June B-Metro

Close to Home

For Alabama Ssymphony Orchestra Music Director, Carlos Izcaray, the crisis in Venezuela is very personal

Changed Lives 75 Years of Jimmie Hale Mission

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JUNE 2019 $4.99

Top Women Doctors Brät Brot Is Back

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$4.99 US

Metro Birmingham Living

DISPLAY UNTIL JULY 10, 2019

Alabama Symphony Orchestra Music Director Carlos Izcaray

Some super heroes grow up to be UAB doctors.

Congratulations to the more than 70 UAB Medicine doctors who have been voted Top Women in Medicine. Your commitment to your profession, your peers and your patients, is second-to-none. For that, we are all extremely proud.

uabmedicine.org

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E V E R Y T H I N G B U T W A T E R + L I L LY P U L I T Z E R + S U R L A T A B L E + T R A D E R J O E ' S + W E S T E L M N O W O P E N : M O B L E Y & S O N S + M O L LY G R E E N + T E M P U R - P E D I C + U LT A B E A U T Y T H E W O O D H O U S E D AY S P A + B A T H A N D B O D Y W O R K S COMING SOON: REI + LOVESAC

Let Our Family Care for Yours.

We are grateful to our community of women physicians, devoted to serving patients across central Alabama.

From primary care and cardiology to neurology and dermatology, Brookwood Baptist Health Primary & Speciality Care Network’s team of women physicians is dedicated to providing compassionate, comprehensive care to women of all ages.

Primary Care BBH Primary Care Network – Walker • Anitra Batie, MD • Ivana Kajdos, MD BBH Primary Care Network - Hoover • Maria Bennett, MD • Allyson Gilstrap, MD BBH Primary Care Network - Talladega • Chona Huang, MD • Anne Davis, MD BBH Primary Care Network - Gardendale • Sharon Gray, MD

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INTRODUCING

This Year’s Honorees Include: Floyd Alexander Vickie Ashford Bonnie Atchison Randy Betsch Carol Braithwaite Lynn Campisi Peggy Clarke Linda Coleman-Madison Brian Copes Deborah Dicksinon-Crawford Mike Dunnavant Emma T. Ford Ephriams Eric Essix Cathy Friedman Margie Gilbert Henry “Gip” Gipson Janet Graham Mayor Kenneth Gulley Todd Harvey Benga Harrison Kathie Hiers Katherine Houston Governor Kay Ivey Phillip Jackson Dr. Lonnie Johnson

Ray Jordan Louis Josof Dr. Helen Kim Phyllis McCombs Anne Miller Brett Oates Gus Pappas Ret. Rep. George Perdue Dr. Van A. Phillips Jimmy Rane Will Ratliff Kay Reed Janice Rogers Jody Sharp Jane Shirah David Silverstein Annette Springer Jay St.Clair Jacqui Sweet Melva Tate Larry Thornton Tim Tingle Eddie Tullis Lemar Washington Phyllis Weinstein

Join us in celebrating those who have created industry, advocated for the most vulnerable populations and educated our future!

Awards Dinner at The Club Benefiting Positive Maturity, Inc.

Thursday, July 25, 2019 6 to 9 p.m.

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the

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EDITORIAL

Joe O’Donnell Editor/Publisher joe@b-metro.com

Robin Colter Creative Director robin@b-metro.com

Rosalind Fournier Associate Editor

ros@b-metro.com

ADVERTISING/MARKETING Joni Ayers Marketing Specialist joni@b-metro.com

Amy Tucker Marketing Specialist amy@b-metro.com

Elizabeth O’Donnell Accounting elizabeth@b-metro.com

Contributing Writers Javacia Bowser, Lee Ann Brown, Micah Cargo, Tom Gordon, Angela Karen, Joey Kennedy, Brett Levine, Lindsey Osborne, Cody Owens, Phillip Ratliff, Luke Robinson, Max Rykov

Contributing Photographers Billy Brown, Edward Badham, Marc Bondarenko, Cameron Carnes, Liesa Cole, Eric Dejuan, Larry O. Gay, Beau Gustafson, Angela Karen, Nik Layman, Jaysen Michael, Alison Miksch, Karim Shamsi-Basha, Jerry Siegel, Chuck St. John

CHILDREN A M A Z E U S E V E R Y D AY

and at Children’s of Alabama, we want to see every child grow up and live to their fullest potential.

That’s why we recruit, train and retain the most inquiring minds, the most skilled hands and the most compassionate hearts in pediatric medicine.

1 6 0 0 7 T H AV E N U E S O U T H B I R M I N G H A M , A L 3 5 2 3 3 (205) 638-9100

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ChildrensAL.org

B–Metro is published monthly by Fergus Media LLC 1314 Cobb Lane South Birmingham, AL 35205 (205) 202-4182 Printed by American Printing Co., Birmingham, AL

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METRO

contents JUNE 19

Summer fun is only a car ride away!

Visit South Walton.

Volume 10 Number 8

46. Close to Home

For Alabama Symphony music director Carlos Izcaray, the crisis in Venezuela is a very personal matter.

Written by Tom Gordon Photography by Beau Gustafson

52. Your Beach Neighborhood Explore the unique personality, architecture and energy of 30-A’s beach communities, from Miramar to Rosemary Beach.

Metro Birmingham Living

Written by Joe O’Donnell

62. Changed Lives

The Jimmie Hale Mission has been changing lives for the better for 75 years.

68. The Gift

Close to Home

O’Neal Industries gave the largest single gift in UAB’s history, $30 million to enhance cancer care and research.

For Alabama Ssymphony Orchestra Music Director, Carlos Izcaray, the crisis in Venezuela is very personal

77. Top Women Doctors

Our annual list of the top female doctors in the region.

Changed Lives

75 Years of Jimmie Hale Mission JUNE 2019 $4.99

SPECIAL SECTION 2800 Cahaba Village Plz, Birmingham, AL 35243

(205) 201-7400

72. Birmingham Strong Companies that care about community and growth.

Proud Partner of the Auburn Tigers

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ASO Music Director, Carlos Izcaray.

Photo by Beau Gustafosn. Design by Robin Colter.

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Written by Brett Levine; Produced by Mindi Shapiro Photography by Alison Miksch; Styling by Lily Plauché

Old Edwards Inn and Spa offers a retreat as smooth and serene as a Carolina mountain sunset.

www.diamondsdirect.com

Proud Partner of the Alabama Crimson Tide

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Understanding the nuances of the not-so-humble potato chip.

58. Retreat to the Mountains

JUN $4.99 US

42. Bag ’em Up

cover

What’s new on Alabama’s gulf coast.

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Written by Rosalind Fournier Photography by Edward Badham

JUNE

55. Alabama’s Gulf

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Nora and Taylor Banks turned a newly remodeled Bluff Park home into their personal haven.

Top Women Doctors BrätBrot Is Back

www.b-metro.com

38. Making the Move

DISPLAY UNTIL JULY 10, 2019

Alabama Symphony Orchestra Music Director Carlos Izcaray

METRO

departments JUNE

14. Chronicle by Joe O’Donnell 16. Currents: Food, art, fun, parties you missed, things you should know 28. Personal Space: Brittany McNaughton, owner of Forecast Salon 30. Bleacher Seat by Luke Robinson 32. The Glamorous Life by Lee Ann Brown 34. B’ham to the Max by Max Rykov 36. B-Yourself by Angela Karen 88. B—Curious by Joey Kennedy

Brät Brot is Back! Page18 Photos by Beau Gustafson

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OurLoveStory

THE LOVE STORY OF ABBEY LEMONS AND FRANKIE KALDI

Pharmacists in love could be the theme of the love story of Abbey Lemons and Frankie Kaldi. Both Frankie and Abbey are pharmacists (although Frankie just graduated last month) and both worked together at Walgreen’s when Abbey was a pharmacist and Frankie a pharmacy intern. That’s where they met. And that’s where Frankie popped the question.

He put together an elaborate plan and proposed to Abbey right there in Walgreen’s with a fake pill bottle full of nerd candies with a beautiful diamond on top. The label on the pill bottle was a pretend heart medication since Abbey had set Frankie’s “heart aflutter.”

“I will never forget the moment on October 25, 2018 when I looked into that pill bottle and saw the ring of my dreams sparkling beautifully at the top! It was such a special moment to become engaged at the very place we met alongside co-workers who have lived our jour-

ney with us from the beginning.”

Frankie and Abbey had spent some time shopping for just the right ring. “Diamonds Direct is a place like no other. They truly went above and beyond for us. We are grateful that Frankie knew exactly what he was buying because he had the opportunity to look closely at various stones before placing my stone in the perfect setting,” Abbey says.

“We have also enjoyed the experience of shopping for wedding bands together at Diamonds Direct. They are so accommodating and make you feel like family, yet at the same time are professional and so knowledgeable about diamonds. I stop in frequently to get my ring cleaned and always leave with it sparkling so much that it catches other people’s eyes.”

The couple were married on May 17. “We cannot wait to live out our journey as Dr. and Dr. Kaldi,” Abbey says.

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Love Story is Presented by Diamonds Direct. For more info on how you can be featured in Love Story, check out Diamonds Direct-Birmingham on Facebook.

Chronicle

EDITOR’S NOTES

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hen a national or international tragedy turns very personal, the results can be deeply troubling. That’s the case with Alabama Symphony conductor Carlos Izcaray, a native of Venezuela whose homeland is falling apart.

Tom Gordon interviewed Izcaray and delved deeply into the difficulties faced by a man at a distance from a troubled homeland.

“Carlos Izcaray likes batons. When he wields one as music director of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, it is more like a wand because of the magical sounds it brings forth from the ASO’s assembled musicians.

“These days, Izcaray wishes his wand could bring forth a magical transformation—economic, political, social and nutritional—in the country of his birth, Venezuela. Ask him about Venezuela, and he will talk of “the walking dead,” death by “political leukemia,’’ or the wasted world of Mad Max.” Read the story beginning on page 46.

The humble potato chip moves to its rightful place at the center of the plate. From chocolate and potato chip cookies to a barbecue egg salad sandwich, chips get the star billing they have always deserved.

“Potato Chips: Bag ’em Up” is a great story put together by Mindy and Brett Levine with food styling by Lily Plauché and photography by Alison Miksch. If you thought the Golden Flake factory tour was fun as a kid, wait until you see these great photos and recipes.

Starting on page 62, we take a look inside the history of the Jimmie Hale Mission, which celebrated its 75th anniversary this year.

Through the vintage photos and the historical statistics, you can get a good sense of what this organization has meant over the decades to Birminghamians in need of a changed life and heart.

5.19.19 - 9.2.19 Presented by

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Currents WHAT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW IN THE CITY

06//19

HEAR ME OUT

rhythmic development and understanding of the rudiments of his chosen instrument. A naturally gifted player, by the time he was 12 he would find himself manning the kit as part of the staff DAVE CRENSHAW band for his local congregation at 6th Avenue Baptist Church, or some people, music just runs in their blood. And for where he would start off playing gospel music before slowly belocal drummer Dave Crenshaw, it’s more than just an old ginning his ascent into the realm of professional musicianship. saying. The product of a long line of accomplished musi- Gradually being introduced to the world of jazz as a teenager, he cians running back generations here in Alabama on both sides would quickly make his way into the company of local legends like of his family— including noted blues musician Adolphus Bell— Frank “Doc” Adams and Cleve Eaton, learning the language of Crenshaw has proven himself a worthy successor to the Crenshaw one of Birmingham’s greatest musical exports at the feet of some name, while also cutting his own distinct path as one of the best of the best players around, honing his skills in a genre that would percussionists in Birmingham. The son of legendary Ramsay High prove to be a lifelong inspiration. A self-professed “band geek” School marching band director Ed Crenshaw, from a very early in junior high and high school, who could always be found with age he was taught about not only the fundamentals of music-mak- a pair of drumsticks or keyboard in his hands, his love of classic ing, but also how to conduct himself in a professional manner as and alternative rock would increasingly find its way into his sonic both a player and person, providing invaluable life lessons that lexicon, leading him to play in bands like Distorted Harmonies would pay big dividends on stages around the country and world before leaving to go to college at Lawson State, followed by stints with some of today’s most well-known artists. Having recorded or at summer programs at the Berklee College of Music. performed with everyone from Maroon 5’s PJ Morton, to Peabo Spending his early post-college days networking with muBryson, CeeLo Green, Snoop Dogg, and the B.B. King All-Star sicians from around the country doing session work in studios everywhere from Atlanta to Los Angeles, Crenshaw’s nascent career would begin to take off from there, eventually finding him in the orbits of people like Southern rap icon Ludacris and hit producers like Bryan-Michael Cox, among other notable musicians. Having gained entry into the world of big name artists by the mid-2000s, professional touring wouldn’t be too far behind, culminating in his first major headlining excursion with net-soul star Maxwell in 2010— an influential relationship that would see him performing alongside some of the most accomplished players in the business over the course of the next five years.

Yet despite being out on the road, he would still maintain a strong connection to both his city and state, joining up with folks like the Alabama Blues Project to help preserve Alabama music history, while also collaborating with other musicians from around Birmingham. “Alabama is Dave Crenshaw definitely a good place to be,” he says today, “Because I feel Photo by Rob Hereth like in the major cities it’s become too commercialized. And me being from Alabama, and being here in Birmingham, Band, Crenshaw has helped bring a spotlight to the local music kind of keeps me grounded, keeps me organic and authentic to community in a diverse array of styles and settings, making him a the art form.” Adding, “I look at myself as someone making a unique presence here in the Magic City. And whether he’s playing path for the generation that’s behind me. shows at Madison Square Garden, covering classic albums with And that’s a great thing for both them and us as a city. ReBlack Jacket Symphony, or doing pick-up gigs around town play- cently getting a Grammy nod for his work on PJ Morton’s Gumbo ing reggae and jazz, he’s always tried to stay humble and true to his Unplugged live album, which won the 2019 award for Best Tradiroots, providing a role model for younger musicians to look up to. tional R&B Performance for the song “How Deep Is Your Love,” Having gotten his start at just 5 years old playing cello, Cren- it would be easy to lose sight of his musical roots. “I’m still the shaw soon moved to drums after falling under the tutelage of same guy,” he says laughingly. But with a resume like that there’s music teacher Darrell Curry, who would play a crucial role in his no telling where he may go from here.

WITH LEE SHOOK

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BIRMINGHAM LEGION FC

Watching Birmingham Legion FC soccer is one of our new favorite activities! For just $15 you can get up close to the action and see some amazing professional game play. The season goes through October, but why wait?

We highly recommend hanging out with the Magic City Brigade as they chant, cheer, and get the crowd hyped! The games are held on UAB’s campus and offer up a stunning view of the skyline! Don’t miss out on the fun. Show up and Hammer Down!

ZOO BREWS We are big fans on the Birmingham Zoo and this is one of their best events of the year! On Saturday, June 22 from 5:30-8:30pm you can enjoy a wonderful evening sipping on craft beer while exploring the Zoo. There will be over 15 different breweries represented!

Entertainment will include lawn games, a DJ, animal greetings, train rides, and more!

Full Moon BBQ will be onsite to fill your stomach as you fill up your glass! I guess you could say that we’re WILD about this event!

ZYP BIKES:

By now, most of you are familiar with REV Birmingham’s Zyp Bikeshare initiative. What you may not realize is that these bikes are both fun AND useful! We have had memberships since before day one. (Russell proudly holds the 2nd membership that was issued) Throughout the year we use these bikes to travel between events and save on parking.

