VOLUME 3 • ISSUE 4 • SUMMER 2015
Summer
A publication of the Daily Mountain Eagle
When your summer adventure needs more than a band-aid, there’s 337 - First Bank of Jasper
Walker Baptist Medical Center. Jasper, AL
(205) 221-3121
www.firstbankofjasper.com
BaptistHealthAlabama.org
info@firstbankofjasper.com
FIND A DOCTOR: 1.877.222.7847
Here is where your five-year-old girl somehow just graduated from high school. One day they’re babies. The next they’re tearing into an acceptance letter at a highly exclusive – and highly expensive – college. First Bank of Jasper is here to help plan for and fund your children’s tuition, whether it’s coming up today or years from now. Which of course, will feel like a day. synovus.com/educationfunding
SERVING YOU LO C ALLY A S
205.221.3121 firstbankofjasper.com Banking products are provided by Synovus Bank, Member FDIC. Divisions of Synovus Bank operate under multiple trade names across the Southeast.
VOLUME 3 • ISSUE 4
From The Staff... We launched Walker M again October 2012. Today, you hold our 12th issue since then, wrapping up our third year of accentuating the positives of Walker County. This worthwhile niche publication has been printed quarterly like clockwork, kicking off the seasons of Walker County each January, April, July and October. I spent time recently auditing the content of our first 12 issues. The results are worth sharing. Including this issue, Walker M agazine has delivered 102 local feature stories and shared 956 photographs of local people, places and things in 620 colorful pages of content made possible by our advertisers. We print and distribute 12,000 copies of Walker M agazine each issue. In addition, an e-book version of the magazine is uploaded to our newspaper’s web site at www.mountaineagle.com. In the past three years, 135,332 unique visitors have clicked onto the icon and viewed this publication online. I applaud the work of the magazine staff and its contributors for making this publication a success. There are many more stories to tell here in Walker County. And we are honored to bring those stories to light. zine
PUBLISHER Jack McNeely
EDITOR
Jennifer Cohron
ART DIRECTOR Malarie Brakefield
CONTRIBUTORS
Jennifer Cohron, Rachel Davis, Ron Harris, Dale Short, Rick Watson
Advertising
Jake Aaron, Jerry Geddings, Renee Holly, Liz Steffan, Tammy Wood
Business Manager Charlette Caterson
Distribution Michael Keeton
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.
© 2015 Daily Mountain Eagle Walker Magazine P.O. Box 1469 Jasper, AL 35502 (205) 221-2840 E-Mail: walkermagazine@mountaineagle.com
4
Walker M agazine
Jack McNeely, Publisher
On The Cover Campers Grace Washington and Brianna Roddam swim in the pool at Dotson Baptist Camp.
Get hooked! 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.
Happ y hunting! Volume 3, Issue 4
A family friendly music festival featuring all genres of music, great food, arts and crafts and more!
AND
JASPER, ALABAMA
201 5
Sept. 11th-12th
IT’S FREE! Make time to attend today.
shooter Jennings
DaviD Ryan HaRRis
Marc Broussard
Paul Thorn
Premier SPonSorS: Honda of Jasper • Hyundai of Jasper • Jasper Orthodontics - David M. Gamotis, DMD, MS Byars-Wright • King, Wiley & Williams Law Firm • Daily Mountain Eagle • Birmingham Budweiser SuPPorting SPonSorS: Alabama Power • Carl Cannon Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC • Hager Oil • First Bank of Jasper • Downs & Associates CPA, LLC • Fontaine PartSource • Jasper Ford Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Want to be a sponsor? Call Tana Collins at 205.221.8529.
Mayor Sonny Posey District 1 Jed Daniel Summer 2015
Inc. 1887
District 2 Danny Gambrell
District 3 Gary Cowen
District 4 Jennifer W. Smith
District 5 Sandi Sudduth
(205) 221-2100 | 400 19th St. W, Jasper, AL 35501 | www.jaspercity.com5
Did You Know? Facts about Walker County
14 24 34 42 50
10
Killin’ Time Local band entertains Thach seniors
The Adventures of Herbert Burton Jasper inspires popular children’s book
18
Britt Sullivan A novel way of writing
Discovering Summertime Walker County’s diverse summer camps
30
Sammy Lee Staying hooked
Power of the Cross Empire family starts roadside ministry
38
A Season to Remember County softball teams dominate
Community Calendar What’s going on in the county
44
Snapshots Past events in Walker County
Why I Love Walker County Phil Green
ADVERTISER INDEX 51 - Alabama Power 13 - Allstate—Holladay Agency 37 - Bevill State Community College 48 - Blackwell’s Body Shop 08 - Byars-Wright 36 - Carl Cannon 49 - Chamber of Commerce of Walker Co. 05 - City of Jasper 43 - Cordova Health & Rebahilitation 48 - Daily Mountain Eagle 48 - Downs & Associates 6
Walker M agazine
23 - Duskin Point Marina 48 - Eaton Chiropractic 03 - First Bank of Jasper 48 - Gunter Body Shop and Auto Glass 48 - High Point Furniture 09 - Honda of Jasper 09 - Hyundai of Jasper 22 - Jasper Auto Group 33 - Jasper Industrial Development Board 07 - Jasper Mall 17 - Kilgore Green Funeral Home
29 - Musgrove Country Club 52 - Nelson, Bryan & Jones 43 - Redmill Plumbing 48 - Showcase Lighting and Floors 44 - Star Automotive 02 - Walker Baptist Medical Center 22 - Walker Development Authority 37 - White Pepper Real Estate 48 - Young Jewelers
Volume 3, Issue 4
Over 30 Specialty Shops Inside
Jasper Mall
n
Bath & Body Works Belk Carol’s Cato Cellairis Chick-Fil-A Claire’s Boutique Deb & Co. Factory Connection Fisher’s Men’s Shop Garfield’s Restaurant & Pub
General Nutrition Center Hibbett Sports JC Penney Jerry’s Music Joe’s Shirt Shop K-Mart Lin Garden II MasterCuts Maurices Moon Day Spa Nail Galaxy
Photosshoots Prime Communications Restorations Robin’s Nest rue 21 Shoe Dept. Subway Susan’s Hallmark The Children’s Place U.S. Military Career Center Zales
Serving Walk er And Surroun ding Counties For 34 Years!
Summer 2015
7
Lewis Smith Lake covers parts of Walker, Winston and Cullman counties. It has a surface area of 21,200 acres and a shoreline that extends for 500 miles.
The maximum depth of Lewis Smith Lake is 264 feet. Its average depth is 66 feet.
Walker County Lake is one of 23 public lakes throughout the county managed by the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division. It has a surface area of 163 acres.
Walker County Lake is home to a variety of fish species, including largemouth bass, bluegill, red ear sunfish, channel catfish, crappie and hybrid striped bass. It is the third busiest public fishing lake in Alabama.
The Sipsey Fork (Smith Lake tailwaters) is the state’s only yearround trout fishing spot. Approximately 3,000 rainbow trout are stocked in the Sipsey Fork on a monthly basis.
