Walker Magazine | Winter 2016 by Daily Mountain Eagle

A publication of the Daily Mountain Eagle

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Walker M agazine

Volume 4, Issue 2

Our roots run deep. Readersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Choice At First Bank of Jasper, our roots in the community run deep and the ties that bind us are strong. We are proud to call our area home. Our company has a rich history in tradition of doing the right things, caring for people, building relationships, and supporting our community. Talk to a local First Bank of Jasper banker today.

Awards 2015

firstbankofjasper.com 205-221-3121 First Bank of Jasper is a division of Synovus Bank. Synovus Bank, Member FDIC, is chartered in the state of Georgia and operates under multiple trade names across the Southeast. Divisions of Synovus Bank are not separately FDIC-insured banks. The FDIC coverage extended to deposit customers is that of one insured bank. Winter 2016

From The Staff...

VOLUME 4 • ISSUE 2

PUBLISHER

Jack McNeely

EDITOR

Jennifer Cohron

ART DIRECTOR Malarie Brakefield

CONTRIBUTORS

Johnathan Bentley, Jennifer Cohron, Elane Jones, Ron Harris, Dale Short, Nicole Smith

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, work and play. We welcome ideas and suggestions for future editions of the magazine. Just send us a brief note via email.

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Welcome to a new year and a new issue of Walker M agazine. Our editorial team’s resolution is to continue highlighting the colorful people, places and events that make up the fabric of life in Walker County while also incorporating a few new features into the mix so that our content will remain fresh. This issue marks the debut of “From The Vault,” a collection of photos previously published in the Daily Mountain Eagle that have been in storage since the dawn of digital photography. We want to pay tribute to not only Walker County’s history but the newspaper’s as well by sharing a few of the best photos from our archives each quarter. We are beginning with some of the images that accompanied the Eagle’s coverage of Operation Desert Storm, a conflict that consumed the world’s attention 25 years ago. We are also starting a special section dedicated to local industry. Our first profile is of Jasper’s first auto supplier, Nitto Denko. We have our first health column contributed by Walker Baptist Medical Center. Our popular Snapshots section has even been given a New Year makeover. While these changes are exciting, they don’t change the fact that human interest stories are the backbone of Walker M agazine . Our first cover story of 2016 is on Tyler Eads, a Walker High School alumnus whose love of animals took him from his grandparents’ farm in Nauvoo to the Southeastern Raptor Center at Auburn University, the National Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Louisiana and finally home again to the Birmingham Zoo. In honor of Black History Month, Dale Short researched the history of the Walker County Training School. He also sat down with Jasper City Councilwoman Sandi Sudduth, who was a student at the time of integration. Nicole Smith celebrated our county’s growing diversity by interviewing local leaders of the Hispanic community. We’re excited about what 2016 has in store. Once this issue hits newsstands, we think our readers will be too.

Jennifer Cohron, Editor

On The Cover Tyler Eads holds Aubry, a Great Horned Owl, at the Birmingham Zoo. Photo by Malarie Brakefield

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 4, Issue 2

GRAND OPENING Wednesday, Dec. 16th

Happy New Year! Retail • Lodging • Education

Holiday Inn Express opening by May (next to Hampton Inn on Industrial Blvd.) Features: 71 guest rooms, complimentary breakfast, exercise facility, guest laundry, outdoor pool.

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New Walker High School

Mayor Sonny Posey District 1 Jed Daniel Winter 2016

Inc. 1887

District 2 Danny Gambrell

District 3 Gary Cowen

District 4 Jennifer W. Smith

District 5 Sandi Sudduth

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Pictured: The family of Boldo resident Jerry McLemore, a member of the Alabama National Guard 109th evacuation hospital unit, painted an American flag on top of their garage in his honor during Operation Desert Storm.

8 12 19 27 34 36 37 38 42

Memories of the Walker County Training School - Sandi Sudduth Soñadores The rise of local Hispanic culture

From The Vault Walker County at War: January–June 1991

All God’s Creatures great and small Tyler Eads

Industrial Spotlight Nitto Denko

Community Calendar What’s going on in the county

For Your Health From Walker Baptist Medical Center

Snapshots Past events in Walker County

Why I Love Walker County Scott McCullar

ADVERTISER INDEX 15 - Allstate—Holladay Agency

38 - Daily Mountain Eagle

35 - Kilgore Green Funeral Home

33 - Alabama Outdoor Power Equipment

39 - Downs & Associates

17 - Los Reyes

18 - Bevill State Community College

03 - First Bank of Jasper

44 - Nelson, Bryan & Jones

38 - Blackwell’s Body Shop

31 - High Point Furniture

35 - Redmill Plumbing

11 - Byars-Wright Insurance

25 - Honda of Jasper

41 - Simmons Realty

33 - Carl Cannon

25 - Hyundai of Jasper

02 - Walker Baptist Medical Center

43 - Chamber of Commerce of Walker Co.

