33 minute read
This and That
This & tHAT i
Buckmasters Expo 2021
If you love hunting and really appreciate the art of camouflage, the Buckmasters Expo is right up your alley. Admission is free upon a donation of one canned food item. Once inside, you’ll be pleasantly overwhelmed with rows of vendors, a fantastic country concert, and zones for the kiddos. Dates: Friday, August 20: 3- 8 pm / Saturday, August 21: 9 am - 7 pm / Sunday, August 22: 10 am - 5 pm. Location: Montgomery Convention Center / 201 Tallapoosa Street / Montgomery, Alabama. General Expo Information: Call Buckmasters Customer Service at 1-800-240-3337. Friday Night Concert: Country Music Artist Easton Corbin | www.tickemasters.com. For more info visit www.buckmasters.com/resources/expo
Please No More Wet and Dirty Diapers
Express-O-Of-Love’s Diaper Bank was created by Laria J. Stinson in January 2018. With humble beginning, Laria was compelled to fulfill a need that is often overlooked. In sponsorship with Community Congregational United Church of Christ, Express-O-Of-Love Montgomery’s first established diaper bank began its operation for distribution of diapers and wipes. Volunteering with a Birmingham Diaper Bank program, Laria learned the challenges faced by families and the critical role of a diaper bank program. One major concern is the Negative Correlation between a lack of diapers/wipes and the developmental growth of a child. A child who must wear a wet and dirty diaper for extended time is an unhappy child. Express-O-Of-Love is a non-profit organization designed to show love and passion by making diapers accessible. Diapers and Wipes Pick-ups are every third Wednesday of each month from 1:00PM until 3:00PM. No proof of City residency or income is required. Families must complete in advance the on-line application. Pick-ups for emergency need are available. You can help us address the important issue of diaper need by individual donations, purchasing diapers and wipes, hosting diaper drives or volunteering. Your support is especially important to our mission. For questions or additional information visit us at www.expressooflove.org or call/text 205-538-0062.
BOOMERS, share your stuff with BOOM! We Love to Bring BOOMERS Together, send info and pics to jim@riverregionboom.com The Black Jacket Symphony Performing Pink Floyd's The Wall at the MPAC in September
Remember putting on an album and listening from start to finish? Relive that moment with a live concert experience unlike any other as The Black Jacket Symphony recreates a select classic album live in its entirety—note for note, sound for sound—plus a full set of greatest hits from the evening’s artist. Over the past ten years, the Black Jacket Symphony has performed over 35 classic rock albums, bringing an incredible night of entertainment to over a million music lovers across the US. The group of hand-picked musicians changes based upon the album being performed—and no sonic detail is overlooked, with the musicians doing whatever it takes to reproduce the album. It’s a full night of rock and roll magic—plus a visual experience unlike any other. Fans across the country flock to their shows—and once you see one, you won’t miss another! For more info visit www.mpaconline.org, or www.blackjacketsymphony.com
Hot Air Balloons return to Dothan, AL August 27, 5-9 pm and Saturday August 28th, 5-9 pm. The event takes place at the Peanut Festival Grounds. For more info and tickets visit www.the balloonglowtour.com
Shindig
Shindig, presented by Guardian Credit Union, is a {FREE} family-friendly event on Sunday, August 8, 4-7 pm, featuring live music by Soft Landing. The event will take place at Winter Place in the heart of Cottage Hill Historic District. Bring your lawn chairs or blankets, family and friends, and join us for a fun summer afternoon with good music, food + drinks and fun activities. This event benefits Child Protect, Children’s Advocacy Center, a Montgomery nonprofit that assists local investigators with child abuse cases, provides forensic interviews, counseling and family advocacy services to children in Montgomery County, AL. Donations to Child Protect are always accepted and appreciated. Food truck and vendor list: - Little Donkey- Fire Meats Wood- NYC Gyro- Who Hungry?- SnoBiz Montgomery- Abrakadoodle. For more info visit www.facebook.com/events/842412753318793
Dothan Balloon Festival
This & tHAT i
Fall 2021 Lineup for Auburn's Gogue Performing Arts Center
The Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center at Auburn University has unveiled its Fall 2021 performance schedule. The autumn lineup boasts more than a dozen performances and features legendary names from the worlds of classical, rock, folk, bluegrass and soul. Tickets for all Fall 2021 performances are now available to the general public. Standout performers Kenny G, The Beach Boys, Patti LaBelle, Melissa Etheridge and Ziggy Marley highlight a top-notch list that will make the Gogue Center's fall season a must-see for music fans. The fall season officially begins Friday, Aug. 13, with an outdoor concert by Not Our First Goat Rodeo, featuring Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile and guest Aoife O’Donovan. The Grammy Awardwinning supergroup, who are reuniting for the first time in nearly a decade, will perform a collection of all-new music from their self-titled album released in 2020. The group’s upcoming nationwide tour includes only nine engagements, and their stop at the Gogue Center is one of only two scheduled on the East Coast.
