May 15 2014

The Suburban Newspaper for Mountain Brook, Homewood, Vestavia Hills, Hoover and North Shelby County

OVER THE MOUNTAIN

inside

JOU RNAL otmj.com

th

ursd ay, May 15, 2014

V ol . 23 #10

Making Art

Pets on Parade: The 2014 Do Dah Day festivities will kick off at 11:01 a.m. this Saturday

about town Page 3

Amped-up Road Trip: Vestavia family shares an international adventure

Accessible

life page 14

New Curators Want to Build on Museum’s Reputation

By Keysha Drexel

T

Journal editor

he Birmingham Museum of Art

recently welcomed two new staff members who say they are excited about taking care of the more than 25,000 objects in the museum’s collection and about making those works of art relevant to residents of the Birmingham area and its visitors.

In December, Robert Schindler came from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to become the new curator of European art at the Birmingham Museum of Art. On May 5, Wassan Al-Khudhairi returned to the U.S. from her job as the co-artistic director at the Gwanju Biennale Foundation in South Korea to take on the job of BAM’s new curator of modern and contemporary art.

Born and raised in Berlin, Germany, Schindler

Wassan Al-Khudhairi and Robert Schindler at the Birmingham Museum of Art. Journal photo by Lee Walls Jr.

See Curators, page 8

Magical Night

Museum Ball Theme Has French Accent

Teen Trendsetters: Young designers shine in Rising Star Challenge

fashion page 30

T Photo special to the Journal

he Birmingham Museum of Art welcomed nearly 400 guests for its 58th annual Museum Ball May 3.

This year’s ball cochairmen, Elizabeth Jernigan and Robin Kidd, drew inspiration from the museum’s current exhibition, Delacroix and the Matter of Finish, and channeled turn of the century Paris for the evening’s theme, La Village Magique.

To kick off the evening, guests enjoyed French 75 signature cocktails in a transformed museum lobby, complete with a replica of L’Arc de Triomphe.

Tom and Elizabeth Jernigan, Brad and Robin Kidd, Bill and Patti Ireland.

See MAGICAL NIGHT, page 18

Twice the Run: Bucs and Patriots sweep to victories in state meet

sports page 34

pedal pushing for camp sam p. 4 • kosher ‘que p. 6 • meet sixth district candidates p. 12 • bus fees delayed p. 13 • summer fashions p. 31

2 • Thursday, May 15, 2014

Opinion/Contents

murphy’s law

Summer Fashion Forecast

I

Looking for cool clothes for hot weather? Search no further.

We asked Over the Mountain boutiques to show us their trendiest styles for summer days and nights. In this issue, you’ll find plenty of ideas for stepping up your style profile. Just call it our fashion-forward heat index.

Fashion page 31

On otmj.com Check out our website for updates on news happening in the Over the Mountain area and see more photos and stories from the best parties in town.

Coming May 29

We’ll hear from a retired UAB professor who has returned to school as a student–and written a book on bullying.

in this issue About Town 3 People 8 news 12 life 14 Health 17

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Stepping Out

It’s 36 steps to the mailbox. Return knew this would happen. Last month, I told you that, like to the house and that’s 72. There are everyone else, I was trying 228 steps involved in refilling the bird to add steps to my daily rounds. feeders if I add a suet cake, 192 if Sadly, this project seems to have not. My birds have gotten a lot of suet gotten a little out of hand. lately.

“Get moving!” the experts said, and I log in 48 steps for each grocery they set out a challenge–10,000 steps store aisle; times 16 aisles, that’s 768 a day. steps. Of course, that means that I have “You’d be surprised,” they continto go down the dog food aisles even ued, “just how many steps you already though I no longer have a dog, but take in a day.” Perhaps, but they might that’s okay. It’s all about the steps. be surprised to see the level of neuroses One lap around the actual track is their challenge has set in motion. I’m 235 steps. That’s also the number of a goal-oriented person, a list maker, a steps it takes to get to my car if I park quantifier. If the task is 10,000 steps, in the middle section. If I move one Sue Murphy then by golly, that’s what they’re going row back, that adds another 10. Each to get. Never mind the fact that I space is four steps, so if I There are 228 steps parking don’t know where the number came park my car in the far end of the from. A step/calorie scientist? Some involved in refilling the parking lot, I could be at 1,000 steps feng-shui step-stride guru? It doesn’t I ever hit the track. bird feeders if I add a before matter. The number is 10,000. It shall I’m taking a risk telling you this not be 9,998, nor 9,997, and 9,996 is suet cake, 192 if not. because if the rest of the step-countright out. Step lively, my friends.

My birds have gotten a ing public latches onto this tactic, My inner caretaker at least I’ll have to fight for my far-flung stepped in to warn me against purlot of suet lately. slot. The spaces around back next chasing one of those step-counting to the dumpsters will be prime real gadgets that you strap to your wrist. estate. Only the woefully uninformed I don’t need an alarm to go off when will park up front, the uninformed and those who have I’m sedentary for too long, like some mental cattle prod. already completed their steps for the day.

I goad myself just fine, thank you very much. There’s I don’t know, but maybe those counter wristbands nothing guilt-inducing you could say to me that I haven’t play some kind of victory song when you reach the already said to myself.

10,000 step goal, maybe some glitzy little lights flash for Nope, no wristband. I resolved to do the counting in the rest of the day. It won’t be long before people will be my head, which is trying desperately now to find space flashing their wrist flashiness, creating a flash and flashfor this continuous computation because there truly are not class division, motivating some computer genius to steps everywhere. Oh sure, I could have simply walked create an app that circumvents the system and makes the around the track until I reached the magic number, but lights flash with no stepping at all. that’s for amateurs. Much more Type A to log in steps Not that I’d buy it. Not at first. while doing actual activities, so you see, I am counting all day long. ALL DAY LONG. I think I need a 12-step program. ❖

social 18 weddings 25 schools 26 fashion 30 Sports 36

OVER THE MOUNTAIN

JOU RNAL

May 15, 2014

Publisher: Maury Wald Editor: Keysha Drexel Features Writer: Donna Cornelius Office Manager: Christy Wald Editorial Assistant: Stacie Galbraith Sports: Lee Davis Contributors: Susan Murphy, June Mathews, William C. Singleton III, Emil Wald, Marvin Gentry, Lee Walls Jr., Bryan Bunch Advertising Sales: Suzanne Wald, Julie Trammell Edwards, Tommy Wald Intern: Taylor Burgess Vol. 23, No. 10

Over The Mountain Journal is a suburban bi-weekly newspaper delivered to Mountain Brook, Homewood, Vestavia Hills, Hoover and North Shelby County areas. Subscriptions for The Journal are available for $24 yearly. Mail to: Over the Mountain Journal, P.O. Box 660502, Vestavia Hills, AL 35216. Phone: (205) 823-9646. E-mail the editorial department at editorial@otmj.com. E-mail our advertising department at ads@otmj.com. Find us on the Web at otmj.com.

Copyright 2014 Over The Mountain Journal, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Journal is not responsible for return of photos, copy and other unsolicited materials submitted. To have materials returned, please specify when submitting and provide a stamped, self-addressed envelope. All materials submitted are subject to editorial review and may be edited or declined without notification.

over the Mountain Views

What’s your favorite thing about summer fashions?

“I like wearing blue jean shorts, gladiator sandals and T-shirts in the summer. That’s my style.”

Haley Cremeans Hoover

“My favorite part is that it means less laundry. I’m not really a fashionista, but I do love sandals in the summer.”

Lauren Shine Vestavia Hills

“I like summer fashions because they’re easy. I love shorts and dresses.”

Kelsey Boswell Hoover

“My favorite part is that it means I get to wear flipflops again. I have the Lindsay Phillips flip-flops that have the interchangeable straps.”

Liz Woodrow Hoover

Thursday, May 15, 2014 • 3

About Town

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Save the Date Hoover

Glue Gun Gang Adult Craft Event May 15, 10:30 a.m.

Hoover Library The Glue Gun Gang will host an adult craft event on “Wordy Wall Art” May 15 at the Hoover Public Library. The free event is for adults only. Reservations are required. The the May 15 session will start at 10:30 a.m. For more information on the Glue Gun Gang, call 444-7840 or visit www.hooverlibrary.org.

Homewood

Health Matters Film May 15, 6:30 p.m.

Homewood Public Library The Homewood Public Library will host a screening of “Food, Inc.” at 6:30 p.m. May 15 in the large auditorium. The film about the U.S. food industry reveals information about what we eat and how it is produced. For more information, visit www.homewoodpubliclibrary.org or call 332-6600.

Pets on Parade

Birmingham

The 2014 Do Dah Day festivities will kick off with a parade for pets and their people at 11:01 a.m. on May 17. Photo special to the Journal

Do Dah Day May 17, 11:01 a.m.

Highland Avenue Area The South’s craziest parade will kick off this year’s Do Dah Day at 11:01 a.m. May 17 at 26th St. South and Highland Avenue on Birmingham’s Southside. The fun will continue at Caldwell and Rhodes parks with pets, arts and crafts, kids’ activities, bands, food and beverages and collectible event T-shirts. All proceeds will benefit Birmingham area animal charities. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.dodahday.org. ❖

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Vestavia Hills

Spring Social and Garden Party May 15, 1:30-2:30 p.m.

Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest OLLI will present the Spring Social and Garden Party at the Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest from 1:302:30 p.m. May 15. Those attending can discuss upcoming OLLI events, meet current and prospective OLLI members and enjoy music and refreshments in the library’s

amphitheater. The event is free. For more information, call 978-4678.

Birmingham

Flicks among the Flowers May 16, 7:30 p.m.

Birmingham Botanical Gardens Flicks among the Flowers will be held at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens May 16 at 7:30 p.m. A classic film from The Gardens’ first decade will be shown on the formal

lawn in front of the newly renovated Conservatory. The 1964 James Bond film “Goldfinger” will be shown.

Couples are encouraged to enjoy food and beverages while viewing a 1960s film under the stars. The event is free and is presented by Lane Parke and also sponsored by the Over the Mountain Journal. Gates open at 6 p.m. For more information, visit www.bbgardens.org.

4 • Thursday, May 15, 2014

About Town

Pedal Pushing

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Pediatric Cancer Survivor Will Bike 75 Miles for Camp SAM

By Keysha Drexel Journal editor

A

dam Quarles said there are likely to be moments in the 75-mile bike ride he will make on May 17 when he will feel he can’t possibly go any farther.

But the Hoover native and Forest Park resident said he will have plenty of inspiration to draw from as he pushes himself to keep pedaling in the annual Ride of Love cycling event to benefit Camp Smile-A-Mile.

“I may get to the point where I feel like I can’t pedal anymore, but what will motivate me will be knowing that I beat pediatric cancer and that there are a lot of other kids who are fighting their own battles with cancer right now,” Quarles said. “I want to give these kids hope that they can beat cancer and keep going.”

Quarles and other cyclists will gather in Tuscaloosa May 17 to embark on a ride to raise money for Camp SAM, a camp for children with cancer. The camp is on Lake Martin in Alexander City.

Those participating in the fundraising event will have the option of completing a 150-mile ride or a 75-mile ride from Tuscaloosa to Camp SAM. For Quarles, 32, riding to Camp SAM on May 17 will be a homecoming of sorts.

Quarles was diagnosed at the age of 2 with rhabdomyosarcoma, a relatively rare form of cancer that attacks the body’s soft tissues and is most commonly seen in children ages 1-5.

“I don’t remember a lot about my treatment, but I do remember getting spinal taps and I vividly remember having to be really, really still when they put me on the table to get the radiation,” Quarles said.

He went through two years of chemotherapy and radiation treatments and went into remission two weeks before his fifth birthday, just a few months after Camp SAM first opened.

“I went to Camp SAM that first year, but I don’t really remember a lot about it because I was so young,” Quarles said. “I do know that it was great for my parents because back then, you didn’t have the Internet and all of these support groups, and that’s still a big part of what Camp SAM does. It also provides support for the families of the kids with cancer because they understand this affects the whole family.”

Quarles said his parents, Robert and Juletta, signed him up for Camp SAM every year until he was about 12 years old.

“They saw how good it was for me and how much I enjoyed it,” Quarles said. “There were other kids who were going through the same thing, and it was a place where we could just be ourselves. It gave me a feeling of belonging.”

That feeling of belonging could be hard to come by outside of Camp SAM, Quarles said.

“When you’re a pediatric cancer survivor or if you are battling pediat-

ric cancer, you can feel very different than everyone at school,” Quarles said.

“You might be shorter than everyone, you might be bald because of the chemo, you might be missing a limb.

Sometimes, you don’t want to have to explain all of that to everyone you meet. That’s why camp was so important. There were people to talk to about those things who would understand it and at the same time, it was okay not to talk about it.”

Quarles stopped going to Camp SAM in the summers when he was about 12 years old and took up golf.

“I got really competitive in golf,

and there are a lot of long-term side effects that we are just now learning about as survivors get older.”

For Quarles, those side effects manifested in several ways.

“I’ve had hormone deficiencies since my early teens, and I didn’t hit a growth spurt until much, much later than my peers,” he said. “The radiation therapy damaged my pituitary gland. It also affected my teeth. I basically never grew any permanent teeth, so now I’m dealing with lots of dental implants.”

Quarles said many pediatric cancer survivors face similar changes long after they have gone into remission.

Adam Quarles will hit the road with other cyclists to raise money for Camp SAM during the annual Ride of Love on May 17. Photos special to the Journal

“Paulette Pearson, the college counselor, did a really good job of encouraging everyone, and she encouraged me to take AP calculus,” Quarles said. “It just clicked with me and got me interested in a career in engineering.”

After graduating from Hoover High School, Quarles earned a degree in mechanical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and took an engineering job in Alaska.

“I got into cycling when I was living in Alaska and did a good bit of riding out there,” he said.

But while Alaska offered plenty of picturesque places to cycle, Quarles,

Camp SAM’s Ride of Love When: May 17, 5:30 a.m. Where: Tuscaloosa IHOP What: Cyclists will ride from Tuscaloosa to the campsite at Lake Martin to raise money for Camp Smile-A-Mile. For more information: Visit www.campsam.org.

Adam Quarles with his father, Robert at Camp SAM. Quarles said his parents, Robert and Juletta, signed him up for Camp SAM every year until he was about 12 years old.

and that took over my summers for a while,” he said.

When he was 13, Quarles started attending Camp SAM’s teen camps.

“Those are some of my favorite memories. We’d go skiing in Gatlinburg or whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River, and it was just a whole lot of fun,” he said. “I made some really great friends during that time.”

Those friendships helped Quarles navigate not only the raging waters of the Ocoee but also the side effects of being a pediatric cancer survivor, he said.

“Just because you beat cancer when you’re a kid doesn’t mean it isn’t going to impact you down the road,” Quarles said. “Pediatric cancer survivors have a lot of complications. The treatments can mess with your hormones, your teeth

“Sometimes you don’t see the full side effects until 20 years later,” Quarles said. “Those things are typically not covered by insurance, so it can be really frustrating.”

Quarles’ cancer treatment also affected him in other ways, he said.

“An oncologist once told my parents that because of the treatments I received, I would have learning disabilities,” he said. “The doctor told my parents I would probably have a hard time in math, so up until I was in high school, I just took the basic math classes, thinking that was the best I could do.”

But when he was a junior at Hoover High School, Quarles took the ACT, and his college counselor noticed that he did very well on the math section of the test.

now an engineer at Southern Nuclear, said he longed to be back home in Alabama.

“I really missed my family and the friends I made through Camp SAM’s Young Adult Retreat. I attended the very first retreat in 2004 but missed it in 2005 because I was studying abroad in France. Then I missed it again in 2006 and 2007 because I was living in Alaska.”

After moving back to Alabama, Quarles said, he got even more involved with the young adult group at Camp SAM. “It’s a wonderful group and support system,” he said. “We support each other when we face challenges.”

And as it turned out, Quarles would need that support system to face another challenge.

After he started experiencing severe headaches, dizziness and nausea in 2009, Quarles’ primary doctor ordered an MRI and discovered a brain tumor.

“It was another gift of pediatric cancer. I had to have two brain surgeries and risked losing my hearing completely. I already had hearing problems in one ear due to the treatments I received as a child, and I was worried that if I had to have radiation for the brain tumor, I would go completely deaf,” he said.

Quarles had his first surgery to remove the brain tumor in November 2009 and then traveled to Duke University for the second surgery in February 2010.

“They were able to get all of the tumor, and I didn’t have to have radiation,” he said.

Quarles said it was during his latest health battle that he learned the true value of the friendships he made through Camp SAM. “Back when I had the brain tumor, it was my friends from the Young Adult Retreat who were among the most supportive and encouraging,” he said. “It was really moving to receive so many cards, phone calls and encouraging emails.”

While he was going through the treatment for the brain tumor, Quarles said he had a lot of time to reflect on his medical history and the struggles children with cancer face each and every day.

“I had just turned 28 and had no idea if I would be alive at 29, and it got pretty bad at one point after my second brain surgery,” Quarles said. “I had complications where the nerves that controlled my speech weren’t working so I wasn’t able to talk, and at the same time, I was going through intense nausea for about four days.”

During one of his darkest hours in the hospital in North Carolina after the brain surgery, Quarles said, his mind turned to the children he knew were going through their own pain in hospital beds in Alabama.

“I was going through pure hell, but I told myself that I had already beat cancer once and that there were kids out there who were going through a lot worse at that moment, and I knew I would make it,” he said.

Quarles said his experience inspired him to become a counselor at Camp SAM in 2012 and has motivated him to do all he can to raise money so that more pediatric cancer patients and survivors can experience what he did as a camper.

“I see all the inspiration and motivation I need to accomplish anything when I volunteer at the camp sessions,” he said. “Some of the kids can barely walk and sometimes you have to carry them, but they keep going.”

The 2014 Camp SAM Ride of Love will start at the IHOP in Tuscaloosa at 724 Skyland Blvd. at 5:30 a.m. May 17. For more information, visit www. campsam.org. ❖

About Town

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Thursday, May 15, 2014 • 5

Save the Date Cont.

Mountain Brook

Arthur Price Solo Show May 15, 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Gallery 1930 Alabama artist Arthur Price will unveil his new works at Gallery 1930 in English Village in Mountain Brook May 15. The event is from 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Gallery 1930 is at 1930 Cahaba Road. For more information, Arthur Price visit www. artgallery1930.com or call 870-1930.

North Shelby

XTERRA Southeast Championship May 17-18 Oak Mountain State Park XTERRA returns to Oak Mountain State Park for the 2014 XTERRA Southeast Championship May 17-18.

The full-distance championship race includes a 1.5-kilometer swim, a 30-kilometer mountain bike ride and a 10K trail run. Participants can race individually or as a relay team. There will also be a sprint race with shorter distances on a less demanding course.

Paul Mitchell stylists will be on site giving professional haircuts in exchange for a $15 donation to the Challenged Athletes Foundation. Race registration is $20-$55. For more information, visit www.xterraplanet.com or call 877-XTERRA-1.

Birmingham

Wild South Event May 15, 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Avondale Brewing Company Avondale Brewing Company will host a fundraiser for Wild South’s Volunteer Wilderness Ranger program from 5:30-8:30 p.m.

May 15 at 201 41st St. South, Birmingham.

The benefit will feature a raffle and music from Ben Trexel and Friends, Ben Walker, Amacio Favor and Krymson Wyte.

Ben Trexel The event will raise money for first aid training among the volunteer ranger corps of Wild South. Wild South seeks to protect and preserve Southern wilderness areas and was formed in 2007 from a merger of grassroots environmental organizations.

Tickets are $5. For more information, visit wildsouth.org or call 919-5466.

Birmingham

Zoo Run 2014 May 17, 7:30 a.m.

Birmingham Zoo Run wild through the Birmingham Zoo to raise money for African painted dogs at the ninth annual Zoo Run 5K May 17. All participants will receive free admission to the zoo and the chance to purchase discounted admission tickets for family members on the day of the race. Registration begins at 6:30 a.m.

The 5K starts from the zoo’s parking lot at 7:30 a.m. There will be a Turtle Trot for children 2 and younger at 8:15 a.m. and the Chicken Cha-Cha for ages 3-4 at 8:25 a.m. The Skunk Scurry for ages 5-7 is at 8:35 a.m., and the Serval Sprint for ages 8-12 starts at 8:45 a.m. There will be an awards ceremony at 9 a.m. in the Trails of Africa area of the zoo. For more information, call 879-0409 or visit www.birminghamzoo.com.

Birmingham

UAB Piano Day May 17, 10 a.m.

Alys Stephens Center UAB Piano Day will be May 17 at Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall at the Alys Stephens Center. Piano Day will kick off at 10 a.m. with a master class with Yakov Kasman, professor of piano and artistin-residence at UAB. Participation Yakov Kasman is open to any intermediate or advanced level student.

The polyphonic music festival “Bach and Friends” will start at 2 p.m. Students of any age and level and piano teachers are invited to perform. One memorized polyphonic piece by Bach or any other composer is acceptable. Both events are free and open to the public. For more information, email tkasman@uab. edu.

The 30-Minutes-or-Less E.R. Service Pledge.

Emergency medicine is about three things: compassion, skilled care and speed. You’ll find these at Trinity Medical Center. The experienced E.R. physicians and the entire team are committed to working diligently to have you initially seen by a clinical professional* within 30 minutes of your arrival. If you need an E.R. fast, try our fast E.R. Once you do, you won’t want to go anywhere else. For more information, visit TrinityMedicalOnline.com.

*Clinical professional is defined as a physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911.

