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Staff
From the
Established October 2012
GENERAL MANAGER Michael Keeton
EDITOR Jennifer Cohron
LAYOUT DESIGN Jennifer McCaskill
CONTRIBUTORS Nicole Smith, Ed Howell, Johnathan Bentley
ADVERTISING Jake Aaron, Brenda Anthony, Zach Baker, Renee Holly, Liz Steffan
Walker Magazine is a publication of and distributed seasonally by the Daily Mountain Eagle, a division of Cleveland Newspapers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored for retrieval by any means without written consent from the publisher. Walker Magazine is not responsible for unsolicited materials and the publisher accepts no responsibility for the contents or accuracy of claims in any advertisement in any issue. Walker Magazine is not responsible for errors, omissions or changes in information. The opinions of contributing writers do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the magazine and its publisher. Our mission is to promote Walker County and to showcase its many attributes as a quality place in which to live, to work and to play. We welcome ideas and suggestions for future editions of the magazine. Just send us a brief note via email. © 2022 Daily Mountain Eagle WALKER MAGAZINE P.O. Box 1469 Jasper, AL 35502 (205) 221-2840 email: walkermagazine@mountaineagle.com
There was a clear but welcome disconnect between the stories our Daily Mountain Eagle staff wrote for this magazine and the ones that dominated the daily headlines. As I was editing the magazine stories, it reminded me of a quote by Fred Rogers that gets shared on social media whenever it feels like the world is on the brink of another catastrophe: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” As journalists, we can’t change the daily headlines. We can’t lower gas prices or stop the suffering in Ukraine by ignoring reality. However, we can look for the helpers and the good things going on in our community even through the darkest of times. The clearest example of helpers in this issue is Leneda Jones and the volunteers at Backyard Blessings. This story is an update of one that we did in the fall 2013 issue of WALKER Magazine, which was the start of our second year of publication. Though our official 10th anniversary isn’t until this fall, I want us to spend the whole year revisiting stories that lend themselves to an update. Backyard Blessings, which recently surpassed one million meals served to local schoolchildren who would certainly go hungry without their efforts, certainly falls into that category. The Kelley family could offer a few names of helpers as well, from the instructors who taught Caitlin the CPR skills that helped save the life of her older brother, Jackson, after he went into sudden cardiac arrest to the many people who prayed for them in their hour of need. As you’ll read, this story would have had a tragic outcome if not for a series of events that can only be described as miraculous when listed one by one. After so many families have had loved ones stolen from them in the past two and a half years, we all want to celebrate with the Kelleys that Jackson has been given a second chance at life. The journey of Carly Laing is an example of another type of feelgood story that we always enjoy having in the magazine. Laing left Walker County several years ago in order to live her dream of having a broadcasting career. Last fall, she returned to Alabama to become an anchor at CBS 42. Laing has a heart for Walker County and the stories she has done in her relatively short time in the Birmingham market so far reflect that. Finally, we are highlighting the Sixth Avenue Church of Christ’s “Words of Truth” program, which has served as a daily dose of inspiration for local listeners for over 70 years. The program has stayed on the air through national and local crises and even as the ministers themselves were coping with personal heartbreak. It is impossible to know how many lives have been changed because generations of ministers have been committed to sitting down in front of a microphone and offering prayer and spiritual lessons along with community announcements. Whether you are a longtime reader or finding us for the first time, thank you for giving us the chance to make your day a little brighter by the stories we share.
Jennifer Cohron, Editor to Walker Magazine! If you’re an outoftowner, get a year of great stories right at your doorstep. Call: (205) 2212840 Email: editor@mountaineagle.com
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WALKER MAGAZINE /
5
Inside
What’s
08
THE VAULT
A look back at tour groups visiting the DME
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08
ONE MILLION MEALS AND COUNTING
Backyard Blessings continues to meet the needs of kids
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A DAILY DOSE OF TRUTH
Sixth Avenue Church of Christ radio program on the air for over 70 years
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25
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Hooked!