In September, the center will present bluegrass icon Del McCoury and the Del McCoury Band, Grammy-nominated R&B singer Candi Staton and LA-based folk-rockers Dawes with special guest Erin Rae. Saxophone legend Kenny G, reggae star Ziggy Marley and rocker Melissa Etheridge are slated for dates in October, as are The Beach Boys, who are returning for a second engagement following their sold-out inaugural season concert. Chart-topping bluegrass singer-songwriter Sierra Hull and blues rock guitarist Boz Scaggs will also perform in October.
The Gogue Center will welcome the “Godmother of Soul” and Grammy Hall of Famer Patti LaBelle, as well as award-winning humorist and Auburn alumna Jeanne Robertson, in November. The fall season will conclude with matinee and evening performances of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical”—the center’s first Broadway production since reopening in Spring 2021—on Sunday, Dec. 12. While most performances will return to the Walter Stanley and Virginia Katharyne Evans Woltosz Theatre, a few select engagements will be presented outdoors at the Amphitheatre at the City of Auburn Lawn and Porch. A complete schedule of all Fall 2021 performances with dates, times, venues and ticket links is listed below. To learn more visit www.goguecenter.auburn.edu
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MMFA Presents Café Pop Up: Fall Harvest
A new café experience is coming to the Museum this fall! To get ready, Nick and Davena, owners and operators of Montgomery Super Suppers and On A Roll, will be hosting free cooking demonstrations and tastings in the Rotunda. It’s still hot, but fall is right around the corner. Let’s explore fall’s delicious bounty as we get ready for cooler temperatures. On the Menu: Sweet Potato Bisque, Apple and Kale Slaw, Rosemary Crusted Pork Tenderloin, Cranberry Gastrique. Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, One Museum Drive, Montgomery, AL 36117, Phone: 334.625.4333. For more info visit www.mmfa.org
The Value of Cord Blood
Cord blood is the blood from the babies' umbilical cord, it has stem cells that can treat up to 80 different diseases. If the blood is not donated, it's discarded! This service is free and painless for both the mother and baby. The service is provided at Baptist South, Baptist Medical East, Jackson and East Alabama Medical Center. Your new grandbaby can be a hero. Donating cord blood is free and harmless. For more info please visit www.lifesouthcord.org
Capital City Master Gardeners Association Lunch & Learn is Back @ The Armory, "Composting"
Capital City Master Gardener Association presents Lunch & Learn 2021 the 1st Wednesday of Every Month from 12-1 pm. They will meet at Armory Learning Arts Building, 1018 Madison Ave., Montgomery 36104. Mark your calendars, September 1, “COMPOSTING”, Karin Carmichael, Master Gardener, will be presenting the program, “Composting”. Join us to learn about composting. What is it? Are there easy ways to compost in your own back yard? Are there any benefits to composting? Find out answers to these and other questions during Karin’s presentation. BRING A SACK LUNCH, FREE PROGRAM, WATER PROVIDED, For information, please contact the Montgomery County Extension Office 334.270.4133. Also visit
www.capcitymga.org.
