NEWS
6 • Thursday, July 15, 2021
OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL
George Wright Named Senior Pastor of Shades Mountain Baptist Church Shades Mountain Baptist Church has spent the past 24 years with the Rev. Danny Wood at the helm. But a new senior pastor is coming to the church after Woods’ retirement and will be joining the staff Aug. 16. The Rev. George Wright is joining Shades Mountain from Shandon Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina, where he had pastored for the past four years. Wright and his family traveled to Birmingham June 27 to introduce themselves to parishioners, and he preached at two Sunday services. Following the evening service, Wright and Wood sat down for a “Get to Know You” session, during which Wood spoke about his experiences, his family and his faith. “We could not be any more excited,” Wright said. “What God has done in our family and in our lives these last few months has been a true gift from the Lord. “We are thrilled to join the family here,” Wright added, “and we can’t wait to get started.”
DAVENPORT’S From page one
Introducing a Novel Bite
Davenport’s celebrated its 57th anniversary in May, a testament to the founders who introduced pizza to Birmingham. Rex Hollis developed a love of pizza while traveling for business in the ‘50s and ‘60s. The only issue was that he couldn’t get it in his hometown. According to the Hollis family, Rex noted that there was only one place in Alabama where you could order pizza in those days – Shakey’s. So, he decided to build a pizza palace across the street from his home on Brook Manor Drive in Mountain Brook Village. Rex wanted the name of the res-
Forbes said he spoke with recruiters this past winter and saw a place and a church culture that spoke to his entire family. He said, he envisioned
Photo courtesy Shades Mountain Baptist Church
By Emily Williams-Robertshaw
‘We are thrilled to join the family here, and we can’t wait to get started.’ REV. GEORGE WRIGHT spending many years serving and building on a facility that operates with a solid foundation in the community. “We’re thrilled with the place God has brought us,” Steve Foster, chairman of the pastor search committee, said in a release. “It’s with great anticipation God will continue his work through Shades Mountain Baptist Church under George’s leadership.” After Wright joined Shandon Baptist in 2016, he put racial reconciliation at the forefront of the church’s mission. He said the church sits on an “invisible line” in Columbia that divides a highly affluent community from a low-income area, and the church had a history of catering mainly to
taurant to garner immediate recognition, so he named it after his childhood friend Jim “Peanut” Davenport, a professional baseball player with the San Francisco Giants and native of Siluria. While the name was eye-catching, people in the community didn’t know very much about pizza, and the restaurant was not quick to catch on. Rex and Ardyce would work 90-hour weeks, perfecting their recipes as well as walking pizzas to surrounding neighbors to introduce people to the new dish. Thames grew up spending summers at the restaurant with her grandparents. “My grandmother would take us to the restaurant, and we would play the arcade games and eat in the booths while she worked,” Thames said. “Then, I worked as a server while I was in high school, mostly during the
Making the move to Birmingham with Wright will be his wife of 20 years, Megan, and their four children: Brody, 15; Anna Beth, 13; Everett, 9; and McKenna, 17.
the more affluent side of town. During his tenure, he saw a rise in diversity among parishioners shift from about 95% white to about 80% white and 20% minority. “That has been a tremendous blessing to experience, but it also brings a lot of challenges,” Wright said. “There are a lot of opinions when you start to talk about racial reconciliation and there’s a lot of passion on all sides of this
summers but a little bit during the year.” When Ardyce passed away in 2000, the couple’s daughters Heather Norris and Dianne McDanal began
‘We’re a young family with young children and it’s (Vestavia City Center) the exact kind of place that we would take our kids when we are going out to eat.’ AMANDA THAMES
running the business with Rex until his death in 2009. After her mother’s sudden death in 2010, Thames was asked to join the family business and take over accounting duties, where she worked
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conversation. We have just sought to do everything we could to make sure that the Gospel was the center of that conversation.” Making the move to Birmingham with Wright will be his wife of 20 years, Megan, and their four children: McKenna, 17; Brody, 15; Anna Beth, 13; and Everett, 9. Wright’s first sermon as senior pastor of Shades Mountain is scheduled for Sept. 12.
in tandem with Norris, who passed away in 2019. The restaurant’s recipe for success is a dedication to consistency and tradition, according to Thames. The world around may be ever-changing, but the pizza dough, sauce and house salad dressing remain the same concoctions created by Ardyce Hollis. “Almost everything has remained the same, and we try to keep it that way,” Thames said. “We know that customers have been eating here for decades and we want it to feel the same for them each time they come.”
Second Try in Vestavia
Back in the ‘80s, Davenport’s had a location in Vestavia Hills that was quite successful, but the restaurant had to be closed when the building was sold. “People still to this day ask about the Vestavia Davenport’s and talk about it, so it is exciting to be able to say that we are coming back to Vestavia,” Thames said. The family has been discussing opening a second location for many years, but the pieces to the puzzle had not fallen into place until owners began touring the recently renovated Vestavia City Center. “It is just the perfect fit for us,” Thames said. “We went there a few times while we were exploring it as an option and we were blown away by the atmosphere.” Managed by Crawford Square Real Estate Advisors, the space was overhauled just before the pandemic. A patio area was covered in synthetic turf and outfitted with TV’s and seating to create a community gathering space. “We’re a young family with young
children and it’s the exact kind of place that we would take our kids when we are going out to eat,” Thames said. Thames and her husband, Britt, former member of the Homewood City Council, have two young sons. While the plans are still being developed, there is a clear vision of the atmosphere the Vestavia Hills Davenport’s will offer diners. “We want to keep as much the same as possible,” Thames said. They will be serving up the same menu of salads and handmade pizza dough and sauce piled with toppings in a setting reminiscent of the original location. The original location is known for its walls filled with photos of celebrities and athletes, red vinyl booths, gingham table cloths and decor reminiscent of an Italian cafe, right down to the empty Chianti bottles. “We’re definitely planning on having an arcade area, which our customers want and expect,” Thames said. Just as at the original location, the arcade area will host children’s birthday parties and after parties for Little League baseball teams. “The movie theater is right next door, which is a perfect fit,” Thames said. “A parent can drop of their kids and they can get a pizza and go watch a movie.” The space won’t be an exact replica of the Mountain Brook restaurant; some of the amenities at the city center will offer new dining experiences. “We’ll have that patio, so we will be able offer outdoor seating,” Thames said. “We’re also hoping to have some TVs, so people can enjoy watching sporting events while they are eating.” While details are still in the works, the new location will be opening in 2022.