8
Walker M agazine
Volume 3, Issue 4
Honda OF JASPER
Readers’
Choice Awards 2015
Voted #1 place to purchase import vehicles! - and Voted MOST COMMUNITY INVOLVED BUSINESS in the 2015 Readers’ Choice Awards!
MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY 8 AM TO 7 PM SATURDAY 8 AM TO 6 PM SERVICE DEPARTMENT: MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY 7:30 AM TO 6 PM SATURDAY 7:30 AM TO 2 PM
4102 Hwy 78 East • Jasper, AL (205) 385-0100 or Toll Free 866-395-0100 • www.hondaofjasper.com
HYUNDAI OF JASPER MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY 8 AM TO 7 PM SATURDAY 8 AM TO 6 PM SERVICE DEPARTMENT: MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY 7:30 AM TO 6 PM WWW.HYUNDAIOFJASPER.COM / 4011 OlD U.S. 78, JASPER, Al 35501 / (205) 282-4601 / (205)282-4427 Summer 2015
9
Story and Photos by Dale Short
10
Walker M agazine
Volume 3, Issue 4
“How about we start off with some Merle Haggard?” Hoyt Elliott says into the microphone. There’s a scattering of applause in the crowd and one man shouts, “Yeah!” By the time the band gets to the chorus, “Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading I denied / That leaves only me to blame, ‘cause Mama tried,” a white-haired man on a walking cane confides to a visitor, “When the music starts, I throw my cane off to the side.” And he proceeds to do so. It’s a laid-back Friday night at the Thach Community Center; the band’s name is Killin’ Time, but they’re far from just killing time tonight. They’re bringing an enthusiastic crowd of dancers to the floor. The band has only been together since last August, but they’re already a favorite when they play the venue on first and third Fridays. “It started when a group of us began getting together and playing at Dwayne Banks’ house,” says acoustic guitarist and vocalist (and Circuit Court Judge) Hoyt Elliott. “Then Dwayne’s dad [Doris “Pop” Banks] wanted to get some music going out here at Thach, and that’s how it happened. We all enjoy coming out here and playing for the people in the community.” Most of the players share a passion for country
Summer 2015
music — with some interesting sidelights — and their levels of experience range from lifetime players to relatively new. Guitarist Al McAdams, for instance, has been playing for 16 years, but his debut with the band was the first time he’d played in public. “I’ve listened to classic rock for a good while,” he says, “but I never listened to a whole lot of country until we started the band.” He’s taken a particular liking, along the way, to a former Number One hit by the duo Brooks & Dunn called “Neon Moon.” Terrie and Keith Tuck, who’ve been with the band since it formed, have possibly the most varied tastes in music: “We listen to a little bit of everything,” she says. “Country, Southern gospel, contemporary gospel, classical. We like a little opera.” Terrie has been playing keyboard since childhood — some 40 years, from back when keyboards were on pianos rather than the electronic variety she’s playing (and singing with) tonight at Thach. Keith says he’s self-taught on harmonica, “listening to songs and learning to play them by ear. I’m learning to read notes now, but I still play more by ear than anything.” Like McAdams, the first Killin’ Time show was Keith’s public debut as well. James Banks has been playing guitar since he
11
“The best thing about playing at Thach,” Grace says, “is the good crowd. You can do whatever you want music-wise, and nobody is judging you.” 12
Walker M agazine
was 15 but only began playing his pedal steel a few months ago. He was “pretty nervous” playing it in person with a country band the first few times. As for musical preferences, he likes “blues, and classic country...Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard. The Outlaws and the Bakersfield stuff.” Dewayne Banks, lead guitarist, vocalist and band leader, has been making music for 23 years. His main listening preference is contemporary Christian, but also “some of the old-time stuff.” His favorite part of playing at Thach, he says, “is the fact that my dad enjoys it. Playing music is a lot more fun when people are dancing. The band gets into it, and we really get to going, then.” David Hicks, on drums and vocals, has been playing for about 12 years; his listening tastes run to alternative rock and contemporary Christian. Jordan Grace only picked up a rhythm guitar about five years ago and first played in public for a church function a couple of years afterward, which he remembers being a “very
nervous” ordeal. He enjoys listening to country and classic rock, especially the Southern variety. ”The best thing about playing at Thach,” Grace says, “is the good crowd. You can do whatever you want music-wise, and nobody is judging you.” Elliott says one of his best memories from childhood is the country TV shows of Porter Waggoner, Ernest Tubb and others. “My dad likes Johnny Cash and a lot of traditional country, so I heard some of that growing up,” he says. “What I like most about country is the truthfulness and simplicity of the lyrics and the music.” He had his first guitar in eighth grade — “It was an old Silvertone electric, turquoise-colored,” he remembers. “I’d give anything to still have it. “But to hear me play now, you wouldn’t know I’d been playing guitar for that long, because I played in junior high, then put it down and picked it up again in college. But this is the most seriously Volume 3, Issue 4
I’ve ever played, since I got with this bunch. I’d never even played in public, unless you count the time I took a music course in college and had to put together a presentation. I had a fraternity brother who was a good banjo picker, so we found us a bass player and the three of us played for the class.” He laughs. “I don’t know if that counts as ‘public’ or not.” Does Elliott’s high-pressure job at the courthouse make it difficult for him to decompress when it comes time to play music? Just the opposite, he says: “Music is the way I decompress. I have a great time, with great people. I didn’t even know these folks until Al McAdams invited me out to play at Dwayne’s house. “I have a sister in New York, and when I told her I was doing this, she said, ‘It’ll add 10 years to your life.’” As Killin’ Time’s first set comes down toward intermission, the dancers take a breather and the warm smells of a covered-dish supper waft into the auditorium from a room at the back. And the night is still young. • Summer 2015
The Holladay Agency Auto Home Business Life Annuities Mutual Funds Jonathan Holladay 1811 Hwy 78 E, Suite 106, Jasper, AL 35501
(205) 221-3216
13
The adventures of
Story by Jennifer Cohron
14
Walker M agazine
Volume 3, Issue 4