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BOOM! starts conversations and shares stories. Share your business with BOOM! readers. For more information call/text 334.324.3472 or visit www.riverregionboom.com
The Druids Charity Club is pleased to announce their 4th annual BBQ and Americana Music festival. ‘The Hog Days of Summer’ is a charity event benefitting Hogs for the Cause and the quest to support families struggling with the effects of pediatric brain cancer. Location: Union Station Train Shed, 300 Water Street, Montgomery, AL. Schedule: Doors at 3:00. BBQ will be available immediately; but when it's gone, it's gone! Music starts at 3:30. BBQ: Moe’s Original Bar B Que, Smokehouse Pit BBQ, Monroe Sausage, James Beard Award winning chef Ryan Prewitt (Peche; New Orleans), Druids BBQ, and more will be smoking delicious BBQ and side dishes, creating a variety of popular BBQ styles for our patrons. Music: An Americana themed music component consisting of (at least) three bands will be rocking the shed. The headliner will be the legendary Texas Americana-country songwriter extraordinaire Robert Earl Keen. Cedric Burnside, out of Holly Springs, MS will play a set of fresh Hill Country blues. Longtime local favorites Jupiter Coyote out of Macon, GA (and beyond) will be getting things started with a set of upbeat southern-jam-bluegrass-infused rock. Tentative Schedule: Doors: 3:00. BBQ: upon entry. Music: Jupiter Coyote: 3:30; Cedric Burnside: 5:30; Robert Earl Keen: 7:30. Tickets: GA Ticket: $30 ($40 day of show), Active Military, Police, Firefighter, EMS, & Student GA Ticket**: $25 ($35 day of show), VIP Area: very limited supply. Private Cash bar, private bathrooms, side of stage views: $100. Tickets available at www.eventbrite.com. For more info visit www.hogdays.org and
www.robertearlkeen.com
Robert Earl Keen
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BOOM! starts conversations and shares stories. Share your business with BOOM! readers. For more information call/text 334.324.3472 or visit www.riverregionboom.com
Every August, Susan Moore of Moore Wealth Management in Montgomery, conducts a free estate planning workshop in a Webinar format. The workshop covers a number of issues, including a review of the various legal documents involved in estate planning such as wills, durable powers of attorney, advanced healthcare directives, revocable and irrevocable trusts. Beneficiary designations are a great tool, properly used, in estate planning. They are flexible and can be changed without having to re-do legal documents to reflect family changes such as births, deaths and divorces. The workshop covers how to use these beneficiary designations properly, including primary and contingent beneficiaries and per capita or per stirpes distributions. These topics will be covered in a Webinar format on Wednesday, August 18th by Susan Moore of Moore Wealth Management, Inc. at 12 p.m. Please call 334.270.1672, or email sarah@ moorewealthmanagement.com, for more information and reservations.
Caregiver of the Month Spotlight: Tiffany Helm
Tiffany is a very dedicated and self driven caregiver. She is professional, easy going, kind spirited and caring. She treats her client as well as the clients family, as if they are members of her own family. She has only been with our company for a short while but has, without a doubt, proven her worth. Tiffany values her role as a caregiver with the highest regard and strives to deliver only the best of service.
For more information visit www.homecareassistancemontgomery.com
Lois Cortell, Gardens & Development
Moving Things Forward, Progress is My Passion
This month’s cover profile is a woman who loves to make positive things happen. Her name is Lois Cortell. Lois is the Senior Development Manager for the City of Montgomery, where she works at making Montgomery a better place to live through urban planning and revitalization. Think downtown and beyond. Most of us don’t think about people like Lois, they are behind the scenes implementing ideas to improve the quality of life in their communities. Every city needs a Lois and we’ve got a good one! Another aspect of Lois’s life is her volunteer work as the co-manager of the Old Cloverdale Community Garden. She has organized volunteers (daughter Zoe included) to tackle an abandoned lot at 1128 Woodward Avenue and over the last six years transformed it into one of the best community gardens in the River Region. And because she has a passion for moving things forward, Lois is launching a capital campaign to enhance the garden for more access by seniors and those with special needs. She’s always trying to improve things. Lois recently shared some of her story with us and we spent some time in the garden with photographer, DiAnna Paulk doing Lois’ cover shoot. We certainly enjoyed getting to know Lois, her enthusiasm and energy for improving the quality of life in Cloverdale and Montgomery may inspire you to show up and get involved with our community too. Hope you enjoy the read and please share with friends!
BOOM!: Please give us a brief biography, i.e. where you’re from, education, what brought you to the Montgomery area, did you raise your family here, schools, married, family, etc.? college students.
When an opportunity arose, we left a very beautiful life on the west coast, packed up our Cairn Terrier, Fred, and a two-year-old and we drove a week across the country to Alabama. Andrew is a professor of political science and chair of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Auburn University at Montgomery. We bought and renovated a house in historic Old Cloverdale and then I started working for the City of Montgomery in 2013.