Get
SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
A visit to Professional Landscaping Inc. and the Plantique
NO ORDINARY DAY
Curry senior Jackson Kelley gets a second chance at life
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For your entertainment we have placed this fishing hook (actual size) within the pages of Walker Magazine. This will be a permanent feature for our readers. We hope you enjoy searching for the fishing hook in each issue.
A BLUE DEVIL STAR
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HINT:
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Invert this page to reveal the page number. Find the hook hiding on Page 43.
Broadcaster Carly Laing makes her way back home
25 ON THE COVER Jackson Kelley
www.walkerchamber.us 204 19th St. E., Suite 101 Jasper, Alabama 35501 (205) 384-4571
Vau From the
DME Tours In honor of the Daily Mountain Eagle's 150th anni versary this year, we are opening the vault to share photos of some of the many tour groups who have visited the newspaper office on Viking Drive since the current building opened in 1979. - Photos taken from the archives of the Daily Mountain Eagle
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Scenes from the Past Compiled by Jennifer Cohron
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{
}
As we prepare for our 10th anniversary this fall, we are revisiting stories from our past. We start with Backyard Blessings, which was the cover story in fall 2013.
million
One meals and
counting Story and Photos by Ed Howell
Backyard Blessings recently surpassed one million meals served to local students. The program serves 18 schools, having picked up Curry elementary and middle schools this year. The budget last year was between $270,000 and $280,000, with food as the largest expense by far. "We are feeding right at about 1,000 students every week, and about 300 in the summer," ex ecutive director Leneda Jones said. But even with those milestones, many students in the county still don't have enough to eat. "It's hard to think about, and even though nobody has told them, these children are still embarrassed about
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that. They know to be embarrassed about that. It makes them feel less than everyone else, because all these other people have whatever they want to eat," Jones said. The story of Backyard Blessings started in 2006, as Jones, who lives in the Rocky Holler community, heard from relatives at Sumition Elemen tary/Middle School. "They just started telling me about children who came to school on Mondays just so hungry and starv ing because they had nothing to eat over the weekend or barely any thing," she said. Haunted by the local stories, she
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read about a Nevada woman who started a program where a bag of food was sent home with students who were going hungry. Jones and others felt they could get support to have a local incorporated nonprofit program in Sumiton, incorporating a nonprofit with a board of directors and asking for donations, initially to handle 100 students. In January 2010, the first food bags were dis cretely packed in children's back packs before students went home on Fridays. Businesses were asked to give $1,000 a year, or $250 a quarter. Initially, the program was de signed only for Sumiton. But Dianne Williams, the principal of T.S. Boyd (now closed), called Jones wanting to get the program at her school. That was added and then Williams moved on to Cordova Elementary,
At left, canned goods are sorted into hampers that will become part of an assembly line, at right, to make it easier for volunteers to pack bags for local students.
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leading to a program there. The schools then kept multiplying. Today each school has a Back yard Blessings coordinator to keep up with logistical details. To prevent a second trip, two sets of totes for meal deliveries are used one for new deliveries, and one being the "empties" to pick up from the previous week. In case of pending bad weather, sometimes meals are packed and delivered a day early, on Wed nesdays. The food bags are simple enough, designed to last Sat urday and Sunday. "They take it home either Thursday or Friday," she said. "We deliver it on Thursdays to the school. We put eight or nine items in that bag. They are all nonperishable. They are all childfriendly," Jones said. "That means it is easy to open and they can fix it themselves. Most of the food they could eat without even warming up." A bag will actually have about
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five small meals and three other items. "They are small, but they are considered meals by USDA," she said. "We do one large can, so that might be chicken noodle soup. Then there would probably be a Chef Boyardee microwav able, and then maybe a chicken salad kit in a box. So that is con sidered three meals. Then we do two breakfast items. We rotate between cereal, grits and oat meal. So that is considered five meals. "Then we have juice or milk. We have a milk product that does not have to be refrigerated until opened. They are actually on the shelf at the grocery store but they were so expensive, so we couldn't afford it. At right, But we were able Britton Lightsey of to get it from the Alabama Power Central Alabama presents a donation Food Bank in to Leneda Jones. Birmingham for about 43 cents
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“...We put eight or nine items in that bag. They are all non-perishable. They are all childfriendly," Jones said. "That means it is easy to open and they can fix it themselves...”