They are also great during Sidewalk Film Festival! The electric ones zyp you to 16mph with ease, so they make exploring Birmingham a blast! This is our favorite mode of Bham transportation!

MAGIC

Russell & Amber m for June in the ‘Ha

CITY CON

We almost literally stumbled upon this event during its first year. Now, Magic City Con is in it 5th year and consists of three days of pop-culture, sci-fi, fantasy, and gaming! This is a fantastic event for the entire family and cosplay in encouraged! Last year there was a Jedi Academy for the kids. There will be plenty of vendors selling cool art and nerdy gifts from Mario to Game of Thrones and everything in between! We’ve even spotted vehicles from films like Jurassic Park and Ghostbusters! (Did someone say “Delorean?”) The event is hosted at the Hyatt Regency Wynfrey by the Galleria. Each year Magic City Con also brings in cool celebrity speakers and panelists. No matter your fandom of choice, this event will give you a smile that’d put the Joker to shame!

THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN

July 4th in Birmingham wouldn’t be the same without Thunder on the Mountain! We have so many great memories of watching fireworks explode around Vulcan! This year the show begins at 9pm and Vulcan is now equipped with the ability to put on a colorful light show along with the pyrotechnics! Deciding on the best vantage point is always key!

Some favorite spots of ours include Downtown Homewood, areas in Southside, and the UAB Green! The Redmont and The Elyton also offer up great views! As the Birmingham skyline is illuminated you are sure to make some lasting memories!

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BRÄT BROT 2.0 The cool beer garden concept reopens with expanded offerings.

Written by Joe O’Donnell • Photography by Beau Gustafson

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or David Carrigan the concept of Brät Brot started with the 6th Avenue South building itself. Once Libby Rich’s Plant Odyssey store, the building with its stonework, airy interior and greenhouse spaces came together in Carrigan’s mind as the perfect setting for an authentic German beer garden.

So that’s what he created, opening Brät Brot last spring.

After a temporary shutdown and time spent re-thinking the concept, the restaurant re-opened this spring with expanded menu and bar offerings, as well as changes to the operational style of the restaurant.

Judging by the crowds, Brät Brot version 2.0 is a hit for Carrigan, who also owns the popular Carrigan’s Public House on Morris Avenue, as well as landscaping and stone masonry businesses.

Trained in graphic design and brought up in the strong work ethic of the construction business, Carrigan brings a creative sensibility and a belief in research and visioning to his projects. That was certainly the case with BratBrot, which translated from the German means meat and bread.

“Brät Brot was space driven and location driven with a feel and vibe that came out of the vision I had for it in my head,” B-METRO.COM

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Carrigan says. He loves the Southside and Highland Park areas of the city, having lived there as a student.

“We did some crazy research and deep dives into German culture and beer gardens to really try to dial the concept into the right thing for this area,” he says.

In the first iteration, while popular, the Carrigan team felt that they had to retool the concept to better fit Birmingham.

“We made some decisions that we thought were good ideas that just didn’t work. So being able to realize that those weren’t working and hit the pause button was extremely beneficial,” he says.

As was the substantial feedback Carrigan 20

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received through surveys of customers.

“We got over 1,800 survey responses and we read through every single one of them.”

The results, Carrigan says, showed the concept was too limited for the size of the building and the size of the market.

They solved that problem by expanding the food offerings and creating the full bar, thought there is still an emphasis on German beer. Even the seating concept was rearranged to create more tables and wait staff was added to enhance service.

And the restaurant became a 21 and older facility. They even added a Friday latenight brunch “It’s really a combination of refining interior space, broadening the menu

and broadening the drink selections, and then operationally just managing the flow better.”

The new Brät Brot is an exciting place to spend an evening. Visually the high ceilings, comfortable seating and outdoor spaces create an experience unlike anything in the city.

New executive chef Angela Schmidt, most recently of El ZunZun, has broadened the menu to include items like Currywurst, sliced bratwurst over garten fries, curry ketchup, and garlic dijon mayo. Carrigan sees the strength of combining the German core of the cuisine while adding American, German-Jewish deli and Southern comfort foods to enhance the menu and the experience.

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currents

WASABI JUAN’S

DIVE IN WITH BEAU GUSTAFSON

Is it a burrito? Is it Sushi? Yes!

It seems like a strange idea at first but when I tasted the burrito I was instantly a fan. Where else can you get a Tropical Tuna Burrito, 4:20 nacho’s, Ceviche Taco’s and many other taste delights? Lighter and fresher than a normal burrito, the sushi is complimented with rice wrappers. Wasabi Juan’s has long been a favorite of mine and my son Darby Jack. Luis and Barby Toro opened the first Wasabi Juan’s in Avondale in 2014 with their special fusion of Mexican food and sushi. They have since moved the Avondale restaurant to the Battery on 2nd Ave North and 22nd Street. They also have a location on 280 and in South Beach in Florida as well as a food truck. Wasabi Juan’s creates a very satisfying experience so dive in and enjoy!

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the PARTY you missed The 12th Annual Record Store Day was celebrated locally at Seasick Records by all who love vinyl and the indie culture of a neighborhood record store. With performances by John Paul White and sets by an array of local DJs, this Record Day sent all music lovers home happy.

Photos by Jaysen Michael.

SPECIAL PROMOTION

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currents

the PARTY you missed Tropicaba Fest was held at both Cahaba Brewing and Tropicaleo in Avondale, featuring great Puerto Rican food and music.

Photos by Jaysen Michael.

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G l eG n l eCno vCeo v e

by Old Edwards

by Old Edwards

Good. Clean. Fun.

A New way of life is emerging in the North Carolina Mountains.

It’s a lifestyle that is changing the way people live and play around the world. And Old Edwards is bringing it to the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau. Amid pristine national forestland and fertile valleys, a generational wellness community is coming to life with experiences as rich and storied as the land itself.

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A private community with abundant recreation amenities and organic community gardens.

TALK

personal

space B

A ONE-ON-ONE CONVERSATION WITH BRITTANY MCNAUGHTON, CO-OWNER OF FORECAST SALON IN HOMEWOOD

rittany McNaughton has been a stylist since 2010. Why did she begin on that career path? “A bad experience lead me to begin styling and cutting my own hair which then led me to begin doing the same for friends and family.”

From those roots, her experience grew as did the satisfaction of “giving someone that ‘feel good’ feeling.”

Family, both in the salon and at home, has always been in-

credibly important in her life. In fact, her role models were her grandparents. “Nannie is the real Wonder Woman, and my PawPaw has always been there to give me a positive perspective on anything that troubles me,” McNaughton says.

She has a love of vintage fur coats and the movie, Jurassic Park.

“I have an obsession with T-Rex. I can’t explain it, but it’s one of those quirky things about me.”

B-Metro: Can you explain the motto of the Forecast slogan Shape a Movement and what it means to you?

was to build trust and respect with the community, and I feel that we have succeeded so far.

McNaughton: To me, “Shape a Movement” is not only impacting our industry, but also impacting the world around us. It’s not about just working with hair, it’s about impacting our clients to better their lives and our community as a whole. It’s also about creating a positive, supportive environment for our stylists. What we do is so hard on our bodies, and we want everyone to be taken care of for the long term.

B-Metro: Tell me what your position as a woman business owner means to you? How has it changed you? How do you think it changes the view others have of you?

McNaughton: I never want to be defined as just being a woman business owner. Being a business owner is hard no matter what gender you are. But I hope I set an example that empowers the women around me to see that they can do that too. It’s less about being a woman and more about having the passion for fashion and hair and the drive to keep learning about it and growing in the industry.

Being a business owner has created a world where I think about the people around me about every day. My business is growing, and what I want and need is less important than what the people around me need to be healthy and happy. We look after our own.

One of the things I wanted to do when we started this salon

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B-Metro: How does your work as a hair stylist satisfy your need for creativity?

McNaughton: The fashion and hair worlds are constantly changing, so there’s something incredibly satisfying about finding something for a client that they didn’t know they wanted.

Forecasting trends can be difficult, especially in this constantly changing world. People want something different, and we give it to them.

B-Metro: How do you create a special environment or community within a salon? Is that a goal?

McNaughton: Yes, Forecast is a family. Everyone who walks in is greeted as though they’re coming home. It’s inviting and welcoming, and I don’t know that I’ve been anywhere like it.

Making people feel like they want to be here is always the goal.

B-Metro: How do you create a great workplace?

McNaughton: It’s all about balance. You have to listen to what your employees say they need, but also provide them the basic things you know they need. It’s definitely a learning process, because you have to learn from them and vice-versa. When you start from scratch and you grow, you continue to make changes and grow together. You have to be open to change and adapt constantly. It’s so challenging, but it’s the most rewarding part of starting your own venture.

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Brtitany McNaughhton Photo by Liesa Cole B-METRO.COM

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TALK: BLEACHER SEAT WITH LUKE ROBINSON

Hit Me With Your Best Shot Punch Up Your Fitness Plan.

By Luke Robinson

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orking out is hard. I don’t enjoy it. My guess is you don’t either. But we all have to do it to remain presentable in this judgmental society.

All of those hot people you follow on Instagram make it look like exercising is what you do before a series “fish-lip” poses and selfies as their sweat glistens like a welltoned disco ball. Meanwhile, the rest of us perspire differently in the gym. In fact, it’s less like “sweat” and more like a “full-body cry”.

When I go to Lifetime Fitness in Vestavia, all of the in-shape people working out probably think I am there not to exercise, but rather performing my duties as a porky, government-employed “gym equipment inspector”.

Working out also vacillates between being dangerous and boring if you aren’t fully committed. For example, I am like every male ever: I think I can pick up more weight than my body will allow and I also have the attention span of a pre-K fruit fly.

Either I am on the verge of straining my muscles or wayyyyyy too distracted to walk on a treadmill. It’s like I believe I have the strength of five guys when the reality is I am more of a threat to eat at “Five Guys” after my lame-ass work out.

Therefore, it has come time for a new way to exercise in Birmingham.

Something to keep us moving, but not repetitively. Something that makes us use all of our muscles and keeps us entertained. Something to improve our minds, bodies and spirits. And would it be too much to ask that this “something” be done in limited light so people wouldn’t watch me jiggle?

Well, if all of those traits seem appealing, then Battle Republic in Homewood might be just the spot for you.

Battle Republic has a very unique concept : It’s a boxing-inspired gym using “high intensity interval training”.

(Just FYI, you are punching a tear-shaped heavy bag, not each other. We are all lovers, not fighters here).

Now, when the Battle Republic website says the sessions are “high intensity”, it ain’t playin’. Each class involves continuous movement, aggressive punching and music fit for an early morning Miami night club. Meanwhile, the setting is dim, but not dark which is absolutely perfect for me.

Lord knows I don’t want my punches and “boxer’s sit-ups” critiqued by my classmates.

If those elements weren’t enough to convince you of your physical exertion, Battle Republic provides optional monitors that track your heart rate and calorie burn. The calorie-counter is my favorite part because I literally use it as motivation during the work out. If I am getting tired, I can look up at the monitor and think, “Just a few more quick punches and I can get a guilt-free Cherry Blossom shake at Shake Shack!”.

There are several time options for the class, too. All are about 45 minutes (including warm ups, 10- three-minute rounds of training and cool down time) and the sessions literally fly by quicker than an MMA fighter’s haymaker. It’s a great substitute to lifting weights while also being a fantastic complement to lifting weights if you are so inclined.

In case you are wondering, they aren’t paying me for this article; I am just a near50-year-old dude with a muffin top and self-diagnosed A.D.D. Outside-the-box(ing) ideas to keep me in some shape (other than spherical) are what I need to pique my interest and keep me coming back. Battle Republic fits that bill to a tee.

Check out their website at www.battlerepublic.com and feel free to thank me later.

•

Luke is a host for the University of Alabama’s Coaches Cabana webcast, an AHSAA Radio Network team member, and a Sportzblitz TV/radio personality and blogger for Crimson Country Club.

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TALK: HUMOR MAKES THE DAY GLAMOROUS

An Invisible Woman

A Testimonial of a Woman Over 50

By Lee Ann “Sunny” Brown

I

n honor of my birthday month I wanted to share some thoughts on being “a woman over fifty”. As someone who is no longer relevant to society it’s just amazing how visible I am to the advertisers of all these anti-ageing products. Somehow they are able to send me ads on every device I use – my cell phone, Instagram, FB, even my Pandora station. My questions is: If I am suddenly invisible in society how do they find me? Happy Birthday to all the women turning invisible this month!

-Sunny

Lee Ann is a humor writer, actress, and singer, chronicling her glamorous life on stage and in print. She can be contacted at leeanndbrown@gmail.com.

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TALK: BHAM TO THE MAX

Chocolate Milk Mommies

Reducing the stigma of breastfeeding for minorities.

By Max Rykov //Photo by Lakisha Cohill of H&C INC

I

post way too often on Facebook for my, or anyone else’s good, so it takes something beyond “Hey everyone, I saw a cool car today!” to pierce through their sturdy algorithm shield and get some attention.

Because they were finalists for a grant from Birmingham’s chapter of the Awesome Foundation, I posted a photo of the Chocolate Milk Mommies from their photoshoot with local photographer, Lakisha Cohill, in a few different places on Facebook. For each separate post, there were several hundred likes, and more importantly, every single comment on each post was positive.

It’s a striking set of photos--beautiful, radiant women of color breastfeeding their babies outdoors. Beyond the obvious visceral power of the image, what’s interesting about it is the statistical rarity of its subjects being all in the same place.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only 68% of babies in Alabama were breastfed in 2015. At 12 months, that number drops to 36%. Of that 68% in Alabama, black women accounted for only 14.2%, and that number dropped to 6.7% by 12 months.

The benefits of breastfeeding have been widely documented: from superior nutritional content, immunological protection, and improved cognitive outcomes for the infant, and a host of positive outcomes for the mother including pro-

tection from cardiovascular disease, premenopausal breast cancer, osteoporosis, and epithelial ovarian cancer. Worldwide, it is estimated that breastfeeding could prevent around 20,000 breast cancer deaths annually, and prevent the deaths of 823,000 children.

Despite both the tangible and anecdotal evidence, there are still cultural stigmas surrounding black women breastfeeding.

The Chocolate Milk Mommies are working to change that.

They are a breastfeeding and parenting support group that focuses on improving healthcare outcomes in minorities by increasing breastfeeding rates. Their biggest goal right now is to bring the first birth and learning center to the state of Alabama, and provide the proper resources necessary to reduce health disparities for women of color. The core team behind the Chocolate Milk Mommies are: Angel Warren, Charity Moore, Jennifer Miller, Rauslyn Adams, Elyce Hardwick-Burton, Sacorya Adams, and Tiffany Campbell.

All these women do work in the medical, social services, and birth fields, and all are volunteers dedicated toward realizing their vision.

The Chocolate Milk Mommies offer a range of services, from hospital and home visits to provide lactation support, to organizing playdates, to providing information to new mothers in need through their social media pages.

Another one of the services the group provides is helping new mothers deal with the realities of Postpartum Depression (PPD), which affects one in four women of color (which is twice the rate of any other race). Half of PPD cases go undiagnosed in the black community because (according to information provided by the Chocolate Milk Mommies), of a mistrust in the health system or cultural perceptions. A 2010 study conducted at the College at

Brockport in New York that focused on 12 women in an urban community suffering from PPD concluded that it was support groups that are the most effective means of reducing depressive symptoms.

