Vestavia Hills Magazine, August/September 2019

TOUR TWIN SISTERS’ HOMES • THE LEGACY OF COACH BENNIE WATSON • MAGIC CITY BALLROOM DANCING

ON THE FIELD WITH

NOLAN TURNER TAKE A TASTE

AT IZ CAFE

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019 VestaviaHillsMagazine.com Volume Three | Issue Four $4.95

STEPPING INTO

SCHOOL in style

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 1

It’s a great place to live.

Whatever your species may be.

The renowned biologist E.O. Wilson has called it “an aquatic treasure house.” The World Wildlife Fund and Nature Conservancy included it as one of just eight “Hotspots of Diversity” in the entire world.

It’s the Cahaba—the longest free-flowing river in Alabama, with more fish species per kilometer than any other river in North America, including 18 species that exist nowhere else.

But, to us, it’s an unparalleled place to reconnect with nature by canoeing, kayaking, hiking, birding, botanizing, or merely floating in its waters.

In the clean water we return to the river, and through our efforts with Adopt-A-Stream, SouthWest Water Company is doing our part to ensure the Cahaba is there for future generations to enjoy—whatever their species may be. Join with us by visiting bit.ly/AdoptCahaba.

To learn more, visit CleanerCahaba.info

2 August/September 2019

Since 2012

Celebrating over 60 years of serving you.

As a life-long Birmingham resident and a third generation working at Guin, I feel great pride and responsibility in carrying on the legacy of honest and hard work that my grandfather began over 60 years ago.

Family is very important to us, and we treat our customers with the same care and respect as members of our own family.

It would be a privilege to serve you.

Serving the Birmingham Area Since 1958

Air Conditioning • Heating • Plumbers • Generators • Sewers

205-595-4846 • guinservice.com Mention this ad to receive a free diagnostic service call.

2 August/September 2019

At the University of Montevallo, you will enjoy small classes, personalized attention, engaging student activities and abundant opportunities for real world experience.

You will emerge a well-rounded, highly educated individual who isn’t just ready for the world — you’re ready to change it.

Here, students don’t merely fit in, they find a place to call home. You will discover a new family where you belong. So schedule a tour — come see for yourself why You belong at the University of Montevallo.

montevallo.edu 205-665-6030 admissions@montevallo.edu #IBelongAtMontevallo VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 3

FEATURES

54

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON Nolan Turner is following in his dad’s footsteps on the football field—for the Tigers instead of the Tide.

62

BACK-TO-SCHOOL STYLE There’s no need to leave Vestavia to stock up on fun looks for school days this fall.

70

How a grieving father is developing a new class of non-addictive anxiety drugs to address one of the roots of his son’s darkness.

4 August/September 2019

PHOTO BY KAREN ASKINS

FROM THE ASHES

54

39

PHOTO BY LAUREN USTAD

arts & culture

17 Dancing with the Locals: Inside Magic City Ballroom 24 Read This Book: Books I’ve Never Forgotten

schools & sports

25 A Coach to Remember: The Legacy of Bennie Watson

food

& drink

31 Everything Iz: A Taste of the Rocky Ridge Café 38 Five Questions For: Smooth Rock Café’s Owner

home

in every issue 6 Contributors 7 From the Editor 8 @VestaviaHillsMag 10 The Question 11 The Guide 78 Out & About 86 Marketplace 88 My Vestavia Hills

& style

39 Sister, Sister: Tour the Fante + Tomlinson Homes 51 At Home: Creating a Habitat

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 5

contributors EDITORIAL

Graham Brooks Stephen Dawkins Alec Etheredge Briana Harris Madoline Markham Keith McCoy Emily Sparacino

CONTRIBUTORS

Karen Askins Mallory Barry Jessica Clement Solomon Crenshaw Jr. Mary Fehr Tracey James Katie Roth Emma Simmons Adrianne Smith Lauren Ustad

Solomon Crenshaw Jr., Writer

A native of Birmingham, Solomon has developed a long-standing reputation as a writer who is adept at telling a story that is both enlightening and entertaining. While sports has long been a staple of his work, Solomon has now established himself as a communicator who is also comfortable addressing entertainment, general features and a myriad of other matters. Reach him at screnshawjr@solcrenjr.com.

Tracy James, Stylist

For more than 18 years, Tracy, who calls Vestavia Hills home, has been a go-to fashion consultant and wardrobe stylist in the Southeast, doling out style advice via her company ChicMadeSimple. Serving the image needs of women, men, teens, tweens and kids, Tracy’s offerings include closet revamps, personal shopping, packing services, wardrobe seminars, photo shoot styling and runway show production. Her easy-going, real world approach to helping clients find personal style makes being chic…simple.

DESIGN

Jamie Dawkins Kate Sullivan Green Connor Martin-Lively

MARKETING

Kristy Brown Kari George Caroline Hairston Rachel Henderson Daniel Holmes Rhett McCreight Kim McCulla Jordan Price Viridiana Romero Kerrie Thompson

ADMINISTRATION Hailey Dolbare Mary Jo Eskridge Katie McDowell Stacey Meadows Tim Prince

Katie Roth, Intern

Katie Roth is a student at Samford University studying journalism and mass communications and photography. With plans to graduate in May 2020, she hopes to someday live in a big city while pursuing her career and continuing to tell people’s stories.

Adrianne Smith, Photographer

Adrianne is a 2019 VHHS graduate who will be attending Auburn University in the fall to pursue a major in marketing and a minor in studio art photography. Aside from taking pictures, she loves twirling batons and is excited to be a majorette for Auburn. She started getting serious with photography around two years ago and hopes to make it her fulltime career in the future.

Vestavia Hills Magazine is published bimonthly by Shelby County Newspapers Inc., P.O. Box 947, Columbiana, AL 35051. Vestavia Hills Magazine is a registered trademark. All contents herein are the sole property of Shelby County Newspapers Inc. [the Publisher]. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without written permission from the Publisher. Please address all correspondence (including but not limited to letters, story ideas and requests to reprint materials) to: Editor, Vestavia Hills Magazine, P.O. Box 947, Columbiana, AL 35051.

Vestavia Hills Magazine is mailed to select households throughout Vestavia Hills, and a limited number of free copies are available at local businesses. Please visit VestaviaHillsMagazine.com for a list of those locations. Subscriptions are available at a rate of $16.30 for one year by visiting VestaviaHillsMagazine.com or calling (205) 669-3131, ext. 532.

Advertising inquiries may be made by emailing advertise@vestaviahillsmagazine.com, or by calling (205) 669-3131, ext. 536.

6 August/September 2019

from the editor

A

ON THE COVER

“Acknowledge that you remember,” I typed two years in what would be the first ever words in Vestavia Hills Magazine. In that first issue, I was talking about the power of calling to memory a person our community has lost, in that instance Andrew Van Long, a student at Vestavia Hills Elementary East who passed away 10 years before.

In the dozen magazine issues we have produced since then, we’ve written about artists, fashion, chefs, athletes, actors, weddings and people making a difference in our community. We’ve shared stories about the mannequin on Canyon Road, Belles, the Vestavia Temple and a local Storytellers group. And it’s all been rich. While I sometimes say we specialize in the “pretty, happy stories,” if I’m honest it’s the ones that aren’t all pretty and happy that have been the most meaningful of all our pages—stories of people like Andrew Van Long, Mary Wyatt and Anna Curry Gualano. (If you don’t know their stories, look them up on vestaviahillsmagazine.com, where all our past articles live still.)

Which brings me to this issue, one that ended up with a theme of fathers, sons, loss and redemption, so make sure you have Kleenexes on hand to dig in.

In the pages ahead we remember Bennie Watson, a longtime youth football coach, through the recollections and reflections of the team parents and friends who knew him well. We remember former University of Alabama and NFL football player Kevin Turner through his son Nolan, who is living into his father’s legacy playing as a safety for Clemson. And we remember Thomas Dooley, a 2011 VHHS graduate who lives on through his father’s research and development of non-addictive anxiety drugs that could have changed the course of Thomas’ life.

But don’t worry, this issue isn’t all heavy. We also are featuring the tasty tale of Everything Iz (anyone else dream of their Almond Cake and Pumpkin Bread?), interiors photos from twin sisters who ended up renovating houses behind one another, tips on back-toschool fashion from stylist Tracy James and fun photos we shot at the library to go with them, and a peek inside a Cahaba Heights ballroom dancing studio.

Happy back-to-school season, happy football season, and happy please-send-me-any-story-ideas-you-have season (which lasts all year)!

Back-to-School Style

Annie Getty and Cece Ferguson step down a path outside the Library in the Forest modeling classic red, white and blues for back-to-school style from The Lili Pad and Gigi’s Tween.

Photo by Lauren Ustad Design by Jamie Dawkins

madoline.markham@vestaviahillsmagazine.com

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 7

#VestaviaHillsMag

Tag us in your Vestavia Hills photos on Instagram, and we’ll pick our favorites to regram and publish on this page in each issue.

@ontap_libertypark Testing out the cornhole boards before the big opening, July 1st. #bar #libertyparkal #sportsbar #drink #craft #beer

@rookietheboykin “Keep looking up... that’s the secret to life” - Snoopy #charliebrown #boykinofbirmingham

@varsity_rebelettes Successful weekend at camp! Can’t wait to see what we accomplish this year! @ndadance

8 August/September 2019

@christinemcj Take that you #scallywags!

These teams are bringing home some bling for Vestavia!

&DKDED +HLJKWV

È©(EIGHTSÈ©6ILLAGEÈ©È©È©

È©(EIGHTSÈ©6ILLAGEÈ©È©È©

È©#ROSSHAVENÈ©$RIVE È©È©

)FJHIUT 7JMMBHFÈ©È©

È©#AHABAÈ©(EIGHTSÈ©2D È©3UITEÈ© È©È©È©

È©(EIGHTSÈ©6ILLAGE

J‡À—ƒ‡©Æ—r£ƑƱƑ ¯¨¨‡¼~—r£ Nr£‡ÀƑƱƑG¼¯¹‡¼ÆÛƑ6r©r‘‡¨‡©Æ ȩ(EIGHTSȩ6ILLAGEȩȩ ȩ ȩ

È©#AHABAÈ©(EIGHTSÈ©2D È©È©

È©'REENÈ©6ALLEYÈ©2DÈ©È©È©

È©/AKVIEWÈ©,ANEÈ©È©È©

È©(EIGHTSÈ©6ILLAGEÈ©È©È©

È©#ROSSHAVENÈ©$RIVEÈ©È©È©

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 9

“ ” THE QUESTION

What teacher in Vestavia had the biggest impact on you or your kids?

Nancy Pearson who taught two out of our three — not only did she help my young students, she helped me as a young mom.

Kay Tipton devoted so much time to the math team! I’m SURE she helped me on my career path!

Helen James, a first-grade teacher at East, was an amazing reading teacher for the kids with tons of wisdom.

Mrs. Burton was the librarian at West for decades. She helped generations of children find books that made them want to read.

Sue Lockett Lovoy crammed lessons on common sense, history, how government works, and how to contribute as citizens regardless of your beliefs.

Tammy Towns, dance teacher VHHS. My father died my senior year, and if she had not kept her thumb on me, I probably would not have graduated.

Roger Bittinger for chemistry. He wanted everyone to not only pass his class but sincerely learn and love chemistry.

Mrs. Pharo! The greatest kindergarten teacher there ever was! Her ceiling tiles were painted with letters/ numbers and characters, and she had a tattle tale mannequin in her room.

-Lindy Walker

-Susan Hardin Gamble

- Ward Neely

-Christie McMichael Battle

10 August/September 2019

-Natalie Haynes

-Laura Bonney Denver

-MaryJane Coker

-Lyndsey Haas

THE GUIDE

REBELS VARSITY FOOTBALL

Bring on the Friday night lights.

Don your red and blue, and we’ll see you at Thompson Reynolds Stadium. All games start at 7 p.m.

Aug. 23: vs. Briarwood Christian (Jamboree) Aug. 30: at Homewood Sept. 6: vs. Spain Park Sept. 13: at Tuscaloosa County Sept. 20: vs. Mountain Brook Sept. 27: at Shades Valley (Homecoming) Oct. 4: at Hewitt-Trussville Oct. 11: vs. Thompson Oct. 18: at Hoover Oct. 25: vs. Oak Mountain Nov. 1: at Huffman Photo by Karen Askins VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 11

THE GUIDE WHAT TO DO IN VESTAVIA AUG. 9

AUG. 1 Share YOUR Alabama Story Library in the Forest /Families Call or go online to register 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

AUG. 7 Makerspace for Adults: Painted Candle Votives Library in the Forest Makerspace 6:30-7:30 p.m.

