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CONTENTS | VOLUME XXXV / ISSUE 10
OCTOBER 2019
36
They Call the Captain Hollywood
RUDY RETRIEVES A DOVE IN THE SUNFLOWER FIELDS OF BALDWIN COUNTY. PHOTO BY MATTHEW COUGHLIN
Sonny Brewer shoots the breeze with old salt and Orange Beach legend Captain Brent “Hollywood” Shaver
46
Bring on the Birds After 30 years of preparing dove fields, Silverhill’s Billy Passmore gears up for another season waistdeep in the sunflower fields
52
Change Maker Prichard native Jessica Norwood goes head-to-head with the racial wealth gap, both locally and across the nation
“I am going far away from you, Old Barton, and I may never tread your stairs again,” begins the song once sung by Barton Academy’s graduating students. On page 41, follow a pair of paranormal investigators looking to see if any of those students have decided to stick around.
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CONTENTS | VOLUME XXXV / ISSUE 10
OCTOBER 2019 18
ON OUR COVER Local activist Jessica Norwood models a wrap from Debra’s.
59
28
PHOTO BY MATTHEW COUGHLIN
9 EDITOR’S NOTE 10 REACTION 12 MBM CONCERT PICS
FAIRHOPE WITCHES RIDE / PHOTO BY BLUE ROOM PHOTOGRAPHY INSPIRATION WEDDING AT BIENVILLE SQUARE / PHOTO BY ELIZABETH GELINEAU HOSTING WITH THE ROBERTSONS OF OAKLEIGH / PHOTO BY ELIZABETH GELINEAU
14 ODDS & ENDS 16 BITE-SIZED Hop into a fall state of mind with these seasonal 26 MIXOLOGY beer offerings from local Ring in the cooler temps breweries with this maple bourbon cocktail 18 SPOTLIGHT Local ladies in witchy 28 BAY TABLES garb take to their bicycles The Robertsons of in the name of charity Oakleigh prefer game day entertaining with a twist 23 THE DISH 41 GUMBO 24 TASTINGS Come along on a para- Maple Street Biscuit Co. normal investigation of meets Spring Hill Barton Academy
59 MOBILE BAY BRIDE 104 ASK MCGEHEE In this inaugural bridal insert, What is the history of find local trends, design inspi- Hartwell Field, and was it ration and eight pages of Mobile’s first baseball park? wedding announcements from real Bay-area newlyweds 106 IN LIVING COLOR Boys enjoy a game of backyard football, circa 1935 80 OCTOBER CALENDAR 102 LITERATURE Author and Citronelle native Audrey McDonald reflects on the Southern fascination and relationship with the dead
An exhibition baseball game on April 2, 1929, pitted the New York Yankees against the Mobile Bears at Mobile’s Hartwell Field. With the home run kings Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in the lineup, the day’s only homer was hit by Mobile Bears fielder “Moose” Clabaugh. Learn more about Hartwell Field on page 104.
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Mobile Bay VOLUME XXXV
No10
OCT 2019
PUBLISHER T. J. Potts Stephen Potts Judy Culbreth EXECUTIVE EDITOR Maggie Lacey MANAGING EDITOR/WEB Abby Parrott EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Amanda Hartin PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Virginia Mathers ART DIRECTOR Laurie Kilpatrick EDITORIAL INTERN Caroline Hunt
ASSISTANT PUBLISHER
EDITORIAL CONSULTANT
ADVERTISING S R. ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Joseph A. Hyland Anna Pavao ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jennifer Ray
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
ADMINISTRATION CIRCULATION Anita Miller ACCOUNTING Keith Crabtree
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Audrey McDonald Atkins, Mallory Boykin, Sonny Brewer, Emmett Burnett, Lawren Largue, Tom McGehee, Breck Pappas CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS
Summer Ennis Ansley, Blue Room Photography, Carl Calderone, Matthew Coughlin, Elizabeth Gelineau, Meggan and Jeff Haller / Keyhole Photo, Alicia Marie, Chad Riley ADVERTISING AND EDITORIAL OFFICES
3729 Cottage Hill Road, Suite H Mobile, AL 36609-6500 251-473-6269 Subscription inquiries and all remittances should be sent to: Mobile Bay P.O. Box 43 Congers, NY 10920-9922 1-833-454-5060 MOVING? Please note: U.S. Postal Service will not forward magazines mailed through their bulk mail unit. Please send old label along with your new address four to six weeks prior to moving. Mobile Bay is published 12 times per year for the Gulf Coast area. All contents © 2019 by PMT Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of the contents without written permission is prohibited. Comments written in this magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the ownership or the management of Mobile Bay. This magazine accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photography or artwork. All submissions will be edited for length, clarity and style. PUBLISHED BY PMT PUBLISHING INC .
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EXTRAS | EDITOR’S NOTE
ON FIRE THESE GRILLS ARE MADE BY A GEORGIA BOY WHO DISCOVERED THE FUN OF GATHERING AROUND AN OPEN FIRE WITH FRIENDS WHEN VISITING SOUTH AFRICA. WE GOT OUR CHANCE TO TRY THEM OUT AT THIS MONTH’S BAY TABLES. AVAILABLE AT FISHER’S AT ORANGE BEACH MARINA
Get the Chills
W
ho doesn’t love a good creepy story, especially as Halloween draws near? Tales of disembodied voices, lingering shadows and flickering lights make the hair on your neck stand on end, even for non-believers. As someone who grew up in a few really old homes, I am no stranger to creaks in the hall and bumps in the night. But so far — thank the Lord — I am haunt free, and I plan to keep it that way. However, I first discovered printed tales of local haunts amid the stacks at the St. Ignatius school library in the late 1980s. Selma’s Kathryn Tucker Windham wrote eight books about Southern ghosts, beginning with her famous “13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey,” and as soon as I checked out that compilation with my school library card, I was hooked. Her tales include as much history and description of the people and places as they do the ghoulish frights, so even as a child, they were harmless good fun. Windham focused on stories that had been passed down through the generations, calling them a “treasured part of Southern folklore,” and they certainly have been appreciated by generations of Alabamians. In the spirit of the season, shall we say, MB decided to cook up our own haunted tale. When approached by a few paranormal investigators hoping to spend the night at Barton Academy, how could we say no? Met by a serious team armed with all the gear, our writers and photographers tagged along for a spooky night roaming the halls of the beloved historic building. Alas — or perhaps luckily, depending on your perspective — no poltergeist revealed himself that night. But the tale of the adventure is worth a read, nonetheless. In addition to haunts and ghouls, costumes and candy, October is rife with the excitement of a new season. Hopefully a little cooler air will descend upon us, and south Alabama will feel a fresh spring in its step. I feel light as air remembering that, 14 years ago this month, I tied the knot beside the shores of Mobile Bay. And so it feels only fitting that this October issue is the first to bring a special bridal section to the readers of MB. You asked to see more brides more often, and we listened. Enjoy these 20 pages of beautiful brides, creative ideas and wedded bliss.
Maggie Lacey EXECUTIVE EDITOR
maggie@pmtpublishing.com
MB’s 2019 Inspiration Home is taking shape! We’ve gathered a top-notch team of suppliers, manufacturers and designers who are all working hard on this amazing house being built among the trees in downtown Fairhope. Stay tuned ... mobilebaymag.com/inspiration-home
LOVE THIS ISSUE
GRAB A COLD ONE THE ONLY THING PRETTIER THAN A HAND BLOWN GLASS TUMBLER IS ONE FILLED WITH LOCAL BEER. MUFFINJAW DESIGNS FOR HAINT BLUE BREWING COMPANY
BUTTER ME UP THIS MONTH’S COCKTAIL IS PACKED WITH THE FLAVORS OF FALL THANKS TO A SPOONFUL OF APPLE BUTTER. IT TAKES HOURS TO MAKE IT FROM SCRATCH, SO I GRAB THE LOCALLY MADE STUFF. APPLE BUTTER • PUNTA CLARA KITCHEN, POINT CLEAR
COOLING OFF A VEST IS THE PERFECT WAY TO TRANSITION INTO FALL IN A PART OF THE COUNTRY WHERE COLD WEATHER IS STILL AGES AWAY. I’M EYEING THIS GORGEOUS QUILTED NUMBER! BARBOUR QUILTED VEST • MCCOY OUTDOOR COMPANY
GOOD GOOBERS NOTHING SAYS FALL TO ME LIKE BOILED PEANUTS IN A STYROFOAM CUP FROM A ROADSIDE STAND (OR GAS STATION IN A PINCH). BUT THIS MONTH WE ARE SHAKING IT UP AND SHARING A RECIPE FOR CURRIED BOILED PEANUTS — A SOUTHERN FOODIE’S DREAM.
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EXTRAS | REACTION
Tell us how you really feel ... STICKING AROUND
WHEREFORE ART THOU?
On August’s “Mighty Warriors,” a feature about the rise of lacrosse along the Gulf
On August’s “In Living Color,” a 1937 colorized photo of shotgun houses at an undetermined location
I am the coordinator of competitive sports and facilities at the University of South Alabama. I read your article about lacrosse, and I love that the sport is gaining traction in the area. We have a club team here on campus for the sport as well.
I think these houses were on Virginia Street, just west of Ladd-Peebles Stadium. I remember passing them when my mom took my dad to work at Mobile Pulley. We had a flat tire one morning. My mom had no money with her and was in her housecoat. A man and his wife invited us on the porch, while the husband changed the tire. I always waved to them when we passed. Needless to say, my mom never left the house in her housecoat after that early morning event!
- Maygan Williams Lacrosse has helped bridge a lot of schools in Mobile over the past seven or eight years, since there are students from different schools playing together on club teams. Thanks, MB, ROSS CARLEY for featuring this PHOTO BY great sport. MATTHEW - Susan Carley
COUGHLIN
Such a fun read and interesting sport.
- Virginia Nelson The houses look like [the ones] on South Carolina Street. I walked from there to first grade at Oakdale School in 1953. - Deborah Phillips
- Kelly Fitzhugh Weller My brothers both grew up playing. Great sport! - Meredith Ellis Grimm It’s a neat sport to learn about. Thank you for always doing great stories. - Kendra Barnett Clarification: Christopher Pierce is the head coach for St. Paul’s Club Lacrosse. Josh Friedman is an assistant coach.
I remember a row of houses that looked just like these on Virginia Street just east of Houston Street.
THERE’S MORE TO THE STORY On August’s “Ask McGehee” about Bishop Thomas J. Toolen’s hurricane-free tenure Mobile had terrible hurricanes about once a decade before Bishop Toolen. Shortly after he became Bishop, he ordered each of the parish priests to say the Divine Praises as a prayer for protection from hurricanes. The prayer was said after all masses until his death, more than 30 years later. During this time, Mobile did not have a hurricane. Toolen’s successor was Bishop May, and he told priests to stop the Divine Praises. He saw it as praying that God would send hurricanes away from Mobile to some other place on the Gulf Coast, and that did not seem right to him. There was great argument because the laity wanted to continue the now-traditional prayer. In 1979, near the end of May’s tenure, Hurricane Frederic hit. Chancellor Oscar Lipscomb told May the laity was upset, and many of them blamed him for Frederic hitting Mobile because we no longer prayed for protection. After hearing this, May permitted the Divine Praises to begin again, and not long after this, he moved to St. Louis. - Lee Hale
RUNNING WITH CONFIDENCE
- Betsy Hunter
On August’s “Spotlight” of Girls on the Run South Alabama
STORED MEMORIES
This is an amazing program, and you do incredible work, Anna Katherine Ray.
On August’s “Spotlight” of the Spring Hill legacy, The Holiday
- Jana Salley
We did a lot of shopping there!
We loved this program.
- Betty Tadlock
- Katherine Arnold
Want to share your thoughts and reactions? Email maggie@pmtpublishing.com.
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[MORE ONLINE]
Find additional local stories on mobilebaymag.com. Here’s what’s new on the website! Mark your Calendars The Bay area comes alive in October! There were simply too many cool events to fit into our calendar of events (page 80). Go online for an extended social calendar and our top 10 picks for the month.
Tailgate Time You can’t root for your favorite team without a proper spread. We’ve compiled our go-to football party recipes for easy entertaining with family and friends.
Get Inspired! The MB Inspiration Home is coming right along! Located in Fairhope’s Van Antwerp Park, the home will open for tours on Dec. 12. Tickets are now available online on Eventbrite.
Join Our Email List Finally, an email you actually want. Get the latest in fashion, food, art, homes, history and events delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for our email list at mobilebaymag.com.
october 2019 | mobilebaymag.com 11
PEOPLE | GATHERINGS
Rising to the Occasion The Steeple was alive with the sound of music at MB’s On the Rise concert, which featured up-and-coming artists and a special appearance by the Marlow Boys. text by AMANDA HARTIN • photos by CHAD RILEY
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TOP ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT The Marlow Boys’ performance wrapped up a great evening. Symone French lets loose on stage. Melody Duncan wows the crowd with her soul-stirring song and ever-present smile. SECOND ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT Wendell Kimbrough strums out a powerful psalm. Laurie Anne Armour performs a folksy tune, accompanied by a violinist. The crowd was engaged with each artist throughout the night. Yeah Probably pepped up the crowd with a rousing drumbeat. THIRD ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT Seating near the stage provided an up-close-and-personal view of the show. Laurie Anne Armour smiles at the bassist accompanying her final song.
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EXTRAS | ODDS & ENDS
Is It Cold Yet? text by MB EDITORIAL STAFF
IN 1870,
BARTON ACADEMY WAS PAINTED PINK. TO CONTINUE SCRATCHING YOUR HEAD, READ ABOUT A PARANORMAL INVESTIGATION OF THE OLD SCHOOL ON PAGE 41.
OCT. 19
1935
100 YEARS
AGO THIS MONTH The National Prohibition Act was passed. Pour some out in remembrance. Or better yet, don’t.
Paul “Bear” Bryant plays football with a broken leg against the University of Tennessee, having been injured the weekend prior in a game against Mississippi State. Alabama and Tennessee kick off every third Saturday in October.
“You know what the ideal dove gun for any given day is? Your other — the one you left at home.”
Eighty-four years later, to the exact day, the two rivals will face off at BryantDenny Stadium.
- Nature writer, GENE HILL (1928 - 1997). On page 46, read about the Sunflower Wing & Shot Club of Baldwin County.
October is SQUIRREL AWARENESS MONTH We’re aware.
Halloween by the Numbers
90%
of parents admit to sneaking candy from their kids’ trick-or-treat bags
46%
of American adults will carve a pumpkin
11.5%
of Americans will put their pet in a costume
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FOOD | BITE-SIZED
Serda Brewing 600 Government St., Mobile Fan favorite: Surf’s up with the Tidewater The Tidewater Vienna Amber has a smooth, malty presence without a strong “hoppy” taste but is rather floral and spicy in malt and hop aroma. It is easy drinking at its finest. In Season: Festbier Serda’s Festbier is available in 30 barrels from mid-September through fall. The autumn brew is a tawny marzen-style golden lager, medium to full-bodied with a lingering malt sweetness and aromatic malts. Iron Hand Brewing 206 State St., Mobile Fan Favorite: Wee Heavy stands tall Wee Heavy is a strong British or Scottish ale, aromatic and delicious. During brewing, the ale of note renders an abundance of sugars in the grain from the second boiling. A lighter beer results much like the ideal blind date — sweet and rich. In Season: Pumpkin Ale Start with a crafted blonde ale and mix with homemade pumpkin pie (minus crust) and behold, the Pumpkin Ale. Brewing to serving is a 30day process. Pie and beer combined, you ask? Yes, it’s that good. Fairhope Brewing Company 914 Nichols Ave., Fairhope
Tap into the Season Bring on fall with all its discarded leaves, crisp autumn air and crafted beer in cans, foaming glasses and on tap. Here are some of the Bay area’s finest brews, all with distinct flavors and good for what ales you.
Fan Favorite: Fifty One Regulars at the Eastern Shore’s go-to brewery agree, Fairhope’s Fifty One has a nice hoppy kick without being a heavy beer. Customers enjoy the lighter, refreshing taste. The style is American pale ale, light and with a 5.5 percent alcohol by volume that speaks volumes. In Season: Judge Roy Bean The “Judge” is available starting midOctober, from one brewed batch, for about two or three months. It is an American stout of crafted beer, infused with coffee from Fairhope Roasting Company and cold-brewed at the brewery. Old Majestic Brewing Co. 656 St. Louis St., Mobile
text by EMMETT BURNETT • photo by ELIZABETH GELINEAU
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Fan Favorite: Coming Soon, a Majestic Blonde Slated for an October grand opening, insiders predict the brewery’s
Majestic Blonde will be its “flagship beer.” The blonde ale is an easydrinking brew, low but with pleasing hop bitterness, and medium-bodied with low malt aroma. And like all good blondes — spicy with fruity character. In Season: The Elisa Battle Smoked Porter Though available all year, Elisa Battle is perfect for fall. The moderately strong beer is a cherry wood molasses porter with crisp cherrywoodsmoked flavor invoking campfire memories of the great outdoors. Big Beach Brewing Company 300 E. 24th Ave., Gulf Shores Fan Favorite: Rod’s Reel Cream Ale Barley, water and hops, oh my! But add a touch of flaked maize, and oh wow: Rod’s Reel Cream Ale is served. This beer, with a smooth cream corn flavor, is a Gulf Shores classic. In Season: Flight of the Snowbirds, a tourist favorite The name says it all: Flight of the Snowbirds, a bushwacker-margaritastyle beer with chocolate, vanilla, coconut and coffee mixed with stout. It’s popular with extendedstay visitors, our beloved snowbirds. Haint Blue Brewing Company 806 Monroe St., Mobile Fan favorite: Cain and Kazoola Cain (named for Mardi Gras’s Joe Cain) and Kazoola (named for Africatown’s Cudjoe Kazoola Lewis) leans on hops continuously added during brewing. The pale ale’s intense flavors and aroma derive from bountiful hops that pop. At press time, Haint Blue’s autumn offerings are unnamed. But big Indian pale ales are scheduled with super favorable, hop-intensified beers in a limited double dry hop run. Braided River 420 St. Louis St., Mobile Braided River is set to open in December with a line of “take me with you” beers that, the staff says, “Go along no matter where the adventure takes you.” Beer Here Now is one such beer. Predicted to be a strong seller, the brew features low carbs and is a good choice for fall tailgating. Another contender is the IPA Hoppy by Nature, a tropical-style beverage with bright happy hoppy flavors. Cheers!