each." (They now have to get it else where for over $1 each.) Fruit is always in the bag, such as peaches or a fruit mixed cup, and sometimes a pudding cup is added. Phillip Bozeman, one of the owners of the Piggly Wiggly in Dora, is on the board of directors for the charity and has provided 1,000 square feet in the back of the store, as the civic center in Sumiton quickly ran out of room. Fifteen to 20 amiable volunteers, many of them retired and rotating every other week with another team of volunteers, repeatedly go down in a line on Thursdays to pluck that week's items to put into bags. Totes nearby are marked with names of the schools that the bags will go to. However, Jones said even this space has been outgrown because of all the food that has to be stored. "Now, we buy pallets of food," she said. "There are 20 at least and it is a
small space." Backyard Blessings had to even tually deal with COVID19 when the schools were shut down, with teachers volunteering at each school to make home deliveries. She noted the same transportation problem has been seen with summer meals, which still have to be left at a local community site, such as a city hall. She said many come back and
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"If we had not had that (food) on the weekends, we wouldn't have had anything." - A past recipient of Backyard Blessings
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thank Backyard Blessings, including grandparents and greatgrandparents raising several grandchildren and great grandchildren, who are sometimes overwhelmed with the responsibility but love their grandchildren too much to release to foster care. Jones said a 20yearold woman in Phillip Bozeman's office saw Backyard Blessings’ signage in his office and told him in tears she and her brother used to get that food. "If we had not had that on the weekends, we wouldn't have had anything," she told him, as both parents couldn't help them. She still hopes for a new building at least three times and up to five times the size of the 1,000squarefoot area at Piggly Wiggly, noting the charity doesn't even have private offices. Be sides Jones, Jennie Phillips is the pro gram coordinator and a parttime food
purchasing coordinator, Micah Harri son, works three days a week. However, the program has new challenges. "We're having a hard time getting the food," thanks to the pandemic pressures on the supply chain, even for the Bozemans. Earlier food could be obtained at the Piggly Wiggly warehouse in Birmingham and the food bank in Birmingham. "We can no longer get anything at the food bank," she said, pointing out the specialized purchases the charity has. "The Piggly Wiggly warehouse has now put a limit on the number of items on Piggly Wiggly. They can only order so many items every week. So we can't take any of their items. They need them to stock their shelves. So we can't order anything from them anymore."
Jones says the group has now switched to Sam's Club, but prices have skyrocketed since the pandemic. "When we started out the price of each bag was $5. A couple of years ago, we went up to $5.50. I just refig ured $7.15," she said. A 16ounce can of chili used to cost about 89 or 90 cents, and now they pay $1.49. "Multiply that by 1,000," she added. The price of fuel has hurt the char ity, as it runs a box truck and a cargo van on the roads. After a dozen years, she said she would thank the public which she called supportive to Backyard Bless ings. "To watch this unfold and to see what is has come to over the years, I am so amazed and thankful for that," she said. "At some point, I won't be there anymore. I don't know when
that is going to be, because I certainly don't feel I am ready to step down. But I would like to inspire other people to come volunteer and be a part of it," including younger leaders. While society can't change every thing in a household, Jones thinks Backyard Blessings can help children in this one area. "They need many other things, but we can do this one thing," she said. "They need many other things, but we can do this one thing."
Today, one can text to give to Backyard Blessings at 855-701-2830, either with a one-time gift or a recurring monthly gift. The charity also has its own Facebook page.
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No ordinary
day
Jackson Kelley went through his typical nonstop day on Feb. 2. The Curry High School senior went to school, followed by baseball prac tice, cheer practice, church and a nightly workout routine before heading home.