AUG. 8 First Day of Schools Vestavia Hills City Schools

Back 2 School in the Hills Philadelphia Baptist Church Cahaba Heights 6:30 p.m.

There will be games and rides, music to dance to, and a family movie. And it’s free. Why wouldn’t you and your kids go? And let’s note the rain date just in case: Aug. 16.

KIDS

KIDS CONSIGNMENT SALES It’s that time of the year. Stock your kids’ fall and winter wardrobe at one (or all) of these sales. Better yet, consign some of their clothes from last year, and you can shop early to call dibs on the best items.

Whale of a Sale Vestavia Hills United Methodist Sept. 12-13 Thursday 5-9 p.m., Friday 9 a.m.-2 p.m. whaleofasale.blogspot.com Market on the Mountain Mountaintop Community Church Sept. 13-14 Friday 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

12 August/September 2019

AUG. 8 Alabama and the Great Influenza Library in the Forest /Adults 6:30-7:30 p.m.

AUG. 9 Upcycle City: Not-Your-Basic Brown Paper Craft Library in the Forest /Adults 7-9 p.m.

AUG. 13 Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce Monthly Luncheon Vestavia Country Club 11:30 a.m.

AUG. 20 Stained Mason Jars Library in the Forest /Teens 4–5:30 p.m.

AUG. 30 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tournament Library in the Forest /Teens 4–5:30 p.m.

SEPT. 3 Escape Room Library in the Forest /Teens 4–5:30 p.m.

SEPT. 8 Together with Grandparents Craft Library in the Forest /Kids 2-4 p.m.

SEPT. 10 Vestavia Hills Chamber of

THE GUIDE Commerce Monthly Luncheon Vestavia Country Club 11:30 a.m.

SEPT. 10 Superhero Shows Library in the Forest/Grades 6-12 4–6 p.m.

CITY WALD PARK ENTRY

SEPT. 11 Patriot Day Ceremony with Cities of Homewood & Mountain Brook Homewood City Hall SEPT. 11 Makerspace for Adults: Book Page Jewelry Library in the Forest /Adults 6:30-7:30 p.m.

SEPT. 13 Upcycle City – Craft Paper Coasters Library in the Forest /Adults 7-9 p.m.

SEPT. 17 Level Up Your Locker Library in the Forest /Teens 4–5:30 p.m.

SEPT. 17 Mario Kart 8 Tournament Library in the Forest/Grades 6-12 4-5:30 p.m.

SEPT. 17 Family Night: Juggler + Unicyclist Tom Foolery Library in the Forest /Kids 6 p.m. Dinner, 6:30 p.m. Show SEPT. 25 Button Making Library in the Forest /Teens 4–5:30 p.m.

SEPT. 26 Friends of the Library Presents City Manager Jeff Downes Library in the Forest /Adults 10 a.m.

SEPT. 28 Library in the Forest /Kids Lego Wars 11-11:45 a.m.

PARK FACELIFTS COMING SOON There’s a lot to look forward to at Cahaba Heights Park, Wald Park and the new Vestavia Hills Community Center that will be next to City Hall! Here are some renderings of the plans for each of those spaces. Construction was scheduled to start in July in Cahaba Heights and take a year, and at Wald Park it’s slated to start later this summer with plans for opening the ball fields in March 2020 and the new pools (yay pools!) by Memorial Day 2020.

Community Center construction will start this fall and is tentatively scheduled to finish in late 2020. You can find more images and info on the park plans as well as updates throughout the process at vhal. org. Major props to everyone with the city of Vestavia Hills and their team for bringing these visions to life! The renderings are by Williams Blackstock Architects.

CAHABA HEIGHTS PARK ENTRY

WALD PARK POOLS

COMMUNITY CENTER BASKETBALL GYM

BUSINESS

NOW OPEN FOR BUSINESS There’s two new ways to cool off after work (or school). On Tap Sports Café is now serving up beers, food and more from its new Liberty Park location at 11967 Liberty Parkway, and Bendy’s Cookies and Cream is selling your choice of cookies and ice cream sandwiched together right next to Martin’s Bar-B-Que in Cahaba Heights. Yum! VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 13

THE GUIDE AROUND TOWN FARMERS MARKETS

AUG. 16-25 Birmingham Restaurant Week AUG. 19-25 Sidewalk Film Festival Downtown Birmingham JULY 19-21 World Deer Expo BJCC Exhibition Halls

VHUMC Farmers Market Scout Square Wednesdays in August 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Saint Mark UMC Farmer’s Market 2901 Old Columbiana Road Thursdays in August 4-6 p.m.

The farm is coming to you. Make a stop Wednesdays 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at Scout Square right off Highway 31 at this shop seasonal vegetables, baked goods and fruits from local producers. It’s open Wednesdays this summer through Aug. 28. For more information, check out facebook. com/VestaviaFarmersMarket/.

Get your fruits and veggies Thursdays 4-6 p.m. at Saint Mark United Methodist Church! You’ll find many to choose from as well as homemade pickles, jams, jellies, local honey, all-natural dog treats for your little Fido, and handmade candles that melt into a soothing body/ hand lotion. It’s open through the end of August.

SEPT. 12 The Magic of David Garrard Samford University Wrigth Center SEPT. 13-15 PAW Patrol Live! The Great Pirate Adventure BJCC Concert Hall SEPT. 14 The Brook and the Bluff Alys Stephens Center

&RQJUDWXODWLRQV WR RXU WZR WHDPV

6INCENTÈ©,AM È©/ $

È©.ATIONALÈ©3ILVERÈ©-EDALISTSÈ© -AGICÈ©#ITYÈ©4HEATREÈ©ONÈ©)CEÈ©)NTERMEDIATEÈ©4EAM

6INCENTÈ©,AM È©/ $

È© È© È©.ATIONALÈ©#HAMPIONSÈ© -AGICÈ©#ITYÈ©4HEATREÈ©ONÈ©)CEÈ©/PENÈ©4EAM

8BOU UP KPJO UIF UFBN POF EBZ -FBSO IPX UP JDF TLBUF BU UIF 1FMIBN $JWJD $PNQMFY BOE *DF "SFOB

XXX QFMIBNDJWJDDPNQMFY DPN

14 August/September 2019

THE GUIDE SEPT. 19 Marlow Shepherd and the Abraham Becker Orchestra The Lyric Theatre SEPT. 20 Dino-Light Alys Stephens Center SEPT. 19-21 St. George Middle Eastern Food Festival St. George Greek-Catholic Milkite Church SEPT. 27-29 Homestead Hollow Arts & Crafts Festival Springville SEPT. 28 Irondale Whistle Stop Festival Historic Downtown Irondale

FOOD

LAND & SEA CHEF Patrick McCown, chef at Snapper Grabbers Land & Sea, was voted Best Chef by readers in our recent Vestavia Hills’ Best winners.

The photo that ran with the news in our June/July issue was incorrectly labeled, but Patrick is pictured here at the Highway 31 restaurant.

Learn more at snappergrabbers.com.

SEPT. 28 Fiesta Linn Park

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 15

[Newbor n + Child + Family Por traiture] info@apeppermintphoto.com + 205.807.6431 w w w . a p e p p e r m i n t p h o t o . c o m 16 August/September 2019

&CULTURE

ARTS

DANCING WITH THE LOCALS

Mike Fowler teaches folks to samba, rumba and have fun from his Magic City Ballroom studio.

BY KATIE ROTH PHOTOS BY MARY FEHR VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 17

Barbara and Dave Oberman move to the music as they practice the rumba.

18 August/September 2019

M

Mike Fowler knows the power of dance, and he can tell the stories to prove it, from a surgeon who practices his Latin dance moves in the operating room to a couple who snuck onto a cruise ship dance floor after hours.

“I’ve had people tell me that I’ve saved their marriages,” the dance instructor states plainly. “Those stories... of saving marriages and people having more fun in their lives and just needing this to me are a thousand times more rewarding than someone going to a competition and winning first place.”

Mike’s joy comes from the people he instructs on the dance floor to relieve stress, to do something fun with their spouse, or to just try something new and active. His current clients at Magic City Ballroom in Cahaba Heights range from their 20s to 60s.

While group classes are fun, he says he enjoys being able to have more personal connections with his clients—and oftentimes future friends. Mike reassures his students

with a patient tone that they are capable of learning how to dance. Observe a lesson, and you will see how he corrects even the minor arm movements and hand placements with a gentle spirit.

“Even if we mess up, he does a really good job of encouraging us that it’s okay. We’ll try again and do it (correctly),” says Shea Appell, a client taking wedding lessons with her fiancé Miller Allan.

While many younger couples like Shea and Miller usually don’t have the time to fit weekly ballroom dancing classes into their schedules after marriage, older couples—like the parents of a bride or groom—often stick with the lessons as a new hobby.

Steven and Kim Leaf are a perfect example.

They began taking lessons a few months before their oldest daughter’s wedding back in 2017 and have been dancing with Mike ever since.

“We have our 30th wedding anniversary

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 19

“

I just fell in love with (dancing). I thought, ‘Man, what a fun way to make a living.’

– Mike Fowler

”

Mike Fowler steps in to serve as Melora Wallace’s dance partner, showing her husband the correct steps and arm movements for swing dancing.

20 August/September 2019

GET YOUR DANCE ON MAGIC CITY BALLROOM DANCE STUDIO & EVENT CENTER 3118 Bellwood Drive, Vestavia Hills 205-238-9008 mcballroom.com OFFERINGS: Private lessons (40 minutes each) for couples, singles or wedding dances Mike Fowler instructs his students at a Friday night dance at Magic City Ballroom.

this year, so this is kind of like our new thing,” Kim says. “It’s something we enjoy doing together.”

Steven and Kim wanted to be the couple who knew how to actually dance at weddings instead of just jumping around, and now they impress people with the samba, rumba, swing and more on the dance floor thanks to Mike and his patience.

Forty years ago Mike had no idea how many

Five-lesson wedding package Event space (1,250 square feet) available to rent

people’s lives he would impact through dance though. He grew up in Indiana’s “basketball country,” as, you guessed it, a basketball player.

Since elementary school, he dreamed of playing professionally in college, but when that didn’t work out, he decided to take some time to figure out if college was the right thing for him. It was during that time when Mike discovered his true passion:

MAKING THE WORLD SAFER ONE EDUCATED FIREARM OWNER AT A TIME Serving Birmingham & Surrounding Areas Since 2009!

Our indoor range has 28 lanes and accommodates •pistols •bows •ries •shotguns

205-822-3600

1561 Montgomery Highway, Hoover, AL 35216 VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 21

dancing.

In the summer of 1981, Mike’s friend invited him to Whispering Hills Night Club to watch a dance performance, and Mike was instantly intrigued. His friend soon moved down to Jacksonville, Florida, to start training as a ballroom dancing instructor for Fred Astaire Dance Studios and invited Mike to try it out as well. Excited by the idea of a free trip to Florida, he decided to give it a go. “I just fell in love with it. I thought, ‘Man, what a fun way to make a living,’” Mike recalls.

After eight weeks of training, he began teaching novice classes and accumulating his own clientele.

That same year, Mike followed the company from Florida to Alabama, landing in Birmingham.

“What’s Birmingham?” he asked his friend. “I didn’t (ask) where, I (asked) what. I had never heard of it,” Mike recalls today.

But Mike fell in love with the Magic City and couldn’t bring himself to leave. Soon he owned, managed and taught at three Fred Astaire franchise studios in Tuscaloosa, Montgomery and Mobile.

When his wife was pregnant with their first daughter, Francis, Mike felt he should try out a

typical 9-to-5 job though and decided to sell the studios.

Trying out everything from selling insurance to flipping houses to working for a non-profit political organization, he just couldn’t find a job that he loved as much as being a dance instructor. After all, that’s what he had done for 20 years, and next to it every other job felt mundane. It was obvious he missed it, so his wife, whom he met through ballroom dancing, encouraged him to open up an independent studio. She even came up with the name: Magic City Ballroom.

That was in 2004, and the name—and the business—have stuck. After sharing a studio space with other organizations for a dozen years, now Mike has one of his own in his own backyard since he and his family call Cahaba Heights home. Today the Magic City Ballroom storefront behind the Starbucks is bringing the social dance scene plus a community space to the neighborhood.

When it’s not being used for lessons and dances, Mike rents out the space for parties, receptions, meetings, wine tastings, pop-ups, church services, you name it, and a Sip ‘N Art event with local artist

Beth and Chris Bullock practice the waltz.