PHOTO BY MAGGIE LACEY
FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES text by MB STAFF
Gulf Coast craft breweries collaborate on a small-batch beer to raise money for the Alabama Coastal Foundation Back in 2012, Fairhope Brewing Company was just an idea on paper, and its founders needed help. The brewmasters at Back 40 in Gadsden offered nuggets of wisdom and advice from hard-earned personal experience. “There’s a real camaraderie in the craft beer world,” says FBC’s Brian Kane, “and we wanted to pay that forward when we had the chance.” As the first brewery in Baldwin County since Prohibition, Fairhope Brewing is the veteran in this neck of the woods. However, a new batch of high-quality breweries have opened their doors in recent years. These days, FBC’s beer sits on taps alongside beer from Serda’s and Big Beach, while Old Majestic and Braided River are just months away from launching and Iron Hand is serving in their own taproom. It’s a small family of impassioned business people. “We love to talk shop with the other brewers,” Kane says, “and if they can learn from our mistakes and experience, that’s great.” All six of the aforementioned Alabama Gulf Coast breweries recently gathered at FBC’s warehouse to collaborate on a seasonal brew. The New England Pale Ale, a brew that is citrusy and a little hazy, is now available on taps across town and in cans at local retailers, all to benefit the Alabama Coastal Foundation. “You need good water to make good beer,” reminds John Serda, saying the ACF was a natural fit for this project. After much deliberation and planning, the brewmasters developed their recipe for what has been named “Friends in Low Places” and brewed 30 barrels of this limited edition beer. It is now in cans and kegs across the Gulf Coast and around the state, showing everyone just how great a Gulf Coast craft beer can be. MB october 2019 | mobilebaymag.com 17
PEOPLE | SPOTLIGHT
Bewitched What began as a leisurely bike ride through a Florida town has grown into a national charitable event — and one Fairhope woman was the brainchild of it all. text by AMANDA HARTIN • photos by BLUE ROOM PHOTOGR APHY
Y
ou should hear her cackle. And you just might, especially if you live in Fairhope. “I toss it around randomly throughout the year to keep everyone on their toes,” Amanda Bacon says, adding that her witchy guffaw could probably win a contest. Bacon knows a thing or two about witches — the charitable good sort, of course. Witches rides originated humbly enough about 30 years ago in the coastal town of Seaside, Florida, when Bacon and a few of her friends rode their bikes to the beach dressed in witches’ costumes. Onlookers, including schoolyard children, were bemused with the women’s two-wheeled spectacle. From the positive reception, an idea was born, all in the name of mirth and charity. “We always donate to local animal rescue groups,” Bacon says of her now-Fairhope-area ride, which she, along with Jenny Klein, started in 2015. “The first year was surprising and amazing,” Klein says ahead of the fifth annual event. “People were pretty skeptical about what we were trying to do, but once riders hit the streets in their costumes, it did not take long for people to start talking about it and for momentum to grow.” And grown it has. Rides have popped up all over the nation. It has spread locally from Fairhope to Mobile, Foley and Daphne. “It’s a family-friendly ride,” says Harry Johnson of Daphne’s Witches, Warlocks and Wizards ride, which unlike other cities, is a co-ed event. “The number of participants and spectators has doubled each year.” As All Hallows’ Eve approaches, registered participants, perched atop Schwinn and 18 mobilebaymag.com | october 2019
Huffy “brooms,” will once again whoosh past cheering spectators in blurs of greens, reds, oranges and blacks. “The best part of the ride is the sheer joy on the faces of people watching,” Klein says, echoing a popular sentiment. “It is silly and fun to watch witches fly by, and of course, children love the candy we toss.” Buying sweets is but one drop in the parade readiness cauldron. Finding — or making — the perfect costume is another. Covens, that’s a group of witches for the layperson, often dress alike, many donning custom T-shirts blazoned with clever sayings such as “Basic Witch” or “Witch Don’t Spill My Wine.” “We have joked with some of the local consignment store owners that they should have a ‘witch rack’ so gals can sell their old costumes and find new ones,” Klein says. But no matter the hat, dress, cape or cackle a witch or warlock chooses, one important spell-binding element remains: practice. Bacon says with a laugh, “Most witches are just trying to juggle the fine art of riding a bike in full regalia while throwing candy.” MB
Tickets to ride sell out quickly! Check out MB’s calendar, page 80, for information on registration, dates and times. october 2019 | mobilebaymag.com 19
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FOOD | THE DISH
Bite of the Bay MB’s contributing food fanatics share the local dishes that made them hungry for more.
HURRICANE BURGER AT FISH RIVER GRILL. PHOTO BY SUMMER ENNIS ANSLEY
CECIL CHRISTENBERRY, Owner, Old Tyme Feed & Garden Supply
BURGER AT FISH RIVER GRILL “I absolutely love the large, juicy hurricane burger with all the fixin’s, including bacon, cheese, jalapeños and mushrooms. Amazing hushpuppies and spicy cheese curds, along with their famous swamp soup, made this birthday celebration one to remember. But I saved no room for the tempting dessert offerings! Maybe next time, because I will be back very soon.” FISH RIVER GRILL • 19270 SCENIC HIGHWAY 98, FAIRHOPE • 928-8118 • FACEBOOK.COM/ FISHRIVERGRILL
J.C. BARKER, General Manager, Mobile Symphony
CHATEAUBRIAND AT THE WASH HOUSE “My usual go-to is the scallops, which are always amazing. Recently though, a friend suggested I try the Chateaubriand. If I’m getting steak, it’s usually a filet, but I dove in and ordered the upscale version. Rare in the middle and served with asparagus and mashed potatoes and gravy, it was a great choice and one I will repeat once the weather gets cooler, if ever! ” THE WASH HOUSE • 17111 SCENIC HIGHWAY 98, FAIRHOPE • 928-4838 • WASHHOUSERESTAURANT.COM
LUCY PRYOR SLATON, President, Junior League of Mobile
SPICY SHRIMP FROM RUTH’S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE “If you are in Midtown Mobile and have the opportunity to dine at Ruth’s Chris Steak House, do yourself a favor and order the spicy shrimp appetizer. You won’t regret it. The shrimp are lightly fried and served with a tangy cucumber salad, green onion and a lemon wedge. I promise they will be gone very quickly, and you will have to stop yourself from trying to order another round!”
MARIETTA URQUHART, Commercial Associate & Realtor, WhiteSpunner Realty
TUNA BLT AT SUNSET POINTE “A tuna BLT is one of my favorite summer sandwiches, and lunch with friends at Sunset Pointe in Fairhope gave me an opportunity to order it on a particularly hot day. The tuna was fresh and perfectly seared. The tomato was one that Rick Bragg would approve of, and the bacon added a taste of decadence. It was served on a ciabatta bun with seasoned mayonnaise and paired with a wonderfully tart slaw. ” SUNSET POINTE • 831 N SECTION STREET,
RUTH’S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE
FAIRHOPE • 990-7766 • SUNSETPOINTE-
2058 AIRPORT BLVD. • 476-0516
FAIRHOPE.COM
What dishes made you drool and left you hungry for more? Share them on our Facebook page! october 2019 | mobilebaymag.com 23
FOOD | TASTINGS
Maple Street Biscuit Company text by MAGGIE LACEY • photos by ELIZABETH GELINEAU
THE IMPOSSIBLE BURGER
T
he road to neighborhood improvements — and flaky buttermilk biscuits, it would seem — is not always a smooth one. In 2017, after sitting vacant for years, the Rester Brothers Garage on Old Shell Road at Lavretta Park became the subject of much debate. Developers wanted to turn it into a restaurant, coffee shop or bar, the kind of place that could become a hub of neighborhood activity. Unfortunately, not everyone had the same vision for what would enhance the community, and plans stalled. After an unsuccessful bid by Shaul Zislin, owner of The Hangout restaurant in Gulf Shores and The Gulf restaurant in Orange Beach, to rezone and rehab the property, brothers Jeff and Todd LaCour of C’est La Vie Holdings went back to the drawing board. Knowing that the Village of Spring Hill was in need of a breakfast spot, they held meetings with Maple Street Biscuit Company, based in Jacksonville, Florida. Its wholesome mission to engage neighbors and build a restaurant where team
members are proud to work, as well as the restaurant’s daytime store hours that promise no drinking or loud music, won the neighborhood’s support. Despite having 33 locations across the Southeast, the company doesn’t call itself a chain. With a focus on quality ingredients, the eatery offers stick-to-your-ribs breakfast fare from 7 a.m. through lunchtime. The friendly atmosphere is perfect for families out for a Saturday morning stroll, companies needing a place to host business meetings, or for local college kids hunting for a place to plug in and knock out some studying. The redesign of the garage was created to accommodate all of those needs. With bike racks out front, outdoor patio seating, large communal tables, and wall outlets galore for recharging, the amenities work for everyone. The biscuit sandwiches are hearty and delicious, requiring two hands and a stack of napkins to enjoy the bounty. And that is what keeps customers coming back again and again. MB
Maple Street Biscuit Company • 5054 Old Shell Road • 525-9095 • maplestreetbiscuits.com/mobile 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. Saturday (closed Sunday)
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[ ON THE MENU ]
FIVE AND DIME
THE SQUAWKING GOAT
THE STICKY MAPLE
ICED MAPLE VANILLA LATTE
The house favorite, a Maple Street biscuit cradles fried chicken, pecan-woodsmoked bacon and melted cheddar cheese. It is smothered in sausage gravy with a kick and gets an oozing fried egg, to boot.
This flaky biscuit hits all the right notes with a hormonefree, cage-free, non-GMO fried chicken breast, fried goat cheese medallions and a generous drizzle of housemade pepper jelly — as featured on the Food Network!
A straight-from-the-oven biscuit, all-natural fried chicken and pecan-woodsmoked bacon are drizzled with Bissell Family Farm’s real maple syrup. It’s the perfect sweet and salty combo anytime of the day.
Espresso roasted especially for Maple Street is finished with housemade maple vanilla syrup and cold milk. If you can’t get enough, and I’m sure you won’t, the coffee is sold at retail in bags and K-Cup Pods.
FIVE AND DIME BISCUIT
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FOOD | MIXOLOGY
Get Smashed This tall glass of fall is served over ice but warms the spirit. Store-bought ingredients give layers of flavor in a flash. photo by ELIZABETH GELINEAU
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Maple Bourbon Smash MAKES 1 2 ounces bourbon 1 tablespoon apple butter* 1 tablespoon maple syrup 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 3 dashes Angostura bitters club soda, to taste apple wheel, for garnish
Add all ingredients except soda to a cocktail shaker along with a few cubes of ice and shake vigorously to chill. Fill a highball glass with ice and pour bourbon mixture over it. Top with soda and garnish with apple wheel. *The apple butter adds pulp to the cocktail, which can be removed by straining, if you prefer.
DOWNLOAD MIXEL LOOKING TO GET CREATIVE? With an index of over 600 ingredients and 1,700 recipes, Mixel will show you cocktails you can make with ingredients you already have on hand. Created by Brewton natives Mitchell McMillan, brother Malcolm McMillan and Roy Brown, the app is set to go global. The Mixel app can be downloaded on Google Play and the Apple App store.
october 2019 | mobilebaymag.com 27
FOOD | BAY TABLES
The Gathering Place For one Oakleigh couple, there is more to fall get-togethers than just watching football. text by AMANDA HARTIN • photos by ELIZABETH GELINEAU
T
here are people in the world whose kindness lingers long after the last goodbye. Those whom you feel better for having met. The Robertons, Douglas and Glenn, are two such people, their joy and humor tethered by a keen perspective of the important things in life, things like providing a soft landing for when life gets hard — or for when your favorite sports team is trailing its competitor. Homes are like that, a respite from the world, a reflection of its owners. “This house is made for hosting,” Glenn, who’s named after her mom, Lucy Glenn Bingham, says of the couple’s 1915 Oakleigh Garden District bungalow. She and Douglas, both Fairhope natives, wanted a historic home, and having been remodeled by Taylor Atchison, the house is airy and stays true to its original flourishes. The kitchen, with open shelving and farmhouse sink, flows into the living space, an eclectic mix of modern and mid-century furniture with accents of funky art and Bohemian rugs. No wall is unadorned, including the guest bathroom. The oft-overlooked space is plastered with postcards collected from personal travels or received by world-trotting friends. Adding to the home’s relaxed, unpretentious atmosphere are
pooches Harpoon and Bertie, lolling underfoot. Today they are most interested in the kitchen’s activities, their snouts sniffing intermittently at the wafts of peanuts, sausage and wings hanging deliciously heavy in the air. “They love when people come over,” laughs Glenn, public relations and marketing manager for the Mobile Museum of Art. “And so do I — I would much rather host than go somewhere.” The group gathered is a congenial bunch, people from various stages of the couple’s lives, including counselors from Camp Beckwith, the place where the Robertsons first met. “We quickly realized we had a shared sense of humor,” Glenn, who was the camp’s arts and crafts leader, says of Douglas, the games and entertainment leader, skillsets that serve the homeowners well when it comes to opening their home to friends and family. Getting people to visit is easy, especially during football season. “Games are just an excuse to get everyone together,” confides Douglas, a history teacher at Bayside Academy. Glenn agrees, “We love to cook and play games, and football watching often morphs into something else.” “Something else” usually revolves around music — Douglas is the resident DJ — or games of another variety, the board or outdoor kind. The Robertsons’ backyard is a veritable garden and is large enough for the most competitive round of Smite, a sort of lawn-bowling game. But the highlight of the yard is the converted garage, warmly lit with string lights and outfitted with an oversized table and a sectional couch. It’s also where tonight’s meal is served, only steps away from the grill on which Glenn’s brother, Will Bingham, is preparing wings. After the last bite of kale salad is enjoyed, the group tops off their shandies and heads to the front porch. Glenn appears with a platter of freshly baked cookie brittle as guests settle onto wicker chairs, the front steps or wooden swing. Conversations lull long enough for sips and continue as effortlessly as the early autumn breeze. “We try not to take ourselves too seriously in our home and in our lives in general,” Glenn muses. “Hopefully that translates to how we host.” Because, in the end, it’s not really about the home. It’s about the gathering. MB LEFT John Robertson, Douglas Robertson, Joseph Brennan and Rachel Warner chat after dinner, while pup Harpoon and Wake Bingham stretch their legs.
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WILL’S WINGS SERVES 4
Wings top the list of easy finger foods, and this recipe is sure to top the list of favorite ways to prepare them. Will Bingham, Glenn’s brother, suggests keeping the wings intact, rather than splitting them apart. 4 pounds wings Dale’s Seasoning kosher salt 2 tablespoons sweet paprika 3/4 tablespoon ground sumac* 3/4 tablespoon thyme 1/2 tablespoon black pepper 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder 1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1. Marinate wings in Dale’s for 2 to 8 hours. One hour before grilling, remove wings from marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt. 2. Combine remaining dry ingredients. Coat wings evenly with dry rub, shaking off excess. Refrigerate, uncovered, for 1 hour. 3. Grill or smoke over wood fire. *Ground sumac can be difficult to find and can be substituted with lemon pepper. Will suggests shopping Food Pak on Old Shell Road for this ingredient.
WING DIP This dip is best when made at least 1 hour in advance. 1 cup Greek yogurt 1/3 cup green onion, minced 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon hot sauce salt and pepper, to taste
1. Mix all ingredients together. To reach desired consistency, equal parts of lemon juice and olive oil may be added. Cover and chill.
OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Hot sauce and fresh lemon juice add the perfect touches of heat and citrus to this creamy dip. Homeowners Douglas and Glenn Robertson greet their hungry guests with freshly dressed wings. Green onion adds color to this crowd-pleasing finger food. Will Bingham mans the grill while wife, Clair, and son, Wake, look on.
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SPICY CHEEZ-IT SERVES A CROWD
It’s hard to stop with just one handful of these zesty cheese crackers. 2 boxes Cheez-It cheese crackers 2/3 cup oil 1 teaspoon lemon pepper 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon cayenne 1 – 1 1/2 teaspoons dry Ranch
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Mix all ingredients, and bake on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes.
GINGER SHANDIES SERVES 6
A shandy sounds fancy, but it is simply a beverage made by mixing beer with a nonalcoholic drink. This refreshingly tart example is perfect for fall tailgating or afternoon porch sipping. 1 12-ounce bottle ginger beer, chilled 3 11.2 ounce bottles of Hoegaarden beer, chilled 1 lemon, thinly sliced mint sprigs, for garnish
1. In a large pitcher, combine beers. Stir in most of the lemon slices and mint sprigs. Fill 6 rocks glasses with ice. Add the remaining lemon slices to the glasses and pour in the shandy. Garnish each drink with a mint sprig and serve.
CURRIED BOILED PEANUTS SERVES A CROWD
This fun, sweet and savory variation on a deep South favorite is a total nod to fall, with hints of cinnamony cardamom. 3 pounds green peanuts 2 cans coconut milk 1/4 cup kosher salt 1 quart water, or enough to cover peanuts 4 tablespoons red curry paste 1 teaspoon fish sauce 1 teaspoon lime zest, grated 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus more for garnish 5 green cardamom pods (optional)
1. Thoroughly rinse peanuts in a colander. Add peanuts, coconut milk and salt to slow cooker, then add enough water to cover the peanuts. 2. Combine curry paste, fish sauce, lime zest and lime juice in small bowl. Mix well. 3. Add curry mixture to slow cooker, toss in cardamom pods and stir well. 4. Cook on high for 4 to 6 hours. Squeeze lime juice over shells before serving.