26 - Jasper Industrial Development Board

26 - Walker Development Authority

05 - City of Jasper

07 - Jasper Mall

18 - White Pepper Real Estate

15 - Cordova Health & Rehabilitation

40 - Jeff Burrough

39 - Young Jewelers

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Volume 4, Issue 2

Over 30 Specialty Shops Inside

Jasper Mall

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 The Jewelry Doctor U.S. Military Career Center Yogurt Street Zales

Serving Walk er And Surroun ding Counties For 34 Years!

Winter 2016

of the

Walker County Training School Story and Photo by Dale Short â&#x20AC;˘ Historical Photos courtesy of Pat Morrison

Walker County Training School class of 1952.

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“T

he campus in the spring and summer was the showplace of the county because of the white buildings’ setting in the verdant green valley,” wrote historian James A. Cox, Jr. “In the winter and fall the buildings were set off by the myriad of colors on the wooded hill to the back.” When students and teachers in the early 1900s showed up for opening day at the Corona Colored Industrial College — which later would become Walker County Training School — they couldn’t have imagined what a thriving African-American community center the facility would grow to be in decades to come, through the stormy years of two world wars, the Great Depression and the beginning of the civil rights movement. Cox writes of the school’s baseball and football teams, glee club, band, Boy Scout troop and theater productions, to name a few of WCTS’s extracurricular activities. The school closed in 1969, and the building has since been converted to a nursing home. Today all that’s left of WCTS are photographs and memories. Many of those memories belong to Jasper City Councilwoman Sandi Sudduth, who attended WCTS in the 1960s on the cusp of school integration. ”The band was awesome,” recalls Sudduth, who played in the band. “And the plays were awesome too; it was fun having to memorize the lines. Our English teachers made sure we learned what we had to do onstage, how Photo courtesy of to speak properly.” May Day was Sandi Sudduth another highlight, says Sudduth, who works with Walker County’s Second Opportunity System Program (SOS) at Bevill State Community College. “We’d have months of preparations, learning the dance routines and how to do the maypole. Students would come from surrounding schools like Dora and Cordova, which was a great time because we got to see kids we didn’t normally see.” One of her most vivid memories, though, is

Winter 2016

coming through the school’s front door each day. “Professor White would be standing in the middle of the foyer and we knew we had to take a left down a hallway to go to class. The people who went straight were seniors, so they were kind of a mystery. That was my goal, to get to walk down that hall. I was very impressionable, so I was always watching the seniors and their teachers. They intrigued me, and I knew that was where I was going to end up. Dropping out was not an option.” In those days black students didn’t think of segregation on a day-to-day basis, Sudduth says. “When you grow up as an African-American girl you just know there are some things you can do and some things you cannot do. You know there are boundaries.”

n the early days of WCTS, segregation was a sometimes tumultuous backdrop in the surrounding coal mining communities, especially during the years of unionization, as the mining companies had originally provided land and some of the funding for the school and considered it at least

Below: Professor White standing on the steps of the Walker County Training School.

partly as a tool to recruit mine employees. ”By 1920,” historian Cox writes, “men were back from the war drunk with victory and strange, vivid experiences; imbued with vague ideas of having fought for some sort of rights. The shrewd organizers easily construed these rights to include those of the laborer which were being infringed upon by the coal companies.” During one strike, a gun battle broke out and three men were killed. The governor called in the militia to restore order. In the aftermath, as enrollment suffered, the state and county stepped in to take control of the school from the mining interests. The school gradually began to recover; a branch of the Walker County Library was moved to the campus and a librarian was hired — a move which, Cox writes, “greatly enhanced the study habits at the school.” As the rebuilding years continued with the hiring of a science teacher, the 1940s and ‘50s seemed to become some of the high points of WCTS.

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Left: Sandi Sudduth is a Jasper City Councilwoman and job coach for the Second Opportunity Program at Bevill State Community College.

or Sudduth, the 1960s brought a different type of tumult. Her father died, and her mother sent her to live with an aunt in Ohio where the schools were integrated. “It was a little bit of a scary experience,” Sudduth recalls, “but by nature I’m friendly and gregarious so I made a lot of friends there.” Sudduth’s mother told her that when she came home she’d be attending white schools because the black schools were being closed. When she returned to Jasper, she attended Maddox School and then Walker High and Walker College. During her school years, Sudduth’s aspiration was to be an athletic coach when she grew up. As it turns out, her current occupation hasn’t fallen far from that tree. She describes herself as a “job coach” for SOS, a federally funded program through the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), designed to help at-risk youth become successful in their lives. ”I’m basically out beating the bushes looking for children,” she says. “When I see one out playing basketball in the middle of the day I go up and tell them who I am and maybe give them a brochure. I ask them, ‘Why are you out of school?’ You have to know how to approach a teenager, because otherwise they might think I’m working with the police or whatever. ”And I ask them if they’ve withdrawn from school. I don’t use the word ‘dropout’ because we’re trying to turn their mindset around. I let them know about our adult education or GED programs, and introduce them to the option of going back to school. If you didn’t graduate, then let’s try it a second way to get your diploma. ”On a day-to-day basis we teach soft skills, character traits, job readiness — the rules you have to play by in order to get through life. At one time I was a single parent myself, so I know what it’s like to work with teenagers and their different personalities. ”And once you get your GED we’ll pay for two years of education, like a scholarship. It’s a great opportunity.” •

Winter 2016

(Dreamers)

Story by Nicole Smith â&#x20AC;˘ Photos by Malarie Brakefield

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Volume 4, Issue 2

<< Opposite Page Carina Rios with a few of her students at T. R. Simmons.