Magic City Ballroom Founder and Instructor Mike Fowler

22 August/September 2019

Carrie Pittman, Zumba classes and wheelchair yoga classes with Villager Yoga are currently in planning stages.

For anyone who is hesitant to begin dancing, Mike encourages skeptics to just take the first step by walking in the door. After all, ballroom dances include more than 12 different styles. Even his teenage daughters have found an entertaining hobby in ballroom dancing; Francis loves swing dancing, while Abby prefers a slow rumba and Latin dancing.

Mike admits that even he was clumsy at the beginning of his training and understands that it takes a lot of practice to become a decent dancer, but he knows that no matter what some of his clients have come in saying that everyone has a natural rhythm in their step, and

there’s hope for nearly everyone to become a dancer.

“Unless you have a serious physical impairment, you can learn how to dance,” explains Mike. “I’ve never, ever, ever, ever had anybody who couldn’t learn how to dance.”

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 23

READ THIS BOOK

Books I’ve Never Forgotten Recommendations from

April Moon

Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest Children’s Department Head

I have a terrible memory. That is not a very useful trait to have when you are a librarian! Suggesting good books for kids is extra hard because they can see right through you if you try to fool them into thinking you read something that you did not read. Some titles, however, have stayed with me through the years, and I can always remember why they stuck with me and can “sell” them to even the pickiest readers. Here’s an eclectic group of books I hope hang around in your memory, too.

Each Little Bird That Sings

by Deborah Wiles Ten-year-old Comfort Snowberger knows a thing or two about death. Her family owns the town funeral home and she has attended 247 funerals. This book radiates the warmth and humor of a small town and all the craziness of the variety of people who live there. It is so beautiful and funny and perfect that I cried while I read the last third of the book. Oh, and there is a dog in the story that means everything to Comfort.

The Underneath

by Kathi Appelt Of all the children’s books I have read, this book haunted me more than any. It takes place in the bayous of Louisiana and has two plots. The first story centers around an old hound dog that has been chained up under a porch and who leads a miserable life because of his evil owner. The secondary plot involves a magical creature called Grandmother Moccasin who been imprisoned for hundreds of years in a clay pot.

The Nest

by Kenneth Oppel This was one of the most unsettling books I ever read. The story centers around a family that has a new baby who has some life-threatening birth defects and how this affects the older brother in the family. A colony of wasps appear to the boy and convince him they can help the baby, if he will just turn the baby over to the queen. It’s weird but compelling.

Incident at Hawk’s Hill

by Allan. W. Eckert In 1870, a 6-year-old boy who is small for his age wanders away from his home and disappears into the prairie grass. Everyone assumes he is dead, but the boy miraculously survives for two months, thanks to care and nurture of a female badger. The most intriguing part of this story is the author’s note that reveals it’s a “slightly fictionalized version of an incident” that actually happened. I am always a sucker for an unbelievable true story!

Edward’s Eyes

by Patricia McLachlan This is a deeply stirring book about brothers and family. It is not a book that gets a lot of “talk,” but if you read it, the story will never leave you. There just isn’t much more that needs to be said about it…

24 August/September 2019

SCHOOL

&SPORTS

A COACH TO REMEMBER Bennie Watson was much more than a youth football coach. He was a friend and leader who mentored boys to become men.

BY MADOLINE MARKHAM PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 25

Bennie Watson coached his son Thomas’ youth baseball and football teams. Here they are pictured at Thomas’ last game of the season in 2017.

26 August/September 2019

Bennie Watson smiled with his whole body. And he smiled at everyone he met, all the time.

Although he worked in medical sales and had a biology degree, the way the sides of his lips curved up and his teeth shone through isn’t best explained by the movement of muscles, tendons and ligaments. It simply came from his soul.* It was the smile the father of three boys wore proudly when the third-grade Vestavia youth football team he coached pulled off a win against Chelsea he’d thought impossible. With 40 seconds left on the clock and a tied score, they had to get the ball down the entire length of the field. And they did.

In the moments that followed, the boys were literally jumping up and down in celebration, and so was Bennie.

It was also the smile Bennie wore when the fifthgrade Vestavia football team he coached defeated Hoover in the area championship. (And if you don’t know what a big deal that is, you should know that Vestavia teams from little league through high school look at any Hoover game like an Iron Bowl.)

The smile never left, but it was certainly beaming extra bright in the four other Jefferson-Shelby Youth Football (JSYFL) 7A championships he’d lead his sons Thomas and Jacob’s teams to win over eight years—including three back-to-back for Jacob’s team of now rising seventh graders. In fact, Bennie

holds the record for most wins and more JSYFL championships than any other coach in Vestavia Hills history, and 11 neighboring park systems voted to give him the JSYFL Coach of the Year award.

Once again Bennie beamed this spring as his oldest son, Nathan, decided to attend Rhodes College just as he had to study history and biology— subjects both father and son have bonded over. And Bennie beamed in March as Jacob hit two home runs in the last baseball game he would see his son play and again on the night of March 14 as he told his friends about Thomas, a freshman at VHHS, getting moved up from the freshman to the JV baseball team. That next day, though, tragedy hit.

Many of the players Bennie coached in youth sports were playing a home freshman baseball game at VHHS, and at the end of the game a couple of parents who had also coached the boys broke the news: Coach Watson, the man who for years not only coached but also supported them in life, had passed away after a massive heart attack that arrived VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 27

Bennie enjoyed spending quality time with all three of his sons at a hunting camp they shared with other Vestavia families.

with no warning. He was 49.

Those players will never forget the foundation Bennie laid for their lives in sports and character.

They all respected him and looked up to him as Bennie taught his teams about competing and how to handle defeat. “He talked to them about class and dignity and being humble,” says Randy Stokes, a former Auburn football player whose son Hill played on teams Bennie coached.

A high school and college player himself at Shades Valley High School and then Rhodes College in Memphis, Bennie also was keen on football technique. “He could look at a kid and knew if it made sense to play him in a certain position,” Randy says.

Bennie wasn’t afraid to give “tough love” either. “(Bennie) was one of those guys who would push you if it was needed but wouldn’t be over the top if it wasn’t necessary,” parent Joey West says. “He was never too hard on them…He was very much a role model on good sportsmanship. Some parents tend to get more heated than they should, and he tried to calm them down and make sure they set a good 28 August/September 2019

example to the kids around them.” And indeed it was his even-tempered demeanor he’d learned from his grandfather growing up next door to him, Bennie’s wife Mary says.

As Eric Ray will tell you, “It wasn’t about sports (for Bennie). It was about turning these boys into good young men and good fathers and husbands one day and good leaders in his community.”

Through all his wins with his football teams and the baseball games he helped coach, Bennie was nothing but humble. “He had every reason in the world to be obnoxious about his personal performance or that of his sons,” says Jonathan Berryhill, his friend of more than 20 years. “He walked that fine line between pride and bragging more than anyone I know. I think that’s what made him so extraordinary.”

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t competitive.

Whether it was Sea-Doo riding, a poker game or arm wrestling, Bennie was in it to win. And likely he would too. “If you were coaching against him or playing cards against him, he was going to whip you,” Jonathan says. In fact, Bennie once even

REMEMBERING BENNIE More of what those who knew him had to share “For every person who has played sports there is one coach you will never forget. I am sure Bennie was that coach for several generations in Vestavia…He’s the kind of man you’d want in a fox hole with you in a battle.”

-RANDY STOKES

Bennie and his wife Mary vacation on the California coast with friends.

“Rarely do you meet someone like Bennie who has nothing bad to say about anyone. Everyone loved Bennie.”

-JANA HANNA

“Of all the coaches he’s had since T-ball, the one coach my son measures all the coaches up to is Bennie. He helped Grainger fall in love with football.”

-JENNIFER WEST

“(Bennie) typically (shared) more of a life lesson and (something about) attitude (with our baseball team). (The kids) looked up to him. All their attention perked up, and they really respected him. (Bennie) wasn’t overly vocal or outspoken, but when he said something people listened.”

-ERIC RAY

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 29

Bennie with his sons and Pierce and Spencer Hanna at the last game of his coaching career at Sicard Hollow Athletic Complex.

competed in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

And Bennie always, always embraced life fully and encouraged others around him to do the same.

That was certainly the case one Sunday last winter just before the 11 a.m. worship service at Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church, where he and Mary had been teaching middle school Sunday school together since their oldest son started sixth grade.

Bennie was sitting on the row behind Jonathan in the sanctuary and tapped him on the shoulder. “You want to go hunting?” he whispered, and Jonathan turned around to see that distinct smile and couldn’t resist. And so they slipped out of the service and headed to None Such, the hunting camp near Alexander City both of them shared with their sons and several other Vestavia families. For Bennie time spent there wasn’t so much about hunting itself as quality time with each of his sons in the great outdoors.

“I’m so thankful that we had that one last hunting trip together,” Jonathan concluded during Bennie’s eulogy in that same sanctuary just a few months later. “And I thank God that he allowed me yet another lesson on embracing life from our friend Bennie.”

The soul behind Bennie’s smile was above all one of love, for Nathan, for Thomas, for Jacob and for 25 years of marriage for his wife, Mary. The couple first “went together” in fifth grade and met again their junior years of high school when Bennie was the DJ 30 August/September 2019

at a skating rink. They’d go on to date through college in different states and marry in 1993.

“Among their friends and family, the phrase ‘Bennie and Mary’ was spoken fluidly as if there were no spaces or capital letters. It was just one continuous word,” Jonathan said in Bennie’s eulogy. “And that was exactly like their relationship. It was evident to everyone that Bennie loved Mary very much.”

Last fall, Bennie concluded his youth sports coaching career as his youngest son Jacob finished his sixth-grade year. Jana and Tyler Hanna, whose sons Pierce and Spence were the same ages as Thomas and Jacob and played on teams Bennie coached, knew it was a moment that needed to be marked. So at the end-of-the-season party for the sixth graders they hosted, Jana also invited the nowfreshmen boys Bennie had coached to surprise him.

Just as Bennie finished up speaking about each player and making each feel like a special part of the team, a group of ninth-grade boys came around from the back of the house. Each shook Bennie’s hand and told him thank you—like the men he’d taught them to be. “It was a moment,” Jana recalls.

“Everyone on the back porch was crying.”

But one particular smile shined through the tears, that of a coach, dad, husband, friend and leader no one who knew him will ever forget. *This paragraph was adapted from Jonathan Berryhill’s eulogy he delivered at Bennie’s memorial service.

&DRINK

FOOD

EVERYTHING IZ

How Kay Reed’s vision for a community café continues to evolve, and remain the same, just shy of 20 years later.

BY EMMA SIMMONS PHOTOS BY EMMA SIMMONS VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 31

Iz CafĂŠ takes orders in advance for take-home dinners like this one. A full menu calendar is available on their website.

32 August/September 2019

A

A hallmark of modern times, the ubiquitous neighborhood coffee shop is too often taken for granted, Iz Café Owner Kay Reed will have you know. Kay, a pioneer in the Vestavia Hills business landscape, remembers a time when a cuppa joe wasn’t something locals could easily find outside of their own kitchens.

“People begged me to open for breakfast, so they could get a cup of coffee,” recalls Kay, then-owner of a white tablecloth tapas joint.

And so, she did. Nearly 20 years ago, Kay pulled the plug on her fine dining restaurant and set out to satisfy her community’s unmet needs—and caffeine cravings. That was the beginning of Everything Iz, the catch-all brand for Kay’s multiple culinary ventures, each created at her customers’ behest.

Over the years, Kay expanded from a dine-in café

and bakery in Rocky Ridge to a catering and wholesale business. Now, café patrons can pick up dinner or dessert for later, even on holidays; the inlaws won’t know the difference. The café’s evening offerings change daily and rotate weekly, a blessing to her regulars who’d rather stop by every day than slave over dirty dishes. Some of Kay’s most popular items, like her Good Stuff Granola, Chicken Salad and Chocolate Mousse Bombs, are also available at local grocery stores.

Kay may appear to have her hands full, but as long as her customers are satiated, she’s unbothered by the workload. Her first event came by way of a customer inquiry, during Kay’s nightly table checks.

“When I say it happened by accident, I mean it. I was going around to each guest, asking if they enjoyed their meals, and one lady asked, ‘Do you VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 33

cater?’ I said, ‘Yeah we do. Let me get my notebook, and I’ll be right back,’” Kay recounts.