SAUSAGE STARS MAKES 4 DOZEN
These savory treats will have you seeing stars. The Robertsons’ friend, Cherlyn Mussell, makes sure to bring these to each game day party. 1 package wonton wrappers 1 pound Jimmy Dean sausage, cooked and drained 1 green pepper, diced 1 2.25-ounce can black olives, diced 3 - 4 cups colby and Monterey Jack cheese, shredded 1 cup Hidden Valley Ranch dressing
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a muffin tin with oil, and press wonton wrappers into tin so the four corners stick up. Place tin in oven for approximately 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove wonton cups from tin and let cool. 2. Combine sausage, green pepper and olives into a mixing bowl. Add cheese, and mix in ranch dressing. 3. Fill each wonton cup with the sausage mixture. Place cups on a baking sheet and bake for approximately 7 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
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KALE AND BRUSSELS SPROUT SALAD These colorful greens definitely deserve a spot at any fall gathering. Dijon mustard and dried cranberries add zing and will have guests coming back for seconds. DRESSING
1 clove garlic, finely chopped 1/2 tablespoon ginger, finely chopped 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 tablespoon Aleppo pepper 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1. In a small bowl, add garlic, ginger, mustard, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Whisk to combine, slowly adding oil. 2. Let dressing sit for at least an hour for flavors to marry. Stir well prior to dressing the salad. SALAD
1/2 cup almonds, sliced 1 head kale, stems removed and finely sliced 2 pounds Brussels sprouts, finely sliced prepared dressing 1/4 cup Craisins or dried cranberries 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese salt and pepper, to taste
1. Toast almonds in a dry skillet over medium-low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from pan. 2. In a large bowl, mix Brussels sprouts and kale. Add dressing, and mix until well coated. Let dressed salad sit at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes to tenderize the greens. Prior to serving, add almonds, Craisins and Parmesan, and mix until well combined. Finish with salt and pepper, to taste.
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MOM’S COOKIE BRITTLE MAKES 3 DOZEN
Glenn’s mother, Lucy Glenn Bingham, started making these chocolaty, crunchy cookies in the ‘90s. After baking, drizzle melted chocolate on top for extra decadence, or skip the topping and put cookies in a zip top bag for a ready-to-travel snack. Either way, this “brittle” goes quickly! 2 sticks butter, softened 1 cup granulated sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat together butter, sugar, vanilla and salt in large mixing bowl. Gradually beat in flour. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Press into ungreased 15x10inch baking dish. 2. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool and break cookies into irregular pieces.
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They Call the Captain
HOLLYWOOD A grizzled veteran of the sea has tall tales to tell.
text by SONNY BREWER • photos by MATTHEW COUGHLIN
“YOU’LL SPOT HIM EASY ENOUGH,” Debora says to me from behind the counter. “He’s got a really big beard.” I am in Orange Beach at the Zeke’s Marina charter office looking for a captain named Hollywood. Indeed, the Alabama Fishing Charter Association website lists the captain of Bligh Charters as Brent “Hollywood” Shaver. I study an array of framed charter boat photographs, color 8 x 10s, hanging on the wall, and I spy a sleek, gray-hulled 24-foot Skeeter. At the helm is a bewhiskered man who looks more like he is on leave from the crew of the HMS Bounty, skippered by Captain William Bligh. Hollywood later tells me he hasn’t shaved since 1977. I walk out on the dock and make my way to the corner slips at the east end of the marina. I see two boats entering the harbor. Hollywood is expecting me and picks me out before I do him and throws up his hand from the helm of the second boat. But that is all he has for me. He has a job to do, the good and capable skipper tending to the business of docking his boat. His charter party is a young couple who follows the captain’s orders and don’t move from their seat in front of the console as he swings the bow of the boat around and reverses his boat into the slip, stern-to. A perfect landing. And in 10 seconds, Hollywood has snagged the dock line from a piling and whips it into place over a cleat on the gunwale, making his boat fast in its slip.
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Hollywood raises a finger, his white beard brushing against the long sleeve khaki shirt, and says, “Give me 10 minutes.” I can’t see his eyes under the broad brim of his sun hat. But I can feel him giving me a quick once-over, sizing me up. He’s had his share of reporters after his story in the last 30 years and his name and face on television and in magazines and newspapers, sometimes from a national beat. Like when Ed Bradley from CBS’s “Sixty Minutes” counted on Hollywood to put him where he needed to be while covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Or with Katie Couric, on the BP oil spill story. Hollywood bounces off the deck of the flats boat and onto the finger pier with a 5-gallon bucket in his right hand, today’s catch, on his way up to the cleaning table. He gets right to work with his filet knife and scaler on some specks and a pan-size black grouper, and he preps a nice whole 14-inch flounder for the folks in the kitchen at Wolf Bay Restaurant to cook for his charter party. The couple is excited that the dockside cafe will cook for opposite: Captain them a fish that was swimming just hours Brent “Hollywood” ago. “Tell them Hollywood fixed it up for Shaver is something you,” he says. of a local legend around Orange “So how’d you folks pick out HollyBeach. Despite his wood?” I ask the pair from Las Vegas. last name, Hollywood The man answers without hesitation. says he hasn’t “We stood in there at the charter office shaved since 1977.
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and scanned the pictures on the wall, took one look at the captain with the long white beard and name of Hollywood, and we got the picture, if you know what I mean.” I do. And the picture they got was a man who looks like he belongs in a boat on the water. Neither would have guessed that Hollywood, a nickname he got from always wearing sunglasses in high school, grew up in Atmore working for his father in a chain of family-owned Piggly Wiggly stores, running from one to the other between six of them, helping to oversee the day-to-day business. When his father came home one night and announced he was thinking of buying some more stores, Hollywood told him that if he did that, then he would move on and find other work. A man of his word, Hollywood left the family business when the new stores were added. He went directly to Gulf Shores and bought the beachfront amusement park, catty-corner to The Hangout, which came situated on an entire block with a string of stores that included a laundromat, a cafe and a waffle breakfast joint. He was 27, and keeping the amusement park and the other businesses going strong took all of his youthful energy, with workdays lasting from “can ‘til can’t,” as the old folks say. Then, two years in, 1979’s Hurricane Frederic busted ashore like some horror show wrecking machine and tore it all apart. He built it back. And, when the construction was completed and Hollywood dusted off his hands, ready to reopen, an insight hit him like Saul’s on Damascus Road. He had no customers!
“WE STOOD IN THERE AT THE CHARTER OFFICE AND SCANNED THE PICTURES ON THE WALL, TOOK ONE LOOK AT THE CAPTAIN WITH THE LONG WHITE BEARD AND NAME OF HOLLYWOOD, AND WE GOT THE PICTURE, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.”– Charter boat customer The beachfront business dragged because the hurricane damage was still keeping away tourists. The quick and resolute nature that took Hollywood out of the grocery store aisles dropped the answer on him. Sell it. All of it. And he did. And got a 100-ton captain’s license and bought a boat. He would take people fishing. He knew how to fish. Growing up, his family always had a summer place on the Gulf, and he’d learned well how to find and catch fish, how to clean them, and Hollywood believed he could parlay those skills into a charter fish-
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ing business. His wife, Pam, believed in him, and so he went for it. This year they hit 48 years together, and for 39 of them he’s been that man coming home from a day fishing. Hollywood finishes at the cleaning table, hoses it down, and stows his electric knife and filet blade. I walk with him back to his boat, as he puts away his gear. “Wanna grab a seat in the restaurant?” he asks. “Sure.” And soon as we slide into the booth, I ask him, “Ever had problems from getting too much sun?” His boat didn’t have a T-top for shade; it would be in the way of casting. “Nope,” he says. “I always wear my hat and these long sleeve shirts.” Hollywood respects the elements — the sun and water and weather. He knows the habits of fish and when they’ll bite a bait and where they might be found. Hollywood pulls a shrimp net before every day’s fishing to catch live croakers for bait. “You know, some of these new guys bait a hook with frozen shrimp,” he says. But he’s up before dawn and on the water by 5 a.m. to drag the net, then back at dockside with live bait for his charter party. “It’s not like it used to be, though,” Hollywood says. The fishing has changed. Lots more boats running charter parties mean not as many fish to go around, and Hollywood is also cutting back, although, he takes three calls for charters while we sip iced tea in the booth. In his heyday, he’d work March through September, five or six days a week. Now and again, seven. Then, in November, he’d head to Louisiana to guide duck fishing charters through the dead of winter until the end of January. “You ever been scared out on the water?” “Not so much in these protected waters,” Hollywood answers. “Lightning. I don’t mess with lightning.” When the weather app shows a strike within 20 miles, his boat is heading for the dock. “I’m not going to stay out there and get hit.” But one stretch of eight years, Hollywood was hired out as a captain aboard a 52-foot Hatteras at Walker Cay in the Bahamas and spent three months a year there running out of that northernmost island. Things are different in the open ocean. Hollywood says only a half dozen or so locals lived at Walker Cay full time, and the charter parties came by boat from Grand Island. “There’s this condition of wind and waves I heard the Bahamians talking about. The ‘raging sea’ they called it, and it only happens at Walker Cay when the wind comes hard and steady from the direction of the Carolina Outer Banks.” Year in and year out, the weather didn’t build into that raging sea. Finally, in Hollywood’s eighth year, he awoke aboard the Hatteras one morning to a big hubbub and hurried excitement. “What’s up?” he inquired. The answer came back, “The raging sea!” Hollywood climbed a hill and looked toward the open sea at 30-foot monster waves rolling in. But it was his boss’s last day in the islands, and he wanted to go fishing. They could’ve run the boat south down the backside of the island and around the end, but Billy Black, a legendary captain and fisherman, told Hollywood, “No problem. Follow me.” And
Billy Black aimed his 50-foot Hatteras, the Duchess, northward into the open Atlantic. Sixty miles down the reef, a freighter got caught sideways in a trough and rolled, killing three men. The Duchess was badly damaged, though Billy Black was unhurt. Miss Mindy, the 46-foot Bertram that Hollywood skippered, nosed through the savage surf and safely into open water. “That was the stupidest thing I ever did as a captain,” Hollywood admits. He figures he was just lucky, and Black, not so much. Others who heard the story likely disagreed. Luck’s got little to do with handling a 50-footer in a wild, raging sea. He tells of a calmer day out of Walker Cay, when he and a guest took their wives fishing. “Left the dock at 10:10,” Hollywood says, and a short three hours later, they were back dockside. “Best fishing I ever did,” he goes on. “In that little time, we hooked and lost two blue marlins, then my guest got a big one on the line, and that one we killed.” It was a 719-pound marlin, the biggest fish Hollywood ever maneuvered into a boat, and his wife actually gaffed it. “We hung him up at the dock, and I got a bottle of Dom Pérignon and poured down his gills.” Then, Hollywood sets down his glass on the table, reaches and
above: Hollywood shakes my hand. “I’ve got a date with respects the ‘Wagon Train,’” he says, allowing he loves elements, donning to watch the cowboy classics on television. long sleeves and a “Gunsmoke,” “The Rifleman,” “Have Gun hat on the boat. His biggest worry these – Will Travel,” shows without a single scene days? “Lightning. of open waters and boats, seem to me a I don’t mess with kind of poetic balance for this captain, this lightning,” he says. man of the sea and boats. Hollywood slides out of the booth, tips his hat and says he’ll see me and heads for the door. I can almost visualize a long-whiskered cowboy walking tall out into the sunlight through a pair of saloon doors, somebody whose stories you’d like to hear. Maybe somebody you wouldn’t want to mess with, too. A preacher man once told me he was able to predict which of the marriages he performed were more likely to stick, to be good for the long haul. Those couples who had the best stories for how they met, he said, you could bet money on them. I think that’s also a good measure of whether a man has found his calling, whether he’s doing his right work. Hollywood found his place, and it’s been good for Captain Bligh fishing charters. Yeah, you oughta hear his stories. This captain called Hollywood could write a book. MB
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GUMBO | INVESTIGATIONS
School Spirit A paranormal investigation at Barton Academy, Alabama’s oldest public school, suggests the halls aren’t as empty as you’d think. text by BRECK PAPPAS • photos by MEGGAN AND JEFF HALLER / KEYHOLE PHOTO
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ure, libraries are quiet by nature. But tucked away on the third floor of Mobile’s empty Barton Academy is a library in a league of its own — abandoned, silent and still. A kind of stillness that almost makes you shake. As it nears 10 p.m., almost three hours into the paranormal investigation of Alabama’s oldest public school, our little group huddles among the dusty shelves, which sit empty
except for a few forgotten volumes. Having spent most of the night exploring the gloomy second floor, it’s something of a surprise to find the forgotten space bathed in florescent light — a careless mistake by the last person to visit, whenever that might have been. But the effect it produces is paradoxical: in a dark, abandoned building, the illuminated room seems to hold the most secrets. Having completed yet another electronic
voice phenomenon (EVP) test, one of the two lead investigators holds the voice recorder near her ear and presses play. The questions her husband and fellow investigator had posed to the corners of the room just seconds earlier begin to roll back out. “What is your name?” the device echoes. Silence. “What year were you born?” Silence.
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“Did you go to school here?” Silence … but then, something. She looks up at the group huddled around her. “Did you hear that?” She presses rewind and passes the device to her husband. He holds it to his ear. “Did you go to school here?” the recording repeats. The investigator’s eyes brighten at what he hears next. He smiles triumphantly. “No way,” he says.
Old School
ABOVE Barton Academy, abandoned since 2007, has twice made Alabama’s list of “Places in Peril.” RIGHT A pendulum, like this one held by Alex, is used to communicate with spirits based on its clockwise and counter-clockwise movements. Alex says that, after some pendulum sessions, the stone can feel ice cold, “even in the dead heat of Mobile.” BELOW Alex listens back to a voice recording in Barton Academy’s Yerby building, hoping to detect a ghostly voice known as an electronic voice phenomenon (EVP).
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Construction on Mobile’s historic Barton Academy, white and stately as a rook piece, began in 1836, and in 1839, its doors opened to students. The following years brought hardship to the city, and the school, in the form of yellow fever epidemics and the Civil War. In her book, “History of Barton Academy,” Bama Wathan Watson writes of the war, “During the summer of 1864, while the Federal troops occupied the city, Barton Academy, only a few yards from their headquarters, was used as a hospital for the Union soldiers. Once before, during the yellow fever epidemic of 1853, part of the building had been used as a hospital to fight the invasion of an enemy. Now, it was forced to serve the needs of the enemy.” There’s long been speculation of ghostly activity at Barton Academy, whose walls have borne witness to years of students and teachers, as well as the horrors of war and yellow fever. So when Mobile Bay was offered the opportunity to curate a ghost hunt at the former school, the decision was a no-brainer. The night’s investigation begins in the Yerby building, located behind the main Barton building. As dusk settles on the city, we enter the basement. With its dirt floors and low ceiling, it feels akin to a catacomb. The enterprise is led by a married couple who relocated to Mobile almost two years ago. As they wish to remain anonymous, we’ll call them Alex and Nancy. The pair spent more than a decade living in New England, where a coworker introduced them to the art of paranormal investigations. They joined the New England Ghost
“DURING THE SUMMER OF 1864, WHILE THE FEDERAL TROOPS OCCUPIED THE CITY, BARTON ACADEMY, ONLY A FEW YARDS FROM THEIR HEADQUARTERS, WAS USED AS A HOSPITAL FOR THE UNION SOLDIERS.” – Bama Wathan Watson, “History of Barton Academy”
Project, the area’s “leading paranormal investigation team,” and helped search for spirits in some of America’s oldest and most haunted locales. Alex, an electrical engineer, accepted a job in Mobile, which is why he now finds himself poking around a spooky Port City basement with photographers and a magazine writer in tow. Alex crouches on the floor and asks the group to switch off all headlamps. He’s been told about a fire alarm technician who visited this building in the past and encountered something he didn’t like. The technician said he’d quit his job before returning to the Yerby building, but he refused to speak with Alex about his experience. “Did you do something to scare the man who came in here?” Alex asks the darkness. A delicate, chirping noise breaks the silence across the basement. On our way out, we locate the culprits — birds nesting inside a large piece of industrial equipment. “About 95 percent of the time, we find nothing at all,” Alex says. That’s definitely not due to a lack of spiritdetecting equipment: electric and magnetic field (EMF) detectors, motion sensors, voice recorders, thermometers. “You don’t need heavy-duty, high-tech equipment for this,” Alex says. “Ghost hunting is very environmentally based. You’re looking for things like electromagnetic fields and changes in humidity and temperature,”
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he says. In other words, things that can be detected by relatively cheap instruments. Of course, not all of the gear is so easy to come by; a thermal energy detector might set you back several hundred dollars, but for Alex and Nancy, it’s well worth it. The pair has started what they call the Paranormal Research Team of Mobile, and they see many more local investigations in their future. Inside the main Barton building, the night’s investigation is focused on the second floor, where other paranormal societies in the past have detected activity. We slowly proceed down the hallways, stopping now and then as a group when the EMF detectors spike or if someone gets an eerie feeling. It’s an opportunity to observe the interior of the historic school, which closed its doors to students in the 1960s and became the central office for the Mobile County Public School System. In 2007, the school board relocated to an office in West Mobile, and in 2009, the abandoned building was named to Alabama’s list of “Places in Peril.” In 2015, the school system completed a $4.2 million exterior renovation, and today, the Barton Academy Foundation is less than $1 million away from its $10 million fundraising goal, needed to open the planned Barton Academy for Advanced World Studies. According to its website, “the school will provide a diverse, multicultural learning experience for approximately 300 students in grades 6 - 9,” with an emphasis on foreign languages, world geography and global economics. Alex and Nancy lead the way to the former superintendent’s office. With windows gazing down on Government Street, this has been a room of high activity during past investigations. But tonight, Alex and Nancy find the room’s energy spotty and unreliable. Nancy brandishes her pendulum, a crystal on a gold chain, and dangles it across her index finger. An implement of the metaphysical, the pendulum, she explains is a way to communicate with levels of energy around the earth. The pendulum bearer asks yes or no questions, and the movement of the crystal can, sometimes, provide answers. “Did you die here?” Nancy asks, watching the crystal intently. “Were you a Union
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soldier?” The pendulum swings lazily, and Nancy pockets it, unsatisfied with the room’s energy. “I won’t tell you the pendulum is an exact science,” Alex says. “It’s all up for interpretation. But I’ve found that it’s good to incorporate metaphysical instruments, like the pendulum or dowsing rods, when the scientific equipment is going crazy. It’s just another checked box.”