BOOM!: You are the Senior Development Manager for the City of Montgomery. How did you get involved in the world of development? How would you describe
Lois: I am from Chicago, Illinois. I grew up in Oak Park, a close-in westside suburb. I am a Lutheran pastor’s daughter, and my mom was a nurse, so I often feel I was pre-destined for a life of public service. I studied economics and Spanish at Valparaiso University in Indiana, and then earned a graduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh. I have worked and lived all over, from Chicago, Pittsburgh, Lima, Peru, Washington, DC, Salt Lake City, and then Portland, Oregon for 13 years. Once
OCCG mural is called “From Blight to Beauty” by Sunny Paulk
my husband, Andrew, and I had our daughter, Zoe, it all changed, and we wanted more. We wanted to be closer to family. My husband wanted to work Lois and daughter Zoe at a public university and teach first-generation
Lois, Andrew, Zoe in Navarre Beach Lois and husband Andrew at AUM event Lois, Andrew, Zoe in backyard, Old Cloverdale
what you do as Senior Development Manager for Montgomery? How do you discover ideas for development, other cities? History?
Lois: I have worked to advance urban planning, community livability, and revitalization projects for more than 25 years now.
I have had the great opportunity here in Montgomery to sell very important public properties so that they can be leveraged, so that they can then be transformed with private investment. A few examples are the Kress Building on Dexter Avenue, the new Staybridge Suites on Bibb Street, and the National Memorial for Peace & Justice on Caroline Street. As development manager I see how the public side can impact the private side.
I love my work, I get to look at commercial property, sidewalks, trees, park renovations. Each city is different, but so too, each project is different. The tools are good design, sufficient funding, and building from a communitysupported plan. What do the citizens want to accomplish or achieve or improve? Start there, and then puzzle backward to solve a problem using whatever resources we have. I did not set out to work only in cities. I was initially exploring economic development from a third world perspective, like sewers and clean water, potato farming, micro-loans programs, sweater-knitting cooperatives…. What I see now is that it is all similar although the details seem superficially different. How much a person “owns” in a property, or a situation can impact how much they want to “invest” in it, whether we are talking about the literal deed to your house or about the future of your community more broadly.
BOOM!: You’ve been quoted as saying, that investment in downtown Montgomery is important in a different way, calling it the city’s “psychological heart.” Could you please explain for our readers the importance of this description?
Lois: Downtown is a city’s psychological heart. It is the largest job base; it is where the most important local history occurred; downtown is where large community gatherings happen; it is where potential company executives go before deciding whether to relocate here. There are decades of literature about the emotional connections people have to the downtown where they grew up.
But even on an exceptionally practical level, take a few numbers. Downtown Montgomery is 1.69 square miles in size, which is barely more than 1 percent of the city’s 163 square miles citywide. And yet in 2020, that same small area had more than 21 percent of the construction value reported in pulled building permits. That’s a lot of job and investment in a small area.
In the early 2000s, major catalyst investments like Riverwalk Stadium and Riverfront Park, Renaissance Hotel, the Alley changed downtown Montgomery.
Little Zoe and family dog Fred
I have spoken to neighbors who never thought they would see a revitalizing downtown in their lifetime. They can see that now. Downtown Montgomery is revitalizing.
But, Neighbors, there is still a long way to go. If you are an investor, that is an opportunity. But on my side of work, we just cannot let up trying to help downtown as long as the boarded buildings – those pesky plywood properties – are still there causing substantial blight.
Come to an event downtown! Spend some money. Get local art, local clothes and local food.
There is no question the city redevelopment budget was larger when I worked in Portland. But in Montgomery it means we have to be more creative and make "small" stretch farther here. I love that we are working together to make the most out of every public space downtown. Let’s just take Rotary Park as an example, at 98 Coosa Street. Now there is a new urban dog park there, locations for food trucks, new trees for shade, a fountain, public art mural and sculpture, and new picnic tables. In a few short years Rotary Park has gone from hot and often desolate, to shaded, fun and lovely. That part is great, but ALSO make note that commercial properties are selling and renovating now all around that park, too. Lois: Really embracing downtown Montgomery’s location on the Alabama River has been a longstanding planning goal. For decades citizens have suggested this. It was affirmed again recently in the Envision Montgomery 2040 Comprehensive Plan. I was presenting an update about the trail to the Montgomery Lions Club and an older gentleman raised his hand, “I was in a group advising Mayor Bright to do this more than thirty years ago!” Yes. And thank goodness he did. Big projects like this can take that long.