The Chocolate Milk Mommies currently have two regular meet-up groups, one held on the second and fourth Monday of each month at the East Lake United Methodist Church, and one at UAB West Hospital on the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month. Additionally, they have a Young Mothers Program at three area high schools: Bessemer, Fairfield, and Jackson Olin. It’s no secret that public schools across the state of Alabama leave much to be desired when it comes to sex education, stressing abstinence-only approaches that are proven time and time again to be utterly fruitless and unhealthy.

A few years ago at a Social Entrepreneurship Career Development Conference hosted by the Birmingham Education Foundation, a group of local high school students gave a presentation about an idea they had for a club at their school to help expectant teen mothers get the resources they need for raising their babies (often, unfortunately, alone). They were asked if they had anything like adequate sex education in their school, and the answer was, as expected, “no”. If anyone reading this has any pull with Birmingham City Schools, I would highly recommend asking the Chocolate Milk Mommies for assistance. And if you, or anyone you know is a woman of color with a young child, or who is expecting, I hope you’ll consider reaching out to the group and getting plugged into their network. And if their mission and vision are intriguing to you, look up the Chocolate Milk Mommies on

Writer, emcee, producer, nonprofit event organizer, and freelance quarterback Max Rykov is a tireless advocate for the creative community in Birmingham.

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37

MAKING THE

MOVE

NORA AND TAYLOR BANKS TURNED A NEWLY REMODELED BLUFF PARK HOME INTO THEIR PERSONAL HAVEN. WRITTEN BY ROSALIND FOURNIER PHOTOGRAPHY BY EDWARD BADHAM

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N

ora and Taylor Banks loved their old home in Bluff Park, which they describe as a close-knit, family friendly neighborhood, perfect for raising their small children, Morris and Lucy. Then they got an offer they couldn’t refuse.

“A friend wanted to buy a house in Bluff Park, and the real estate was so hot that he asked to come look at our house,” Nora says. “We let him come look and had a contract on it the next day.”

The Taylors still wanted to stay in Bluff Park, and now they had only 45 days to find a new house. “Every listing we saw would be gone the day it was put up,” says Nora. “We were getting down to the wire.”

Her mother joined in the hunt and noticed construction workers

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outside a four bedroom/two bath on a great street. When she stopped to ask, it turned out the house had been purchased by a professional home “flipper,” Bruce Glenn of Innovative Renovations, who was remodeling it for resale. For the Banks, it was a perfect fit. “It was ours two days later,” Nora says. “It never even went on the market.”

One of the biggest changes Glenn and his team had made was to open up the living area in a way that the new space is no longer recognizable from the old pictures.

“When you walked in, it was three very separate, choppy rooms—the living room, dining room and kitchen—and they took down those walls so it’s one big, flowing space now.” Nora loves to cook, she adds, and enjoys being able to watch the kids playing in the living area or sitting at the table while she’s in the kitchen. A generously sized, light colored area rug helps define the cozy living room, while other, subtle markers—such as a half wall between the front entryway and the kitchen—help frame the rooms without closing them off. And with all that open space, Nora notes, they’re able to fully appreciate the wealth of natural light the house enjoys from having plenty of big windows.

The Banks were happy with everything Glenn and his team had done, work that also included finishing out the basement to make a playroom perfect for movie nights, and fully remodeling the bathrooms. In effect, Nora says, it was like getting all the benefits of new construction. “With this house, we actually ended up downsizing,” she says, “but the fact that we got brandnew construction top to bottom was so worth it for us.”

But while they credit Glenn for doing the heavy lifting on the remodel, when it came time to make decisions for the interior, the home fully reflects the Banks’ personal style. The walls are mostly painted in neutrals, yet the house is awash in bright colors and patterns in the throw pillows and other accessories. Most of the color, though, comes through the art, which is everywhere—a clear reflection of a love for whimsical, modern folk art that Nora inherited from her mother, interior designer Patsy Baird.

“My mom is one of my best friends,” Nora says, “and I’ve adopted her love for art and going to art shows with her. So when we bought the house, a lot of the pieces I had are ones she has given me as gifts, but we also went to a local art show and were able to specifically choose pieces for the new house. She had a major part

in the decorating, and I am blessed that I have her to do that.”

Nora describes the art, which has a significant presence in every room, as a way to lend the house a sense of narrative. “I don’t think there’s any of my artwork that doesn’t have a story behind it or sentimental meaning,” she says. “And against a simple color palette, I like to use the pops of art as the color as well as conversation pieces. The color makes me happy.” Other touches they love in the home include two doors the remodeler found that were original to the house and repurposed—one as a sliding barn door leading to the master bath, and another as a small, half door leading to a storage cubby down in the playroom.

The children’s bedrooms, meanwhile,

positively scream personality. Nora says that was very intentional, in part because in a move that transpired so quickly, the kids were leaving behind the only home they’d ever known. “So we put a lot of heart and soul into their rooms to make sure it felt like it was their space,” she says. “Lucy loves flamingos, so you see them everywhere. Her bed was my mom’s bed when she was a little girl, and I spray painted it to where it didn’t look too cutesy, but it’s pink and happy. And my favorite part of Morris’s room is that my mom and I went and took pictures of Morris Avenue and Morris Boulevard and incorporated those into some fun, handmade artwork.”

But as happy as the family is with the results, it’s still the neighborhood of Bluff Park that makes this house feel like home,

just as it did for their old house nearby— only better, because they now live on a block filled with kids, and they’re within walking distance of Bluff Park Elementary School where Morris is going into third grade and Lucy will start kindergarten next year. “We love our street and neighbors,” Nora says. “The fact that we can walk up to a friend’s house and just play with water balloons or hang out anytime, or the fact that we can walk the kids to school…not every family can say they’re able to do that.”

Though the Banks might eventually add on to the home, Nora doesn’t expect they’ll make another unexpected move like the last one now that they’ve had a year to settle in and get things just as they like them. “We don’t plan on going anywhere for a while,” she says.

•

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Potato Chips: Bag ‘em Up! produced by Mindi Shapiro written by Brett Levine food styling by Lily Plauch´e photography by Alison Miksch

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If you went to elementary school in Birmingham, you probably had a field trip to the Golden Flake factory. I’m strongly in favor of learning, and I can assure you that understanding the nuances of crisply fried potatoes is indeed an educational experience. Today the range of chips is vast, but staples stand the test of time. Here, they lend that special something to egg salad, cookies, and a little chicken. You might think potato chips are just a side. I’m here to tell you that they should get top billing.

BBQ Egg Salad Sandwich Makes 4 sandwiches

6 Tbsp. mayonnaise 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard ½ lemon, juiced 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives 1 tsp. hot sauce 1 tsp. kosher salt

½ tsp. black pepper ½ tsp. smoked paprika 12 hard boiled eggs, peeled, chopped 4 green leaf lettuce leaves 1 tomato, sliced 2 cups Golden Flake Barbecue chips 8 slices white bread

1. Whisk together mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, dill, chives, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and paprika in a large bowl. Add eggs, stirring to combine. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

2. Divide egg salad evenly among half of bread slices.

Top with lettuce, tomato, chips, and remaining bread slices.

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For

Dill Pickle Chicken Tenders recipe, go to b-metro.com.

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Chocolate and Potato Chip Cookies Makes about 32 cookies

1 cup butter, softened ¾ cup granulated sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 ¾ cups all- purpose flour 1 cup crushed Golden Flake Thin & Crispy potato chips ¾ cup dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer at medium speed 4 minutes or until lightly and fluffy.

Beat in vanilla. Beat in flour just until combined. Stir in potato chips and chocolate chips.

2. Drop dough by 2 tablespoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake 15 minutes or until edges are lightly golden.

Cool on wire racks.

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CLOSE TO

HOME FOR ALABAMA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA DIRECTOR, CARLOS IZCARAY, THE CRISIS IN VENEZUELA IS A VERY PERSONAL MATTER. WRITTEN BY TOM GORDON Carlos Izcaray likes batons. When he wields one as music director of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, it is more like a wand because of the magical sounds it brings forth from the ASO’s assembled musicians.

These days, Izcaray wishes his wand could bring forth a magical transformation – economic, political, social and nutritional - in the country of his birth, Venezuela. Ask him about Venezuela, and he 46

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 PORTRAITS BY BEAU GUSTAFSON

will talk of “the walking dead,” death by “political leukemia,’’ or the wasted world of Mad Max. “What people don’t realize is that we as Venezuelans are going through a war,” Izcaray said last month, as opponents and defenders of President Nicolás Maduro’s regime fought in the streets of Caracas, the capital, and elsewhere in the oil-rich, deeply divided and desperately impoverished country. “It has not been nota-

rized or been made official by the people high above, but this is what I’d call trickle-down terrorism by ...this dictatorship.

People have a hard time realizing the Venezuelan situation is as horrible as things you are seeing in official wars … People are starving. This whole nation has been dismantled and ransacked little by little but pretty much in plain view for the last two decades.”

Izcaray’s wife Yolanda can echo him

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Snapshots of Izcaray and his father, Felipe Izcaray, an accomplished musician and conductor in Venezuela.

in a knowledgeable way. That’s because, like him, she also is a Venezuelan citizen.

The daughter of a Bulgarian father and a Venezuelan mother, she was born in England, and moved with her family to a very different Venezuela when she was 11. For her and her husband, life here in metro Birmingham conveys daily reminders of so many things that are now missing from the life in Venezuela they used to know.

“If someone comes to me and tells me that one day in Birmingham, ‘you’re going to go to the Piggly Wiggly and you’re not going to find any food there,’ ... I’m gonna laugh in his face and say ‘Oh no, that’s not gonna happen.’“, Yolanda said.

“Or someone says, ‘I come from the future and, you know, your house? It’s not gonna have water for a month.’ And I’m gonna say, ‘Get out of here, … you’re on drugs.’

If someone from the future had come to me in Venezuela in those (past) days and told me, ‘Ohh, this is gonna happen’ ... , I would have laughed in his face and said, ‘No way, not here.’”

There’s little to laugh about now.

While the so-called Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has been in and out of the headlines, very few of them favorable, for the past two or so decades, things there had gotten even worse at the time of this writing. The United States and other nations had challenged the legitimacy of the Maduro government, citing its lack of transparency, its support from authoritarian Cuba and Russia, its suppression of free media and political opponents, its mismanagement of an economy that is now running on fumes and its manipulation of election results. The U.S. had levied sanctions against various officials and business linked to the Maduro regime and had even 48

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said military action is an option if Maduro did not step down. In addition, the U.S. and its allies had recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s legitimate president.

Beyond the rhetorical exchanges, demonstrations for and against the regime, and the recent street fighting, there’s a lot of dismaying data. In a May 7 speech, Vice President Mike Pence said crooks no longer rob banks in Venezuela because the inflation rate runs at 1 million percent per year, and that Venezuela has the world’s highest murder rate.

According to a study issued in 2018, Venezuelans lost an average of 24 pounds in 2017, and 90 percent of the country’s 30-plus million people were reported living in poverty. Contrast this situation with that here in Alabama, where the Census Bureau’s Quick Facts lists the poverty rate as almost 17 percent compared to 12 percent for the U.S. as a whole, and where adult obesity – a rate of 36 percent in 2017, fifth highest in the nation – is a far bigger issue than adult weight loss.

Since Maduro’s predecessor in power, the late Hugo Chavez, began his Bolivarian revolution in 1999, people have been leaving the country, and the Organization of American States reported in March that as many as 5 million Venezuelans may be refugees by the end of this year.

If 5 million people were gone from Alabama by the end of this year, the state would be empty of humans.

The Yellowhammer State is about 2,000 miles northwest of Venezuela, and Carlos and Yolanda Izcaray have called it home since 2015 when Carlos became the ASO music director. Because of a contract extension the ASO gave Carlos last

fall, they now look to be here through at least 2023. Their daughters Sofia, now 8, and Alicia, now 6, came with them, and their son Sebastian, now 3, was born here. Sebastian’s birth, of course, was expected. What was not expected was the cancer that came later and afflicted both of his parents. Carlos, now 42, is in remission, while Yolanda is still doing weekly rounds of chemo.

As Carlos and Yolanda try to stay healthy and raise their children here, their thoughts are afflicted with what they hear from Venezuela, because they know and love people who illustrate the country’s sobering statistics.

Carlos “gets calls all the time from family members and friends who want to leave,” Yolanda said.

One of those friends, a clarinetist named Gorgias Sanchez, has relocated to Mendoza, Argentina. In an email, he was as blunt as his Alabama-based buddy - “a friend that I cherish” - in assessing what he left behind.

“I see myself of no use in a society that needs to be reconstructed basically from scratch,” Sanchez said. “It will take quite a while to do so and I want an immediate improvement in my lifetime and that of my family.” That same desire has driven about 500 of his “friends, relatives, acquaintances and colleagues” elsewhere - not just to South American countries like Argentina, but to the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Singapore, and Japan.

During a conversation one morning at Seeds Coffee Co. in west Homewood, Izcaray showed a photo he had recently received on his cell phone, from a friend and fellow musician in Venezuela named Maria Gabriela Rodriguez. The photo’s contents

Izcaray at home with wife, Yolanda.

were like things you would see in a still life painting – a block of cheese and a single carrot. For Maria Gabriela, those two items cost nearly half of her monthly salary. Maria Gabriela also has been battling breast cancer, and in a country where internet service is spotty and power outages recurring and vital medicines often impossible to find, a friend mounted a GoFundMe campaign last year to get some of the medication she needs.

“That’s just one colleague,” Izcaray said. “I don’t know how many stories like that I can tell you. There are so many more.”

There is one story he has been telling, to reporters, to human rights groups, to U.S. lawmakers, and its subject is none other than himself. His account of what happened to him on March 2, 2004 is part of a letter of protest that Human Rights Watch sent to then-President Chavez that same year. At the time, Izcaray was the solo cellist with the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra and he happened to be watching an anti-government protest in his Caracas neighborhood. Here are more details from the Human Rights Watch letter: Izcaray told Human Rights Watch that the National Guard had come under a barrage of stones and fireworks and had charged the demonstrators, who ran in all directions. He decided to walk home but was intercepted by a National Guardsman riding a motorbike, who stopped him for questioning. Ignoring his protests that he was only a bystander, the guardsman beat him repeatedly around the head, insulted him, and forced him onto the back of the motorbike. He was later put into a truck in which there were five or six other detainees. He told Human Rights Watch: The guardsmen in the truck continued to hit me on the neck and body with their nightsticks, helmets, and even traffic cones. One hit me on the elbow with a stick so hard that my arm and hand went numb. Another emptied a teargas bomb and smeared the contents on my hair and face, then set light to my hair, burning my neck. One guy put a pistol in my mouth and made me repeat a phrase after him, “I am going home to my husband.” I suppose it was meant to humiliate me.

After a while they moved us into a

second truck. Inside, they made us inhale tear gas after closing the canvas sides of the truck and putting on their gas masks. They threw one of the big [teargas] bombs inside, closed all the doors and if any one pushed on the canvas sides to escape they got beaten. My lungs were burning and I really thought I was going to die.

Eventually I managed to get out the side of the vehicle and they didn’t try to stop me.

We were taken to the 51st Detachment of the National Guard at El Paraíso in Western Caracas. They made us all kneel in a corner looking at the ground and they hit anyone who moved with their helmets or sticks. Then they gave me electric shocks on the neck and arms from some equipment I couldn’t see because it was above my head.

About 24 hours later, Izcaray and some others were released, but emotional scars from that incident stay with him. And the nerve damage to his right elbow, in the arm with which he holds the bow to his cello, the arm with which he wields his baton, has never fully healed.