63277_TRIN_ERpldg_10x6c.indd 1

6/26/12 4:53 PM

6 • Thursday, May 15, 2014

About Town

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Birmingham

Opera Competition May 17, 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

Hulsey Recital Hall Opera Birmingham will host the 36th annual Opera Competition May 17 from 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. at Hulsey Recital Hall at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The event will feature 20 outstanding young singers competing for more Nicholas Pallesen than $10,000 in cash prizes and performance opportunities. Nicholas Pallesen won last year’s competition.Admission is $25. Hulsey Recital Hall is at 950 13th St. South. For more information, visit operabirmingham.org or call 322-6737.

Vestavia Hills

Taste for Education May 17, 6-8 p.m.

Old Overton Club Liberty Park will host the Taste for Education from 6-8 p.m. May 17 at Old Overton Club, 7251 Old Overton Club Drive. The wine and beer tasting event will feature heavy hors d’oeuvres and live music and will benefit Liberty Park Elementary and Liberty Park Middle School. Tickets are $50. A limited number of tickets are available. Tickets are available at the Liberty Park HOA office and the Liberty Park front desk at 8000 Liberty Parkway. For more information, visit www.libertypark.com, call 945-6430 or contact Dee Kirkland at dkirkland@libertypark.com.

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal Hoover

The Story of a Birmingham Jazz Man May 18, 2:30 p.m.

Hoover Public Library The Hoover Public Library will present local jazz legend Frank “Doc” Adams and author Burgin Matthews as they trace Birmingham’s jazz history through storytelling and musical performances. They will also sign copies of their book, “Doc: The Story of a Birmingham Jazz Man,” after the performance. For more information, visit www.hooverpubliclibrary.org or call 444-7800.

Homewood

Birmingham Boys Choir Spring Concert May 18, 4-5:30 p.m.

Covenant Presbyterian Church The 36th annual Birmingham Boys Choir Spring Concert will be from 4-5:30 p.m. May 18 at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 65 Old Montgomery Highway in Homewood. This will be the choir’s final concert of the season and will feature sacred music. The event is free. For more information, visit www. birminghamboyschoir.com or call 7679219.

Birmingham

Friends of Red Mountain Park Hike May 18, 2-4 p.m.

Red Mountain Park Friends of Red Mountain Park will present a History Hike from 2-4 p.m.

May 18. The moderate 2.5-mile hike along the Ike Maston Trail will take hikers along the natural and manmade folds of Red Mountain. Hikers will learn about the nearby mining camps and the stories and artifacts collected through the park’s oral history and archaeology

Kosher ‘Cue

program. Participants should meet at the park entrance, 2011 Frankfurt Drive, Birmingham. The event is free. For more information, visit www.redmountainpark. org.

Birmingham

Family Tours May 20, 10:30-11:30 a.m.

Birmingham Museum of Art The Birmingham Museum of Art will offer free drop-in family tours from 10:30-11:30 a.m. May 20. Participants will join museum educators to explore the galleries in a fun, interactive experience. After the tour, participants can visit Bart’s ArtVenture to create art projects inspired by the tour. Guests should meet in the museum’s main lobby. For more information, visit www. artsbma.org/events or call 254-2565.

Homewood

Learning to Live with Wild Neighbors May 20, 6:30 p.m.

Homewood Public Library The Homewood Public Library will present Learning to Live with Wild Neighbors with David Dionne at 6:30 p.m. May 20 in the large auditorium.

Dionne, executive director of Red Mountain Park, will address the facts and fiction behind the animals that might be encountered in Homewood. Learn about coyotes, fox, squirrels, rabbits, feral mammals, reptiles, birds and more.

This program is a joint presentation of the Homewood Police Department, the library and Red Mountain Park.

For more information, visit www. homewoodpubliclibrary.org or call 3326600.

North Shelby

Healthcare in Retirement May 27, 6:30 p.m.

North Shelby Library Jeris Burns Gaston from Bridgeworth Financial will host the second installation in a series of seminars on financial management strategies for retirement at the North Shelby Library May 27 at 6:30 p.m. Gaston will discuss how to manage healthcare expenses and options in retirement. Dinner will be served.

Reservations are due by May 23. The event is free. For more information, visit www.northshelbylibrary.org or call 4395500.

Homewood

Birmingham

Cook teams are prepping for the fifth annual When Pigs Fly! Kosher BBQ Cook-off and Festival at the LJCC May 18. From left: Jimmy Krell, Howard Bearman, Mack Krell, Ethan Krell and Seth Wolnek. Photo special to the Journal

When Pigs Fly! Kosher BBQ Festival May 18, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Levite Jewish Community Center Temple Beth-El Birmingham will host the fifth annual When Pigs Fly! Kosher BBQ Cook-off and Festival from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. May 18 at the Levite Jewish Community Center on Montclair Road. The event will feature two dozen teams competing in categories including barbecue chicken, brisket, baked beans and booth décor. Food for the event is prepared under kosher supervision, allowing all from the Jewish and Muslim communities to enjoy the festival.

Celebrity judges will select the best entries in each category. Visitors may also sample each team’s recipes by purchasing a ticket for the People’s Choice Award. Other freshly made kosher foods will include pulled chicken and brisket plates and sandwiches, side dishes, desserts and drinks. The event will also include a kids’ zone play area, a bull-riding activity, a pickle eating contest and more. All proceeds will support the Temple Beth-El Religious School and Youth Program. For more information, visit www.whenpigsflykosherbbq.com. ❖

Worship Renewal Workshop May 27, 3:30-6:30 p.m.

Trinity United Methodist Church Acclaimed Scottish Christian musician John Bell will lead a workshop on congregational worship renewal May 27 at Trinity United Methodist Church in Homewood. The workshop will run from 3:30-6:30 p.m. in two separate sessions. Bell, 63, is a member of the Iona Community, a worldwide group founded in Scotland in 1948. Bell will talk about how the Holy Spirit moves, challenges, encourages and changes worshipers, especially through the gift of music. Trinity UMC is at 1400 Oxmoor Road. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www. trinitybirmingham.com or call 879-1737.

Hoover

Iron Giant Percussion May 29, 6:30 p.m.

Hoover Public Library The Hoover Public Library will host a performance by Iron Giant Percussion at 6:30 p.m. May 29. The four-piece

percussion ensemble uses traditional drums as well as found objects like soda bottles, brake drums and propane tanks to make music. The event is free. For more information, visit www. hooverlibrary.org or call 444-7821. hoover

Show & Go May 31, 1-6 p.m.

Hoover Met Shelby County’s Show & Go antique and classic car event’s swap meet and food truck rally will be at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium from 1-6 p.m. May 31. Vendors featuring a variety of crafts,

piano for pats

Thursday, May 15, 2014 • 7

About Town

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

information and classic car materials will set up shop at the Hoover Met. Food will be available from several different food trucks. Winners of the classic car competition will be announced. The event is open to the public and free to spectators. Classic car registration is $50. The event benefits SafeHouse of Shelby County. For more information, email erinb@safehouse.org or call 3782922.

Hoover

Ross Bridge Spring Market May 31, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Ross Bridge Welcome Center The annual Spring Market at Ross Bridge May 31 will host vendors selling fresh-picked local produce, honey, handmade jams and jellies, artisan and specialty products and regional crafts. There will also be activities for kids, music and more. The event is from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Ross Bridge Welcome Center, 2101 Grand Ave. in Hoover. For more information, call 9510412.

complaints found in Southern folk medicine. Weather permitting, a portion of the class will be held in the native plant area. The class is $30 for members and 35 for non-members.

Parking is free. For more information, visit www.bbgardens.org or call 4143950.

an event from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. May 31. The event will feature inflatables, refreshments, games, face painting and more. No registration is required. The event is free, and all ages are welcome.

The library is at 5521 Cahaba Valley Road. For more information, visit www. northshelbylibrary.org or call 439-5550.

North Shelby

Birmingham

Summer Reading Kickoff May 31, 10 a.m.- 1 p.m.

North Shelby Public Library The North Shelby Library will kick off its summer reading program with

Summer Art Camp June and July Birmingham Museum of Art The Birmingham Museum of Art will host summer art camps for students

of all ages in June and July. The Young Artists camp for students in grades 3-5 will be June 16-20 and June 23-27. The Little Masters camp for students in kindergarten through the second grade will be July 7-11 and July 14-18. The Summer Academy camp for grades 6-12 will be July 21-25. For more information or to register, visit the education department at education@artsbma. org or call 254-2571. ❖ Send About Town news to: editorial@otmj.com

Samford University

Birmingham

The Davis Piano Quartet will perform at a concert to benefit Homewood High School graduates on May 25 at Samford University’s Brock Recital Hall.

Old Thyme Herbal Remedies of the South May 31, 12:30-4:30 p.m.

Birmingham Botanical Gardens Learn about herbal remedies of the South from 12:30-4:30 p.m. May 31.

The event will feature a presentation on common remedies for common

Photo special to the Journal

Homewood

Davis Piano Quartet Concert May 25, 3 p.m.

Samford’s Brock Recital Hall Homewood Rotary Club members will once again present the popular Davis Piano Quartet in a benefit gala to support the club’s Education Foundation. The quartet’s “Music for Two Pianos, Eight Hands” performance will be May 25 at 3 p.m. at Samford University’s Brock Recital Hall. Tickets are $35 general admission or $50 patron admission.

Patrons receive reserved seating and listing in the printed program.

For tickets, contact any Homewood Rotary club member or club president Josh Carnes at josh.carnes@ wellsfargoadvisors.com or 4142171. The event raises money for college scholarships for outstanding www.18thstreetorientals.com Homewood High School AKA OMJ Locker Lookz graduates.

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Great Ideas Summer Institute

When: July 6–12 or July 13–19 What: Five-day program gives students the opportunity to engage in lively discussions with faculty members and other exceptional high school students Website: www.samford.edu/fellows/greatideas

Quantitative Finance Summer Institute When: July 6–12 or July 13–19 What: Five-day seminar allows students to study the mathematical and analytical methods used in modern finance Website: www.samford.edu/fellows/greatideas

Minority Youth Science Academy When: July 6–9 What: Three-day program offers college preparation and mentoring for outstanding minority students with an interest in the sciences Website: howard.samford.edu/mysa

Summer Debate Institute When: June 22–July 5 What: Two-week program emphasizes 21st century debate skills led by a national-caliber staff Website: www.samford.edu/debate

Imagine! Summer Camps

When: June 2–6 and 9–13 What: Two-week camp gives students the chance to plan, create and participate in a production of The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood Website: www.samford.edu/arts/theatre/imagine.aspx

Piano and Chamber Music Institute

When:June 8–14 What: One-week program gives students the opportunity to further their performance abilities while increasing general knowledge of music Website: www2.samford.edu/piano/opus14

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8 • Thursday, May 15, 2014

curators, From page one

got his first introduction to the U.S. and the American South when he was an exchange student in West Virginia during high school. He returned to the States while pursuing his doctorate and worked in the manuscript department at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

Schindler held a postdoctoral curatorial fellowship in the department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters at the Met. “The Met has a lot of curators, so

cover story

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

to get a full-time position there, you kind of have to stand in line,” he said.

Schindler said he jumped at the chance to join the Birmingham Museum of Art. “The museum has one of the best collections in the Southeast, and for a regional museum, the resources are extraordinary,” he said. “We have a lot of support in the community, and all of that makes for a really, really attractive package.”

Schindler said that Gail Andrews, the museum’s director, is very well respected both in the U.S. and abroad.

“That helps a lot when you are trying to put together an exhibition like Wassan Al-Khudhairi, above is the new curator of modern and contemporary art at the Birmingham Museum of Art. Robert Schindler, right is the new curator of European art at the Birmingham Museum of Art. Journal photos by Lee Walls Jr.

the Delacroix,” he said.

Through May 18, the Birmingham Museum of Art is hosting the first Eugène Delacroix exhibition in the U.S. in more than a decade. The museum is one of only two venues to host “Delacroix and the Matter of Finish,” which represents works of collections from around the world, including Paris, Switzerland, Madrid and New York.

“With this exhibition, we had very precious objects coming here on loan from all over the world,” Schindler said. “The museum has the reputation that we will take very good care of these works of art, and that means a lot.”

Schindler said the support the

museum receives from local corporations shows that it benefits the community.

“To have an institution like PNC Bank supporting us speaks to the fact that we are doing important things here at the museum,” he said. “The corporations and individuals wouldn’t be supporting us if they didn’t see a benefit.”

Schindler, who has worked in the European Art Department at the Detroit Institute of Arts, said a vibrant, healthy art scene is important to any city’s economy.

“When people are trying to convince other people to move to a new place or to open a business in a new city, they shop around to see what a

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city offers, and they inevitably make a stop at the museum,” he said. “It’s the cultural assets like the museum, the (Alabama Symphony) orchestra, the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and the zoo that attract people to this area, and it’s what attracted me.”

Schindler, 38, and his wife, Ann Trondson, live in the Highland Park area with their 2-year-old daughter, Clementine.

“In talking with people from companies that support the museum, they know that the cultural opportunities here are a major factor in bringing in new businesses to Birmingham,” Schindler said. “Birmingham may not be a major tourist destination, but institutions like the museum attract young, creative people and help convince them to move here and to do business here.”

Schindler said he thinks the museum’s educational programs also enrich the community.

“Your life can be enriched by art, and the earlier you are exposed to it, the better. That’s why our educational activities and programs are so important,” he said.

Schindler said one of the museum’s goals is to make sure everyone in the community takes advantage of all it has to offer.

“We want people to feel comfortable in the museum,” he said. “Museums can sometimes have this elite feel to them, and we’re trying to avoid that as much as possible.

It’s not about how you’re dressed.

It’s about taking advantage of the free admission and coming in and browsing or letting us help guide you through the collection.”

The museum’s free admission is something Al-Khudhairi said she loves about it.

“I don’t think people realize how cool that is,” the 33-year-old native of Iraq said. “Most of the museums in the U.S. charge $15 or $20 just to get in the door, and here in Birmingham, we have this wonderful museum that is completely accessible and free.”

Last week was Al-Khudhairi’s first week on the job as the curator of modern and contemporary art, but it wasn’t her first introduction to the Birmingham Museum of Art. “I did my undergraduate studies at Georgia State University and visited the Birmingham Museum of

Art when I was a student,” she said.

“I’ve always been impressed with its collection.”

Al-Khudhairi earned a master’s degree in Islamic Art and Archaeology format the School of

Thursday, May 15, 2014 • 9

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Oriental and African Studies at the University of London and served as the founding director of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Qatar.

In Qatar, Al-Khudhairi spearheaded the development of the museum’s

Museum Connects with Community The Birmingham Museum of Art was founded in 1951 and has a collection of Asian art that is considered by many as the finest and most comprehensive in the Southeast.

Other highlights in the collection include Vietnamese ceramics, the Kress collection of Renaissance and Baroque paintings, sculpture and decorative arts dating back to the 13th century and a world-renowned collection of Wedgwood, the largest outside of England.

Not only does the Birmingham Museum of Art have a collection of more than 25,000 objects representing a rich panorama of cultures, it also has a strong educational program designed to make the arts come alive for children and adults, museum officials said.

The museum strives to connect with the community through educational programs and curated exhibitions that engage, entertain and enlighten visitors with programs designed around the permanent collection and changing exhibitions.

In an effort to address declining arts education in schools, the museum partners with and conducts programs at schools, libraries, parks, cultural organizations and community service agencies in the Birmingham metro area.

The museum currently has programs at Avondale Elementary, Hayes K-8, Hemphill Elementary, Horizons School, Robinson Elementary, South Hampton K-8, Sunshine School at Children’s of Alabama and Robinson Elementary School.

Additionally, the museum partners with the Avondale, Birmingham Central and Springville Road public libraries and Birmingham-Southern College, Samford University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham for community outreach projects.

Museum officials said the generosity of the city of Birmingham and other private and municipal funders has allowed for free admission to the museum since its opening.

For more information on the Birmingham Museum of Art and upcoming events there, visit www.artsbma.org. ❖

strategic plan and cultivated community relationships to support it.

She said she has many of the same goals with her job at the Birmingham Museum of Art. “I’m very excited about deepening our relationships in the community, and in talking with the museum leadership, I was really encouraged that there’s an interest in expanding the global approach to the museum’s collection,” she said.

Al-Khudhairi said she is not only thinking about the future of the

museum’s contemporary art collection in a global way but is also focusing on its future in the Southeast.

“I think we have the ability to attract attention from our neighbors in Atlanta and Chattanooga and other places in the region and let more people know about the incredible collection at the Birmingham Museum of Art,” she said. “I think it could also extend beyond the region, because people are curious about the South and about Birmingham, and we have a chance to show the world what we

have here.”

Like Schindler, Al-Khudhairi said she thinks one of the most important things about the Birmingham Museum of Art is the opportunities it offers to its visitors.

“Art can play an important role in helping people understand and experience the world in a different way. It can help us learn about each other,” she said. “And art is also just fun, so to have a wonderful institution like this as part of the fabric of the city is important.” ❖

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people

Eagan Brothers Achieve Eagle Scout Rank

OUR 117TH YEAR

Three members of Boy Scout Troop 63 recently reached the rank of Eagle Scout.

Preston Oliver Eagan, John Gill Eagan and George Weston Eagan, Mountain Brook High School juniors, received the honor at Canterbury uggage usiness ases ifts United eather oods andBags Methodist Church.

Troop 63 is lead by Harold 2712 19th Street South, Homewood Wells Jr. They are the (1 Block North of SOHO) • 870-0971 Preston Eagan sons of Kendall Monday-Friday: 10AM - 6PM • Saturday: 10AM - 5PM and Tom Eagan and the grandsons of June and John Eagan of Mountain Brook and Mary Hughes and the late George M. Hughes, also of Mountain Brook.

As Boy Scouts, the brothers earned several merit badges and served in many leadership positions. They attended high adventure camps at Sea Base in the Ken Rosenberger Florida Keys.

Preston Over The Mountain Journal, 205-823-9646 ph., completed his 205-824-1246, fax Eagle Scout May project for the Changed This is your aD pROOF from the OveR The MOunTain JOuRnal for the May 15, 2014 issue. please fax approval or changes to 824-1246. Lives Christian Center.

Preston constructed picnic John Eagan tables and

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landscaped a recreational area near the Center’s worship area, called The Nest. Residents of the Center and area homeless gather on Sunday evenings at The Nest for fellowship and dinner.

At Mountain Brook High School, Preston is a member of the Interact Club and the football team.

Outside of school, Preston is a member of the Junior Board of the Coastal Conservation Association and has served as a retreat leader for Big Time Ministries.

John was elected into the national honor society for scouts and also received the Order of the Arrow.

George Eagan John completed his Eagle Scout project for the Changed Lives Christian Center.

He constructed a horseshoe pit and wooden picnic table near the Center’s worship area.

At Mountain Brook High School, John is a member of the Interact Club and the varsity baseball and football teams.

Outside of school, John is a member of the Junior Board of the Birmingham Chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association.

George completed his Eagle Scout project for the Changed Lives Christian Center. He constructed 12 wooden park benches for use at The Nest.

George completed his project at the Changed Lives Christian Center after encouragement by a family friend who volunteers regularly at the center.

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

At Mountain Brook High School, George is a member of the Key Club, varsity football team, National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society.

Outside of school, George is a member of the Junior Board of the Coastal Conservation Association.

Allie Achieves Eagle Scout Rank with Troop 28 A Mountain Brook resident was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout Feb. 23.

Austin Scott Allie, a Mountain Brook High School senior, received the award at his Court of Honor at Independent Presbyterian Church, which sponsors Boy Scout Troop 28.

For his Eagle Scout service project, Allie constructed 15 clothing racks for Sweet Repeats, a semiannual consignment sale held by Mountain Brook Community Church.

Proceeds from Austin Allie the sale help the church fund mission trips.

As a Scout, Allie has earned many awards, including 23 merit badges, the Polar Bear award, the Lifeguard award, the Mile Swim award and the 50-Miler award.

He is also a member of the Order of the Arrow, the Boy Scouts’ national honor society.

In 2011, Allie participated in a trip to Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, N.M. During the trip, he was chosen as Crew Leader by his fellow Scouts.

Allie served as assistant quartermaster, quartermaster, assistant patrol leader, patrol leader and junior assistant scoutmaster for Troop 28.

Outside of Scouts, Allie is a pole vaulter on the Mountain Brook High School Spartans’ varsity track team.

He has also been an employee at Altadena Valley Animal Clinic for three years.

He is a member of Mountain Chapel United Methodist Church.

After graduation, Allie said he plans to study engineering at either Auburn University or the University of South Alabama, where he has been awarded a full academic scholarship.

He is the son of Brian Allie and Liesa Harkey Allie of Mountain Brook. His grandparents are O.R. and Anita Harkey of Navarre, Fla., formerly of Vestavia Hills, and Harriett Hilton of Montgomery.

His older brother, Brandon Allie, became an Eagle Scout in 2011.

OTM Students Inducted into Phi Kappa Phi Several Over the Mountain residents were recently inducted into the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines.

The students were initiated into the Phi Kappa Phi honor society at the University of Alabama.

The new Phi Kappa Phi members at UA include Kevin Canada, Anne Pell and Frances Tucker of Mountain Brook; Laura Smith, Randi Kirkland, Megan Sweatt, Mary McGarity, Melissa Hyche,

Rachel Rivers, Brett Basham, Rachel Frost and Rachel Midkiff of Hoover; and Karolyn Perry, Rebecca Guindon, Andrew Roark and Daniel Brown of Vestavia Hills.

These students are among approximately 32,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year.

Membership is by invitation and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors, having at least 72 semester hours, are eligible for membership.

Barnett Named Student Employee of the Year A Vestavia Hills resident has been named Samford University’s 2014 Student Employee of the Year Bob Barnett, a senior computer science major who works in the reference department of the Samford library, was recognized at a special ceremony April 17. He received a $200 cash award and other gifts presented

by Andrew Westmoreland, Samford president.