That’s when his day turned anything but typical. Shortly after arriving home Kelley was fighting for his life after suffer ing a medical emergency that set into motion a series of frantic, life saving events, a miraculous recovery and a direct message from above. "He’s my walking miracle,” Jack son’s mother, Julie, said. “I think God wasn’t done with him. He’s going to have a testimony to share.”
Story by Johnathan Bentley Photos by Johnathan Bentley and courtesy of the Kelley family
Jackson was later diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart mus cles become abnormally thick, mak ing it difficult for the heart to pump blood. It often goes undiagnosed. Most people with the condition have no symptoms. The same could be said for Jackson, who lost con sciousness and had no pulse before his quickacting family saved his life. Jackson was in the living room with his family when he went into cardiac arrest due to his condition. “I was sitting next to him and his youngest sister (Macie) walked in and said, ‘Quit looking at me like that.’ I turned and looked at him and he kind of had this blank stare on his face,” his mother said. “I called his name and he didn’t respond. I stood up and kind of shook him on the arm. I wasn’t sure what was
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At left, Jackson Kelley is shown recovering in the hospital with his parents at his side hours after suffering sudden cardiac arrest.
going on. I didn’t know if he was hav ing a seizure or what. I didn’t know what it was, but he immediately started losing his color. I grabbed my husband and we dialed 911. “We told them what was going on and they said, 'It sounds like someone needs to start CPR immediately.' My daughter is a student at WCCT (Walker County Center of Technology) and she’s in the nursing class there, so she had been certified in No vember. Between her and my hus band they were able to do CPR on
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him until the paramedics got here. His heart had stopped. Basically what they diagnosed was that he went into sudden cardiac arrest. They also call it sudden death. The doctors told us the next morning that if we had not been sitting right there beside him, whoever would’ve walked through the room next would’ve found him dead because there is basically no noises or anything. Your heart just stops. There is no way for them to ask for help. It’s not a slow process; it’s quick.”
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Clayton Kelley had just gone to bed when his wife urgently called to him. “I was bouncing off the walls to get there. When I got to him, he was still rigid,” his father said. "I’m six inches from his face, calling his name. He went limp and I watched his eyes dilate. We started doing CPR. My daughter stood at his head and kept me in rhythm doing chest compres sions and breathing. We did that for 13 minutes. He basically didn’t have a pulse and wasn’t breathing for 13 mi nutes. We kept him viable and his or gans from having damage. “As soon as (the paramedics) got him, they put an AED on him and it said 'shock.' As soon as they did that they got his pulse back. He was back before he ever left, but he was still out of it.” At the hospital, Jackson was heavily sedated and required a ventilator. He was weened off the medicine the fol lowing day and had surgery to place a defibrillator that will shock his heart back into rhythm if needed. “It may never happen again, but they put the defibrillator in because there is no cure for it. Some people — their heart keeps going out of rhythm — others, it never happens again. They said it’s a guardian angel. It will be there if he needs it,” his mother added. It was only through an unbelievable string of coincidences that Jackson survived. But make no mistake, the Kelley’s aren’t superstitious when it comes to their son’s survival.
“Honestly, it’s a God thing. There are entirely too many coincidences to just be a coincidence,” Clayton Kelley said.
THERE WERE SEVERAL:
{
• Jackson ended his workout early that day after “feeling a little sluggish,” meaning he arrived home more than an hour earlier than usual. • Jackson, an avid outdoorsman, had been asking his father about purchasing a bass boat — his father purchased the boat that day. • Jackson’s sister Caitlin had received her CPR certification in November of last year through the Walker County Center of Technology — Caitlin and her father worked together to keep Jackson breathing. • The Kelleys moved from the Thach community to Jasper in December — EMTs arrived at their new house in nine minutes. • The upstairs of the new house, set to be completed on Feb. 1, was delayed, meaning the family was together in the apartment — located in the basement — when Jackson had his medical emergency.
talked to my dad about it. He had went ahead and talked to a guy. I didn’t know that — and they surprised me with it. I was going through a checklist of what I wanted to do with it. When my sister came in the living room, she did a karate kick type deal, just messing around, and the very last thing I remember is her foot hitting the floor and that’s it. It’s so weird. The next thing I remember after that is probably going to our football banquet a day after I got home,” he said. As for the recovery, just four days after requiring CPR to stay alive, Jackson attended the Curry High School foot ball banquet. The next week he was in Orlando with the cheer squad — he’s the mascot for the team.