Sleeping Memories Alex brings the voice recorder to the middle of our little group standing in the library. “Listen closely after the word ‘here’,” he tells us. He presses play, and we lean in, straining our ears. “Did you go to school here?” the recording repeats. One second passes, then another. “Here…” repeats a faint, whispered voice that, somehow, only the recorder had managed to capture. The effect on those gathered around is immediate, and, for a moment, the stillness of the library is shaken by a soft cheer. “It’s common for spirits to mock you and repeat your question,” Nancy explains. “Pretty cool, isn’t it?” Alex asks. “It’s things like that that make this so much fun.” Beginning in 1906, every school year culminated in the singing of “Farewell, Old Barton” by the graduating class. With voices swelling, and perhaps tears in their eyes, generations of Mobile youngsters bid adieu to the school they loved so dearly, finishing the song, and their school days, with the following lines: “We are going home without you, dear Old Barton, no more we’ll see the school we love so well. In your halls are sleeping memories, dear Old Barton, where like brave soldiers we have fought so well. But e’er we pass away, you’ll hear us singing, our last goodbye to whom we love best. And as the shades of night are slowly falling, we turn our faces toward a larger world.” Many people have entered the doors of Barton Academy, and just as many have left. But who’s to say some small piece of the past hasn’t decide to linger here … “here.” MB
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Bring on the Birds Silverhill’s Billy Passmore might be the nicest guy in all of dove hunting — oh yeah, and he’s pretty darn good at it, too.
text by BRECK PAPPAS photos by MATTHEW COUGHLIN
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A
round August, the phone calls start, the voices on the line friendly and familiar, the conversation predictable. “Hey, Billy,” it begins. “You got any birds?” The 59-year-old Billy Passmore has been at it long enough to anticipate the calls — and the question. It’s become a part of his year, a marker of time, like full moons or the Fourth of July. In April, he prepares the fields. In May, he plants the seeds. In August, the men call. An old shooting pal and late friend of Passmore’s had a nickname for these phoning hunters, eager for the September opening of dove season. “He called them the ‘boys of fall,’” Passmore says, cruising down a county road near Silverhill. “I always thought that was funny.” Where Passmore differs from most Baldwin County
farmers is that he doesn’t simply put up with the triggerhappy “boys of fall.” He actually grows for them. On this particular day, he is checking in on five of the 14 fields he leases from farmers in Foley, Summerdale, Marlow and Silverhill. The corn and sunflowers he planted in May have come along as expected, evidenced by the doves slicing the air above the food-plenty fields. But like any good farmer, Passmore keeps his optimism in check. After more than a decade running the Sunflower Wing & Shot Club, he knows all too well the threats facing his crop, from worms and fungi to weeds and hurricanes. And even if everything goes right, Passmore can’t guarantee that, come September, when the airhorn blows, any birds will be around to hear it. “I’ve set the table,” he says, “but I can’t make the doves come.” If Billy Passmore can’t, I’m not sure who can.
The Flowers and the Birds Beneath low, gray skies, Passmore pulls his truck off the highway and rolls right to the edge of a field of sunflowers. “You can see where people have come and snipped the heads off a bunch of them,” he says good-naturedly. Sure enough, it’s easy to spot several decapitated stems, victims of passing motorists who couldn’t help but pull over to take a piece of the field home with them. Passmore says he’s stumbled upon senior portraits, family photos, even a guy taking pictures of a horse in front of his sunflower fields. He pulls up photos he took on his phone in July, when the fields were an endless burst of flowers stretching to the horizon. The pictures hardly resemble the field we visit today, whose sunflowers stand black and disfigured, heads bowed to the dirt. Someone who didn’t know any better might take one look at the flowers, in somber rows like tombstones, and think something has gone terribly wrong. But of course, it’s by design. Left alone, the sunflowers have gone to seed, drawing in finches, cardinals, indigo buntings, blackbirds, grosbeaks and the coveted doves. State law prohibits hunters from “baiting” fields, that is, tossing out seeds that weren’t naturally raised on the plot. Hence, the sunflower fields. Passmore says he also grows corn and wheat alongside the sunflowers as a kind of insurance policy. Last year brought over 100 inches of rain, and while the weather didn’t topple the sunflowers, it left standing water in the cup-like depression on the back of the flowers’ heads, causing the plants to rot and disintegrate. “It just about ruined us,” he says, “but I had a lot of corn planted, so that really helped. And everybody was happy last year with the season.” Passmore also likes to lease fields roughly 5 miles apart from one another, ensuring a large spread across the county and thereby increasing his odds of finding birds. He uses peanuts as an example. “When peanut farmers start digging up their crop, it scatters birds all over
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the county,” he says, “which kinda makes our lives difficult hunting-wise.” A dove can live on just a couple peanuts a day, he explains, so when they’re available, birds are less likely to visit Passmore’s sunflower fields. He’s learned, therefore, that by spreading fields across the county, some located adjacent to peanut farms, he can lessen the impact of peanut harvesting. Such lessons weren’t learned overnight. “I’ve been preparing dove fields all my life,” Passmore says. He grew up on Baldwin County farmland, helping his grandfather and uncles raise corn and soybeans. His mother was born on the property adjacent to his home off County Road 48 in Silverhill, where he lives with his wife Rhoda. Passmore was introduced to dove hunting at 10 years old, back when the sport was “a byproduct of farming.” Farmers, transitioning crops, would invite 50 or so people for an afternoon hunt. “Now you plant specifically for it,” he says. A former middle school math and science teacher in Robertsdale, Passmore inherited the hunting club about 10 years ago when its former owner stepped down. With his farming and dove hunting experience, he says there wasn’t much of a learning curve. He pauses. “Although I have learned a lot about sunflowers.”
above John Gray, left, and Fred Roe have been hunting Billy Passmore’s fields for more than a decade. “Billy works hard,” Roe says. “He’s the difference.”
“I’VE SET THE TABLE, BUT I CAN’T MAKE THE DOVES COME.” –Billy Passmore
The Sunflower Wing & Shot Club While it’s not uncommon for farmers to set aside land for their own dove hunting purposes, the reliability of the hunting club method is what brings the members of the Sunflower Wing & Shot Club back year after year. With about 45 dues-paying members, and an equally long waiting list, the club is divided into three groups based on the days they hunt: Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. The Monday group, for example, will meet for a shoot every Monday during the hunting season, which stretches from September to January. During the two weeks leading up to the first hunt, Passmore will drive to all 14 fields every day, a 65-mile roundtrip. Then he’ll sit and wait and watch. He visits regularly enough that, when we arrive at one sunflower patch, a horse in the neighboring pasture fearlessly trots in Passmore’s direction. “She recognizes the truck,” he says. “I sometimes bring an apple out to her when I’m over this way.” Having scoped out the fields and decided where the birds will be, Passmore will meet the day’s hunting group in the early afternoon at the old flea market on Highway 59 and lead the procession toward the field of his choosing. “We’ll have anywhere from 15 to 20 cars,” he says. “A couple
times, we’ve had other cars pull over thinking we were a funeral procession.” Upon reaching the location of the afternoon’s shoot, Passmore positions the men roughly 80 paces apart along the field’s perimeter and, once all are in place, a single blast from his airhorn signifies the hunt is on. Camo-clad and patiently perched on swivel chairs, many of these men have hunted together for decades. Some are childhood chums, some are father and son, some are the kind of friends that can spin tales about the hunting dog you had two dogs ago. “The club has very little turnover,” Passmore says. “You either have to move or pass away to leave the group.” The camaraderie is a major factor; the daily hunting groups remain largely unchanged year after year for the obvious reason that it’s more fun to dove hunt with your closest friends. “Safety is a big october 2019 | mobilebaymag.com 49
part of it, too,” one hunter tells me. An errant shot high into the sky might “pepper” a neighboring JUST LIKE THESE hunter with falling lead shot. “What goes up, got to come down,” explains the hunter. “But when GUYS DO. AND I that trajectory is low, it’s gonna sting a little,” he ENJOY ALL THE says, with the understatement of the afternoon. Shooting low (anything less than about PEOPLE. THAT’S a 45-degree angle) is a cardinal sin of dove A BIG PART OF IT, hunting. Shouts of “low bird!” often roll across the field during shoots to prevent an overzealous JUST BEING hunter from attempting a dangerous shot. “Billy WITH THEM.” doesn’t let unsafe people into the group. He’ll put someone in timeout if he sees them shooting – Billy Passmore low, and if they transgress again, they’re out. He doesn’t tolerate it.” Club members range in age from about 40 to 80. Some of the men are working professionals, some are retirees, and just about all of them hunt something or other year-round. When the conversation strays from white wing and mourning doves, it simply shifts to redfish and gators, bucks and turkeys. And, like in any group of boys, ribbing occurs. The group accuses Bill Thompson of “slant drilling,” the practice of “shooting a buddy’s dove out from under him when he think’s he gonna get it,” they explain. “Sometimes it’s unintentional, sometimes it’s not,” says John Gray, an 83-year-old club member, retired after 40 years working as a bar pilot. “One in five shots probably hit a dove,” Passmore estimates. “Of course, some are better and some are worse,” he says, with amusement in his voice. “They’ll rib you, too, now if you miss a bird. Sometimes the whole field’ll be laughing.” “Fred Roe and his dogs provide most of the comedy,” somebody tells me. Roe, a longtime club member retired from a career in natural gas marketing, doesn’t even
“I LOVE TO HUNT
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argue, explaining that he used to bring his two dogs along for the hunt because he didn’t have the heart to leave the older one at home. For Roe’s friends, the resulting pandemonium was often worth the price of admission. A little less than half of the men bring dogs, posted at their owner’s elbow and waiting for a dove to fall from the sky. Without a dog, it becomes imperative to mark the resting place of a fallen bird and to enter the field as quickly as possible to locate it. When all else fails, borrow a dog. “Billy’s dog, Pearl, has found a lot of birds for everybody,” Gray says. Like owner, like dog.
Dove Ph.D. Though the hunts are lighthearted and enjoyable, there’s a predictable, yet seldom acknowledged, competitive edge to the entire proceeding. One hunter tells me it’s not fun to “hear about a guy who’s reached his limit [of 15 doves] when you’ve got five in the bucket. But a lot of it has to do with where you are. What was a hotspot one week might be the coldest spot in the field the next week. You just never know. It’s kind of the luck of the draw.” “There’s usually a hotspot in a field, a certain flyaway,” Passmore explains. “But that can change with the wind or with the time of day.” Aside from the many variables that make a dove’s behavior unpredictable, such as temperature, cloud cover and storm fronts, doves also get “educated” as the season progresses. “At the end of the year, they actually start dodging,” Roe says. Even Bill Thompson, who owns a sporting clay facility in Pace, Florida, and is regarded as one of the best shots in the club, says he has to resort to the more effective 12-gauge shotgun by the end of the season, once the doves have attained what he calls a “Ph.D. in left Bill Thompstaying alive.” son, owner of After more than 10 a sporting clay facility, is often years of growing and accused by maintaining 14 dove his buddies of fields, who knows what “slant drilling,” or shooting a degree to bestow upon bird heading in Billy Passmore. The end their direction.
of dove season on January 12 will bring him a short respite. That is, until April, when he’ll begin preparing his fields once again. His work is just about year-round, and the famously humble Passmore seems torn between being truthful and being modest. “A lot of people don’t realize that it’s a lot of work,” he says. “We have certain types of weeds that we can’t control, so this year I had a crew of four guys that came in for 3 weeks to pull weeds out of the fields, and I helped them. And man, it was hot. Most of the hunters don’t see a lot of that.” The work is not only demanding but can be dangerous as well. Five years ago, a vehicle struck the tractor Passmore was driving across the county. Though the incident required surgery to repair a torn biceps muscle in his left arm, Passmore acknowledges he was lucky to escape with his life.
“Billy works hard,” Roe says. “He’s the difference. Last year we had a good season, and very few people did. He constantly worries about how many birds there are gonna be — he worries about every single hunt.” “And Billy shoots, too,” Roe later tells me. “Not as much as we try to get him to. He’s a great shot, though — probably the best of the whole group.” After an hour-long tour of his nearby fields, Passmore turns his truck down the long, oak-canopied driveway leading home. I ask him why he puts up with it all: the heat, the worms, the dangers of driving a tractor cross-county. “I love to hunt just like these guys do,” he says. “And I enjoy all the people. That’s a big part of it, just being with them.” And when he’s not with them? Passmore knows — all too well — they’re just a phone call away. MB
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CHANGE MAKER JESSICA NORWOOD IS A POWERHOUSE OF CHANGE, MAKING GREAT STRIDES — NOT JUST IN OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY, BUT ACROSS THE NATION — TO END THE RACIAL WEALTH GAP BY CREATING NEW WAYS TO HELP MINORITY ENTREPRENEURS GET START-UP CAPITAL. HER INNOVATIVE IDEAS ARE REALLY TAKING OFF. text by MAGGIE LACEY • styling by GENIA BENTON, MB STAFF photos by MATTHEW COUGHLIN • makeup by JUDY WILLIAMS black wire-edged wrap by DEBRA’S • shot on location at OLD MAJESTIC BREWERY
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W
W hen Jessica Norwood stepped off the plane at Mobile Regional Airport just two weeks before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, she had no idea what was to come or how it would shape her future. The Prichard native had returned home, taking a break from the fast-paced, high-pressure world of political campaigns and PAC fundraising that had consumed her twenties. Life in Washington, D.C., and New York City was a world away from her childhood as the daughter of the mayor of Prichard, and Jessica certainly made a name for herself in just a few short years outside the shade of her father’s coattails. But Mobile County has always been her home and the place to which she returns for comfort and inspiration. Once Hurricane Katrina tore through the area, leaving local neighborhoods struggling to find their bearings, Norwood’s two worlds collided — or rather, joined forces. The political and non-profit contacts she made while working in D.C. were looking for a partner with boots on the ground along the Gulf Coast to help them implement their post-Katrina programs, and Norwood was the right woman in the right place at the right time. She already knew how to speak the language of the political world, navigate public funding, raise money, raise awareness and write grants. At the same time, she had personal knowledge of how lower income communities were suffering daily, especially in the aftermath of a devastating event. “I sat with the grant-making teams to help them understand what was go-
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ing on in the area and help provide solutions,” she explains. The kind of input you can’t get from a desk in D.C. Her post-Katrina work then segued into an environmental project with OxFam and work with the Ford Foundation’s portfolio on black wealth and land loss prevention. “Before I knew it, I had this unexpected body of work about wealth-building strategies centered around land and looking at access to wealth using the lens of Hurricane Katrina.” Norwood realized that perhaps public policy wasn’t the only way to fix the issues she saw holding minority communities back in both south Alabama and across the country — and that there was much work yet to be done.
Bouncing Back After Katrina, Norwood watched some areas bounce back, while others struggled to rebuild. It left her wondering about the intangible things that prevent some communities from weathering storms and achieving their potential. “I go back to my dad, as mayor of a majority African-American city with high poverty. The question that has followed me all the way through, even when I was growing up, was that we have amazing assets, the people are really talented, there’s stuff here to work with. So why doesn’t it work?” For Norwood, the answer is economic resiliency. If you don’t have savings, assets, the ability to borrow, or friends and family with means to support you after unexpected circumstances — such as a devastating hurricane — how do you recuperate? “The people who have the most access to liquid assets or relationships can recover faster,” she explains, plain and simple. Norwood realized that economic resiliency is needed to overcome not just Category 5 hurricanes but life’s everyday bumps and bends. The community as a whole needs to be economically resilient to survive, thrive and support one another
through thick and thin and move beyond mere survival into success. Norwood theorized citizens need a network, and she was determined to create one. In 2007, Emerging Changemakers was formed as a network of social entrepreneurs — those who use a business lens to solve a social problem — working to fix economic inequalities in the South. By offering leadership, organizing capital and working for public policy, the group of movers-and-shakers in the Mobile area promoted minority entrepreneurship as a way to build stronger communities. Those who own businesses tend to be wealthier than those who do not. Small businesses anchor local economies, put abandoned buildings back into use, employee neighbors and put money into the local economy. It is one of the best ways to lift not just one individual or family but everybody on the block.
A Fine Fellow Norwood jokes that her friends say she is the “fellowiest fellow” they know, but they’re not far off. She holds fellowships from Duke, Harvard, the University of South Alabama, the U.S. Congress and more. But one of these fellowships on economic disruptions — from the Nathan Cummings Foundation in New York — brought with it enough cap-
“WHAT I REALLY LOVE IS HELPING PEOPLE ARTICULATE THEIR POWER AND THEIR VOICE. THAT’S WHAT I’M DRAWN TO. HOW DO YOU GET PEOPLE TO WHERE THEIR TALENTS CAN REALLY BE FULLY MATURED AND SEEN AND APPRECIATED?” — Jessica Norwood
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ital to take Emerging Changemakers to a national level. One of the biggest hurdles in Norwood’s mind was the banking system itself. If you need collateral to borrow money, but don’t have any, she argues, how do you ever get the loan to start the small business? Even before you get to that part of the loan application, a bank representative will likely ask if you have first borrowed from your “friends and family” network. While this seems like a logical first step, the question is (unintentionally) racially biased when you consider that median household wealth for a white family is almost $142,000
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while for a black household it is closer to $11,000. Borrowing from “friends and family” just isn’t an option for most minorities. “Wondering if we could be the ‘friends and family’ network for one another,” says Norwood, “I used the fellowship money to launch The Runway Project.” She gathered together the people who did financing and investment, especially impact investments, and was amazed to discover that no one had thought of it yet. The group formed relationships with established banks and chose a steady and secure investment portfolio through CDs, ranging from $500 individual in-
vestments to foundation purchases into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, directing the funds to minority businesses. “I spoke on the main stage at an impact investment conference about our ‘friends and family network’ idea, and when I got off the stage we had oversubscribed that CD program in 3 hours. It sold fast, and people got it. Instantly, I knew we had a way of explaining a larger problem, a way of talking about it and getting everybody into action together.”
Taking Off Norwood has spent the last several years flying cross-country on a weekly basis
“IN CONVERSATIONS, WE KEPT HEARING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN — THAT THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM WE ARE TRYING TO SOLVE IS NOT SO MUCH RELATED TO THE ENTREPRENEURS THEMSELVES AS IT IS TO THE INFRASTRUCTURE AROUND THEM. WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO SOLVE IS NOT A PILOT PROBLEM, IT’S A RUNWAY PROBLEM.” — Jessica Norwood
between Oakland, California, where The Runway Project is headquartered, and Mobile, with frequent stops in New York, Boston, North Carolina and more, meeting with banks, speaking to universities and sitting on panels at conferences about these difficult-to-solve issues. Not every business will succeed, she argues, but they all deserve an equal opportunity to get started. “In conversations, we kept hearing the same thing over and over again — that the underlying problem we are trying to solve is not so much related to the entrepreneurs themselves as it is to the infrastructure around them. What we are trying to solve is not a pilot problem, it’s a runway problem.” The little girl who once dreamed of becoming mayor of her small hometown is now building runways in communities across the nation. And people who have never flown before are taking off. MB
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The Here and Now Eight modern trends for the realistic, locally-minded bride
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Southern Romance An inspiration wedding at the timeless Bienville Square
PHOTO BY ELIZABETH GELINEAU
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Wedding Announcements A glimpse into the wedding day festivities of six local couples
You asked for more Mobile Bay Bride throughout the year, and we listened! Enjoy this inaugural bridal insert, and keep an eye out for more of the local wedding coverage you love in the coming months.