A 600-person shindig would intimidate most catering novices but not Kay. Her team tackled the challenge with finesse, and quickly became accustomed to the high demands of the event-planning business. Preparations are already underway for the winter weddings she’s catering. “I know what brides need, as a caterer—and a mom,” Kay says, self-assuredly.

Veering into new territory is an inspiriting task, as Kay isn’t known to give anything other than her best effort. The dauntless chef will depart from her comfort foods and American favorites. All it takes is to ask.

“We did an entirely Chinese menu for a Chinese family for their wedding, and we learned at that point that we can do it. We research the recipes, shop at the Asian market, and we make it happen,” says Kay, who’s currently developing a total Vietnamese tasting menu.

Kay’s clients are often incredulous at her ability 34 August/September 2019

to recreate authentic ethnic cuisines, but she’s unfazed by their skepticism.

“We’ll set aside several hours for the tasting, and they’ll love it. We’re very proud of what we cook because we take it very seriously. We’re not buying cubed cheese and frozen chicken fingers,” says the scratch-made purist.

Once sandwiched between a revolving door of neighboring tenants, Café Iz has stood the test of time, thanks to Kay’s abiding commitment to not cutting corners. Refusing to buy pre-shredded chicken, the Café Iz team does the deed themselves, cooking up to 200 pounds a day. Patrons may not understand the extent of the team’s labors, but they can taste the difference. That’s likely why they keep coming back, day after day, year after year, decade after decade.

Boasting hundreds of recipes between her café and catering business, Kay won’t tweak her fan favorites, as long as they keep getting rave reviews.

“We’ve adapted and changed the way we do things, but we’ve kept our Carrot Cake recipe for 19

“

When I say it happened by accident, I mean it. I was going around to each guest, asking if they enjoyed their meals, and one lady asked, ‘Do you cater?’ I said, ‘Yeah we do. Let me get my notebook, and I’ll be right back.

”

-Iz Café Owner Kay Reed Iz founder Kay Bruno, right, with her son Stephen, who managers the Rocky Ridge restaurant.

The Heart Knows There Is Only One Right Choice

VISIT US TO FIND THAT UNIQUE PIECE

TO MAKE A ROOM COMPLETE!

Paid for by John & Melody Greene

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 35

Iz’s Chocolate Mousse Bombs are devil’s food cake chocolate and espresso mousse dipped in ganache. “There’s nobody else that makes that,” founder Kay Bruno says.

36 August/September 2019

IZ TOP SELLERS Chocolate Mousse Bombs Chicken Salad Banana Bread Iz Good Stuff Granola

years. When people come in, they know what they’re getting,” she says.

What they’re getting is thoughtfully made, locally sourced, flavorful dishes that have evolved into dinnertime classics for many families, some of whom don’t mind a drive for the Good Stuff.

One determined customer makes frequent pilgrimages from Huntsville, cooler in tow, Kay says.

Kay is quick to share the credit though, gushing about her team—and son Stephen, who manages the store—with the café’s reputation for exceptional customer service.

“They’re so special to me. They’re constantly thinking, ‘How can we do better?’ It was my vision, initially, but it’s not about me. It’s about the fact that we have people who share that vision and love to feed people,” Kay says, grateful for her work family.

As for the future, Everything Iz how it’s supposed to be, Kay believes. If a customer wants it, she won’t rule it out, save for an expansion. She’s already got a lot on her plate. “I’m not worried.

This place will go on,” Kay says, knowingly.

Find menus, catering information, take-home dinner updates and more at everythingiz.com. The café is located at 2514 Rocky Ridge Road.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 37

FOOD & DRINK

5

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR

Jeff Pierce

Smooth Rock Café Owner PHOTO BY MARY FEHR

Tucked behind shopping centers in Liberty Park you’ll find a retreat-like wooden building, and at its base you’ll find a café with fresh breads made with fresh Montana wheat. Big Sky Bread Company has operated its bakery in the lower floor of the Smooth Rock Center since it opened, and now that Shindigs has stopped operating the café next to it to focus on its Forest Park restaurant, the couple behind Big Sky is taking over Smooth Rock Café too. “We came up with breakfasts and lunches we love and hope other people will too,” says Jeff Pierce, who runs the operation with his wife, Patti. Read on to learn more about what they are now offering weekdays for breakfast and lunch 7 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

What should we know about your menu?

Our whole drive is to use better ingredients and better dishes. Our family has been Conecuh sausage fans for a long time, so we started making a petite pizza covered with Conecuh, mozzarella, Vidalia onions and chunky tomatoes. We also have a pesto chicken pizza with grilled chicken.

One of our bakers had the idea to put pepper jelly in our pimiento cheese. Our chicken salad has fresh grilled chicken cut daily with pecans, grapes, celery and Greek yogurt. I could eat a salad every meal of my life, and our Big Sky Salad has spinach, dried cranberries, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), goat cheese, cucumbers and balsamic vinaigrette. It’s a good substantial salad.

blueberry. When the bakery was in Mountain Brook Village, we did these whole wheat oat bran muffins that we will start making soon for the people who want more fiber and bran. We are doing specialty coffees like a latte and Americano, and we might expand that too.

Is there anything we can buy outside of your café hours?

We have a self-checkout here at the bakery if people come in for conferences or other events at the building. In the café after hours we will set it up as self-checkout too if people want a cookie or a muffin from our self-serve pastry case. We’ll have a big refrigerated case with grab-and-go premade sandwiches and salads too.

five ingredients and has been around thousands of years, and we sweeten everything with honey instead of using sugars and no preservatives. Our threeseed and old fashioned white breads are our most popular. It’s all based on wheat from Montana, the best wheat in the world based on its growing environment and high protein. We also do a honey-almond and a cranberry-almond granola, and we do a chocolate chip and an oatmeal raisin cookie.

How would you describe the Smooth Rock building where you are housed?

People have called it a sophisticated tree house. To me it feels like a chalet in the Colorado mountains, away from Birmingham, with the tall ceilings and What about breakfast? wood.

It’s a really cool place to hang out.

For anyone who isn’t familiar with your For breakfast we have our Big Sky cinnamon rolls, Big Sky whole wheat bakery products, can you give a brief The outdoor area is great especially in the spring and fall. I think it’s still a hidden pancakes and build-your-own omelets. primer? treasure that not many people know about We get high quality ingredients and real Right now we are doing three muffins: but would certainly love. simple recipes.

The wheat bread recipe has lemon poppy seed, banana walnut and 38 August/September 2019

&STYLE

HOME

SISTER, SISTER How the winding road of life led a set of twins to back-to-back homes and lives.

BY MADOLINE MARKHAM PHOTOS BY LAUREN USTAD VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 39

Twin sisters Jennifer Fante and Sarah Tomlinson are pictured with both of their families in front of the bridge that connects their two backyards.

40 August/September 2019

A

As twin sisters growing up in Liberty Park, there was not much that Jennifer and Sarah Hale didn’t share: a birthday, a school, clothes, a car. As it became time for college though, the sisters’ paths diverged when they decided to attend separate universities. Jennifer then married Joe Fante, an Auburn architecture school classmate and steady companion throughout, and moved to Raleigh. Sarah married her Furman sweetheart, Greg Tomlinson, and moved to Nashville. With so many miles separating them, the girls’ childhood dream of a “twin duplex” seemed more like a mirage.

As Jennifer and Joe progressed in their careers, they began discussing plans to start their own design and construction business, but should they move to Nashville to be near Sarah and her family or back to Birmingham, they wondered. Fortunately, the decision became an easy one when Sarah’s husband Greg followed a job opportunity to Birmingham. Shortly thereafter, Jennifer and Joe began making plans for their new business and move back to sweet home Alabama as well. As fate would have it, around the time the Fantes were ready to start househunting, a for-sale sign went up in the yard of the home behind the house off Valley Circle the Tomlinsons had moved into a couple years prior.

Would it be crazy, they thought, to live behind one another? And would their husbands be on board? With Greg’s affirmation of it being “a quality of life decision,” the Fantes placed an offer on the house and the rest is history.

Today each family has their own neighborhood and homes an eightminute drive apart, but they share a property line and often dinners too.

Now the inside of both of their 1960s homes have some common threads since the design and construction business Jennifer and Joe had envisioned, j.fante studio, has renovated both. Working within the original footprint of the Fante home, they opened up the floorplan and moved basement stairs from the side wall to the center hallway. Over at the Tomlinsons’ split-level house, they added a master suite above a two-car garage and a screened-in porch.

Additionally, both homes now boast open kitchen-living spaces and modern master bathrooms—all bright and white in design.

While Jennifer was the designer behind both, you can see where the twins’ styles diverge too. Jennifer favors a modern aesthetic and clean lines while Sarah is more traditional with a flair for a more rustic, farmhouse look.

Today all of their kids—each twin now has three—run back and forth across the bridge between their backyards.

Aunt Sarah’s sloped driveway is perfect for riding anything with wheels, the backyard bridge is always begging to look for fish swimming in Dolly Creek, and Aunt Jen’s tree swing goes impossibly high in the eyes of anyone under 7. During each afternoon reunion, both Sarah and Jennifer are able to reflect on the windy road that eventually brought them right back to where it all began—together in Vestavia.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 41

Living Room FANTE

Eliminating the walls dividing the living area from the kitchen connected the spaces and allowed light to flow through the house from back to front, and the newly vaulted ceilings make the space feel even more open.

42 August/September 2019

Dining Room FANTE

The white double drum pendant light from Rejuvenation and teak wooden dining table, an antique that belonged to their great-grandparents, show off Jennifer’s preference for modern style and timeless design.

Kitchen FANTE

A square maritime blue island and sleek reclaimed red oak vent hood accent this classic white kitchen with modern flair. It now occupies both the space of the former kitchen and its breakfast nook’s bay windows that overlook the backyard. The white subway tile adds another classic touch, while the brass pendant light fixture with glass orbs adds another modern element.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 43

Master Bedroom FANTE

The new master gained more space and a sense of balance with its shifted footprint. Removing hallway access to the bathroom allowed this the master suite to become a private retreat for the couple too.

Master Bathroom FANTE

Natural, unsealed slate tile laid in a herringbone pattern makes a statement here paired with shaker-style bright white vanity cabinets, Carrara marble counters and a mix of metals used between the hardware, mirrors and lights. A new walk-in shower with marble hex floor tile, floor-to-ceiling subway tile and a floating marble shower bench seat also stepped up the retreat feel of the bathroom.

44 August/September 2019

Staircase FANTE

These black iron and oak switchback stairs leading from the hallway to the basement rec room create a stronger connection between the two floors that make both feel more spacious.

Entryway FANTE

This entry space added in the renovation in front of the new staircase creates a place for pause upon entering the home.

Kids Room FANTE

This boy-girl shared kids room focuses on happy details and a genderneutral color palette— which turns out to be anything but neutral and plays up the fun by mixing teal, indigo, olive, gray and white, with pops of pink.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 45

Kitchen TOMLINSON

Knocking down the wall between the living room and kitchen and vaulting the previously low-hanging ceiling opened up this hardworking area into a bright and happy family space. A large island now anchors the kitchen, which is surrounded by classic white cabinets and subway tile, a set of floating shelves and stainless steel appliances. A shiplap ceiling adds just the right amount of texture and interest to the space.

46 August/September 2019

Back Porch TOMLINSON

New French doors in the dining room open up to this screened-in living space boasting exposed beams painted to match the house and accentuated with a Benjamin Moore Paladian Blue paint to add personality. Its positioning welcomes in morning and early afternoon sun onto the stained Brazilian hardwoods.

Dining Room TOMLINSON

The chicken wire light fixture here is telling of Sarah’s taste for a more rustic farmhouse style.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 47

Master Bathroom TOMLINSON

This bright and airy space is now 100 square feet with a spacious walk-in shower, a significant increase from the former master bath’s original 5-by-8foot dimensions. The cabinets are a light graystone stained wood with satin nickel hardware that corresponds with the pewter dome shade sconces above, and the counters wear the same white quartz used in the kitchen and on a floating bench in the shower.

48 August/September 2019

Master Bedroom TOMLINSON

Where a king-sized bed stretched nearly from wall to wall in their previous master, the same bed now rests with plenty of breathing room for a desk and more in this Benjamin Moore Tranquility blue bedroom, now 250 square feet.

The Tomlinsons also gained a large walk-in closet, a welcome upgrade from scattering their clothing throughout several different closets in the house.