There’s even more that makes Venezuela so personal for the Izcarays. At the time of this writing, Yolanda’s mother and Carlos’ father were still there. Yolanda’s mother, whose name has been withheld because of family concerns for her safety, lives in Caracas. Today, like millions of her fellow Venezuelans making do with what many of them derisively call the “Maduro diet,” she is thinner, about 70 pounds thinner. A few weeks ago, friends from a ranch brought her the first meat she had seen in nearly a year. In late April, Yolanda and Carlos sent her a box full of contents that included socks, rice, pasta, yeast, packages of Jello mix and cans of tuna.

“It sounds like a box you would make for a homeless person,” Yolanda said.

A few weeks ago, to help her mother deal with the constant power outages that now afflict the country, Yolanda’s brother Henry shipped her a $700 generator that

he bought in Miami. The dealer there told Henry he was making a mint from all the Venezuelans who are buying generators to ship home.

Meanwhile, Carlos’ father Felipe Izcaray, an accomplished musician and conductor who has been a fixture in Venezuela’s El Sistema, a national program that provides musical training to underprivileged youngsters, is also thinner. Living in his hometown of Carora, he is accustomed to daily power outages and a recurring lack of running water. Like most of his fellow Venezuelans, he did without electricity for five consecutive days in March. Felipe also needs a generator, and he has relied on one owned by a family member to store the insulin he takes for his diabetes. On an April night, this 69-year-old man, whose work has earned him showers of praise, took a shower – in the rain.

“I had not done that since I was a kid,” Felipe said during a telephone interview on May 13, a day in which he was without power for five-and-a-half hours.

“Being without electricity for five straight days is no fun, no fun at all,” he added. “Especially in a town where our temperature every day rises to at least 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit). In the evening, it is also very hot and very dark.”

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even affected rehearsals with Sinfónica Pedro León Torres, the youth orchestra he conducts. At the start of a rehearsal in May, after Felipe said to step up the pace because the power could go out, the power did just that.

“So we had to take the chairs and the stands to the hallway, where there was sunlight, and open windows,” Felipe said.

Meanwhile, the bus that is supposed transport Felipe’s young musicians home after rehearsals has become a microcosm of Venezuela. It no longer runs because some of its essential parts have broken down, and it is too costly to repair or replace them.

In many ways, Carlos Izcaray says, Venezuela has become the dystopian world fictionally portrayed in Mad Max movies.

“This is the real deal,” he said. “People are starving and they’re going thirsty.

They’re looking for water like in Mad Max. They’re getting it from the sewers. If you are in rural areas and other parts of the country like my father, you’re paying a hyper-inflated price for just plain old water.”

In Felipe Izcaray’s neighborhood, he and others often get their water from a guy driving a water tank truck and they pay his hyper-inflated price in dollars. With his $10 monthly salary, Felipe would be hardpressed to pay that price, but some local citizens who believe in his work with local youth are subsidizing him.

The story does not end there, because Felipe Izcaray and Yolanda’s mother illustrate another result of the Venezuelan mess – the separation of families. Felipe’s wife Norma, a longtime arts administrator, now lives in Argentina with Samuel, one of Carlos’ brothers, and another Venezuelan refugee. The family thought it was best that Norma, who openly despises the Maduro government, go into exile in Buenos Aires while Felipe tried to make a go of it back home with his music teaching. Meanwhile, Carlos’ other brother, Manuel, lives in Argentina’s big neighbor to the north, Brazil.

“This is a forced separation,” Carlos said. “This is the biggest tragedy for me, aside from people who … have died, is those who have been forced to be apart because of these criminals. They’re in touch, but they’re not together. That’s been altered. That’s been tampered with.”

How long that forced separation lasts is 50

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anyone’s guess, but Carlos says his father’s commitment to stay in Venezuela may be waning, given the privations that Felipe is enduring. Picking up and going somewhere, even to Argentina, where a job in his field may not be readily available, would not be easy, especially at his age. But, Felipe said, “it’s not easy to live here, and it’s getting to a point where it’s getting to be unbearable.”

For years, particularly after she became a wife and mother, Yolanda counted on annually returning to Venezuela and enjoying time with Caracas cousins and friends.

That is something she and her family did during her early childhood years in England, and she wanted her own children to have the same experience.

That tradition basically ended about eight years ago, when she and Carlos took Sofia to Venezuela to be baptized. Her mother’s car had broken down, her own car which she had left there no longer ran and to go anywhere to do anything, she had to rely on friends, none of whom had an extra car for her to use. And fear of crime, even in her mother’s upscale neighborhood, was palpable.

Still for a few years afterward, Yolanda’s yearning for an annual return remained strong. But “my mom would say, ‘Ohh don’t come, there’s no this, there’s no that,’” she said, and those missing or often hard-to-get things often included diapers and wipes for small children. And crime in the neighborhood had gotten a little too close to home.

“I suffer for her safety because it is really dangerous,” Yolanda said.

One night, Yolanda said, her mother saw a group of armed men kidnap another man on her street. On another occasion, while she was walking with a cane while recovering from a knee injury, some men in an SUV tried to kidnap her as she was leaving a bakery. When another bakery customer came out and hollered at the assailants, they took him off instead.

Meanwhile, Yolanda’s Bulgarian-born father, Todor Serafimov, who formerly ran a contracting and consulting business in Venezuela, is back in his native land. Serafimov left the Balkan nation when it was an impoverished communist backwater, but now it has better economic opportunities

than Venezuela and he wants to stay.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that all this stuff can be stressful.

“Absolutely,” said Yolanda, who is under her doctor’s urging to avoid binging on Venezuelan news because he says it will reduce the rest she needs to continue her cancer recuperation.

Her husband is not resting. In late April and early May, he was conducting in California, where he is music director of the Los Angeles-based American Youth Symphony. Later, here at home, he and the ASO were slated to finish the “Cycle” of Beethoven’s nine symphonies. When time allows, he has continued to speak out about conditions in Venezuela. But his interest in combating oppression extends well beyond the boundaries of his homeland. Last year, in cooperation with Human Rights Watch, he and the AYS performed “Freedom: A Celebration of Human Rights,” a program which included the premiere of his Strike Fugaz, a composition based in part on what happened to him in 2004.

Stepping back and looking at the course of his life, Izcaray says he has found a thematic thread of human struggle and perseverance in wherever he has gone to work and spend meaningful time. He felt it as a young student at the Colegio Emil Friedman, a Caracas school founded by a refugee from Nazi-ravaged Europe who believed there can be no culture without music. He felt it in Berlin, where he and his young family lived two blocks from where part of the wall once stood. He felt it during in his time as a guest conductor in post-apartheid South Africa and in Colombia, a country formerly torn by a long-running civil war and now home to an ever-growing portion of the Venezuelan diaspora.

And he has felt it in Birmingham.

“I remember my first visit here and I went to the Civil Rights Institute,” Izcaray said. “It was impossible for me not to see the connections … It all came together and I said there is no way that this job does not make sense for me, musically and spiritually. But I also felt there was a social vibrancy here and a history, (there’s) kind of like a ground zero history to this place that I felt and I wanted to be part of it.”

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SPECIAL PROMOTION

Embrace Your Wild Side While Preserving Ours The Lodge at Gulf State Park, a Hilton Hotel, is a unique property with a diverse, preserved ecosystem.

Your stay helps conservation efforts to restore and maintain this truly distinctive destination.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT LODGEATGULFSTATEPARK.COM 21196 EAST BEACH BLVD. GULF SHORES, ALABAMA 36542 | 251.540.4000 HILTON RESERVATIONS: 1.800.774.1500

YOUR

BEACH

NEIGHBORHOOD GUIDE

MIRAMAR BEACH The first beach town in Walton County features everything from jet-ski rentals, and parasailing to exploring endless shopping opportunities at one of the nation’s largest designer outlet malls, Silver Sands Premium Outlets.

SEASCAPE This upbeat beach neighborhood boasts 2,000 feet of sugar-white sand to enjoy. With eight lighted tennis courts, five swimming pools, a worldclass golf course, miles of bike trails, and a fully equipped fitness facility, Seascape is designed for the active vacationer. Seascape Towne Center features restaurants and food vendors, live entertainment, 52

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arcade and laser tag, boutique shops and markets, and a multitude components including a ropes course, climbing walls, golf chipping, etc.

SANDESTIN Championship Golf courses and world-class tennis facilities, full service spas, and outdoor adventure activities make Sandestin perfect for the all-inclusive beach vacation. Home to the vibrant Village of Baytowne Wharf and South Walton’s sole marina- Baytowne Marina, Sandestin hosts numerous festivals and events year-round. Grand Boulevard Town Center is home to a state-ofthe-art 10-screen theater, featuring IMAX and dining club options.

DUNE ALLEN Serenity now in Dune Allen, one of South Walton’s most stunning beach neighborhoods with three rare coastal dune lakes, an abundance of walking trails, and beach access.

The raw, untouched ambiance of Dune Allen draws photographers, birdwatchers, fishermen and nature lovers from around the world.

GULF PLACE Known for its brightly colored European style town center, vibrant artist colony, an amphitheater with precisely manicured lawns, and sidewalks lined with lush native plants and towering palm trees, Gulf Place is a great gulf destination. Shopping, dining, or enter-

A 26-mile stretch located along the Gulf of Mexico in Northwest Florida, South Walton encompasses a strand of 16 beach neighborhoods, each with unique personality, architecture and energy. Find your perfect beach in neighborhoods renowned for scenic beauty, sugar-white sand beaches and turquoise water.

tainment; even a pharmacy is located in the town center.

SANTA ROSA BEACH Founded in 1910, Santa Rosa Beach was the start of the beachy South Walton we know today.

Home to luxury beach houses, upscale dining and the beautiful Eden Gardens State Park. There is an endless array of indoor and outdoor activities offered in this historic beach neighborhood– such as kayaking Choctawhatchee Bay, playing a round of golf on a championship course, exploring the eclectic artsy community, and great dining.

BLUE MOUNTAIN Blanketed with native blue lupine flowers and some of

the highest dunes on the Gulf Coast, Blue Mountain is naturally laid back.

Centrally located, Redfish Village is the hub of Blue Mountain, offering great shopping and dining without ever leaving the neighborhood. Stay active with adventures such as hiking through cypress swamps and pine groves in Point Washington State Forest or biking the scenic Timpoochee Trail.

GRAYTON BEACH The neighborhood motto is “Nice Dogs, Friendly Folks” and it fits Grayton Beach. From the narrow neighborhood streets lined with live oaks and the old- style wooden beach bungalows to the “bohemian

kitsch” feel of the iconic Red Bar. Destroyed in a February fire, a rebuild is underway.

WATERCOLOR WaterColor seamlessly weaves award-winning restaurants, shops, and more amidst its natural landscape, creating a perfect mix of indoor and outdoor adventure. In WaterColor, you can get away from it all in a cozy cottage or quiet resort or check out the Boathouse Paddle Club for an outdoor adventure.

SEASIDE This beach neighborhood has a profound sense of community, a family-friendly feel, and a whimsical sense of fun. An outdoor amphitheater, nationB-METRO.COM

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Visit South Walton ally acclaimed wine festival, a collectioof charming airstream trailer restaurants, and a local repertory troupe make Seaside amazing.

SEAGROVE With an eclectic mix of old beach homesteads and newer cottages, Seagrove has a great menu of beyondthe-beach activities that include biking along Scenic Highway 30A, browsing beach shops and dining out. Seagrove Village Market Café is the place to go for fried seafood. Been that way since 1949.

WATERSOUND Watersound is all about recreation and leisure. Bike the Deer Lake State Park boardwalk or a more rugged trail for an up-close look any of Watersound’s three rare coastal dune lake ecosystems. Play golf on a course designed by the renowned Tom Fazio without a view of residential or commercial development.

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SEACREST Peddler’s Pavilion is the heart of Seacrest, a town square with boutique shopping, upscale dining and beach cruiser rental bikes. The town is wide open to the Gulf with a luxury lagoon pool across from the beach. Try Grits and Grind for a great beach town breakfast.

ALYS BEACH Simplicity and luxury come together at Alys Beach, a community focused on walkability, sustainability, and artistic detail. Elegant white stucco Mediterranean style buildings make this beach town a singular experience. Try Caliza Restaurant for stunning al fresco dining around the pool. The menu centers on artisan, seasonal ingredients sourced regionally.The open-air bar is a great place for a cocktail.

ROSEMARY BEACH Rosemary Beach offers more than 100 acres of lush greenery and wide sidewalks and board-

walks for strolling and biking. The whole place has a real feeling of community, even if you are just there for a weekend.

Search out local shops and luxe restaurants. Curate is an art gallery owned by the same people who brought Vinings Gallery to Atlanta. It’s a great place to immerse yourself in art. For some great seafood and elegant but casual surroundings, try dinner at Edward’s Fine Food and Wine.

INLET BEACH Inlet Beach is laid-back even by beach standards. It is peaceful and quiet with great beach access. Explore the 30Avenue, the white stucco and brick-walkway shopping and lifestyle center that has brought new restaurants and shops like Willow + Mercer for women’s clothing and accessories and Amici 30A Italian Kitchen.

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The Grand Hotel in Point Clear

What’s New on

Alabama’s Gulf GRAND NEW Last summer, the Grand Hotel in Point Clear finished a giant three-year transformation. There’s something for everyone, from daily activities that range from art classes to children’s scavenger hunts, to golfing, water sports and a 20,000-squarefoot European-style spa. The massive pool features many functions, including a shallow pool with waterfall and slide for the kids and an adult salt-water pool with stocked cabanas. For golf enthusiasts, the

18-hole, 72-par Dogwood course, part of Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, has been updated and the Azalea course is up next for restoration. The resort also offers a private beach with nightly cannon fire (harking back to the hotel’s 19th century days and naval history) and a multislip marina..

There are several restaurants on site, including a poolside grill and lobby market. Be sure to sample the extensive and luxurious breakfast buffet at Bayside Grill,

as well as cocktails in Bucky’s Lounge and sunset dining in the 1847 and Southern Roots.

History buffs will enjoy a walk to historic Confederate Rest Cemetery about a mile from the resort and located next to the Dogwood golf course and the Lakewood Clubhouse. About 300 soldiers who were nursed at the hotel during the Civil War are buried here. Meet the Grand’s historian Susan Stein in the hotel lobby and get a history lesson before heading out.

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SUMMER AT THE WHARF This summer you can find something special going on at The Wharf in Gulf Shores any night of the week.

Monday there is the Sparks After Dark on Main Street fireworks display. Set up on Main Street for the best vantage point of the fiery skies, and keep your eyes peeled for Starla the Starfish and Baby Shark as they strut along the street during the display. Experience the snap, crackle, and pop of color all summer long.

Tuesday is Kids Night at Palm Plaza next to the Ferris Wheel. DJ Josh provides the music and there is face painting, games, a bouncy house, a water slide, and much more. Every Tuesday will be a little different with varying themes to keep the excitement fresh, including a Toxic Battle Zone and live animals.

Check in at the Pepsi tent in Marlin Circle and then get ready to treasure hunt along Main Street every Wednesday. Get a treasure map and the search is on. There is a Spectra Sound and Light Spectacular and plenty of family memories.

On Thursdays, the Big Top comes to The Wharf

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The Wharf with Circus on Main with sideshow entertainers, fire acts, aerial performers and stilt walkers, along with magicians and balloon animal makers.

“Dancin’ in the Street” takes over on Friday and Saturday nights with a block party along Main Street.