}
“There is only one explanation — God did all this,” said Jackson, who was back at school within three weeks of his episode. “That doesn’t just happen. The timing of it was insane. If I hadn’t finished my workout early, I would’ve come in and gone straight to my room. I would’ve been in there all by myself and I would’ve went down and nobody would’ve known.” Jackson has a clear memory of Feb. 2 up to a certain point. “It was pretty much a normal day. I felt a little off — you know when it rains and you feel a little sluggish — I felt a little sluggish. I came to school, went to baseball practice, went home, went to church and worked out after church and came home. When I got home, Mom and Dad bought me a bass boat. I had been looking at getting boat and I
Kelley is a multi-sport athlete at Curry High School.
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Now he’s looking forward to help ing the baseball team. He’s been told that he could possibly pinch run or play in the outfield. “Honestly, I don’t think it set in what happened until I realized there was a chance that my regular life could be changed drastically. There was a chance I wouldn’t play baseball again. There was a chance I may not be able to work out or run or do any thing like that again. It depended on how drastically this affected me,” Jack son said. “My eyes really opened up when I realized that could all be taken away from me. I’ve ran track all through high school. I played football my junior and senior years and base ball my senior year. Sports have al ways been a part of my life and when I realized it could be taken away is when it really set in that this is se rious. I’m a little limited. I was going in there with hopes and expectations that I would be able to play fully again, but I will take what I can get."
Jackson’s father said there is no se cret to his son’s recovery. “The support has been amazing. Prayer is something that meant the world to us. You could physically feel comfort, and that’s something I’ve never felt before in my life. To physi cally feel it in the room was an amaz ing thing. His story has been shared. We’ve had people whose children have the same condition reach out to us. So it’s really been an amazing thing, just seeing the power of God.”
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{
"Even on the worst day...I'm just like, 'but you're so blessed to get to do this still.'” - Carly Laing
A Blue Devil
}
Star
Story by Nicole Smith | Photos courtesy of Carly Laing
Cordova native Carly Laing has been in the spotlight since her youth and she's now in front of the camera in the Birmingham television market. In November 2021 she became an anchor and reporter for the evening shift at WIATCBS 42 in Birmingham. Before that, she got her start in broadcasting in Louisiana. It was her youth in Walker County, however, that prepared Laing to be a successful onair talent. In 2001 Laing moved with her family from Charlotte, North Caro lina, to Cordova. She was nine years old and had to adjust to how much smaller Cordova was compared to Charlotte, but soon, it was home. "We quickly fell in love with it. My mom is from there and all of my family is in Cordova," Laing said. "When I think of home, that's what I think of." Laing made her way through Cor dova schools. She cheered for the
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Blue Devils and played sports. "I really enjoyed getting involved in sports and stuff, and that's some thing that I don't think I would've done had I not lived in a small town like Cordova," she said. "The things you learn being part of a team are really vital, and I think those skills that I learned kind of helped me get to where I am today, as far as work ethic." Laing was also a performer off the field. Her mother, Cindy Laing, who is now a teacher and costumer with the Athletic Arts Center in Jasper, got her daughter involved in community the atre, and Laing also took dance at ShowStoppers in Sumiton during her youth. "I grew up on a stage. I liked per
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forming and things like that," she said. Since coming back home, Laing served as the narrator for Athletic Arts Center's "All Together Now" production, and she was in the arts center's production of "The Nut cracker" while she was in college. When she graduated from Cor dova High School in 2010, Laing al ready knew she wanted to work in media or entertainment. She at tended the University of Montevallo to accomplish that goal and majored in mass communication with an em phasis in broadcast journalism. She also interned at ABC 33/40 in Birm ingham to gain some broadcasting experience. She graduated from college in 2014 and landed a job at KLFYTV in Lafayette, Louisiana, as a morning news producer, working the over
night shift. "Moving to a new city, having this totally flipflopped schedule was very interesting, but I stuck with it. I'm glad I started that way, looking back," she said. "I think it's good to be well rounded with any job, no matter what your industry is, knowing each part of whatever your job is. ... I'm really glad that's how my path started." Laing still wanted to be on camera and was determined to prove to her boss that she had what it took to be
When she graduated from Cordova High School in 2010, Laing already knew she wanted to work in media or entertainment.