The City has been approaching it in segments. I have been a part of building two trail segments that emanate from the Riverfront Park Amphitheatre wrapping around and then crossing over the Cypress Creek Inlet there on the river. From Riverfront Park we hope to take the trail to the north, connecting to the street and even up towards Capital Oyster Bar. The Shady Street Trailhead Park up near Saint James Baptist Church Old Field is underway now in 2021. Future trail segments could go west from Riverfront Park, let’s connect Wright Brothers Park towards the Maxwell Air Force Base.
I also think a real practical, doable, approach to embracing our riverfront uses what we have now, but we need to have better signage. Did you know it all connects? It does, in a loop, so let’s call it the Riverfront Loop. We already have a two mile walk with all sorts of interesting things to see along the way. A new Riverfront Loop sign is already up at the Harriot Ticket Booth to help you explore Riverfront Park in a new fresh way.
These types of public walking connections to places not only provide health benefits, but they can also have real economic impact, the Atlanta Beltline is great evidence of this. Connections can help us all appreciate our city in new ways from downtown and beyond.
BOOM!: You are one of the volunteers in the Old Cloverdale Community Garden. Would you please share with our readers how the OCCG came about? How does the Garden impact the Old Cloverdale Community?
Lois: Yes! I am co-manager of the Old Cloverdale Community Garden. It is my “weekend job.” It is 100 percent implemented by volunteers. The lot was abandoned for years and was a real eyesore. No one wanted to live near it and it depressed property values.
I remember thinking, well, I work on blight in my job so I really cannot just let this sit here on my very own block without helping somehow.
The Old Cloverdale Association registered as a 501c3 nonprofit in 2013 so it could tackle projects like this. It holds the
In the beginning of OCCG 2015, Deborah Hall and Lois sifting soil In the beginning of OCCG 2015, Lois and Zoe weeding the garden
Lois reading during Story Time in the OCCG 2018
Lois' Daughter Zoe in OCCG, digging, tending radishes, peas and lettuce
deed to the garden property at 1128 Woodward Avenue; I give the reports and take input at monthly evening meetings. In the early days I would be at the lot watering over my lunch hour borrowing the neighbor’s hose. We were constantly holding community cleanup days and group events just to remove the weeds and blight.
The community garden really started as a “blight removal” project, but we also wanted to bring neighbors together and begin to create something beautiful. We added 15 raised beds, and so now we are growing healthy food for local families.
It is just $125 to rent a raised bed for the whole year to grow whatever you want, and that is how the whole garden pays for itself. We have slowly added planted areas for bees and butterflies, painted murals, hopscotch, picnic tables to build community, and two Little Free Libraries to draw in everyone, whether gardener or not.
I just love seeing parents and grandparents bringing in even the littlest toddlers to the garden to get a book. We are showing the kids that it is completely normal to grow your own food, capture water in rain barrels, or help out your neighbor with the lawn.
There are so many abandoned lots in Montgomery. What we have been able to do at the Old Cloverdale Community Garden over the last six years is absolutely replicable. BOOM!: You are launching a Capital Campaign for the Old Cloverdale Community Garden in September, please share the purpose of the campaign and how readers of BOOM! can participate in helping you reach your goals?
Lois: Readers, please help. We need to raise about $15,000.
The community garden has not had a major capital fundraising effort in about four years since we completed the tool shed and installed the last few raised beds for growing vegetables.
In 2021 and 2022, we are setting to work to build a new Community
Gathering Plaza and
Accessible Entry. The community garden needs help to rework and transform the cracked south driveway fronting Girard Street. We have lovely plans prepared already thanks to a neighbor’s volunteer architect work; and we are very grateful for a kick-start grant from AARP of Alabama.
Zoe making a commitment for 2028!
The community garden will have greater impact if we can make it more accessible to seniors, families with strollers, and those who are disabled or otherwise unable to traverse our gravel lot and steep driveway. We want to welcome more of these friends and neighbors into the space. In the wake of this global pandemic, we have learned more than ever how important it is to have safe outdoor places to gather and sit, and still be able to connect with our neighbors.
A gift no matter the size will help us move our plans forward. We have not named the Gathering Plaza yet; what a tribute that could be for a mother or special neighbor.
The Community Garden is set up as a fund under the 501c3, Old Cloverdale Association (“OCA”) so donations may be tax deductible. The mailing address for checks is OCA, Attention OCCG, P.O. Box 6153, Montgomery, AL 36106. I am happy to email a PDF of the full Sponsor Packet on request. Email is
OldCloverdaleCommunityGarden@
gmail.com.