As a reference student assistant since 2011, Barnett Bob Barnett helps staff

the reference desk, shelves books, processes government documents and items for interlibrary loan and delivery, does data entry, pulls books and photocopies materials.

The honoree “does what he says he will do, often going above and beyond his regular tasks,” said his nominators, Samford reference department librarian Stephanie Rollins and interlibrary loan specialist Gail P. Barton, adding that he is a tremendous “team player” and a strong leader who is professional and pleasant.

Barnett was cited for exhibiting a rare combination of dedication, caring, speed and accuracy that has enabled him to produce a very high volume of work while maintaining a heavy student course load and high standards for quality.

“He is a spectacular mentor with newly-hired students, giving them tips about what to watch for or little things to do in order for tasks to go more smoothly,” Rollins said. “Completing tasks in a matter that surpasses expectations regularly, he tackles repetitive or mundane task with gusto, believing that a job well done is the best reward.”

Barnett, the son of Sharon and Scott Barnett, is a graduate of Shades Mountain Christian School.

He will now compete for regional and possibly national honors in a program sponsored by the National Student Employment Association.

More than 900 Samford student employees have served during the 2013-14 academic year.

Send people news to: editorial@otmj.com

Three members of Boy Scout Troop 4 recently achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. From left: Trey Turner, Matthew Perley and Rob McClain.

Photo special to the Journal

Troop 4 Members Become Eagle Scouts Three members of Boy Scout Troop 4, based out of Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church, recently achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.

A Court of Honor ceremony was held May 4 for Matthew David Perley, Gordon (Trey) Gerald Turner III and Robin (Rob) McClain White.

All three are members of the troop’s Dragon Patrol and are residents of Vestavia Hills.

Perley is the son of David and Sharon Perley, Turner is the son of Bo and Jamie Turner and White is the son of Brunson and Dell White.

To achieve the highest Boy Scout rank, Perley, Turner and White had to earn at least 21 merit badges each and complete a community project.

Thursday, May 15, 2014 • 11

people

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

For his project, Perley built tables for Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church.

Turner’s project was building a space that will be used as a dodge ball court at the church. White’s project included building a 10x12 storage building at Lakeshore Foundation for the Lima Foxtrot program for injured veterans.

OTM Residents Win Alumni Awards The Birmingham Georgia Institute of Technology alumni group recently honored two Over the Mountain residents.

Bruce Grasso of Hoover, a 1972 graduate of Georgia Tech, and Keavy Quigley of Vestavia Hills, a 2006 Georgia Tech graduate, were honored with the alumni group’s 2014 Outstanding Alumni Award.

Grasso is retired from the University

of Alabama at Birmingham Health System, where he was manager of industrial engineering. He is the Grand Knight of the First Degree Team of the Knights of Columbus Council 11537 at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Hoover and is also the Third Degree Team coordinator for the Birmingham area and the emergency response coordinator for Council 11537.

Grasso has taught Confirmation classes at Prince of Peace for 15 years and is currently the Eucharist minister, providing Communion service each month at the Galleria Woods senior living facility.

Quigley is the engineering supervisor at Alabama Power’s Plant Miller, where she is responsible for oversight of large capital outage projects and the performance management of project engineers.

Quigley moved to Birmingham in 2009 and soon after became involved with the Georgia Tech Birmingham Network. In 2010-11, she served as secretary for the Birmingham Network and in 2011-12 was the group’s vice president.

Quigley also has been heavily involved with co-op and new graduate recruitment on campus at Georgia Tech for Southern Company and its subsidiaries.

Quigley is an active participant in Alabama Power’s Run for the Reason to raise funds and awareness for the American Cancer Society. She also is involved with Alabama Power’s iCan program to educate and encourage middle school girls to get excited about, and potentially consider, engineering as a career choice. ❖

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

u Over the Mountain

Seven Republican Candidates Will Vie for Sixth District Seat

By William C. Singleton III

For more information: Visit www. votewillforcongress.com

Journal contributor

Seven Republican candidates have stepped up to try to represent the state’s Sixth Congressional District since U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, announced he would retire at the end of his term.

Bachus, who has served in the House of Representatives since 1993, succeeded Ben Erdreich, who served from 1983-1993. So if history repeats itself, the winner of the race is likely looking at a long tenure.

The winner will have to defeat Democrat Avery Vise, who is running unopposed.

But the Sixth Congressional District–thanks to redistricting that carved out the city of Birmingham–has swung more towards the right since the days of the Democratic Erdreich and includes suburban areas outside of Birmingham, the southwestern portions of Jefferson County and all of Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Coosa and Shelby counties.

The race to succeed Bachus as the district’s congressional representative in Washington, D.C., features two current state lawmakers–State Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, and State Rep. Paul DeMarco, R-Homewood. Other candidates are Gary Palmer, a conservative think tank founder; Will Brooke, an investment firm executive; Chad Mathis, an orthopedic surgeon; Robert Shattuck, a retired lawyer; and Tom Vigneulle, a business owner.

The candidates said they want to repeal Obamacare and are proponents of reducing government spending. Each candidate said he believes he has the necessary background, skills or perspective to make a difference in Congress.

The Republican primary is scheduled for June 3 with a runoff date of July 15 if no candidate receives 51 percent of the vote. The general election is scheduled for Nov. 4. The winner of the general election will start a two-year term in January.

Scott Beason

Age: 44 Residence: Gardendale Occupation: Small business owner and entrepreneur Political experience: House District 51 state representative, 19982006; Senate District 17 representative, 2006-present Education: Bachelor’s degree in geology with minor in English, University of Alabama Why are you running for this office? “I always felt like if you want your elected official to stick with his conservative principles and do the things that you want him to do, the best way to do that is to be that elected official.”

For more information: Visit scottbeason.com

Will Brooke

Age: 58 Residence: Birmingham’s Redmont neighborhood Occupation: Executive vice president and managing partner of Harbert Management Corp.

Political experience: Board chairman for Business Council of Alabama, chairman of Progress PAC, chairman of the Alabama Innovation Study Commission Education: Bachelor’s degree in business administration and law degree, University of Alabama.

Why are you running for this office? “I’m running because I’m concerned about our country’s future and I think it’s time for non-politicians, for citizens to step up and do something to influence it.”

Paul DeMarco

Age: 44

Residence: Homewood Occupation: Attorney for Parsons, Lee & Juliano PC Political experience: House District 46 state representative, 2005-present Education: Bachelor’s degree in journalism, Auburn University; law degree, University of Alabama Why are you running for this office? “We need to have a strong advocate to represent this district in Washington, D.C., who has the courage to take on the difficult issues such as the national debt, the healthcare law, the overreaching regulations we see coming from Washington, D.C., but also somebody who’s worked in the community.”

For more information: Visit www. pauldemarco.org Chad Mathis

Age: 43 Residence: Indian Springs Village Occupation: Orthopedic surgeon, managing partner of Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic Political experience: None Education: Bachelor’s degree in chemistry, University of Evansville; medical degree from Indiana University Medical School Why are you running for this office? “I’m living the American Dream.

I’m the first person in my family to go to college. I worked my way through college working in the same factory as my dad. We moved here to build a successful practice and raise our kids.”

For more information: Visit www. drmathisforcongress.com

Gary Palmer

Age: 60 Residence: Hoover Occupation: Founder of Alabama Policy Institute, a conservative think tank Political experience: None Education: Bachelor’s degree in operational management, University of Alabama; honorary doctorate, University of Mobile Why are you running for this office? “I decided to get in because I think we’ve got an opportunity to get our country back on the right track and that opportunity is closing. I’ve worked almost 25 years in public policy outside elected office and I’m convinced that I can be more effective inside than I can outside.”

For more information: Visit palmerforalabama.com Robert Shattuck

Age: 67 Residence: Mountain Brook Occupation: Retired tax and bond attorney Political experience: Unsuccessful attempt to get on 2012 ballot as an independent candidate for the Sixth Congressional District Education: Bachelor’s degree in math, Dartmouth College; law degree, Harvard University Why are you running for this office? “I have for a long time thought Washington was not working well for the American people, and that’s what caused me to try to run in 2012. My campaign platform is not that the enemy is Obama and the Democrats. The only way the American people are going to get back government of, by and for the people in Washington is if Republicans, Democrats and Independents temporarily unite.”

For more information: Visit http:// al6thcongdist-ihaveuntiljan13.blogspot.

com/2014/04/on-getting-fed-up-withother-candidates.html Tom Vigneulle

Age: 52 Residence: Wilsonville Occupation: Owner of Royal Bedding Manufacturing Political experience: None Education: Studied business administration and broadcasting at Liberty Baptist College Why are you running for this office? “We’ve got to have small businessmen in Washington, D.C., to protect small business interests. Nobody else can do it as well as I can because I am a small business owner. And if you take care of the small business owner, you take care of all the businesses because small business is the economic engine of America.”

For more information: Visit tomforalabama.com

Look for more election preview coverage in our May 29 issue. ❖

u Mountain Brook

City Gets High Marks from Residents in Survey

A recent survey of Mountain Brook residents reveals they are almost completely satisfied with the overall quality of life in the city.

The survey taken in January by the marketing research firm ETC Institute at the city’s request revealed that 98 percent of Mountain Brook residents are pleased with their lives in the Over the Mountain suburb.

In the survey, Mountain Brook residents were asked about the city streets, facilities, traffic, school system, library and parks and recreation programs.

The survey indicated that only about 11 percent of those who took the survey were dissatisfied with any of Mountain Brook’s city services. ❖

u hoover

School Board Delays Bus Fees

By William C. Singleton III The Hoover school system will delay the start date of its fee-based transportation service one year.

Hoover School Superintendent Andy Craig informed parents of the decision in a letter dated May 6.

“Currently, we are working towards implementation with the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year,” Craig’s letter states.

The school board in April voted to adopt a fee-based service for students who need transportation to and from city schools. The fee-based structure was designed to charge less to families of children on free or reducedprice lunch plans and was scheduled to start at the beginning of the 20142015 school year.

The school board’s decision last July to eliminate bus service except for special needs students angered many in the community but was a move the school system had to make to address dwindling funds and an

ever-increasing enrollment, school officials have said. Since then, school officials have sought ways to provide bus service for students while maintaining their decision to get out of the transportation business.

Many residents have appealed to the school board and Craig to reverse the decision to eliminate free bus service. But Craig, in his letter, pushed the concept of a fee-based transportation system as the right course for Hoover.

“There is no doubt that we are engaged in a process of change– movement away from ‘how it has always been done’ to a transportation model that I believe will better serve our students, families and school system,” Craig said.

Craig also promoted the positives of the system’s fee-based approach.

He said the fee-based transportation model could help integrate technology on buses “that will enhance the safety and efficiency of our student transportation services.”

He gave as examples technology

u Hoover

u Vestavia Hills

Hoover plans to join Vestavia Hills in offering its residents the opportunity to renew car tags within their cities.

The Hoover City Council on May 5 unanimously approved allowing Mayor Gary Ivey to contract with Pelhambased Ingenuity Inc. to establish an office at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium to issue car tag renewals.

According to the proposed contract, Ingenuity will receive 90 percent of commission and fees associated with renewing vehicle tags and the city will receive 10 percent. Residents renewing car tags inside the city will pay $5 more for local service.

Ivey said the Met was selected because it has adequate parking and space to accommodate residents and because the city owns the property.

Ingenuity should be ready to offer the service in June, the mayor said.

Although June 1 was given as the start date, Ivey said the SEC Baseball Tournament scheduled May 20-25 at the Met could push the start of the tag renewal service later into June.

The service will only apply to tag renewals. Residents needing new vehicle tags will have to venture to either the Jefferson County Courthouse in Birmingham or the county courthouse in Bessemer.

Offering car tag renewals closer to home is something Hoover residents have been asking for ever since the state legislature made it possible, city officials said.

Earlier this year, state lawmakers approved a bill that allows Jefferson County cities to renew car tags. The law was designed to give residents an alternative to having to visit either county courthouse and wait in long lines.

“This is a quality of life issue,” Ivey said. “If it’s good for quality of life, then it’s good for Hoover.” ❖

The Vestavia Hills City Council has agreed to pay a Homewood firm up to $215,600 to help the city develop a brand for itself.

The council has hired Tatum Design to guide its brand extension initiative, which will include developing a new website for the city, evaluating and creating designs for business signage and gateway entrances, creating a branding video which will showcase what Vestavia Hills has to offer and a brand vision book that will serve as an economic development piece by showcasing special events and amenities that may be attractive to potential businesses.

City officials say developing a brand is a first prong in the city’s economic development strategy.

“Branding is more than just a logo,” City Manager Jeff Downes said.

“Branding is an assertive strategy that is a crucial part of any economic development strategy. Both enhancing existing businesses and growing new business means you have to know what you’re selling, and you have to be consistent in what you sell.”

City officials have included the city’s Chamber of Commerce leaders in discussions regarding economic development and branding.

“To be successful in economic development, the chamber of commerce and the city have to be in sync with one another,” Downes said. “We need to make sure we don’t step on each other’s toes in our efforts.”

Chamber officials will focus on developing existing businesses while city officials will focus on recruiting new businesses, Downes said.

“All of these efforts are in sync, not one group doing something different from another group,” he said. “It will lead to us having consistent signage through the city so if you enter the city

Journal contributor

Residents Can Renew Car Tags at the Met

Thursday, May 15, 2014 • 13

NEWS

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

City Will Develop Its Own Brand with Firm’s Help

to capture accurate ridership data and technology to provide “enhanced supervision on buses.”

Residents, while welcoming the decision to delay charging for bus service, were unconvinced. On the “Free the Hoover Buses” Facebook page, residents reacted to the latest development in the school bus saga.

“Yeah! (For now),” Rachel McCaleb Hartsell wrote.

“Seriously? Trying to sell us on the promise of additional, unnecessary services when all we want is simple transportation to and from school,” Michael Grady said.

“I do not support these changes, not in the slightest,” Monica Dobbins said. “Yet I am pleased to see that there was communication directly to parents about the changes–the first such communication I can remember seeing during this entire process.”

Hoover school officials have been in constant dialogue with the U.S. Justice Department about the system’s transportation proposal. The justice department has allowed the city to proceed with its plan but wants it to provide additional data on the effectiveness of its approach.

The U.S. District Court has to approve the school system’s fee-based or business district, it looks and feels the same. Instead of the chamber expressing something and we’re expressing something different, from an economic development perspective, we have the same look and feel.”

Tatum Design has also agreed to help design a new website for the chamber and help with creative campaign concepts. —William C. Singleton III

plan. The justice department and the court are involved because of a long-

standing federal desegregation consent decree. ❖

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This is your aD prOOF from the Over The MOunTain JOurnal for the May 15, 2014 issue. please fax approval or changes to 824-1246.

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if we have not heard from you by 5 pm of the Friday before the press date, your ad will run as is. We print the paper Monday.

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14 • Thursday, May 15, 2014

life Amped-up Road Trip

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Vestavia Family Shares an International Adventure

By Keysha Drexel Journal editor

T

wo Vestavia Hills students recently traded their lockers for luggage for a global family trip.

Delaney and Riley McIntyre and their parents, Dale and Kellie, traveled to 10 countries across three continents during the second and third nine weeks of the school year and returned home in February so the girls could finish out the school year at Liberty Park Middle.

From attending Gladiator School in Italy to learning about the Vietnam War in Ho Chi Minh City to being deported from China, the family’s travel experience was vast and unique, they said.

The trip was the culmination of Dale and Kellie’s goal to explore as much of the world as possible with their children before the girls go off to college. Delaney is 14 years old, and Riley is 13.

“We’re both first generation travelers and didn’t get to travel abroad while we were growing up,” Kellie said. “So it has been important to us to show our girls the world. Several years ago, we set a goal to visit every continent with them, except for Antarctica.”

A couple of years ago, the family traveled to Thailand and Cambodia, which only whet their appetite to travel more, Dale said.

“Our trips started getting bigger and bigger over the years, and we started trying to figure out a way to take the ultimate family trip around the world” he said.

While on their way back from Thailand a couple of years ago, the McIntyres met a family who was spending the entire year traveling around the world with their children.

“It got us to thinking about how we could do something similar,” Kellie said. “We knew we wanted to do a big trip to the places the girls might not get to go otherwise, and we wanted to do it before they started high school and their schedules get really demanding.”

Kellie and Dale started researching ways to get time off from work and how to take the girls out of school for an extended time but said the logistics of planning such a trip were daunting.

“We went back and forth on whether it was even possible or realistic to plan such a trip, and there were points where we just didn’t know if we could make it happen,” Kellie said.

But one Sunday when the family was attending services at Liberty Park United Methodist Church, something in the sermon made Kellie and Dale realize they needed to put their family

Clockwise from above: The McIntyre family attended Gladiator School while in Rome. The family’s trip included walking along the Great Wall in Mutianyu, China.

Riley McIntyre in a telephone booth in London. Big Ben is in the background. The family stopped in Venice, Italy, during their trip. Riley and Delaney McIntyre talk to fruit vendors in Hoi An, Vietnam.

Photos special to the Journal

travel plan into action.

“The preacher was preaching on not accumulating regrets and we both kind of looked at each other, and we knew we had to make this trip happen, one way or another,” he said.

So in September 2012, the family set about planning a trip around the world.

The first challenge, the McIntyres said, was agreeing on an itinerary.

“We knew we wanted to go back to Southeast Asia, and New Zealand was on my bucket list. We wanted to

go to Australia, too, and really hit the faraway places that the girls might not have a chance to go to later in life,” Dale said. “But the girls had different ideas.”

At first, 14-year-old Delaney was completely opposed to the trip because it would mean time away from school-and her friends.

“I felt like I was going to miss a lot of things at school and a lot of time with my friends,” Delaney said. “Plus, I thought my parents were just picking places that they wanted to go and not

considering where we wanted to go.”

The family compromised and agreed to include a stop in London on their trip because it was the place Delaney said she most wanted to go.

“Including a trip to London kind of put a kink in our original plans, but we compromised and made it work,” Dale said.

The family left Birmingham Oct. 15, 2013 for the first stop on their global tour--Iceland.

“The Blue Lagoon (geothermal spa) in Iceland was just spectacular,”

Kellie said. “From Iceland, we went to London.”

Delaney said London was her favorite stop on the trip.

“I liked being in a big city, and I loved all the history,” she said. “And I loved the little telephone booths in London. They were so cute.”

The family also visited Stonehenge while they were in the U.K. From London, the family traveled to Italy, where they attended Gladiator School and toured the Colosseum in Rome and rode bikes in Lucca.

“We had a line item in our budget just for gelato while we were in Italy,” Kellie said.

From Italy, the family traveled to the Similan Islands in Thailand.

“The water was so blue and the beach was so perfect it looked like one of those default screen savers,” Delaney said.

From Thailand, the McIntyres traveled to Malaysia, where they visited the Petronas Twin Towers and the Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur.

“It was just before Christmas, and we saw Malaysian women in full burqas watching Christmas shows at the mall,” Dale said.

The family traveled from Malaysia to Vietnam, a spot that was a favorite for Riley.

“I loved learning about the culture and the history, and they have this really good soup called pho,” Riley said.

Kellie and Dale said they enjoyed the trip to Vietnam because they stayed away from the spots tourists usually flock to when visiting the Southeast Asian country.

“I liked it because it was very real and raw and people were living their lives right there in front of you, and you didn’t feel like a tourist,” Kellie said.

The family visited Ho Chi Minh City and said it was interesting to get a different perspective on the city’s battle-scarred past.

“To see the Vietnam take on the war was interesting and to see the propaganda of what they call the American War was pretty ironic,” Dale said.

From Vietnam, the family traveled to Australia and spent Christmas Day scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef.

“That was probably my favorite part of the trip. I did my first scuba dive in Australia,” Riley said.

The McIntyres rang in the New Year in Sydney, Australia.

“It’s their summer there, and there were so many people crowded in the streets on New Year’s Eve. You could just feel the energy and excitement,” Delaney said. “Then we watched the fireworks over the harbor, and I think it made even New Year’s Eve in Times See road trip, page 16

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the Kensington district of London. have spent the past four years Several very knowledgeable profesliving and driving in the Over sors will be there as well, so my days the Mountain area. will be filled with walking and talking As a student at Samford about the staggering number of hisUniversity, I have circled around torical and intellectual landmarks on Homewood and Vestavia Hills and practically every street corner.

Mountain Brook a countless number After I leave the United Kingdom, of times. however, my travel will become a Every semester, I have taken mullittle more uncertain. I will hop on an tiple trips home to Florida—and, of intercontinental flight to Oldenburg, course, made my weekly commute to Germany, where a few close friends intern here at the Over the Mountain are studying in an exchange program.

Journal.

Here, my plans are less definite, and In short, I have done a lot of drivI will no longer have professorial ing. guides to explain the significance of However, I would not say that I the places I will experience. I will have done a lot of traveling. have to figure that out for myself.

What I have been doing is just When I return to the U.S., things getting from point A to point B out will begin to take a turn for the of necessity, even if I don’t mind unconventional. the places that I’m Coming home, for going. the time being, will And this is, of not be the begincourse, something ning of a responsible that all of us do. career or graduate Most parts of the school. Instead, I Over the Mountain will continue my area are spread out, pursuit of travel. suburban rather than Throughout the urban. We move and fall months, I will drive around because be touring large we have to go to swaths of America work and buy groas an electric guitar ceries and go home player in a band with again. several close friends I do not think that I am open to and musical collabotransportation for wherever the rators. practical purposes is While our priinherently negative. road takes me. mary purpose is to It is a concrete and Taylor Burgess expose our music metal web binding to as many people much of our society. as possible and see what our career But even so, as my graduation prospects—if any—are, it will also be from college looms close—only two an excellent opportunity to see more days off from this issue’s printing—I of the U.S. find myself wanting to make most I will driving exponentially more aspects of my life both meaningful during those touring months than any and economic uses of my time. period of my college career, but I So after four years of pushing think it will ultimately be much more my creaky, un-air conditioned 1999 Mazda Protégé up and down Alabama rewarding. I will pass through places I have never been, navigate to unknown hills and across Florida highways, I destinations, and know all the while have decided to make the parts of my that I am travelling for the sake of life that involve going places more something that I love—music. worth my while.