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BRIDAL | TRENDS
The Here and Now Some wedding trends may seem novel but unrealistic on a local scale. Here, find a few new ideas that you’ll actually want to implement for your big day by the Bay. text by LAWREN LARGUE • photos on this page by ELIZABETH GELINEAU
BLUE IS THE “NEW” BLUSH Move over, millennial pink. Bella Bridesmaids’ racks and Instagram feed are brimming with the new “it” wedding hue — something blue. The long-popular warm, pale pink tones are making way for cool, moody blues. You’ll soon find options in every shade from deep, chic navy to light, ethereal dusty blue. The latter, with its hint of gray undertones, is especially “having a moment” and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon. The color trend is spilling over into chiffon gowns, stationery, linens and even bouquets and floral arrangements.
GO BOHO IN BRAIDS
HELLO, MORNING GLORY!
A structured chignon is always a classic Southern choice, but for an ultra-romantic bridal hairstyle, consider effortless, cascading waves or soft curls swept off the face with a loose braid or two. (To beat the midsummer Lower Alabama heat and humidity, you can easily modify the braided look into a loose updo for maximum coolness.) To add more femininity, tuck in a few fresh blooms or a delicate floral comb. Even better, this “messy” look means that you can dance the night away without worrying about losing all your bobby pins.
Good news for all you early (love) birds! Many couples are choosing to partake in a.m. nuptials followed by a brunch reception. Any photographer will tell you that morning light creates the best images, but this format is also budgetfriendly since breakfast food is less expensive and guests are likely to drink less alcohol. Plus, creative culinary possibilities abound. (Think grits and grillades, chicken and waffles, Gulf seafood quiche, build-your-own biscuit bars — and did someone say milk punch?) Not to mention, the sooner you get the wedding started, the sooner you honeymoon.
ABOVE Brides won’t have to look far for something blue when they’re surrounded by bridesmaids in this new, sleek “it” hue. Not ready to dress your party in blue? Heels in a soft shade of blue provide subtle peeks of color when walking down the aisle or dancing the night away.
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ROCK OUT THE CAKE
PHOTO BY ALICIA MARIE
Surely you’ve seen the popular “geode” cake that practically broke the Internet. In the center of a towering white confection, the artist hollowed out a “cavern” and filled it with hand-painted edible sugar rock candy and a glistening rim of nontoxic gold leaf. This technique truly creates the illusion of a realistic geode. Local baker Laura Crownover has seen a surge in demand for these contemporary “crystal” confections. Mobile cake designers, Carol and Brian Monteith, often receive out-of-the-box requests for their sculpted confections, too. Favorites are cakes with edible textures such as marble, leather and watercolor florals. These works of art leave guests wondering, “Is that really a cake?!”
FAUX REAL? Carol also adds that a new, national, cost-effective cake trend will soon be making its way to the Port City. Through the Monteiths, brides will be able to “rent” a faux cake made from stacked Styrofoam molds and hand-decorated with real sugar elements. The showstopper may easily be personalized with the bride’s flowers, monogram or unique topper. A small section of real, edible cake decorated to blend with the rest of the sculpture is positioned in an open space on the back of the fake cake so the couple may 62 mobilebaymag.com | october 2019
cut and sample their first bites as newlyweds in front of their guests. Then, the servers whisk the towering confection to the kitchen, and out come fresh cut slices of sheet cake. The result is hours less decorating time for the baker and a lower cost passed along to the Mr. and Mrs. And guess what? Guests are none the wiser.
WORD UP Hand-drawn calligraphy scribed onto wood, metal and even acrylic has become a favorite way for couples to welcome guests and personalize the big day. The bride and groom’s names, menu or favorite verses, quotes and even hashtags become artistic centerpieces. Mobile native Mady Henderson, of Be Still Handlettering, joyfully creates one-of-a-kind pieces for clients, but she also offers rentals of existing signage for couples who want to incorporate the look for less. Talk about sweet salutations.
ALE HAVE A PINT, BARTENDER Signature cocktails have long been a festive way to personalize bar offerings. (Not to mention limiting the sipping options is a simple way to streamline and pinch a few pennies.) Brides are now offering guests a signature local craft beer on tap, brewed right in the heart of downtown Mobile or along the shores of Mobile Bay. Haint Blue Brewing Company’s new Cain & Kazoola beer, a smooth American pale ale named for two of the Azalea City’s most legendary characters, is now available in kegs through local retailers, such as Cottage Hill Package Store. Bottoms up.
PAPER WINS! Finally, when all the thank-you notes have been written and the honeymoon tan lines have faded, start thinking about the first anniversary present. Since the traditional gift for year one is paper, nothing could be more meaningful than a personalized watercolor made from a favorite wedding portrait or an image of your first home together. Ever the artist, Henderson, of Be Still Handlettering, also creates these unique keepsakes that are sure to pull a few heartstrings. Visit bestillhandlettering.com to request a quote and submit inspiration photos. MB october 2019 | mobilebaymag.com 63
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BRIDAL | INSPIRATION
southern ROMANCE
Soft touches of creams, yellows and gold complement downtown Mobile’s romantic, Southern backdrop.
styling by NOBLE EVENTS • text by AMANDA HARTIN • photos by ELIZABETH GELINEAU hair and makeup by STUDIO 36 • models CONNOR LANDRUM, EMILY MCGHEE, CATHERINE RACCIATTI, ANN TACON, EMMA TACON
shot on location at ATHELSTAN CLUB and BIENVILLE SQUARE flowers by JUBILEE FLOWERS
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OPPOSITE Bouquets burst with pastel-colored garden roses, dahlias, orchids and carnations, to name a few, and are accented with sprigs of lunaria and strings of bleached amaranthus (Jubilee Flowers). CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT The garden-style arbor (Jubilee Flowers) sets a romantic backdrop for the bride’s ivory ball gown with sequined bodice (Justin Alexander, “Mia,” Style 88070, Bliss Bridal), which is accentuated with a single-layered veil (Sarah Gabriel, Bliss Bridal) and diamond jewelry (Ware Jewelers). Crystal stemware and gold-rimmed plates, chargers and flatware (Gulf Coast Events and Rentals) set a classic, subtle stage for the showstopping floral-filled (Jubilee Flowers) birdcage centerpieces (Noble Events). The bride’s wedding ring, featuring radiant-cut diamonds, with fancy yellow radiant center, complement the groom’s mango wood inlaid band in gleaming Serinium (Ware Jewelers). Floral flourishes carry the romantic theme onto the two-tiered cake (Underground Custom Cakes) with ivy embellishment (Jubilee Flowers). Sumptuous velvet butter linens (Party Tables via Gulf Coast Events and Rentals) adorn the dinner and cake tables. october 2019 | mobilebaymag.com 67
BRIDAL | INSPIRATION
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT The mother of the bride stuns in a soft sateen gown (Alfred Sung, D706, Palomino, Bliss Bridal) and Roberto Coin jewelry (Ware Jewelers). Gold side tables (Gulf Coast Events and Rentals) hold ribbon-wrapped bouquets (Jubilee Flowers; ribbons, Silk and Willow, Gilded Gold, Antique Gold, Botanical Print #21) and glasses of bubbly, while custom pillows (Party Tables via Gulf Coast Events and Rentals) add a soft touch to the masculine room. Handmade signs (AR Workshop) add personal touches to the reception. OPPOSITE Lovebird cookies (Underground Custom Cakes) add a “tweet” ending to the meal, the menu of which is printed on deckle-edge paper (Soirée Signatures). Beautifully bottled lemon flavored sparkling soda (The Cheese Cottage) is the perfect single-serve refreshment for children or guests abstaining from the bar.
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BRIDAL | INSPIRATION
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Deckle-edge invitations and response cards tucked in floral-lined envelopes (Soirée Signatures) beckon guests to a romantic, Southern wedding. Smilax shoots and flowers (Jubilee Flowers) soften the iron railing of the Athelstan Club balcony. The bridal party relaxes in the club’s flower-filled library (Jubilee Flowers). Bridesmaids dressed in shades of yellow (left: Dessy Collection, Style 3041, Marigold, Bliss Bridal; right: Dessy Collection, Style 3038, Lemon Drop, Bliss Bridal) provide a soft pop of color alongside the bride and groom (Jim’s Formal Wear, Ivory and Black, Bliss Bridal).
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RESOURCES AR WORKSHOP 6601-B AIRPORT BLVD 639-7411 ARWORKSHOP.COM/MOBILE BLISS BRIDAL 19 N CHURCH ST., FAIRHOPE 990-3244 BEABLISSBRIDE.COM THE CHEESE COTTAGE 650 ST LOUIS ST. 308-8488 THECHEESECOTTAGELLC.COM GULF COAST EVENTS AND RENTALS 26503 AL-181, DAPHNE 621-1233 GCRENT.COM JUBILEE FLOWERS 990-6664 JUBILEEFLOWERSFAIRHOPE.COM NOBLE EVENTS, LLC 70 N JOACHIM ST., SUITE E 533-1395 LYDIANOBLEEVENTS.COM SOIRÉE SIGNATURES 24 N FLORIDA ST. 209-3265 SOIREESIGNATURES.COM STUDIO 36 620 AZALEA RD 307-5300 SARAHCOM25.WIXSITE.COM/STUDIO-36 UNDERGROUND CUSTOM CAKES 689-6474 FACEBOOK.COM/UNDERGROUNDCUSTOMCAKES WARE JEWELERS 30500 STATE HWY 181, SUITE 316 338-9273 WAREJEWELERS.COM
SPECIAL THANKS SHOOT LOCATIONS ATHELSTAN CLUB 170 ST. FRANCIS ST. 432-8604 ATHELSTANCLUB.ORG
CITY OF MOBILE, BIENVILLE SQUARE 150 DAUPHIN ST. 208-1600 CITYOFMOBILE.ORG
&
Johana Alexandra Bucci
MAY 11, 2019
Jordan W Gerheim
CEREMONY + RECEPTION VENUE The Palms Hotel & Spa WEDDING DRESS Town & Country Bridal HAIR/MAKEUP Renata Estepan BRIDESMAID DRESSES Bella Bridesmaids GROOMSMEN ATTIRE Francia’s Formal Affair INVITATIONS Soirée Signatures FLORIST Ever After Florist CATERER The Palms Hotel BAKERY Elegant Temptations PHOTOGRAPHER La Vie Studios VIDEOGRAPHER Alex Galan Films BAND Extasy Band of Tropics Entertainment DAY-OF COORDINATOR Yasmin Gomez
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et the Gerheim’s roll” was the hashtag and theme of Johana and Jordan’s extraordinary South Beach Miami wedding weekend in May of 2019. Kicking off the destination weekend on Friday with a ‘White Linen Welcome Party’ under the Grand Tiki at The Palms Hotel & Spa really set the tone for the rest of the weekend. Their 160+ guests donned all-white attire, danced to live beats from Cuban native, Tomasito Cruz, and enjoyed a spread of authentic Cuban food as well as custom-labeled hand rolled cigars from an on-site authentic Cuban roller. On Saturday, guests gathered for a pre-ceremony cocktail, allowing guests ample time to arrive, relax, and find their seats for the ceremony. A live string quartet provided the music for the cocktail hour and ceremony. Johana’s wedding gown was an architectural-inspired dress by Martina Liana. A mix of French tulle, leaf-style lace, and beading throughout the gown, coupled with a sculpted sweetheart neckline created rich dimension. Johana also chose an attachable cape train with her dress and customized lace detachable draped sleeves she wore during the ceremony. The bridesmaids wore blush colored high-neck gowns from Jenny Yoo’s Luxe Chiffon collection. Jordan and his groomsmen chose an ivory dinner jacket variation of the black-tie tuxedo. Johana was attended by her younger sister, Carolina Bucci, as
maid of honor and her cousin, Ana Holmes, as matron of honor. Bridesmaids were Lindsey Gerheim and Sophia Gutierrez. Jordan was attended by his father, John Gerheim, as his best man and his groomsman, Todd Roath. After the outdoor ceremony at the Garden Gazebo, guests were escorted into the Royal Palm Ballroom for a sit-down dinner. There, guests enjoyed some of the bride’s favorite foods - leg of lamb, sushi, seafood stations, and filet - all prepared and presented buffet style. After dinner, everyone gathered in the Queen Palm Ballroom where local Miami 13-piece band, Extasy, was turning up the heat. With an all-female brass section and backup singer for Marc Anthony, Franklin Torres on the mic, it was hard for guests to sit down. Later in the night, Jordan surprised his new Bride and guests with a fireworks show. On Sunday, a farewell brunch was the perfect way to say goodbye to guests and complete the most memorable destination wedding weekend. Johana and Jordan planned most of the wedding details themselves but could not have executed the eventful weekend without the help of their parents. Johana is the daughter of Dr. Yolanda Gutierrez and Dr. Richard Bucci. Jordan is the son of Wendy and John Gerheim. The happy couple took a delayed two-week honeymoon to French Polynesia with stops in Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora Islands.
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Margaret Ellen Starks
Major Todd Alan Oliver
APRIL 27, 2019
CEREMONY VENUE St. Francis at The Point RECEPTION VENUE Fox Meadow Farm WEDDING DRESS Wedding Belles DRESS CUSTOMIZATION Christal Hall, Seams to Fit HAIR Kelly Psonak MAKEUP Brynn Chesney FLORIST Southern Veranda CATERER Naman’s BAKERY The Pastry Shop EVENT RENTALS SOHO PHOTOGRAPHER Patrick Remington VIDEOGRAPHER Revival House BAND Fondren Covered WEDDING PLANNER Ellen Thomas Event Design
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argaret Ellen Starks and Major Todd Alan Oliver were united in holy matrimony at six o’clock in the evening on April 27, 2019, at St. Francis at the Point Church in Point Clear, Alabama. The Rev. Robert Green officiated. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene A. Starks of Jackson, Mississippi. She is the granddaughter of Mrs. John Nelson Graham, Mrs. Charles William Barrack and Mr. John Starks, Sr. The groom is the son of Mr. William David Oliver and Mrs. Katherine Alexis Atkins of Mobile, Alabama. He is the grandson of the late Commander and Mrs. John Leslie Oliver and Mr. and Mrs. Alan Joseph Fuchs. The ceremony began in worship with the congregation singing the hymn, Come Thou Fount. The bride, given in marriage by her parents and escorted by her father, entered the sanctuary in a strapless ballgown equipoised by a blusher and cathedral length veil which was framed with lace from the mother of the bride’s wedding gown, originally worn in 1986. Adorned in her mother’s pearls, a diamond necklace from her father and a gold bracelet from her groom, the bride walked down the aisle to The Prince of Denmark’s March. Before the bride and groom exchanged vows, the father of the bride shared a scripture reading from the book of Corinthians. After the pronouncement of marriage, the bride and groom took their first steps as husband
and wife under a sword arch presented by U.S. Marines with whom the groom has served alongside. Following the double-ring ceremony, the parents of the bride hosted a reception at Fox Meadow Farm in Fairhope, Alabama. Guests were greeted with tiers of champagne and the cocktail the couple first drank together, a classic Old Fashioned. Guests enjoyed Southern coastal favorites like pimento cheese sandwiches, oysters, and shrimp and grits. Set in the middle of Fox Meadow Farm’s expansive pecan grove, boxwood walls surrounded by white hydrangeas, orchids and roses framed the entryway to the sailcloth tent, a nod to the groom’s favorite pastime of sailing. The newlyweds cut their gilded, six-tier cake with the groom’s mameluke sword, issued to U.S. Marine Corps Officers at the time of their commissioning, and shared their first toast as husband and wife with Arte Italica champagne flutes. The bride and groom were sent off beneath a shower of sparklers and drove away in the groom’s 1979 CJ7 Jeep. Before departing on transportation provided by Old Shell Trolley, guests were gifted with a bottle opener and Budweiser beers, a tribute to the groom’s family business, Budweiser-Busch Distributing. The couple enjoyed a beautiful honeymoon in Turks and Caicos and happily returned to Alabama where they reside in the groom’s hometown of Mobile.
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Chélan Christine Blow Christopher Michael Catrett JUNE 22, 2019
CEREMONY + RECEPTION VENUE Kalioka Stables WEDDING DRESS I Do Bridal CATERER Mosley’s Meat Market BAKERY Flour Girls PHOTOGRAPHER Karleigh Rae Horn, KRae Photography JEWELRY Lou’s Jewelry
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ix months following a romantic proposal on Julep Point at The Grand Hotel, Chélan Christine Blow and Christopher Michael Catrett were united in marriage on June 22, 2019. Pastor John Montalvo officiated. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gregory A. Blow, and the groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gary Shreves and Michael Catrett. A traditional ceremony took place on the beautiful grounds of Kalioka Stables just before sunset with the reception following. Given by her parents and escorted by her father, the bride wore an elegant Australian gown, adorned with French lace. The bride chose Madison Miller as her maid of honor. Sally McNider, Macey Gay, Emily Messer, Jordan Stringfellow and Alex Reaves served as bridesmaids. Callie Catrett was junior bridesmaid,
and Greyson Betbeze served as flower girl. Brantley Blow, the bride’s brother, was honored to serve as best man. Groomsmen were Gene Darawich, Jeffrey Wallace, Aaron Yetter, William Vaughn, Jr. and Johnathan McKelroy. Abram Darawich was ring bearer. The day before the wedding, the bride and her bridesmaids enjoyed a day at The Battle House Spa, and the groom and the groomsmen enjoyed the day with a competitive round of golf at Rock Creek Golf Club. The groom’s parents hosted the rehearsal dinner at Iron Hand Brewing. The guests fanned red and white ribbon-ed shakers as the couple departed. Upon returning from their honeymoon on Paradise Island, Bahamas, the couple will reside in Satsuma.