On Sundays bring out your inner artist at Palm Plaza next to the Ferris Wheel for painting classes starting at 5:30 and 6:45 p.m. There is a $10 fee.

SUMMER CONCERTS AT THE WHARF AMPHITHEATRE Here’s the lineup for a big summer of concerts at The Wharf Amphitheatre: June 6, 2019 Hootie and the Blowfish in Concert With Special Guest: Barenaked Ladies June 15, 2019 Dierks Bentley in Concert With Special Guest: Jon Pardi, Tenille Townes, and Hot Country Knights July 3, 2019 Tedeschi Trucks Band in Concert With Special Guest: Blackberry Smoke and Shovels & Rope

July 5, 2019 Rascal Flatts in Concert With Special Guest: Jimmie Allen July 6, 2019 Muscadine Bloodline in Concert @ The Port July 19 and 20, 2019 Luke Bryan in Concert With Special Guest: Cole Swindell, Jon Langston, and DJ Rock August 17, 2019 Little Big Town in Concert With Special Guest: Midland August 20, 2019 Pentatonix in Concert With Special Guest: Rachel Platten August 22, 2019 Brad Paisley in Concert With Special Guest: Chris Lane and Riley Green August 31, 2019 Chris Stapleton in Concert With Special Guest: Brent Cobb and The Marcus King Band September 28, 2019 Lynyrd Skynyrd in Concert With Special Guest: Cody Jinks THE SUSTAINABLE LODGE The Lodge at Gulf State Park is the first full service hotel to open in the area

The Lodge at Gulf State Park in 20 years. It is a premier meetings and events destination, offering a wide array of indoor and outdoor event space, perfect for conferences, special occasions and gatherings of any size. Under the management of Valor Hospitality Partners, the new Lodge operates with a focused commitment to the sustainability and preservation of the coastline, environment, wildlife and fauna of the Park and the region.

This new, re-imagined hotel was designed by LakeFlato and Rabun Architects with a native landscape by Sasaki Associates. The building footprint was reduced by nearly one-third and set back by 200225 feet from the Gulf to allow for greater dune restoration and natural dune movement. The buildings are positioned to take advantage of gulf breezes for natural ventilation and to maximize natural lighting of the interior. This design reduces energy use by 32 percent and interior water use by 35 percent. To demonstrate a commitment to protecting the environment, this facility has targeted some of the most rigorous sustainability goals in the hospitality industry: LEED© Gold, SITES© Platinum, and FORTIFIED Commercial ™ certifications.

The interior design is focused around a contemporary coastal aesthetic and was inspired by the hotel’s surrounding environment and the history of the former Lodge. This concept was brought to life by Dallas based interior design firm, Looney & Associates. Their design incorporates

color, texture, and contrast to create comforting spaces that seamlessly transition from outdoor to indoor space while maintaining high levels of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

A small sampling of the hotel’s sustainability initiatives includes: Eco-friendly construction: The hotel was constructed to meet the elevated standards of LEED © Gold, SITES © Platinum, and FORTIFIED Commercial™ certifications. Fifteen percent of building materials are recycled materials and 70–75 percent of construction waste was recycled. Responsible Water Sourcing and Routing: Condensation from the HVAC system is collected and recycled to replace water in the pool. Additionally, rainwater is collected and directed to a restored wetland on site rather than being diverted to storm sewers. The hotel also features a permeable parking lot using TrueGrid technology that allows rainwater to drain into the ground. Wildlife Conscious Features: Lighting is designed with local wildlife in mind. All lighting is shielded away from turtle nesting areas and pointed away from the beach. Lights on the beachside of the property are warmer to be less confusing to wildlife and floor to ceiling glass windows in the main lobby have bird friendly safety measures. Energy Conservation: Guest room air conditioning units were installed with sensors that cut off the unit if balcony doors or windows are left open or ajar, and the full

hotel is equipped with energy efficient lighting with motion sensors to reduce waste. Restorative Landscaping: Approximately 75 percent of the site is dedicated to landscaping using native species that can thrive without irrigation, chemical pesticides or fertilizers. By planting native species, the coastal landscape is restored, and habitats have been created for native birds, nesting sea turtles and the Alabama Beach Mouse. Food and Waste Reduction: The hotel team recycles all cooking oil and sorts trash into separate bins for composting, animal feed, recycling and more. The hotel also uses plant-based water bottles, Hay Straws ® and straws made from reusable bamboo shoots, all of which are biodegradable and made from abundant resources. Conscientious Menus: The Lodge participates in the Zero Single Serve Initiative, which promotes discontinuing single serve items to guests and practices local sourcing and invasive species fish harvesting to help eliminate non-indigenous saltwater species from the Gulf.

FURTHER DOWN THE GULF This may be a good year to make some discoveries further down the Gulf coast line. Try St. Pete Beach for a change.

TradeWinds Island Resorts — two beach resorts on 31 acres of the soft white sands of Florida’s St. Pete Beach, have been rated a top 10 USA beach for five years running by TripAdvisor.

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Retreat to the

MOUNTAINS Old Edwards Inn and Spa in Highlands, North Carolina offers a retreat as smooth and serene as a Carolina mountain sunset.

Written by Joe O’Donnell

A weekend stay at Old Edwards Inn and Spa is more than a quick vacation; it’s a retreat, an escape, from the day-to-day world when you really need one.

That escape begins in the Hummingbird Lounge.

On the second floor of the original main building of Old Edwards, the Hummingbird Lounge is a richly wood-paneled room, outfitted with comfortable chairs and couches. Two bartenders work the room delivering drinks and tri-part metal bowls of homemade chips, candied nuts and olives to snack on. When you lean back and sip a martini, in this luxurious place in the heart of a North Carolina mountain town, you feel like you’ve reached the summit of relaxation.

Reaching that summit is a pleasant 58

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four to five hour drive from Birmingham, through Atlanta and Gainesville to the north Georgia mountains and then up to the Blue Ridge Plateau and the town of Highlands.

Old Edwards Inn and Spa is woven into Highlands, NC community and culture. Right in the heart of downtown Highlands, this European style resort offers a mountain retreat with luxury guestrooms, suites, cottages, and vacation homes, as well as farm-to-table restaurants and a destination spa. There is an18-hole golf course at the Old Edwards Club with dramatic mountain vistas.

One of the most enjoyable and relaxing things to do while at Old Edwards is to stroll up and down the main street of Highlands, poking your head into the

wide variety of shops that line the pavements. Galleries, clothing shops, and more make for great window-shopping.

Highlands is an extraordinary town that has been welcoming visitors to the mountains since the late 19th century.

In fact, the original building of the Old Edwards complex dates to 1888, when it served as an inn. Art and Angela Williams purchased the property in Highlands and developed Old Edwards beginning in 2001. Today Old Edwards has been named the #26 Top Hotel in The World by Travel+Leisure Magazine; #23 Hotel in The U.S. by TripAdvisor 2016; Business Insiders’ 2016 Best Hotel in North Carolina; and #16 Top Hotel in The United States

by Condé Nast Traveler’s 2016.

The hotel now serves as a linchpin to a

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world of mountain pleasures for travelers, from mountain hikes, lakes and waterfalls to music venues and art and antique galleries. A destination for vacations, romantic retreats, girlfriend getaways and special events, Old Edwards Inn is a place to relax, rejuvenate and celebrate.

Beyond the main hotel complex in downtown Highlands, Old Edwards has also developed sister properties, Half-Mile Farm and 200 Main.

Half-Mile Farm has luxury guest rooms for guests age 18 and over. Surrounded by the beauty of the mountains and an awe-inspiring quiet, the Half-Mile Farm has an expansive great lawn and lake views with fireplaces and balconies in guest rooms and a beautiful courtyard.

It is just a few minutes away from downtown Highlands but it feels like a country retreat.

New this year, the property has a full bar with craft cocktails, beer, wine and light bites. Wake up to a daily chef-made breakfast included in your stay, paddle a canoe or stand-up paddle board on the private lake, or enjoy a row around the lake, and refresh in a heated mineral pool.

Right in downtown Highlands, 200 Main is a rustic chic location that is a perfect take-off spot for nearby hiking trails 60

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or the restaurants and shops downtown.

Relax by the fire pit or swim in the heated outdoor mineral pool.

The main Old Edwards Inn and Spa European-Style resort cascades along several acres in the heart of the pedestrian-friendly downtown. Guests arrive to a Champagne greeting, dine on local farmfresh fare at several on-site restaurants, and relax among rejuvenating amenities, including two outdoor heated mineral pools and whirlpools. Each guestroom, suite and cottage is hand-decorated in European style elegance and comfort. Guests enjoy valet parking, complimentary WiFi, cozy robes and slippers, heated Carrara marble bathroom floors, Frette linens, fireplaces and balconies. Old Edwards special events and weddings take place at The Farm—a lushly landscaped haven one mile from downtown Highlands. Smaller events are held at guest estates, The Springhouse, Half-Mile Farm, and Edwards Hall for catered corporate retreats.

Within the oldest portion of Old Edward’s is the resort’s signature restaurant, Madison’s. Dinner in this restaurant is one of the most intriguing and relaxing experiences you can have at Highlands.

Locally sourced farm to table cuisine is the key to the menu at Madison’s. The

restaurant is well-staffed and beautifully designed for comfort. Comfortable benches and chairs make the whole experience extraordinary.

The cooking staff creates the menu from sustainable ingredients, in many cases from the resort’s own greenhouses and gardens. The menu itself is inspired by the finest and freshest ingredients from North Carolina producers, farmers, and growers.

Exciting dishes like Painted Hills beef ribeye, pecan crusted Springer Mountain chicken and sunburst trout are on the menu, as are seasonal variations. The 48hour braised beef short ribs with root vegetable risotto, braised greens, aged cheddar, poached farms egg, roasted winter roots is a great example of the comforting sophistication of the menu.

Equally sophisticated is the wine list and the professionals overseeing it. You can pair some wonderful wines from Madison’s extensive list.

Some of the tables in Madison’s overlook the Wine Garden, an alfresco dining spot fronting Main Street. Beyond the Wine Garden, a new Neapolitan pizza restaurant will be opening this fall.

From food to relaxation in luxurious style, Old Edwards has the recipe for an incredible weekend away from it all.

The big dog in automotive advertising just got a little bigger.

Thanks to our talented team of over 125 hard-working professionals, Strong Automotive Merchandising is proud to announce that we’ve been named agency of record for the Penske Automotive Group’s Central Region. STRONG is honored to play a part in the continued success of our hometown, Birmingham, Alabama.

CHANGED LIVES

The Jimmie Hale Mission has been changing lives for the better for 75 years.

Tony Copper is relaxed yet passionate, talking about the philosophy that underpins his many years of work at the Jimmie Hale Mission and the organization’s three-quarters of a century of service to the community.

“It’s worthy to feed the hungry and house the homeless and help the street people and dress those who need it...

Those are great things. But for me it’s got to go deeper than that. We’re looking at transforming people’s lives. We’re looking at changing people’s hearts then so that they can leave different than when they came,” Cooper says.

And so being a Christian ministry, it 62

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all fits together. “There’s a verse in the Bible, Second Corinthians 5:17 says, ‘If any man or woman is in Christ, they’re a new creature. The old things are passed away; the new things have come.’ And that’s really the foundation of what we do.”

Cooper, who is set to retire from Jimmie Hale, was introduced to missions work as a teenager. Cooper’s dad was a recovered alcoholic. “He got sober through AA. He found Christ through the church.

Again, back to that changed life, his life was transformed, and he’s in Heaven with Jesus today because there was a change in his life. And if you don’t change... A lot of the people that we see, if they don’t

change, then their future’s not too bright, you know?” Cooper says.

What began as a storefront chapel in 1944, after 75 years has grown into today’s Jimmie Hale Mission, an organization that includes a homeless shelter for men, a shelter for women and children, after-school Bible clubs, recovery programs, and three learning centers.

Cooper has been executive director since 1990.

The Shepura Men’s Center is the oldest ministry of the Jimmie Hale Mission.

The facility has a 160-bed men’s dormitory, a dining hall that serves over 300 meals a day, a clothes closet, chapel services and

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Jessie Hale and Leo Shepura, who worked side by side at the mission for 36 years, shown in the Chapel.

a learning center. Jessie’s Place is a safe haven for women and children that offers Christ-centered support and counseling.

Royal Pines is a 16-week, in-resident recovery center for men. Stewart Learning Centers is a place where men and women can earn the education, skills and attitudes crucial to entering back into the workforce and to gaining self-sufficiency.

Discovery Clubs is an after-school Bible club that offer fun, safe and inspirational activities that help children.

Cooper says the various programs 64

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have been added to the organization’s portfolio over the years to enhance the mission that began so many years ago.

“Our values are that we’re client-focused.

We’re here for them. We’re Christ-centered, and we’re careful stewards of God’s resources,” Cooper says.

“Jimmie Hale, back in the late ‘30s, early ‘40s, was known as the town drunk.

And so he went over four years without drawing a sober breath. He knew what it was like to struggle with addiction, to be homeless, to be on the street, to have those

unmet needs and spend all of his energy and effort trying to find a better way and just not discovering that. He discovered it one Sunday night in the Gospel Tabernacle, which is the name of the church in Woodlawn not too far from where we are right now. On a Sunday night, he really didn’t go there to worship; he went there to get out of the cold, and he was about half drunk when he went in. And he disrupted services there before, so they were getting ready to escort him out.

The pastor was already into his

Children playing outside the mission.

Line outside the old location.

Jimmie Hale died 8 months after the mission was founded.

Devotion around the table.

Tony Cooper

Women outside the mission.

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Leo Shepura in meeting.

A BRIEF

IE HALE

E JIMM RY OF TH

HISTO

MISSION

Sunday sermon, he stopped, and he looked. He knew Jimmie. So 1944 NOV. he looked at Jimmie, and he said, 1944 widow to pregnant refront “Jimmie, you’re going to behave sto old r a ea d -y his 27 Hale starte d,and left on his ministry. d Jessie ham, AL. Jimmie die carry Jimmie an chapel in Birming yourself!” And Jimmie says, “Yeah, Preacher, I just want to get in out of the cold. And so later when the 1954 invitation of the Gospel that we’ve 4 5 d 19 wns as a and provide e Hale Do first meal served its ksgiving Day. been talking about was given to joined Jessiof the Mission. a ion ur iss ep M Sh an e Th Th Leo endent shelter on co-superint receive Christ as your personal AUG. Lord and Savior, James William 1990 OCT. Hale walked forward,” Cooper or.

1995 ive Direct says. s opened. as Execut wa ed er hir nt s Ce er wa s Recovery Tony Coop Royal Pine “That changed Jimmie APRIL 1998 Hale’s life. He became a new MAY person.

He never went back s opened. wa n re ild 1 200 men & ch people ace for wo n preparing Jessie’s Pl to the streets, drinking, addicnters bega Ce g nin ar yment.

Stewart Le for emplo tion, any of that.”

2007 Jimmie married Jessie ion. new locat Davis, a school teacher from oved to its m er nt Ce ura Men’s The Shep Moundville, and the two of FEB. 2012 2019 them founded the Mission in March of 1944. Ironicalfamily ’s ion iss d the M MARCH

Discovery

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Clubs joine stries. of mini

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ly, that first location was the same building where Jimmie sold his last drink as a bartender. Unfortunately in November of that same year, Jimmie passed away due to health complications. He was only 39 years old. Jessie, now a widow, was only 27 years old, and pregnant with their first child. Jessie took up the challenge though to continue her husband’s dream. For the next 10 years, she labored through to keep the mission going.