I am open to wherever the road I am going to travel. takes me.

I am beginning with the stereoFollow Taylor on the road as he typical post-grad jaunt—a few weeks blogs about his travel experiences with a backpack in Europe. in Europe and the U.S. at www.otmj.

For the first two weeks, I am staycom. ❖ ing in a university-owned house in

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life

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

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16 • Thursday, May 15, 2014

road trip, From page 14

Square look lame,” Delaney said.

The McIntyres spent the first month of the new year in New Zealand, a place Dale said is the most beautiful he has ever seen.

“There is no place on the planet as beautiful that I have seen as New Zealand,” Dale said. “The natural beauty is just incredible, just breathtaking.”

The natural beauty of New Zealand wasn’t the only thing that took the family’s breath away during their stop there, Kellie said.

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life Kellie and Delaney went bungee jumping off the Karawau Bridge in Queenstown on their third day in New Zealand.

“I knew if I passed up that opportunity, I would regret it for the rest of my life, so I did it,” Kellie said, “That’s the kind of life I want to live. That’s living life all the way to the end. That’s living without regrets.”

From New Zealand, the family traveled to Bali in Indonesia, where they said they were struck by the people’s spirituality.

“They are the most spiritually devout people I’ve ever encountered,” Kellie said. “They make daily offer-

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ings to all their gods, and you see them everywhere--on the streets, in the stores, on the sidewalk.”

The family learned that the Balinese people often work multiple jobs just to be able to afford to make the daily offerings to their gods.

“It was beautiful to see a country that is so poor have such a rich devotion to the spirit,” Dale said.

The McIntyres said their visit to Bali’s cultural center, Ubud, offered a peaceful respite from their travels.

“Riley called it the Sedona of Bali because it was very laidback, very Zen, with lots of people doing yoga,” Dale said.

The next stop on the family’s global adventure was China, and it was a trip Kellie said she felt like she jinxed from the very beginning.

“The day before we went to China, we were talking about how the trip had gone on without a single hiccup. There had been no missed flights, no goofedup hotel reservations, nothing had gone wrong,” she said.

Apparently, Kellie said, the travel gods, like the Greek gods, don’t care much for hubris.

For their trip to China, the McIntyres were planning on taking advantage of China’s new 72-hour visafree policy to visit Beijing. The family thought the new policy would allow them to visit China’s historical highlights--the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square and the Summer Palace--all without the hassle or expense of a tourist visa.

“But the 72 hours we planned to spend in China ended up being a big ordeal,” Dale said. “It was the only glitch in the whole trip.”

And what a glitch it was.

The family planned to fly from Bali with a layover in Shanghai before making their way to Beijing and flying back to the U.S. from there.

But once they landed in Shanghai and got off the plane, they were detained by immigration officials.

“We tried to explain to them that we were simply connecting through Shanghai and planned to fly home from Beijing, but before we knew it,

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

we were being herded into a corner of the immigration area,” Kellie said. “We were basically under house arrest and they took our passports, which really scared us.”

The family, dressed for the balmy weather in Bali when they headed toward China, spent the next several hours freezing in a sequestered immigration area waiting to learn if they’d ever make it to Beijing--or back home.

“I think we felt something that most Americans don’t feel but that people in many countries feel every single day-

‘... we started trying to figure out a way to take the ultimate family trip around the world.’

-powerless,” Kellie said. “It really made us appreciate the freedoms we enjoy as Americans.”

Members of a group traveling from Sweden were also detained with the McIntyres, but their ticket situation was resolved and they left the airport hours before the McIntyres were able to start the final leg of their world tour.

Finally, the family was told they could depart China, fly to Hong Kong at the airline’s expense and then pay an additional $1,400 to fly to Beijing from there.

The next morning, the family flew from Shanghai to Hong Kong and then on to Beijing.

“We arrived in Beijing a day late and $1,400 poorer, and we held our breath until we made it through immigration,” Kellie said.

The family visited the Great Wall and ran into the Swedish citizens they were detained with at the Shanghai airport.

The McIntyres returned home to Vestavia Hills from Beijing, weary and at the same time exhilarated by their travels.

“It was really good to be home, but we will never forget this chance we had to spend as a family,” Dale said.

“Travel opens your eyes to the world and gives you a perspective beyond your backyard.”

While they were on their global adventure, Delaney and Riley kept up with their assignments from school but the trip offered them lessons they couldn’t have learned in the classroom, their parents said.

“Every day was a social studies lesson, not just for the girls, but for us, too,” Dale said. “I think we all learned a lot about the world we live in and about ourselves on this trip.”

Riley said she won’t take the educational opportunities she has for granted after seeing children her age and younger working to support their families in Bali.

“There are a lot of kids in Bali who can’t attend school because their families can’t afford it, so it made me realize that we’re lucky that we get to go to school here,” Riley said.

Dale and Kellie said the trip proved to them that a do-it-yourself family vacation around the world isn’t as farfetched as it sounds.

“You’ve got to start with a dream and find a way to make it happen,” Dale said.

Kellie said the trip made her appreciate other places and other cultures, but ultimately, it was one that opened her eyes to how good it is to be home.

“It made me realize that the United States is the perfect combination of freedom and opportunity,” she said.

“There are still a lot of places that we want to see, but we are always glad to call this home.”

Delaney and Riley said the trip inspired them to plan even more adventures for the family in the future.

“I think we’ll both spend a semester abroad in college and hopefully, between now and then, we’ll go on more great family trips,” Delaney said.

“I’m ready to go around the world again.” ❖

for more information please Call mike wedgworth: 205.365.4344

www.birmingham.archadeck.com

18 • Thursday, May 15, 2014

social

Magical Night

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Thursday, May 15, 2014 • 19

social From left: Rickey Bromberg, Emily Bowron, Robby Hazzard, Sue Ellen Lucas, Bill Bowron, Nancy Bromberg, Michael Lucas and Leah Hazzard.

Photos special to the Journal

more photos at

OTMJ.COM

From page one

Chef James Boyce, the new owner and head chef at The Veranda, presented a threecourse seated dinner in the galleries.

Sybil Sylvester of Wildflower Designs created floral centerpieces reminiscent of those found in grand Parisian hotels.

After dinner, guests hit the dance floor with musical entertainment from the Celebrity All Stars and indulged in decadent French desserts, including macaroons, truffles and pastries.

The fundraising chairman for La Village Magique Museum Ball was William R. Ireland Jr. The 2014 Museum Ball Committee members were Nancy and Ricky Bromberg, Elizabeth Broughton, Tricia Drew, Frank B. Falkenburg, Vanessa Falls, Rebecca Fulmer, Ellen Gillespy, Beau Grenier, Mary Margaret Gullage, Erika and Corey Hartman, David B. Hezlep, Tricia Holbrook, Nyya and John Hudson, Hewes Hull, Bill Ireland, Sheryl Kimerling, Lisa Miller, Elizabeth Outland, Kelly Rushin, Kelly Stysinger, Alice Thigpen, Laura Vogtle, Louise and Edgar Welden and Beth Williams.

Those attending the event included Yin Ingram, Stan Ingram, Tina Teel, Patrick Tremblay, Jim Hansen, Katherine Hansen, Dax Swatek, Rachael Swatek, Judge Ralph Cook, Charlsie Cook, Nyya Hudson, John Hudson, Tara Bryant, Pia Sen, Dora Singh, Farrah Sultan, Rupa Kitchens, Rickey Bromberg, Emily Bowron, Robby Hazzard, Sue Ellen Lucas, Bill Bowron, Nancy Bromberg, Michael Lucas, Leah Hazzard, Mary Margaret Gullage, Don Wood, Emily Omura, David Skier, Nan Skier, Sanjay Singh, Andrea Fausch, Chuck Fausch, Farrah Sultan, Parvez Sultan, Pia Sen, Sanjeez Chadmuri, Bill Ireland, Patti Ireland, Joel Piassick, Karen Piassick, Gail Andrews, Dick Marchase, Birmingham Mayor William Bell, Elizabeth Ross, Melanie Grinney and Terri Denard.

The Birmingham Museum of Art Ball supports the museum’s mission to provide free educational programming and community outreach year round.

Last year, 51,609 students, 614 teachers and 410 regional schools were served by the museum’s education programs. ❖

Guests seated in the Kress Gallery.

From left: Yin and Stan Ingram, Tina Teel and Patrick Tremblay.

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Jim and Katherine Hansen.

Joel and Piassick, Gail Andrews and Dick Marchase.

Nan and David Skier.

Dax and Rachael Swatek.

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Thursday, May 15, 2014 • 17

health

Foundation Forms Wise Up Initiative to Raise Concussion Awareness

By Keysha Drexel

U

Journal editor

p until a few years ago, Sharyne Wallace said, she was like most people– unaware of the long-term consequences of concussions.

But after seeing how head injuries have affected both her husband and her son-in-law, Wallace said she’s determined to make sure the public is more informed.

“Concussions and brain injuries are part of a silent epidemic in this country,” Wallace said.

“Unfortunately, the education about these invisible injuries is lacking, not just in the sports world but across the community.”

To remedy that situation, the Al and Sharyn Wallace Family Foundation has launched the Wise Up initiative to raise awareness about concussions and traumatic brain injuries.

Wallace’s education on the subject started about two and a half years ago when her husband, who was 70 at the time, had a motorcycle accident while she was out of town.

“He fell and knocked himself out, and later that night, a friend found him and took him to the hospital,” she said. “My husband is a hemophiliac and they were concerned because he was unconscious for a while, so they did a scan of his brain to check for bleeding.”

But no bleeding was detected, and Wallace’s husband was sent home.

“He had pain in his neck and shoulders and then started getting headaches all of the time,” Wallace said. “He just wanted to sleep, and he had no energy at all. This went on for about six months and all that time, not one person, not the doctors, not the emergency room personnel, no one even thought about him having a concussion.”

Wallace discussed her husband’s symptoms with her daughter,

We’re here for the few they can’t.

The Wise Up Initiative of the Al and Sharyne Wallace Family Foundation aims to raise awareness about concussions and traumatic brain injuries. From left: Kevin and Kimberly Drake, Sharyne and Al Wallace. Photo special to the Journal

Kimberly Drake, and son-in-law Kevin Drake, a former star quarterback at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and NFL player.

“Kevin had at least seven concussions that he can remember. He has

‘Concussions and brain injuries are part of a silent epidemic in this country.’ Sharyne Wallace lingering symptoms, headaches and some short-term memory loss,” she said.

Wallace said few people know the signs and symptoms of concussions and brain injuries, and that’s where the Wise Up Initiative can help.

“We can provide free information to parents, schools, caregivers, coaches, sports teams, daycare centers

Facts About Concussions from Wise Up A concussion is an injury that changes how the cells in the brain normally work.

Concussions are a mild form of traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or body that causes the brain to move rapidly inside the skull.

Even a “ding”, “getting your bell rung”, or what seems to be a mild bump or blow to the head can be serious.

Doctors may describe these injuries as “mild” because concussions are usually not life-threatening. Even so, their effects can be serious.

Understanding the signs and symptoms of a concussion can speed the recovery process.

Symptoms of concussions include problems with thinking clearly, difficulty concentrating and difficulty remembering new information.

The physical symptons of concussions include headaches, nausea or vomiting, dizziness, blurry vision and sensitivity to noise and light.

Concussions can also affect a person’s emotions and mood and lead to irritability, sadness, nervousness or anxiety and sleep disturbances.

Some symptoms may appear right away, while others may not be noticed for days or months after the injury. ❖

and eldercare facilities,” Wallace said.

“This can happen to anyone at any age.”

Wallace said she wants to help people understand that concussions and brain injuries can happen even if a person doesn’t take a blow to the head or show any immediate symptoms.

“It can be a blow to your neck or to your shoulder. These brain injuries can result from everything from a fall to an automobile accident. You don’t have to play football to get a concussion,” she said. “Sometimes, the symptoms can take up to a week to present themselves.”

Wallace said more research on concussions and brain injuries needs to be done.

“We went to a concussion forum in New York City and found out that the government research on brain injuries is not really getting anywhere because a lot of the determinations can’t be made until post-mortem,” she said.

Wallace said she would also like to see better tests and screening methods to detect brain injuries earlier.

“We don’t have good tests because they are all based on subjective information that is supplied by someone who just got dinged in the head,” she said.

Wallace said Wise Up is partnering with the UAB Sports Medicine Concussion Clinic at Children’s of Alabama for a public awareness event in June.

“This whole issue is very personal to me, and I know there are so many other people out there who are dealing with the after-effects of concussions and brain injuries, so somebody’s got to speak up for those people and do something to help,” she said.

For more information on the Wise Up initiative of the Al and Sharyne Wallace Family Foundation, visit www.wiseupinitiative.org. ❖

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From left: Starr and David Drum, Jay Saxon and Anisa Xhaja.

Photos special to the Journal

Black Tie at the Ballpark Rotaract Hosts 10th Anniversary Event

The Rotaract Club of Birmingham celebrated 10 years of service to the community at its Decennial celebration March 15.

The black tie gala was held at the Regions Field banquet hall overlooking the Birmingham Barons’ home field.

More than 400 young professionals attended the event and raised more than $50,000 for the Rotaract Foundation, which supports the group’s service work.

Flow Tribe, a New Orleans-based rock band, provided musical entertainment.

Birmingham Mayor William Bell and other community leaders were in attendance to commemorate the work of Rotaract and its 260 members.

With the sucmore photos at cess of the club’s first signature service project, Ready 2 Read, as a platform, Rotaract launched a second signature service project. The Rotaract Club works with Better Basics, a nonprofit literacy organization, to help second-graders in Birmingham City schools.

The Decennial marked the public announcement of Ready 2 Succeed.

Ready 2 Succeed will aim to increase the number of post-secondary scholarships and financial aid being applied for and awarded to students from Birmingham City schools.

Rotaract members will serve as mentors to rising juniors and seniors from Parker High School in the program’s pilot year.

Those attending the celebration included Henry Long, Alice Hawley, Kyle Church, Kelsey Welch, Brittany and Ralph Sanders, Miller and Josh Girvin, Nancy Goedecke, Charles A. Collat Sr., Starr Drum, David Drum, Jay Saxon and Anisa Xhaja. ❖

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Thursday, May 15, 2014 • 21

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Bash for Bell Center

Fly London

Cordani

Pedro Garcia

OTMJ.COM

Campers Congregate

Photos special to the Journal

Johnny Was

Above: From left: Drs. Dominique and Jeffery Backus and Kari and Dr. Austin Powell. left: Stacey Morales, Tara Williams and Nancy Ferren.

Our shoe and apparel sale begins Monday, May 26th!

and Jennifer Andress, William and The Bell Center for Early Jennifer Kimbrough, Drs. Jeff Intervention Programs is dedicated to Eileen Fisher and Dominique Backus, Daley and maximizing the potential of children Dr. Chris King, Adam and Tabby from birth to 3 years of age at risk for McClain, Clay and Tara Williams, development delay. The Service Guild Kari and Dr. Austin Powell, Charles founded the Bell Center and supports and Lee Perry and KevinTo: and it through volunteer hours and fundBezshan, fax 871-1966 Melanie Burson. raising. ❖ From: Over The Mountain Journal, 205-823-9646 ph., 205-824-1246, fax

Date:

March 2014

This is yournation. aD prOOF from the Over The MOunTain JOurnal for the Kelly Creek meanders through and memories.

Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe supthe property and pours into afax roaring March 15, 2014 issue. please approval or changes to 824-1246. plied supper for the event. waterfall, a focal point of the camp Attendees were updated on camp and an icon of the summer program. projects, including a new road bridge Thousands of Birmingham area made possible with grants from the residents and Alabamians have called Daniel Foundation of Alabama and Winnataska their summer home the Alabama Power Foundation. for the last 96 years. Since the spot They also heard about plans for an once was a Native American hunting overlook of the waterfalls dedicated Alumnae from Camp Winnataska ground, the huts are named for Indian to longtime volunteer Katherine Price recently held a soiree at the home of tribes: Seminole, Creek, Chickasaw, Garmon and a new cross for the Connie and Jim Thorington in the Cherokee, Choctaw and Navajo.

Wayside area, a picturesque spot used Magnolia Ridge neighborhood of Many of those in attendance at for Sunday evening devotions.

Vestavia Hills. the April event are from Over the Founded in 1918, Winnataska is Some 30 women, from 20-someMountain communities. Vestavia Hills one of the oldest continually-running things to 90-year-olds, gathered April residents attending included hostess traditional overnight camps in the 5 for food, fellowship, photographs Connie Thorington, Ellen Barton Blackmon, Marty Hester, Betty Miller and Barbara Sloan.

Camp Winnataska alumnae from Mountain Brook at the event included Betty Ray Hughes, Ethel Owen, Dana Lower, Dollie and Tricia Brice, Marcie Matte and Bee Lewis.

Kap Garmon of Homewood attended, along with Marion Gamble and Kathy White of Hoover.

Attending from the greater Birmingham area were Liz Alosi, Caitlin Brennan, Elin Glenn, Kenny Keith, Karen Moore, Mary Owen, Katie Sefton and Amy Williamson.

Out of town guests included Anne White Mitchell and Leslie From left: Katherine “Kap” Garmon, Mary “Mo” Owen and Betty Ray Price.

Photo special to the Journal Etheredge. ❖

Winnataska Alumnae Gather at Party

Michael Stars

More than 500 guests turned out for the 26th annual Guild Gala to benefit the Bell Center for Early Intervention Programs.

The event, hosted by the Service Guild of Birmingham March 8, raised more than $200,000.

The black tie event was held at The Club where guests enjoyed cocktails, a silent auction, a formal seated dinner and a live auction conducted

by Jack Granger of Granger Thagard & Associates, Inc. Nationwide Coverage provided dance music.

The event was more photos at coordinated by chairman Tara Williams along with auction chairman Shauna Burrows.

Winning bidders left the auction with prizes including trips to Ireland, Italy, and St. Croix; a Marco Bicego Jaipur gold and diamond necklace from Bromberg’s; and a dinner-forfour package at each of Frank and Pardis Stitt’s Birmingham restaurants.

Those spotted at the event included Betty Bell, Jeff and Christie Mundy, Andy and Susan Rotenstreich, Wayne and Molly Miller, Tracy and Nancy Ferren, Craig and Paula Smalley, Scott and Stacey Morales, Scott and Michelle Shunnarah, Rusty and Deana Hughes, Keith

Robert Clergerie

Guild Gala Draws More than 500

Babette

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Robert Sullivan, owner, Donatos Pizza

'You Have the Best Pizza Around.'

"Donatos Pizza is a fast Casual restaurant that is a franchise and our specialty is thin crust pizza made with the finest ingredients available using aged smoked provolone as our base cheese," says Robert Sullivan, owner, above. "In addition to great pizza, we also serve oven baked subs, delicious wings and Strombolis.

"The restaurant offers dine in service for 45, but we also deliver and cater in Vestavia Hills, Mountain Brook and Homewood areas.

"After spending approximately 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry I retired and then purchased Donatos Pizza in Vestavia in 2012 from Jim Lichtenfeld.

"I've always loved the pizza and was one of Jim's best customers. Over the years I took Donatos to clients all over the area and when the oppotunity came along to buy the restaurant it was an easy decision for me.

"When I attended Auburn I delivered pizzas, really enjoying the whole restaurant experience. The camaraderie, the crazy individuals working their way through school and the great high-pace business was fun.

"My second anniversary just passed here, and I have had the best time of my life. Having grown up in Vestavia Hills I felt like I knew the landscape and I went to work reconnecting with the local schools, churches and businesses. The results have been amazing we are involved with lots of catering for the churches and schools, while offering the businesses a great alternative for lunch meetings with our catering service.

"I would tell anyone with a dream and a desire to own their own business to 'go for It'. There is no greater feeling in the world than to be approached in a store or supermarket wearing a Donatos shirt, only to be told, 'you have the best pizza around.'"

Donatos Pizza is located in Vestavia Hills at 629 Montgomery Highway 824-1112.

From left: David and Susan Silverstein, Craft O’Neal and Ruffner Page, Jim Richardson and Monique Bumpers.

Photos special to the Journal

A Heart for Giving Cor Vitae Society Recognizes Members

A reception was held last month at the Regions Bank Corporate Dining Room for a new philanthropic giving society.

The American Heart Association of Metro Birmingham Cor Vitae Society’s first “Thank You” reception was held April 15.

Cor Vitae: The Heart of Life is a partnership between the American Heart Association and its most dedicated supporters. Cor Vitae members’ financial support has empowered volunteers, advocates and experts to join the cause to do the noblest thing one

can aspire to do--save lives, organizers said.