Your home can At goCaliber, fromour Blah to toBeautiful service you doesn’t end ® the closing table. with a HomeStyleat refinance Find acrylic paintings by Cortney Perrine, beautiful oil paintings by Jenny Cash, and other unique gifts when you visit our gallery on Main Street in Montevallo

If your home could use some work, the right refinance could make it happen right now! For example, a HomeStyle Renovation loan from Caliber Home Loans, Inc. can help you finance one or more major renovation projects. Modernize your kitchen, add one or more rooms, or carry out those repair projects you’ve been postponing.

Daniel DiGuglielmo Producing Branch Manager NMLS# 267473 • AL 50755 • GA 41213 4009 Crosshaven Dr. Birmingham, AL 35243 205-908-3587 daniel.diguglielmo@caliberhomeloans.com www.caliberhomeloans.com/danield Caliber Home Loans and any above mentioned companies are not affiliated. Caliber Home Loans, Inc., 1525 S. Belt Line Rd, Coppell, TX 75019. NMLS ID#15622 (http://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/EntityDetails.aspx/COMPANY/15622). 1-800-401-6587. Copyright © 2019.

All Rights Reserved. Equal Housing Lender. This is not an offer to enter into an agreement. Not all customers will qualify.

Information, rates, and programs are subject to change without prior notice. All products are subject to credit and property approval.

Not all products are available in all states or for all dollar amounts. If you are refinancing your existing loan, your total finance charges may be higher over the life of the loan. Other restrictions and limitations apply. Georgia Residential Mortgage Lender License No. 7330 MLO 41213 (30733)

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 49

School or Vacation?

60 Hour Pre-License Course

Our

199*

for just $

lets you do both!

https://lahschool.licenseschool.com *Use Promo Code: LAH Offer Valid Thru September 30, 2019

South Haven Health and Rehabilitation, LLC

Taking care of your family for over 40 years and we're still here for you!

· Short - Term Rehab · Long - Term Care · Most major insurance accepted

Stairwell Built-ins TOMLINSON

Geometric floor-to-ceiling shelving was added along the new staircase leading to the master suite addition. This serves as the perfect landing spot for toys and books within arms’ reach for the kids, while items like the guitar and a few sentimental possessions have a safe place to be decoratively displayed at eye level.

BEHIND THE SCENES Design: Jennifer Fante, j.fante studio

Construction: Joe Fante, j.fante studio Fante Cabinets: Twin Cabinets

Tomlinson Cabinets: Kitchen Distributors

Countertops: Mitchell McElroy, Premier Surfaces Tile: Issis and Sons

Tomlinson Brick: Alabama Brick

South Haven Health and Rehabilitation, LLC 3141 Old Columbiana Road | Hoover, AL 35226 PH: 205-822-1580 | FX: 205-823-1587 50 August/September 2019

Tomlinson Roofing: Hinkle Roofing Painting: Pentoir

Fante Vent Hood: Evolutia

AT HOME

CREATING A HABITAT

When designing your home, think about how to integrate furnishings and accessories you love with comfort and functionality. To keep it simple yet interesting, select items in the same tonal range with different styles and textures. For example, mix pillows and a throw with playful and traditional patterns and select accessories like a sculpture and a leather stool that add another layer of interest. Have fun creating a space that is uniquely yours!

Jessica Clement is an interior designer and stylist who believes that welldesigned interiors should tell the story about the people who live there.

6

7

2 3

5

4 1

1. Black Leather and Steel Stool, Chickadee Interiors - $174. 2. Noir Pillow, Chickadee Interiors - $140. 3. Tribal Print Pillow, Chickadee Interiors - $130. 4. Black and White Stripe Pom Throw, Chickadee Interiors - $144. 5. Wooden Spheres, Chickadee Interiors - $36-47.

6. Moai Quarry Sculpture, Chickadee Interiors - $78. 7. Grey Planter, Leaf & Petal - $11. 8. Hydrangea Plant, Leaf & Petal - $17.99.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 51

Prince of Peace

VOTED BEST SCHOOL

• We are a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence celebrating 20 years of Catholic education in Hoover. • Our students consistently score in the top 25th percentile on national standardized tests.

Catholic School

IN HOOVER

PRINCE OF PEACE MIDDLE SCHOOL The POP Middle School program is a robust and distinctive curriculum that challenges students to integrate personal talents with acquired skills in an environment that keeps children motivated to learn. Intense planning uniquely links educational concepts in themed interest areas across the curriculum. Our ultimate goal is to create enthusiastic graduates who are passionate, life-long learners, able to transition effortlessly into a successful high school career.

PRINCE OF PEACE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Elementary students are challenged with an integrated core curriculum that enhances the individual strengths and abilities of all children. Courses in art, music, Spanish, technology, library science, STEM, and physical education complement the learning process. Students are actively engaged in lessons guided by the latest research and are assessed on a regular basis.

PRINCE OF PEACE PRESCHOOL Three and four year old children attend an educational and fun program in a small Catholic environment. The preschool curriculum is embedded with art, technology, music, Spanish, and creative movement. Children are prepared for elementary school through a hands-on approach incorporating imaginative play while developing their social skills. Pre-reading and math skills are taught through games, centers, and individual instruction.

HOOVER’S

BEST HO

education in a safe environment

2019

OV

ERS M

AG A Z IN E

. CO

M

4650 Preserve Pkwy Hoover, AL 35226 (205) 824-7886 www.popcatholic.net

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON NOLAN TURNER IS FOLLOWING IN HIS DAD’S FOOTSTEPS ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD—FOR THE TIGERS INSTEAD OF THE TIDE.

By Solomon Crenshaw Jr. Photos by Karen Askins & Contributed

54 August/September 2019

PHOTO BY DAVID PLATT/CLEMSON ATHLETICS

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 55

N

Nolan Turner remembers his father Kevin coaching him on a neighborhood youth football team as vividly as he foresaw following in his footsteps onto collegiate fields. “I always envisioned myself playing college football,” Nolan recalls. “I didn’t know where it was going to be or how it was going to happen. But that was always one of my dreams.”

Dreams have a funny way of coming true, but not always in the way you’d think. By his senior year at Vestavia Hills High School, Nolan was on no one’s radar as a major college football prospect. His only invitation was to be a walk-on at a school or two, including the one in Tuscaloosa where Kevin launched a career that took him to the National Football League.

Someday Nolan may land in the NFL. But if he does, it will be after having veered east rather than venturing west, heading to Clemson instead of Alabama. Today he has two national championship rings from his redshirt sophomore season with the Tigers. Each came courtesy of a title game victory over the Crimson Tide.

The first came at the conclusion of Nolan’s redshirt season, a 35-31 comeback win over Alabama. He was fully engaged in the second title with two solo tackles and two assists when Clemson drubbed the Tide 4416.

56 August/September 2019

Going into the 2019 campaign, Nolan is credited with 58 tackles (3.5 for loss), four passes broken up, a sack and an interception where he returned 24 yards in 435 snaps over 28 career games. “To look back now from where we are and the success we’ve had at Clemson and for me to be a part of it,” Nolan says. “Yeah, it’s really special, and to have made it this far is pretty cool. I’m glad I’m still getting to do it.”

But there was a time when he didn’t fully grasp the significance of a game like that, or the star status his father had on the gridiron. A product of Prattville High School, Kevin was a member of the 1984 Alabama high school state championship team. He went on to the University of Alabama, where he was a strong blocking fullback for Siran Stacy and Bobby Humphrey.

Bobby Humphrey remembers Kevin as a dedicated blue-collar worker while tailbacks like himself got the glory. “But not only was he one of the better blockers to put on the uniform at Alabama, he was also just one hard worker,” Bobby recalls. “He just put on his hardhat and went to work every day—in the weight room, on the field during workouts. He was just one of those guys who was very dependable.”

Kevin’s star shined more brightly in the NFL too.

He was a third-round selection of the New England

LEFT: Nolan Turner with his parents and younger siblings. BELOW: Nolan tosses a football at his old stomping ground at Vestavia Hills High School.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 57

Nolan catches up with his high school coach Buddy Anderson this summer when he was visiting home.

Patriots in the 1992 NFL draft and played three seasons for them and then another five with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Through those years and beyond, his son Nolan was paying attention too, to his work ethic, perseverance, and how he treated people. “He kind of loved everybody, and (everybody) loved him because of that,” Nolan says. “He had a long, successful career in the pros, which is not easy to do, and that’s all because of his work ethic. I’d say I idolized those traits about him.”

But Kevin’s storybook tale took an unfortunate turn when it came to his health. He was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in June 2010 and passed away on March 24, 2016, from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Nolan’s mom JoyceMarie Turner recalls Kevin’s condition being indescribably horrific. “You know your kids are 58 August/September 2019

watching it…and they were so devastated. There wasn’t anything I could do to fix the pain they had watching their dad suffer,” she recalls. “That was the worst part for me, other than knowing what Kevin was going through. And every day it got worse.”

Buddy Anderson, the Vestavia Hills High football coach, recalls how it affected Nolan too. “I think his dad was diagnosed when (Nolan) was in the seventh grade,” Anderson says. “(Throughout) his whole time growing up that was a tough time because his dad’s health declined rapidly with that ALS. I think football was an outlet for him.

It gave him a chance to get out some of his frustration.”

Despite what was going on at home, Anderson says Nolan was one of the best players who came through his Rebels program, but the safety/wide receiver wasn’t getting serious attention from major college football programs as he

“

Playing for Dabo, having Dabo as (Nolan’s) mentor now in his life it was like Kevin finally just decided to give up the fight. He was just so thankful that he was getting that opportunity to be with Clemson and Dabo. We could not have been more thankful for that.

”

-JoyceMarie Turner

wrapped up his high school career. “I put him on all the lists you’re supposed to put them on,” the coach recounts. “When (college) coaches would come by, I’d give them his name. Of course, he had gone to camps, and I definitely felt he could play.”

With no scholarship offers, Nolan planned to go to

Alabama as an invited walk-on—until he got a call from a familiar source. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney played at Alabama with Kevin, and as adults the two worked together. “In ’08 when I was the interim coach, I actually hired Kevin to come up, and he was a GA (graduate assistant) for me for the last part of my interim time. We ended up going to the Gator Bowl that year, and all of our families went.”

Dabo still has a picture of a 9-year-old Nolan at the Gator Bowl with his own sons and other kids on the practice field. He knew Nolan well, but that didn’t mean he could offer him a scholarship. “We really weren’t recruiting DBs that year,” he says. “In recruiting, everything’s about timing. We didn’t have any spots, and all of a sudden after VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 59

PHOTO BY CARL ACKERMAN/CLEMSON ATHLETICS

the national championship game that year out in Arizona, I had four juniors who decided to go pro early.”

It was then that Dabo took a look at Nolan’s senior tape. “I compared him to the other guys, and it was like, ‘Man, this guy can play,’” the Clemson coach recalls. “Then I called Buddy Anderson. I knew what I saw on tape, and I didn’t want to have a biased opinion. Buddy, who’s been coaching for 50 years there, said he’s as good as he’s ever had. He really was disappointed with the whole recruiting process and couldn’t understand why Nolan didn’t have D1 offers.”

That would change when Dabo came to town though. Nolan knew he was coming, but he didn’t know what was in store.

Anderson recalls the exchange in his office. “Nolan, I want you to know something,” the coach remembers Dabo saying. “Your dad and I were good friends, but I’m going to get the best person I can to play at Clemson. This has nothing to do with your dad and my friendship. You’re the best one for us, and I’m offering you a scholarship.”

“Nolan’s sitting there and all of a sudden said, ‘Sir? What did you say?’ (I) said I’m offering you a scholarship. Would you like to come to Clemson? (Nolan) said, ‘I’d love to.’”

Nolan’s decision didn’t waver when Alabama coach Nick Saban visited him a day later, still offering invited walk-on status.

“When he left, I said, ‘Nolan, you’ve got some decisions to make.’

He said, ‘Coach, I’m going to Clemson.’ I said, ‘Okay, I support you.’”

Kevin passed away a few weeks after Nolan’s college decision.

But, as JoyceMarie saw it, he died a happy man. “It was like he let himself go once he knew that Nolan was going to be in the hands 60 August/September 2019

Nolan with his father, Kevin, and siblings after one of his high school games.

For all your backyard playground needs!!

CALL

205-408-4386 for more info!

NOW ALSO SELLING AY COMMERCIAL PLAY EQUIPMENT! 86 CALL 205-408-4386 FOR MORE INFO!

3165 CCahaba h b VValley lle RRoadd Birmingham, AL 35124

Kevin Turner coached his son’s youth football team.

of Dabo,” she says. “Playing for Dabo, having Dabo as his mentor now in his life was like Kevin finally just decided to give up the fight. He was just so thankful that he was getting that opportunity to be with Clemson and Dabo. We could not have been more thankful for that.”