A child, looking lost and dejected, stands alone on a train station platform in a small town. He has nowhere to go and no one to go with him. Mustering all of his courage, he sets out with a few meager belongings to face the world on his own. In the years to come, he will face many hardships, but he will overcome them all through a positive attitude, faith in God and the generosity of strangers. Local readers may recognize the lad as Dixie North, the protagonist of a popular children’s book set in Jasper. Those who remember the book’s author, Herbert Burton, know that his atypical childhood was the inspiration for Dixie’s adventures. Like Dixie, Burton was an orphan who grew up in Jasper, although some of the details regarding his background changed in the telling from decade to decade. In 1965, shortly before the publication of Burton’s book, the Daily Mountain Eagle reported that his parents had died in High Point, North Carolina when he was eight or nine years old. Friends sent him to Jasper, and he spent three days at the Frisco railroad depot when local relatives failed to pick him up, according to the article. In July 1988, Burton attended Carbon Hill’s Centennial Celebration and told a local reporter that his grandparents were Tim and Adeline Burton, one of the city’s founding families. “I was born in a one-room house near Earley’s Lumber Camp, and I wish I would have had the guts enough to say, ‘That is where I was born.’ But my ego was riding too high. It shouldn’t have been any higher than that shack,” Burton said. The W reported at that time that Burton’s father had died before he was born and that his mother had moved to Jasper when he was six months old. A short time later, she died as well. Carolyn Lamar, who accompanied Burton to speaking engagements at local schools in the late 1980s, said he was shuffled between relatives in Jasper and North Carolina for several years until the fateful day that he was abandoned at the local train station. “He started walking up this little creek in Summer 2015
15
Photo courtesy of Carolyn Lamar
Photo courtesy of Pat Morrison 16
Walker M agazine
Jasper, and somewhere on it was an abandoned house. He lived there for almost three weeks,” Lamar said. After being discovered by local authorities, Burton became a ward of the state and was sent to live with Wood Lee Sutton. In “The Adventures of Dixie North,” young Dixie bounces around from home to home until a misunderstanding leaves him stranded at a rural train station. He lives alone with his secret for two years in a rundown building he nicknames “The Castle” before being taken in by the family of his best friend, Chuck Hill. Local historian Pat Morrison received a slightly different version of Burton’s story when the two were inducted into the Walker High School Athletic Hall of Fame together in 2006. “He said that he was coming through on a train. He was going to an orphanage somewhere out west. When they stopped in Jasper to get water, he slipped off the train and hid until the train left. Then he lived on the street for a while until someone took him in,” Morrison said. Dixie’s story ends when he finally finds a home at the age of 13. Burton’s life had an even happier ending. He graduated from Walker High School in 1939 and went on to Auburn University, where he played football, baseball and basketball and excelled in track. After a stint in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Burton earned his master’s degree at the University of Alabama. A creative writing assignment in one of his courses led to “The Adventures of Dixie North,” which Volume 3, Issue 4
was first published in 1965 and was re-released in 1976. An early review called the novel “an epic tale with the refreshing style of ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ and the down-to-earth appeal of ‘Huckleberry Finn.’” People and places from Walker County that became part of Dixie’s narrative include Judge Al Blanton, “Sis” Bankhead Grant, Camp O’Rear, Cane Creek, the county courthouse, the old county high school and the Methodist Church. Burton was a coach at Talladega and Gadsden high schools and served for a time as principal of Gaston High School. In 1989, Burton told an Eagle reporter that he had completed two sequels to Dixie North, “Dixie North and the Impossible Palomino” and “Dixie North and His South Sea Adventures,” although they never materialized on the market. In retirement, he and his wife, Charlene, raised horses on an 1,158-acre farm on the Tennessee River near Huntsville. Burton died in January 2007 at age 88. Burton returned to Walker County several times in his later years to speak about Dixie North to area schoolchildren. Retired teachers Patsy Sparks and Joyce Jackson remember his visit to Lupton Jr. High School in 1988. Both enjoyed reading the book to their students over the years. “If they were in scouting, it was great because it mentioned Camp O’Rear. It was fun for me because I understood everywhere he went, even the donkeys he rode on the Calumet Road,” Jackson said. Sparks recalled that her second-graders were a little too young to understand some of the book’s heavier themes. “They just loved it. They laughed and clapped. At times, I wasn’t sure if they were understanding everything that was going on or not,” she said. One little boy whom Sparks knew had a difficult home life himself seemed especially fascinated with Dixie and his boyish antics. “He got the biggest kick out of it,” Sparks said. During his lectures, Burton frequently read portions of the poem that opens the book. Although attributed to Dixie’s mother, the stanzas seem to sum up how the author himself managed to survive a difficult childhood and become a successful adult. “As a child, you’ll suffer torture and shame. Dixie, your destiny is shaped. Don’t complain. Your future is a picture only you can frame. So kick along — sing along — have a lot of fun. But never lose faith. God’s plan will be done. Through sweat and sadness, true happiness is won.” • Summer 2015
Photo courtesy of Carolyn Lamar
Kilgore -Green Funeral Home, Inc. Dell Green, Manager
1200 Birmingham Ave. Jasper, AL 35501
(205) 384-9503 (205) 384-5533 17
BS
ritt ullivan
A Novel Way Of Writing Story and Photos by Dale Short
A
picture may be worth a thousand words, but a roll of butcher paper will hold a lot more. Or at least, that’s the case at novelist Britt Sullivan’s
home. The wide strips of paper, which cover the floor of a whole room, are scribbled with chapter outlines of the six novels he’s written so that he can refer to the big picture of each story when necessary without paging through a tall stack of manuscripts. His fourth novel, a dark Western titled “The Lutheran,” was published in 2004, but oddly enough he considers it a work in progress. He’s currently rewriting it to make it longer. He’s also rewriting his first novel, “Thousand-Foot Road,” which is set locally. So far, “Lutheran” is the only one published. 18
Walker M agazine
”Am I obsessed?” He laughs. “I guess you could say that. When I read ‘The Lutheran’ now, I can tell that it’s by a 31-year-old writer, instead of a 45-year-old. I’ve read hundreds of books since then, and I like my style a lot more now.” A native of Dora, Sullivan lives just a few miles from the house where he grew up. “I’m the hermit, the recluse in the family,” he says. But for a hermit, he sure gets out a lot. He’s served in Guatemala with the Peace Corps toward the end of that country’s civil war, attended Baylor University, worked in the rodeo business in Fort Worth, “snuck across the border” for a series of adventures in Mexico, was a commercial fisherman in Alaska and traveled to Maine and Canada, at times living in his car—all of which he calls Volume 3, Issue 4
“Am I obsessed?” He laughs. “I guess you could say that.”
