0405 islander

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COMMUNITY CALENDAR: Ongoing and Upcoming Events, PAGE 4

Coastal Alabama Community College Art Fair 2017

The Islander

INSIDE

APRIL 5, 2017 | GulfCoastNewsToday.com |

Potential public transit service could come to Orange Beach

PAGE 7

75¢

Branding the beach

Orange Beach city leaders and others met with Baldwin County commission members last week to discuss the launch of a possible new public transit service for the city. To learn more about this exciting new development, turn to Page 2.

Share the Beach meeting schedule for Apr. 6 The Share the Beach program is kicking off its volunteer meeting schedule on April 6. To learn more about this program and how it helps protect and preserve our sea turtle population, turn to Page 37.

A tribute for Travis

How a simple signage change grew into much more

By CRYSTAL COLE

crystal@gulfcoastmedia.com

welcomes you to TM

By CRYSTAL COLE crystal@gulfcoastmedia.com

DEATHS

PAGE 21

Thelma Allen Sara Lee Cummings Booth William Allan Hoke Sr. Daniel Edward Kelliher Ervin John Straub

Nestled at the bottom of the southside of the intercostal waterway bridge on a quiet street corner is one of the oldest and oddest buildings in Gulf Shores. It’s beautiful, yet unassuming facade welcomes locals and tourists alike onto the island and is one of the first landmarks inviting people onto the island. It’s the city store and, although it opened in 2014, many locals still wander in unaware of that’s inside. Bridgette Reynolds, programs and events manager for the City of Gulf Shores, said the store opened as part of the city’s initiative to change its branding and way finding signage. “We started in just a little corner in our tennis center selling t-shirts,” Reynolds said. “It expanded and grew to the point where we said it needed to be something larger than just a corner of the tennis center. At the same time, the building on the corner of Clubhouse and 59 was owned by the city and the fire department was actually occupying it because they were building a new fire station.” The building was actually the first tourism building in the state of Alabama and was christened by Lurleen Wallace. The city spoke with the same consulting firm who worked on the city’s branding about how to use the building. “I said we can’t have this building not used by something,” Reynolds said. “It’s

Alab ama’s Playgr ound

just too good not to. We don’t have a lot of historical things down here. Everything gets taken away by hurricanes, or we knock it down.” And so the building had a function once more. The palm trees around it are original and tell a story themselves. Each notch in the trees are from a period when the tree was in distress, such as during Hurricane Frederick and Hurricane Ivan. The building not only serves to sell citybranded merchandise. It also functions as an information hub, a box office for city entertainment events and an outlet for renting city facilities. Ed Delmore, superviser of retail operations, said the store has been so successful because the brand is something locals are proud to wear. “We could sell pretty much anything out of here, but that’s not the goal,” Delmore SEE BRANDING, PAGE

INDE X

Hundreds of servicemen and women from around the area came together last week to celebrate the life of one of their own - Sergeant Travis Coleman of the Orange Beach Police Department, who passed away suddenly March 27. Coleman was a veteran officer who began his career with the department in 2004 following his service with the University of Alabama Police Department in Tuscaloosa. According to the Orange Beach Police Department, Coleman was well respected by the members of his department and the community as a whole. “Losing Sergeant Coleman is a tremendous loss, and we grieve the passing of a good friend, a good man and a stellar officer,” Orange Beach Police Chief Joe Fierro said. At the memorial service held last Friday, two officers stood as sentinels at the entrance of the service while Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon and his wife Paula helped greet and usher in Coleman’s friends and family. In attendance were members from the Orange Beach Police, Gulf Shores Police, Orange Beach Fire, Gulf Shores Fire, Alabama State Troopers and Gulf State Park rangers, in addition to the friends and family members who wanted to help celebrate the life of the man they knew and loved. Fierro said Coleman was one of the stalwart members of the Orange Beach Police Department, someone who earned the respect of those he worked with. SEE TRAVIS, PAGE

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Gulf Coast Media

BALDWIN LIVING, 7-8

OUT & ABOUT, 26

CLASSIFIED, 10-11

PUZZLES, 9

HEALTH, 23-27

SPORTS, 14-16

VOLUME 41 • ISSUE 15

LEGALS, 28-34

TV LISTINGS, 17-20

1 SECTION • 40 PAGES

OPINION, 12-13

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