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When Alabama Sports Hall of Fame board Chairman Edgar Welden and Executive Director Scott Myers paid Robbie Robertson a visit in the fall, Robertson figured they wanted his ideas for the 2020 induction banquet.

After all, Robertson is founder, president and CEO of the Colonnade Group, which offers event services in the areas of premium seating management, temporary structures, interactive fan events and VIP hospitality experiences. The Colonnade Group’s clients include more than a dozen Division I universities, the nation’s largest collegiate athletic conferences, the NCAA and the College Football Playoff.

But Welden and Myers had something else in mind, and it floored Robertson.

Welden and Myers informed Robertson that he was going to be recognized as the ASHOF 2020 Distinguished American Sportsman.

“They told me I needed to get the distinguished sportsman award and I thought I’d have a heart attack,” Robertson recalled. “I wasn’t looking for anything like that. It took me a while to get over it. I was totally overwhelmed.

“When I look at some of the others who have gotten it like Bob Hope, President (George H.W.) Bush and Charles O. Finley, I don’t travel in that By Emily Williams

Over the course of the pandemic, Brenda Meadows, owner of the Lingerie Shoppe in Mountain Brook Village, and her staff have been packing bags of intimates to provide local health care workers with a bit of comfort.

Through The Comfort Project, the store has assembled and donated more than 210 gift bags to health care workers at UAB Hospital who have worked in the COVID-19 unit.

Inspiration for the project came from Meadows’ membership in Curve, a bi-annual swimsuit and intimates market held in New York City.

As the coronavirus outbreak caused shops throughout the nation to close, Curve began hosting online webinars to support retailers such as Meadows.

“It became an arena for a lot of information and also a lot of sharing with shops all over the country and in Canada,” she said.

It was during one of these webinars that she heard from Larisa Olson, who owns the lingerie shop Chantilly Lace in Illinois. Olson spoke about The Comfort Project, a project she created

‘Totally Overwhelmed’

Robertson in Awe of Distinguished American Sportsman Honor

kind of company. I don’t see myself that way.”

Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the ASHOF held its 52nd annual induction ceremony virtually on Aug. 1. It originally had been scheduled for May 2 at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel. “We all cut a video acceptance,” Robertston said. “I jokingly told Scott I had gotten mine down to 42 minutes. He said that’s all right, they were cutting me off at 4 minutes.” The Colonnade Group

Robertson held a watch party at his home with family and friends for the virtual ceremony. He said he enjoyed seeing all the other inductees in the 2020 ASHOF class, including his close friends Steve Shaw, a football official, and Duane Reboul, the former Birmingham-Southern College basketball coach who is coming out of retirement to be an assistant at Samford University next season.

Also in the class were football player Ronnie Brown, football player and coach Sylvester Croom, Paralympian Doug Kennedy, baseball player Q.V. Lowe, football player and coach Woody McCorvey and baseball player Jorge Posada. Paul Finebaumwas honored as the 2020 that provides bags filled with intimates to local health care workers.

Making the Most of a Bad Situation

Meadows was looking toward the future Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce Market Day, an annual sale in Mountain Brook Village that typically draws a crowd. She knew she would have lower numbers at this year’s event, yet she had a backroom filled see if they would be willing to contribute in some way.

“I approached it with the understanding that what I invested in it I would not recoup,” she said.

Meadows said her staff members were thrilled with the idea and helped launch a social media campaign to reach out to the community for assistance. A $50 donation from a commu

Robbie Robertson

Mel Allen Media Award recipient; Don Hawkins as the 2020 Frank “Pig” House Award recipient; andBrodie Croyle as the inaugural Starr-Sullivan Achievement Award recipient.

“While we are very disappointed that we are not able to honor the Class of 2020 at a banquet, we are very thankful technology allowed us to still induct these sports heroes in a way that is safe for everyone,” Myers said in a statement about the virtual induction ceremony.

Robertson expects the ASHOF to bring the 2020 induction class together in person in 2021. nity member would sponsor a bag, helping cover a small portion of its cost.

While working on the project in June, Meadows also was spending time in the hospital with her late husband,

“I know they are planning to do a little something next year,” Robertson said. “I think we’ll have a reception.”

Building a Career With Passion

A native of Birmingham, Robertson is a graduate of Samford. After serving in the U.S. Army, he began his career in business and later founded the Colonnade Group.

Robertson’s innovative ideas, passion for relationships and ability to build effective management and production teams have led to the Colonnade Group’s reputation as the preeminent provider of custom event management and hospitality solutions in intercollegiate and professional athletics.

Robertson’s love of Birmingham and giving back to his community is reflected through his service. He is president of the Crippled Children’s Foundation Board of Directors and on the boards of the Wedgewood Links to Life Charities, Grandview Medical Center, Children’s Harbor at Lake Martin and the Monday Morning Quarterback Club, where he is a past captain and recipient of the Hall Thompson Distinguished Member

Just a Bit of Comfort During Hard Times Lingerie Shoppe Delivers Comfort Bags to Nurses at UAB Hospital

with items to be marked down. “I realized I could take some of that merchandise I would put on sale under normal circumstances and put it into this project,” Meadows said. She began working on her own iteration of The Comfort Project in April, reaching out to some of her vendors to Journal photo by Jordan Wald

Through The Comfort Project, Brenda Meadows and her team at The Lingerie Shoppe have assembled and donated more than 210 gift bags to health care workers at UAB Hospital who have worked in the COVID-19 unit.