This Page >> Top Right: Rios uses flashcards to help students learn the English language. Bottom: Rios’ ESL students.

“I had a dream for what I wanted to do. I didn’t lose sight of my dream,” Pastor Jose Perez said, sitting with his wife, Luciana, in the office of his church, Iglesia Evangelica en Espiritu y en Verdad. He realized his dream in the small town of Jasper, as have many Hispanic members of the community. Carina Rios’ parents found opportunity in Jasper as well. Rios, who serves as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher and interpreter at T.R. Simmons Elementary School, made her journey to Alabama over a decade ago with her mother, father and three sisters. With her father finding work in the area, she attended Lynn High School in Winston County. Like many Hispanic people who come to America for a fresh start, Rios said things were difficult in the beginning, particularly the language barrier. “I was the only Hispanic in high school, so it was different,” she said. “I was [bullied] at first. Students or kids, they’re not used to it, and it’s something completely different. Maybe they’re not meaning to be mean, but it’s just, you’re different.” Cesar Pedraza, who owns Los Reyes Grill in downtown Jasper with his brothers, Carlos and Ignacio, also traveled to Walker County at a young age. Pedraza was born in Los Reyes, Mexico, but grew up in Ciudad Valles, and he says he didn’t find Jasper to be strikingly different from his homeland, particularWinter 2016

ly when it comes to hospitality. “I feel blessed because people here welcome us with arms wide open, and they have helped us tremendously,” he said. “Now we feel like we’re part of it... No, we are a part of it.” After working for 20 years at Perico’s in Jasper, Pedraza and his brothers opened the doors to Los Reyes in the downtown district on Nov. 19, 2012, which he says was not only “the start of a new beginning” for him, but for the Hispanic workers on visa he employs there. “I never had no doubt we would have success,” he said. “I never knew how much success we would have, but I had no doubt we would be successful.” Jose and Luciana Perez have also found success in Jasper. They met at a church in Miami and later married, but Perez had visited Jasper between 1997 and 1998, a place he describes as a “small, little town.” It wasn’t until six years ago that the pair decided to move to Jasper, and Perez says he felt like he was being called back to Walker County. Since then, he and his wife have created a life together with their children, Sheila, Misael and Keyla. “I had a dream that I came back here, so we decided ... to stay here,” he said. “The Lord was telling us to start something here. We went back [to Miami] and within a week, we moved here.” With many Hispanic families settling in Jasper, they’re striving to learn the English language, which Rios admits isn’t easy. “I’ve heard a lot of people say, ‘It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that we don’t have anywhere to go,’” Rios said. “We’re not giving them the resources. We have classes, but they’re early, and a lot of them work the late 14

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shift.” Bevill State Community College currently offers an ESL class for adults on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Jasper Housing Authority, and Director of Public Relations Chris Franklin says the college is always trying to be of service to the Hispanic community. “The college tries to be receptive to the needs of all the communities it serves. This includes the Latino community,” he said. “The ESL or English as a Second Language classes provide any non-native speakers the skills necessary to function in society — citizenship topics, vocabulary building lessons and practical concepts such as completing forms and speaking conversational English.” Perez says he is currently taking classes in BirmingVolume 4, Issue 2

This Spread: Carlos Pedraza and workers at Los Reyes.

The Holladay Agency Auto Home Business Life Annuities Mutual Funds

ham to learn English. To make his church (located near Fitness Factory) appeal to Jasper natives, he hopes to one day provide worship services in English as well. Rios says approximately 90 percent of the Hispanic population in Jasper is from Guatemala, and because they traditionally speak K’iche’, it makes the process of learning English even more difficult. She says it’s her goal to create a class with T.R. ESL teacher Ginny Roberts to help Spanish and K’iche’ speakers learn English. Hispanic children, like their parents, are also working to master the English language. T.R. Simmons Principal Jonathan Allen Winter 2016

Jonathan Holladay 1811 Hwy 78 E, Suite 106, Jasper, AL 35501

(205) 221-3216

Right: Pastor Jose Perez and his wife, Luciana, standing in front of a mural at their old church location.

says 17 percent of students currently enrolled at T.R. are Hispanic, a 4 to 5 percent jump from the middle of last year. With the school’s total enrollment at roughly 575 and over 100 of those children of Hispanic heritage, it has become a priority to accommodate the students, both linguistically and by teaching them American culture. “One thing that I have appreciated the most about our Hispanic parents, they all have expressed an interest in their child learning the English language and being proficient,” Allen said. “The challenge they’re facing now is their kids are English speakers while they’re still Spanish speakers at home. It becomes a challenge for them to work with their own children. “They have embraced our culture within our community, but also they’ve brought some great diversity to our school. We are the most diverse school in the county.” Rios says both students and adults in the Hispanic community also find it difficult, for a time, to adapt to American traditions, especially holidays. “For example, Christmas. We know about Santa, but Santa doesn’t bring you gifts. ... For us, we have the Three Kings. They come in February instead of December, and they bring you gifts,” Rios said. She said birthdays, which are always celebrated in America, are rarely recognized in Hispanic culture. “It’s not that important to them,” she said, “because especially when they come from poor countries or cities, it’s almost impossible to have a cake and to do a celebration. It’s not something you would do.” T.R.’s ESL teacher Ginny Roberts said one of the school’s Hispanic students recently celebrated his birthday for the first time. Rios said aside from holidays and celebrations, students also struggle with displaying emotions in an acceptable way. She says members of the Hispanic community are often affectionate, giving hugs and wanting to be close to one another. “Someone who’s not familiar with the culture, they can take it the wrong way,” she said. “Eye contact is another big thing. ... If you get in trouble, you’re not supposed to be looking the person 16

