in bed much of the day as he saved his strength to come to the event.

While outwardly subdued, he was excited when his name was Continued on next page

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ALABAMA NEWSCENTER REPORTS... called for the second car – a 2003 Dodge Durango.

“I wasn’t expecting them to have a second car,” he said. “I want to show more excitement but I’ve got the worst headache in the world right now. But I’m so excited because I’ve got two kids that I’m raising by myself.”

The Xterra was donated by Allen Mann, who received it from her father, Dr. Peter Bunting. She said she married into a family of two children and quickly had a third child so a larger vehicle was needed.

Mann donated the car because her father instilled a sense of community as she was growing up.

“Money is not something to hold onto,” she said. “It’s something to give away. It stuck with me.”

The Durango was donated by the Halfway To Prosperity Center, another nonprofit. A member of the Wheels of Change selection

committee told a friend with Halfway that she wished two cars could be given away since the top two contenders were so deserving.

The souped-up 1971 Ford Thunderbird that Perry drove until his death in January 1985 had wound up in the hands of the city of Birmingham. It had fallen into disrepair and eventually wound up at Old Car Heaven.

An attorney in the city’s legal department alerted Marquetta Hill-King, the foundation’s executive director and daughter of “Birmingham’s Batman,” that the keys to the car would be turned over at Wednesday’s event. Some forms must yet be signed before possession returns to her family.

The restoration and return of the car to Perry’s family are goals of the Rescue the Rescue Ship campaign that began in 2009. That effort stalled and resumed about three years ago. The campaign also is funding a documentary on Perry.

MAKE IT SEW

involved in a community art project. Then the story of the Alabama’s Gee’s Bend quilters went mainstream and Taylor’s love for quilting, sewing and textiles matured into what it is today.

“The joy I feel coming to Bib & Tucker, it’s something that is deep inside each of us, this nostalgia,” she said. “It’s like sitting around with a bunch of grandmothers. We talk about politics and religion and all the things you’re not supposed to talk about in polite society. We do it anyway, while creating beautiful and functional art.”

Members of the Bib & Tucker Sew Up attend on Tuesday mornings and stitch their dreams and vision into tangible art. It was easy to imagine the legacies these grandmothers are knitting lasting for generations upon generations.

“When we started, we made 10 quilts and donated them to the Woodlawn YMCA shelter,” Taylor said. “We taught the women how to make quilts, and by the 10th quilt most of them were proficient. The thing that unifies us is that everyone has a passion for sewing and quilting.”

Next time you seek warmth at night, remember the heart, soul and gentle touch that went into the making of your quilt. To feel warm inside, remember your grandmother or the authenticity of those gathered at the Bib & Tucker Sew Up. To learn more, donate or volunteer, visit http://www.bibandtuckersewop.org

Lillis Taylor is threading an Alabama Bright Light with Bib & Tucker

By Karim Shamsi-Basha My grandmother sewed blankets, quilts, shirts, dresses and pants. (Well, let’s not talk about the pants – the source of my seventh-grade humiliation and a scar I carry in adulthood.)

Then there were the quilts.

My goodness! Her’s were a work of art!

Quilting must be a requirement when you enter that golden age.

When you love on your grandbabies and feed them chocolate for breakfast, but give them back to their parents when you’re tired.

Lillis Taylor isn’t a grandmother or in her golden years, but she gets to feed on the sweetness of grandmothers and bask in their warmth as if it was a quilt.

Taylor leads the mission of Bib & Tucker Sew Up in Woodlawn.

Upon entering a cheery and light-filled room, I was greeted by a few grandmothers sitting around a table and making quilts. How did I know they were grandmothers? It says so, in the soft wrinkles on their fingers cutting small squares of material and sewing them together. In their smiles, in the way their eyes are gentle when they look up, and in the stories (because Southern ladies don’t gossip) that they share.

“Bib & Tucker is British slang for a woman’s finest clothes,” Taylor explained. “Back in the day, a woman would wear the same blouse and the skirt, but would embroider bibs and tuckers on them to make them fancier.”

Bib & Tucker Sew Up helps the community display its finest through sewing.

“We have the mission of cultivating skills for those who sew or want to sew, ages 9 to 99,” Taylor said. “Everyone can be a teacher or a student. We also have a vision of creating a cottage industry of textile and manufacturing here in Birmingham.”

Taylor grew up surrounded by her grandmother’s quilts. She worked hard to learn how to sew, and took it seriously in 2009 when AlabamaNewsCenter.com

Alabama Bright Lights captures the stories, through words, pictures and video, of some of our state’s brightest lights who are working to make Alabama an even better place to live, work, and play. Award winning journalist Karim Shamsi-Basha tells their inspiring stories. Email him comments, as well as suggestions on people to profile, at karimshamsibasha@gmail.com

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ALABAMA MAKERS

Redmont Distilling Co., Birmingham The Makers: Jonathan Guidry, Jake Hendon and Stephen Watts

Redmont Distilling is an Alabama Maker bringing a new spirit (or two) to Birmingham Three college friends decide to take a different path from the craft beer craze to concoct something new.

By Michael Tomberlin

Making hooch in the ‘Ham? It might have sounded like an impossible idea a decade ago. But the rebirth of the Magic City, one could argue, has been partially fueled by beer. Craft breweries such as Good People Brewing Co., Avondale Brewing Co. and Cahaba Brewing Co. are part of a youthful, fresh vibe that is sparking everything from food to entrepreneurship.

So if you can make beer in Birmingham, why not booze?

That was what Stephen Watts, Jake Hendon and Jonathan Guidry asked when the three college friends started exploring an idea of brewing beer themselves.

“We started with brewing beer … about four or five years ago.

We enjoyed drinking the beer … but at the end of the day we enjoyed a good cocktail,” Guidry said. “So we were like, ‘Well, you know, there are breweries coming up in Birmingham. Why don’t we try to do something a little bit different?’”

Doing so meant the trio had to learn about distilling alcohol, which they did by visiting distilleries, reading books and becoming students of spirits.

“There is so much to learn,” Watts said. “There is not an easy guide to learning how to become a distiller.”

Hendon said the education including learning how to operate a still and then shifted to what mix of grains to use in the mash to produce the alcohol.

Redmont Distilling ended up settling on 100 percent corn and decided to produce vodka and gin as its first products.

Hendon said going with clear spirits is a logical first step for a

new distillery because they don’t require any special aging or processing. Vodka, he said, is the easiest to make and Redmont Vodka was the first product. Gin, which is made from vodka with the addition of botanicals in an additional distilling process, was the logical second choice.

The Alabama Cotton Gin is not just a cute name: cotton is one of the botanicals used in the distilling of gin.

Redmont does plan to add other liquors in the future. Hendon said they are exploring flavored vodkas, rum and whiskey.

For now, Watts said the growth plan calls for a tasting room and opening the THE PRODUCT: distillery for tours.

Redmont Vodka and Like the craft beer industry, the Alabama Cotton Gin. small-but-growing community of disTAKE HOME: tillers in Alabama is supportive of each A bottle (750 milliliters) of other and eager to help one another Redmont Vodka ($27.99) grow and avoid duplicating mistakes, and of Alabama Cotton Gin ($32.99) can be found in ABC Watts said.

Stores and retailers Watts said they are even looking at throughout the state. forming an Alabama distillers’ guild to Redmont Distilling Co. formalize the cooperation and approach www.redmontdistilling.com to shared issues they face.

Alabama Makers explores the artisans, crafts people, carpenters, cooks, bakers, blacksmiths, designers and others making original and extraordinary items in our state. If you know an Alabama Maker, let us know at alnewscenter@outlook.com.

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