Dabo says it’s amazing how God opens doors and creates opportunities. “I really believe it was kind of meant to be and kind of divine intervention how it all worked out,” he says. “And what a great moment for me to see KT have the peace in knowing that Nolan was coming to Clemson, and it was something he had earned. (Kevin) knew (Nolan) was going to be in good hands with a lot of good people up here who were going to love him.”

And that’s exactly what happened. Nolan was an immediate success on the field and is a crucial team player for the Tigers as he heads into his fourth year this fall. “What a player he’s become,” Dabo continues. “Man, he had a great year (last season).

He was a starter for us in our dime (coverage) package. He’s still got two years left. He’s going to have a heck of a career. I’m really proud of him.”

Three years removed from high school, Nolan could do as those other Clemson Tigers did in clearing the road for him. He could choose to make himself eligible for the NFL Draft. But the financial management major says that’s not going to happen. “I’ll be at Clemson for five years,” he told us this summer. “I’ll play two more seasons and see where it takes me after that.”

www.backyardalabama.com

WILDLIFE WILDLIFE REMOVAL? REMOVAL? WE WE CAN CAN DO DO IT. IT. Please call Vulcan for all of your pest and wildlife control needs

205-663-4200 VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 61

ON ANNIE WL Monsoon bird dress from The Lili Pad, Mint seersucker lunchbox from Monograms Plus.

Back-to -School Style WITH SUMMER PASSING US BY, IT’S NOW TIME TO GET YOUR KIDS, TWEENS AND TEENS STYLE-READY FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR. THIS YEAR’S ASSIGNMENT? KEEP IT LOCAL! CHIC OPTIONS ABOUND FOR CLOTHING TREND-SAVVY STUDENTS. WRITTEN & STYLED BY TRACY JAMES PHOTOS BY LAUREN USTAD AT VESTAVIA HILLS LIBRARY IN THE FOREST MODELS: CARLISLE BARRANCO, ANNIE GETTY, MARGARET ANN GREEN, CECE FERGUSON & KATE FITZPATRICK

62 August/September 2019

ON CECE Entro smocked skirt and Erge navy tee from Gigi’s Tween.

Vic & Lou clear backpack from Monograms Plus.

BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR BOTH SCRUNCHIES AND SMOCKING THIS FALL!

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 63

ON MARGARET ANN

ON CARLISLE

Everly top and Sage the Label striped skirt from Mia Moda.

She & Sky white top and leopard kimono, MAC black studded jeans, Musee & Cloud “Danna” shoes and jewelry, all from Ryan Reeve.

DON’T FORGET THE PRINT! FROM STRIPES TO ANIMAL PRINTS, THERE’S A PATTERN FOR EVERYONE. 64 August/September 2019

GREY IS THE NEW BLACK AND ROMPERS RULE.

ON KATE Hem & Thread striped romper and Garden Party necklace from Gigi’s Tween.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 65

IVORY IS A GREAT GROUNDING NEUTRAL FOR FALL, WARMER (AND LESS PRONE TO SHOW DIRT) THAN WHITE. ON ANNIE Petite Mieux block-print dress from The Lili Pad.

66 August/September 2019

ON CARLISLE

MOVER OVER SKINNY JEANS, FIGURE-FLATTERING FLARES ARE HERE TO STAY. PAIR WITH A CROPPED TOP TO KEEP PROPORTIONS RIGHT.

McGuire floral top, Level 99 flare jeans and earrings, all from Ryan Reeve.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 67

THE NEW BOHEMIAN LOOK INCLUDES FAMILIAR EARTHY TONES BUT OFFERS A MORE TAILORED SILHOUETTE.

ON MARGARET ANN THML embroidered top, Kut from the Cloth jacket and earrings from Mia Moda. Tricot distressed jean from Serendipity.

68 August/September 2019

ON CARLISLE Jack by BB Dakota suede dress, Kut from the Cloth jean jacket and Dolce Vita snakeskin slides, all from Mia Moda.

meet the stylist TRACY JAMES CHICMADESIMPLE CHICMADESIMPLE.COM ON CECE ON KATE

Hayden Girls top, DL1961 racing stripe jean, from Gigi’s Tween.

Kiddo by Katie top, DL1961 jean, from Gigi’s Tween.

Wardrobe stylist Tracy James of ChicMadeSimple has served the style needs of clients for over 18 years. She has a particular passion for working with kids, tweens and teens, including preparing girls for college sorority recruitment. Learn more about Tracy at chicmadesimple. com. Follow her on Instagram and/or Facebook at ChicMadeSimple for style tips, tricks and recommendations.

SM

ARDENT TEACHERS. ARDENT KIDS. DELIGHTED PARENTS.

W W W. A R D E N T P R E S C H O O L . C O M

G R E Y S T O N E • P AT C H W O R K F A R M S T R A C E C R O S S I N G S • VA L L E Y D A L E

205-879-3036

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 69 Brand Awareness 3.5x4.75.indd 1

6/24/2019 10:04:27 AM

FROM THE ASHES HOW A GRIEVING FATHER IS DEVELOPING A NEW CLASS OF NON-ADDICTIVE ANXIETY DRUGS TO ADDRESS ONE OF THE ROOTS OF HIS SON’S DARKNESS.

By Madoline Markham Photos by Mary Fehr & Contributed

T

thoughtful, compassionate and sensitive, with a carefully tuned radar to befriend anyone who felt abandoned.

But with adolescence came a deepharbored secret in his life. “For many years I didn’t know that inside he was living in a hellish repetitive obsessive compulsive disorder carnival,” Tom recounted in Thomas’ eulogy. “He thought that was an embarrassing shameful thing and that he wasn’t normal.” His parents eventually took him to a psychiatrist who prescribed him Klonopin and Xanax to cope with his anxiety, but the drugs didn’t help. “I think they hindered him,” Tom recounts.

“They turned him into a zombie in high school, so he was lethargic and slept through classes.”

Somehow Thomas managed to separate that part of his life from his friends though, and only those who knew him best knew his struggles, struggles that would take on a new form after he was prescribed a pain killer after his wisdom teeth surgery just before his TRAGEDY graduation from Vestavia Hills High Growing up, Thomas was eclectic and School. “We later learned that upon quirky, earning the nickname experiencing that (opioid) his anxiety “PyromanTom” for his love of fire, went away and for the first time in his life firecrackers and explosions. He was not he felt normal, the way other non-anxious afraid to make his own style statements people experience life,” Tom recounts.

It wasn’t until several years later that with rabbit fur and bobby pins in his long shaggy hair, and he built what is probably Tom and Laura learned where this the only backyard Indian Tandoor oven incident had led Thomas. One night in around at his parents’ house. He was July 2015 they received a parents’-worstTom Dooley was in first grade when he first saw a picture of a microscope in a third-grade classmate’s textbook at his rural school in Kansas. With that, it was decided—he wanted to become a scientist when he grew up. And indeed Tom has made his way from the farm where he was raised to laboratories all over the country. What he didn’t imagine then or for years to come though was that he’d become a writer—and a dad who lost his son to drug addiction. Tragedy has redirected him in ways he wouldn’t trade, too, into a mental health researcher and a pastoral figure for women coming out of drug addiction.

“It’s like a giant fish hook was put in my jaw, and that God had said, ‘Tom I am taking you in a different direction,’” Tom explained to us over lunch at Red Lobster on Highway 31, just a quick drive from the home where he and his wife, Laura, raised their four children, including their youngest, Thomas.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 71

ABOVE: Tom Dooley holds a photo of his son Thomas, who became addicted to opioids as a way to address his anxiety. RIGHT: Thomas and Tom Dooley at Thomas’ graduation from Vestavia Hills High School in 2011.

72 August/September 2019

“

(My son’s) pain will now benefit others. He died having inspired a patented safer new class of drugs to treat people with anxiety.

Oh, if only we had it a decade ago when his OCD problems started!

–Dr. Tom Dooley

nightmare call from DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa where Thomas was a student at the University of Alabama. He was in the emergency room in a near-death state. When Tom and Laura arrived, the emergency room doctor was forthright.

“How long has your son been an alcoholic?” he asked.

“He isn’t that I know of,” Tom replied. “How long has your son been a drug addict?” the doctor asked. “He isn’t that I know of,” Tom replied again.

As his parents came to learn, the pain killers Thomas took after his wisdom teeth surgery brought on the onset of his opioid addiction, starting with prescriptions and later leading him to street opioids like heroin and fentanyl, the latter of which is extremely potent and the main driver behind most of

”

today’s drug-related deaths.

That night Thomas had overdosed on fentanyl on top of drinking at a party at his apartment. He laid on the bathroom floor for 16 hours immobile before he was taken to the hospital. Medically, he shouldn’t have survived. But he did. “His life was divinely spared in spite of him by a combination of medical attention and a lot of prayer,” Tom says. “God divinely spared his life.”

Over the next six months, Thomas learned to walk and use his hands again. But his anxiety didn’t go away, and his old friends were still there. With time he returned to opioids. Thomas was never alone in this either. If you look at the demographics of people with opioid addictions, many have anxiety disorders VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 73

Tom Dooley teaches a Bible study to women at the Lovelady Center.

that seem to only be relieved by opioids.

Through it all Tom was always encouraging his son in positive directions. “I kept reminding him of Proverbs 13:20: ‘He who walks with wise men will grow wiser, but the companion of fools will suffer harm,’” Tom says. “I kept warning him that if he hangs out with the same friends they will bring him back into the gutter again, and they did.”

But in October 2016 something dramatic happened, something dramatically good—what Tom calls a “dramatic spiritual deliverance of darkness.”

“In more than a decade it was the first time my son was normal, in the sense that he was like our innocent 11-year-old son. He was loving, and that darkness was lifted off of him through prayer,” Tom recounts.

Tom still vividly recalls a particularly poignant moment when Thomas hugged his dad and cried out, “Dad, I love you.” Tom replied, “I love you too, Thomas.” Then Thomas said, “Say it again, Dad. Say it again!” And he did. “It was as if he hadn’t been able to realize that I genuinely loved him for the past decade, although Laura and I had bent over backward for him,” Tom recounts.

Again, Tom warned his son to stay away from his old friends. “I told him the next time he returned to it he would be dead,” Tom says. In February 2017 Thomas became ill and wasn’t thinking right, and his friends offered to take care of him. Two days later Tom found his son’s body cold and lifeless in a chair in their home. He was 24.

74 August/September 2019

REDEMPTION For all of his 24 years, Thomas’ journey was interwoven with his father’s professional path.

Armed with a PhD in molecular biology from Indiana University, Tom did cancer research in London and then worked in drug discovery in the Upjohn Company before starting to bridge academia with entrepreneurship. Just after Thomas was born, Tom moved his family from Texas to Birmingham to work as an endowed chair for Southern Research. They settled in Vestavia Hills, where he and Laura’s three older children Isaac, Catherine and Jeannette would go on to be active on the award-winning high school math team, setting the ground for all three of their careers in math or computer science.

As Tom went on to start two pharmaceutical and biomedical companies, IntegriDerm and ALtruis, in 1999, he began to think about how the active ingredients in existing anxiety medicines typically produce tolerance, dependence, abuse and addiction.

He knew that wasn’t right, that someone needed to develop something to replace benzodiazepine drugs like Xanax with a new product that would be fastacting, effective and non-addicting. And he would think about how to solve this unmet medical need for more than a decade.

It was in 2013, two years before Tom would learn of his son’s opioid addiction, that a scientific “lightbulb moment” came to him. Psychiatry had

long been focused on using a single active ingredient to address anxiety pharmaceutically, but what if he re-purposed two safe active ingredients without abuse potential instead? One day he sat down and wrote out all the symptoms of a panic attack: anxiousness, fear, avoidance, an upset gastrointestinal system and a racing heart. He parsed them into two bins and thought through a solution for both.

To address the cardiovascular symptoms of a racing heart, he could use a beta blocker like Atenolol that blocks the effects of adrenaline for the treatment of hypertension. To address the anxiety symptoms of the central nervous system, he could use motion sickness medicines like Scopolamine.

And so as Thomas was recovering from his 2015

“

overdose, his father was already working on patenting a new class of medicines that would address one of the serious roots of his son’s difficulties: an anti-anxiety drug that was intended to be non-dependent and non-addictive. In 2016, Tom was awarded the first of three U.S. patents for marrying the two types of active ingredients, a beta blocker and a motion sickness medicine, in drug combinations.