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Nichelle Smith
Troy Jonathan Rodgers
NOVEMBER 24, 2018
CEREMONY + RECEPTION VENUE Bella Sera Gardens WEDDING DRESS I Do Bridal & Formal HAIR Magic on Main MAKEUP Esther Louis Artistry DJ Jay-O RENTALS Port City PHOTOGRAPHER Quintin Howard VIDEOGRAPHER Aaron Captured It! BAKERY Sugar House Custom Cakes FLORIST/WEDDING PLANNER Johnny Weaver LIVE EVENT ARTIST Rosilyn Dudeck Holladay
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t all started in middle school for Nichelle and Jonathan. The two became friends while attending St. Mary’s Catholic School and even dated for a short time before reconnecting in high school where their relationship blossomed. The two high school sweethearts were united in marriage in a beautiful outdoor ceremony at Bella Sera Gardens in Loxley, Alabama, on November 24, 2018. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Williams. The groom is the son of Mr. Troy Rodgers and Mrs. Cassandra Christian. Given in marriage by her father, the bride walked down the aisle in a fitted gown with a high-neckline beaded lace bodice designed by Martina Liana. She carried a bouquet of roses and eucalyptus created by Johnny Weaver. Alexis Austin served as the bride’s maid of honor. Bridesmaids
were Christian Brown, Paige Duncan, Stella Taylor and Mya Wesley. Hannah Christian served as flower girl. Josh Rodgers served as the groom’s best man. Groomsmen were Kyle Pollenitz, Nick Heisler and Ignacio Williams. Q J Sigler served as ring bearer. Following the ceremony, guests enjoyed a lively reception on the garden grounds. The stunning setting was captured by live event artist Rosilyn Dudeck Holladay as a keepsake for the bride and groom. Guests dined on Pollo Machago, green bean almondine and smoked au gratin potatoes. Sugar House Custom Cakes created the two-tier almond wedding cake. DJ Jay-O kept guests on the dance floor all night. The bride and groom exited the reception with a sparkler sendoff. After a honeymoon in Orange Beach, the couple now resides in Mobile.
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John Haywood McCown
Andrew Brent Freeman
JUNE 8, 2019
CEREMONY + RECEPTION VENUE The Dunmore, Harbour Island, Bahamas WEDDING PLANNER Blair Gewin PHOTOGRAPHER Keyhole Photo INVITATIONS + MENU CARDS Soiree Signatures FLORIST Jay-Jay Percentie BAKERY Arthur’s Bakery BAND Highrock Band
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ack and Andy knew they wanted a destination wedding so friends and family could all share in the experience of being on a trip together. The pair took a scouting trip to Harbour Island over Mardi Gras week in 2018 and loved it. They were particularly impressed with the relaxed yet casual elegance and attention to detail shown at the Dunmore and immediately knew it was the place! The wedding aesthetic naturally followed suit and mimicked the casual surroundings of the Dunmore. For Friday night’s rehearsal dinner, they worked with Jack’s godmother (East Bay Clothier) to put together a casual look that would work for the warm evenings. For the wedding, Andy wanted to wear a modern
blue suit he had made by Scabal while on a recent trip to London, so they had one made for Jack in the same fabric. The couple was married under the pool pavilion, with guests looking on from across the pool, enjoying what turned out to be a wonderfully personal and special ceremony. A pool-side cocktail hour with passed canapés immediately followed, after which everyone moved to the Dunmore’s clubhouse for a seated dinner. Instead of a first dance, Jack and Andy had a traditional Bahamian Junkanoo, which is a processional of dance, music, and costumes (a bit of a nod to Mardi Gras). After dinner and the Junkanoo, the celebration moved to the beach with cocktails and a large bonfire to close out the night and the amazing week in the islands.
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Lorin Elyse Espiritu
William Chase Cutrell
MAY 18, 2019
CEREMONY VENUE Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception RECEPTION VENUE Fort Conde Inn WEDDING DRESS I Do Bridal HAIR/MAKEUP Sarah Poiroux and Courtney Jones, Genesis Hair Salon CATERER Tyner’s Catering BAKERY Publix FLORIST LUSH Home and Garden Event PHOTOGRAPHER Anna Filly BAND Ising Band EVENT RENTALS SOHO
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orin Elyse Espiritu and William Chase Cutrell were united in marriage at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile, Alabama, on May 18, 2019. The Rev. James F. Zoghby officiated the ceremony. Rev. Zoghby has been the priest at Corpus Christi Catholic School for over 15 years, where the bride and groom both attended middle school. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Gregory Pugh and Mr. and Mrs. Michael Kim Patience. The groom is the son of Ms. Whitney Stapleton Cutrell. The bride was given in marriage by her parents and escorted by her mother, Mrs. Tammy Lynn Pugh. She wore a blush Essense of Australia gown with ivory lace, flowing to a cathedral length train. The fit and flare sweetheart, V-neckline extended beautifully into a high back accented with a lace cameo and blush covered buttons. She wore a cathedral-length, lace-trimmed veil. The bride carried a bouquet of Pale Pink Mondial Roses, White Anemones, White Wax
Flower, Queen Anne’s Lace, White Stock, White Peonies, White Ranunculus, Lamb’s Ear and Willow Eucalyptus by LUSH Home and Garden Event. The bride was attended by her friend, Meredith Gammon, as her matron of honor. Bridesmaids were Alex Taylor, Ashton Austin, Lauren Griffin, Caroline Johnson, Natalie Finnorn, cousin of the bride; Michelle Eubank, Kathleen Lursen, Mary Cullen Cutrell, sister of the groom; and Sarah Friley. Faris Rodriguez was her flower girl. Dayne Cutrell, Kelley Cutrell and John Murphy Cutrell, brothers of the groom, stood as the best men. Groomsmen were Tyler Miller, Elliot Pennington, Ryan Avinger, Zach Williams, Russ Morgan, Brody Espiritu, brother of the bride; and Nicholas Friley. Abel Cruz Rodriguez was the ring bearer. Following the ceremony, guests danced the night away beneath a canopy of live oaks, on the brick-paved street at Fort Conde Inn. The couple traveled to Seaside, Florida, for their honeymoon.
EXTRAS | CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Falling for October! OCTOBER 4 - 31 THRILLER NIGHTS OF LIGHTS 7 - 10 p.m. Drive through a spook-tacular show set to thrilling music. Admission: $6 per person. HANK AARON STADIUM THRILLERNIGHTSOFLIGHTS.COM
OCTOBER 5 GEORGE B. ROGERS 2019 HOMES TOUR 8:45 a.m. - 6 p.m. Learn about five Rogers buildings followed by a wine and cheese celebration at Hunter House from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Tickets: $200 (only 125). HISTORICMOBILETOUR.COM
OCTOBER 10 THROUGH OCTOBER 31
OCTOBER 3
PUMPKIN PATCH EXPRESS Ride an authentic steam train to the haunted barn and the pumpkin patch. Everyone decorates a free pumpkin! Admission: $15 per person; Children 2 and under, free.
YOGA IN THE GARDENS 5:15 - 6:15 p.m. Explore the gardens after hours and take part in a yoga session on the Great Lawn. Complimentary drinks and snacks included. Wear comfortable clothing, and bring a mat and towel. Admission: $14.
PAINT PARTY AT BELLINGRATH Join the fall party in the Magnolia Cafe with artists Renee Wallace and Janie Brown. Participants may create their own design or may select a pre-sketched Bellingrath Gardens scene. All supplies are included. Advanced registration required. To register, call Angela Strickland at 251-459-8868.
BELLINGRATH GARDENS AND HOME BELLINGRATH.ORG
BELLINGRATH GARDENS AND HOME ASTRICKLAND@BELLINGRATH.ORG
WALES WEST RV PARK & LIGHT RAILWAY WALESWEST.COM/PUMPKIN
THROUGH NOVEMBER 2 THE PARK AFTER DARK Enjoy family-friendly activities in the Park at OWA for the price of admission. OWA VISITOWA.COM
OCTOBER 2 - 5 ALABAMA COASTAL BIRDFEST Visitors from across the U.S. and Canada flock to South Alabama to see over 300 species of birds before feathered friends head further south for the winter. There will be more than 30 guided tours and events. SPANISH FORT • WEEKSBAY.ORG/EVENTS/ ALABAMA-COASTAL-BIRDFEST/
OCTOBER 3, 4 PATTI CALLAHAN, AUTHOR EVENTS 6 p.m. Both nights. Alabama resident and New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan Henry will be at The Steeple on October 3 and at Fairhope’s Page and Palette on October 4, in conversation with author Kristin Hannah. Both events are free. For an in-depth author interview, visit mobilebaymag.com/patti-callahan/. THE STEEPLE, DOWNTOWN PAGE AND PALETTE, FAIRHOPE PAGEANDPALETTE.COM
OCTOBER 10 - 13 NATIONAL SHRIMP FESTIVAL Sample some of the best local seafood dishes while listening to live music. GULF SHORES MYSHRIMPFEST.COM
OCTOBER 12 ART TRAIL 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Head to the island to explore local shops and artists. DAUPHIN ISLAND DAUPHINISLANDCHAMBEROFCOMMERCE.COM
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OCTOBER 12, 19, 26 SEWARD FARMS FIELD OF FRIGHT Dusk. Come experience the dark corners of the corn field at dusk. Bring the whole family for a haunting good time. Cash only. Tickets: $15 - 30. SEWARD FARMS, LUCEDALE, MISSISSIPPI SEWARDFARMS.COM
OCTOBER 15 MIKE BUNN, AUTHOR EVENT 6 p.m. Come listen to Mike Bunn, author of “Early Alabama.” PAGE AND PALETTE, FAIRHOPE PAGEANDPALETTE.COM
OCTOBER 17 - 19 GREEK FEST 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. Celebrate Greek culture with food, dancing, arts and crafts, a tour of the church and more. Tickets: $5. ANNUNCIATION GREEK CHURCH GREEKFESTMOBILE.ORG
OCTOBER 18 - 20 FALL PLANT SALE 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. F / Sa. 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Su. Stock up on rare plants, azaleas, natives and more. MOBILE BOTANICAL GARDENS MOBILEBOTANICALGARDENS.ORG
OCTOBER 18 WOODY’S SONG SCHOOL CHIP IN FOR AUTISM 9TH ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT 11:30 a.m. Four-man scramble with shotgun start. Includes a bucket of range balls and dinner. All proceeds benefit Woody’s Song School, a program of The Learning Tree. Registration is $60 per player. AZALEA CITY GOLF COURSE TATKINS@LEARNING-TREE.ORG
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OCTOBER 23 KNOWN DEATHS AND BURIALS AT MOBILE POINT 6 - 7 p.m. Explore the tunnels of Fort Morgan as guides discuss those who died or were buried at Mobile Point. Dress for the weather and bring a flashlight. FORT MORGAN FORT-MORGAN.ORG
OCTOBER 25 - NOVEMBER 3 GREATER GULF STATE FAIR Games, food, fun and the biggest midway on the Gulf Coast await visitors at the 65th annual fair. Advanced tickets: Adults, $8; child, $4; ride wristband, $20. THE GROUNDS • GREATERGULFSTATEFAIR.COM
OCTOBER 25 SOPHIELLA ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY 6 - 9 p.m. Sophiella celebrates its one-year anniversary with owners Kim and Clark Kelly, gallery artists, and Fairhope’s Harvest Jewels, and the opening of the group show, FACES AND PLACES. Photography by gallerist Kim Kelly will be included in the exhibition. SOPHIELLA GALLERY • SOPHIELLAGALLERY.COM
OCTOBER 26 FOLEY WITCHES RIDE 5 p.m. Ride the streets and then join the after-party, featuring food trucks and live band. This event benefits local charities, Family Promise and the backpack feeding program through St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Participants must be 21 or older. DOWNTOWN FOLEY EVENTBRITE.COM/E/FOLEY-WITCHES-RIDE2019-TICKETS-64231562332
OCTOBER 26 BOO AT BELLINGRATH 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Dress up and trick-or-treat through the gardens. Inflatables, treats, magic show, storytime and more will be available. Admission: Adults, $14; children ages 5-12, $8; no charge for Bellingrath members and children 4 and younger. BELLINGRATH GARDENS AND HOME BELLINGRATH.ORG
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OCTOBER 26 ELBERTA GERMAN SAUSAGE FESTIVAL 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Nosh on sausage and sauerkraut while enjoying food from other booths, games, arts and crafts, and more. ELBERTA TOWN PARK ELBERTAFIRE.COM
OCTOBER 26 WOOFSTOCK Noon - 7 p.m. Come for beer, music and tons of Halloween fun, benefitting Animal Rescue Foundation. Bring your pooch and enter the doggy costume contest. Admission: Adults, $10; kids ages 4 to 12, $5; under age 4, free. SERDA BREWERY CO. HTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ EVENTS/SERDA-BREWING-CO/ WOOFSTOCK/741135953002714
OCTOBER 27 WITCHES, WIZARDS & WARLOCKS RIDE 4 p.m. Ride departs. Decorate your golf cart, bike or walk the path and share your treats. Proceeds benefit Rileigh and Raylee Angel Ride Foundation. Party after at Manci’s Antique Club with The Voice contestant Johnny Hayes and the Loveseats. DAPHNE CITY HALL ANGEL-RIDE.ORG
OCTOBER 27 MOBILE WITCHES RIDE 5 p.m. Delta Dogs is excited to host the 4th annual ride, a 3-mile, easy-paced bike parade around downtown Mobile. The ride ends with a fabulous block party with music, libations, and food. THE BLIND MULE EVENTBRITE.COM/E/2019-MOBILE-WITCHESRIDE-TICKETS-70439724111
OCTOBER 29 FAIRHOPE WITCHES RIDE 5:30 p.m. Come see witches fly through the streets! Awards will be given for best costume, best ‘broom,’ aka bicycle, best coven and best cackle. DOWNTOWN FAIRHOPE FACEBOOK.COM/FAIRHOPEWITCHESRIDE
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CITY STAGES
Drama, musical, mysteries and movies, oh my!
OCTOBER 11 - 20 “BASKERVILLE: A SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY” 7:30 p.m. F / Sa. 2 p.m. Su. Come along for the ride as the famous, eccentric detective tries to solve the case. CHICKASAW CIVIC THEATER • CCTSHOWS.COM
OCTOBER 11 - 13, 18 - 20, 24 - 27 GODSPELL 2012 7:30 p.m. F / Sa. 2:30 p.m. Su. The story of Jesus’ life and parables told through song and comedic timing. Tickets: $12 - $18. THEATRE 98 • THEATRE98.ORG
OCTOBER 12 ALISON KRAUSS 8 p.m. The legendary bluegrass singer comes back to the Port City. Tickets: $50, $70, $100. MOBILE SAENGER THEATRE MOBILESAENGER.COM
OCTOBER 18 - NOVEMBER 3 “MACBETH” 7:30 p.m. F / Sa. 2 p.m. Su. Something wicked this way comes just in time for Halloween. The JJP presents their take on Shakespeare’s Scottish play. Tickets: $10, $15, $20. JOE JEFFERSON PLAYERS JOEJEFFERSONPLAYERS.COM
OCTOBER 20 MOBILE CHAMBER MUSIC PRESENTS PIANIST ILYA YAKUSHEV 3 p.m. Watch in awe as the renowned Russian pianist takes the stage. LAIDLAW AUDITORIUM, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA MOBILECHAMBERMUSIC.ORG
OCTOBER 23 MOBILE OPERA PRESENTS “LA TRAVIATA” 7:30 - 10:30 p.m. Watch Verdi’s masterpiece that is full of famous songs and dramatic characters. THE TEMPLE DOWNTOWN • MOBILEOPERA.ORG
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[NOVEMBER HIGHLIGHTS]
NOVEMBER 1 - 2 THE HANGOUT OYSTER COOK-OFF AND CRAFT BEER WEEKEND Sample oyster dishes from some of the best chefs in the Southeast. THE HANGOUT • HANGOUTCOOKOFF.COM
NOVEMBER 2 ANIMAL ART SAFARI 7 - 10 p.m. The first event at the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo’s new location will feature a silent auction for exquisite, one-of-a-kind artwork created by the animal residents, local and world-renowned artists. Tickets: $75. ALABAMA GULF COAST ZOO ALABAMAGULFCOASTZOO.COM
NOVEMBER 7 - 17 FRANK BROWN INTERNATIONAL SONGWRITER’S FESTIVAL See more than 200 songwriters perform at various intimate concert venues.
LEADERS IN HEALTH HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS THROUGHOUT MOBILE AND BALDWIN COUNTIES HAVE PUT THE BAY AREA ON THE MAP AS A REGIONAL HUB FOR TOP-NOTCH MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS.
VARIOUS LOCATIONS FRANKBROWNSONGWRITERS.COM
DOWNTOWN FAIRHOPE FAIRHOPEFILMFESTIVAL.ORG
NOVEMBER 9 DRACULA AND ME 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. Laugh along to this original comedy written and directed by Shari Prestwood and set in a 1930s radio station. Tickets: $8, $10. EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER COMMEDIADELARTE.ORG
NOVEMBER 23 - 24
PRACTITIONERS WHO’VE DISTINGUISHED THEMSELVES AS INDUSTRY LEADERS, INTENT ON FOSTERING A HAPPIER, HEALTHIER SOUTH ALABAMA.
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MOBILE SYMPHONY PRESENTS “EROICA” 7:30 p.m. Sa. 2:30 p.m. Su. As a part of their Beethoven and Blue Jeans series, this performance highlights Beethoven’s third symphony, featuring violin virtuoso Paul Huang. Tickets: $15 - $80.
MEET THE INNOVATIVE
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FAIRHOPE FILM FESTIVAL View a variety of national and international films, from shorts to documentaries. Single tickets: $15; packages also available.
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MOBILE SAENGER THEATRE MOBILESYMPHONY.ORG
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PHOTO BY CHAD RILEY
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION | LEADERS IN HEALTH
ADHD Medical Clinic DR. ALMAND WESTBROOK AND DR. KIMBERLY WESTBROOK ARE DEDICATED TO PROVIDING QUALITY CARE TO ADULTS AND ADOLESCENTS WITH ADHD IN MOBILE AND BALDWIN COUNTIES.
What is your mission? Our goal is to help our patients achieve success by providing individualized care in a relaxed yet professional environment.
How do you make sure patients get the best care/results? We combine state of the art testing and clinical interviews to obtain an accurate diagnosis. ADHD symptoms can vary greatly between individuals and can change throughout the lifespan. By customizing treatment plans and taking the time to listen to our patients’ concerns, we are
able to minimize the effects that their symptoms have on their everyday lives.