Inaugural Cor Vitae members are Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Anderson, Mr. and Mrs. Joel Anderson, Dr. and Mrs. Constantine Athanasuleas, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Bolden, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Briggs, Gary Burley, Mrs. Bobbie Knight, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Cabaniss, Nicholas Carras, Anu Rao, Mike Dewitz, Mr. and Mrs. Chris Eagan, Mr. and Mrs. Earl Foust, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Gilbert, Mr. and Mrs. C. Houston Gillespy, Stephen Glasser,

Grayson Hall

Donna Arnett, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Goodrich, Mr. and Mrs. Gene Hallman, Maryam “Mimi” B. Head, Arthur Henley, Michael

Honan, Roxanne Travalute, Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Ingrum, Mr. and Mrs. Terry Kellogg, Dr. and Mrs. James Kirklin, Mr. and Mrs. Don Logan, Dr. and Mrs. William A.H. Maclean, Mr. and Mrs. Phillip McWane, Craft O’Neal, Ruffner Page, Mr. and Mrs. Jim Richardson, Mr. and Mrs. Allen Ritchie, Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Roberts, Mr. and Mrs. Dan Sansone, Mr. and Mrs. David Silverstein, Mr. and Mrs. Stan Starnes, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Stephens, Mrs. and Mrs. Lee Styslinger, Mr. and Mrs. Lee Styslinger III, Jean Templeton, Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Vines, Mr. and Mrs. Mike Warren, James H. White III and Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher Yielding. ❖

Spring-themed Soiree

Amulet Club Hosts Annual Dinner-dance Amulet Club members danced to tunes by The Classics at their annual spring dinner-dance last month.

The event was held at the Vestavia Country Club April 12.

In the club’s ballroom, round tables for dining were centered with seasonal bouquets of white hydrangeas and pink roses. The flowers were intertwined with vines and greenery in moss-covered, woven baskets. A butterfly perching on a vine topped off the arrangement. Tables were overlaid with white cloths accented by celery-colored napkins that repeated colors in the centerpieces by Robert Logan.

Coordinating the dinner-dance were Amulet President Ann Harris, Elizabeth Judd and Nell Larson.

Dinner included filet mignon with wild mushroom demi-glaze and all the trimmings.

Newly elected Amulet officers are Olivia Weingarten, president; Beverly Jackson, vice president; Edith Bauman, secretary; Nell Larson, treasurer; and Ann Harris, past president and parliamentarian.

Among those enjoying the gala evening were Martha and Bob Black, Dot Crook, Gerry Dunham, Warren Kent, Virginia and John Golightly, Ann and Sonny Harris, Margaret and Bill Howell, Beverly and George Jackson, Barbara and Bobby Jones, Nell Larson, Joanne and Art McConnell, Kathy To: Robert and Ted Miller, Kathie and Pringle Ramsey, Phyllis and Roye Tinsley, Sue and Prestonph., Trammel and Olivia and Gene Weingarten. ❖ From: Over The Mountain Journal, 205-823-9646

Date:

205-824-1246, fax May 2014

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if we have not heard from you by 5 pm of the Friday before the press date, your ad will run as is. We print the paper Monday.

Pringle andattention.

Kathie Ramsey.

Thank you for your prompt

Bill Howell and Nell Larson.

Photos special to the Journal

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40th Birthday Festivities Pickwick Dance Club Marks Milestone

Members of the Pickwick Dance Club gathered for a special party recently at Mountain Brook Club.

Members celebrated the club’s 40th anniversary with a birthday bash in March.

The celebration began with cocktails and supper in the living room.

Members were greeted with large balloons in the shape of a “40” and given glow-in-the-dark wristbands and colorful bracelets to wear.

President Cathy Echols with Jack welcomed members along with party planners Helen Pardue and Richard and Peggy Goodwin with Ed. Other officers attending were Jean and Robert Woodward, Kathy and Frank Anderson, Jan and Jack Shannon, Lindsay Cook and Kelley and Pete Gage.

The Pickwick Dance Club was formed in 1974, and membership has remained strong throughout the past four decades. The first president was Grace Whatley. The club began in Kelley Gage’s living room with a band of friends who wanted to form a fun dance group.

The group wanted a name with Birmingham significance. Kathy Peerson suggested the name Pickwick, in reference to the old Pickwick Club in Five Points where many members’ parents danced in their younger days.

This year’s party began with a members-only cocktail event in the living room at Mountain Brook Club, with the dance in the ballroom and light fare served at mid-evening more photos at in the sunroom. The decorating committee created a festive atmosphere with flowers, white balloons on strings of white lights and votive candles on the tables.

Enjoying cocktails and a buffet dinner in the living room were Cruse and Don Bevill, Romona and Jimmy Shannon, Tricia and Jim Ford, Kathryn Porter, Chris and Alston Ray, Sara and Tom Moody, Laura and Erskine Ramsey, Meg and Bill North, Charlotte and Mark Coggin, Carol Provost, Sharon Lumpkin, Patsy and Alan Dreher, Beth and Bill Gunn, Catherine Anne and J. B. Schilleci, Sarah and Jerome Hodge, Trissy Holladay, Allison Morgan, Donna Jernigan, Lind Burk, Linda and Bobby Vann, Grace and Larry Whatley, Susan and Bob Warnock and Fran and Rob Glendenning.

On the veranda were Sheard and Tommy McCulley, Jim and Ann Moore, Charlotte and John Kearney, Lynda and George Hiller, Sharon and Emris Graham, Jane Van Eaton, John Washington and Mallory Gray.

Musical Fantasy from Mobile played hit music from the 1960s and 1970s.

Not missing a beat on the dance floor were Bootsie and Lowell

From left: Patsy Dreher, Joe and Julianne Cleage, Peggy Lee and Alan Dreher. Photos special to the Journal

Don and Crus Beville and Jim and Romona Shannon.

OTMJ.COM

Gail and Alan Howle and Tommy and Sheard McCulley.

Tricia Ford, Garnett and Jimmy Baker and Sharon Lumpkin.

Garrett, Molly Bradley, Marion and Robbie Nichols, Beth and Bill Gunn, Jane and Joe Gribbin, Garnett and Jimmy Baker, Doris and Sam Sparks, Gail and Alan Howle, Dottie and Raleigh Kent, Candy

and John Lindley from Knoxville, Tenn., Julianne and Joe Cleage, Bimi and Blair Cox, Jim and Jeanne Adair, Dana and Tommy Norton, Beth and Rick Woodward and Marsha and Owen Vickers. ❖

Thursday, May 15, 2014 • 23

24 • Thursday, May 15, 2014

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From left: Larry Greer, Eugenia Greer, Tom Adams and Alston Ray.

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Robert and Kelly Aland.

Photos special to the Journal

Directors’ Dinner ISS Event Launches Capital Campaign

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Indian Springs School in North Shelby recently thanked more than 100 alumni, parents and friends for their stewardship of Indian Springs School and celebrated the launch of the Campaign for Springs Eternal, the largest capital campaign in the school’s history.

The 2014 Directors’ Dinner was held April 10 at BridgeStreet Gallery and Loft.

Lead campaign gifts, Fuchs and ISS Director Gareth Vaughan which total more than $15 Dorrie with ISS Board Chairman Libby Pantazis. million following the campaign’s one-year silent phase, will enable Indian Springs to begin constructing new classrooms this summer.

Proposed building plans also include a new dining hall and a new arts center featuring art studios, an art gallery and an outdoor art yard at the heart of campus.

Those attending included Cecilia Matthews, Mike Goodrich, Jeff Book, David Germany, Janet Perry Book, Lt. Col. E.T. Brown, Rusty Rushton, Larry Greer, Eugenia Greer, Tom Adams, Alston Ray, Robert and Kelly Aland, John McGowan, Dick Pigford, Cindy and Michael Routman, John Poynor, Bill Viar, Rene and John Simmons, Ginger and Steve Rueve, Cindy and Michael Routman.

John and Gerrin McGowan, Joe and Ginny Farley, Dorrie Fuchs and Libby Pantazis. ❖

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Springtime Social

Silhouettes Install New Officers

The Silhouettes gathered recently for a spring luncheon and to install new officers.

The luncheon and installation ceremony were held at the home of Fay Hall, president.

Co-hostesses were Martha Fuller, Coquette Barnes, Connie Hinkle, Roseanne Kendrick and Margaret Whitaker.

The new officers inducted at the meeting were Fay Hall, president; Roseanne Kendrick, vice president; Barbara Cook, recording secretary; Martha Norville, corresponding secretary; Anne Michaels, treasurer; and Connie Hinkle, parliamentarian.

The club also voted to welcome nine new members. The new members, who will be introduced at the Silhouettes Spring Brunch this month, are Sandra Holley, Glenda Sparacio, Becky Keyes, Mariellan Morris, Harriet Turner, Jane Smith, Sara Collins, Tricia Preston and Patti Summerford. ❖

Junky 2 Funky

Antiques, Uniques, Home Decor & More Adding 2000 additional square feet

5415 Beacon Drive Suite 151 Irondale, Alabama 35210 Located by Southeastern Salvage.

From left: Fay Hall, Coquette Barnes and Connie Hinkle.

Photo special to the Journal

Jordan-McKelvey

Dr. and Mrs. William Daniel Jordan Jr. of Birmingham announce the engagement of their daughter, Preston Elise Jordan, to Paul Donald McKelvey, son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul

Williams-Andrews

Mr. and Mrs. James McKinley Williams of Ware Neck, Va., announce the engagement of their daughter, Sarah Ellen Williams, to Joseph Jackson Andrews, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Scott Andrews of

Henry-Heinisch

Mr. and Mrs. William L. Henry Jr. (Barbara) of Hoover announce the engagement of their daughter, Krista Louise Henry, to Christopher Ryan Heinisch, son of Mr. and Mrs. David Dias (Janet) and Mr. Randy Heinisch, all of Atlanta.

The bride-elect is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Jackson Rollins Jr. (Betty) of Hoover and the late Mr. and Mrs. William L. Henry (Dorothy) of Birmingham.

Miss Henry is a 2006 graduate of

Thursday, May 15, 2014 • 25

Weddings & Engagements

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Dunn McKelvey of Birmingham.

The bride-elect is the granddaughter of Mrs. Sally Heath Ellis of Birmingham and Dr. and Mrs. William Daniel Jordan of Atlanta.

Miss Jordan is a magna cum laude graduate of the College of Education at the University of Alabama, where she received a bachelor’s degree in special and elementary education.

The prospective groom is the grandson of Mrs. Donald Curtis Collins of Birmingham and the late Mr. Collins and Mrs. Gayno Dunn McKelvey of Moulton and the late Mr. McKelvey.

Mr. McKelvey is seeking an honors diploma in mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering at the University of Alabama, with a minor from the Computer-based Honors Program.

The wedding will be May 24.

Anniston.

The bride-elect is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Peter Urquhart of Bethany Beach, Del., and Mr. Joe S. Williams and the late Mrs. Alice Graham Williams of Ware Neck.

Miss Williams is a graduate of West Point High School in West Point, Va., and Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University and is a musician in Nashville, Tenn.

The prospective groom is the grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Joseph Marshall Jr. of Birmingham and the late Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Glenn Andrews of Anniston.

Mr. Andrews is a graduate of the Indian Springs School in Birmingham and Vanderbilt University. He is also a musician in Nashville.

The wedding is planned for May 24 in Nashville.

Hoover High School and a 2010 cum laude graduate of the University of Alabama, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta social sorority and Sigma Alpha Lambda, Gamma Beta Phi and Phi Eta Sigma honor societies. She earned her master’s degree from Western Kentucky University in industrial/ organizational psychology. Miss Henry was employed at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky. The prospective groom is the grandson of Mrs. Edward Haynes Dodson (Hazel) and the late Mr. Dodson of Atlanta and Mr. and Mrs. Max Heinisch (Sue) of Young Harris, Ga., as well as Mr. and Mrs. Royce Dias (Marie) of Newnan, Ga., and Mrs. Fran Walker of Tyrone, Ga. Mr. Heinisch is a 2006 graduate of Sandy Creek High School in Tyrone and a 2010 graduate of the University of Alabama, where he received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and was a member of Sigma Alpha Lambda honor society. He is employed with Integrity Adjusters in Daphne.

The wedding will be May 31.

Cool-Thompson

Ashley Cool and Bret Thompson were married July 13, 2013 at First United Methodist Church in Birmingham. The Rev. Keith Thompson officiated the ceremony.

The bride is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Timothy Alden Cool of

Holmes-Hunter

Lauren Ashley Holmes and John Webb Hunter were married March 22 at Swann Lake Stables in Birmingham. Dr. Sam Tate, uncle of

Oliver-McFarland

Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Wellesley Oliver of Germantown, Tenn., announce the engagement of their daughter, Sarah White Oliver, to

Birmingham. The groom is the son of the Rev. Keith Daryl Thompson and Dr. Linda Brindley Thompson of Birmingham.

Given in marriage by her father, the bride wore a Judd Waddell champagne ball gown with lace and satin from Bridals by Lori in Sandy Springs, Ga. She added a satin sash with pearl and rhinestone embellishment. She paired the gown with a cathedral style, vintage Belgium lace veil from Amsterdam provided by her maternal grandmother.

She was attended by her sister, Alexandrea Cool, as maid of honor and her sister-in-law, Alana Kathleen Cool, as matron of honor.

Bridesmaids were Sarah Marie Cool and Lauren Katherine Cool, cousins of the bride; Martha Burke Chapman Rice, god-sister of the bride; Taylor Nicole Cockerill; Mary Ann Friday; Alice Elizabeth Griffith; Erin Elizabeth Haley; Lauren Elizabeth Harris; Emory Lloyd Hopson;

Helen Smith Hosmer; Lauren Cole Litchfield; Regina Maiden; Lauren Averette Martin; and Lauren Elizabeth McDavid. The flower girl was Ava Hayes Litchfield, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Litchfield of Birmingham.

Reese Garret Thompson and Cooper Winston Thompson, brothers of the groom, were best men.

Groomsmen were Brent William Cool, brother of the bride; Franklin Theodore Burns III; William Howard Blackburn; Matthew Thomas Brightbill; Stephen Jordan Jager; Stanley Robert Kennedy; Asher Langley Kitchings; Gerald Patrick Saltkill; Ryan Whitten Scott; Templeton O’Neal Stump and R. Benjamin Thomas III. Wyatt Durham, son of Dr. and Mrs. Jay Durham of Huntsville, was the ring bearer.

After a honeymoon trip to Negril, Jamaica, the couple live in Birmingham.

the bride, officiated the ceremony.

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Holmes of Hoover.

She is the granddaughter of Mrs. Louise Supple of Hurtsboro and the late Mr. Jimmy Supple and the late Mrs. Mildred Supple of Hurtsboro as well as the late Mr. Frank Holmes Sr. and Ms. Marilyn Holmes of Cusseta, Ga. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Hunter of Vestavia Hills.

He is the grandson of Mrs. John W. Proffitt of Maryville, Tenn., the late Mrs. Martha Sherer Proffitt and the late Mr. John W. Proffitt of Maryville as well as the late Mr. Hugh Hunter Sr. of Mountain Brook and the late Mr. and Mrs. David Hamilton of Mountain Brook.

Given in marriage by her father, the bride wore a Marisa dress made of ivory Alencon lace and charmeuse

with a silhouette keyhole back and sweetheart neckline. The floor-length mermaid skirt had a chapel-length lace train. The bride wore an ivory fingertip-length veil borrowed from her sister.

Stephanie Holmes Watkins, sister of the bride, was matron of honor.

Bridesmaids were Christy Robinson Davis, Courtney Sturm Gibbs, Kate Russell Lyle and Michelle Mummert.

Emma Tate, cousin of the bride, and Blakely Lyle were flower girls.

Grayson Hunter, brother of the groom, served as best man.

Groomsmen were Travis McArdle, Kevin McCroskey, Jonathan Norman and Dave Sarver. Lochran Hunter and Parcus Hunter, cousins of the groom, were ring bearers.

After a honeymoon trip to Saint Lucia, the couple live in Birmingham.

James Alexander McFarland, son of Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm Keith Miller and Mr. and Mrs. James Carlton McFarland, all of Vestavia Hills.

The bride-elect is the granddaughter of Mr. Donald Williams and the late Georgia Williams of Memphis, Tenn., and the late Mr. and Mrs. William Tucker Oliver of Proctor, Ark. Miss Oliver is a 2009 graduate of Briarcrest Christian School in Germantown and a 2013 summa cum laude graduate of Auburn University with a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting. She was a member of Phi Kappa Phi honor society, a Young Life leader and a member of Chi Omega sorority. Miss Oliver is employed with BBVA Compass Bank.

The prospective groom is the grandson of Mrs. Rhonda Dean Cook and the late Mr. Carlton Ralph

Cook of Vestavia Hills and Mr. and Mrs. James Edward McFarland of Columbiana. He is the great-grandson of Mrs. Bobbie Tidwell Handy and the late Mr. Virgil C. Handy of Columbiana.

Mr. McFarland is a 2008 graduate of Vestavia Hills High School and a 2012 summa cum laude graduate of Auburn University with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences. He was a member of Mortar Board, Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Beta Kappa honor societies and a member of Phi Gamma Delta social fraternity. Mr. McFarland is a second-year medical student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine and also serves as a non-active second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

The wedding will be June 28.

To have our wedding, engagement or anniversary forms sent to you, please call 823-9646.

26 • Thursday, May 15, 2014

A Common Vision

schools

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Education Superintendent Commends Homewood Schools, Community

By Keysha Drexel

T

Journal editor

he state superintendent of education said it is events like the Homewood Chamber of Commerce’s Excellence in Education luncheon that show why Homewood has some of the best schools in the state.

State Superintendent Tommy Bice was the guest speaker at the event held April 18 at The Club in Homewood. The luncheon honored outstanding students from Homewood’s three elementary schools, middle school and high school.

Bice said Homewood students benefit from a community where everyone has a stake in the success of the school system, including the city’s business owners.

“In Homewood, it’s the perfect storm of great leadership working together with the parents and the teachers and the business community,” Bice said. “When those groups come together with a common vision, great things can happen.”

Bice said he recently got a chance to see firsthand those great things happening in Homewood schools during a surprise drop-in visit to

Homewood High School.

“They had no idea I was coming, and I walked in and asked them to take me to an English class,” Bice said. “I walk into the class, and there’s this remarkable first-year teacher leading the students on an analysis of ‘Othello’ and every kid in there was engaged and contributing to the conversation. It was stellar, just stellar.”

In his introduction of Bice at the chamber luncheon, Homewood City Schools Superintendent Bill Cleveland shared how the state superintendent snapped a photo in that Homewood High School English class.

“He tweeted a picture of all the kids reading ‘Othello’ and said, ‘The classics aren’t dead at Homewood High School,’” Cleveland said.

Cleveland said he feels lucky to live in a city where the students are not only challenged by great teachers but are also supported by involved parents and business owners.

“We live in a city that truly supports these students,” Cleveland said.

Cleveland presented the 2014 Excellence in Education Awards to the student award winners, sharing a little bit about each student as they stood with him and were recognized.

The superintendent said this was

Shades Mountain Christian School ▪K3 - 12th Grades ▪Student/Teacher Ratio 12:1 ▪AHSAA Sports ▪Band, Theatre, Choir & Art

smcs.org Call to arrange a tour

205-978-6001

Students from Homewood City Schools were recognized at the April 15 Homewood Chamber of Commerce Excellence in Education luncheon at The Club. From left: Homewood City Schools Superintendent Bill Cleveland, Mitchell Prewitt of Shades Cahaba Elementary, Reed Jeffries of Edgewood Elementary, Frances Josephine Kyle of Homewood High School, Joshua Ndegwa of Homewood Middle School, Frank Studinka of Hall-Kent Elementary School, Homewood Chamber of Commerce President Trey Schaefer and state Superintendent of Schools Tommy Bice.

Photo special to the Journal by Merrick Wilson

the 29th year the awards have been presented to Homewood’s outstanding students.

The Excellence in Education Award winner from Edgewood Elementary was Reed Jeffries, a fifth-grader. Jeffries plays lacrosse, is known for being kind and wants to be a neurologist, Cleveland said.

Frank Studinka was named the Excellence in Education Award winner from Hall-Kent Elementary. The fifth-grader plays baseball, football and basketball and also plays the piano and guitar, Cleveland said.

Shades Cahaba Elementary fifthgrader Mitchell Prewitt was named his school’s Excellence in Education Award winner. Prewitt plays baseball, is close to getting his black belt in tae kwon do, plays the drums and has done volunteer work at Children’s of Alabama, Cleveland said.

The Excellence in Education Award winner from Homewood Middle School was Joshua Ndegwa.

The eighth-grader has a 4.0 grade point average, is a member of the National Junior Honor Society and has already completed 30 hours of community service this school year, Cleveland said.

Frances Josephine Kyle was named the Excellence in Education Award winner from Homewood High School. Kyle has a 4.6 grade point average, scored a 32 on the ACT, was named an AP Scholar of Distinction

and is a member of the Student Government Association, the French Club, the Homewood High School Show Choir and a Relay for Life team, Cleveland said. The superintendent said the senior plans to attend the University of Alabama this fall.

Bice said he felt blessed to be able to speak at the Excellence in Education event and to see the students receive recognition for their hard work.

“It is all about the students,” Bice said.

Bice said that mentality is behind the policy change by the state Board of Education that took effect in April.

On April 23, all juniors in Alabama public high schools took the ACT college entrance exam as part of a new set of standardized testing requirements for students in the third through 12th grades adopted by the state Board of Education.

The state Department of Education approved the change a few years ago, but it has just now gone into effect.

“We’ve done away with the graduation exam and set a new benchmark,” Bice said. “I’m not saying that every child should go to college, but every child needs a choice.”

The ACT was something that college-bound students used to have to take own on their own time and at their own expense. The state paid $2.7 million to provide the test to the state’s 11th-graders this spring. The

School Notes VHEW Students Run in Mercedes Marathon Vestavia Hills Elementary West was well represented in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama Kids Mercedes Marathon.

The event was held Feb.15 in Birmingham’s Linn Park.