You can also help us by coming to our Community Garden Festival! The Festival is on site at 1128 Woodward Avenue on September 18, 2021, starting at 10 AM.
We will have a Silent Auction at the festival. Come buy something awesome.
I have been just blown away at the items and gift cards coming in. Get a jump on your early Christmas shopping and help the garden: It is a WinWin. You can come on September 18 to review our capital campaign plans, buy great food from local vendors, see the blooms, and then for a good cause, make a bid on all sorts of items from local businesses – including professional services, gift cards for meals, arts and crafts items, and even a great children’s birthday party package. BOOM!: With a busy life, how do you like to spend time with family and friends? Lois: I have them with me! My professor husband is also now a seasoned plant hole-digger. I have been dragging my daughter Zoe to community meetings and park cleanups since she was two years old. Kids need to see adults doing these types of things directly.
OCCG Butterfly mural is called “Welcome to the Garden” by Carol Barksdale
When I was nine years old, my oldest two siblings were both working in Guatemala for two years, one as a missionary and the other was in the Peace Corps. My parents set My brother and father were very nervous as it got dark, saying, “We really don’t want the van to break down along this stretch of road because there are guerrillas in the forest.”
My nine-year-old brain heard that as “gorillas” and I was scanning out the windows for large apes. The magnitude of that trip would sink in only later, but it was life changing.
Favorite Abroad Travel: My favorite place has to be Machu Picchu in Peru, South America. The whole “Sacred Valley” network of sites and villages there is fabulous.
Favorite U.S. Travel: My family just loves the whole Gulf Coast. It is gorgeous. What close-by treasures we all have. We often go to Navarre Beach for its white sands and blue sea.
My 50th birthday “Bucket-list Trip” dream was to go on an African Safari. COVID-19 forced us to put that off but hopefully that is just postponed.
Want change? Show up, speak up, and be ready personally to roll your sleeves up.
BOOM!: What are some of your favorite travel experiences? Favorite vacation spot? Any travel dreams planned?
Lois: My family was always traveling as I was growing up. We went to many different national and state parks, and different cities and countries. out to go visit them over winter break. I remember being in a red rental van in Guatemala on a dirt road surrounded by forest. We had just crossed the border to Honduras to see the Copan Ruins, which had recently been re-discovered.
OCCG individual garden beds and landscaping
BOOM!: What are you most passionate about? Lois: I have a passion for helping move things forward, whatever the “thing” is. Progress is my passion, even in baby steps or in the humblest of beginnings. The community garden project is an OCCG children's area and library example of how that can play out every single week, every changing season. My mother gave me a necklace with a mustard seed in it when I was a girl. I have been wearing it a lot lately as a reminder: Starting small is okay.
Lois: I probably try to relax by making a list of things to do the next day or month or reviewing items on my app for lists. If it is too dark to be outside gardening, then I might be found reading about gardening or watching a television show about gardening. This is not just a romantic or emotional thing. Let’s put it in economic terms: History is Montgomery’s competitive advantage. This is our Why aren’t more members of the business community active as visible champions of local historic preservation? Buildings have fallen and rotted away, even just in my ten years here. Stories get lost, maybe forever, as people die. Montgomery history is a tangible local asset right now, but it appears to be exceptionally vulnerable.
Those are just two “likes” picks. There are a lot of needs in Montgomery (thinking about crime and education), but there are also many great organizations doing wonderful work you can support.
Sharing is an important part of the OCCG
BOOM!: What is it about living in the Montgomery/River Region area that you like? What do we need more of?
Lois: I love Montgomery’s parks. There are more than five dozen parks here with such a wide variety of types and sizes. We all can enjoy them and support them more so they look and function well for everyone.
I also love Montgomery’s history. There are such different eras that we could all be working in historic preservation. But we really do need to do more for historic preservation, even if it is just property by property. Or person by person. Who worked there? Who lived there? What are their stories? The “people” part of Montgomery history is important too. And as adults, we need to share more history: Can our kids tell the Montgomery stories or explain the importance of the buildings, events and locations?
Uniqueness. We really should start to view and to talk about the history of Montgomery as an economic asset.