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in the eye, because that’s disrespectful [in our culture],” Rios said. “Little things like that make it hard for an ESL student.” Roberts says students do adapt to the “culture shock,” and Hispanic families often blend American traditions with their own. The Perezes say their church helps adults and children who are becoming accustomed to American culture by teaching them to have a relationship with God, rather than a religion. “We don’t teach religion, because a religion is where they set rules for you. ... We want to teach others to have a relationship with God and to know that there is a God of love,” Luciana Perez said. “Our church basically believes in the Son, the Holy Spirit and the Father.” Iglesia Evangelica en Espiritu y en Verdad is one of eight Hispanic churches in Walker County, and they have a prayer service on Tuesday nights at 7:30, a youth service Volume 4, Issue 2

of the professional world, where she feels unwelcome, however. “If you go into stores, you’re always going to meet somebody that’s going to give you a look. You can feel when you’re not welcome somewhere, but it’s not everybody,” she said. More than anything, Rios wants her students to know that they can overcome stereotypes and struggles, just as she has, and become successful as they grow up. “I just want them to know that they can be something. They can be anything they want to be. I want them to feel welcome and to know that they’re equal,” she said. Rios is newly married and she says she’s happy to help children who have made their journey to Alabama, just like she did. For Jose Perez and his family, Walker County has become their home, and their church has outgrown three locations in half a decade. And Cesar Pedraza? He says he never gets tired of having a dining room full of customers, adding that he’s achieved his dream, a chance at new life — one that all Hispanic immigrants want to have. “It makes me feel accomplished, it really does,” Pedraza said with a smile as he reflected on the success of his business. “I can’t complain one bit. I think this is the best place I could have ever found for me to start a family in. ... I feel blessed.” •

on Friday nights at 7:30 and general worship services on Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 11 a.m. “We have seen a huge increase in kids immigrating here by themselves, so we’ve been helping a lot of them, especially with anything they need for school ... anything we can do to help them,” Luciana Perez said. Jose Perez added that Hispanic youth face many pressures. He recalls being pressured to join a gang and drink at a young age when he came to America. “I never did any of that because I had a goal,” he said. “I had a dream for what I wanted to do. I didn’t lose sight of my dream.” Pedraza says he has always relied on faith to get him through difficult times, and his wife, Monica, and their five children, all have a relationship with God. “Me and the kids and my wife, we always have a little thing when we get in the car. We always pray, sometimes when we start leaving the driveway, we start praying,” he said. “We usually pray to our father who art in Heaven, and I explain to the kids that everything you need to know in life is in that little prayer. That little prayer is so powerful because everything you want and everything you need is in that little prayer if you pay attention to it.” Many Hispanics agree that they generally feel welcome in Walker County, and they are happy to call it home. Rios says there are sometimes instances, outside

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From The Story by Jennifer Cohron Photos courtesy of the Daily Mountain Eagle

Walker County at War: January-June 1991

Sadam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait precipitated the Persian Gulf War.

David Hendon of Farmstead Baptist Church prays for troops during a vigil held on Jan. 14.

Walker County churches and businesses showed their support for troops on various signs.

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he jubilation that usually accompanies the start of a new year was tempered in January 1991 by a crisis in the Gulf that had been developing since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. In November, the United Nations Security Council set a deadline of Jan. 15 for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to withdraw from Kuwait. On Jan. 12, with the war clock winding down, more than 80 people who had loved ones serving in the Middle East gathered at the National Guard Armory in Cordova to offer each other support during a time of excruciating uncertainty. On Jan. 14, about 50 people attended “Deadline Prayer Time,” an hour-long prayer vigil at Farmstead Baptist Church. The names of 117 servicemen and women were read aloud and prayed over individually. Students at Parrish Elementary School showed their support for local troops in harm’s way that day by wearing red, white and blue. Hours after the deadline passed, several family members of local soldiers shared their anxieties with the Daily Mountain Eagle. “I’ve cried for the past week, but there’s something about today that’s calm,” said Minnie Tidwell Quinn. Her son, Master Sgt. Charles Tidwell, was serving in Saudi Arabia on his birthday, Jan. 15. “I’m worried about it, but I stand behind him, and I stand behind the president.” Operation Desert Storm officially began Jan. 17 with a massive wave of Allied airstrikes against strategic Iraqi targets. “The debate is over. Our troops are at war,” an Eagle editorial read that day. “ And only as one nation under God can the liberation of Kuwait be achieved. May God help us in the days ahead.” With the nation now at war, patriotic feeling reached a fever pitch in Walker County. American flags and yellow ribbons started appearing at homes and public places. On Feb. 2, approximately 1,000 people attended a rally at the courthouse square organized by several local veterans groups. “It’s nice to know that everyone’s behind them,” said Beth McCandless, whose husband, Michael, was a sergeant in the 318th Chemical Co. of

Greg Harbin of Parrish was the first soldier to return from the Gulf.