“just the typical stuff.” Roaming aside, he remembers clearly the day he was first bitten by the writing bug. He was winner in a fourthgrade poetry contest at T.S. Boyd School and received high praise from his teacher. He can still quote the poem by heart: “As the sunlight breaks the night...” it begins. “Actually, I suck at poetry,” he says now. “I’m even worse at the short story, so I just moved ahead to the novel.” Sullivan’s surroundings give a visitor an immediate idea of his main pursuit. Books and legal pads are stacked everywhere. He writes the old-fashioned way, by hand. A central table has a laptop computer on it — he bought it at a Goodwill store in Waco, he says — but it’s barely visible because it’s covered up by a large dictionary. Summer 2015
”I write everything in the notebooks first,” he says. “After that, I rewrite it and then I go through it and rewrite it two more times using the laptop. Writing looks a lot better on the computer, even if it’s bad, so it makes me feel better.” He laughs again. Most of his fiction is set either in the South or the West, and he admits it can be grim stuff. But the style is distinctive, as the all-positive reviewers on the book’s Amazon site point out. His prose has echoes of Old Testament grandeur and occasionally of another writer he greatly admires — Cormac McCarthy, whose book “No Country for Old Men” was made into a movie in 2007. One reader who posted a review on Amazon quotes a glimpse of Sullivan’s style (which he calls “strange”), from the first chapter of The Lutheran: “Billy bouncing,
19
20
Walker M agazine
Volume 3, Issue 4
his previous day’s fiction output and adds a few pages to it. The rest of the day he continues his reading program. “It’s rough, but I just dive into it,” he says, “I break the books into sections and figure them out. I’ve done it that way since 2013,” following an eight-year absence from writing. “I’m not a religious person,” he says. “I think it was McCarthy who wrote that the world is fixed, that it doesn’t even know we’re here. But I believe that really good fiction can give us glimpses into that fixed world. Many people find that offensive.” In the meantime, the writing process has to be its own gratification, Sullivan says. “It takes years to get your rhythm and pacing down. Then it’s time to do it again and again. When I was younger, I was excited about writing. Now I’m excited again, but the mechanics of it are not easy for me. Nobody will be making a movie of my work anytime soon. “The editor who published ‘The Lutheran’ told me that it was probably going to be 15 or 20 years before my style developed to the point where anybody cares to read it, but that I had to continue to write. And I am. “I can’t walk away from it, and I won’t. I may not have done anything at the end, but I won’t leave it alone. Writing novels is just something I can’t not do.” •
face over the edge of the clapboard and eyes into the sand. From the Oregon Territory they’d come in twilight through a shapeless nation and that was in the year eighteen twenty six before speculation created west washing tides and changed the contours of the land forever. Easterly they ventured to prospects more treacherous and unto them things treacherous would be delivered.” Occasionally the books feature violence and depravity, which makes them “Not for everybody,” he says. “It’s hard to read and brutal on top of that. So my writing makes a lot of people really uncomfortable.” One of the novels, he says, “is about a man from Warrior who believes you can enter heaven through a river down in northern Mexico.” Sullivan works by a strict daily schedule, seven days a week, not just for writing but for his reading as well. He starts his day from 5:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. reading an author he admires (William Faulkner, McCarthy, Henry Miller, Sherwood Anderson, Louis-Ferdinand Celine, Franz Kafka, Marcel Proust, and others), not just for pleasure, but for technical analysis. “I ask myself questions, like I’m taking a class,” he says. “I try to figure out why these authors wrote it, how they wrote it and pull out the vocabulary to study.” Around mid-morning until just past noon, he rewrites Summer 2015
21
JASPER AUTO GROUP Voted Among The Best Places To Purchase American Vehicles, Trucks & SUVs 4100 Hwy. 78 E • Jasper • (205) 384-4400
www.AutoGroupofJasper.com 22
Walker M agazine
4009 Hwy. 78 E. • Jasper • (205) 221-0051 Volume 3, Issue 4
Voted “Best Marina” in Walker County for 3 years straight! Readers’
Choice Awards 2015
uskin oint N
marina
W
E
S
Duskin Point Team: Danny, Harold, Phillip and Michael Beasley
198 Duskin Point Rd., Jasper, AL 35504 • 205.384.6942 (phone) • 205.384.6903 (fax) Summer 2015
23
D
iscovering S u m m e rt i m e
s p m a C r D i s ’ v e y e m r t m u s S e n Wa l k e r C o u
24
Walker M agazine
Volume 3, Issue 4
Dotson Baptist Camp
Youth Camp
The Walker Baptist Association hosted its annual summer camp June 1-4 for students in grades six through 12 at the James & Nell Dotson Baptist Camp on Rose Hill Road in Nauvoo. Campers enjoyed swimming and playing games such as Nine Square in the Air. They also attended daily chapel services and were given an opportunity to make a decision for Chirst at the end of the camp. Brother John Foles teaches a Bible study in the chapel
Isaiah Johnson and others leaf through their Bibles during morning devotion
Campers gather together to enjoy a game of 9 Ball
A birdhouse located on the camp’s ground Brianna Roddam takes a dive underwater in the pool
Summer 2015
25
John Sims instructs Ivan Wilson of Jasper on how to shoot a BB gun safely and properly
Patrick Martine of Winfield aims and shoots a slingshot
Cub Scout Summer Day Camp The Black Warrior Council Mountain District hosted the Scout Hunger Games May 29 and 30 for students in kindergarten through 4th grade at Camp O’Rear in Jasper. Popular activities included archery, crafts, shooting with BB guns and nature hikes. At the end of the camp, each boy received a camp T-shirt and summer camp patch.
JT Moseley of Parrish learning to tie knots
Archery Instructor Seth Armbrester with Eli Langston of Jasper
BB gun targets
Lila Gardner works on her mod podge project Luke Smith puts the finishing touches on his painting
Michael Gamble draws a superhero
Summer Art Camp
Nicole Barton guides students through an art critique
Artist Nicole Barton is leading an art camp all summer at the Jasper Tutoring Center. Students are learning a variety of art techniques and working on a number of projects that will be included in an art show at the end of the semester. Rachel Smith shows off her picture
Instructors with the Junior Golf Campers (Back row, R -L) Phil Green, Brent Borden, Chase Thompson, Spencer Fikes, Cade Diehl. Far left, Matt Burnett.
Evan Atkins had just a little too much to carry!
Will Robertson enjoys the pizza break.
Peyton Fox hits out of the bunker.
Musgrove Country Club’s
Junior Golf Camp Each summer Musgrove Country Club hosts its junior golf camp. And PGA Club Professional Phil Green would have it no other way. “It’s one of the most important responsibilities I have; to introduce this great game to the next generation of players,” he said. This year, nearly 20 youngsters participated in the twoday camp June 8 and 9. 28
Walker M agazine
Putting champion Cross Cacioppo runs a putt in the hole while instructor Chase Williams looks on.