Montgomerians
A little competition at the OCCG makes for a fun community
to visit.
seem to completely tolerate “demolition by neglect” for even our most historic buildings and places. It is truly perplexing to me. The very asset that brings the world here Why aren’t more kids growing up, staying
BOOM!:
On the Development page for the City of Montgomery, you illustrate something called PlaceMaking for Downtown Montgomery and a link to a map with descriptions (https://arcg. is/11mPnD). Every garden needs a few bunnies, Clover and Dale Would you explain its value for people wanting to explore the quality of life in Montgomery? Lois: I am using the word “placemaking” to describe the act of consciously trying to create authentic community places where people want to be, where people can get inspired, feel healthy, and be happy. The design and programming of a physical space can contribute to these and that in consequence can increase a community’s overall “livability.” I love that you shared the placemaking map link! That map is a great tool my team and I created to celebrate what we have now. Downtown Montgomery has all these public space gems throughout
that workers could explore during lunchtime walks and citizens could use as tourists in our own town. Yes, downtown can improve, but we can start by celebrating where we are right now.
An example of new public placemaking in action is at the new Lower Dexter Park at 29 Dexter Avenue where the Montgomery Fair Department Store once stood. This is one of the professional projects of which I am most proud. Yes, the City re-used historic materials, added egress for adjacent buildings and created interpretative signage, but now to see that things like marriage proposals, coffee meetings, and engagement photos are happening in that park, well, that is proof positive of the power of a quality placemaking project to enrich individual lives.
Placemaking is very evident also at the Old Cloverdale Community Garden. I have been working very hard to tell the story behind all beauty and blight removal. Check out the garden’s Facebook and Instagram pages. You will see in almost every post that we are celebrating every victory and moment, however seemingly small. I am showing that things do improve. Taking little actions, like donating a book to the Little Free Library, we can choose to be part of a solution to something bigger. Old Cloverdale Community Garden were it not for years of neighbors speaking up and getting involved at the Old Cloverdale Association meetings.
BOOM!: Give us three words that describe you?
Lois: Solutions-oriented, Caring, and Creative.
BOOM!: Do you have any hobbies or other activities that grab your attention?
Lois: Gardening! I really do love gardening. I also really like practicing archery with my daughter.
There is so much that gardening has taught me about Patience. It is often trial and error – bugs happen, weeds happen, a flower might bloom only once a year – but there is a real connection ultimately to growing things of beauty; and to appreciating things even if only for that brief time when you have them flowering.
BOOM!: What are some of the future challenges you’re contemplating for Montgomery’s development? For yourself?
Lois: So many challenges! I guess I would pick how to make development more infused with more citizen participation and involvement and in this way make the results richer, more authentic. I would love to challenge the BOOM! readers to attend a public meeting. Just start by signing up to receive automatically emailed meeting agendas. Not just City Council and County Commission, there are also Planning Commission, Board of Adjustments, Historic Preservation Commission, and Architectural Review Board. All of these meeting agendas should be posted; get them and read them. Just look over the meeting packet. Things are happening that have impact.
Montgomery is so rich with active church groups, business groups, and civic organizations. These bring amazing networks, and they are doing great things.
At the block by block, urban planning and land use levels you need also to show up at local meetings; attend and get involved in your neighborhood association. We never could have created something now as lovely as the BOOM!: You are about to reach your BIG 50 birthday in a few days, what do you think of getting older? Could you share some ideas on how to age well?
Lois: Oh my goodness, yes it is true! Bring it on. My emotions on this have definitely evolved.
The last year of COVID-19 has really grounded me though in embracing life right now. It is so key to me to get out for fresh air.
Community Garden Festival!
1128 Woodward Avenue, Old Cloverdale Saturday, September 18 , starting at 10 am
My ideas on aging well include to walk more, bike more, garden, smile, and definitely make eye contact and say “Hi!” to your neighbor when you pass, even if you do not know them or remember their name just right then.
When you have passed 50 years old, it is okay to be proud: we have learned a lot about life, and we have a lot to give back. We have a responsibility even to share knowledge and experiences.
The problems of Montgomery can sometimes feel overwhelming. An individual maybe cannot change the world in one fell swoop. But an individual CAN improve One Thing. One life. Or how about just try to improve One Person’s Mood. Start there. Then do it that again, the next day.
We want to thank Lois for sharing some of her story with us this month, especially the work on the Old Cloverdale Community Garden. If you want to connect, email OldCloverdaleCommunityGarden@ gmail.com. For more about Montgomery development visit, www.montgomeryal.gov in the Community Development Department. Thanks also to DiAnna Paulk for her quality cover photo of Lois. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions about our cover profiles, including nominating someone, please send them to Jim Watson at jim@riverregionboom.com.
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