Kindergarten through fifth-graders trained for the event during a five-month

program designed to build running and walking endurance.

VHEW students began logging miles soon after school began in August.

They also took part in “Monday Run Day” each week during their physical education classes.

Each student completing the final mile received a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama Kids Mercedes Marathon finisher’s medal,

Students from Vestavia Hills Elementary West ran in the 2014 Kids Mercedes Marathon. From left: Michael Helton, Rosie Bolton, Drew Helton and Baker Bolton.

Photo special to the Journal

Alisa

test they were given had English, math and science components but no writing assessment, which would have cost more money but is still a part of admittance requirements for several universities and colleges.

Higher learning institutions also award scholarships based on ACT scores.

Bice said the new testing requirements will give a clearer picture of the progress of Alabama’s students.

“One of our biggest challenges up until this point has been the testing rules, which were just ridiculous,” Bice said. “We were being held captive under the archaic No Child Left Behind rules.”

Bice said when his department asked Alabama business and industry leaders what the state’s schools needed to do better to prepare its graduates, the answer he received disturbed him.

“They told us that Alabama graduates are lacking in intellectual curiosity, and that was a very scary thought,” Bice said. “Homewood was an outlier in that, obviously, because you continued to teach children to be curious and to think.”

As dignitaries and guests arrived before the luncheon, the Homewood Middle School Jazz Band, under the direction of Chris Cooper, performed.

Homewood High School senior Racquel Williams sang the national anthem. ❖

Hoover’s Smith Awarded Wayne Smith, Hoover City Schools’ coordinator of attendance, was recently honored at the annual Alabama Association of Prevention and Support Services Conference in Mobile.

Smith received the Sue Adams Award at the event on April 4.

The award is named after Dr. Sue Adams, an advocate and longtime Director of Prevention and Support Services for the Alabama Department of Education.

The award honors the recipient’s passion, knowledge and contributions to the field of prevention and support services.

Smith, who has been with Hoover City Schools since its inception, has served in several classroom and administrative capacities over the years, including teacher, assistant principal and principal.

Thursday, May 15, 2014 • 27

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

At Altamont, Bradford is president of the senior class and is a member of the National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Thespian Troupe 251, National Classical League Latin Honor Society, French Club, Latin Club, Honors Reading Seminar and tennis team.

She is a National Merit Finalist and is involved in community service organizations throughout Birmingham.

Space Archeologist Speaks at Simmons

Second-graders at Cherokee Bend Elementary School in Mountain Brook brought history to life with their Famous People project. Front, from left: Harrison Parker, Camp Forbus, James Ward, Aaron King, Will Nichols, Henry Lawrenz and Andrew Naftel. Back: John Robicheaux, Ashley Courington, Samantha Stewart, Paige Parant, Lauren Barksdale, Rachel White, Lily Dyson, Christopher Yeilding, Charlie Elliot and Rollins Thorpe, teacher.

Photo special to the Journal

Cherokee Bend Focuses on Famous People Students at Cherokee Bend Elementary School in Mountain Brook recently brought history to life through a class project.

Each second-grader at the school completed a project-based learning study focusing on famous people.

To complete the study, students read information in a variety of genres, did Internet research, published a piece of writing, created and decorated a model and gave a technology presentation about their famous person.

The students used available technology resources to present their learning in a digital format.

At the end of the study, each student dressed in costume to portray his or her character or famous person in a musical performance.

Some of the famous folks from history making an appearance at Cherokee Bend Elementary included Walt Disney, Helen Keller, Jane Goodall, Susan B. Anthony, Queen Elizabeth I, Lou Gehrig, Teddy Roosevelt, Levi Strauss, Alexander Graham Bell, Wilbur Wright and Thomas Jefferson.

Miss Oak Mountain Hosts Putnam Middle Program Miss Oak Mountain High School Myrah Elizabeth Taylor recently visited Putnam Middle School in Birmingham to talk to students about the importance of studying science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM. Taylor, a senior, was invited by Putnam Middle School Principal Brenda

Putnam Middle School Principal Brenda Dial, left, and Miss Oak Mountain High School Myrah Elizabeth Taylor. Photo special to the Journal

Dial to mentor the students there.

Taylor invited Milton Davis, director of business development at BL Harbert International; Cathy Ford, project manager at IBM; LaTrena Sanders, a nurse; and Regina Vann Williams, president and chief executive officer at Vann-Williams Construction to join her to talk to the students about careers in STEM fields.

“Exposing these middle school students to engineers, a nurse and a building contractor should give them insight as to where STEM can lead,” Taylor said.

Taylor received support for the program at Putnam Middle from the Birmingham chapter of Jack and Jill and the Tri County chapter of The Links, Inc.

Altamont’s Bradford First to Win W&L Scholarship An Altamont School senior recently received the prestigious Johnson Scholarship at Washington and Lee University.

Alice Bradford is the first student from the Birmingham area to receive this distinction, school officials said.

The Johnson Alice Bradford Scholarship Program for Leadership and Integrity began in 2007 as a result of a $100 million gift to Washington and Lee University. Designed to attract students with exceptional academic and personal promise, winners of the Johnson Scholarship receive awards of at least tuition, room, and board to attend Washington and Lee. Johnson Scholars also receive funding in the amount of $7,000 to support summer experiences during their time at Washington and Lee. Johnson Scholarships are annually awarded to approximately 10 percent of the incoming class. This year, some 3,000 students applied for the scholarship with applicants coming from all 50 states and more than 80 foreign countries.

After a grueling competition weekend on campus in March, 44 Johnson Scholars were named.

A space archaeologist recently visited Simmons Middle School in Hoover.

Sarah Parcak of the University of Alabama at Birmingham spoke at a school-wide assembly at Simmons April 11.

Parcak is an archaeologist and Egyptologist and specializes in making the invisible past visible using 21st-century satellite technology. She is also an author of “Satellite Remote Sensing for Archaeology,” the first methods book on satellite archaeology.

OLS Students Compete in School’s Geography Bee Students from Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School in Homewood recently competed for the school’s geography bee title.

The students, from fourth through

The winners of the OLS Geography Bee were, front, from left: Wyatt Williams, Scout Moellering, Madison Le and Ruby Thornton. Back: Amelia Pugh, Jackson Hanle, Ben Boohaker, Claire Morel, Alex Nichols and Jordan Evans. Photo special to the Journal eighth grade, placed first in their classroom competitions, making them eligible to compete for the school title.

Participating students were presented with written and oral questions about worldwide geographic topics, such as: “Because Earth bulges at the Equator, the point that is farthest from Earth’s center is the summit of a peak in Ecuador. Name this peak.”

Amelia Pugh, a sixth-grader, won this year’s school title. This ir the second

year Pugh has won the competition.

Ben Boohaker, an eighth-grader, won second place.

As a school-level geography bee winner, Pugh took a written geography test to try to qualify for the Alabama state competition.

For the second year, Pugh placed as one of the top 101 students in Alabama to compete for the state title.

The statewide competition was held at Samford University in April.

Mike A. Keller, DDS, PC Pediatric / Adolescent Dentistry Dr. Mike Keller, friends & staff are happy to recognize April members of the NO SUGAR BUG CLUB

Makale Abdullah Malachi Abdullah Makiyah Abdullah Harper Alexander Emory Alexander Carter Alexander Jorge Alvelar Franco Anyiko John Anyiko Flora Anyiko Sadie Arnold Andrew Autrey Baynes Autrey Brooks Autrey Will Bailey Jon Davis Bailey Kathryn Bailey Albert Barkman Elizabeth Barrineau Brooklyn Baughman Maggie Bearden Blaine Bearden Will Beasley Hunter Bell Hayden Bell Grace Bertram Elias Bertram Kalie Blalock Elizabeth Blankenship Lauren Blankenship Hope Blankenship Addison Bloomingburg Jack Bloomingburg Stella Bogart Braden Brom Raynor Brom Georgia Brooks Natalie Brooks Caroline Brooks Lindsay Brown Levi Brown Brooklyn Brown Nathaniel Brown Ethan Brown Riley Brown Ann Carter Brown Kayden Bungo Crenshaw Bunn Reid Catherine Bunn Davis Bunn Levi Burch Lydia Burch Colby Campbell Chloe Campbell John Carothers Will Carothers Mya Carroll Paul Cates Zmaire Cates Brennen Charles Caroline Charles Reaves Childress Evie Childress Courtney Clark Cooper Clemenson Cassidy Clemenson

\Jaden Coates Jackson Coates Conner Colburn Luke Compton Mason Compton Jake Cone Leelyn Conn Dezzie Conn Noah Corda Chip Cowin Jonathan Cox Jasmine Cox Nikki Cox Parker Crane Ella Scott Crane Mabry Crane Quentin Crommelin Isabel Cruz Francie Cvacho Will Cvacho Anna Grace Dasher Ben Dasher Isaiah Davis Jordan Davis Jozie Davis Jared Davis Tyra Davis Tyrone Davis Grayson de Onis Sophia de Onis Madison Denham Will Dobbins Katherine Donald Blake Donald Wirth Doss Hannah Doss Louise Doss Evans Dudley Marie Duncan Graham Duncan Emma Grace Dungan Tate Dungan Lauren Edwards Brock Eisele Grace Elam Mary Richard Elkus Isabel Elkus Eleanor Elkus Kirsten Estes Ethan Estes Cameron Estes Crawford Eubanks Andrew Eubanks Tramello Evans Karma Evans Julianne Evers Ellie Grace Farmer Hunter Farr Neka Ferguson Parker Foshee John David Fox Douglas Frederick Alexander Freeburg Justin Gamble Grayson Gilbert Ellen Given

Jackson Glover Jackson Goetz Addison Goetz Elliott Grechijian Malik Gunn Zora Hamilton Sanders Hand Luke Hand Madeline Hand Pricilla Haney Karli Hardeman Mallory Hardeman Mia Hardeman Savannah Hardeman Christopher Harmon Cate Harmon Sam Harmon Cate Harmon Elizabeth Harmon Elizabeth Harris Leigh Haynes Ben Hellums Chris Hellums John Hendry Mary Winston Hendry Faulkner Hereford Jason Herring Shawn Herring Garrett Higgins Laney Hill Evey Hill Tessa Hill Jack Howard Shelby Howard Christian Huddle Sarah Huddle Mary Kate Hughes Annie Hughes Andrew Hunt Carter Jackman Dewine Jackson Alison Jenkins Ellen Jenkins Xzaria Jett Emily Ann Johnson Dixon Jones Mims Jones Nathan Jones Zane Jordan Marie Claire Kampakis Camille Kampakis Ella Kampakis Sophie Kampakis Fletcher Keith Collins Keith Noah Klein Jack Knight Santo Kurre Lila Kurre Matthew Lagan Hannah Lagan Michael Lagan Trinity Lairson Graham Lane Daren Lanier Catherine Lard

Catherine Lard James Lard Ana Rose Leach Christian Leach Alexander Ledvina Erik Ledvina Marek Ledvina Bryonna Lee Ivan Lentz Aidan Lentz Tzophiyah Levans Zachary Levans Sadie Levans Carson Lilly Langston Lilly Stephen Lilly Rosalind Litsey Jackson Loats Claire Lockridge Logan Lockridge Luis Lopez Daniel Lopez CJ Lorino LJ Mabry Jakayla Mabry Raines Manley Myshka Manzueta Addilyn Marlin Kade Marlin Kason Marllin Cade Martin McKenzie Mason Ethan Maxwell Benjamin Maxwell Jeb McCary Andrew McCary Katie McCary Grady McClain Alexia McCray Mary Kate McDuffie Ashley McDuffie Lydia McNair Sarah McNair Piper Metty Alexander Metty Maegan Millsap Makenzie Millsap Daniel Milton Bennett Milton Jackson Mitchell Bella Mitchell Ford Moffatt Adele Moffatt Lilly Moody Brian Morris Jordan Moss Marianna Murray Elizabeth Murray William Nall Olivia Nelson Chapman Newsome Marshall James Newsome Cole Oberst Sumner Odom Jake Ogle

Beth Owens Zachary Owens Stephen Owens Andy Pantoja Antonio Pantoja Lulu Pantoja Thomas Papapietro Max Paris Meade Parris Grayson Parris Loa Patterson Victoria Paul Kyle Paul Emily Pena Sophia Pena Matthew Picardy Sarah Kathryn Picardy John Michael Pickens Landon Pickens Madeline Polzin Tre Ponder Katie Ramsbacher Reid Ramsbacher Zachary Ratliff Kristin Ratliff Amelia Richardson Sophie Robbins Charlotte Robbins Crawford Robbins Kayla Robinson Karyme Robles Armando Robles Cameron Rollins Owen Ross James Roth Eleanor Roth Ann Heaton Sanders Sarah Kate Sanders Hunter Sanders Kimberly Sarabia Jasmine Sarabia Mattie Kate Sellers Claire Short Henry Short Emma Simon Emily Sink Emily Ann Sitz Anna Sitz Brantley Sitz Micah Sitz Noah Sitz Alyssa Sitz Nathan Sitz Ashton Skalnik Will Smith Kole Smith Ashley Smith Natalie Smith Charlie Smith Bentley Smith Kayla Smith Jacob Smitherman Kirk Smitherman Joseph Sneed Baylor Speer Chloe Kay Speer

Brookwood Dental Building • 2045 Medical Center Drive • Birmingham, Alabama • 870-7110

Kaiden Speer Peter Spencer James Spencer Ryleigh Stevens Carter Storey Hannah Straughn John Michael Straughn Emily Straughn Ryan Sullivan Jack Sullivan William Tabb Henry Tabb Charlie Tabb Zion Thompson Elijah Thompson Judah Thompson Connor Tierney Addison Tierney Breese Tierney George Tims Garrett Tims Jackson Treadwell Caleb Tucker Luke Tulloch Ryan Tulloch Olivia Turner Joshua Turner Jacob Vice Lauren Vice Britt Vice Grey Vice Mimi Waggoner Jackson Waldrop Miles Waldrop Graham Waldrop Major Walker Jacob Walker Thomas Walker Park Weaver Alexander Weaver Wills Webster Ashton Weibley Zaida Weibley Lillie Corinne Welch Anne Mitchell Welch Houston West Virginia White Peyton Wilkins Grant Wilkins Julia Wilkins Grace Wilkins Rasaria Williams Evan Williams Kent Wingard Wade Wingard Blake Wingard Drake Wingard Shadow Yates Stormy Yates Hudson Youngblood Zoe Zarate Conner Zaremba Chase Zaremba Mushaba Zulu

28 • Thursday, May 15, 2014

schools

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Hall-Kent Elementary School in Homewood recently donated the most books to the Birmingham Reads Book Drive Challenge. Photo

special to the Journal

Hall-Kent Donates Most Books to Book Drive Members of the new Coastal Conservation Association Junior Board at Mountain Brook High School are, from left, front: CCA Alabama Executive Director J. Roger Ball and Travis Taylor. Middle: Stringer Vogtle, Sam Stewart, Wirth Doss, Jack McPherson, Stephen Little, John Eagan, George Eagan, Vincent Zicarelli, Parker Hartline, Andrew King, Preston Eagan and Taylor Strickland. Back: Drew Brown, McKinnon Cox, Ridley Culp, J. Forrester DeBuys IV, Deke Marbury, Ken Thompson, Franklin Brown, Weston Williams, Parker Crane, Anderson Aldag, Buddy Pell, Thomas Skinner and Tucker Deaton. Christian Anderson, Mills Poynor, Gene Bromberg, Jacob Carroll, Matt Creighton and Hunter Lucas are not pictured. Photo special to the Journal

Mountain Brook High School Forms New Coastal Conservation Junior Board A new group has been formed at Mountain Brook High School to benefit the state’s coastal areas.

A Coastal Conservation Association Junior Board was recently established at the school to help raise awareness and create interest in preserving Alabama’s marine resources.

The founding members of the junior board were selected based on recognized leadership abilities, community volunteer work and past participation in Coastal Conservation Association events.

Among other duties, group members will work on a 2014 fundraiser to raise money for the Patrick Fritze Lifetime Membership Fund.

The members of the new Costal Conservation Association Junior Board at Mountain Brook High School are Drew Brown, McKinnon Cox, Ridley Culp, J. Forrester DeBuys IV, Deke Marbury, Ken Thompson, Franklin Brown, Weston Williams, Parker Crane, Anderson Aldag, Buddy Pell, Thomas Skinner, Tucker Deaton, Stringer Vogtle, Sam Stewart, Wirth Doss, Jack McPherson, Stephen Little, John Eagan, George Eagan, Vincent Zicarelli, Parker Hartline, Andrew King, Preston Eagan, Taylor Strickland, Travis Taylor, Christian Anderson, Mills Poynor, Gene Bromberg, Jacob Carroll, Matt Creighton and Hunter Lucas. ❖

Hall-Kent families, students and teachers were recently rewarded for their generosity and commitment to literacy.

The school was awarded $1,000 for donating the most books during this year’s Birmingham Reads Book Drive Challenge.

Those at the school donated 7,234 books to the book drive challenge this year.

The school also received a popsicle party for having the most in attendance at the Birmingham Reads Book Drive Challenge at Brookwood Mall in April.

Hilltop Montessori Director Kisses for Charity A group of Hilltop Montessori School students recently took Mahatma Gandhi’s maxim, “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” to heart.

Caroline Prince, Sienna Stine and Gabby Wang decided to raise funds for

their favorite charity, Feed the Children.

To boost their project, they asked the head of the school, Michele Wilensky, to kiss one of the school’s pets—Mario, a bearded dragon--if they reached their fundraising goal.

Wilensky agreed and further committed by an additional agreement to kiss a hermit crab.

The head of Hilltop Montessori School agreed to kiss a bearded dragon if students met their fundraising goal to help a charity. From left: Caroline Prince, Sienne Stine and Michele Wilensky, head of school.

Photo special to the Journal

Shades Mountain Christian School ▪K3 - 12th Grades ▪Student/Teacher Ratio 12:1 ▪AHSAA Sports ▪Band, Theatre, Choir & Art

smcs.org Call to arrange a tour

205-978-6001

Alisa

Deer Valley Elementary School students participated in Shades Crest Baptist’s annual High Country 5K in April in Hoover. Photo special to the Journal

Deer Valley Runners Win High Country Events More than 20 Deer Valley Elementary School students competed in Shades Crest Baptist Church’s annual High Country 5K April 5 in Hoover.

The students were part of a school run group led by Courtney Emerson, physical education teacher.

The third and fourth-grade students trained every Wednesday afternoon for five weeks to build up their endurance to run the 3.1 miles in the event.

Each year, the High Country 5K hosts an Elementary School Challenge as a part of the race. Two trophies are up for grabs as a part of this competition-highest participation and fastest race times overall.

Deer Valley brought home both trophies from the competition this year.

Several students also won individual medals. Mackenzie Culpepper placed

first in her age division and third for overall female. For the boys, Cooper Bradshaw and Thomas Hao placed first and Austin Montgomery placed second in their respective age groups.

Ramsbacher, Chandler Vargas, Emma Sanders, Sarah Welles Edwards, Clara Howell and Margaret Nichols.

The evening concluded with a faculty finale.

Alexander Wins People’s Choice Award in Show Third-grader Christopher Alexander won the coveted People’s Choice Award at the third annual The Bend’s Got Talent show.

The showcase of Cherokee Bend Elementary School’s talented students was held March 7 at Mountain Brook High School’s Fine Arts Center.

The sold-out crowd saw student acts ranging from tap to tumbling and from saxophone playing to singing.

Alexander won the People’s Choice Award for his drumming performance.

Other winners were Anna Bella Foster, Connor Hughes, Reid

Christopher Alexander won the People’s Choice Award at the third annual The Bend’s Got Talent Show at Cherokee Bend Elementary School in Mountain Brook. Photo special to the Journal

overall in its class at the championship level.

Members of the junior varsity Winterguard at Spain Park High School are Sarah Gray, Aqiea Cole, Diana Duran, Yulya Plaia, Ester Mwangota, Ashlyn Kortman, Emilee Butler, Melodi Shaw, Savannah Wayland, Sydney Mackay and Emily Chastain.

The junior varsity instructors are Lindsay Holden and Gary Christopher.

Members of the varsity Winterguard at Spain Park High School are Tessa Buttram, Haley Hill, Madeline Brandon,

Fourth-graders at Bluff Park Elementary School examine starfish as part of their marine biology studies. Photo special to the Journal

Bluff Park Enrichment Students Study Starfish Fourth-graders at Bluff Park Elementary School in Hoover have been studying echinoderms.

The enrichment students at the school elected to study marine biology with a special emphasis on echinoderms such as starfish.

As part of their final project, students were required to identify the parts of the anatomy and explain the functions of the various systems of starfish, also called sea stars.

LPMS Girls Attend Science and Engineering Program Students from Liberty Park Middle School attended an April 12 program on girls in science and engineering.

Fourteen sixth-graders and four seventh-graders from the Vestavia Hills school attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s fourth annual Girls and Science and Engineering Day. The free program allows girls in the sixth through eighth grades to participate in fun science and engineering activities.

Each participant could choose to attend three workshops in health sciences, engineering or technology and applied sciences. Workshop topics were forensic science, reptilian biology, heart dissection and pathology, transportation

Thursday, May 15, 2014 • 29

schools

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

engineering, neuroscience, biomedical engineering, computer science, medical suturing, bottle rocket building, chemistry, veterinary medicine and genetics.

The workshops were led by women who are professors, scientists and students from UAB and the surrounding community.

The program, created in 2011, was designed to inspire and empower middle school girls to achieve in the fields of science and engineering.

Spain Park Winterguard Teams Earn Honors Members of Spain Park High School’s varsity and junior varsity Winterguard teams won several awards during the 2014 season.