Volume 3, Issue 4
“Best Place to Play Golf”
Readers’
Choice Awards 2015
916 Country Club Rd., Jasper, AL www.musgrovecc.com
Summer 2015
205-221-7900
29
Sa ammy L ee Staying
30
Walker M agazine
Story by Dale Short Photos Courtesy of Sammy Lee Volume 3, Issue 4
When Sammy Lee was 14 years old, he told his parents over breakfast one morning, “I’ve decided what I want to be when I grow up...a professional bass fisherman.” And he remembers vividly his father’s response: “Boy, you’d better go back to bed because you’re still dreaming.” Some 40 years later, the dream is still going strong. Not only has Lee fished in more than 400 tournaments ranging from the U.S. to Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica, he’s also an entrepreneur. His enterprises include a syndicated radio show as well as outdoors-related computer apps and T-shirts. “When I was a teenager and took a girl on a date, I learned not to say what my ambition was because it would be a first and last date,” he recalls with a laugh. “Nobody wanted a stinky old fisherman.” A native of Jasper who now lives in Birmingham, Lee fell in love with fishing when he was in elementary school and by junior high was working part-time at Hueys Marina on Smith Lake. One day he and his brother had their picture made at the Marina holding up a string of bass and it ran in the Mountain Eagle: “All the kids at school told me they’d seen my picture in the paper and I thought, ‘How cool is that?’” His father, uncle, and a host of cousins still live in Walker County, and Lee says he still calls Walker County his home. Lee is probably best known for his daily radio show called “Tight Lines,” which is carried nationally by more
Summer 2015
31
than 100 radio stations and internationally through iTunes. The show’s topics include interviews with professional anglers about fishing tips, plus talking to celebrity guests about their own fishing exploits — Mel Tillis, Bobby Bare and Ray Price, to name just a few. Speaking of celebrities, Lee still remembers his first meeting decades ago with pro fishing legend Bill Dance, who came to Smith Lake to film two TV shows. “I was so scared,” Lee recalls, “you would have thought I was meeting the good Lord himself. I was sweating and my knees were shaking. But Bill was just the nicest human being on earth. “When I told him I wanted someday to be a TV fisherman like him, he gave me some advice. He said, ‘You’re a tall boy [he stands 6’ 6”], so when you catch a five-pounder it’s going to look like a two- or three-pounder by comparison. So you’ll have to catch a lot of really big fish to make them look big on TV.’” Lee says, “From the time I was 18, all I did was pursue fishing in some form or fashion.” He first planned to major in fisheries biology, but instead switched to public relations and broadcasting at the University of Alabama with a minor in recreation. Though he’d been successful in several tournaments, “this was in the days before the really big payouts,” he recalls, “and if you didn’t place in the top five you lost money by the time you paid your expenses. So I quickly discovered the real money was to be made off endorsements, speaking engagements, things like that.” In his Hueys Marina days, his uncle Jimmy (owner of Son’s Supermarkets) gave him a charter membership in the young Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) and Lee remembers “reading every word of their magazine, including the ads.” Today he’s a founding board member and board president of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame and emcees its annual induction dinner at the Bassmasters Classic. His foray into computer applications began with FishMatePro, which gives anglers access to moon phases, barometric pressure and sunrise/sunset times, plus journaling and storing photos of their catches and a function to mark their favorite fishing spots via GPS and Google maps. He’s since branched out into a line of other app tools including ChefMate, featuring some 1,000 recipes that 32
Walker M agazine
were assembled with the help of his wife who’s a gourmet cook, originally from Sydney, Australia. (“She could cook mud 10 different ways and make it taste good,” he adds.) His own favorite type of fish and method for cooking it? “That’s a tough question,” Lee says. “For freshwater Volume 3, Issue 4
I’d say walleye, because it’s so white and flaky with a sweet taste. I like it breaded, deep fried, pan-broiled. For saltwater fish, I like grouper and snapper, especially blackened.” As for T-shirt designs, one of his most popular features a cartoon drawing of a portly angler holding up a somewhat puny catch. The caption asks, “Does this fish make my belly look big?” Considering his fishing-oriented life, does Lee ever get tired of being on the water? “I once got to a point in my professional career where I was tournament fishing from 150-175 days a year, in all weather conditions—hot, cold, rainy, stormy, windy—but when you’re being paid you have to go. When I got home, the last thing I wanted to do was go pleasure fishing. “I’d developed a really good work ethic in a boat; I could figure out where the fish were located and how to catch them. I caught a bunch of fish, but I wasn’t communicative, wasn’t able to laugh or cut up. Once at the end of the day I had somebody say, ‘I’ve had a wonderful fishing day, but I don’t want to go with you any more. You’re too intense.’ “But now when I go fishing, I’m able to enjoy just the pleasure of being in the boat, casting and laughing and cutting up. I can teach you what I’m doing, but tell some jokes at the same time.” What it all comes down to, Lee says, is that “Every day when I wake up I think, ‘Darn the luck, I get to go fishing for a living.’ If I ever write a book, I already know what the title will be: ‘I’m Just a Guy Who Loves to Fish.’” •
W alker C ounty Jasper, Alabama 918,000 Population Within 60 Minute Drive Time Less ThanWithin 250 Miles60 to Ten Automotive OEM’s 918,000 Population Minute Drive Time New 400 Acre – Jasper Industrial Park
Less Than 250 Miles to Ten Automotive OEM’s Growing Retail Hub on I-22 Graded Industrial Site New 400 Acre50-Acre Jasper Industrial Park Eleven I-22 Interchanges ALABAMA Growing Retail Hub on I-22
35 Miles From Birmingham
225 Acre Mixed Use / Retail 50 Acre Graded Industrial Site Site Central to the Southeast
Eleven I-22 Interchanges
Bevill State Community College
35 Lewis MilesSmith From LakeBirmingham – Alabama Bass Trail 225 Acre Mixed Use / Retail Site Central to the Southeast Bevill State Community College Contact:
Walker County DevelopmentAuthority Authority Phone: Web: wceida.com Walker County Development Phone:205-302-0068 205-302-0068 Web: wceida.com
Lewis Smith Lake - Alabama Bass Trail
W alker C ounty Jasper, Alabama 918,000 Population Within 60 Minute Drive Time Less Than 250 Miles to Ten Automotive OEM’s New 400 Acre – Jasper Industrial Park Growing Retail Hub on I-22 50 Acre Graded Industrial Site
ALABAMA
Eleven I-22 Interchanges 35 Miles From Birmingham 225 Acre Mixed Use / Retail Site Central to the Southeast Bevill State Community College
Lewis Smith Lake – Alabama Bass Trail
Contact:
Walker County DevelopmentAuthority Authority Phone: Web: wceida.com Walker County Development Phone:205-302-0068 205-302-0068 Web: wceida.com
Summer 2015
33
of the
Cros s Story and Photos by Rick Watson
There is a cross at the end of Phillipstown Road in Empire near the corner of Walker, Blount, Cullman and Jefferson counties. It’s not a massive metal cross but a simple one made of pine and hand-painted white by 11-year-old Carson Phillips for his friends Denise and Billy Gilliland, who live next door to his family. It resembles a thousand other crosses planted on steep curves and dangerous intersections of roads across the south where loved ones have died in the mangled wreckage of cars and trucks. The Gillilands attached the cross to a towering water oak tree in their front yard about a year ago. Denise Gilliland wrote the names of her family, friends and neighbors in blood-red ink. “We wanted to lift the people we love up in prayer, so we wrote their names on this cross,” she said. A few months ago, something interesting happened. The names of people the Gillilands did not know began to appear on the cross. “I’m not sure how the names got on there; they just began showing up,” says Denise. Apparently people driving 34
Walker M agazine
Volume 3, Issue 4
“We wanted to lift the people we love up in prayer, so we wrote their names on this cross.” don’t need to get any bigger, but please make my bones fat,” she said. During that time, the congregation at Dilworth Church of God also prayed for her recovery. When the neurologist did follow-up tests, the vertebrae had somehow expanded, which relieved the pain she’d been experiencing. “My bones got fat,” she said with a smile. Some would say her recovery was an anomaly, but there have been several other “anomalies.” A grandson born prematurely and against all odds survived. Her husband, Billy, was healed of cancer and later survived ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome), which is a rare condition that takes the lives of many. In fact, more people die each year from ARDS than from breast cancer. Denise made a remarkable recovery after suffering a stroke earlier in 2015. She gives all the credit to the power of prayer. It makes sense that she’d want to extend the net of protection offered by the cross in her yard to her friends and neighbors.
by were stopping to get a look at the cross and then adding their names. Denise was pleasantly surprised by the additional names and added them to her prayer list. To say she believes in the power of prayer is an understatement. In 2006 on a routine run to have the oil changed in her son’s truck, it began to drizzle. The clouds didn’t pour enough to wash grime off the roads but just enough to transform the thin layer of dirt and coal dust into a coating that made the road as slick as polished glass. She lost control of the truck. The accident crushed two vertebrae in her back. Doctors ordered CT scans to pinpoint the problem, then scheduled her for follow-up visits to the neurologists and sent her home. The pain was extraordinary she remembers. During the time before the doctor visits, she spent a great deal of time praying and reading scriptures. She was drawn to the book of Isaiah and a verse that said, “He will make your bones fat.” That verse resonated, and she prayed again. “Lord, I Summer 2015
35
When asked why she thinks people stop by their yard to scroll their names on the cross, she paused a moment to collect her thoughts. “The cross is a symbol of the sacrifice that Jesus made. And whether you’re in church, or out of church, you recognize the power of the cross. Through His death, burial, and resurrection, we can have healing and eternal life. People have to have hope,” she says. “Maybe writing their names on this cross gives them a little hope.” There are a lot of people that drive by the Gillilands home each day and the cross is always there. “It’s a sermon in itself. You don’t have to preach it or anything; it’s a sermon in itself,” she said. •
Thank You!