What contributes to your success? When diagnosing and treating our patients, we learn about them as people, not just as our patients. We want each patient to feel understood, and we take pride in helping them achieve success in their careers and/ or education.
What sets your practice apart?
require time and attention that is often difficult to provide in a primary care practice. By spending time getting to know our patients’ unique lifestyles, we can determine the best treatment plan for each individual person.
How has your business grown or changed and where are you going from here? Many of our patients are from Baldwin County, and this past spring we opened an office in Fairhope.
Due to the nature of ADHD, our patients
ADHD-Medical.com • Mobile: 2651 Old Shell Road • 251-243-7058 • Fairhope: 101 Lottie Lane, Unit 6 • 251-990-1980 86 mobilebaymag.com | october 2019
PHOTO BY CHAD RILEY
SPECIAL ADVERTISTING SECTION | LEADERS IN HEALTH
Access MD
Diana K. Hashimi, M.D. ACCESS MD IS A UNIQUE INTERNAL MEDICINE PRIVATE PRACTICE THAT OFFERS EXCEPTIONAL, PERSONALIZED MEDICAL CARE IN A RELAXED, UNHURRIED ENVIRONMENT. A LIMITED SIZE PRACTICE AND ANNUAL RETAINER FEE ALLOW FOR ENHANCED, DIRECT PHYSICIAN SERVICES AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS NOT COVERED BY TRADITIONAL INSURANCE.
Why or how did you get into your field? Over the past 26 years, I have worked in a large, traditional internal medicine practice and an urgent care center. Each type meets basic needs but has limitations. In 2013, private medicine was emerging mainstream across the country, and I loved the concept of being a patient advocate without an insurance company in the middle “managing care.” My desire to offer more preventive physician services and wellness programs led me to establish a private, concierge internal medicine program in Mobile.
What is your mission? My main goal is to maximize the patient-
physician experience in an unhurried environment. Medical evaluations are not hindered by time, so we can examine all problems thoroughly and develop a working plan to diagnose issues. Additionally, we create an overall plan to optimize long-term health utilizing evidence-based medicine along with longitudinal follow up. Providing this type of relationship empowers our patients to achieve the best health possible, leading to a happier, healthier lifestyle.
What sets your practice apart? Access MD is the only private, concierge practice in Mobile County and has a small, limited practice size. I have time to obtain a comprehensive understanding of family, medical and social problems,
review records, medications and perform a thorough physical examination. We promptly answer phone calls and lab results are reported quickly with full explanations.
How do you make sure your patients get the best care/results? I schedule visits to review your healthcare needs, develop individualized treatment plans and set goals. I make every effort to provide same day appointments Monday through Friday. Additional benefits include providing my personal cell phone number for direct communication and emergencies, as well as having an incredible network of specialists and private physicians, both locally and across the country.
4310-E Old Shell Road • 251-895-4345 • AccessMDmobile.com october 2019 | mobilebaymag.com 87
PHOTO BY CHAD RILEY
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION | LEADERS IN HEALTH
Cody B. Barnett, M.D., FACG Gastroenterologist Why or how did you get into your field?
How do you make sure patients get the best care/results?
During one of my first clinical rotations in medical school, I assisted in care of patients with acute and chronic GI conditions. I was able to observe endoscopic procedures, and I enjoyed reading and learning about the field of gastroenterology. I have had some great teachers and training along the way that stimulated my interest even more. Twenty years later, I still love what I do!
Focusing on high quality patient care is very important. It starts with my well-trained nursing and support staff. Our outpatient endoscopy center has been recognized nationally as a unit that demonstrates commitment to delivering quality and safe patient care (ASGE Endoscopy Unit Recognition Program). In order to provide the most advanced care for my patients, I make education a top priority. Exciting advancements in the field include early colon cancer detection and prevention; treatment of inflammatory bowel disease and chronic liver diseases, such as hepatitis C and fatty liver; as well as understanding the gut microbiome and how it relates to health and disease.
What is your mission? My mission is to provide the best medical care to my patients in a compassionate and caring way.
How has your business grown or changed, and where are you going from here? The goal is always to provide the very best medical care to our patients. Colon cancer screening and prevention through removal of precancerous polyps will continue to be a large part of GI practice. There has been much progress made in care and treatment of patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and there will continue to be a focus on individualized therapy. Treatment for hepatitis C has never been better, and there are treatments being developed for patients with fatty liver. Finally, we are continuing to learn more about the human microbiome and its role in metabolism, gut health, the immune system and susceptibility to disease.
Alabama Medical Group, P.C. 101 Memorial Hospital Drive, Suite 200, Building 3 • 251-414-5900 • alabamamedicalgroup.com 88 mobilebaymag.com | october 2019
PHOTO BY CHAD RILEY
SPECIAL ADVERTISTING SECTION | LEADERS IN HEALTH
Center for Reproductive Medicine George T. Koulianos, M.D.
THE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE IS THE LARGEST AND ONLY COMPREHENSIVE REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE CLINIC SERVING THE MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST, SOUTH ALABAMA AND THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE FOR 26 YEARS WITH MORE THAN 7,000 FAMILIES HELPED TO CONCEIVE HEALTHY BABIES.
Why or how did you get into your field? My interest in reproductive endocrinology and infertility started in medical school. As a student, we were required to take a reproductive physiology course. I loved the class; for me, it just clicked. As an OB-GYN resident, I was very fortunate to have a chair who was an excellent infertility surgeon and a Ph.D. researcher with whom I was fortunate to do some really cool research. Those early research studies nurtured my interest and allowed me to continue on with my fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility.
best science, medicine and care. For me and our team, medicine is far more than a job. It is a calling.
How do you make sure patients get the best care/results?
What is your mission?
We continuously ask ourselves if we are serving to the best of our ability. For the past 26 years, we have been tracking a number of critical variables with our IVF cycles that allow us to really dig into our vast data set and see what treatments work best for which patients. We meet regularly as a treatment care team, to review patients, care protocols and any unique needs they may have. Forcing ourselves to be accountable to one another pushes each of us to always strive for something greater.
The Center for Reproductive Medicine’s mission is to provide our patients with the
What contributes to your success?
Our program’s commitment to clinical excellence and service sets us apart. So does employing staff that understand that medicine is a calling. There are few compliments higher than the trust our patients place in us.
How has your business grown or changed and where are you going from here? Reproductive endocrine and infertility science continues to advance. We are seeing dramatic increases in pregnancy rates and in couples who are seeking infertility care. We will continue to push ourselves to provide our referring physicians and their patients the best science and care they deserve and expect from our program.
3 Mobile Infirmary Circle, Suite 213 • 251-438-4200 • infertilityalabama.com october 2019 | mobilebaymag.com 89
PHOTO BY CHAD RILEY
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION | LEADERS IN HEALTH
PICTURED: JANIE AHUGE, STEPHANIE JOHNSON, KRISTY MITCHUM, DR. LAUREN METZGER, DR. HARRIS BROWN, RACHEL GREENWOOD, HAYLEIGH COLLIER, LAURIE HARRELSON
Coastal Periodontics & Implant Dentistry, P.C. COASTAL PERIODONTICS IS A LEADER IN PERIODONTAL CARE, UTILIZING THE MOST INNOVATIVE FORMS OF TECHNOLOGY TO ENSURE A COMFORTABLE AND PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCE FOR EACH PATIENT.
What is your mission? Our mission is to use our expertise to provide the upmost quality of care for our patients with high regard for their comfort and satisfaction to create happy, healthy smiles. We aim to treat patients with compassion, respect and honesty to ensure they have an exceptional treatment experience.
What sets your practice apart? The combination of our education along with our ability to maintain a comfortable environment for our patients. Both Dr. Brown and Dr. Metzger are dental specialists, having completed three-year periodontology residencies after graduating from dental school. While no longer in school, they keep up to date with the newest trends in their field and utilize the most cutting-edge technologies. This education, along with the caring and upbeat attitudes of our office staff, allows for us to not only treat your dental problems, but also maintain a comfortable and enjoyable experience for the patient. We strive to exceed our patients’ expectations in everything that we do.
How do you make sure patients get the best care/results? Besides the vast amount of knowledge in the practice and the latest technologies, we use a team approach. We work with your dentist, your specialist and your physician to ensure we are looking at every aspect of your health for the best treatment plan for each individual.
What is a periodontist?
and eliminate root sensitivity. For missing teeth, we place dental implants to allow for better chewing or to create a fixed option for dentures. For a gummy smile or “small teeth,” we offer gum reduction surgery to expose the rest of the tooth. For your comfort, we offer laughing gas and oral sedation with plans to incorporate IV sedation into the practice in the coming months.
A periodontist is a dental specialist who receives three years of training, in addition to their four years of dental school education, to treat periodontal disease (gum disease; periodontitis; pyorrhea). Periodontal disease also includes problems such as gum recession and bone loss. Periodontists are often referred to as “gum doctors,” but we do more than just treat the gums.
What contributes to your success?
What treatments practice offer?
How has your business grown or changed and where are you going from here?
does
your
For bone loss, we offer laser therapy (LANAP) and bone grafting. For gum recession, we perform gum grafting procedures with minimally-invasive techniques to create a more esthetic smile
The overall attitude in our office. The staff runs like a well-oiled machine with a big smile. They are productive and efficient while still finding ways to have a good time. I think when you have staff that works well as a team, patients see that, and it makes them feel at ease.
Periodontics used to involve large surgical procedures, but now we strive to keep procedures as minimally invasive as possible.
505 Georgian Drive, Suite A • 251-342-1644 • coastalperio.net 90 mobilebaymag.com | october 2019
PHOTO BY CHAD RILEY
SPECIAL ADVERTISTING SECTION | LEADERS IN HEALTH
Mobile Infirmary
Susan Boudreau, President Why or how did you get into your field? My early career began after I graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in medical technology (laboratory sciences). I decided to make a career change into hospital administration, so I moved to Birmingham and received a degree at UAB in health administration. I returned to the Infirmary as an administrative resident, and following graduation, I took a role as an assistant vice president over outpatient operations. I have remained in health care over the years and now am honored to be back at Infirmary Health leading Mobile Infirmary as its president.
What is your mission? My mission is to serve our patients, employees and physicians throughout Infirmary Health. I very much enjoy helping to make a difference in health care throughout our region and helping
to improve the lives of others through the many healthcare services we offer patients.
this recognition and feel it speaks to our performance as a hospital.
What sets your practice apart?
What contributes to your success?
Throughout Mobile Infirmary, there has always been a commitment to high quality, patient-focused delivery of care. It starts right at the bedside and permeates throughout our organization. The other difference I see at Infirmary Health is the caring, dedicated patient caregivers that work throughout our facilities.
My family, who are my biggest supporters, are a big factor, but so are the executives at Infirmary Health who work so well together as a team. Additionally, the management team I work with directly contributes to any success I have had.
How do you make sure patients get the best care/results? We listen to feedback continuously from patients, families, physicians and employees, and we continuously monitor our own performance against national benchmarks. For the second year in a row, Mobile Infirmary was named one of the best regional hospitals by US News and World Report. We are very proud of
How has your business grown or changed and where are you going from here? Health care is ever changing with emerging technologies, and patients are being cared for more and more in outpatient settings. Telemedicine is on the verge of rapid expansion, which will improve access issues for patients that live in more rural settings. Health care is extremely rewarding and personally fulling, and I am excited to continue my career here for the foreseeable future.
5 Mobile Infirmary Circle • 251-435-2400 • infirmaryhealth.org october 2019 | mobilebaymag.com 91
PHOTO BY CHAD RILEY
SPECIAL ADVERTISTING SECTION | LEADERS IN HEALTH
PICTURED: LINDSEY BEVILLE, PA; CHRISTINA MASSINOPLE, M.D.; CHRISTOPHER PARK, M.D.; RYAN REBOWE, M.D.; MEGAN VALLANCE, CRNP
The Park Clinic for Cosmetic & Reconstructive Surgery DR. CHRISTOPHER A. PARK EXPLAINS HOW THE PARK CLINIC FOR PLASTIC SURGERY PROVIDES WORLD-CLASS COSMETIC AND RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY, AS WELL AS NONSURGICAL SERVICES OF THE FACE, NECK, BREAST, BODY, SKIN AND EXTREMITIES.
Why did you get into your field?
What is your mission?
Variety and constant challenges that require problem-solving is what fuels my inner drive. No two surgeries have the exact same problem, solution or design. This clinic is part of Mobile Plastic Reconstructive Surgery and Dermatology, which originated as the concept of an ideal way to provide comprehensive skin, reconstructive and cosmetic care by combining with Dermatologic and Dermatologic Surgery and Dr. Roberta Swain. Inside this entity, we provide the latest surgical options and technology for both cosmetic and reconstructive needs.
Using the surgical arts and modern technology to rejuvenate, renew and reconstruct with the highest standards of excellence, comfort, service and satisfaction.
How has your business grown or changed, and where are you going from here? The practice continues to grow. We have added numerous technologies, surgical options and techniques, as well as locations on both sides of the Bay, midlevel providers and physicians to fulfill the cosmetic and reconstructive needs of the Gulf Coast.
Additions over the last few years have included the Medspa at the Park and its first-class lasers, services and other technologies for nonsurgical services and midlevels Lindsey Beville, PA-C, and Megan Vallance, CRNP. Our latest additions are a new plastic surgery associate, Ryan Rebowe, M.D., and the initiation of a micro surgical breast (DIEP) and General Reconstructive Program.
What sets your practice apart? The Park Clinic stays ahead of the curve by analyzing, incorporating and establishing the latest technologies and techniques.
3153 Dauphin Street, Mobile, and 411 N Section Street, Third Floor, Fairhope • 251-340-6600 mprsd.com • plastikospodcast.com 92 mobilebaymag.com | october 2019
PHOTO BY CHAD RILEY
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION | LEADERS IN HEALTH
Mobile Oral Surgery MOBILE ORAL SURGERY IS A FULL SCOPE ORAL AND FACIAL SURGERY PRACTICE WITH ROOTS DATING BACK TO THE MOBILE AREA FOR OVER 60 YEARS. BOTH OF OUR SURGEONS ARE BOARD CERTIFIED AND OFFER A FULL SCOPE OF ORAL SURGERY SERVICES.
What is your mission? Our mission is to provide the greatest level of care possible in an non-intimidating environment where patients know their health care is our utmost priority. At Mobile Oral Surgery, we do one thing, and we try to do it better than anyone else in the community. Our focus is to make every patient feel like they are the only patient we have, and we are there for them even after the procedure is over.
What sets your practice apart? The caring attitude the patient experiences from the front desk to the operating room to recovery is second to none. Everyone at Mobile Oral Surgery shares Dr. Mullenix and Wallender’s goal of providing the best care as quickly as possible with the least amount of pain and anxiety. We want every patient to have the best doctor’s office experience they have ever had every time they visit Mobile Oral Surgery.
We are always willing to see an emergency or difficult case, and that has helped establish us as one of the premier healthcare providers in the area.
How do you make sure patients get the best care/results? The doctors at Mobile Oral Surgery have the latest training and the most advanced technology on the market to ensure every patient has as good an outcome as possible. Dr. Mullenix has almost 20 years of experience in the Mobile area, and Dr. Wallender is the area’s only fellowship trained craniofacial oral surgeon. Drs. Mullenix and Wallender both have medical degrees as well as dental degrees and specialty training. Experience, training, technology and a desire to be the best at what they do is how we make sure everyone gets the best care possible.
What contributes to your success? We are relentless in our pursuit of caring for patients. We simply work as hard as possible to take care of people and their needs. One focus, one goal, one desire to give each patient the best health care possible in the best manner possible. It’s what we do at Mobile Oral Surgery.
How has your business grown or changed and where are you going from here? From a single doctor practice in a small office on Dauphin Street to a multi-doctor practice in a large office on Downtowner, we have experienced tremendous growth in the last 20 years. In an effort to keep up with our growth and the community, we are planning to add additional staff and locations in the next several years, including expanding onto the Eastern Shore. It’s an exciting time to be in health care and on the Gulf Coast and at Mobile Oral Surgery.
715 Downtowner Boulevard • 251-471-3381 • mobileoralsurgery.com october 2019 | mobilebaymag.com 93
PHOTO BY CHAD RILEY
Naro Audiology & Hearing Solutions, LLC NARO AUDIOLOGY & HEARING SOLUTIONS PROVIDES THE HIGHEST QUALITY HEARING HEALTH CARE THROUGH EXCEPTIONAL PATIENT CARE AND THE HIGHEST QUALITY AND MOST ADVANCED HEARING TECHNOLOGY.
What is your mission? At Naro Audiology & Hearing Solutions, our mission is to provide professional audiological services and hearing health care while developing excellent rapport with our patients by giving individualized attention and personal, compassionate care. We understand the trust patients must place in us and how important it is to earn and maintain that trust. For the hearing impaired, we seek to improve quality of life and maximize communication by listening to the patient’s needs, accurately diagnosing their hearing loss and providing a vast array of communication solutions and cuttingedge technologies to meet the needs of the patient. For those patients with balance or dizziness issues, we accurately test and diagnose the patient providing the care or referral required. We strive to help patients live their best life now.
What sets your practice apart? At Naro Audiology, we begin with the
person and their overall health in mind, realizing their ability to live their best life now must address their hearing, balance and health. We personalize the patient’s care and hearing health solutions, understanding that it takes an average of 7 years for a patient to make the first appointment to get help for gradual hearing loss. We obtain accurate diagnostic testing and provide the highest standard of care in hearing technology to address any hearing deficits, and we provide diagnostic testing for dizziness and balance issues. We have five office locations across three counties, and when needed, we go to the patient if they are unable to come to us. We recognize the link between hearing health and other health issues. We provide additional personalized post-rehab and chronic condition management, personal wellness, and training with our trainer, helping the patient achieve their optimal performance. We seek to provide an exceptional “experience”, not just an office visit.
How do you make sure your patients get the best care/results? We have many checks and balances, ensuring we are providing the best care to all patients. We strive to continually improve all aspects of the practice. We look for patient feedback, act on what needs improvement and keep pressing forward on aspects that work well. We seek to work as a team throughout the offices with patient care as the priority.
How has your business grown or changed, and where are you going from here? We have expanded our patient care to include our balance/ dizziness program with the addition of our Foley location. We have recently added our wellness program with our new trainer providing post rehab and chronic condition management, personnel wellness and training to help the patient live their best life now.