He went on to prototype the invention, now named PanX®, through a compounding pharmacy, and today has published five clinical reports on patients as proof-of-concept that it works. Studies have looked at the patients of Dr. Ashley Benjamin, a psychiatrist in Los Angeles, and those of Dr. Ty Thomas, founding doctor at Alabama Pain Physicians

And you might ask yourself, ‘Why are you teaching me? Because we can’t relate to one another.’ But you and I have something in common: Neither of us wanted to be in this room.

-Dr. Tom Dooley Speaking to Women at The Lovelady Center

FIELD TRIPS FoR PRE-K GRaDE 12

”

Join friends and neighbors at the Homewood Library Foundation’s 6th annual

Teachers: Book your classroom visit for the 2019-2020 school year online at www.americanvillage.org.

O

B L O CK PA R T Y

Saturday August 17th 5 – 8 pm 1721 Oxmoor Road - rain or shine Admission includes food, cold beverages, music, fun for all ages Teaching youth America’s legacy of liberty.

3727 Hwy. 119, Montevallo Open to the public M-F 10-4

Like us on Facebook!

presented by

Limbaugh Toyota

Tickets at the door and at HomewoodLibraryFoundation.org

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 75

Tom Dooley spends one day each week at The Lovelady Center in addition to his scientific work.

76 August/September 2019

in Vestavia on Acton Road. The clinical reports demonstrated that PanX® is fast-acting and effective with no ingredient known to have abuse potential. With that completed, Tom is now working to queue up clinical trials for an eventual FDA approval.

While his hands are still active in the pharmaceutical world, Tom also spends much of his time with people, seeking to bring about redemption from his family’s tragedy. He speaks to civic leaders and first responders about the opioid crisis, including a talk this spring at a Freedom from Addiction Coalition breakfast at Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church, but his passion perhaps comes out most poignantly when he warns high school students of the dangers of synthetic opioids, that what’s on the street today can kill you the first time you try it.

“A large part of what I am trying to do with students is produce the fear of God in them,” he says honestly. “I also talk about the good things about my son and how (drugs) took over and destroyed his life. It’s raw, and I get teary. I’m talking about what it’s like to find your son dead and to then speak at his funeral. I also tell them, ‘Don’t do to your parents what my son did to me!’”

Tom speaks to people who know firsthand what opioids can do too. After Thomas’ memorial service, a friend in the audience who works as the pastor at The Lovelady Center, approached Tom with the eulogy fresh on his mind. “When you are ready, please come,” he told Tom. “The ladies would benefit from what you have to share.” Two years ago he did. Today Tom teaches Bible studies each week as a part of the faith-based program for women coming out of incarceration and drug abuse, and he shares his own stories too.

“I was never a drug addict, I’ve never been incarcerated, I have never been arrested,” he tells the “Loveladies.” “And you might ask yourself, ‘Why are you teaching me? Because we can’t relate to one another.’ But you and I have something in common: Neither of us wanted to be in this room.” From there he listens to their stories and prays with them and shares his own of being a dad who is still processing his own pain. Many of the women he gets to know there have come out of abusive relationships and have never known a man or had a father figure they could trust. He hopes to change that.

He also likes to give the Loveladies copies of one of his three books, Hope When Everything Seems Hopeless, the second of a trilogy of inspirational books on faith, hope and love. Tom has now written the third, Pain Taught Me to Love, a set of stories of different people’s adversities in life and how they have taught them to love better, and he plans to have it published soon.

As he writes in that new book, Tom is clear that, above all, Thomas taught him to love. That’s why he spends time with the Loveladies too, as an act of redemption coming out of the pain from watching his son’s mental health and substance abuse issues. “His pain will now benefit others,” Tom wrote in his son’s eulogy. “He died having inspired a patented safer new class of drugs to treat people with anxiety. Oh, if only we had it a decade ago when his OCD problems started!”

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 77

OUT & ABOUT

1

SUMMER READING KICKOFF

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

PHOTOS BY MALLORY BARRY

Summer reading at the Library in the Forest kicked off with a concert by Roger Day on May 30.

1. Olivia Zhang and Junling Yang 2. Lars and Arthur Porter 3. Jingwei and Melody Wang 4. Caleb and Shemeka Marbury 5. Clara, MaryCarmen and Amy McNeese 6. Nick and Sherry Santoro, and Avery Williams 7. Ruopu Lei and Lei Huang 8. Brayden and Kari Pate 9. Libby Rhodes, and Julia and Lindsey Anderson 10. Lisa and Jeremy Aller 11. Neal and Luke Newell 12. Megan, Micah and Miles Hastings 13. Lauren Pharo and Aaliyah Simonson 14. Lucas and Casey Azuero 15. Danielle Garcia and Diego Velez

78 August/September 2019

OUT & ABOUT

10

11

12

13

14

15

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 79

OUT & ABOUT

1

FATHER-DAUGHTER TEA

2

3

4

5

6

PHOTOS BY ADRIANNE SMITH

Daddies and daughters gathering for tea, crafts and more on Father’s Day Eve, June 15 at the Library in the Forest.

1. Samantha, Soloaria and Willie Jones 2. Esme and Anand Iyer 3. David and Mary Mac Smith 4. Lainey and Matthew Collier 5. Samantha Jones 6. Gene and Culver Gilmore 7. Maggie Evans, Tatyana Davis and Lexi Green 8. Avery and Zyon Jordan 9. Ben and Nora Snyder 10. Leah, Bryan and Libby Lucas 11. Natalia and Julia Zoran

7

80 August/September 2019

OUT & ABOUT

8

BARIATRIC HEALTH & WELLNESS

Do you need to lose a little or a lot ?

9

Bariatric Health and Wellness offers a non surgical weight loss program that is easy to follow, customized for you, and affordable.

• Dr John Morgan has helped over 30,000+ people lose over 150,000 lbs.

• Lose up to a pant size in 2 weeks • Free Consultation • Experienced Staff

10

• Online protocol available • Appetite Suppressants If you are ready for a healthier body and mind, Bariatric Health and Wellness is for you!

11

2017 Canyon Rd #17 Vestavia Hills 205-397-8856 bariatricdirect.com VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 81

OUT & ABOUT

1

ROCKY RIDGE CHURCH FARMER’S MARKET

2

3

4

5

6

7

PHOTOS BY KATIE ROTH

Area residents found farm fresh fruits and vegetables, homemade soaps and bath bombs, and more at this quaint little market every Wednesday from 3-6 p.m. this summer. The market posts updates on the Rocky Ridge Church Farmer’s Market Facebook page.

1. Lily Coleman 2. Freshly shucked corn 3. Kate Coleman 4. Gigi’s Fabulous Foods booth 5. Free Range Soap products 6. Happy the dog 7. Farm-fresh produce

r

Front cove

OF THE SECRET Y • THE DYNAST STLING REBEL WRE

r

Back cove

NER KOOL KOR

• MAGIC CUBAN

R CRACKE CITY NUT

VESTA VIA ZINE HILLS MAGA

NEYS’

THE DOW

DREAM HOME E COFFEE

REG + TH

NNEQUIN

V estaVia

THE MA

H ills M agazin

1471 Montgomery Hwy VestaviaAnimalClinic.com 2017/ J anuary 2018

82 August/September 2019

D eceMbe r

(205) 823-7485

ON

CANYON

Your Stories.

Your Community.

Your Magazine.

Visit VestaviaHillsMagazine.com or call 205-669-3131 to subscribe for $16.30 (6 issues) a year.

e . coM

Compassionate veterinary care, boarding & grooming

HOUSE

SUBSCRIBE NOW!

R 2017/ DECEMBE 2018 JANUARY m sMagazine.co VestaviaHill | Issue Three Volume One $4.95

OUT & ABOUT

1

2

VHUMC FARMER’S MARKET PHOTOS BY KATIE ROTH

Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church Farmer’s Market held a market in Scout Square every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. this summer through Aug. 8.

Area residents could stop by early for fresh produce, homemade meals and even snow cones!

1. Dianne and Mila Lukeatic

3

4

2. Shannon Carter and Robin Wilkinson 3. Farm-fresh sweet potatoes and red potatoes 4. Jacob and Eli Myrick, and Luke McBrayer

4730 Chace Cir, Suite 124

205-777-5984

www.babajavacoffee.com

Lumadentistry.com @babajavacoffee

McCalla / Hoover / Centerville / Montevallo VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 83

OUT & ABOUT

1

I LOVE AMERICA DAY NIGHT

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

PHOTOS BY ADRIANNE SMITH

This annual night of patriotic fun and festivities was held on June 27 at Vestavia Hills High School.

1. Tana Hengst and Kate Wolfe 2. John Ingram, Caleb Black and Cy Powell 3. Burke, Joan and Hannah Swearingen 4. Chloe McCormick and Carlin Gregory 5. Thom Ewing and Denise Wallace 6. Albert, Alice and Andrew Sun 7. Mariana Caro, Mandy Hunt and Emily Grey 8. Erin Holtz and Chris Franklin 9. Wyatt and Patrick Trammel 10. Megan DeShazo, Mia DeShazo and Angela Bryant 11. John Ingram, Emma Leggett, Mallory Meads, and Cy Powell with Heidi Norris, Emmett Norris, Sadie Norris and Finn Norris 12. Miller and Olivia Odle 13. Jordan Poe, Hannah Hudson and Ellery Gilbert

84 August/September 2019

OUT & ABOUT

10

11

Saturday, August 17, 2019 The American Village Montevallo, Alabama 6:00 PM 12

Beer/Wine Reception Dinner Catered by Kathy G & Co. Music Entertainment Guest Speakers

13 Proceeds benefitting

Tickets available at: moonlightmasquerade2019.swell.gives/ VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 85

MARKETPLACE

Marketplace Vestavia Hills Magazine • 205.669.3131

Acceptance Loan Company.

Personal Loans! Let us pay off your title loan!

224 Cahaba Valley Road, Pelham.

205-663-5821 Need appliance or air conditioner parts?

How about a water filter for your refrigerator?

We have it all at A-1 Appliance Parts!

Call 1-800-841-0312 www.A-1Appliance.com American Auctioneers, LLC 1-866-789-5169 american-auctioneers.com Call us for your auctions needs!! • Land/Acreage • Estates • Residential/ Commercial Real Estate • Business Liquidations • Construction Farm Equipment • Lake/ Recreational Properties INDUSTRIAL ATHLETES $17.68 hour + production & safety $$$ incentives.

Grocery order selection using electric pallet jacks & voice activated headsets.

Apply online at AGSOUTH.COM or call Charlie Seagle at (205) 808-4833 Pre-employment drug test required.

REFRIGERATION MECHANIC Qualified mechanics earn $20.00/hour+ depending on experience. HVAC mechanic w/minimum 10 years recent ‘hands-on’ industrial maintenance experience or certification required. Ideal candidate will have experience servicing Ammonia Refrigeration System Electrical, plumbing,

86 August/September 2019

welding & concrete repair experience required 1st shift, Monday-Friday, 7:00 am3:30 pm, on-call as required.

Blue Cross Health & Dental Insurance Only $57/Week, 401-k Plan w/3.5% Company Match, Paid Vacation & Holidays Mandatory PreEmployment Drug Test and Physical Required Apply at WWW.AGSOUTH.COM/ JOBS Automation Personnel Services Hiring IMMEDIATELY For: Automotive Assembly, General Labor, Production, Clerical, Machine Operator, Quality, Carpentry, Welder, Foundry. Positions In: Calera, Clanton, Pelham, Bessemer, McCalla. Walk-in applications accepted.

Clanton (205)280-0002.

Pelham (205)444-9774.

Bama Concrete Now Hiring: Diesel Mechanic 4 Years Minimum Experience.

CDL Preferred. Competitive Pay. Great Benefits.

Apply in person: 2180 Hwy 87 Alabaster, 35007 Bent Creek Apartments.

Affordable 1 and 2 Bedroom. On-site Manager.

On-site Maintenance.

3001 7th Street. North Clanton, AL 35045.

TDD#s: 800-548-2547(V) 800-548-2546(T/A) bentcreek@morrowapts.com Office Hours: Mon-Fri, 8am-4pm.

Equal Opportunity Provider/ Employer Boise Cascade Now Hiring for Utility Positions.

Starting pay $13.33/hour.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com

Must be able to pass background screen. Please apply at www.bc.com

8278 Hwy 25 South, Calera, AL, or call for info 205-668-3316.

Carroll Fulmer Now Hiring Class-A CDL Drivers. Overthe-road positions available.

Dry vans. No hazmat. Must have one year over-the-road.