Soldiers, Veterans and Fallen Heroes Chevrolet
Cadillac
Buick
888-597-1502
36
Walker M agazine
GMC Volume 3, Issue 4
REAL ESTATE
Caring, Knowledgeable, Hardworking Realtors. Buying or selling we want to assist you “The White Pepper Way.” Call today!
Becky Pittman Realtor 205-999-5309
Readers’
Choice Awards 2015
Michelle Richburg Realtor 205-388-0047
Vincent Russo Realtor 205-300-1326
Ken Swarts Realtor 205-522-0700
Matt Swarts Realtor 205-522-4133
Voted Best In Real estate in the 2015 Readers’ Choice awards!
504 Airport Road South, Jasper, Alabama 35501 • www.whitepepperrealestate.com
205-295-0287 / 205-295-5253 (LAKE) Summer 2015
37
To
Story 38
by W. Brian Hale • Photos by Johnathan Bentley Walker M agazine
Volume 3, Issue 4
In the evening hours of Saturday, May 16, local sports plate with runners in scoring position. history was being made in Montgomery. Like Curry, Sumiton Christian had faced a difficult road Lagoon Park, the longtime site of the Alabama High to the final. In their previous contest, the Eagles had fallen School Athletic Association’s softball championships, was behind the Hornets, but a three-run surge in the seventh playing host to the Class 4A and 2A title games. The county’s inning tied the game at 5-5 before Holly Murray drove-in two participants, the Curry Yellow Jackets and the Sumiton Savanah Langston in the eighth for the game-winning hit. On Christian Eagles, were engaged in a fierce battle for the Friday, Sumiton Christian had to overcome a 4-3 seventh-instate’s richest prize. ning deficit to Mobile Christian before Kirsten Click hit a On one field, Curry’s Haleigh Lane stood on third base two-run single to lift the Eagles to victory, 5-4. as teammate Taylor Rowe took her turn at bat with the game With Click and Abbie Brewster on base against the Hortied at 1-1 in the eighth inning. nets, Bice delivered, sealing Sumiton Christian’s second state The Yellow Jackets championship with an 8-7 had overcome great advictory. versity to make their way In the space of a back into the championminute, both the Yellow ship final. Early in the day, Jackets and the Eagles Curry fell to the Northside permanently etched their Rams, forcing the Yellow names into county and Jackets to battle through state lore by hoisting Anna Tyree the losers bracket to keep championship trophies. their title hopes alive. Two Walker County teams The journey included a had never won titles in second matchup with the same year and in the Northside that spanned same sport. 10 innings and a delay of Curry and Sumiton more than one hour due Christian were linked even Jenna Ergle to severe weather. Lane, before earning two of the the eventual MVP, delivstate’s seven softball titles. ered the tournament’s top Following the death play with a grand slam of two Curry students homerun — breaking a before the North Central 3-3 tie and forcing a secRegion Tournament, it ond championship game was the Eagles — led against the Rams. by coach Jessica AderA defensive contest holt — who organized was waged in the second a gesture of support game, with both teams along with teams from battling fatigue but only across the county for the allowing one run each grieving Yellow Jackets. before reaching the botBoth teams were openly tom of the eighth inning. supportive of each other Following a long atduring the postseason bat, Rowe finally found and attended each other’s Holly Murray her pitch, driving the ball games. Following the trointo the shallow outfield phy presentations, it was to send Lane across Curry that found Sumiton homeplate and win Curry’s first state championship. Christian to congratulate the Eagles and celebrate together. Less than 20 seconds later and just 200 feet away, SumiThe championship wins would mark the most successful ton Christian was closing in on its second state title. softball season in Walker County history. Going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Eagles Six of the county’s seven teams made the postseason. had staged a comeback for the third time in the tournament. Cordova, Dora, Oakman and Walker joined Curry and Sumiton Christian was down 6-2 in the fifth inning to the Sumiton Christian in advancing to the North Central Region. Ider Hornets but scored four runs to tie the game at 6-6. Oakman and Cordova also went to Lagoon Park — a first The Hornets got a one-run edge in the sixth inning to for the Blue Devils under Coach Randy Stracner. take a 7-6 advantage in the game, which held to the bottom The achievements didn’t stop at the championship of the seventh when the Eagles’ Abbey Bice went to the finals. Eleven Walker County players were named to AlaSummer 2015
39
Grayson Kilpatrick and Hanna McLemore
Kaitlyn Herron
Peyton Wilcutt
bama Sports Writers Association All-State Team, with three girls receiving top honors. Curry’s Ashlee Swindle was Coach Whitney Jordan, Peyton Wilcutt and Malori Crowell crowned the Class 4A Player and Pitcher of the Year. Sumiton petition as well. I think that’s why we saw so many of our Christian’s Jenna Ergle — who also received MVP honors for teams do as well as they did.” her role in the state tournament — earned Class 2A Player Smith, who was named as Curry’s coach just a month and Hitter of the Year for the second-consecutive season, before practice was set to begin after several successful and Oakman’s Kamree Lay was named the Class 3A Pitcher years with the Lynn Bears, led Lynn to the 2014 Class 1A of the Year. state final. Smith was initially surprised by the offer to take Curry Coach Philip Smith was honored as the Class 4A the helm of Curry’s program but knew the level of talent that Coach of the Year. would be under his guidance in his first year. Swindle and many of her fellow Curry teammates are es“Everyone worked so hard — these girls were giving it tablished veterans, having played together against the couneverything they had from early season practices to the title ty’s top talent in summer leagues, travel ball and at the prep game. A lot of our success in my mind came from the fact level for several years. The intense competition in the county that the younger players were determined to learn as much has led to a rise in quality of play in several programs. and have an impact as much as the girls who had been “When you look at the level of competition that we face playing for years. In turn, the veteran players were as eager just in the county alone, it’s quality opponents that play in to teach them as much as they could,” Smith said. “We had different ways. We had to adapt to their skill set,” Swindle our goals as a team and as a team, we set out to accomplish said. “We played Cordova six times and had to fit our level each one of them. It wouldn’t have been possible if every of play to what their pitcher Faith (Sims) brought to the table one of those girls didn’t show the dedication they did.” — who throws one of the fastest balls in the state. Playing Smith’s long experience in playing Walker County teams Oakman helped us out because Lay is a rise-ball pitcher and before his posting at Curry left him little doubt that the great all-around. It seemed like everyone in our county was programs in the area were just a few steps away from overall so much better this season. They helped us get ready for success. state and in turn, they were also benefitting from the com“This county has been such a hotbed for talent for years. 40
Walker M agazine
Volume 3, Issue 4
Above: The Class 4A state champion Curry Yellow Jackets and the Class 2A Sumiton Christian Eagles celebrate together following the AHSAA State finals.