Parrish Principal George Harland presents a flag to Army Sgt. Wayne Shepherd at his homecoming in April 1991. The town of Cordova turned out in full force in June 1991 to welcome home 32 members of the 715th Maintenance Company.

Birmingham. “It’s not another ‘Nam. I was afraid it was going to be another ‘Nam.” Saddam Hussein announced Feb. 26 that he had started withdrawing his forces from Kuwait. President George H.W. Bush, in turn, accused Hussein of “trying to claim victory in the midst of a rout” and pledged the war would not stop. At a rally for troops held on the Walker College campus Feb. 27, college President Jack Mott described Hussein as “a classic example of an alligator mouth overloading a Mickey Mouse rear end. I don’t see how his troops could have performed more miserably, and I don’t see how our troops could have performed any better.” 20

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News of a cease-fire reached Walker County in the evening hours of Feb. 27. The Eagle reported that the news was greeted locally with tears of joy and gratitude that no soldiers from the Walker-Winston county area were among the 100 reported U.S. casualties. On March 9, 1st Lt. Greg Harbin of Parrish became the first Walker County serviceman to return home. Harbin was part of the ground assault that freed Kuwait within 100 hours. “He made a million mistakes,” Harbin said of Hussein. “The biggest mistake was that he underestimated American resolve, but he made a lot of military mistakes. They didn’t surrender. They were forced to quit or be killed.” Volume 4, Issue 2

Oakman Mayor Bud Benson and Oakman high school students install a sign to welcome home 15 local servicemen who were in the war.

Local Guardsmen returned from the Gulf just in time for Father’s Day.

Antonio Jackson gets a long-awaited kiss from his wife, Myrtle.

Family members await the return of their loved ones at Fort Benning, Georgia, in June 1991.

leave the region. The Pan-American Airlines flight from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia touched down at Fort Benning, Georgia, at 12:28 p.m. on Saturday, June 8, with approximately 140 members of the 715th aboard. After brief welcome-home remarks from Maj. Gen. James E. “Buddy” Moore, the ropes separating the soldiers from the tear-streaked faces and open arms of their families were lowered, marking the official end of Operation Desert Storm in Walker County. According to the Eagle’s unofficial count, more than 300 men and women from the Walker-Winston county area served in the Persian Gulf during that time. •

Harbin was greeted at Gate B-2 of the Birmingham Airport by his mother, Janice Pleasant, and grandmother, Itera Harbin. “It’s been so hard,” Mrs. Harbin said, summing up the feelings of millions of military families. “I was by the television every day. My mind was always over there.” Individual homecomings continued at a steady pace throughout the months of April and May. Loved ones of soldiers in the Alabama National Guard’s 715th Maintenance Company had to wait until June for their turn to celebrate. The unit, based in Cordova and Wylam, was sent to the Persian Gulf in September 1990 and was among the last American combat units to Winter 2016

The Pan-American Airlines flight carrying members of the 715th Maintenance Company touched down at Fort Benningâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lawson Army Airfield at 12:28 p.m. on June 8, 1991.

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Winter 2016

Sgt. Terry Ford gives his loved ones a thumbs up during a homecoming celebration at Fort Benning, Georgia, in June 1991.

A sea of signs and American flags greeted members of the 715th Maintenance Company upon their return.

Mall workers hang American flags shortly after the start of the war. 24

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Allgreat Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; s creatures and small Story by Jennifer Cohron Photos by Malarie Brakefield

Winter 2016

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Tyler Eads could not have guessed when he was a child helping out on his grandparents’ cattle farm that one day he would be a caretaker of primates, black bears and birds of prey. After graduating from Walker High School in 2004, Eads went to Auburn University with the goal of becoming a science teacher. He soon found a new career path while volunteering at the Southeastern Raptor Center. “I ended up with a job there, and I really enjoyed it. It was something different every day. It was around my second year at Auburn that I decided the animal field was where I wanted to focus,” he said. Before graduating from Auburn with a zoology degree, Eads worked for two years as a student technician at the Raptor Center and gained experience in both rehabilitation and education. According to its website, the Center takes in more than 400 injured or orphaned birds of prey from Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama each year. Once their rehabilitation is complete, the raptors are returned to the wild. Some of those that cannot be released become part of the Center’s popular “Football, Fans and Feathers” educational program, in which hawks, falcons, eagles and other birds of prey are free-flown from towers and around the city’s amphitheater.

Winter 2016

Above: Eads clips the nails of a goat kept in the barn of the children’s area.

Eads first worked with birds of prey such as Aubry (as seen on the cover), a Great Horned Owl, at the Southeastern Raptor Center while attending Auburn University.