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a reporter. "I would come in on the weekends and shadow re porters, and I would put to gether my own stories. On Monday, I would go into my boss's office and just say, 'Hey, I put this together. Would you take a look at it?'" she said. Over and over Laing worked as a multimedia journalist dur ing her free time and delivered news packages to her boss. She finally got a chance to do re porting on the weekends. For a month she was working seven days a week — five as a pro ducer and two as a reporter. "Finaly, someone's contract ended and they left, and he gave me a shot, so I got to be on the air," Laing said. For the next two years she worked as a reporter, but in her drive to always learn more, she started practicing her anchoring skills over the weekend. The anchor delivers news from the news desk, as op posed to reporters who work in the field. Again, after some time, Laing got to fill in as an anchor at the news station. "I'm really thankful that I started at the station I did," she said. "If I had started anywhere else I don't know if my path would have been how it went." When Laing's contract came up she decided to go on another path and moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to work for WVLA as a morning anchor. This required her to work the 2 to 11 a.m. shift. "That was a grind. I really
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loved mornings but for all the people who watch morning shows, just know those people are very tired," she said with a laugh. She anchored mornings for three years and then switched to an evening position at the station in 2019 when she was promoted to main anchor. Laing worked in Baton Rouge until the opportunity presented itself to move back to Alabama late last year. "I was missing home, and during all this time of being away my sister had a son. ... The pull to want to get back home was really starting to hit me," she said. Laing now works as the 4 p.m. anchor at CBS 42 and does general reporting once she goes offair.
During Laing's entire broad casting journey, her dog, Lola, has been at her side. Lola was just a puppy when Laing first made the move to Louisiana. "She has been with me on this whole wild news adven ture," she said. "She's been my little news buddy. We like to go out and explore." Laing said she is thankful for her mother's support while she has navigated working in broad casting, and she often reflects on everything that has hap pened, perhaps what was des tined, to help her become the broadcasting professional she is today. "Every now and then, I'm just like, 'I can't believe I actually really did it.' You talk about these things all the time and you want to envision these big
Laing now works as the 4 p.m. anchor at CBS 42 and does general reporting once she goes off-air.
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ial t n e d i Res eRCial & Comm eRtop Count ign des
LOCALLY OWNED & OPERATED IN JASPER, AL 34
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700 18th Ave. SW Jasper, Alabama 35501 205-295-5675 granitesouthinc.com
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goals. I always had hope for it. Now the reality of it actually playing out, I don't know that that really sunk in back then, that I could actually be here," she said. "I was going to give it my all to make it happen. Not ever losing sight of that drive is kind of what's kept propelling me to get to where I'm at right now." Laing said she would love to work in a bigger market one day, but she's also open to planting her roots in the Birmingham market. "Whatever I end up doing, I just want to make sure that I still feel ful filled in my career and I still feel that drive and passion. That's what has kept me in it for so long," she said. "The business can be very draining and very stressful and crazy, but at the end of the day, even on the worst day, I lay down and in my mind, I'm just like, 'but you're so blessed to get to do this still.' ... As long as I still feel that, then that will be a true measure of success for me." Laing has enjoyed being back home
to spend more time with her family and friends. In a pandemic that dis tanced so many, the closeness, once again, has been comforting. "I'm happy to be back. Cordova is a huge part of my life, and I'm just really
proud to be back and hopefully repre sent that area and bring some atten tion to Walker County," she said. "That's really something I've been passionate about since I've been back."