Each group participated in contests from January through March in and around the Southeast with the Southeastern Color Guard Circuit, which focuses on creativity and freedom of expression through pageantry and the performing arts.

The junior varsity team placed first in the St. James High School Contest in Montgomery and won third place overall in its class at the SCGC Color Guard Championships held in March at Belmont University.

The varsity Winterguard team won second place at the St. James High School Contest and was ranked sixth

Alexis Makay, Danielle Johnson, Jasmine Washington, Alana Ingram, Emily Jackson, Hayden Alexander, Mackenzie Mullins, Molly Henson, Tiffany Lewis and Mahaa Mahmood.

Auction Raises More than $20,000 for VHEW The Backyard Bids & Burgers fundraiser, held on Feb. 7, benefited Vestavia Hills Elementary West.

The annual live and silent auction was held at Vestavia Hills Plaza

Pat Sullivan Football CamPS High School Prospect Camp: June 7 7-on-7 Team Passing Camp: July 9 7-on-7 Team Passing Camp: July 10 High School Prospect Camp: July 11 High School Prospect Camp: July 12 Youth Camp: July 14–16

www.patsullivancamps.com

Women’S baSketball CamPS Fundamental Camp Session 1: June 2–5 College Prep Camp Session 1: June 6 College Prep Camp Session 2: June 7 Team Camp: June 9–12 Father/Daughter Camp: June 13–14 Fundamental Camp Session 2: Aug. 2–7

www.bulldoghoopcamps.com

nike tenniS CamP Session 1: June 9–13 Session 2: July 7–11

www.samfordsports.com 1-800-NIKE-CAMP

nike Junior golF CamP July 20–24

www.samfordsports.com 1-800-NIKE-CAMP

bulldog SoCCer CamP Day Camp Session 1: June 16–19 Day Camp Session 2: June 23–26 Residential Elite and Team Camp: July 23–26 Fundamental Camp Session 2: Aug, 2–7

www.bulldogsoccercamp.com Andy Stoots stoots@samford.edu • 205-726-4039

bennie Seltzer dex volleyball CamP boyS’ baSketball CamPS Middle School Camp 1: July 7 Fundamental Camp 1: June 16–19 Middle School Team Camp: June 20–21 Fundamental Camp 2: June 23–26 High School Team Camp: June 27–28

www.samfordsports.com Charles Newton cnewton1@samford.edu 205-726-4292

mandy burFord SoFtball CamPS

SWimming leSSonS Session 1: June 2–12, Mon.–Thurs.

Session 2: June 16–26, Mon.–Thurs.

Dollie Brice • dgbrice@samford.edu

Photo special to the Journal

Send school news to editorial@otmj.com

Samford Summer CampS

Session 1: June 9–11 Session 2: June 16–19 Session 3: June 23–25 www.collegesoftballcamps.com/samford

Members of the varsity Winterguard at Spain Park High School, above and the junior varsity Winterguard won several awards during the 2014 season.

Shopping Center.

The fundraiser drew a crowd ready to bid on vacations, jewelry, artwork and dozens of other items. Bidders had complimentary burgers from Mugshots Grill while they browsed the selection of auction items.

The event raised more than $20,000 for teacher development and classroom resources.

Middle School Camp 2: July 8 Middle School Camp 3: July 9 Middle School Team Camp 1: July 7–9 High School Team Camp 1: July 10 High School Team Camp 2: July 11 High School Varsity/JV Play Day Camp: July 12 All Positions Evening Camp: July 13 All Positions Camp: July 14 Setter and Attacker Positions Camp: July 15

www.dexvolleyballcamps.com Matt Scott • mscott6@samford.edu 205-726-2969

CaSey dunn baSeball CamPS High School Team Camp: June 10–12 Youth Session 1: June 16–19 Youth Session 2: June 23–26 Youth Session 3: July 14–17 High School Spotlight Camp: July 21–July 23 Youth Session 4: July 28–31

www.samfordbaseballcamps.com

fashion Teen Trendsetters

30 • Thursday, May 15, 2014

By Keysha Drexel Journal editor

The Over the Mountain area was well represented at this year’s Birmingham Fashion Week with several local budding designers making it to the final night of a competition in which they had to make garments using unconventional materials.

Several of the 40 finalists in the 2014 Rising Design Star Challenge were from Vestavia Hills, Homewood, Hoover, Mountain Brook and North Shelby, and half of the 16 finalists selected to take the runway on the final evening of Birmingham Fashion Week were from the Over the Mountain area.

Chloe Miller and Rigdon Hendrix of Homewood and Morgan Taylor, Bradford Billingsly, Brooke Lindsey, Ella Kate Dewees, Brooke Tarrant and Taylor McGill, all of Vestavia Hills, were all among the finalists who got to see their designs come to life on the Birmingham Fashion Week runway this year.

Billingsly won second place and a $300 scholarship, and Hendrix won third place and a $200 scholarship in the Rising Design Star competition.

The fourth annual Rising Design Star

Young Designers Shine in Rising Star Challenge

Competition showcased the unique designs of middle and high school students. From more than 120 applicants from around the state, 40 were chosen to display their creations at the Birmingham Museum of Art last month.

The designs of 30 semifinalists were selected to be modeled on the runway at Birmingham Fashion Week April 24 and 25, and the final 16 designs were showcased April 26.

The students used materials ranging from video film, party balloons and recycled aluminum to newspapers and bubble wrap.

New to the competition this year was the Rock the Runway: Rising Design Star Challenge presented by Buffalo Rock. For that challenge, students had to create clothing made from recycled Buffalo Rock Co. products that showed creativity, fashion knowledge and the engineer-

ing know-how that goes into crafting the outfits.

“We have enjoyed our partnership with Birmingham Fashion Week, and we are thrilled to sponsor this year’s Rising Design Star Challenge,” said Matthew Dent, president and chief operating officer of Buffalo Rock Co. “Our company is committed to helping students reach their potential as they explore their dreams and overcome their challenges.”

On April 13, the materials for the new challenge were revealed, and the students had 11 days to create a new design and construct the garment using only tape, glue or staples and recycled items from the provided list.

“The designers have proven that they have the creativity for the fashion world. Now, let’s see how they do with limited resources and limited time,” said Heidi Elnora, founder of

Stylish Screensaver

Ad-vantageous Outlook

While he was excited to place in the top three in his first time competing in the Rising Design Star Challenge last year, 12-year-old Bradford Billingsly of Vestavia Hills said he was determined to do even better in this year’s competition.

The Pizitz Middle School seventh-grader won second place in this year’s contest with an off-the-shoulder red dress that looks like it is made of fine lace.

“I wanted to make a daring and bold couture-looking gown out of odd materials,” Billingsly said.

And that he did.

Using intricately cut paper and window screens, Billingsly created a gown that looks nothing like the materials that went into making it.

The most challenging part of creating his design, Billingsly said, was “cutting each piece of paper out with an X-Acto knife and gluing them all on the porch screen the way I envisioned.”

Billingsly said he channeled the skills of his favorite designers, Giana Versace and Alexander McQueen, to complete the dress.

Billingsly said he knows that this is not the last time his designs will grace a fashion runway.

“I want to be a famous fashion designer,” he said. “My goal is to attend Central Saint Martins (College of Arts and Design) in London and from there, become a head designer of a famous designer brand and from there, start my own Bradford Billingsly couture fashion house.”

Billingsly said he thinks fashion is important because it gives people a way to express their creativity.

“I think that it is a way to express yourself and tell people who you are,” he said. “I think everyone should set their own personal style and goal with it. Wear what speaks to you.”

Chloe Miller wanted to send a message with the dress she designed for the Rising Design Star Challenge.

In her design, the 14-year-old Homewood Middle School student used advertisements from magazines in which she felt the models were digitally altered and offered an unrealistic image to young girls.

“You see all these beautiful models and sometimes that can affect your self-esteem,” she said. “My message is to love who you are and do not try to be someone else. Many women suffer from body image issues, and raising awareness can only help.”

Miller said the most challenging part of creating her collage-style strapless dress was the fitting process. She made the dress

Bradford Billingsly — Vestavia Hills

Chloe Miller — Homewood

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Birmingham Fashion Week. “Creating a second look gives the young designers a chance to further explore their abilities and real world experience working on a tight timeline.”

Elnora said she and Birmingham Fashion Week co-founder Jeanna Lee Fleming created the Rising Design Star competition to inspire young designers and provide a place to showcase their creations.

Other Over the Mountain area students selected to the top 40 in this year’s Rising Design Star Challenge included Sarah Gann, Camille Miceli, Annegret Tarrasch, Kate Schneider and Laney Moers, all of Vestavia Hills, and Isabel Estes, Zoe Jacks, Lily Jacks and Mikyla Weatherington, all of Birmingham.

Heather Howard of Homewood and Mallory Mus of Hoover were also named to the top 40 list.

Along with the Rising Design Star challenge, this year’s Birmingham Fashion Week featured designs by Elnora, Rebecca Taylor, Leona, Harold & Mod, Salence, Show Me Your Mumu, State Traditions, SW3 Bespoke, NBC’s “Fashion Star” winner Hunter Bell and “Project Runway: All Stars” winner Anthony Ryan.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Camp Smile-A-Mile and Alabama Forever. with the ads, plastic wrap and sculpting wire.

“Using unconventional materials adds to the difficulty of fitting,” she said.

Miller said she found out about the competition after attending the finale of last year’s Rising Design Star Challenge.

“I fell in love with the idea, as I am not the best at sewing, but I love sculpture and have always loved fashion,” she said.

Miller said her favorite fashion designer is Coco Chanel.

“She pioneered women’s fashion and was so classy,” Miller said.

The eighth-grader said she would love to pursue a career in fashion, even though she knows the field is a very competitive one.

“I know that will be insanely hard work,” she said. “My only goal is to get my name out there. I will definitely be competing again next year.”

Catching the Waves

Rigdon Hendrix — Homewood

A spring break trip to the beach inspired the dress design that gave 13-year-old Rigdon Hendrix of Homewood a third-place win in this year’s Rising Design Star Challenge.

The homeschooled seventh-grader reimagined an ocean with sharp edges instead of smooth waves in his first foray into the Birmingham Fashion Week competition.

“I’ve always liked the ocean, and seeing something wavy like the ocean represented in such a sharp design really popped out as a cool idea for a dress,” Hendrix said.

Hendrix said he first became interested in the Rising Design Star Challenge after attending last year’s Birmingham Fashion Week with his mother and his sister.

Hendrix hand-cut paint sample cards into triangles and used duct tape to affix them to a dress form made of chicken wire. The asymmetrical dress was accented with a belt Hendrix made using a starfish and marbles.

“The hardest part of creating my design was getting my sister to sit still long enough for us to actually construct the skeleton of it and resize when necessary,” Hendrix said.

Hendrix said he was shocked when he found out he had been named a finalist in the Rising Design Star Challenge.

“Just being a part of something as cool as Birmingham Fashion Week with my friends was its own reward,” he said. “Earning third place was just icing on the cake.”

While he’s not sure if he will pursue a career in fashion design or not just yet, Hendrix said he thinks fashion is important because there’s a look for every personality.

“Fashion is important because it gives people an outlet to express themselves and their individual personality,” he said.

More Young Designers Page 32

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Thursday, May 15, 2014 • 31

fashion

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

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Summer Fashion Looking for cool clothes for hot weather? Search no further.

We asked Over the Mountain boutiques to show us their trendiest styles for summer days and nights. In this issue, you’ll find plenty of ideas for stepping up your style profile. Just call it our fashion-forward heat index.

Journal photos by Marsha Perry

1. This fuchsia hi-low dress by Maternal America, $159, is perfect for momsto-be like Beth Booth. The fashionable summer look is completed with a Krista Lovelady necklace, $58, and Krista Lovelady bracelets, starting at $34. The quilted diaper bag by StorkSak, $189, gives moms a stylish way to carry all the essentials.

The Swanky Stork, 972-1414 2. Kyle Paul and Brooke Hoffman are ready for warmer weather in these summer styles from Vineyard Vines. Kyle is wearing a short-sleeve Dockyard Plaid Tucker shirt in indigo, $98.50, Pincord Breaker shorts in beachnut, $89.50 and the Beacon full-zip jacket in spinnaker, $145. His look is finished with braided flip-flops in natural, $55. Brooke is ready for summer fun in this go anywhere Chevron Tail print dress in curacao, $158.

Vineyard Vines, 970-9758 3. Tracy Gory is making her best impression this summer looking fashionable in a Jean Paul Gaultier three-piece skirt set with cropped top, $239.50, retails for $1,215. She has accessorized it with a Francesco Biasia purse, $98.50, retails for $400, and Marc Fisher yellow patent wedges, $26.50, retails for $79. Her look is finished off with various stacked bracelets, starting at, $16, and earrings, $8.50.

Second Hand Rose, Cahaba Heights, 970-7997, Valleydale Road, 987-7027

4. Chelsea Cornelius looks so fashion-forward wearing a pair of bright printed palazzo pants, $48, paired with a baby blue crop top with an empire waist, $55.

Her ensemble is accented with a handmade wooden bead necklace, $148, painted metal earrings, $19, and layered bracelets, $22- $112. Her look is completed with brown Lucky Brand wedges, $99. Anna Hedden is effortlessly feminine and ready for any occasion wearing a pink tunic dress with lace insets, $66, layered over a flirty crochet trimmed slip, $44. Her ensemble is accented by a mint lace scarf, $36, gold charm necklace, $34, painted metal earrings, $19, and layered bracelets, $22-$55. This look is finished with crochet flat sandals by Lucky Brand, $75.

The Pink Tulip, Homewood, 870-7258, Cahaba Village, 637-5390, Patton Creek, 560-0355

5. Baylee Edwards is ready for a night out with friends in this asymmetric dress in coral by Ginger Lamb, $98, Coordinate bracelet (showing the coordinates of Bryant-Denny Stadium), $24, and hammered disk earrings, $19. She has finished her ensemble with a link necklace, $34. Jasmine Crowell is looking fabulous in jeans by Beija-Flor in dove white, $179, a tank by Angel, $44 and a lace top by Mystree, $94. Stacked stone bracelets, $39 each, and a stone pendant necklace, $39, are all the rage this year and finish off her outfit with just the right pop of color. a.k.a. Girl Stuff, 802-7735

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6. Looking “haute” and ready for summer fun is Ashley Nail of Birmingham in this Michael Stars tie-dye silk top, $148, printed tank, $64 and AG Blue cigarette jeans, $159. She has accessorized her look with a Roxy blue cracked agate necklace, $275, Suzi Roher sunglasses print scarf, $250 and Cordani nude wedges with a bow, $379.

Betsy Prince, 871-1965

7. Warm weather means it’s time for “Mom and Me” flip-flops. Summer styles available include the Yellow Box “Jolan” in fuchsia and navy, $24.99 and Reef’s “Twisted Stars” in tan and champagne, $24-$32.

Flip Flops & What Nots, 967-7429

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32 • Thursday, May 15, 2014

fashion

Flight of Fancy

Brooke Tarrant — Vestavia Hills

Brooke Tarrant of Vestavia Hills said the inspiration for the dress she created for the Rising Design Star Challenge is closely linked to her feelings about fashion.

The 14-year-old Pizitz Middle School student used newspapers and tissue paper to create a strapless short dress accented with butterflies.

“I think fashion is a form of self-expression,” the eighth-grader said. “I got the idea of a Freedom of the Press dress where the butterflies on the dress represent freedom and flight and the right to express yourself.”

Although she heard about the fashion competition for budding designers two years ago from Larry Gibson, her art teacher at Pizitz Middle, Tarrant said inspiration to enter the contest didn’t strike until this

Fan Favorite

Morgan Taylor — Vestavia Hills

Long before she entered this year’s Rising Design Star Challenge, 17-year-old Morgan Taylor of Vestavia Hills knew she was destined for a life filled with fashion.

The Vestavia Hills High School senior said she has been into clothes and accessories since she was a little girl.

“Whether it was mixing and matching odd colors or patterns or sketching my design ideas, I realized early in my childhood that I was fashionable,” she said.

Taylor’s eye for interesting pattern and color combinations inspired her to create a dress using paper Chinese fans.

“A good friend of mine gave me the idea to go with a warrior princess look, and (the design) took off from there,” she said.

Taylor said she channeled her favorite designer, Betsy Johnson, while creating the colorful ensemble, which features a cropped top and a multi-layered skirt.

“The most challenging part was getting the hot glue to hold all of it together,” she said. “The most rewarding part was seeing the finished product and knowing that I created it.”

Taylor said she was ecstatic to learn that she had made it to the finals in her first year of competing in the Rising Design Star Challenge.

She said she plans to study fashion design when she attends the University of Alabama this fall and hopes to someday have her own line of clothing.

“My goal is to design a dressy/casual clothing line for people of any size and make them feel beautiful wearing a Morgan Taylor original,” she said.

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

year.

Tarrant said the most rewarding part of her Birmingham Fashion Week experience was seeing her design idea take shape.

“The most rewarding part was seeing (my design) develop from a drawing on paper to seeing it actually go down the runway,” she said.

The most difficult part of the process was working with the delicate materials she chose for the dress, Tarrant said.

“The most challenging part of my design was putting the tissue paper on the bodice because it is so fragile,” she said.

Tarrant, whose favorite designer is Vera Wang, said that fashion is a fun hobby at this point in her life.

“Art and fashion are hobbies of mine, but I don’t think I would like to pursue fashion as a career,” she said. ❖

Blast from the Past

Brooke Lindsey — Vestavia Hills

For her first entry in the Rising Design Star Challenge, 15-year-old Brooke Lindsey looked to her grandfather for fashion inspiration.

The Vestavia Hills High School freshman used soda bottle caps and popcorn boxes to craft a colorful, off-the-shoulder dress for the competition.

“My design was inspired by the 1950s drive-in movie theaters and my grandfather, Pops. He always likes to act like Elvis,” she said.

Lindsey found out about the competition after she attended Birmingham Fashion Week last year and decided to see if her ideas could make it to the runway this year.

While coming up with the materials she wanted to use was easy, Lindsey said, the real challenge was making the design wearable.

It was difficult to “take nonconventional items and make them fit in a cute and flattering way,” she said.

While modeling her design, Lindsey topped off the look with a pair of blue suede shoes.

“Fashion tells you a lot about a person,” she said. “You just have to look at the details.”

Lindsey said her favorite designs come from Sue Wong and Alice and Trixie.

Lindsey said she would love to pursue a career in the fashion industry with the aim to create elegant, modern gowns that have “a touch of Southern charm to them.”

“I would love to have my own line of clothing one day,” she said. “The idea of walking down the street and seeing a piece of my clothing on a lady would be a great sense of accomplishment.”

because, one cute pair of shoes isn't enough

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4137 White Oak Drive,Cahaba heights Mon.-Sat. 10am - 6pm www.flipflopsandwhatnots.com

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Runway Games

Taylor McGill — Vestavia Hills

Taylor McGill is no stranger to the Rising Design Star Challenge.

The 13-year-old Pizitz Middle School student entered the competition the first year it was held and this year once again made it to the finals.

“I competed the first time when I was 11 years old,” McGill said. “I advanced to the finals and came in fourth place overall that year.”

McGill’s first design for the competition was made of soda can tabs and aluminum foil, but she decided to go with a classic look with her latest design.

For her entry in this year’s contest, McGill said she looked to Hollywood for inspiration and created a dress based on the hit movie “The Hunger Games.”

McGill created a V-neck evening gown with a train of black feathers that doesn’t look at all like it is made out of plastic tablecloths.

“Having to construct it using only glue, tape or staples always makes (the contest) a fun challenge,” McGill said.

But no matter how challenging it is to put the garments together, McGill said nothing beats the thrill of seeing a model wearing her designs on the runway at Birmingham Fashion Week.

“Seeing the design come to life on the runway is the most rewarding part of the contest,” she said. “Birmingham Fashion Week does such a great job at the event, and the finished garment looks so great in that atmosphere.”

McGill said her favorite designer is Heidi Elnora and hasn’t decided if a career in fashion is in her future.

But the eighth-grader said whether she makes it her career or not, she still believes fashion is important.

“Fashion helps express individuality and personality,” she said.

sports

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Thursday, May 15, 2014 • 33

Rebels Earn Second Consecutive Soccer Title as Lady Eagles, Patriots, Lady Cavs and ISS Win

By Lee Davis

Journal Sports Writer

Rick Grammer is by nature a very modest man, but even he would have to admit that 2014 was a very special year.

Earlier in the spring Grammer chalked up his 600th career victory as soccer coach of the Vestavia Hills Rebels boys’ soccer team. If that wasn’t enough, Grammer’s team earned its second consecutive 6A state title in Huntsville last Saturday.

The top-ranked Rebels claimed the championship with a 2-0 win over longtime rival Oak Mountain. Vestavia also defeated the Eagles for the championship last season.

“We have a wonderful group of young men,” Grammer said. “It’s an honor to coach them. It’s even more special to see them celebrate the title.”

Vestavia’s championship title was only one of many blue trophies that Over the Mountain schools brought home from Huntsville Saturday.

Oak Mountain defeated Mountain Brook to win the girls’ Class 6A crown. Homewood claimed the boys’ 5A title, and John Carroll Catholic won the girls’ 5A championship. The Indian Springs boys captured the Class 1A-4A title.

Vestavia won with a dominating defense that held Oak Mountain to eight shots. The Rebels had only seven shots themselves but took advantage of the opportunities.

Nate Dauphin scored both of Vestavia’s goals.

The first came on a penalty kick in the first half, the second goal on a free kick with 26 minutes left in the game.

“When Nate scored the second goal, we knew we were only 26 minutes away from a second state championship,” said Rebel goalkeeper Evan Swanagin. “There was no way we were going to give up that lead.”