It has kept going for almost a century now, adding programs as needs arise.

“We’re client-focused, Christ-centered, and careful stewards,” says Cooper.

So what is next? “Well, right now, we aren’t sure completely what’s going to be next, but we certainly have several options that we have considered for a number of years. But you have to wait until there’s a need; you don’t duplicate services just because you want to do it,” Cooper says.

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Men in mission beds.

There have always been people in need of the mission.

The Jimmie Hale team: Anthony Cooper, director of programs; Sharon Fussell, director of human resources; Tony Cooper, executive director; Bonnie Hendrix, director of advancement; Wayne Buckley,director of finance.

Mission kitchen.

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THE GIFT

O’Neal Industries, Inc., a family-owned global business based in Birmingham, gave the largest single gift in UAB’s history — a $30 million donation to the Comprehensive Cancer Center that will allow the center to enhance cancer research, patient care, education and prevention.

Members of the O’Neal family have been business and political leaders in Alabama for generations. Edward O’Neal was Alabama’s 26th governor, and his son Emmet served as the state’s 34th governor. Kirkman O’Neal was a pioneer in 68

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Birmingham’s burgeoning steel industry, founding what was to become O’Neal Steel in 1921. The family now operates O’Neal Industries Inc., the nation’s largest family-owned group of metals service centers.

“We see this gift as an opportunity to give back in a meaningful way to a cause that is important to everyone,” says Craft O’Neal, chairman and CEO of O’Neal Industries and grandson of Kirkman.

“We hope the gift will be used in ways

“We see this gift as an opportunity to give back in a meaningful way to a cause that is important to everyone,” said Craft O’Neal, chairman and CEO of O’Neal Industries. (pictured here)

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Craft O’Neal speaking at the event announcing the gift to UAB.

that will yield the greatest results, accelerating progress in research, treatment and prevention of cancer and, ultimately, eliminate cancer as a major public health problem.”

The O’Neal family has been touched by cancer. Kirkman’s son and successor, Emmet, Craft’s father, died from emergency surgery associated with colon cancer, and his daughter Libby O’Neal White was a breast cancer survivor. Her husband, David White, succumbed to cancer, as did Craft O’Neal’s mother Mary Anne and his brother Kirk. Additional members of both the O’Neal and White families have both survived and lost their lives to cancer.

“The O’Neal and White families know too well the devastating effects of cancer, and together we were motivated by the opportunity to play a role in extending the lives of those with cancer in the region, while honoring our family members who have been afflicted by the disease,” O’Neal says.

The O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB is home to more than 400 scientists and physician-scientists and is involved in more than 200 clinical trials of new, promising therapeutics, many using therapies that were developed at UAB. The center treats an estimated 5,000 new patients each year.

“The university carries so much weight and has such a great reputation.

We had this wonderful cancer center, but it was like a candle underneath a basket.

One of the challenges with the branding 70

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Craft O’Neal greets Dr. Michael Birrer, director of the cancer center.

was it was not named. We have a real opportunity to bring it to the next level,” says Michael J. Birrer, M.D., Ph.D., director of the center “Now our job is to take the center and really brand it. From my perspective I would love it if patients in a few years would say I am going to the O’Neal. That would connote cutting research and a national reputation, a destination cancer center. That is our next job,” Dr. Birrer says.

“We were motivated by Dr. Birrer’s plans for the CCC and his vision for the future and wanted to provide resources to achieve that vision,” says O’Neal.

“His bold and aggressive plans to elevate UAB’s CCC to one of even greater prominence was exciting and something we wanted to be a part of. Our family knows too well the devastating effects of cancer and was motivated by the opportunity to play a role in extending the lives of those with cancer in the region while honoring our family members that have been afflicted by the disease. Lastly, the economic impact our gift would have on Birmingham and our state was important.”

O’Neal sees the importance of UAB. “UAB is the economic engine of Birmingham and to a large extent the state of Alabama. The importance of a thriving UAB to our city’s prosperity cannot be overstated. Our company has a nearly 100 year history here and that will continue. We strive to be a good corporate citizen both in our giving and volunteerism. This city and state have been great

to us and we like giving back. Supporting the various areas within UAB is not only a great way to advance UAB’s success, but that of the city and state as well,” O’Neal says.

“I love Birmingham and am thrilled with the trajectory of progress in our city in becoming a more desirable and vibrant area in which to live. Anything that continues that momentum is important to me. My understanding is that for every dollar invested in the CCC there is at least a $14 return. That’s pretty spectacular and I love the fact our gift will help in that regard. Our gift will enable Dr. Birrer to recruit highly paid researchers, clinicians and support staff, not to mention all of the ancillary positions created in the community as a result of the CCC’s expansion and successes. Grants received from the NIH and NCI will grow, pumping additional funds into our economy.

Our CCC will become THE choice for cancer patients regionally and eventually nationally. My hope is others will see the exciting developments at our CCC and want to invest in its future and that of our city as well.

O’Neal says: “It makes me very proud and I’d love to see someone come forward with a larger gift. I’ll never forget my conversation with Dr. Birrer when we first met. He told me he his top two priorities were a naming gift and to raise funds for a free standing cancer center.

One of those goals has been achieved and now it’s on to number two. Anyone out there interested?”

•

Do The

Impossible at Melt

The Impossible Burger...

Made from Plants, Tastes Like Meat

Local Classic...Modern Twist 4105 4TH Ave S, Birmingham, AL, 35222 (205) 917-5000 ď‚­ www.MeltBHAM.com

SPECIAL PROMOTION

BIRMINGHAM

STRONG CELEBRATING THE PEOPLE THAT MAKE THE CITY WORK

The companies on the following pages work hard, find success, and move our region forward. But they also care about community with staffs dedicated to making Birmingham even better, special relationships with non-profit organizations and a strong belief in the future of Birmingham.

SPECIAL PROMOTION

At Byars|Wright, we’re investing in the next generation.

Build people, protect relationships – that’s our purpose. Investing in the next generation is not only a key component of fulfilling that purpose, but it’s also necessary to remain a family-owned company.

We believe that families are connected through a shared history and experience, made up of individuals that fulfill a need.

Strong families are committed, making relationships their priority. Families should always have leaders, learners and mentors.

For 74 years, this has been our agency model – an approach that has allowed us to experience tremendous growth.

We entrust the future of our agency and city to our next generation, and we know this about them: They are loyal, smart, determined and strong. They are family-strong.

“We Protect Relationships. Every promise we make – and we mean every single one– is made on the belief that understanding is essential, trust is earned, and execution is everything. But above all else, Relation-

JASPER | GARDENDALE | HOMEWOOD | ALABASTER | CULLMAN

byarswright.com

SPECIAL PROMOTION

BIRMINGHAM

STRONG CELEBRATING THE PEOPLE THAT MAKE THE CITY WORK

When you are Birmingham strong, you understand the importance of family. Ted’s is a place for family. For owners Tasos and Beba Touloupis’s own family, and for the extended family of customers who give this classic Birmingham meat and three its own special sense of home.

The diversity of that extended family is startling. Lawyers and sales people.

Bankers and construction workers.

Cops and docs. “The customers have become good friends. The connections we have made over 17 years is like a community network,” Tasos says.

“I feel like you come into Ted’s, you are going to experience what Birming-

ham is all about. We are honored to be a part of that,” Beba says.

They are tied to the community also through the philanthropic work they support in a myriad of different ways.

In addition to being members of Birmingham Originals (which promotes eating at locally-owned restaurants), they’ve supported, over the years, charitable groups such as National MS Scoiety, Ronald McDonald House, Easter Seals of Birmingham, Fire House Shelter, Cornerstone Schools of Alabama, Camp Smile-A-Mile, The Wellhouse, Aids of Alabama, Birmingham Originals (Break ‘n Bread), Susan G Komen (Chefs for the Cure), and Birmingham Restaurant Week.

328 12th St S, | Birmingham, AL 35233 | 205.324.2911

tedsbirmingham.com.com

SPECIAL PROMOTION

BIRMINGHAM

STRONG CELEBRATING THE PEOPLE THAT MAKE THE CITY WORK

Making Birmingham Strong and Beautiful, Stock and Trade customers will find a wide selection of custom upholstery, case goods, lighting, art, rugs, accessories and unique objects, including several private label lines tailored specifically for the brand. The vast in-stock inventory is available for purchase off the showroom floor, with hundreds of additional pieces and custom options available by special order. In addition, professional in-home design services are available by appointment.

“We are committed to providing our clients with a vast and ever-changing collection of beautifully curated and affordable home furnishings infused with clean lines, modern sensibility

and classic style,” said Christopher Rankin, Creative Director and Principal Buyer for Stock & Trade. “In doing so, the design choices are limitless, allowing for true authenticity that reflects our customers’ individual lifestyles. We love the design process and we’re always excited about being a part of each client’s developing project.”

The Company opened its first store in Birmingham, Alabama in 2013, adding a Florida location at Miramar Beach in 2016.

Atlanta is Stock & Trade Design Co.’s third store, with yet another slated to open Fall of this year in the Nashville area.

3048 Independence Drive | Birmingham, AL 35209 | 205-783-1350 11111 Emerald Coast Pkwy | Destin, FL 32550 | 850-460-8990 1357 Collier Road NW | Atlanta, GA 30318 | 404-799- 4250

www.stockandtrade.com

SPECIAL PROMOTION

TOPWOMEN IN MEDICINE ALABAMA WOMENS SPECIALISTS CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR TOP WOMENS IN MEDICINE, DR. CHRISTINA MADDOX, DR. ASHLEY TAMUCCI, AND DR. SARAH AULTMAN WHO PROVIDE EXCEPTIONAL CARE TO 0UR PATIENTS EVERY DAY. The doctors of Alabama Women’s Specialists are part of a legacy of exceptional patient care. We provide preventative care that includes counseling, exams and cancer screening and prevention. We perform all forms of gynecologic surgery, including vaginal and robotic. We also evaluate and treat infertility and manage low and high-risk obstetric patients. Each doctor has dedicated nurses so that patients know them by name and consistently work with the same team.

Everything we do centers around providing the care and compassion we would want for ourselves and our family.

Dr. Christina Maddox, Dr. Greg Banks, Dr. Ashley Tamucci, Dr. Sarah Aultman

2006 BROOKWOOD MEDICAL CENTER DRIVE SUITE 310 BIRMINGHAM, AL 35209 • 205-877-2121

alwomens.com

Our annual list of the top women physicians in the metro Birmingham aread and how to find them.

TOP WOMEN B-METRO’S

IN MEDICINE 2019

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TOP WOMEN B-METRO’S

IN MEDICINE

Adolescent Medicine, Pediatric Dr. Nefertiti H. Durant Children’s of Alabama / UAB Medicine (205) 939-9100 Dr. Tina Y. Simpson Children’s of Alabama (205) 638-9345 Dr. Marsha S. Sturdevant Children’s of Alabama (205) 638-2357 Dr. Stephenie B. Wallace Children’s of Alabama (205) 638-2357 Allergies & Immune Disorders, Pediatric Dr. Sunena Argo Alabama Allergy & Asthma Center (205) 871-9661 Dr. Amy CaJacob Children’s of Alabama (205) 638-9072 Coralie S. Hains, MD Children’s of Alabama (205) 939-5284 Dr. Suthida S. Kankirawatana Children’s of Alabama / UAB Medicine (205) 638-9072 Allergy & Immunology Dr. Sunena Argo Alabama Allergy & Asthma Center (205) 871-9661 Dr. Amy CaJacob Children’s of Alabama (205) 638-9072 Dr. Clara K. Chung Birmingham Allergy & Asthma Specialists, PC (205) 943-1197 Dr. Carolyn Comer Alabama Allergy & Asthma 78

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(205) 871-9661 Dr. Maxcie Sikora Alabama Allergy & Asthma Center (205) 871-9661 Dr. Carol A. Smith Birmingham Allergy & Asthma Specialists (205) 943-1197 Dr. Lorena Wilson Alabama Allergy & Asthma Center (205) 871-9661 Alzheimer’s Disease Dr. Marissa C. Natelson Love UAB Medicine (205) 934-3411 Bariatric Surgery Dr. Cameron S. Askew Cameron Askew, MD, PC (205) 874-9780 Dr. Jayleen M. Grams UAB Medicine (205) 934-3411 Breast Surgery Dr. Helen Krontiras UAB Medicine (205) 934-3411 Dr. April J. Maddux Breast Care Center of Birmingham (205) 877-2987 Dr. Princess Thomas Birmingham Breast Care (205) 930-0806 Dr. Susan Winchester Birmingham Breast Care (205) 930-0806 Burn Treatment Dr. Chandra V. Ellis UAB Medicine (205) 934-9999

Cardiology Dr. Elizabeth Branscomb Cardiovascular Assoc. PC (205) 510-5000 Dr. Vera A. Bittner UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Dr. Monica Hunter Southview Medical Group (205) 933-4640 Dr. Joyce Koppang Cardiovascular Associates (205) 510-5000 Dr. Saema Mirza Cardiovascular Associates (205) 510-5000 Dr. Anuradha Rao Cardiovascular Associates (205) 510-5000 Cardiology, Pediatric Dr. Anabella Simon-Lee Alabama Heart and Vascular PC (205) 588-7847 Child Abuse Pediatrician, Pediatric Dr. Melissa L. Peters Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 638-9587 Colon & Rectal Surgery Dr. Jamie A. Cannon UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Dr. Leslie W. Hayes Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 638-9387 Dr. Melanie S. Morris UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Critical Care Medicine, Pediatric

Dr. Leslie W. Hayes UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Dr. Michele Y. F. Kong Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 638-9387 Dr. Nancy M. Tofil Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 638-9387 Dr. Margaret K. Winkler Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 939-9387 Dermatology Dr. Melanie Appell Total Skin & Beauty Dermatology (205) 933-0987 Dr. Kathleen M. Beckum Inverness Dermatology (205) 995-5575 Dr. Dannette Bentley Pure Dermatology & Aesthetics (205) 682-8022 Dr. Retna Billano Heights Dermatology and Aesthetics (205) 591-2169 Dr. Janet Cash Southview Dermatology (205) 918-1475 Dr. Megan Cherry Renew Dermatology (205) 580-1500 Dr. Kristy Curl Renew Dermatology (205) 580-1500 Dr. Rayna M. Dyck Skin Wellness Center of Alabama 205-561-0236 Dr. Katherine Flanagan Shades Valley Dermatology

(205) 578-1799 Dr. Zoey Glick

Cahaba Dermatology

(205)-214-7546 Dr. Vlada Groysman Cahaba Dermatology (205)-214-7546 Dr. Julie Harper Dermatology and Skin Care Center of Birmingham (205) 978-3336 Dr. Jo Lynne Herzog Brookwood Dermatology (205) 588-7547 Dr. A. Michelle Hill Total Skin & Beauty Dermatology (205) 933-0987 Dr. Lauren Hughey Renew Dermatology (205) 580-1500 Dr. Elizabeth S. Jacobson Inverness Dermatology (205) 995-5575 Dr. Maria Shellie Marks Inverness Dermatology (205) 995-5575 Dr. Elizabeth S. Martin Pure Dermatology & Aesthetics (205) 682-8022 Dr. Patricia Mercado UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Dr. Marian Northington Shelby Dermatology / Aesthetic Dermatology (205) 588-7000 Dr. Patricia W. O’Connor Inverness Dermatology (205) 995-5575 Dr. Sarah B. Sawyer Dermatology & Laser of Alabama (205) 870-3303 Dr. Jenny O. Sobera Village Dermatology (205) 877-9773 Dr. Vera Y. Soong Princeton Baptist Medical Center (205) 781-6995 Dr. Deborah Youhn Skin Wellness Center of Alabama 205-561-0236 Dermatology, Pediatric Dr. Zoey Glick Cahaba Dermatology (205) 214-7546 Dr. Shellie Marks Inverness Dermatology (205) 955-5575

SPECIAL PROMOTION

TOPWOMEN IN MEDICINE DR. MARY GILMER ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON FOOT & ANKLE SPECIALIST

Dr. Mary Gilmer is a board certified orthopedic surgeon who specializes in the foot and ankle. A Birmingham native, she became interested in orthopedics after fracturing her arm at a young age. After returning to Birmingham at the completion of her training she joined OrthoAlabama Spine and Sports and is now partners with Dr. Perry Savage who took care of her as a child.