"Whatever I end up doing, I just want to make sure that I still feel fulfilled in my career and I still feel that drive and passion.”
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daily
A dose of
Story by Jennifer Cohron Photos by Jennifer Cohron and courtesy of Vicki Blackwood
Truth
A drizzle falls on Sixth Avenue Church of Christ as Minister David Dixon takes his seat in front of a microphone on a Thursday morning. The weather is gloomy and so is the news — Russian forces have at tacked Ukraine in the past 24 hours. The announcement of the invasion from ABC News is repeated on WJLX 101.5 FM minutes before station owner Brett Elmore an nounces that it is time for "Words of Truth," a daily live broadcast from Sixth Avenue Church of Christ that has been on the air for 76 years. Listeners who tune in precisely at 8 a.m. hear not the serious tones of journalists but a snippet of a lively old hymn "The Gloryland Way" be fore Dixon begins the program. For the first 15 minutes of the halfhour broadcast, Dixon offers up
all the news that matters as much to a community today as it did 76 years ago — a number of local fam ilies are grieving the loss of loved ones, a solider is deploying, a baby has been born. Prayers are offered for the griev ing and the ill as well as the people of Ukraine and a Church of Christ minister from Winfield who is trying to get out of the country and back home safely. The last half of the broadcast is a devotion based on Isaiah 55. The format of the program, now potentially the longestrunning daily religious program on radio, has re mained remarkably the same since it
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“I realized that it was an important program. I did not realize exactly how important it was until it didn’t get on the air one morning.” - Brett Elmore, owner of WJLX
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went on the air on Nov. 2, 1946. “Back then, they didn’t have tele phones out in the country. It was a means of communication,” said Minis ter Levi Sides of Sixth Avenue Church of Christ. Gus Nichols, the program’s original host, jumped at the opportunity to be on the radio station that his friend Walter Will Bankhead started in Jasper. “I want to be on it the very first day,” Nichols told Bankhead. Nichols selected the 8 a.m. time slot that the program has kept from WWWB in 1946 to WJLX today. While it is unusual for a secular sta tion to break format for a religious program at a time when listenership is
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at its peak, Elmore said he would never think of moving “Words of Truth” because of its popularity. “I realized that it was an important program. I did not realize exactly how important it was until it didn’t get on the air one morning. We had technical difficulties, and the phones lit up,” El more said. Nichols hosted the program, origi nally called “The Gospel Broadcast,” until his death in 1975. The name was eventually changed to “Words of Truth” when the church started send ing out a newsletter of the same name, but a generation of listeners knew it as “the Gus Nichols broad cast.”
Above, a postcard of Sixth Avenue Church of Christ in an earlier time. Bottom left, Levi Sides reads from his Bible during a "Words of Truth" broadcast in 2008. Bottom right, old broadcast tapes are housed at the church.
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Minister Gus Nichols is joined by his grandson, Eddie Nichols, during a "Words of Truth" broadcast.