Award. Roger. While hospitalized at UAB, he was treated on two floors whose nurses would become the beneficiaries of The Comfort Project donations.

“I got to talking with many of the nurses and they informed me that they

One of Robertson’s favorite endeavors was coaching basketball in the Birmingham Summer League in the 1980s. He formed several lasting friendships. So, when the Houston Rockets came to Birmingham in October 2018 to play the Memphis Grizzlies in an NBA exhibition game, Robertson reached out to some of the former summer league players.

“I invited some of the guys who had played in the summer league and they came from everywhere, such as Derrick McKey and Robert Horry,” Robertson said. “I couldn’t believe it. It turned into a love fest. Wimp (Sanderson) came and said it was the greatest time he had ever had and Sonny (Smith) said the same thing.”

In 2010, Robertson was inducted into the University of Alabama School of Human Environmental Sciences Hospitality Management Hall of Fame. He is married to Lori Robertson, who works alongside him at Colonnade Group, and they have four children.

“I’m glad the good Lord gave me a business to help other people,” Robertson said. “I’m very appreciative of the honor and humbled because I’m the same guy who started this company that’s now in its 30th year.

“I coached some in the early grades at Mountain Brook and have been active with the Quarterback Club Foundation. It’s just me doing what I do.”

had worked with COVID-19 patients,” Meadows said.

Nurses shared stories of their hardships and heartbreaks while caring for coronavirus patients. Listening to their stories brought a new meaning to the project.

In early July, Meadows and her team delivered 215 bags – for both male and female nurses – to UAB. Each comfort bag was packed with up to $150 worth of items, some even higher.

Men’s bags included Saxx underwear or silk boxers, a pair of socks donated by the Fort Payne-based company Zkano, and both sleep pants and a sleep shirt.

Women’s bags include a nightgown or pajama set, silk panties that Meadows notes are incredibly soft as well as a gift certificate for 20% off a bra with a fitting.

“Hopefully, this can provide them a little bit of comfort at the end of their shifts,” Meadows said.

“This was a project to help shops survive, as well as doing something for the healthcare workers that would be meaningful to them.”

While the bags have been delivered, Meadows added that less than half of them were sponsored by a community donation. Those who wish to contribute to the project still have the opportunity.

O’Neal Library, located in Mountain Brook, was established in 1962. Now Open

Library Get’s New Name, Reopens with Limited Hours

By Emily Williams

On July 13, the Mountain Brook City Council accepted a resolution from the city’s library board and took “Emmet” out of the library’s name, leaving it named O’Neal Library to honor later members of the family who were instrumental in establishing the city’s library system.

The issue surrounding the library’s former name originally was raised by AL. com’s Roy S. Johnson in an opinion article published July 1. The piece provided instances in which former Alabama Gov. Emmet O’Neal displayed a dedication to white supremacist ideals.

The board’s resolution to change the library’s name states, “Recent events in our state and country have turned our attention to opportunities for change and improvement and have challenged us to reconsider some long-held symbols.”

Who Was Emmet O’Neal?

In a brief history of O’Neal published by R. B. Rosenburg in the Encyclopedia of Alabama, Rosenburg wrote, “On race, he reflected the ethos of the times. He was fairer than many of his contemporaries when dealing with racial tensions, but he was strictly a white supremacist in every other area.”

O’Neal was born Sept. 23, 1853, in Florence. He attended what is now the University of North Alabama and the University of Mississippi before graduating from the University of Alabama and moving on to practice law with his father, Confederate Army veteran and former Alabama Gov. Edward O’Neal. Emmet O’Neal served the state legislatively in a variety of ways before also being elected governor. Most notably, he was an at-large presidential elector from the state, a U.S. district attorney and president of the Alabama State Bar Association, according to Rosenburg.

Among O’Neal’s successes as governor was the creation of the Alabama Highway Commission, the passage of laws to protect mine workers and the adoption of education reform measures.

His educational successes included inaugurating a rural school library system.

O’Neal Library was established in

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1962, long after Emmet O’Neal’s death in 1922, by his son and his wife. A library building was donated to Mountain Brook by Elizabeth and Kirkman O’Neal, whose children’s and grandchildren’s continued support has been instrumental to the facility’s success.

“The library would not be what it is today without the commitment of the O’Neal family,” the resolution taken up by the council recently.

It states that the board opted to drop Emmet from the library’s name because of his role in “perpetuating segregation in our state.” But the O’Neal name continues on the building as a means to honor the family’s support of the library throughout its more than 50-year history, it states.

O’Neal Open with Limited Hours

The library is now within its first stage of reopening, offering limited services to the public Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Visitors must limit their visit to one hour, maintain a six-foot distance from others and wear face coverings.

In addition, contactless curbside pick-up of held material will continue to be available Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Other OTM libraries remain limited to curbside service only.

Come see all the new items

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