Dr. Gilmer sees patients of all ages with orthopedic problems. She uses a collaborative approach to patient care to allow treatment to be customized to the patient and his or her goals. She understands the frustration of injuries and works to quickly and safely return patients to activities and sports. She is a competitive mountain bike racer (hence understanding frustration of injury) and helps coach in the Alabama High School Mountain Bike League. She sees patients in Trussville and at Lee Branch.

1801 GADSDEN HWY BIRMINGHAM, AL 35235 205.228.7600

www.aossma.com

TOP WOMEN B-METRO’S

IN MEDICINE Dr. Amy J. Theos Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 638-4823 Developmental, Behavioral Pediatrics Dr. Snehal A. Khatri Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 638-9585 Emergency, Pediatric Dr. Kathy W. Monroe Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 939-9100 Dr. Michele H. Nichols Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 638-9587 Dr. Annalise Sorrentino Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 939-9587 Emergency Medicine Dr. Janyce M. Sanford UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Dr. Audry Slane Grandview Emergency Department (205) 971-1000 Dr. Naomi Washington Grandview Emergency Department (205) 971-1000 Endocrinology, Pediatric Dr. Ambika P. Ashraf Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 939-9107 Dr. Joycelyn A. Atchison Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 939-9107 Endocrinology & Metabolism Dr. Sheela Lohiya Grandview Medical Group (205) 971-2571 Dr. Maria Prelipcean Southview Medical Group, PC (205) 918-4075 80

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Dr. Amy Warriner UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Family Medicine Dr. Bonnie H. Armour Red Mountain Family Health Center (205) 933-4520 Dr. Sameera Davuluri Geriatric Medicine Clinic (205) 934-9700 Dr. Sally Ebaugh Medical West (205) 481-8650 Dr. Rita Goyal UAB Medicine (205) 934-9999 Dr. Renee B. Harmon St. Vincent’s Primary Care- Double Oak (205) 995-2520 Dr. Tracy Jacobs Grandview Medical Group (205) 408-3933 Dr. Ankrehah T. Johnson Brownstone Total Family Healthcare (205) 202-5650 Dr. Andrea Lamberson Andrea S Lamberson LLC (205) 981-2124 Dr. Nova Law Harmony MD Direct Primary Care (205) 870-4343 Dr. Kathryn A. Moore Grandview Medical Group (205) 968-5988 Dr. Nancy Pajaro Grandview Health (205) 971-1000 Dr. Elizabeth C. Stevenson Greystone Family Medicine (205) 783-5207 Dr. Kay Ellen W. Willoughby Medhelp PC (205) 408-1231 Gastroenterology Dr. Allison Duke Bridges Southeast Gastro (205) 838-3034 Dr. Molly C. McVey Southeast Gastro (205) 870-0256

Dr. Lindsay South Robison Southeast Gastro (205) 870-0256 Gastroenterology, Pediatric Dr. Traci W. Jester UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Dr. Jeanine L. ScarberMaclin Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 934-6558 General Surgery Dr. Sally Salter-Blackwell St. Vincent’s (205) 933-6440 Dr. Jamie A. Cannon UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Dr. Heather Waldrup Advanced Surgeons, P.C. (205) 595-8985 Genetics, Pediatric Dr. S. Lane Rutledge Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 934-9999 Geriatric Medicine Dr. Ella Bowman UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Dr. Kellie L. Flood UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Patricia Goode, MD UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Dr. Marianthe D. Grammas UAB Medicine (205) 934-9999 Dr. Caroline N. Harada UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Samina Uddin, MD UAB Hospital-Highlands (205) 996-2770 Gynecologic Oncology Dr. Kerri S. Bevis UAB Medicine (205) 934-9999 Gynecology Dr. Bethany Campbell Women’s Health Specialists of Birmingham (205) 536-7676

Dr. Janet Davis Women’s Care Specialists (205) 877-2971 Dr. Judith K. Favor Sparks & Favor, PC (205) 397-1286 Dr. Alison A. Heaton Women’s Health Specialists of Birmingham (205) 536-7676 Dr. Kimberly H. Hoover UAB Medicine (205) 934-9999 Dr. Karla Kennedy Women’s Care Specialist (205) 877-2971 Dr. Kathryn McKinney Women’s Health Specialists of Birmingham (205) 536-7676 Dr. Ashley D. Przybysz Birmingham Obstetrics & Gynecology (205) 933-8334 Dr. Natalie Reddington Grandview Medical Group (205) 971-2571 Dr. Holly E. Richter UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Dr. Tomeka Roberts Page Hudson and Taylor (205) 939-2806 Dr. Heidi K. Straughn Brookwood Women’s Health, PC (205) 397-8850 Dr. Brenda Taylor Page Hudson and Taylor (205) 939-2806 Hand Surgery Dr. Victoria R. Masear OrthoSports Associates (205) 939-0447 Dr. Kathleen E. McKeon Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center (205) 939-3699 Dr. Jean E. Oakes UAB Medicine (205) 638-9146 Hematology Dr. Lisle M. Nabell UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Dr. Rita D. Paschal UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Dr. Mollie deShazo UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011

Hematology, Pediatric Dr. Smita Bhatia Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 638-9285 Dr. Lee M. Hilliard Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 638-9285 Hospice & Palliative Medicine Dr. Heather L. Herrington UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Dr. Ashley C. Nichols

UAB Medicine

(205) 934-4011 Hypertension Dr. Suzanne Oparil UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Infectious Diseases, Pediatric Dr. Susan C. Hutto Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 934-2441 Internal Medicine Dr. Emily Baillio Simon Williamson Clinic (205) 916-0105 Dr. Mary M. Balkovetz UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Dr. Rebecca Byrd Grandview Medical Group (205) 971-2571 Dr. Sharon Chaney Advanced Internal Medicine (205) 595-0395 Dr. Elizabeth Ennis Brookwood Baptist (877) 909-4233 Dr. Harini GangaDoppalapudi Medical West The Bessemer Clinic (205) 424-0494 Dr. Susan Hutto

Childrens of Alabama/UAB Medicine

(205) 934-4011 Dr. Tammy M. Leong Birmingham Internal Medicine (205) 995-9909 Dr. Paula Moore Grandview Health (205) 971-1000 Dr. Monica Riggins Grandview Medical Center

SPECIAL PROMOTION

TOPWOMEN IN MEDICINE VICKI BURLESON RESTORE VEIN AND WELLNESS

Restore Vein and Wellness provides comprehensive care for the treatment of venous and lymphatic diseases of the lower extremities. These disorders lead to spider veins, varicose veins, swelling, and inflammatory skin changes (discoloration and eczema). However, vein and lymphatic disorders result in more than just physical changes in the legs. Patients complain of throbbing pain, heaviness, muscle cramps, and restless legs that interfere with their activities of daily living.

If left untreated, patients are at risk for superficial and deep vein blood clots that predispose them to chronic wounds/ulcers of the lower extremities.

Restore Vein and Wellness offers the following minimally-invasive procedures, performed in the convenience of the office setting, for the treatment of Vein Diseases: Endovenous Laser Ablation or EVLA, MicroPhlebectomy, and Sclerotherapy. Our experience in treating venous and lymphatic disorders drives our desire to educate patients, healthcare providers, and the community about the treatment options that are covered by insurance and require little down time.

Our staff is committed to patient comfort and satisfaction. Vicki Burleson is a native of Birmingham, and a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science from the Physician Assistant Program.

Upon graduation, she practiced in Cardiac, Thoracic, and Vascular Surgery for 13 years. In the last decade, Vicki's focus as a Physician Assistant has been in the area of Venous and Lymphatic Disease. She added Registered Phlebology Sonographer to her credentials to better serve this patient population.

2010 PATTON CHAPEL ROAD, SUITE 102 HOOVER, AL 35216 205-208-0324

restorevein.com

TOP WOMEN B-METRO’S

IN MEDICINE (205) 971-1000 Dr. Katherine G. Romp UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Dr. Erin D. Snyder UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Dr. Farah Sultan Vitalogy Wellness Center (205) 413-8599 Dr. Azita Takeshian Azita Takeshian P.C. (205) 380-2205 Dr. Erin Townsley Grandview Health (205) 971-1000 Dr. Roxanne R. Travelute Internal Medicine Specialists (205) 877-2761 Dr. Saritha Uppala Grandview Medical Group (205) 971-2571 Dr. Katisha Vance Alabama Oncology (205) 877-2761 Dr. Lisa L. Willett UAB Medicine (205) 934-4011 Dr. Eima Zaidi Birmingham Infectious Disease PC (205) 739-2266 Neonatology Hannah Hightower, MD UAB Medicine (205) 934-9999 Dr. Virginia A. Karle UAB Medicine (205) 934-9999 Nephrology Dr. Mamatha Gandhi Southern Kidney Care (205) 354-2100 Dr. Vineeta Kumar UAB Medicine (205) 934-3411 Dr. Roslyn J. Mannon UAB Medicine (205) 934-3411 Dr. Agata Przekwas Nephrology Associates (205) 226-5900 Dr. Ashita J. Tolwani UAB Medicine (205) 934-3411

82

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Nephrology, Pediatric Dr. Sahar Fathallah-Shaykh Children’s of Alabama UAB Medicine (205) 638-9781 Neurological Surgery Dr. M.R Chambers Medical West (205) 481-7938 Dr. Kristen O. Riley UAB Medicine (205) 934-3411 Neurology Dr. Jennifer L. DeWolfe UAB Medicine (205) 934-3411 Dr. Jane Pearson Jane Pearson, MD PA (205) 939-0196 Neurology, Pediatric Dr. Jayne M. Ness Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 996-7850 Obstetrics Dr. Sarah Aultman Alabama Womens Specialists (205) 877-2121 Dr. Elizabeth Barron Women’s Care Specialists (205) 877-2971 Dr. Margaret M. Boozer UAB Medicine (205) 934-9999 Dr. Cynthia H. Brown Sparks & Favor, PC (205) 397-1286 Dr. Michele M. Christine Birmingham ObstetricsGynecology PC (205) 933-8334 Dr. Mia Cowan MiBella Wellness Center (205) 995-1009 Dr. Sarah C. Davis Birmingham Obstetrics & Gynecology (205) 933-8334 Dr. Shannon B. Ellis Birmingham Obstetrics & Gynecology (205) 933-8334 Dr. Judith K. Favor Sparks & Favor, P.C.

(205) 397-1286 Dr. Margot Gathings Women’s Care Specialists (205) 877-2971 Dr. Kimberly H. Hoover

UAB Medicine (205) 934-9999 Dr. Debora F. Kimberlin UAB Medicine (205) 934-9999 Dr. Christina Maddox Alabama Women’s Specialists (205) 877-2121 Dr. Margaret Miklic Grandview Medical Group (205) 971-5499 Dr. Chere M. Le Berte Stewart UAB Medicine (205) 934-9999 Dr. Heidi K. Straughn

Brookwood Women’s Health, PC (205) 397-8850 Dr. Ashley Tamucci Alabama Women’s Specialists (205) 877-2121 Erin N. Wait, MD Eastern OB/GYN (205) 838-3036 Dr. Virginia Winston Grandview Medical Group (205) 971-2571 Oncology, Pediatric Dr. Alyssa T. Reddy Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 996-7850 Dr. Kimberly F. Whelan Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 638-9285 Ophthalmology Dr. Kristin C. Bains Alabama Ophthalmology Associates (205) 930-0700 Dr. Jennifer D. Davidson Alabama Opthalmology Associates (205) 930-0700 Dr. Carolyn Hebson Vision First Eye Center (205) 949-2020 Dr. Virginia R. Lolley UAB Medicine (205) 325-8620 Dr. Jennifer Michelson Michelson Laser Vision (205) 969-8100

Ophthalmology, Pediatric Dr. Ann ArciniegasBernal UAB Medicine (205) 325-8620 Optometry Dr. Sarah Clark Cleghern Vision First Eye Center (205) 949-2020 Dr. Rebecca J. Doss Vision First Eye Center (205) 949-2020 Dr. Brooke Schaeffer Kaplan Schaeffer Eye Center (205) 979-2020 Dr. Christi Hill Pelham Eye Care (205) 664-1575 Dr. Julie Gannon Michelson Laser Vision (205) 969-8100 Dr. Dorri Goldschmidt Sports Vision South (205) 631-7700 Dr. Sarah Gordon Inverness Eye Care (205) 991-0020 Dr. Toy S. Holland Vision First Eye Center (205) 949-2020 Dr. Rena C. Lewis (205) 663-3937 Dr. Jill Key Meyer Eye Care Center (205) 663-3937 Dr. Tiffany Luke JJ Eyes (205) 703-8596 Dr. Kye L. Mansfield Vision First Eye Center (205) 949-2020 Dr. Amie Marsh Callahan Eye Clinic (205) 933-6888 Dr. Brittany Mitchell Alabama Vision Center (205) 592-3911 Dr. Megan Sandlin Pelham Eye Care (205) 664-1575 Dr. Holly Young Alabama Vision Center (205) 592-3911 Orthopedic Surgery, Pediatric Dr. Sharon K. Mayberry Orthopedics for Kids (205) 933-8588 Orthopedics Dr. Emily Casey Andrews Sports Medicine

& Orthopaedic Center (205) 939-3699 Dr. Mary Gilmer Alabama Ortho Sports & Spine (205) 838-3900 Kavita Iyengar, MD Lemak Health (205) 453-7550 Dr. Jean E. Oakes Children’s of Alabama (205) 638-9146 Otolaryngology Dr. Garima Agarwal UAB Medicine (205) 934-3411 Pain Dr. Ashlee McQueen Fulmer Southside Pain Specialists (205) 332-3155 Dr. Cheryl Goyne Southside Pain Specialists (205) 332-3155 Dr. Mercy Adaobi Udoji UAB Medicine (205) 934-3411 Pediatrics Dr. Carolyn S. Ashworth UAB Pediatrics/UAB Medicine (205) 638-9585 Dr. Courtney L. Baxley Over the Mtn. Pediatrics (205) 870-7292 Dr. Elizabeth C. Benton UAB Pediatrics/UAB Medicine (205) 638-9096 Dr. Lisa Conry Over the Mtn. Pediatrics (205) 870-7292 Dr. Julie Dennis Over the Mtn. Pediatrics (205) 870-7292 Dr. Elizabeth Hodges Over the Mtn. Pediatrics (205) 870-7292 Dr. Jennifer E. McCain Mayfair Medical Group (205) 870-1273 Dr. Virginia Menendez Over the Mtn. Pediatrics (205) 870-7292 Dr. Tanikqua Moore Focus MD (205) 769-0649 Dr. Linda Stone Over the Mtn. Pediatrics (205) 870-7292 Dr. Terry L. Wall Children’s of Alabama/

SPECIAL PROMOTION

TOPWOMEN IN MEDICINE DR. MONICA HUNTER Dr. Hunter is a board-certified cardiologist with subspecialties in interventional cardiology and peripheral vascular medicine. She has a passion for education as the key to prevention and effective management of coronary and peripheral artery disease. While communicating with patients to explain the disease process, the treatment plan, and the importance of screening, she places high priority on active listening. This helps ensure patients take an active role in their own care.