22530 US Hwy 98, Suite 240, Fairhope • 251-929-9397 • naroaudiology.com 94 mobilebaymag.com | october 2019
PHOTO BY CHAD RILEY
Premier Medical Dr. Mark Harrison
DR. HARRISON IS A BOARD-CERTIFIED OTOLARYNGOLOGIST HEAD AND NECK SURGEON THAT HAS PRACTICED WITH PREMIER MEDICAL FOR THE PAST 16 YEARS AND SPECIALIZES IN THE AREA OF NASAL AND SINUS SURGERY.
How did you get into your field?
What sets your practice apart?
What contributes to your success?
I started working in the operating room of Springhill Memorial Hospital at the age of 16. Life has come a long way from the days of mopping surgery room floors. It has been 34 years, but I am still in those same O.R. rooms every Friday doing what I love to do. Observing ENT doctors during my younger days is what drew me to this specialty, and now those same people are my partners.
I have a great team of nurses. They provide great care and compassion to our patients every single day. I have also been fortunate to work alongside a great group of ENT’s at Premier Medical. The diversity of their interests has allowed me to focus my practice in nasal and sinus surgery.
My success in life has been from my strong work ethic. This came naturally after growing up with a father who continues to practice and operate at the age of 79. I also work with a great group of physicians, and we have a long-standing commitment to excellence and patient care. This is what makes us successful and sets us apart.
What is your mission?
Great surgical results come from performing the same procedure thousands of times. Following up with patients makes a big difference on the final results. I personally call all of my patients after surgery. When people know that you care and they put their trust in you, this makes for a great doctor/patient relationship that I pride myself on.
My daily goal is to treat every patient like family and try to change their lives for the better by providing the best possible health care to my patients. I am blessed to have the knowledge and skills to help my patients, and I am humbled enough to remember, every day, we are all the same.
How do you make sure your patients get the best care/results?
How has your business grown or changed, and where are you going from here? My practice has become what it is today from successful surgical outcomes. Rarely does a clinic day go by when I don’t see a new patient referred from an established patient. I love what I do and couldn’t ask for a better job!
3701 Dauphin Street • 251-341-3431 • drmarkharrison.com • pmg.md october 2019 | mobilebaymag.com 95
PHOTO BY CHAD RILEY
Profile by Sanford WE’RE A COMPLETE WEIGHT LOSS PLAN DEVELOPED BY DOCTORS AND RESEARCHERS TO HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT AND KEEP IT OFF.
What is your mission?
What sets your practice apart?
Our mission is to help people lose weight and keep it off by using healthy meal plans, foods designed by doctors and researchers at Sanford Health, and one-on-one coaching appointments with certified Profile coaches where we discuss nutrition, activity and lifestyle.
The one-on-one coaching appointments. We are able to give our members personalized plans, accountability and education to help them live the life they’ve always wanted.
What contributes to your success? The profile foods, designed by doctors and
researchers, are critical aspect of what we do. In addition, our genetic test, Profile Precise, which helps to determine how the body processes carbohydrates. Another major factor in our success is our certified Profile Coaches, who guide our members through their weight loss journeys and help them find success.
281 S McGregor Avenue • 251-263-6568 • profileplan.com/mobile 96 mobilebaymag.com | october 2019
PHOTO BY CHAD RILEY
SPECIAL ADVERTISTING SECTION | LEADERS IN HEALTH
Shoemaker Gynecology SHOEMAKER GYNECOLOGY HAS BEEN IN FAIRHOPE FOR 21 YEARS. RECENTLY, DR. SHOEMAKER STOPPED PRACTICING OBSTETRICS, HOWEVER, HE AND HIS TWO NURSE PRACTITIONERS, CARLA CORTE AND HEATHER TALBOT, ARE COMMITTED TO PROVIDING THE HIGHEST QUALITY OF GYNECOLOGIC HEALTHCARE.
Why or how did you get into your field?
How do you make sure patients get the best care/results?
advancements and newest treatments and therapies.
I always enjoyed surgery, but I also love seeing my patients every day. Many times I am rewarded because the same patients I love seeing every day are my patients for life, which I truly appreciate.
We are very concerned with highest quality of care. We have a dedicated phone call nurse that informs and assures each patient of all lab and radiology test results.
How has your business grown or changed and where are you going from here?
What sets your practice apart?
What contributes to your success?
Kind, friendly office staff that know to treat every patient as they would want to be treated sets us apart.
Striving to improve every aspect of my practice each and every day ensures success, in addition to keeping up with the latest
Now that I no longer practice obstetrics, my focus will be on gynecologic disorders and staying abreast of cutting-edge technology.
188 Hospital Drive, Suite 304 • 251-990-1950 • shoemakerobgyn.com october 2019 | mobilebaymag.com 97
PHOTO BY ELIZABETH GELINEAU
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION | LEADERS IN HEALTH
Springhill Medical Center SPRINGHILL MEDICAL CENTER IS A 263-BED ACUTE CARE HOSPITAL. SINCE 1975, SPRINGHILL’S GROWTH IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA IS FOREMOST IN SURGICAL & COMPREHENSIVE DIAGNOSTIC CAPABILITIES. SMC SURGICAL CAPABILITIES INCLUDE OPEN-HEART AND ROBOTIC SURGERY, AND THE FIRST USE OF THE MAKO SURGICAL ROBOTIC ARM FOR HIP AND KNEE REPLACEMENT PROCEDURES.
Springhill Medical Center is the first hospital in the Mobile area to offer Stryker’s Mako Robotic-Arm Assisted replacement procedures for knees and hips. Offered here since 2017, this latest advancement in joint replacement surgery has transformed the way these procedures are performed. Robotic-arm assisted surgery offers the potential for a higher level of patientspecific implant alignment and positioning. The technology allows surgeons to create a patient-specific 3D plan and perform joint replacement surgery using a surgeon-
controlled robotic-arm that helps the surgeon execute the procedure with a high degree of accuracy.
exclusively at Springhill Medical Center and are the most experienced in the Mobile area utilizing Mako.
Dr. Matthew D. Barber (above right) and Dr. Roger M. Setzler (above left), orthopaedic surgeons with Alabama Orthopaedic Clinic, guide the robotic arm during bone preparation for the implants. By utilizing Mako, they are able to spare the surrounding healthy bone and ligaments and offer a more personalized approach for each patient’s unique needs. These physicians offer the Mako procedures
Springhill Medical Center supports physicians who seek to offer procedures and state-of-the-art technology that significantly improve quality of life for our patients. Springhill’s mission is to be unmatched in quality health care where patients are concerned, especially when it comes to quality of life.
3719 Dauphin Street • Mobile • 251-344-9630 • springhillmedicalcenter.com 98 mobilebaymag.com | october 2019
PHOTO BY CHAD RILEY
Synergy HomeCare SYNERGY HOMECARE IS LOCALLY OWNED BY BROOKE HARTNER AND ANDY LUEDECKE AND HAS BEEN SERVING THE MOBILE BAY AREA SINCE 2012. SYNERGY OFFERS PERSONAL AND COMPANION CARE, AS WELL AS EVERYDAY HOUSEHOLD NEEDS SUCH AS COOKING, CLEANING, LAUNDRY AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN.
Why or how did you get into your field? We wanted to open a business we were passionate about that would allow us to serve the community we live in and care so much about.
What sets your practice apart? Home care is a tough business. It’s truly a 24/7 operation, 365 days of the year. The tricky part is managing our caregivers while they are out in independent homes throughout Mobile, Baldwin and Escambia counties. So, what sets us apart is how heavily we
invest in quality assurance to ensure our clients are getting the best care possible. We have a quality assurance coordinator that is out spot-checking homes all day, every day to make sure our standards are being met. We have weekly calls with every client we work with to recap the week and plan for the next. We have also hired an independent agency to privately interview our clients and grade us on all aspects of service. Due to the measures we have in place, we have won the Provider of Choice Award, the highest award given, each and every quarter since inception.
What contributes to your success? We are big believers in team and culture. We have a family atmosphere in our office that has reduced turnover and allowed our team to become very close and willing to do whatever is needed for our agency to succeed.
How has your business grown or changed, and where are you going from here? We started in 2012 with 1.5 employees in the office and 10 caregivers in the field. Today, we have 7 internal employees and more than 110 caregivers in the field. We have grown tremendously and have exceeded even our own expectations.
1048 Stanton Road, Daphne • 251-621-1900 • synergyhomecare.com october 2019 | mobilebaymag.com 99
PHOTO BY MIKE KITTRELL
USA Health USA HEALTH, THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA HEALTH SYSTEM, IS LED BY JOHN MARYMONT, M.D., M.B.A., (RIGHT) DEAN OF THE USA COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AND VICE PRESIDENT FOR MEDICAL AFFAIRS, AND OWEN BAILEY (LEFT), CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND SENIOR ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR MEDICAL AFFAIRS.
What is your mission? The mission of USA Health is to help people lead longer, better lives. This is accomplished through our academic medical center where extensive research and educational programs, clinical trials and new treatments lead to innovations in medicine and health care.
What sets your health system apart from others? USA Health stands as the only academic medical center along the upper Gulf Coast. We have the unique ability to create new knowledge, translate that into new medical
care and then educate the next generation of care providers on this advanced medical practice. USA Health serves the region with advanced and innovative care through University Hospital, USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital, USA Mitchell Cancer Institute and the largest multi-specialty physicians practice in the region. The system has an annual economic impact of $915 million.
What contributes to your success? Academic medicine makes the difference. With more than 3,800 employees, USA Health includes clinical and nonclinical staff
usahealthsystem.com
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members, with 190 academic physicians who serve dual roles treating patients and teaching students and residents. Our team of physicians, advanced care providers, nurses, therapists and researchers provide advanced medicine at multiple facilities, campuses, clinics and classrooms. Patients benefit from our team approach because our physicians and other advanced providers stay up-to-date on treatment options and therapies. The basic science faculty at the USA College of Medicine average $13 million annually in competitive external grant awards and contracts and reflect a wide range of research interests.
october 2019 | mobilebaymag.com 101
THE ARTS | LITERATURE
Talking with the Dead Who better to discuss cheerful or grave matters with than the dearly departed? excerpt from the book THEY CALL ME OR ANGE JUICE by AUDREY MCDONALD ATKINS illustration by CARL CALDERONE
I
recently found myself alone in a car traveling a bleak and rainy back road with the ashes of a man whom I have never met. Alone for two hours. “What did you do?” said my friend, as I relayed to her my somewhat odd circumstance. “I talked to him,” I answered, honestly. I mean, what else are you going to do? It seemed impolite to do otherwise. We (or, rather, I, since it seemed to be a decidedly one-sided conversation) discussed the inclement weather, his new home, and some general current events. I wondered if he already knew what was happening, but since he didn’t interrupt me, I carried on. We (or I) sang along to the radio some as well. After all, two hours is a long time to keep up an amicable social discourse. You would think my friend might be vaguely surprised that I had spent the better part of two hours chatting away with an urn of ashes, maybe even shocked. But she was actually
only vaguely amused. She had, after all, implored her husband to dig up her beloved cat’s carcass and move it across two states to their new home in Alabama. He obliged because he, like we all do, understands that Southerners seem to have a unique relationship and fascination with their dead. It’s almost as if they are not. Not really. For instance, one year I called Mama shortly before Christmas to coordinate our holiday festivities. High on her list of things to do was getting fresh flowers to the cemetery to decorate the graves of her parents and Daddy’s, and when I say high, I mean high, as in after shopping but before menu and wardrobe planning. After all, everyone needs some Christmas cheer, even if they are looking down on it from heaven. Or up, as the case may be, but we always hope down. When I was a little girl, Mama, Granny and I spent endless hours in old country cemeteries searching for the final resting
place of distant relatives. They would recount generational relationships with such detail and accuracy that it made 1 Chronicles seem dubious in its recounting. We would also examine the graves of strangers and try to figure out who they must have been in relationship to their neighbors and what their lives must have been like. Lost children. War dead. Widows. All with real lives to be imagined and stories to be told. Later on, after visits home from college, before I drove back, I would always stop by Pine Crest Cemetery to talk to my grandfather, whom I called “Baw,” for a little while. Then I would drive over to Mount Nebo and say hey to Sarah, my childhood caregiver. I would brush away the debris and the occasional errant fire ant from their headstones, pull a weed or two, and be on my way assured that they were watching over me as I traveled. Who needs therapy when you can air out all your problems to a marble slab
“They Call Me Orange Juice” is available at The Haunted Bookshop on Dauphin Street or through Amazon. 102 mobilebaymag.com | october 2019
and invariably come around to a solution? Southerners remember and recognize the birth dates and anniversaries of the dearly departed. We celebrate them, even if for a fleeting moment, as if they were still with us. In the case of those taken too soon, we imagine what they would be doing had they lived. For the elderly, we are thankful for the end of suffering, pain, and dementia and imagine their great reward found in a land of cloudless day. We plan ahead for Decoration Day so that we can make our rounds to visit everyone. We surround ourselves with their belongings. Granny’s wedding ring. Pawpaw’s shotgun. A crocheted doily. A family Bible with notes scrawled in the margins. We remember our loved ones in the prime of their lives. Happy, healthy, carefree. In the South, with its history of war and poverty, disaster and disease, death is just as sure as the fact that grits is always plural. We’ve learned to cope with and even embrace the inevitable with resignation, respect and, often, humor. Is there really any other choice? I had seen pictures of my traveling companion as a young man. Blond and tanned. Wearing his military uniform. Holding his baby daughter. It was this person with whom I talked during that long car trip from Georgia, not the inanimate jar of dusty remains strapped into the passenger seat. Had he lived, he would have been my father-in-law, and I wanted to make a good impression. I know it may seem odd, but you know you do it, too. It’s really perfectly natural to talk to the dead. At least to a Southerner. Until they start talking back, that is. MB
Born and raised in Citronelle, Atkins now lives with her husband in Birmingham where she is the director of community engagement at WBHM Public Radio. A raconteur at heart, she shares her often funny and sometimes poignant stories about growing up and living in the South in her recent book, “They Call Me Orange Juice,” and at her blog audreyatkinswriter.com.
october 2019 | mobilebaymag.com 103
HISTORY | ASK MCGEHEE
What is the history of Hartwell Field, and was it Mobile’s first baseball park? text by TOM MCGEHEE
Mobile’s first baseball field appeared in 1860 at Spring Hill College, and in the 1880s, a popular field arrived down the Bay at Frascati Park. J. Howard Wilson added a baseball diamond to Monroe Park around 1901, and it was the city’s most popular field until a hurricane severely damaged it in 1926. Monroe Park had been created as a destination for riders of the city’s electric streetcar system. By the mid-twenties, ridership was steadily dropping as automobiles became cheap and plentiful. When Wilson was approached by the Mobile Baseball Association about building a replacement field, he would offer the group no more than a two-year lease, so they looked elsewhere.
Hartwell Field Mobile’s then-mayor, Charles Hartwell, was a major baseball fan, and he led his fellow city commissioners to offer 26 acres of city property at the intersection of Tennessee and Ann streets. By March 1927, a new baseball park, Hartwell Field, was dedicated in honor of the mayor who had made it a reality. The site was equipped with a 1,000-car parking lot, and over 9,300 Mobilians jammed the park on opening day. America was baseball crazed in the 1920s, and two of its biggest stars, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, played exhibition games at Hartwell. At first, afternoon games were the norm, but lighting in the 1930s allowed for night games. Stands were regularly filled
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ABOVE Photographed in the 1970s, Hartwell Field, located at the intersection of Tennessee and Ann streets, hosted big league stars Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig during its heyday. PHOTO COURTESY OF WILLIAM LAVENDAR, THE DOY LEALE MCCALL RARE BOOK AND MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA
with up to 6,000 fans. In 1952, the city spent $25,000 on upgrades for the park, including a new roof for the grandstand.
Langan’s Folly Just seven years later, the city condemned the park’s bleachers. Their wooden design was similar to those that had collapsed at Ladd Stadium, and Mayor Joe Langan pushed to have the stadium rebuilt with a concrete and steel superstructure at a cost of $1 million. Rededication was held on July 11, 1959, and local pundits termed it “Langan’s Folly.” Timing could not have been worse. Game attendance began to plummet in the early
1960s, a change blamed on the popularity of television and newly organized youth baseball leagues. By 1963, city commissioner Charles Trimmier termed it a “white elephant” and offered it to the state for livestock shows and agricultural exhibitions. For several years, it housed the annual Greater Gulf State Fair and hosted visiting circus troupes, wrestling matches and even drag races. Area Catholics used it for May Day celebrations and candlelight services. In 1966, a new baseball team arrived from Birmingham, but few came to watch. The infield, which had once been described as pristine, began to deteriorate.
ABOVE From left to right, Lefty Gomez, Babe Ruth and Bill Dickey of the New York Yankees are photographed in Mobile while visiting for an exhibition game against the Mobile Bears. Although details surrounding the photograph are scant, an analysis of game rosters strongly suggests the picture was taken in March 1930 at Hartwell Field. ERIK OVERBEY COLLECTION, THE DOY LEALE MCCALL RARE BOOK AND MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA
A Sad Ending In July 1979, the city considered demolishing the park and using the property to expand Magnolia Cemetery. Estimates of $540,000 for needed repairs and another $300,000 to run it annually made the profitable sale of cemetery lots look attractive. Hurricane Frederic arrived that September and peeled off the roof of the grandstand and destroyed the press box. By 1980, the cost of repairs, along with an additional $150,000 in damages from vandals, sealed its fate. In 1983, the site was in the running for a new metro jail, and wreckers came and cleared the space in just 45 days. Ultimately, the jail was built south of Interstate 10, and the property today remains largely unused, except by the city’s mounted police department and their horses. With the recent departure of the Mobile BayBears and the woes facing Hank Aaron stadium, Mobile history seems to be repeating itself. MB
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END PIECE | IN LIVING COLOR
Backyard Gridiron, c. 1935 S. Blake McNeely Collection, The Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of South Alabama Colorization by Dynamichrome Limited
While the exact Bay-area location of this photograph is unknown, one thing is certain — these young boys are enjoying a spirited game of football. Note their leather helmets, which were indicative of the 1920s and ‘30s. In 1939, John T. Riddell introduced the first plastic helmet, and, while invented for football, the U.S. government saw the helmets as a benefit for soldiers fighting in World War II. It wasn’t until 1943, however, that helmets became a mandatory piece of football equipment. Do you know anyone in this picture? Let us know! Email ahartin@pmtpublishing.com.
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