I knew all it would take is a few hires and some key personnel to put it all together. When you look around at what all the teams did collectively, I don’t think there’s an area that could claim the amount of success we did,” Smith said. “In my mind, I don’t believe in any classification there are two better teams than us and Sumiton Christian. The body of work speaks for itself. When you consider that Oakman lost to the Class 3A state champion by a run in Montgomery, it certified the excellent team we had known them to be when we competed against them. Then you look at the big turnaround that both Walker and Dora had, and it really showed the capabilities of what we have in Walker County.” Doug Kennedy, a nine-year veteran umpire, has officiated contests throughout Walker County and in area, region and state tournaments. He said the level of success attained county-wide was groundbreaking. “When you consider that every team in the county but one went to the region tournament, it’s something that I’ve never seen before. We’ve had individual teams who were better in the past, but there was never a season where across the board, the county was performing with such high quality,” Kennedy said. For Aderholt’s Eagles, the season brought a special set of collective and individual accomplishments in winning the program’s second state title. Sumiton Christian won a championship in their own style — making numerous comebacks in the laid-back atmosphere that consistently surrounds the Eagles. The Eagles joke, sing and utterly enjoy themselves while making plays that look like ESPN Top 10 highlights. They captured the Class 2A title in their eighth-consecutive trip to Lagoon Park. “The past few years we’ve went to Montgomery and have come up short. To finally be able to take another trophy home is incredible,” Aderholt said. “This year, these girls would never give up. What they were able to do with the comebacks in the last three games showed their character and their drive to achieve their goals. I couldn’t be more proud of them and what they’ve accomplished.” Two of the team’s seniors, Click and Kendell “Mia” Hamm, had their own special endings to their careers at Summer 2015
Sumiton Christian. As seventh-grade players entering the program in 2010, both had been members of the Eagles’ first championship team — and both left the same way they came in, as state champions. Kendall Beth Sides made her own mark on the year by breaking the state’s season stolen bases record at 111. She also became her family’s second member to win a state title at Sumiton Christian. Sister Katlyn, who is currently playing for the UAB Blazers, was a member of the 2010 team. Other accolades for Sides included being named to the ASWA Class 2A All-State First Team and the State All-Tournament team. “I had no idea I was actually close to breaking the record until we got into area tournament play and Coach Aderholt told me that we were going to go after it. I knew we had a lot of games left, and I have so much confidence in my team that we were going to get all of those games, so getting the record looked very possible,” Sides said. “I ended up getting many more steals after breaking the record, which was a further reward. Baserunning is my favorite thing to do, and getting the steals goes along with it perfectly. The impact that it has in terms of scoring runs is another way to help my team out, and it wouldn’t be possible without them. With Savanah (Langston) moving me to another base and Jenna (Ergle) coming up with a big hit, there was always the thought that if I could get on base, we would score. Having everyone behind me cheering me on made it that much more special.” Sides added that being the part of the first sister combination to win state titles at Sumiton Christian will be life-long treasured memories. “Katlyn and I really wanted to win a championship together last season, but we didn’t get that chance. With UAB not making it to the Super Regional, she was able to go to Montgomery to watch us and sit in the dugout. For her to be able to be there with us as we won the title was one of those bittersweet moments. But our entire family is so glad we were both able to win championships,” Sides said. “It’s something we’ll be able to carry with us and tell our kids about someday.” •
41
july - september 2015
july
18
25
Mike beasley poker run
backyard blessings family fest
Registration is open for the Run 4 Kids 5K, 10K and 1 mile fun run! April 11 at Gamble Park. Registration through March 31st is $25.00 and guarantees you a t-shirt. Register by calling Angela Washington 387-0564, by email at awashington@walkerarc.com or online at www.active.com
The Mike Beasley Memorial Foundation’s annual poker run will be held Saturday, July 18, at 11 a.m. at Duskin Point Marina on the Walker County side of Lewis Smith Lake. The poker run benefits the Smith Lake Task Force Dive Team and other nonprofits that operate in the Smith Lake community. For more information, call (205) 384-6942.
august
1
henri’s notions concert
The Bankhead House and Heritage Center will host Henri’s Notions in a free summer concert on Saturday, Aug. 1 from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The band plays a mixture of traditional Celtic and American music.
17
2015–2016 school year begins
Students attending Jasper City and Walker County Schools will begin the 2015–2016 school year on Monday, Aug. 17. For more information, contact the Jasper City Board of Education at (205) 384-6880 or the Walker County Board of Education at (205) 387-0555.
25
high school football kickoff
High school football in Walker County will kick off Thursday, Aug. 20, with a county rivalry game between the Cordova Blue Devils and Dora Bulldogs at Horace Roberts Stadium in Dora.
september
11–12
foothills festival
Foothills Festival, the two-day event sponsored by the City of Jasper, will feature musical acts, a children’s area and a variety of food and merchandise vendors. Admission is free. Sister Hazel, an alternative rock band from Gainesville, Florida, will be the headliner. 42
Walker M agazine
22-26
northwest alabama fair The annual Northwest Alabama Fair will be held September 2226, at the Jasper Jaycee Fairgrounds on North Airport Road in Jasper. For more information, visit Northwest Alabama Fair’s Facebook page or call (205) 387-8950. Volume 3, Issue 4
september
(continued...)
27
bankhead highway convoy
The Military Vehicle Preservation Association’s Bankhead Highway Convoy will make a stop in Jasper on Sunday, Sept. 27. As many as 120 historic military vehicles are expected to participate. The route, which begins in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 19 and ends in San Diego, California, on Oct. 17, retraces the one taken in 1920 on the newly-formed Bankhead Highway by the Army’s Transcontinental Motor Convoy.
october
3
frog festival
Sumiton’s annual Frog Festival will take over downtown Sumiton on Saturday, Oct. 3, and will feature food and craft vendors, as well as a variety of children’s activities and performances. For more information, call (205) 648-3115.
Plumbing Company, Inc. Commercial & Residential
205-221-7009 Summer 2015
43
SNAPSHOTS 1
2
3
4
5
West Jasper Car Show april 18 – Jasper, al
6
1) Brianna McCain Risgby and her daughters, Emma and Allie. 2) Myeia Willingham and Amber Gilliland 3) Karen Hyche McCain, Melanie Turner, Gina Miller and Rita Geeslin 4) Jesse Lockhart and Charlotte Elkins 5) Ashley McLemore and David Brown 6) Donna Key, Kathy Walker, Mandy Chesser and Deb McLemore 2707 Viking Drive • Jasper, AL 35501
Your Hometown Dealership!