Below: Eads holds Wakinyan, a Black Vulture, after a flying demonstration.

Center staff also travel around the state throughout the year leading programs at schools, churches and summer camps. The experience prepared Eads for his future role in the children’s area at the Birmingham Zoo. “I’ve always enjoyed the education side of things. I say that I like to see that ‘aha’ moment. For me, growing up on a cattle and chicken farm, a chicken is just a chicken, but we see a lot of children come through who really get excited about seeing a chicken or a goat. Initiating that passion for our local wildlife is big for me,” Eads said. Alabama ranks among the top five in the nation for biodiversity. The Cahaba River, Alabama’s longest free-flowing river, is counted as one of only eight hotspots of biodiversity in the world. Nature enthusiasts like Eads love seeing people learn to appreciate the wildlife in their own backyards. “Auburn really started that with the education programs that got people excited about seeing a bird fly, whether it was an eagle or

Walker M agazine

screech owl. It’s amazing how popular you get when you put an eagle on your arm. It’s really cool to see the looks on faces of everyone from a three-year-old like my daughter to my grandmother, who is in her 70s and had her first up-close experience with an owl here (at the Birmingham Zoo),” Eads said. His first job after graduating from Auburn was at Chimp Haven Inc., a Louisiana-based nonprofit that serves as the National Chimpanzee Sanctuary. During his time there, it was the home of approximately 120 chimps that had been retired from medical research. “Before that, I had never thought about primates. I was a good old boy from Nauvoo. Moving away was a big step, but I fell in love with it and with the chimps,” Eads said. After a lifetime of being poked and prodded, the chimps were given free rein of several wooded habitats. They were encouraged to swing from trees, build nests and develop normal social hierarchies. Although some were captured in the wild, others were born in captivity, especially during

Volume 4, Issue 2

a time when chimps were heavily bred for HIV research. Making the transition from the laboratory to a natural environment was difficult. “We had some that had never seen grass and wouldn’t touch grass. There are videos of them walking on the walls and the mesh when they’re first brought out. It can take quite a while for them to get comfortable. It takes a lot of encouragement and building a bond with them so that they trust you,” Eads said. Eads, who had already made a transition of his own from the farm to the Raptor Center, described working with chimpanzees as “a leap off a high wall.” “Chimpanzees are probably the most difficult animals to work with. It was eye-opening my first day to see 120 chimps screaming, fighting and throwing. Just their physical ability was awe-inspiring,” Eads said. After less than a year at Chimp Haven, Eads and his young family moved back to Alabama. He accepted a job as a zoo keeper in the children’s area of the Birmingham Zoo. Following stints in the primate and educational departments, he was recently promoted to zoological manager of the children’s area and Alabama Wilds, which highlights species native to the state. Lately, he has been spending a lot of his time in one of the zoo’s newest exhibits, the Barbara Ingalls Shook Black Bear Trail. It is the home of Bety and Sassy, two North American Black Bears who were rescued after being discovered lounging on a porch in Montana. They were brought to the zoo in March because they lost their fear of people and interest in foraging after a resident started feeding them. When Eads isn’t working with the bears, managing staffers or filling out paperwork, he can often be found chatting up some of the thousands of visitors who pass through the children’s zoo barn. If he had followed a more traditional path, he might be working in the coal industry or the nursing field today. Instead, he dreamed big and went far before jumping at the chance to do what he loves closer to home. “It might have been a little easier if I had grown up in Birmingham instead of Nauvoo because the zoo is here and there would have been more volunteer opportunities, but I want kids to know that where you grow up doesn’t matter as much as finding what you want to do and trying hard to make it happen. Never stop working to obtain your goals,” Eads said. • Winter 2016

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Volume 4, Issue 2

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Spotlight:

Industry

Nitto Denko was a pioneering industry — of sorts — in the Bevill Industrial Park in Jasper. The company — headquartered in Osaka, Japan — was the first automotive-based manufacturing supplier to open in the industrial park that’s located between U.S. Highway 78 and Interstate 22. Nitto Denko produces tapes, vinyl, LCDs, insulation and several other products, according to its website. The company was founded in 1918 to produce electrical insulation. Nitto Denko opened in Jasper in December 2003 with 24 employees. Today, the company employs just shy of 90, said Gerry Tuck, a senior manager at Nitto Denko’s operations in Jasper. Tuck has been in Jasper for three years now. 34

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“We’ve actually tripled our sales since 2012,” he said, “and that translated into us basically tripling the number of employees.” Prior to 2012, the company averaged about $500,000 in sales each month. Now, that figure has grown to between $1.2 million and $1.3 million a month in sales. “That’s something to be proud of,” Tuck said. Because of the growth in sales, company officials have explored the notion of expanding the Jasper facility. “We’re waiting for that to come our way,” he said, adding that the expansion could also lead to additional jobs. Deborah Dragoo, a quality supervisor at Nitto Denko, has been with the company since it opened its Jasper operations 12 years ago. She said Nitto Denko’s opening in Jasper was the catalyst for other automotive-based suppliers to locate in Walker County. Volume 4, Issue 2