Nichols was known for always wearing a suit and tie and for not taking notes to the microphone with him. Several humorous stories from the Nichols era are recounted in the book “Sage of Jasper” by Scott Harper, which is available at the Jasper Public Library. Once, Nichols stopped his broad cast to answer the office telephone because his secretary was away. When he returned to the microphone, he an nounced the name of a woman who had lost her teeth between the post office and her work. Moments later, Nichols answered the ringing phone again and came back to the micro phone with an update – the woman was missing her keys, not her teeth. Former Sixth Avenue Church of Christ minister Glenn Colley had his own mixup on a day when it was his turn to host the program. "One day I announced the sad pass ing of a woman in the community and expressed our sympathy to her family. When I finished the program, my phone rang and it was the deceased telling me that it was her birthday I was supposed to announce and not her death. I apologized," Colley re called. In a time before television and when
newspapers were still published weekly rather than daily, “The Gospel Broadcast” was the best way to get in formation out right away. Once, a woman called the church office after becoming very ill. Knowing that her husband would be listening on the way to work, she asked Nichols to request onair that he return home. In the beginning, the program could be picked up within a 100mile radius on WWWB. Today, with online streaming, “Words of Truth” can be picked up just as well by a soldier overseas as by a person living down the street from the church. “I was in a revival in Elkins, West Vir ginia, and I got it every day. It was like home,” Sides said. Most broadcasts proceed as normal, but occasionally something happens like the Ukraine invasion that brings listeners together in a special way. Sides, for example, had to go on the air one morning shortly after learning that his son, Lee, had died of a heart attack. “I cried most of the program, but I thought it was my obligation to be here,” he said. On Sept. 11, 2001, “Words of Truth” was on the air as the terrorist attacks happened. Sides tried in vain to reach Minister Chuck Webster through the whole broadcast. “He went right on preaching, didn’t know what was happening,” Sides said. Though national crises like Sept. 11 are thankfully not an everyday occur rence, the three ministers who cur rently share the broadcast are sensitive to the fact that “Words of Truth” is an opportunity to reach lis teners where they are, no matter their religious affiliation.
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Ministers David Dixon and Levi Sides are pictured at the Sixth Avenue Church of Christ office in February. A photo of Gus Nichols, who launched the "Words of Truth" broadcast, hangs on the wall.
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“Every time I get in there and look at that microphone and they’re about to put me on, I think, ‘I’m speaking to so many people who are homebound and bedfast. How will I preach this message to them?” Sides said. Colley, who was one of several over the years who have thought of dropping the program only to backpedal upon realizing how be loved it is in the community, said
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he believes the fact that it is done live contributes to its appeal and longevity. "There is something better about such a broadcast if you feel you are actually connecting with live people as you speak. If you sneezed or coughed or stumbled on a word, it just made listeners remember that you were actually talking live to them right then," he said.
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Spotlight
Small Business
name: Professional
Compiled by Jennifer Cohron
Landscaping, Inc./The Plantique
opening date: 1990; 2021
owners: Wendal Frye and Chad Frye
Photo by Jennifer Cohron
history: Inspired by working at the nursery owned
getting shipments. The Plantique opened in October 2021, just in time for the fall decorating season. In addition to being a gardening center, The Plantique has also become a gathering space and an outlet for public service. The store has hosted workshops that double as fundraisers for families in need as well as family movie nights and book readings. This year, Professional Landscaping, Inc. was voted Best of the Best in the Landscaping/Lawn Service category of the Daily Mountain Eagle’s Readers’ Choice Awards.
by his father when he was growing up, Wendal Frye opened a landscaping business on Curry Highway that grew in 2007 to include a garden center as well. His son, Chad, now serves as president. The Fryes had wanted to open a location in Jasper for several years but could not find a property that suited their needs. In summer 2021, a site on Airport Road that had been a garden center for years became available. Opening a new store during the pandemic presented a number of challenges, from finding employees to
Courtesy of Nevada Frye
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Courtesy of Nevada Frye
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Courtesy of Nevada Frye
Flooring, Lighting, and Decor Store for Showcase
1355 Hwy 195 | Jasper, AL 35503 (205) 512-1162 N&N is a family-owned fresh Meat Market that specializes in high quality Certified Hereford Beef, Local pork, inhouse made brats and other specialty items. We are rooted deep in the cattle business and strive to make sure the quality we put on our table is the same that goes on our amazing customer that have turned into family.
1383 Hwy 195 | Jasper, AL 35503 (205) 387-0238
Honda of Jasper “Where the dealer makes the difference!”
Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 7:00 pm | Saturday 8:00 am – 6:00 pm | (205) 385-0100 Service Department: Monday – Friday 7:30 am – 6:00 pm | Saturday 7:30 am – 2:00 pm www.hondaofjasper.com
Hyundai of Jasper
Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 7:00 pm | Saturday 8:00 am – 6:00 pm | (205) 385-0100 Service Department: Monday – Friday 7:30 am – 6:00 pm | (205) 282-4427 www.hyundaiofjasper.com