Experience and a clean MVR. Competitive pay and bonus package.

Good home time.

Call 800-633-9710 ext. 2

Now Hiring Heavy Equipment Operators and CDL Drivers Competitive pay and benefits. Pre-employment drug test required Equal Employment Opportunity Employer Call: 205-298-6799 or email us at: jtate@forestryenv.com

DCH Health System Caring. For Life. $5,000 *Sign-on Bonus for full time RNs *For More Info Contact Annie.Miller@dchsystem. com. Apply online at: www.dchsystem.com SEEKING MACHINIST OR MACHINIST HELPER WITH KNOWLEDGE OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF HEAVY MACHINERY. CALL TO APPLY: 205-243-6661 NOW HIRING!!!

• CDL DRIVERS • ASPHALT EQUIPMENT OPERATORS Apply Online Today! www.dunnconstruction. com • Bright Future •Great Pay • Unheard of Benefits • HOME EVERY DAY! #DunnTheRightWay EOE/Minorities/Females/ Disabled/Veterans $2000 SIGN ON BONUS NEW PAY SCALE TO QUALIFYING DRIVERS EVERGREEN TRANSPORT, is accepting applications for local drivers in the Calera and Leeds, AL, area.

Must have Class A CDL, good driving record, 1 yr verifiable tractor trailer experience. Good pay and benefits. Apply in person at

Franklin Iron Works Now Hiring.

Grinders & Laborers.

Must apply in person: 146 Tommie Drive, Thorsby.

Mon-Fri. 10am-3pm.

Housing Authority of the Birmingham District Hiring: Homeownership LeasePurchase Facilitator Resident Services Coordinator-ROSS Human Resources Specialist Compliance Data Analysis Application Data Entry Clerk Assistant Vice President of Housing Operations Director of Public Safety Custodian View complete description and apply at www.habd.org or 1826 3rdAvenueSouth Birmingham, Al 35233 NOW AVAILABLE LPN’s, RN’s 12 HOUR SHIFTS CNA’s Full-time & part-time Apply in person: Hatley Health Care 300 Medical Center Drive Clanton, AL 35045 Helping Hands Estate Sales Serving clients over 7yrs Professional & Experienced

We can help sell the contents of your home!

Contact for information: 256-283-5549 tbob56.wixsite.com/helpinghands Industrial Coatings Group, Inc. is hiring experienced -Sandblasters -Industrial Painters - Helpers. Must be able to pass drug test and e-verify check. Must be willing to travel. Professional references required.

Please send resume to: icgsecretary@hotmail.com or call (205)688-9004 Owner Operators Wanting Dedicated Year Round Anniston, AL www.pull4klb.com SHEETMETAL & MANUFACTURING HELP WANTED • Sheetmetal/ Layout, • Manufacturing Helpers, • Sheetmetal Machinery Operators, Multiple positions Paid holidays, typical shifts are 6:00am-2:30pm Must be reliable & on-time Call RICK: 205-761-3975 Need FREE help with your Medicare? Call your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) today at (800)AGE-LINE (800)-243-5463.

Now Hiring!!

• Caregivers-ADL’s, assist with medications and some lifting 7am-3pm, 3pm11pm, 11pm-7pm • Activity Director Part-Time • Cookssome 12/hr shifts Call Shay McNeal 205-620-2905 Marble Valley Manor.

Affordable 1 and 2 Bedroom

MARKETPLACE Apartments for Elderly & Disabled.

Many on-site services!

2115 Motes Rd, Sylacauga.

256-245-6500 •TDD#s: 800-548-2547(V) •800-548-2546(T/A).

Office Hours: Mon-Fri, 8am-4pm.

Equal Opportunity Provider/ Employer Are you a motivated professional? Are you looking for a dynamic career? Are you ready to control your own level of success? See why McKinnons’ is an exciting place to work and grow.

Now accepting applications for Sales, Service, and Detail Shop. Apply with the receptionist. 205-755-3430 Shake up your career!!!

Are you looking for something new and FUN? Milo’s is always looking for great managers to come join our growing and dynamic team. Apply online at miloshamburgers.com Montgomery Stockyard Drop Station at Gray & Son’s in Clanton. Call Lane at 205-389-4530. For other hauling arrangements, contact Wes in Harpersville 205-965-8657 MOUNT HOME BUILDERS, INC. Build on your lot custom homes! Our plans or yours! Visit www. mounthomebuilder.com for price quotes and to see completed homes & homes under construction!

205-299-0114 NOW HIRING Class-A CDL Driver Must have clean driving record, two years experience Will train drivers on tank Drivers home nightly Contact Keith at: 205-438-4959

Oxford Healthcare in Montgomery currently hiring certified CNA’s and/ or Home Health aides in the Clanton, Marbury and Maplesville areas. Must be able to pass complete background check, have reliable transportation and have a strong work ethic.

Serious inquires only.

Call 334-409-0035 or apply on-line at www.Oxfordhealthcare.com Looking for a house to rent in Shelby County?

We can help. Call for available rentals and specials (205)433-9811 Southeastern Food Merchandisers NOW HIRING Class-A CDL Food Service Delivery Drivers with 1 year experience!!!

Pay & Benefits • Home daily • Schedules allow you to depart and return to same terminal daily • Dispatches are single day routes, nothing runs overnight or multi-day! • Paid by weight delivered, miles, and stops • Drivers running single driver routes are earning $75,000-$100,000 yearly!

• Team and Helper routes are earning $65,000+ yearly What we offer in addition to route pay! • Attendance/ Accuracy bonuses • Wklypay w/direct deposit • 401(k) w/company match, eligible after 6-months with quarterly enrollment • Blue Cross of AL health & dental insurance, company subsidized • Two different medical plans for Blue Cross depending on your needs • Vision Insurance, company subsidized • Basic Life and AD&D 100% employer paid • Company paid Short-Term Disability • Voluntary Life & AD&D also provided on post-tax basis for you, and your family Email resume: ofrye@southeasternfood. com Call:205-685-4534

CLOCK REPAIR SVS. * Setup * Repair * Maintenance. I can fix your Mother’s clock. Alabaster/ Pelham. Call Stephen (205)663-2822 Electrician - FT Supreme Electric, local-based company in Pelham. Must be willing to learn & work hard.

Go to: supremeelectric-al. com Print employment application under Contact Us. Mail to: Supreme Electric 231 Commerce Pkwy Pelham, AL 35124 or call 205-453-9327.

TaylorMade Transportation Hiring CDL Drivers for Flatbed Regional Division!

BCBS Insurance After 30 Days.

To apply call: (334)366-2269 or email: s.smith@taylormadeinc.com Become a Dental Assistant in ONLY 8 WEEKS! Please visit our website capstonedentalassisting.com or call (205)561-8118 and get your career started!

White Oak Transportation is hiring CDL-A drivers in your area. Great Pay! Excellent Benefits!

Visit our website www.whiteoaktrans.com for more information EOEM/F/D/V DRYWALL REPAIRS SAME DAY SERVICE Offering: • Plastering • Stucco • Water Damage Repair $$FREE ESTIMATES$$ Please Call: 205-502-6023 Heritage Christian Academy is now accepting enrollment for K3-12th Grades. Don’t miss this amazing opportunity! Call 205-978-6001, to schedule a Campus Tour!

Service Tech, Inc. Heating & Air Conditioning AL Cert #89282 NOW HIRING FULL TIME POSITIONS • Certified Technician with 5 years Experience • Office Assistant with 5 years Quickbooks Experience Apply at: www. servicetechhvac.com

American Tree Maintenance Inc • Full Service Tree & Landscape Co • Licensed & Insured • NOW HIRING EXPERIENCED CLIMBERS Full-time and part-time. Pay based on experience. Valid drivers license required.

Sign-on bonuses available!

Call 205-669-1925 Email josh@callatm.com A Dry Waterproofing • Basement/Crawlspace Waterproofing • Install Sump Pumps • Repair Wet Basement • Mold Remediation • French Drains • Foundation Repairs *Also providing electrical work!

Emergency Service 6-Days/ Week Serving Jefferson/ Shelby Counties Call Van:205-230-3972 F&S CONSTRUCTION “Quality work you can count on” • Decks • Windows • Painting • Siding of All Types • Baths • Flooring • Kitchens • Foundation Specialist • And Much More!! Free Estimates!! Licensed/ Insured & 50yrs Combined Experience Call:205-641-1148 1st Heritage Credit, LLC 8919 Hwy-119, Alabaster Branch Mgr:Brook Morris 205-620-0664 “Excellence is our Standard” Loan Available: • Personal • Consolidation • Auto • Consumer Retail Call/Apply: 1stheritagecredit.com Loans are subject to normal credit criteria! $Cash Paid For Used RV’s!$ Motor Homes, Travel/Enclosed trailers, consignment welcome, Cars and Trucks, Pick up available, Mccluskey Auto and RV Sales, LLC 205-833-4575

WASTE PRO IS NOW HIRING CDL DRIVERS & MECHANICS Go online to WWW.WASTEPROUSA. COM to fill out an application today!

HVAC Company with 43 years in business NOW HIRING HELPER AND/OR TECH Will train! Drug test required. Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm.

Call 205-663-2199 INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HEAT & FROST INSULATORS & ALLIED WORKERS BIRMINGHAM AREA HEAT & FROST INSULATORS LOCAL 78 Accepting applications for a 4-year Apprenticeship Program. Applications accepted in person July 1-July 31, Monday-Friday 8:30am-2:00pm at: 2653 Ruffner Road Birmingham, AL 35210. 205-956-2866 or craig@insulators78.org Applicants must be 18+ and furnish proof of age.

High school diploma/GED & reliable transportation required. Applicants will be required to take a simple math test and an English comprehension test. The Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee is registered with the Department of Labor Bureau of Apprenticeship Training and is an equal opportunity employer.

VestaviaHillsMagazine.com 87

MY VESAVIA HILLS APRIL ARENDALL

Blogger at Your Next Favorite Thing + Mom of Two

A Taste of Europe

My Kitchen If you read my blog, you know I can’t sit still for long and love to travel. My husband says I’m at my happiest in Europe, but when I’m home, I’m happiest in my kitchen. I love to cook for friends and family, and travel inspires a lot of what I cook at home. After a trip to Italy a few years ago, my husband built me a woodburning pizza oven, from scratch, with no kit, just so I could make authentic pizza at home.

Back to School

For a Night Out

Bistro V Hands down my favorite thing to eat in Vestavia is the Fried Oyster Salad at Bistro V! The restaurant is perfect for a family birthday dinner, date night or girls’ night. Their gift cards are also a go-to when I need to buy a present.

Remember When

Parisian at Vestavia City Center I don’t even know how long it’s been gone now, but I miss it so much! I loved the junior department tucked away in a loft upstairs where I bought a lot of ESPRIT and Guess jeans.

I also remember when my mom took me for my first makeup lessons at the Clinique counter.

For Pampering

Petro Plastic Surgery and Medspa I love the hydrafacial and dermaplane combo here. It exfoliates and moisturizes my skin like nothing else can, and afterward makeup goes on more smoothly and skincare products are more effective. Plus, this is my go-to gift for those “hard-tobuy-for” girls in my life.

88 August/September 2019

The Rebel Spirit I love our schools and the teachers and administrators that serve our students. I grew up in Vestavia and graduated from the high school, and in a few years my boys will walk through those same hallways. They’ll be in sixth and eighth grade at Pizitz next year, and my husband, Ty, will be the principal at the newest elementary school, Vestavia Hills Dolly Ridge.

URGENT CARE from

Open 365 DAYS A YEAR Weekdays 2 – 10PM Weekends 10AM – 8PM WALK-INS WELCOME or SAVE YOUR SPOT ONLINE childrensurgent.com

LOCATIONS BIRMINGHAM 500 Cahaba Park Circle Suite 100 TRUSSVILLE 117 North Chalkville Road (205) 848-CARE (2273)

WE TREAT MINOR ILLNESSES AND INJURES INCLUDING: • Fever • Allergies • Coughs, colds • Acute asthma attack • Flu • Sprains/strains • Earaches • Bruises and lacerations

• Sore throat • Insect bites/stings • Vomiting and upset stomach • Minor burns • Diarrhea • Rashes • Other non-life-threating conditions

New locations opening in Fall 2019 Madison, Huntsville Northport, Tuscaloosa Vestavia Hills, Birmingham.

Come visit our new facility, including the new Spa Cahaba

2279 VALLEYDALE RD. SUITE 100 HOOVER, AL 35244

Holly Gunn MD, FAAD