Kilgore -Green Funeral Home, Inc. “To me, it was a start in the right direction for Walker County in the automotive industry,” she said. “Nitto Denko was the first automotive supplier to open in the industrial park, and that was key to helping us land additional projects since then in the Bevill Industrial Park,” said David Knight, executive director of the Walker County Development Authority. Dragoo agreed. “It definitely didn’t hurt,” she said. “I think it shows there is a stable area for the automotive field in this area.” Knight was instrumental in helping recruit Nitto Denko and persuade company leaders to open shop in Walker County. The company’s willingness to locate in Walker County was huge, Knight said, in that it paved the way for other automotive-based companies to choose Walker County for new facilities. “It was substantial,” Knight said. “They were our first significant automotive supplier to locate in Walker County — and not just Japanese automotive supplier but our first automotive supplier. It seems like that has helped as we’ve worked to recruit additional companies. To have a base of automotive suppliers kind of sends a message that the workforce is here, is available, is trainable and can do the type work that needs to be done to supply the automotive industry.” “They’ve continued to grow and add employees the entire time they’ve been here,” Knight added. “The automotive sector is doing very well right now, and we’re hoping that leads to additional opportunities here in Jasper.” Producing quality parts is a key factor in the company’s success in Jasper, Dragoo said. • Winter 2016

Dell Green, Manager

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january - march 2016

january

King day march for non-violence

The King Day March for Non-Violence to honor and remember Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, message and legacy. The march will begin at A.P. Howell Coke Oven Park and ends with a program at the Percy L. Goode Community Center.

miss walker county outstanding teen pageant & miss walker county scholarship pageant The Miss Walker County Outstanding Teen Pageant will be held at 3 p.m. The Miss Walker County Scholarship Pageant will be held at 7 p.m. Both events will be held at Rowland Auditorium on the Bevill State Community College - Walker College Campus in Jasper. Sponsored by the Pilot Club of Jasper. For more information, contact Linda Thaler at (205) 275-1009.

february

read alabama

Bevill State Community College kicks off the 23rd year of READ Alabama. The annual event will feature local authors Liz Huntley (Feb. 2), Matt Doss (Feb. 16), Jerry Armour (March 1) and Rod Davis (March 15).

rotary trivia night

The Rotary Club of Jasper will host its annual Trivia Night fundraiser at the Community Health Systems Activities Center in Jasper. Teams compete over their knowledge of various topics for prizes and bragging rights.

kiwanis club pancake breakfast

The Kiwanis Club of Jasper will host its annual Pancake Breakfast at Bevill State Community College’s Frances Israel cafeteria. For ticket information, contact any Kiwanis Club member.

march

alabama bass trail

The 2016 Alabama Bass Trail Tournament Series will make its first stop at Lewis Smith Lake. For more information, visit www.alabamabasstrail.org.

Walker M agazine

daylight savings time

Everyone will set their clock’s forward one hour at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March. Remember to also change the batteries in your smoke detectors.

Volume 4, Issue 2

Health...

For Your

November is National Diabetes Month, a time to bring awareness to one of the most prevalent diseases in the U.S. Diabetes affects more than 8% of Americans. In Alabama alone, there are over 450,000 people who have been diagnosed and are living with the disease. Dr. James Barton, an internist at Walker Baptist Medical Center, answers common questions about diabetes risks and self-management.

Diabetes runs in my family. How can I avoid it?

diet plan. Exercising together will help you both maintain a regular exercise program, and hold each other accountable. Plus, it’s a healthy way to spend time together.

Lifestyle modification is the basis of prevention and treatment for diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes can often be avoided with a diet low in simple sugars and sweets, a low glycemic index diet, weight loss, or maintaining a healthy weight with regular exercise.

My son was just diagnosed with Type I diabetes, but all of the advice I can find is for Type II. How is Type I different from Type II? Is there anything that I should do differently for Type I than for Type II?

I’m afraid I might have diabetes. What are some symptoms I need to watch for?

Type 1 Diabetes occurs due to a lack of adequate insulin production in the pancreas. This may happen because of autoimmune factors that affecting the islet cells in the pancreas which produce insulin, or because of trauma or injury to the pancreas. Type 2 Diabetes is due to insulin resistance in the tissues of the body. These patients may have insulin levels that range from normal to high, but their body doesn’t respond normally to insulin.

If you experience excessive thirst and hunger, a feeling of ongoing excessive thirst or hunger, frequent urination, waking multiple time during the night to urinate, and / or generalized weakness and fatigue, you should see a doctor. While these symptoms are not specific to Diabetes Mellitus, they are frequently noted when the blood glucose becomes elevated, which is a warning sign of the disease.

Patients with Type 1 Diabetes must be treated with insulin therapy, and oral therapies are not an effective treatment with insulin. Patients with Type 2 Diabetes can often manage their condition by following a diabetic diet, losing weight and exercising regularly. They may be treated with oral medications, non-insulin injectable medications and with insulin as well, but do not typically require insulin therapy to live.

I have had diabetes for a while but am having a hard time managing it. What do you suggest? It is important to strictly comply with a diabetic diet. Additionally, if you’re overweight, you need to work towards maintaining a healthy weight, including regular exercise. These are the cornerstones of diabetes treatment. Also, be sure to take your medications every day as prescribed. If you’re still having problems, see your doctor.