Equally important is physician education. Dr. Hunter has been privileged to teach 650 physicians from 45 states during “hands-on” endovascular courses in the latest technologies in the treatment of peripheral vascular disease. She has also served as a clinical investigator on more than 175 clinical research trials in the treatment of coronary artery disease and peripheral vascular disease.

Dr. Hunter also realizes the importance of the education of women with cardiovascular diseases. She is active in the American Heart Association, Go Red for Women. Go Red for Women encourages awareness of the issues that women face with cardiovascular disease and action to save more lives.

Dr. Hunter completed her medial training at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, the University of Cincinnati in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease, and the University of Kentucky in coronary and peripheral intervention. Dr. Hunter is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the Society of Coronary Angiography and Intervention. She is a member of Southview Cardiovascular Associates and sees patients at St Vincent’s Birmingham and St Vincent’s 119.

833 ST. VINCENT'S DRIVE POB 3 STE 500 • BIRMINGHAM, AL 35205 7191 CAHABA VALLEY ROAD •ST. VINCENT'S 119 • HOOVER, AL 35242 (205) 933-4679

www.southviewmedical.com

TOP WOMEN B-METRO’S

IN MEDICINE

UAB Medicine (205) 934-3411 Dr. Susan M. Harding UAB Medicine (205) 934-3411 Dr. Mary H. Maddox Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 638-9583

UAB Medicine (205) 638-9585 Dr. Melisa M. Wilson Over the Mtn. Pediatrics (205) 870-7292

(205) 934-5670 Dr. Susan P. Salter Southeastern Oncology Associates (205) 939-7884

Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Dr. Sherry Collawn Mtn. Brook Plastic Surgery and Laser Center (205) 871-4440 Dr. Maureen Muecke Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (205) 824-3223 Dr. Melanie Petro Petro Facial Plastic Surgery & Medspa (205) 420-8043

Radiology Dr. Cheri L. Canon UAB Medicine (205) 934-3411 Dr. Desiree E. Morgan UAB Medicine (205) 934-3411

Sports Medicine Dr. Kimberly M. Fagan Fagan Sports Medicine (205) 879-8206 Dr. Sophia Lal Fagan Sports Medicine (205) 879-8206 Dr. Cherie Miner Andrews Sports Medicine (205) 939-3699

Reproductive Endocrinology/ Infertility Dr. Janet M. Bouknight Alabama Fertility (205) 874-0000 Dr. Kathryn Honea ART Fertility Program of Alabama (205) 870-9784 Dr. Virginia Houserman ART Fertility Program of Alabama (205) 870-9784 Dr. Beth Malizia Alabama Fertility (205) 874-0000 Mamie R. McLean, MD Alabama Fertility (205) 874-0000

Surgery, Pediatric Dr. Elizabeth A. Beierle Chen Children’s of Alabama/ UAB Medicine (205) 638-9688

Urology Dr. Rupa Kitchens Urology Centers of Alabama (205) 930-0920 Dr. Nicole Massie Urology Centers of Alabama (205) 930-0920 Dr. Paula Rookis Urology Centers of Alabama (205) 930-0920

Respiratory/ Pulmonary Care Dr. Sandra Gilley Pulmonary Assoc.of the Southeast (205) 802-2000 Dr. Patricia E. Patterson Birmingham Pulmonary Group, PC (205) 933-9258 Dr. Oksana Senyk Grandview Health (205) 971-1000

Dental Dr. Christine Abenoja Abenoja Orthodontics 205-969-1969 Dr. Kelli Albritton Albritton & Ardovino 205-664-7610 Dr. Barbara Joanne Anderson 205-967-8555 Dr. Ann M. Ardovino Albritton & Ardovino 205-664-7610 Dr. Dominique V. Backus Backus Braces 205-879-0557 Dr. Kari Leigh Bartlett Dental Arts 256-739-5533 Dr. Haleigh Stidham Blackwell, DMD Pearly White Dentistry (205) 970-7292 Dr. Amanda Davis

Podiatry Dr. Natalie J. Giammanco Birmingham Podiatry (205) 324-8511 Lora Yeager-Smith, DPM Cahaba Podiatry (205) 980-2005 Psychiatrist Dr. Tiffany Andry Grayson and Associates (205) 871-6926 Dr. Karen Callahan Grayson & Associates (205) 871-6926 Dr. Jane Daw Grayson and Associates (205) 329-7992 Dr. Farah Khan Alabama Psychiatry and Counseling (205) 440-6292 Dr. Dana Flynn-Schneider Pitts & Associates, Inc. (205) 870-3520 Dr. Ioana Shirley Psychiatry Consultants (205) 249-5369 Dr. Andrea Thomas Grayson and Associates PC (205) 871-6926 Radiation Oncology Dr. Kimberly S. Keene UAB Medicine 84

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Rheumatology Dr. Laura B. Hughes UAB Medicine (205) 934-3411 Dr. Gwen Williams Ortho Sports Associates (205) 934-3411 Sleep Disorders Dr. Amy W. Amara

Davenport Dental & Wellness (205) 277-2297 Dr. Celia Davenport Davenport Dental & Wellness (205) 277-2297 Dr. Jennifer Davis Davis & Nix Family & Cosmetic Dentistry (205) 871-2592 Dr. Priscila Arruda Denny Oak Mountain Orthodontics 205-682-7488 Dr. Patricia Devilliers UAB, Kirklin Cinic 205-996-6577 Dr. Ashley Ford Calera Dental Center 205-620-3312 Dr. Lora Pacha Gaxiola Narrows Family Dentistry 205-981-2994 Dr. Janice Faye Jackson UAB, School of Dentistry 205-934-1134 Dr. Shandra LaDrea Keith 205-930-0705 Dr. Shaunda Kelly Cumberland Dental (205) 595-2273 Dr. Leigh Whitfield Kent 205-870-8341 Dr. Maggie Law Great Smiles (205) 803-1115 Dr. Jame Mashayekh Cahaba Dental Arts (205) 267-1216 Dr. Kristina May Lisa Miller Oral Facial Surgery (205) 789-5075 Dr. Lisa Lantzy Miller Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 205-789-5075 Dr. Lillian Marie Mitchell UAB, School of Dentistry 205-996-4076 Dr. Toni Yeu-shyr Neumeier UAB, School of Dentistry 205-934-1061 Dr. Melissa Nix, DMD Davis & Nix Family & Cosmetic Dentistry (205) 871-2592 Dr. Kathlyn Kruger Powell Children’s of Alabama Dental Clinic 205-987-1173 Dr. Deborah F. Rigsby Calera Dental Center 205-620-3312

Dr. Angelica R. Rohner Angelica Rohner Pediatric Dentistry 205-870-0892 Dr. Christy Savage Great Smiles (205) 803-1115 Dr. Deborah Annette Sema Oxmoor Valley Orthodontics 205-715-8128 Dr. Helen M. Bloom Smith Cumberland Dental (205) 595-2273 Dr. Melanie Spooner Wood & Spooner (205) 719-6011 Dr. Stephanie Steinmetz Steinmetz Pediatric Dentistry (205) 822-4284 Dr. Mary L. Sullivan Periodontics (205) 758-8872 Dr. Shannon R. Thomas Periodontics (256) 231-0077 Dr. Amanda L. Thompson Amanda L. Thompson, DMD (205) 823-6776 Dr. Deanne Lansdell Vail Homewood Family & Cosmetic Dentistry (205) 868-4577 Dr. Sherri M. Weissman Great Smiles Orthodontics 205-991-9292 Dr. Stephanie Whitehead Whitehead Orthodontics (205) 988-9678 Dr. Lisa G. Wilson General Dentistry (205) 995-8084 Dr. Sarah Wolfe Wolfe Orthodontics (205) 419-5562 Diana Wood Wood & Spooner (205) 719-6011

At Cardiovascular Associates, your heart is our specialty.

The top women in medicine fighting the number one killer of women.

CVA WOMEN IN MEDICINE Dr. Saema Mirza, Dr. Anuradha Rao, Dr. Joyce Koppang

Did you know cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women over 25? In fact, more than 8.6 million women die from heart disease each year, including one in every three American women. At Cardiovascular Associates, we are passionate about protecting and healing the hearts of women in Alabama, which we’ve been doing for more than 70 years.

With our cooperative, comprehensive approach to cardiology, CVA draws on the collective experience and expertise of more than 30 cardiovascular specialists to serve the men and women of central Alabama. If you or a loved one is experiencing symptoms of heart disease— and remember, women’s symptoms differ from men’s— please contact us, so we can help.

A COMMUNITY BUILT ON HEART

Schedule an appointment today. cvapc.com

205-510-5000

there!

METRO

Places that you need to be and things that you need to do.

ART

on the Rocks

2019 Art On The Rocks, now in its 15th year, has been consistently a hit of Birmingham’s summer. This season is no different. Here is the hot lineup for this summer at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

June 14

Con Brio: Named for an Italian musical direction meaning with spirit, Con Brio is a San Francisco Bay Area seven-piece that plays energetic soul, psych-rock and R&B.

July 12

Durand Jones and the Indications: Helmed by vocalistsDurand Jones and drummer Aaron Frazer, the Indications conjure the dynamism of Jackie Wilson, Curtis Mayfield, and the Impressions.

August 9

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears: While working at a pawn shop in Austin, Joe Lewis first picked up the guitar, later immersing himself in the local Red River blues/garage scene, recording and performing with Austin luminaries such as the Weary Boys and Walter Daniels.

Tickets for Art on The Rocks are $15 for members,

Steak for Father’s Day

This Father’s Day jettison the gift tie and go with a steak. From the hunter/ gatherer era up to today, steak has always been on a man’s menu. So to celebrate Father’s Day properly, plan on a great steak dinner for dad. Ruth’s Chris Stgeak House at the Embassy Suites Hotel has a plan for Father’s Day this year.

Ruth’s Chris is holding a Tastemaker Wine Dinner with Duckhorn Vineyards featuring a five-course pairing menu of adventurous dishes. Crafting exceptional Bordeaux varietal wines in Napa Valley for the past 40 years, Duckhorn Vineyards has become synonymous with excellence in American winemaking. Experience iconic wines from the Duckhorn collection alongside a chef-inspired meal. It’s the perfect Father’s Day gift for your favorite wine lover.

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PRESENTS

cutest baby contest

CALL

cutest baby contest FOR NOMINATIONS PRESENTS

VOTING

June 3th through July 6th

July 8th through August 5th

Vote at facebook.com/bmetromagazine

CURIOUS

METRO

WITH JOEY KENNEDY

Loving the Coffee Culture More than just a hot cup of Joe.

By Joey Kennedy

I

’ve been drinking coffee for as long as I can remember.

When my sisters and I were young tykes, my parents never made coffee off limits to us. My older sister and I could get up in the morning, walk our little, caffeine-starved bodies into the kitchen, pour ourselves big cups of joe, and enjoy the deep, roast flavor of 100 percent arabica fair trade coffee beans.

OK. That’s not true. This was the 1960s.

We were probably drinking Folgers Very Weak Blend. We’d pour tons of milk and sugar in our cups and enjoy the warm, silver-filling-tingling sweetness as we watched Mighty Mouse save the day.

Until my parents moved us from southe a s t Te x a s to deep south Louisiana, I don’t think I ever truly appreciated coffee.

We lived on Duet Street in Houma, La., in Terrebonne Parish. Our street was probably lower middle-class – generally small homes with hard-working men and women and lots of kids. The Wells family lived across the street.

The youngest Wells’ boy, Bobby, became my best friend. I’d spend lots of days at the Wells’ house, and Bobby’s mom, Miss Bonnie, would always have a rich, thick pot of coffee on. That’s where I learned that coffee was a whole lot more than milk, sugar, and Folgers.

I thought about all of this recently when my wife, Veronica, told me this year

is the 100th anniversary of Community Coffee, a Baton Rouge-based coffee company that has the dark roast we prefer most often.

I don’t know what brand of coffee Bonnie Wells cooked us, but I know I loved it and came to crave it. The coffee was very strong, probably thanks to chicory. I rarely put milk in that coffee, though sugar was almost always used. I came to crave it.

I crave it right now.

For years, I searched for that coffee taste.

The closest I’ve come is in Cuba, where the coffee is very dark and very strong. Cubans drink their coffee in little espresso cups. I always asked for a regular-sized cup, and my Cuban friends would look at me like I was some coffee-crazed addict.

I was. I am.

I brought a lot of Cuban coffee home from my trips there. Veronica and I agree it’s the best dark roast sans chicory we’ve had. Alas, we don’t have any right now.

Community coffee may be our go-to home brew, but that Louisiana brand really has nothing over the choices we have in Birmingham.

We have two major coffee brands in this area that are even older than Community.

Royal Cup and Red Diamond have been here quite a bit longer. And Birmingham, which now has a reputation as a foodie paradise, is also quite the coffee town, too.

Full disclosure: While I am curious about coffee, I am no coffee connoisseur.

I just like coffee. Lots of it. Maybe five or seven cups some days. If I miss my coffee fix in the morning, I’ll get a headache. I cure it by drinking coffee.

If there’s only decaf, I’ll get it. And I’ll pout.

But I never, ever drink flavored coffee.

Keep your hazelnut and vanilla, barista buddies. I’m not drinking pumpkin spice anything.

I want coffee. Fully caffeinated. Usually black. Maybe every now and then with a shot of my baby’s love.

About the silliest I’ll get in the coffee shop is a latte.

I can drink coffee that has been sitting on a burner for six hours. Or coffee that has just finished brewing. Of course, I like the latter better, but the former is better than nothing. Or hazelnut.

We have a lot of coffee houses in Birmingham, and they’re not all Starbucks, either. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a Starbucks snob. I don’t care one way or another.

There’s a tiny Starbucks right at the entrance of Sterne Library at UAB, where I spend a lot of time with my teaching gig.

It’s a busy, busy place; still, I’m there so often, they don’t have to ask my name or coffee preference.

I also love it that Starbucks put one of their stores next to Lucy’s Coffee & Tea on the edge of UAB’s campus a few years back, and Lucy kicked their butt. Starbucks quietly slinked away, because clearly, Lucy is boss of that neighborhood.

I love coffee, and I love coffee shops.

I spend time at O’Henry’s, Red Cat, the Abbey, Seeds, and Revelator. I haven’t checked out Filter at Five Points South yet, but I will soon. There are lots of other coffee shops in Birmingham, too, and I hope to get to them all before I jitter out of here.

Sometimes I like to sit and savor a liquid jolt as I read my Kindle. Sometimes my wife and I will zoom through Red Mountain Expresso for a couple of cappuccinos.

We rarely take one of our pugs to the vet that we don’t stop by Starbucks on the way home for a puppuccino (just whipped cream, really, but the pups love it).

Still, I pine for that Wells’ coffee, lovingly made by Miss Bonnie and shared with friends around their kitchen table. I always got more, if I wanted it.

I wanted it. Black, and thick, and beautifully bitter. I want it now.

What’s your favorite coffee place in Birmingham? Why?

Joey is a Pulitzer Prize winner. He writes this curious column each month for B-Metro. He can be reached at joeykennedy@me.com.

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