The back-to-back champ ended its season 23-21. Oak Mountain completed the year with a 20-2-3 worksheet.

Vestavia defeated Huntsville 3-2 in Friday’s semifinal. The Rebels rolled to a 3-0 lead in the first half before hanging on to claim the victory.

Dauphin, Jarrod Nieves and Taylor Strange scored for the eventual state champs. The winners took 11 shots for the game. The Crimson Panthers had only five.

“It was a dogfight until the finish,” Grammer said. “They put a lot of pressure on us at the end. We had to hang in there and play our game.”

Oak Mountain reached the final by beating Fairhope 4-0. Mark Green scored two goals for the Eagles. Patrick Carroll and Tyler Luckett also scored for Oak Mountain.

The girls’ 6A championship match pitted defending titlist Mountain Brook against Oak Mountain, which won the blue trophy in 2012. The Lady Eagles took a tough 1-0 decision to dethrone the Lady Spartans.

Julia Buckner scored the game’s only goal early in the second half and was named tournament MVP. “There was a small opening, but when I kicked it I knew it was in the net,” Buckner said.

Defense dominated the day as there were only 12 shots on goal the entire game. Oak Mountain had only five but connected on the one that counted.

“It was the type of match we expected,” Buckner said. “It was very physical. But we like to play that way.”

Lady Eagle goalkeeper Kate Maria Denney had seven saves.

“I felt the pressure at the end, but I had to step up and make plays. This meant too much to mess up at the end,” Denney said.

Mountain Brook goalkeeper Heitho Shipp had three saves.

Reeves Duggan, above left, scored both of Indian Springs goals and was named MVP in the team’s 2-1 state championship win over Randoph.

Oak Mountain keeper Brad Louis blocks the shot of Vestavia’s Jack McDaniel (14) during the Championship game at John Hunt Soccer Complex last Saturday. More photos at otmj.com.

Journal photo by Marvin Gentry

Above: Oak Mountain’s Alexandra Glenn Dunn (5) and Mountain Brook’s Emma Thompson (2) fight for control during the 6A State Soccer Championship.

Above right: John Carroll’s Nicole Bernal (13) takes control of the ball from Athen’s Kaitlyn Simpson. right: Homewood’s Ian Ross (6) is tripped up by Fort Payne’s Luis Carrizal (21) during the 5A Boys State Soccer Championship at John Hunt Soccer Complex.

Oak Mountain finished the season with a 26-0-1 record.

In Friday’s semifinal, the Lady Eagles overwhelmed McGill-Toolen 4-1. Buckner, Alexandra Dunn, Julianne Johnson and Julia Pack scored goals for the winners.

Mountain Brook reached the final by defeating Huntsville 2-1 in a shootout. Adelaide Kimberly’s penalty kick earned the win. Catherine Gillespy also scored for the Lady Spartans.

Mountain Brook finished 15-7-2.

The Homewood boys won their fourth state 5A championship–and first since 2006–with a 3-1 win over Fort Payne.

Jackson Lynn gave the Patriots the lead with a goal in the first half. After Fort Payne tied the score early in the second half, Christopher Simpson and William Jackson each scored in the final 10 minutes to assure Homewood of the blue trophy.

Jackson, only a sophomore, was named MVP.

Homewood fired 19 shots, while Fort Payne took only nine.

“That third goal was sweet because we knew Fort Payne would keep charging after us, and every goal helped,” said Patriot coach Sean McBride.

McBride also had special praise for Jackson.

“The kid has the world at his feet as far as soccer goes–and also because of his ability in the classroom. But we’ve got a lot of special kids on this team,” McBride said.

Homewood reached the final on the strength of its 5-1 domination of Pinson Valley in Friday’s semifinal. Jackson scored the Patriots’ first goal and Ryan Hepp scored the second only 49 seconds later.

Christopher Castro scored after a pass from Chris Simpson to raise Homewood’s lead to 3-0.

After Pinson finally scored, Hepp earned his second goal. Jack Schiller scored with a flick from Jackson Lynn for the Patriots’ final point.

John Carroll Catholic earned the girls’ 5A championship with a 2-0 whitewashing of defending champion Athens. The victory marked the Lady Cavaliers’ first state title since 2000.

Lindsey Fleming and Claire McPherson scored John Carroll’s goals, which both came in the first half. The Lady Cavs had 24 shots on goal for the game, while Athens had only five.

Senior Caroline Moffit was named Most Valuable Player. She earned an assist in the win over Athens.

“We wanted to have a quick start,” said John Carroll coach David DiPiazza. “Athens did a good job in the second half of coming back and taking the game to us. It was a matter of us absorbing that and getting through the game.”

The Lady Cavs ended the season with a 28-3-1 record.

In Friday’s semifinal, John Carroll routed Pinson Valley 5-0. Moffitt scored two goals, while Alexandra Maziarz, Nicole Bernal and McPherson had one each. Bernal also had two assists.

The Cavs outshot the Lady Indians by a margin of 37-1.

In Class 1A-4A competition, the Indian Springs boys won the state title with a 2-1 win over Randolph. Reeves Duggan scored both of the winners’ goals and was named MVP. “This is my third time to make it to the championship game,” Duggan said, “so this was one we really wanted to get. I guess the third time is the charm.”

Duggan’s first goal was assisted by Eli Cohen.

Rakim Ali assisted with the second goal.

Randolph had 11 shots but connected on only one.

ISS finishes its season with a 24-2 record.

In the semifinal, Indian Springs routed the Montgomery Academy 4-0. Ali scored a goal, Duggan added two and Jeffrey Simonetti scored as well.

34 • Thursday, May 15, 2014

sports

Twice the Run

Homewood’s girls ended St. Paul’s eight-year run as Class 5A state champions. Top performers for the Lady Patriots included Kiara Williams, who won the long jump and 100-meter hurdles, and Ann Mosely Whitsett, who took the top prize for the 800meter run.

Bucs and Patriots Sweep to Victories in State Meet

By Lee Davis

Journal Sports Writer

The Over the Mountain area left quite an impression on the state track meet at Gulf Shores the weekend of May 3-4.

In Class 6A, the Hoover Bucs swept to the title in both boys’ and girls’ competition. Class 5A saw the Homewood Patriots also bring home the boys’ and girls’ championships.

Coach Devon Hind’s Hoover boys outscored runner-up Opelika 105.5-88 while Vestavia Hills finished fourth with 52 points. The Buccaneer girls chalked up 130.5 points to outdistance second-place Mountain Brook’s 64 total.

Homewood dominated the Class 5A boys’ meet by totaling 102.5 points against second-place Columbia’s 51 score. The Patriot girls, however, needed every point to narrowly defeat runner-up St. Paul’s 126.5-125.5.

Hoover’s boys’ team was led by senior Marlon Humphrey, who overcame injuries and illness to win the 110-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles. Humphrey also ran the longest leg of the 4x400 relay.

Humphrey missed most of the track season with a hamstring injury and was sick with a fever of more than 100 degrees a week before the state meet.

But he was determined to run.

“I wanted to help Hoover get another blue trophy,” he said. “That was my motivation to be out there.”

Humphrey will play football for the University of Alabama next fall.

“Marlon is a team guy and gave everything he had for his teammates,” Hind said. “His legs were like Jell-O this weekend because he’s been sick all week. What he did to win those events is amazing.”

The Hoover relay team also won the 4x100 meter run, and the Bucs’ Daniel Fort took first place in the javelin throw.

Vestavia won the 4x800 meter relay.

Humphrey’s sister Brittley helped her team win the girls’ title, as she took victories in the 100-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles. Her time of 42.74 in the 300-meter hurdles set a new state record. Hoover’s Chloe White won the javelin throw.

“We really had a good meet for the boys and the girls,” Hind said. “I felt good about both teams all weekend–and really all year. We had some outstanding efforts from our kids.”

Mountain Brook’s Julia Leonard won the high jump, and the Lady

Spartans’ Rachel Reddy took first place in the 3200-meter run.

Homewood’s girls ended St. Paul’s eight-year run as Class 5A state champions. Top performers for the Lady Patriots included Kiara Williams, who won the long jump and 100-meter hurdles, and Ann Mosely Whitsett, who took the top prize for the 800meter run.

“We were underdogs, but I felt we could beat St. Paul’s,” Homewood coach Tom Esslinger said. “We knew we had to be our best to have a chance.

A lot of our athletes really stepped up when it counted.”

The Patriots’ victory in the boys’ competition was sparked by Andy Smith, who took first place in the 1600-meter run, and Logan Sadler, who won the 800-meter run. Sadler’s teammate, Tristan Lindsey, was second in the 800 meters. Homewood also won the 4x800 meter relay.

Briarwood’s Will Edwards won the Class 5A boys’ javelin throw.

In the Class 1A meet in Selma, Westminster Oak Mountain claimed the girls’ championship with 120.5 points over second-place Addison’s 72 score. Katie Brooks Boone won the 200-meter run, 100-meter run, 400meter run and the 300-meter hurdles.

Her teammate Maddie Hoagland won the 3200 and 1600-meter run championships.

“It was great to go out with four individual championships, and winning the team championship made it even sweeter,” said Boone, a senior who will run at Auburn University next fall. “I kept remembering that this would be my final high school meet, and I wanted it to be a good one.”

Boone had hoped to break the state record in the 300-meter hurdles but came up a little short. “There was a pretty strong headwind in Selma that weekend so there weren’t too many new records set,” she said. “But I’m totally OK with how everything turned out.”

As a small private school, Westminster was not well known in athletic circles prior to the track and field team’s success, and that’s a legacy in which Boone feels great pride.

“Nobody knew much about our school until recently,” Boone said.

“And I’d like to think the success our team had has given Westminster some good publicity. We were very conscious of the importance of representing the school in a positive way.”

Westminster’s boys finished third in Class 1A boys’ competition.

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Homewood dominated the Class 5A boys’ meet by totaling 102.5 points against second-place Columbia’s 51 score. The Patriots’ victory was sparked by Andy Smith, who took first place in the 1600-meter run, and Logan Sadler, who won the 800meter run.

The Buccaneer girls chalked up 130.5 points to outdistance second-place Mountain Brook’s 64 total. Brittley Humphrey took victories in the 100-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles. Her time of 42.74 in the 300-meter hurdles set a new state record. Hoover’s Chloe White won the javelin throw.

Hoover boys outscored runnerup Opelika 105.5-88 while Vestavia Hills finished fourth with 52 points.

Hoover’s boys’ team was led by senior Marlon Humphrey, who overcame injuries and illness to win the 110-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles.

Daniel Fort took first place in the javelin throw.

Landers finished first and second respectively in the 800-meter dash.

The Altamont School finished second in girls’ 2A competition, with Falkville taking the top spot. The Lady Knights’ Taylor Young won the 300 and 110-meter hurdles.

Mountain Brook girls finished in second place in 6A. Julia Leonard won the high jump, and the Lady Spartans’ Rachel Reddy took first place in the 3200-meter run.

Sweeping Implications

By Lee Davis

Journal Sports Writer

From previous page

sport he loves the most. The accent will be on youth, as John Carroll lost nine seniors from last season’s squad that finished 10-16.

“We’re going to be very young, so what we lack in experience we’re going to have to make up for with hard work and good attitude,” Steele said. “But our guys seem hungry to start winning again.”

The new coach isn’t afraid to set the expectation bar high in his first season.

“We are going into every season with the goal of competing and winning the state championship,” Steele said. “When the bar is set high, then even if a team falls short, it’s accomplished a lot.”

Steele used an example in his own career at John Carroll to make his point.

“In my sophomore year, we went 29-3 and lost in the regionals, so it was a disappointing season,” he said.

“When you win 25-30 games a year, and you’re disappointed, it means you’ve got a very good program.”

Steele, who turns 24 this week, also promises to put an exciting product on the court for the John Carroll students, fans and alumni.

“If I could sum it up in one phrase, we’re going to be aggressive in everything we do,” he said. “We’re going to try to play as fast as we can. We’re not going to have great height, but we should have good speed and quickness. On defense, we’re going to be pressing all the time unless we are far ahead late in a game. On offense, we are going to run at a pace that helps us win. Just running up and down the court is no good if you’re not win-

Jaguars Blitz Baker, Briarwood Falls to Cullman, Lady Jags, Bucs, Lions Head to Lagoon Park

Journal file photo by Marvin Gentry

A group from Spain Park is headed to Montgomery this weekend, and in a sense, the visit could be called a field trip.

But these students won’t have time to visit the capitol building or other landmarks of Alabama history.

Instead, the Spain Park contingent will be there to make history.

The Jaguar baseball team swept Baker 6-1 and 10-1 on the road in the Class 6A semifinals last weekend to reach the state championship series at Patterson Field for the first time in the school’s existence.

Spain Park will face perennial North Alabama power Sparkman in a best-of-three series that will begin at 7 p.m. Friday.

The series-clinching victory in game two was led by pitcher Josh Rich, who pitched seven innings, scattered 10 hits and struck out three Hornet batters.

“Josh got in some jams early but pitched his way out of them,” said Jaguar coach Will Smith.

“We played good defense behind him. We didn’t let Baker have a big inning, and we finally got one of our own.”

Spain Park’s big inning came in the bottom of the sixth, when the Jags scored five runs to stretch a 5-1 lead to the final score of 10-1.

After Baker scored in the first inning, Spain Park immediately came back with two runs.

Austin Haight’s sacrifice fly scored Matt Berler, and Rodney Anderson brought in Jon Sumner for another run.

The Jaguars really took control in the fourth inning, scoring three runs. Tyler Wise had an RBI

davis,

Thursday, May 15, 2014 • 35

sports

OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Starting pitcher Mason Duke sparked the Jaguars in game one with Baker by surrendering only three hits and striking out three batters.

single. Rich scored on an RBI single by Hunter Dawson, and Wise scored after a wild pitch.

Spain Park’s fifth inning was headed by a tworun single by Berler and an RBI double by Sumner.

“Hitting is contagious,” Smith said. “Once it starts, it creates excitement in the dugout.”

Spain Park heads to the finals with a 36-16 record.

In the first game, Spain Park whipped Baker 6-1 in a game that was called after five innings and an hour and a half rain delay because of inclement weather.

Starting pitcher Mason Duke sparked the Jaguars by surrendering only three hits and striking

ning.”

Steele said one of his top priorities will be teaching a strong work ethic to his younger charges.

“My job is to get our kids to understand that often they will have to do things they don’t want to do in order to get the results they want,” he said. “When I was playing at Alabama, Coach Grant said many times that everyone wants to win, but it’s the people who are willing to prepare to win who are the most successful. We want everyone who is part of our program–including the coaches, the players, the parents, the fans and the John Carroll community at large– to buy into that concept.”

Despite the emphasis on hard work, Steele also wants his team to enjoy the game.

“I want our kids to have fun playing basketball,” he said. “And basketball is a lot more fun when you are winning.”

While Steele’s hiring has generated a lot of excitement among John Carroll alumni, there is little doubt that the most excited alum might be a member of the new coach’s own family.

Steele’s older brother Ronald, who led the Cavaliers to two consecutive state championships a decade ago before starring at Alabama, can hardly wait to help his sibling rebuild John Carroll’s basketball tradition.

“Ronald’s playing pro ball in Italy, and he wants to get involved any way he can,” Steele said. “He’ll be home this summer, and he wants to work with our kids. For them to be around a guy like Ronald–who has been successful at the high school, college and professional level–is going to be a very good thing.”

Steele hopes to use other representatives of John Carroll’s glorious past

out three batters.

Berler had a two-run single for the winners.

Haight had two doubles, including one that scored three runs. Wise had two doubles.

Duke yielded a home run in the first inning but settled down for the rest of the way.

Spain Park’s big explosion took place in the fourth inning where, helped by Haight’s three-run double and Berler’s two-run single, the Jags scored five runs.

“Mason pitched well for us,” Smith said. “In wet conditions, all you can do is ask him to throw strikes. Our guys played well defensively.”

The news wasn’t quite so good for Briarwood in Class 5A. The Lions, playing at home, were swept in their semifinal round, losing to Cullman in two consecutive games 7-5 and 10-0.

In the first game, Cullman broke off to a 6-0 lead, thanks in large part to three home runs.

Briarwood scored a run in the third inning, two runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth but couldn’t get any closer. Ethan Simmons took the loss for the Lions.

In the second game, Bearcats pitcher Auston Neal produced a dazzling performance, giving up only two hits while striking out nine Briarwood batters.

Neal’s best moment may have come in the third inning after Briarwood had loaded the bases. The

to rebuild its present and future.

“We’re very blessed to have resources here that a lot of schools don’t have,” he said. “To be the basketball coach at my school, with the Christian values that it stands for, makes this a special time for me.”

For the moment, the Cavaliers’ best resource is Andrew Steele.

Cullman ace promptly struck out the side to end the Lions’ best hope.

“That was a turning point,” said Briarwood coach Steve Renfroe. “You could see Cullman getting a big lift out of that, and I think it took something out of our guys.”

Briarwood ended its season with a 20-11 record.

In Class 6A softball, Spain Park reached the state tournament at Lagoon Park with a 2-0 win over Central of Phenix City at the South Central Regionals at Troy University.

Destini England had two hits for the Lady Jaguars, while Brittany Anderson, Caroline Parker, Marley Barnes and Haleigh Sisson each had one hit.

Spain Park will face Sparkman in the Class 6A state tournament Friday at Lagoon Park.

Hoover defeated longtime rival Vestavia Hills 7-0 to punch its ticket to Montgomery in the North Central Regionals in Tuscaloosa.

Carly Sewell pitched a two-hit shutout to lead the Lady Bucs. She struck out five Lady Rebels and helped her cause with a two-run double in the fifth inning.

Hoover, now 36-19 for the year, will meet Mary Montgomery Friday at Lagoon Park.

In Class 5A, Briarwood earned its second consecutive trip to Lagoon Park with a 4-1 win over Shelby County in the South Central Regionals at Troy.

Ashlyn Boyd hit a two-RBI double, and Marleigh Miller drove in a run to help the Lady Lions earn the victory.

Briarwood will face Athens Thursday in the first round of the state tournament in Montgomery. The Lady Lions are 24-13-1 for the year.

Homewood was eliminated by Sylacauga. The Lady Patriots closed with a 9-19 mark.

structure here to do very well.”

While not coaching baseball will certainly be a lifestyle change, Davis said he’ll be spending a lot of time

around the game.

“I’ve got three sons that play,” he said. “That means I’ll be spending a lot of time at ballparks.”

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Grand for Davis…

While Andrew Steele’s hiring certainly created a splash, so did the surprising retirement of Hoover baseball coach Rick Davis after 20 successful years at the helm.

Davis said the decision to step down was his alone.

“I just felt like it was time to go,” he said when contacted last week.

“After 20 years, I’m ready to do something different. I have to admit that it’s numbing to know that I won’t be coaching baseball here next year.”

For the time being, Davis plans to remain at Hoover and work with the football program.

Davis leaves the Buccaneer baseball program in excellent shape.

Hoover finished 39-15-1 with a region title in 2014. Davis led the Bucs to the Class 6A state championship in 2008, the school’s first title in baseball since 1981.

“I’m grateful for the support we’ve had from the administration and parents,” Davis said. “Getting our own booster club in 2000 was a big deal. We were able to do a lot of capital improvements and things that we needed.”

Davis didn’t’ speculate as to the identity of his successor at Hoover “I’m sure they’ll get a good coach who will have probably have some fresh ideas,” he said. “He’ll have the

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OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Sports

Sweeping Implications: Jaguars Blitz Baker, Briarwood Falls to Cullman, Lady Jags, Bucs, Lions Head to Lagoon Park Page 35

Lee Davis

Steele-ing Home Ex-Cav Great Takes Over At His Alma Mater

A

Blue Trophy Treasure Trove

Rebels Earn Second Soccer Title as Lady Eagles, Patriots, Lady Cavs and ISS Win see story page 33

Clockwise from above: John Carroll Catholic earned the girls’ 5A championship with a 2-0 whitewashing of defending champion Athens. Vestavia’s Nate Dauphin, left is congratulated by teammate Taylor Strange after Dauphin scored his second point of the day against Oak Mountain during the Championship game at John Hunt Soccer Complex. William Jackson, left and Christopher Simpson celebrate as Homewood boys win their fourth state 5A championship–and first since 2006–with a 3-1 win over Fort Payne. The girls’ 6A championship match pitted defending titlist Mountain Brook against Oak Mountain, which won the blue trophy in 2012. The Lady Eagles took a tough 1-0 decision to dethrone the Lady Spartans. In Class 1A-4A competition, the Indian Springs boys won the state title with a 2-1 win over Randolph. More photos at otmj.com. Journal photos by Marvin Gentry

fter a fine basketball career at the University of Alabama, Andrew Steele thought his future plans were well set.

He was wrong.

After graduating from the Capstone in 2013, Steele worked in marketing and as an assistant to John Carroll Catholic basketball coach Larry Harbin. Steele certainly knew his way around John Carroll, having earned all-state honors as a forward at the school in 2007-2008. His plans for the new season involved returning to Tuscaloosa to work as a graduate assistant under Crimson Tide coach Anthony Grant.

All that changed in late February when Harbin announced his resignation. Steele applied for the thenvacant head coaching position at his high school alma mater. Then on May 2, Carroll officials announced that Steele was the Cavaliers’ new head basketball coach.

“It’s all been kind of a whirlwind,” said Steele when contacted last week.

“I’m very excited, and there’s so much to do. I’ve been really busy.”

One of the things keeping him busy is a different sport: football.

In addition to coaching basketball, Steele–who played quarterback at John Carroll–is also an assistant football coach. But with basketball tryouts going on at the school this week, Steele’s full attention will be on the

See Davis, page 35

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