I have diabetes and want to learn more about managing it. What are some resources you suggest?

My husband has diabetes. How can I help and support him?

Talking to your doctor is the first step. There may also be a comprehensive diabetic teaching program nearby. Walker Baptist offers a great Diabetes Self-Management Education program that is one of the few accredited programs in the state. The American Diabetes Association has a web site with good information and other links for further study on the Internet.

It can be hard to have a spouse that is diabetic, but it can also be hard for a diabetic to have a spouse that isn’t. It is easier to stick to a diabetic diet plan if everyone in the house follows the same eating plan, so meal planning is important. Don’t buy and keep foods in the house that are not part of the diabetic

Do you have a question you would like a doctor to answer? Please email feedback@bhsala.com and you might see it in the next column! If you would like to make an appointment with Dr. Barton, please call (205) 221-6758 or visit baptisthealthalabama.org. Ask the Doc is brought to you by Baptist Health System. Winter 2016

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Walker E-Edition

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NOVEMBER 26, 2015 CHS BUILDING - JASPER

Mason McCain, Rick Meadows, Asa Jordan, Randy Stracner and Zac McGehee

Beth Waldrop, Jessica Johnsey, JoEllen Nunnally, Amy Rowe, Myrtle Sticher, Tammy Rigsby, Teresa Dutton, Susan McGehee and Melissa Richardson

Jim and Billie Hamilton, Martha Holbrook and Margaret Cannon

Scott Goodwin, Cory Kilgore, Brian Junkin, Shawn Hunt, Brenda White and Dennis White

Jeff Burrough

Asking for your support in the 2016 Walker County Commission District 2 Election. Paid political advertising paid for by Jeff Burrough - Carbon Hill, AL.

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Volume 4, Issue 2

Chamber of commerce christmas parade DECEMBER 3, 2015 DOWNTOWN JASPER

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Why I Love Walker County

Scott

McCullar Interview and Photo by Jennifer Cohron

Scott McCullar is the pastor of First Baptist Church of Carbon Hill. A native of Fayette, he earned a bachelor’s degree in religion at the University of Mobile and a Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. McCullar pastored two churches in North Carolina before moving to Walker County in 2007 to lead FBC-Carbon Hill. In addition to his church activities, McCullar writes a monthly religion column for the Daily Mountain Eagle. He and his wife, Suzanne, have three children: Mackenzie, Zak and Nik.

Q: What was your impression of Walker County when you relocated here in 2007? A: Things seemed worse than I remembered as a kid. There seemed to be fewer jobs, fewer opportunities and fewer resources. Economically, it was really a depressed area. Jasper is sort of isolated, but the county as a whole and Carbon Hill especially was hit hard when I got here. I noticed that people just weren’t very happy. There was a real lack of hope. Q: Have you seen that change? A: Absolutely. I think the Walker Area Community Foundation is a remarkable occurrence of people of influence coming together to do some very positive things. Also, two of the greatest ministries that I have ever been part of are the Pregnancy Test and Resource Center and the Mission of Hope in Dora. Those were two tremendous opportunities that nobody seemed to know about when I moved 42

Walker M agazine

here that we latched onto. I still can’t imagine anybody not knowing about those two ministries. Q: How did you try to reach out to the people of Carbon Hill? A: One thing we noticed in Carbon Hill was that there was not a lot of outreach and servanthood ministry done in our city. We began that here. The first thing we ever did was hand out free bottles of water at the homecoming parade. People wouldn’t take our water. They refused it. We then began a hot dog ministry for our Pee Wee football team. The first time we did that, nobody would take our hot dogs. Finally one guy walks up, hangs his head and takes out his wallet. We said, “We don’t want your money.” Our mantra is “We want to show God’s love in a practical way.” So word got around, and we’ve done that for seven years now. We branched out after that and started a local missions week in June. On the Tuesday of that week, I go to Krispy

Kreme and get dozens upon dozens of donuts and we give a dozen donuts to every business in Carbon Hill with no strings attached. Those different kinds of projects that we’ve done are the biggest changes that I have seen in the city. People have warmed to us. They know that we care. Are we perfect? No, but we are outreach-oriented. Q: What are some current unmet needs that you see in the county, particularly in matters of spirituality? A: The people of Walker County are hungry for the Gospel. They’re hungry for good news. Walker County is an unchurched county. There are about 70,000 people in Walker County, 30,000 of which go to church on any regular basis. Those other 40,000 people are not out there hating church. People are hard to religion, but they are not hard to good news. We have found that out here. If you try to show grace and hope and love, people respond to that in a positive way. Volume 4, Issue 2

Upcoming Events:

• Alabama Bass Trail North Division Team (February 27, 2016) • Bassmaster Event 2016 Bass Pro Shops Southern Open #2 (March 31–April 2, 2016)

“Thank You Chamber Investors For Making These Events Possible.”

[ linda@walkerchamber.us ] • [ www.walkerchamber.us ] Winter 2016

204 19th Street East, Suite 101, Jasper, Alabama 35501 | (205) 384-4571

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