221-4307
www.starauto.com 44
Walker M agazine
SAME LOCATION FOR OVER 30 YEARS Volume 3, Issue 4
SNAPSHOTS 1
2
3
4
Horse Creek Jubilee may 2 – dora, al 5
1) Byron Jones, Bartley Black and Leneda Jones 2) Gina Lovelady Mason, R. J. and Lilly Grace Mason and Carolyn Lovelady 3) Tiffany Olive, Natalie Jacks and Jennifer Olive 4) Greg Reed and the Pig (Zac Cohron) 5) Randy and Linda Spears
Summer 2015
45
SNAPSHOTS 1
2
3
Bama Scramble
4
7
may 8 – Jasper, al 1) John Lyon, Scotty Webb, Tab Hudson and Patrick Drummond
5
2) Allison Allen and Sarah Hyche 3) University of Alabama Athletics Relations Coordinator Cedric Burns 4) Hazel Marlow
8
6
5) Toby Banks and Bill Adair 6) Weston Griffith and Brandon Beasley 7) Jim Collier and Kevin Callahan 8) Patrick Drummond, Bob Reed, John Lyon and Alan Johnson 46
Walker M agazine
Volume 3, Issue 4
SNAPSHOTS 1
2
3
4
Art In The Park may 9 – jasper, al 1) Andrew Brasfield with daughters Caleigh and Peyton and Jason Cannon
5
2) Aiden McGinnis. Piper McGinnis and Judy Brown 3) Bert and Debbie Hendrix and Sydney and Leslie Blackwell 4) Miss Walker County Kellie Giles and Julia Jackson 5) Allison Jones and Sharon Derkowski Hogg Summer 2015
47
Since
Downs & Associates
1975!
Certified Public Accountants, LLC
Joseph R. Downs, IV Certified Public Accountant
1600 Hwy 69 S
• Jasper w w w. b l a c k w e l l b o dys h o p.c o m
1603 1st Avenue East Post Office Box 824 Jasper, AL 35502-0824
We Guarantee All Repairs Done On Your Vehicle!
Owners: Monroe & Kathy Blackwell 205-384-5070 • Mon - Fri 8:00 - 5:30
email: JRDowns@DandAcpa.com
2403 Hwy 78 E, Jasper, AL 35501 • 205-384-5990 • www.highpoint-furniture.com
Walker
2753 Hwy. 195, Jasper, AL 35503 | (205) 221-2442 www.EatonHealthcare.com
Gunter Auto GlAss Windshield Repair & Replacement
Ask for TiM SMiTH, Manager - 31 Years Experience!
Insurance Claims Welcome! Free Estimates
E-Edition
- Windshields - Door Glasses - Back Glasses - Recover Headliner - Windshield Chip Repair - Power Window Motors & Regulators
now available at www.MountainEagle.com Jewelry Store in Walker County!
Office: 205/221-5454 Direct: 205/385-0614 Fax: 205/221-5474
3413 Veterans Dr. (Behind the Jet) • Jasper, AL • 221-7031
Readers’
Choice Awards 2015
Historic Downtown Jasper 401 West 19th Street • 221-6194 • youngjewelers.com 48
Walker M agazine
Owner: Renee Norris • 1383 Hwy 195 Jasper, AL • 387-0238 Monday-Friday: 8 am-5 pm • Saturday: By Appointment Only Volume 3, Issue 4
Readers’
Choice Awards 2015
Thank You! Voted one of the MOST COMMUNITY INVOLVED BUSINESSES in the 2015 Readers’ Choice Awards!
This award would not be possible without the Chamber’s following investors. Action Properties-Jasper Alabama Power Company ALAGASCO ALFA AT&T All Four Real Estate All State-Jonathan Holladay Agency Bank of Walker County Birmingham-Gadsden Budweiser Burgett Law Firm Byars & Associates Carl Cannon Chevrolet City of Carbon Hill
Summer 2015
City of Cordova City of Dora City of Jasper City of Parrish City of Sumiton Daily Mountain Eagle Delta Transfer Downs & Associates Drummond Company First Bank of Jasper Fontaine Intermodal Friendly Auto Sales Hager Oil Company Haynes Downard
Henry Oil Honda/Hyundai of Jasper Jackson Fikes Hood Brakefield Jasper Auto Sales Jasper Lumber Company Jim ‘N Nick’s Kilgore Green Funeral Home Kilgore Realty Co. Lacy Grice Insurance Linda S. Burns Law Firm Miller Roofing Patricia Frederick Law Firm Pinnacle Bank Reed Energy
Scott Crump Toyota Security Federal Savings Bank Simmons Agency Southern Orthopedics Southern Wood Chips Southside Excavating Star Automotive Urgent Care Walker Baptist Medical Center Walker County Commission White Pepper Real Estate Williams Furniture
49
Why I Love Walker County
Phil Green At Right: Phil Green, club professional at Musgrove Country Club, stands with Chase Thompson after the local youth recently captured the Pigeon Dove championship. Developing junior golfers is a priority for Green.
Phil Green moved to Jasper from Oklahoma City in April 1992 to accept the position of PGA Golf Professional at Musgrove Country Club following the death of his beloved predecessor, Travis Hudson. Green has 41 years experience in the golf business and played briefly on the golf mini tours before becoming a club professional. In addition to overseeing all golf related functions at the club, Green is most proud of the club’s active role in developing excellent junior golfers. There is nothing better than seeing the juniors progress through the years, he noted. “Believe it or not,” says the 61-year-old Green, “I still enjoy playing golf after all these years and making an occasional birdie once in a while.”
Q: How has the golf industry – in particular here in Walker County – changed over the course of your career? A: In a way it hasn’t changed. The focus of Travis Hudson when he was the golf professional for 27 years was service, taking care of the golfers and their needs. I have tried to keep that my focus and continue what Travis established at Musgrove. Q: Musgrove Country Club hosts several successful tournaments annually, but its three-day Travis Hudson/Bernard Weinstein Invitational held in mid-July is the club’s signature event. Why? A: Again, it’s all about taking care of the golfers and getting to know them. We have a lot of the same entrants come back year after year and they love walking in the door and we call them by name, welcoming them back to Musgrove. It’s a family atmosphere at Musgrove, so different than at other country clubs. Q: What do you love about Walker County? A: The thing I love about Walker County and Musgrove is the fact that we are like one big family. It’s amazing how friendly the people are and how willing they are to help you in any way they can. I have been so blessed over the years by meeting and getting to know so many great people in Walker County. It’s been an amazing place to live and to raise a family. • 50
Walker M agazine
Volume 3, Issue 4
Š 2015 Alabama Power Company
Every day thousands of men and women come together to bring you the wonder that is electricity, affordably and reliably, and with a belief that, in the right hands, this energy can do a whole lot more than make the lights come on. It can make an entire state shine.
Summer 2015
51
Readers’
Choice Awards 2015
nelsonbryanjones.com Jasper, AL
205.387.7777
We Handle Them All Social Security Disability
Insurance Disputes
Automobile Accidents
Workers’ Compensation
No representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.